 A Guide to Web Image Compression Software: Squeeze It 1.0Software type: JPEG compressor
Impressions:Squeeze It is a straight forward JPEG compressor. It accepts 20 different file types as input and gives compressed JPEGs as the output. It uses the "dual window" type of interface, showing the original file and the compressed file image. This allows you to see the results of the compression before you save the file. You have to activate the "after" image by pressing one of the toolbar buttons. It has two slider controls to modify the output. One is the standard compression level, the second is a smoothing filter that reduces the "wrinkly" artifacts near high contrast image edges by softening the original detail that triggers the artifacts. My initial impressions are that it works intuitively, and the "soften" control works well. I'll report in more detail later, as I can't yet get it to read anything besides JPEGs and I'm not sure why. Worth noting: Windows 95: If you get an error message with any program after installing Squeeze It that mentions the file CTL3D32.DLL, it may be because Squeeze It has installed the wrong version of the file - for WinNT not Win95 - into your system directory. This may not occur at all - it didn't for me - but it will if you had a version older than v. 2.31.00 on your disk. The cure is to retrieve the correct file from here. DN Links to information about web graphics compression, palettes and related matters of interest. Back to graphics review page Back to the main entry page This information is Copyright © 1998 David Nicholls. These pages may be linked to, provided you don't embed them in frames, but may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author. |
Squeeze
It 1.0