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The Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats is essentially two books in one. The first section, about 225 pages in length, is a general treatise on graphics programming. The overviews of color theory, palettes, bitmaps, vectors, metafiles, and compression techniques are very clear and are written at just the right level. A brief, non-judgmental account of the LZW/GIF fracas is included.
The heart of the book is an encyclopedic treatment of approximately 100 graphics file formats ranging from the humble Windows bitmap to Pixar RIB. The chapters for the various file formats have a common structure: a summary table, an overview of the format's history and how/where the format is used, a general description of file organization, the microscopically-detailed explanation of the format necessary for code design and implementation, and references to further information -- usually in the form of original standards documents or manufacturers' white papers.
The authors are catholic and eclectic in their interests, and cover quite a few file formats that you wouldn't necessarily expect to find in a book of this type. Ancient (in computer terms) file formats such as Atari ST FLM, Lotus DIF, Digital Research GEM Raster, and Microsoft SYLK receive equal treatment with modern, highly complex, application-specific file formats supported by Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The mind quails at the magnitude of the task that the Murray and vanRyper have taken on as their personal mission.
There are several appendices devoted to pointers to graphics programming resources on the Internet (particularly the World Wide Web), installation and setup of the CD-ROM, and a graphics glossary.
This book's CD-ROM is one of the very few I've seen in computer trade book publishing that actually justifies its existence. The entire text of the book is included for browsing in the form of HTML documents, along with demos of the various graphic file formats, an impressive selection of PC, Macintosh, and UNIX graphics tools and utilities, hotlinks to Internet resources, and a full-text index.
The Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats, Second Edition isn't exactly pool-side reading. But every programmer who deals with graphics in any way whatsoever should own or have access to a copy.
-- Ray Duncan
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Explanation of ERCB rating scale: No stars = unacceptable, 1 Star = marginal, 2 Stars = average, 3 Stars = above average, 4 Stars = exceptional.