http://www.lizardtech.com/products/doc/

LizardTech Document Express with DjVu Enterprise 5.1.0 build 946

201,161 KB

Serial For DjVu Editor 5.1 (Enterprise):

305-050-1364-138-860
179-050-2714-511-463
212-051-1866-337-472
516-051-5611-099-295

also includes

- Virtual Printer Pro (converts anything to .djvu)
- pdf to djvu converter
- IE/Netscape Browser plugin
- IFilter (indexing & search engine using MS Index Server)

DjVu typically achieves compression ratios about 5 to 10 times better
than existing methods such as JPEG and GIF for color documents, and 3 to
8 times than TIFF for black and white documents. Scanned pages at 300
DPI in full color can be compressed down to 30 to 100KB files from
25MB.. Black-and-white pages at 300 DPI typically occupy 5 to 30KB when
compressed.

This puts the size of high-quality scanned pages within the realm of an
average HTML page (which is typically around 50KB).

For color document images that contain both text and pictures, DjVu
files are typically 5 to 10 times smaller than JPEG at similar quality.

For black-and-white pages, DjVu files are typically 10 to 20 times
smaller than JPEG and five times smaller than GIF. DjVu files are also
about 3 to 8 times smaller than black and white PDF files produced from
scanned documents (scanned documents in color are impractical in PDF).

In addition to scanned documents, DjVu can also be applied to documents
produced electronically in formats such as Adobe's PostScript or PDF. In
that case, the file sizes are between 15 to 20KB per page at 300 DPI.

The DjVu plug-in is available for standard Web browsers on various
platforms. The DjVu plug-in allows for easy panning and zooming of
document images. A unique on the fly decompression technology allows
images that normally require 25MB of RAM to be decompressed to require
only 2MB of RAM.

Conventional image viewing software decompresses images in their
entirety before displaying them. This is impractical for high-resolution
document images since they typically go beyond the memory capacity of
many PCs, causing excessive disk swapping. DjVu, on the other hand,
never decompresses the entire image, but instead keeps the image in
memory in a compact form, and decompresses the piece displayed on the
screen in real time as the user views the image. Images as large as
2,500 pixels by 3,300 pixels (a standard page image at 300 DPI) can be
downloaded and displayed on very low-end PCs.

The DjVu format is progressive. Users get an initial version of the page
very quickly, and the visual quality of the page progressively improves
as more bits arrive. For example, the text of a typical magazine page
would appear in just three seconds over a 56Kbps modem connection. In
another second or two, the first versions of the pictures and
backgrounds will appear. Then, after a few more seconds, the final
full-quality version of the page is completed.

One of the main technologies behind DjVu is the ability to separate an
image into a background layer (i.e., paper texture and pictures) and
foreground layer (text and line drawings). Traditional image compression
techniques are fine for simple photographs, but they drastically degrade
sharp color transitions between adjacent highly contrasted areas - which
is why they render type so poorly. By separating the text from the
backgrounds, DjVu can keep the text at high resolution (thereby
preserving the sharp edges and maximizing legibility), while at the same
time compressing the backgrounds and pictures at lower resolution with a
wavelet-based compression technique.

DjVu is used by many commercial and non-commercial web sites on the Web
today. AND, Yes, You can view djvu-documents with the professional
version, but also with a (free) plugin within the enterprise version.
Prof. version is also capable to edit the files and sometimes ebooks
can't be opened with free plugin, just with prof. version, so I would
recommend to install both.

The enterprise version is just for those who want to CONVERT to djvu,
e.g. from pdf, psd(photoshop), tif, jpg or whatever. But You have to
have a fast machine, or the time for conversion will tend to infinity or
even break down (like on my old PIII).

So I rcommend to install all three versions, together with virtual
printer and to read the help files and learning by doing. DJVU is a nice
format and makes files very small and handle-able, compared to other
formats, like pdf.

For best success, install all three versions. One for the browser, one
for opening & possibly converting pictures and the complete set to
convert anything (The entreprise edition contains a virtual printer,
same serial as ent. edition).

I have reduced my HD space by 3 by converting my pdf-textfiles and by up
to 20 (normally 10) on jpg-files.

BTW, djvu is also supported by IRFANVIEW (freeware), with the filter
pack. Djvu is a great format that ought to replace pdf if you could find
a way to spread the browser plug-in in an efficient way....