Note: The following DjVu FAQ is provided courtesy of LizardTech. Additional information may be found at the LizardTech Home Page.
Click here to download and install the DjVu browser plug-in.
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DjVu Business FAQ VIEWING: Do I need a plug-in to view DjVu files? Yes. DjVu Web Browser Plug-ins are available free from the LizardTech Web site. The plug-in is currently supported on Windowsฎ 95/98/2000/NT, Linux, Solaris and Macintosh platforms. top  Where can I get a DjVu Web Browser Plug-in? The plug-in is available free and can be quickly downloaded from www.lizardtech.com. top Can documents encoded in DjVu 2.0 be viewed in the Web Browser Plug-in version 3.2? Yes, the Web Browser Plug-in 3.2 can view DjVu documents encoded in 2.0 and 3.0 format. top Can documents encoded with version 3.0 products be viewed using the Web Browser Plug-in version 2.0 or DjVu Shop 2.0? Images created with 3.0 products are not backward compatible with the 2.0 plug-in. top GENERAL QUESTIONS: What is DjVu? DjVu is faster, smaller and clearer solution for putting paper documents on the Web. It converts any scanned paper document, catalog or book into super-small, high-quality images that can be instantly transmitted and viewed by anyone via a standard Web browser. As a result, users can efficiently scan, store, download and email crucial documents via corporate intranets or the Internet 150 times faster than Adobeจ PDF and 20 times faster than JPEG or GIF. DjVu is also the ideal format for the growing e-book marketplace. top How does DjVu work? DjVu achieves its stunning results through separating a scanned document into a layer containing hard edges (like text) and another layer containing colors and softer edges (like photographs). Each layer is then encoded according to the method that yields the best results for image size and clarity. The result is a crystal-clear digital document that retains the quality of the original scanned document. top Who invented DjVu? DjVu was invented by AT&T Labs. LizardTech acquired the technology to bring it to the commercial market as part of the LizardTech's commitment to providing premier imaging and viewing solutions. top What platforms does DjVu run on? DjVu Web Browser Plug-in 3.2: Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0 Linux Solaris A beta version of a Macintosh viewer is available. DjVu Solo 3.0: Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0 DjVu Enterprise (Command Line): Linux Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0 DjVu Editor: Linux Windows (coming soon) DjVu Developer DSDKs and ESDKs: Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0 Linux Lib C6 Solaris 2.6 top Are the input file formats the same for both DjVu 2.0 and DjVu 3.0? No. DjVu version 3.0 supports less formats, but the formats it supports offer more options. For instance, DjVu version 3.0 supports 16 bit TIFF files. File formats supported by DjVu 3.0 include BMP, GIF, iw44, JPEG, TIFF, and PNM. top What file formats can be exported? DjVu can export files in either DjVu format or BMP (bitmap) format. top What is the difference between DjVu and MrSID? LizardTech's MrSID is the ideal technology for presenting extremely small, high-resolution, dense photographs. DjVu is more suited for paper-based documents - it's the scan-to-Web publishing solution. top Can DjVu be used to encode original digital files? No. DjVu is not optimized for electronic-to-electronic files. It is the ideal solution for scan-to-Web publishing. top Is it lossy encoding? Yes. DjVu is not lossless encoding. However, DjVu documents appear lossless when viewing. While the encoder for bitonal areas can encode losslessly, the background layer is a lossy compression resulting in overall lossy encoding. The resulting image quality is still better than or equal to competing formats, in a much smaller file size. top Do I need a special server to host DjVu files? No. DjVu files can be easily put onto your Web site or embedded in HTML documents. top Can I print a DjVu file? Yes. Printing DjVu files is as easy as clicking on the "print" icon. DjVu files print crisp, clear documents for easy reading. top Can I import a DjVu file into MS Office? No. At this point DjVu files are not supported within the MS Office environment. top Can I encode images as well as text? If a user wishes to encode strictly photographs, LizardTech recommends our MrSID product line. top Does DjVu support annotations such as hyperlinks? Yes. Highlighted areas and hyperlinks can be easily added to DjVu documents using DjVu Solo or DjVu Editor. DjVu COMPETITIVE top ADVANTAGES: What advantages does DjVu offer over current formats? DjVu offers dramatically smaller file sizes, with superior image quality than competing file formats such as TIF, JPEG and PDF. top How is DjVu superior to GIF or JPEG? For color pages at 300 dpi containing text and pictures, DjVu files are 10 times smaller than GIF or JPEG with similar quality levels, but can be reduced even smaller. top How does DjVu compare to PDF? PDF is primarily designed for documents that are produced electronically, while DjVu is designed for scanned documents. DjVu files are dramatically smaller than similar PDF files from the same document up to 50 to 100 times smaller! PDF and JPEG files also sacrifice image quality and readability, while DjVu files retain the character of the original document. DjVu removes the barriers to storing color scans by creating color documents that are significantly smaller than PDF files. For example, a 12MB color page in PDF format was only 80KB when saved as a DjVu file. top What other advantages does DjVu offer? DjVu files can be panned, enlarged or reduced smoothly in real-time. This is because the entire file is downloaded and temporarily cached on the your computer. You don't have to wait for additional data to be downloaded when moving around the document. top How does DjVu work with electronic files? (i.e. Word documents) DjVu is designed for scan-to-Web applications. DjVu was not optimized for electronically-generated documents. top SCANNING What type of scanner do I need? DjVu Shop 2.0 and DjVu Solo 3.0 accept scans directly from any TWAIN compliant scanner. They also accept electronic files (TIFFs, BMPs, etc.) scanned from other sources such as ISIS scanners. DjVu Enterprise does not accept scans directly; therefore a user scans into another application, and then brings the files into DjVu Enterprise for fast, automated encoding. top Does DjVu have batch processing capability? DjVu Enterprise offers batch processing. top What are the size limitations on input files? Current file sizes are limited to 32,000 x 32,000 pixels (approximately 100 inches x 100 inches scanned at 300 dpi. top WORKING WITH DjVu FILES Can you rotate images? Yes. Rotation can be done in DjVu Enterprise, a command line product. top Will users be able to crop out areas of file? Cropping is not available. A user will have to do this step prior to converting to DjVu. This step typically takes place within either Photoshop or the scanning software that comes with the users' scanner. top Can I edit a DjVu document? Yes. DjVu documents can be edited using DjVu Solo 3.0 or DjVu Editor in Linux. A Windows-based DjVu Editor is coming soon. top Can you embed a DjVu file in an HTML page? Yes. The user needs to have the DjVu Web Browser Plug-in to accomplish this. The instructions for doing this are found in the Plug-in Help File. top |
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