simple pc/html question.. please :D

[JSlime]

Hello everyone, l've got a quick question that'll take longer to explain that it will for some of you vet's to answer. I've been looking for a solution to my problem here everywhere from google, to yahoo PC chat... and everywhere in between and haven't been able to turn out an answer to my problem.

I'll try to explain this problem, with an example.

Let's take Paint Shop Pro for example.... now l'm sure most of you have this program on your computer. As you know, when you save a file in paintshop, it is saved as a .psp file. So when ya click a .psp file on your computer... the file is opened up, in paint shop pro (dur).

Okay fair enough, now here's where the problem comes in;
Say l wanted to make an HTML file with a list of all my .psp files on it, as links.
On the HTML document, when one of the .psp links is clicked, l want it to open the file in the paint shop application, just as if it'd been clicked from my actual computer.

The problem is that the HTML document opens up in my browser (which is IE 6.0), and when l click one of the links my browser doesn't know wtf to do with the .psp file... and as a result tries to download it, instead of launching paint shop pro, and opening my .psp file.

Now, l *know* this has got to be possible. In my searching for answers l've been told many of things concerning this. I've been told that l could modify my registry and get this to work (but how? l can't seem to find any documentation on this). I've also been told that there's a meta tag that l could put on the .html document that would do this for me.. but again, l can't seem to find anything about this. I've been told that there is a value that l could put into the actual anchor...

<shrugs> l *know* this is possible, and l'm sure the answer is EXTREMELY simple... but l just can't seem to figure it out. I would really appreciate it if anyone here would be willing to help me out on this.

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And incase this makes a difference this .html "list of .psp links" is going to be used for personal use.... the computer that l want to do this from will not be connected to the internet.
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JSlime

[Sara]

Hmmm I just made a short test with my version of PSP (v8 with pics saved as .pspimage) and IE which is also 6. When I click on a link a box comes up say that it could be harmful for me to open and what do I want to do. I click open and the file opens in PSP. No trying to download anything.

This html file you've made is that just for local use on your own machine or is it for use on a webserver (with the .psp images also on the server)?

Have you checked your file associations in both windows and PSP?

[jason]

When you get that "some files may harm your computer" dialog box you should see a checkbox at the bottom labeled "always ask before opening this type of file." Just uncheck the box and click "open" and you won't be asked for .psp files anymore.

--Jason

[Gwaihir]

Be careful not to do that with just any file type though: this "some files may harm your computer" is all too true.

[Percipient]

Does the Paint Shop Pro file, when the link is clicked and you choose "Open," open the original on the drive, or does IE put a copy in the cache and open that?

[DLMunson]

i think thats just how windows/IE is, did the same thing for me to

PSP ownz!

since its just for personal use, use the browse feature, it creates a file that makes thumbnails and a list of yer pics

[Vin DSL]

Out of curiosity, why are you saving images in PSP format? Dittos for displaying them. PSP files are huge.

Personally, I do 99% of my graphic images in PNG format. PNG rocks!

Here are some examples:

TUTORIAL: Using Internet Explorer as an FTP Client

TUTORIAL: Configuring WinSCP for JagPC servers.

Right-click the images, view the properties, and check out their size[s].

BTW, these we produced with Paint Shop Pro. That's the only graphic proggie I use!

[Sara]

I'm not the original poster, but there's a lot of reasons to save as psp files. Layers is preserved and it's generally easier to do some more editing later on if needed. but you guys should know that already

Oh yeah a hunch tells me a new version might be in the works for beta soon

[G.Bloke]

PSP format allows you to maintain layers, text and other elements for future editing. Clearly you wouldn't want to put images online in that format but if you wish to further edit or manipulate them in the future then the PSP format should be used. All my artwork is stored in PSP format so that I can create new logos etc without starting from scratch each time ... or more correctly WAS stored in PSP format until I switched to linux.

[Sara]

Would love to switch too, but Gimp just doesn't do it for me. Am too used to PSP by now

[Oldfrog]

Echoing what Vin said about .png. I just started working with that format and am going to love it (if I can ever get the transparency problems resolved). At the same time I do save all my work in .psp format for the reasons cited above. I think most of what I publish from now on will be .png.

[jason]

Originally posted by Vin DSL
Out of curiosity, why are you saving images in PSP format? Dittos for displaying them. PSP files are huge.

Vin,

Since you're a programer...

Not keeping your images in PSP format is like compiling your program and then throwing away the source code. As long as the program does everything you want it to and has no bugs, you're fine. But if you every want to make a change you have to start from scratch again.

Personally, I'm a Photoshop guy, just because that's what we use at work. (I've used PSP before and its not a bad program, though.) One very common thing that I've come across many times is that someone wants to add a new button to their site. Sometimes these buttons are complex with non-standard fonts and various filters applied to them. If you don't have the original PSD files for the site it can be a real bear to get the new button looking just right.

--Jason

[Vin DSL]

I must have left you all with some false impressions. Let me clarify...

The query, as I understood it was, "Paint Shop Pro saves files in PSP format. I want to display these PSP files over the Internet. I want to make browsers open these PSP files in Paint Shop Pro. How do you get browsers to display my PSP files using their Paint Shop Pro program?"

If I understand what he is trying to accomplish - reading between the lines, if you will - this is wrong on so many levels that I didn't know where to start. Thus, my question[s].

If you are using Paint Shop Pro, of course you want to save your important work, and/or works in progress, in PSP format. Duh! But, if you want to display your works in a browser, use of PSP files is a worst-case scenario.

If the whole idea was simply for file distribution purposes, you would want to use ZIP format, or better yet, BZIP2. You don't want to send ppl raw files. That will take forever. However, I didn't get the feeling that's what JSlime wanted to do. Did you?

So, to this end, what is the best way to display your works on the Internet? Without a doubt, it's PNG format. I will argue this all day and all night, if you wish, and come out the winner every time.

The reason I provided links was:[list=1][*] To show you how nice PNG files can look, if you know what you are doing.
[*] To show you how small of a file size a knowledgeable person, like myself, can make them.
[*] To show you what an excellent tool Paint Shop Pro is for making same.[/list=1]I would venture to say, I can take ANY digital graphic made, saved in ANY file format you can think of, and make it better looking, smaller in size, and able to display in more browsers, by exporting it to PNG format, using Paint Shop Pro. That's the point I was trying to make!

If I'm misreading YOUR intentions, JSlime, let me know and we'll go from here.