Cannot parse BMP file in Photoshop error

AL
Posted By
Anthony_Lewandowski
May 10, 2004
Views
1917
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I’m using Photoshop 5.5 Some BMP’s will not open – I get an error message stating "could not open the document because the file-format module cannot parse the file"
As I said, some BMP’s will open. I’m not sure where/how all the images were gotten, so I’m unable to pinpoint a single cause (ie, from a scanner, from the web, etc) for the failure.
Their are no additional modules/plugins added to the basic setup. The application is running on a Win2K sp4 machine, 128 ram (works fine for what needs to be done).
Should I reinstall, or where should I look to troubleshoot ? Thanks for your help.

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Mac_McDougald
May 10, 2004
..bmp can be saved with some odd encodings, and since you don’t know the history of these files….

Try IrfanView, if it won’t open them, probably nothing will. If it does, try resaving as .bmp or .tif, then PS should be able to open.

Mac
MM
Mac_McDougald
May 10, 2004
Sorry…

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M
GH
Gernot_Hoffmann
May 10, 2004
Mac,

BMP is since many years a very simple and clean file format.

PhS can open BMP-32 (4 byte instead of 3 byte) since version 7.0. The 4th byte doesn´t have any meaning (it´s up to the programmer).

BMP-32 may be the problem.
Paint, PageMaker etc. could read it always. InDesign-2.0 swaps Red and Blue ..

Best regards –Gernot Hoffmann
MM
Mac_McDougald
May 10, 2004
BMP is since many years a very simple and clean file format.

Really.

Let’s see, Photoshop alone allows options for:
Windows/OS2, 6 bit depths, RLE compression, Flip Row Order. And that’s not even the advanced options, in which there are 8 more options within various bit depths.

Yep, seems simple to me 🙂

Mac
GH
Gernot_Hoffmann
May 10, 2004
Mac,

I´m not responsible for any confusion.

There are some BMP formats which are always OK:
BMP-8 Indexed Color
BMP-24 TrueColor
BMP-32 TrueColor with (ignored) alpha channel
BMP-1 PhS Bitmap B/W
BMP-4 16 bit color

Further alternatives for RLE.
RLE is useful only for Indexed Color. In TrueColor
images there are no detectable runlengths.

The formats are well defined.

Most likely the OP´s question is an issue of the inter- pretation of BMP-32 (correct since PhS7.0).

Your comment seems to say: THOUGH the file formats are
accurately defined, one cannot rely on programs.

This is indeed true for InDesign´s interpretation of
32-bit BMP. Everything else is OK (PhS).

Best regards –Gernot Hoffmann
MM
Mac_McDougald
May 10, 2004
Thanks for the further comments, Gernot..

I really don’t know much about the format, and don’t code, so some of the nuances of the format are Greek to me.

Just know that I have run across any number of .bmp files through the years that one program wouldn’t open, yet another would.

And of course, Irfanview is as good a shot at opening "everything", that I know. I’ve never understood why Photoshop is written to give up on EOF errors, for example, rather than just open everything before the error in the file, like Iview can. Sometimes 90% or more of the image is actually intact.

Mac
GH
Gernot_Hoffmann
May 10, 2004
Mac,

the OP should try to open the BMP by any other application program (e.g. IrfanView as you say, or Paint or by a Kodak- Viewer which I found on my hard disk – never heard before until today – ). Then save as BMP.
If there should be a choice: 24 bit TrueColor.

I agree – the many formats are confusing.

Best regards –Gernot Hoffmann
TT
Toby_Thain
May 11, 2004
In TrueColor images there are no detectable runlengths

That is mostly true of natural (photographic) images, but often synthetic images are RLE compressible, e.g. line artwork (logo, text rendering, etc). Many formats offer effective RLE over 16, 24 and 32 bit pixel depths (for example, Electric Image format <http://www.telegraphics.com.au/sw/#eiformat> and Paint Shop Pro format <http://www.telegraphics.com.au/sw/#pspformat>).

As you suggest, BMP only appears to support compression for 4 & 8 bit images.

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