Has this happened to you?

> You get a Corel WordPerfect file, and all you've got is Microsoft Word. Your can't read the file, and even if you could get at the text, you lose the formatting.

> You've decided to get off of AOL and go to a more mainstream email program like Outlook. How do you get all those contacts and addresses from AOL to Outlook.

> A friend sends you a picture file, but you can't open it.

> Your creative consultant has a Macintosh, sends you a file, and you can't open it on your Windows computer.

Winslow Technology Services has over 20 years in handling format conversions. We can translate most every graphic or word-processing format into the one that's readable on your computer with your software.

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File format incompatibility is one of the major causes of frustration on any project. Some of the information below might help you out before you call us.

Every file on a computer has an "extension". The extension is usually 3 characters preceded by a period (e.g., microsoftwordfile.doc). The extension tell the operating system what program will open the file. The only exception to this is the "Classic" Macintosh operating system which uses filetype and creator codes hidden in the file itself.

Sometimes, when files are emailed or downloaded off the web, the extension gets lost or mangled. Many times, if you add the correct extension to the file, then file will open perfectly.

In Windows you change the extension in explorer by right-clicking on the file and selecting rename.

In Macintosh you change the extension in the finder by selecting file and pressing the ENTER key; and the typing over the old name.

Here are some common extensions and their associated programs:

.doc - Microsoft Word
.xls - Microsoft Excel
.ppt - Microsoft Powerpoint
.psd - Adobe Photoshop Document
.eps - open with Adobe Illustrator
.ps - open with Adobe Illustrator
.ai - Adobe Illustrator
.pdf - Adobe Acrobat

.png - picture file that most any program can open
.gif - picture file that most any program can open
.jpg - picture file that most any program can open
.htm, .html, .shtml - web page, opens with any browser
.swf - macromedia flash file

Other problems may occur if the file has a "/" or "\" in the file name. Try renaming the file with only alphabetic or numeric characters.