Re: gifs in AOL

 In order to alleviate the strain on their server side, the AOL browser
actually changes the file format of the images as it downloads them. This of
course doesn't make *your* download time any faster.. it just gives you fuzzy
graphics and a werid file format.  What is coded as a GIF or a JPEG gets
changed to an AOL specific ART file format. When the image is downloaded, it
is saved as a GIF or JPEG, but because the actual format of it has been
changed, most graphics programs can't read the file. Because of this, when a
web designer tries to use an image which he or she has downloaded using the
AOL browser, only the AOL browser can see the images in this ART format.

If you can find a graphics program that can read the .ART format, try to
resave it as a .gif in the program, though I doubt you'll even be able to get
it open.


The Red Haired Snipe
http://www.snipe.net

In a message dated 8/17/98 11:16:40 AM Pacific Daylight Time, roni(at)webtele.com
writes:

<< Hello,
 I recently ran through a nice webpage made in AOL, but I could only see
 the jpg's pictures in the photo galleries, and not the gif's (I'm using
 Netscape Communicator, but in Netscape 3 I also couldn't see them). I
 talked to the author and she tried to send me the gifs, but I got them
 again as broken images. Someone told me the AOL has a special format for
 gifs, that only AOL members can see. Is it right and how can I see the
 images?
  >>

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