"PSD is not my favorite file format"

#1

Post by iamelgringo » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 4:53 AM UTC

"PSD is not my favorite file format"
code.google.com

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#2

Post by kajecounterhack » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 5:26 AM UTC

...wow.

Verbose. Hope I never have to work with PSD anywhere except in my happy photoshop 7 (yeah the upgrade wasn't worth it, and I use WINE so...)

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#3

Post by jmtame » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 5:27 AM UTC

// No, PSD is an abysmal format. Having worked on this code for several weeks now, my hate for PSD has grown to a raging fire that burns with the fierce passion of a million suns.

// Trying to get data out of a PSD file is like trying to find something in the attic of your eccentric old uncle who died in a freak freshwater shark attack on his 58th birthday... I am spending a lot of time imagining amusing fates for the people responsible for this Rube Goldberg of a file format.

Woah. This guy is a natural poet. If I were the computer, my loop might have skipped an iteration.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#4

Post by alexitosrv » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 5:33 AM UTC

"... PSD is not a good format. PSD is not even a bad format. Calling it such would be an insult to other bad formats...

If there are two different ways of doing something, PSD will do both, in different places. It will then make up three more ways no sane human would think of, and do those. PSD makes inconsistency an art form...

Earlier, I tried to get a hold of the latest specs for the PSD file format. To do this, I had to apply to them for permission to apply to them to have them consider sending me this sacred tome. This would have involved faxing them a copy of some document or other, probably signed in blood. I can only imagine that they make this process so difficult because they are intensely ashamed of having created this abomination..."

Awesome comments!!!

I can feel the passionated hate to PSD file format!, even althought I never had to work with that.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#5

Post by rjurney » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 6:03 AM UTC

Committed by me the other day:

-May god have mercy on all our souls for this code.

+Whereas once I was lost, now I am found.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#6

Post by huhtenberg » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 6:17 AM UTC

This somehow reminds me of a joke called

  BOOL TrackPopupMenu(...);

in Windows that as per documentation returns an integer.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#7

Post by schtono » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 6:22 AM UTC

I think Adobe made that on purpose to some extent.

The less other programs are able to handle a full-featured psd, the more consumers will likely buy the full version of photoshop (ok, some might be getting it through other sources, but at least most businesses would choose the real Photoshop over other programs).

Consider Open Office: As it handles only 99% of doc-files correctly, I found myself quickly buying the full MS-version, because you can't just manage that hassle in daily business life.

EDIT: I forgot: Great read, anyhow!!!

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#8

Post by rjurney » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 6:30 AM UTC

jmtame wrote: post #3

// No, PSD is an abysmal format. Having worked on this code for several weeks now, my hate for PSD has grown to a raging fire that burns with the fierce passion of a million suns. // Trying to get data out of a PSD file is like trying to find something in the attic of your eccentric old uncle who died in a freak freshwater shark attack on his 58th birthday... I am spending a lot of time imagining amusing fates for th…

I love detailed comments that include prose and give me a view of the mindset of the developer who's code I'm working on. It can really help you relate to the person and their code, and make the work easier.

Although it could just be that... if someone takes the time to write a humorous comment, they probably give a shit enough to not leave slop all over the file.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#9

Post by rivo » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 7:01 AM UTC

Sounds to me like the product of many years of evolution with many developers working on it, and all that at a large company. Working at a large company myself, I see how these messed up pieces of code / specifications come into being every day.

Re: "PSD is not my favorite file format"

#10

Post by jonah » Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 7:06 AM UTC

rivo wrote: post #9

Sounds to me like the product of many years of evolution with many developers working on it, and all that at a large company. Working at a large company myself, I see how these messed up pieces of code / specifications come into being every day.

Exactly. What version of Photoshop dear HN reader was your first? Think about all the features that have been added since then and how hard it must be to maintain even a modicum of backwards compatibility.