Portable and not so portable metafiles

Metafile is the means of storing graphics data. Its complex structure is made of a series of records, where each record represents a certain function of graphics design interface. There are several image formats that contain the term “metafile” in their names. The most common format is Windows Metafiles, while Aldus Placeable Metafiles File format is not as well known. Windows Metafile (WMF) format is provided in two alternative specifications: the enhanced metafile format is generally recommended for inclusion in text-editing or drawing documents. This format is also used when you copy a CanoDraw graph onto clipboard. The other form – Aldus placeable metafile format can be used by older text-layout software. This file format is proprietary of the Aldus Corporation – company that was thriving a few decades ago and was the producer for desktop publishing and graphics software. Files with file extension .APM are not so easy to open by Windows applications due to their 22-bit header. Conversion of Aldus Placeable Metafiles File format into more universally recognized formats is possible in single and batch mode.