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Encode mockup XML in PNG metadata
Why not have the PNGs generated by a Balsamiq snapshot include the complete XML for that mockup as metadata in the encoding of the image? That way, a PNG can be opened by Balsamiq as a bona fide, editable mockup.
I got this idea from Spore, which does the same kind of thing: when you export a PNG "portrait" of a creature, that PNG contains all the "virtual DNA" required for the Spore game to reconstruct that creature. The Spore engine is able to read this (very cleverly encoded) metadata in the PNG and manifest the complete creature. This allows players to exchange creature portraits over email (as attached PNGs), and even make them available on the web (as avatar icons in forums, as images on blog posts, etc.) for others to consume in a simple, tidy package.
I often take snapshots of my mockups and email them to coworkers for at-a-glance assessments. But if one of them decided they wanted to tweak the mockup, they could if that PNG contained everything Balsamiq needed to reproduce the mockup. Either way, all I have to do is embed a PNG in an Outlook message; no auxiliary .bmml attachments.
I got this idea from Spore, which does the same kind of thing: when you export a PNG "portrait" of a creature, that PNG contains all the "virtual DNA" required for the Spore game to reconstruct that creature. The Spore engine is able to read this (very cleverly encoded) metadata in the PNG and manifest the complete creature. This allows players to exchange creature portraits over email (as attached PNGs), and even make them available on the web (as avatar icons in forums, as images on blog posts, etc.) for others to consume in a simple, tidy package.
I often take snapshots of my mockups and email them to coworkers for at-a-glance assessments. But if one of them decided they wanted to tweak the mockup, they could if that PNG contained everything Balsamiq needed to reproduce the mockup. Either way, all I have to do is embed a PNG in an Outlook message; no auxiliary .bmml attachments.
I’m not optimistic about this crazy feature getting implemented.
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Inappropriate?I would be really nice to store all the information needed with the a single file that any operating system could open and use. There would be confusion, of course, because most people see a PNG as something they open with Preview, crop, cut, paste, tweak, and save -- which would most likely destroy the metadata.
So let me keep my bmml files, publish PNG with the metadata, and hope for the best!
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This is one of the best points
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Absolutely, both bmml and PNG metadata sounds like the best plan -
Inappropriate?This is very fancy, I didn't even know one could store arbitrary stuff in PNGs. Let me look into it, I like the idea, and definitely I would not replace BMML with just PNG, but _also_ add the bmml to the PNG generated by Mockups.
I’m feeling like a secret agent, hiding stuff into images! ;)
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Inappropriate?I really like the idea, but there should still be an option to just export a png without any metadata.
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Inappropriate?I very much like this idea!
One has to test, if the mockup source stays embedded in the .png if I embed it in word and copy it back into Balsamiq. -
Inappropriate?Check out Adobe's free XMP library to do this - and in other image formats.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/xmp/
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