[clug] emz files

[Scott Ferguson]

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:37:53 +1000
> From: Fredd <freds72 at exemail.com.au>
> To: "linux at lists.samba.org" <linux at lists.samba.org>
> Subject: [clug] emz files
> Message-ID: <op.vftudfzn4eyq9b at marvin>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Hi all,  my son-in-law,  the unashamed windows tech, insists on sending me  
> .emz files.
> I have tried googling for a way to open them, but have not found a working  
> solution,
> all replies are a few years old and don't work
> They are supposed to be a gzipped picture file, but MS has worked its  
> usual magic with the standard
> and made it unopenable with a normal file extractor.
> Has anybody had recent experience opening these,  and what sort of can  
> opener did you use?
>
> thanks
> Pete
> freds72 at exemail.com.au
>   
Presuming your son-in-law is not sending you Streetfighter games files
(same extension)...
I've had the same problem. I fixed it by using Windoof programs to
extract it and convert to bitmap format - which I then sent back to the
original sender ;-p
I never did find an Open Source method of dealing with it - just more
information from various sources

> They are supposed to be a gzipped picture file
If I remember correctly they use zip...

AFAIK Visio, Office, and SpeedCommander12
(http://www.speedproject.de/enu/) (WINE?) are the only official ways of
opening/viewing/converting these files.
Open Source - At some point in the future EMFExplorer may work
(http://frazmitic.free.fr/emfexplorer/), you could also investigate
FreeHEP (http://java.freehep.org/freehep1.x/vectorgraphics/index.html).

EMF (Enhanced Metafile) is a metafile format designed by Microsoft, and
a successor to the older WMF format. EMF is a newer 32-bit version with
additional commands. EMF files are usually stored between 5 to 10 KB in
size, and EMF images do not support transparency. The EMZ format is a
compressed version of the EMF format. EMF+ is an extension to EMF that
allows GDI+ records to be stored. There are two variations on the EMF+
format: EMF+ Only and EMF+ Dual.
These are basically zipped .EMF files; if you have an editor that will
accept .EMF files try unzipping the .EMZ file and then importing them
into the editor. They will likely import as a single grouped object
instead of individual objects, however. Also, sometimes the file in the
archive is .EM instead of .EMF. If so, rename to .EMF. From Microsoft:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc204166.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc230724%28PROT.13%29.aspx

Interesting that Microsoft says:
Microsoft has patents that may cover your implementations of the
technologies described in the Open Specifications. Neither this notice
nor Microsoft's delivery of the documentation grants any licenses under
those or any other Microsoft patents. However, a given Open
Specification may be covered by Microsoft's Open Specification Promise
(whatever that means!)

Cheers