Printer Test Tools
TIFF InteropAnalyzer
TIFF
is a mature and widely adopted image file format. Typical usage for this
format includes archiving, scanning, prepress, and faxing documents. Like
Direct PDF printing, many printers and multi-function peripheral devices
are beginning to implement Direct TIFF printing, making TIFF the obvious
choice for QualityLogic's next InteropAnalyzer product.
Like the PDF InteropAnalyzer, the TIFF InteropAnalyzer has two distinct test suites. The Installed Base Test Suite is a statistical sampling of TIFF files from the Internet, representing the installed base of TIFF files your customers will most likely use with your products. The Current Release Test Suite consists of custom-developed test pages using the latest creation and editing software for TIFF. The combination of the Installed Base and Current Release Test Suites provide RIP developers a powerful tool to ensure the interoperability of their solutions.
Download QualityLogic's The TIFF InteropAnalyzer demo will give you an overview of this exciting new product. In 2005, we will port many of our traditional printer language tests (PCL, PCL XL, etc.) to the InteropAnalyzer format. We have completed a preliminary demo version for the PCL XL InteropAnalyzer for you to review. We appreciate your comments. |
This suite was created by sampling approximately 1,000 web sites that contain downloadable TIFF files. From these sites, we downloaded and analyzed 3,200 representative TIFF files using a parser developed by QualityLogic, which can identify approximately 300 Key Characteristics of the TIFF file. A sampling of these characteristics is shown below.
| BYTE_ORDER | HAS_GRAY_RESP_TAGS | ORIENTATION |
| DOCUMENT_NAME | HAS_HALFTONE_HINTS | STRIPS_PER_IMAGE |
| FILE_SIZE | PHOTOMETRIC | TILES_PER_IMAGE |
| FILL_ORDER | RESOLUTION_UNIT | |
| IMAGE_DESCRIPTION | SAMPLES_PER_PIXEL | HAS_ANY_ADOBE |
| MAKE | THRESHHOLDING | HAS_CLIP_PATH |
| MODEL | XRESOLUTION | HAS_INDEXED |
| NEW_SUBFILE_TYPE | YRESOLUTION | HAS_OPI_PROXY |
| NO_OF_IFDS | HAS_ICC_PROFILE | |
| NUMBER_OF_PAGES | COMPRESSION | HAS_IMAGE_ID |
| SOFTWARE | HAS_CLASS_Y_TAGS | HAS_PHOTOSHOP |
| SUB_FILE_TYPE | HAS_JPEG_FIELDS_TAGS | HAS_XCLIP_PATH_UNITS |
| HAS_JPEG_TABLES | HAS_YCLIP_PATH_UNITS | |
| BITS_PER_SAMPLE | HAS_SAMPLE_FORMAT_TAGS | |
| BITS_PER_SAMPLE_UNIQUE | HAS_SEPARATED_IMAGE_TAGS | HAS_FRAME_COUNT |
| CELL_LENGTH | HAS_T4OPTIONS | |
| CELL_WIDTH | HAS_T6OPTIONS | HAS_JBIG_OPTIONS |
| EXTRA_SAMPLES | HAS_XML_PACKET | |
| HAS_COLOR_MAP | PLANAR_CONFIGURATION | HAS_IMAGE_DEPTH |
| HAS_COLOR_RESP_TAGS | PREDICTOR | HAS_TILE_DEPTH |
| HAS_COLOR_RESP_TAGS | IMAGE_LENGTH | HAS_S_TO_NITS |
| HAS_COLORIMETRY_TAGS | IMAGE_WIDTH |
Recommended Subset
A recommended subset of approximately 300 TIFF files is selected based upon their Key Characteristics. Links to these files are placed in a database, along with each TIFF file's Key Characteristics.
Although TIFF is a mature file format, new releases of creation and editing software for TIFF create the potential for interoperability problems. Our approach to this testing requirement is to build a custom suite of TIFF test files based on newest releases of software/hardware tools that allow you to create or edit TIFF files. We refer to this type of test as the Current Release Suite.
The Current Release Suite is created by identifying
a small set of source documents and file formats from which the TIFF files
will be created. These documents are transformed into TIFF files using
a selection of TIFF creation tools using a variety of configuration settings.
The resulting TIFF files are further modified using several TIFF editing
tools. The files are analyzed using the QualityLogic TIFF Parser to validate
the range of Key Characteristics in the test files created for this suite.
The following creation methods will be used:
- Export/Save to TIFF - The application has a menu option that allows the user to create an original image and then transform its internal representation of the document into a TIFF file. Adobe Photoshop and CorelDraw are good examples of embedded TIFF creators.
- Printer Driver to TIFF - A printer driver that transforms the operating system's device independent representation of the page into a TIFF file. Third party products like Informatic's Image Driver are typical of this type of solution, which translates GDI to TIFF.
- Scan to TIFF - Numerous scanners support the creation of TIFF files as native format for a scanned image.
- File to TIFF - There are countless utilities whose primary purpose
is to transform one image type to another. A good example is Informatics
TIFFMaker, which will transform simple text files to a TIFF image.
Targeted Test Files - New for TIFF
Some important TIFF Key Characteristics may not be exercised adequately by commercial applications. To the extent this is the case, we have created a set of Targeted Test Files that are mechanical in nature and exercise specific subsets of TIFF functionality.
Query Builder
The TIFF InteropAnalyzer provides you with an SQL database containing the key characteristics for the Installed Base, Current Release, and Targeted Test File Test Suites. The Query Builder provides a non-programmatic way to query this database for files with specific characteristics.
You can create your own Test Sets with the click
of a button. You just specify the characteristics you want the files to
contain (or omit) and the Query builder will identify the specific files
that meet that criteria. Once a Test Set is identified, you can do the
following:
- Generate an analysis report
- Run a smallest set analysis
- Download any needed files from the Internet
- Copy the test files to a designated directory
- Generate a file list for batch or automation processes
Deliverables
- Database and Test Files for Current Release Targeted Test Files Test Suite
- Database of statistics and URLs for Installed Base Test Suite
- Free Installed Base download service
- User's Guide
- Test Specification