Here is a basic walk-through on how to convert a Mac DMG file from read only format to a read/write format.

This is not recommended as it can make any piece of software unstable or unusable, but in certain cases it is useful to let you modify the software. The original software developer and or publisher will not support you doing this.

This is written with the intention of allowing files within Rome: Total War on the Mac to be modified, although it is equally valid for other read only DMGs which you need/want to convert to read/write format.

It is always recommended that you make a backup of the original DMG file  in case something should go wrong and you need to reinstate it.

First, locate the Rome Total War folder, which by default you would have copied to your Applications folder on your Macintosh HD. Next, open Disk Utility, found in the Applications > Utility folder. Drag the RomeData DMG file into the left pane of Disk Utility.

It should then appear in the list of drives & images, as follows:

Select RomeData in the list and click Convert.

You will be presented with some options. Select read/write from the drop down menu and Save it to your Desktop.

A panel showing you the progress should then appear.

Once it is complete the new DMG should have appeared on your Desktop – it will be called either RomeData or RomeData.dmg. Drag the file from your Desktop into the Rome Total War folder.

You will be prompted to replace the existing file. If you haven’t already made a backup of the original DMG, you should Stop and do that beforehand. If you have already made a backup, choose Replace.

Once the file has finished moving, you have successfully converted and replaced the read only DMG with a read/write version.

You can then double click on the RomeData DMG file to mount it and subsequently make any alterations you wish. If you find you’ve managed to break something, simply replace the DMG with the original from your backup.

Let me know if I’ve made any mistakes, if you’ve found this useful, or if you’re having problems. I’ll do my best to help!

This tutorial will cover the basic steps involved in making several images transition from one to another with Adobe Photoshop (Ps) and outputting as an animated .gif. My result is displayed at the end of the tutorial.

I am using Ps CS3 on an Apple Mac, but the same applies to Windows users. With Ps now open, go to the ‘File’ menu and choose ‘New’.

You will be presented with a number of options. Web images should be set in pixel dimensions, at 72 pixel/inch (ppi or dpi).

My blank canvas looks like this:

Next, go to ‘File’ and select ‘Place’. Choose an image you want in your slide show and position it how you want it on your canvas. Repeat until all your images have been placed onto your canvas.

It helps to keep track of things if you arrange them into the order you want them to appear.

Now, to enable the Animation pallet, select ‘Animation’ from the ‘Window’ menu.

Disable the layer visibility of all layers except the first slide. The Background doesn’t matter as this will not be visible anyway, so you can turn its visibility off, leave it on, or delete the layer at your discretion.

On the Animation pallet, duplicate the existing frame so that you have a number of frames equal to the number of images you want to appear in your slide show:

You will then have a set of frames that all look the same:

The next step is to change the layer visibility of each layer in accordance with which frame you want the to appear in the animation. For example, the second layer should be the only visible layer on the second frame.

You should end up with a set of frames which all look different:

Simply outputting this will create an animation that is very fast and not much use to anyone unless you want to give them a headache.

To combat this, you need to insert additional frames to pad out the animation. In the Animation pallet, select the icon that looks like a page curl – this will duplicate the currently selected frame. The more frames you add, the smoother the animation will be, but the bigger the file size will become.

Now, to produce a smooth transition between the images, select the first frame, hold shift, and click on the first frame of the next image to select all the frames in between and the chosen frames. You can now click the ‘Tween’ button at the bottom of the Animation pallet to create the smooth blends between images:

Repeat this between all your images.

To create the tween for the final image, I suggest you click and drag the first frame to the end of the line to create your end point – allowing the slide show to begin and end on the same image so it can loop.

You will now of created smooth transitions between your images. If you want to have a pause on each image before it switches, simply enter a frame delay on the appropriate frame. Choose the duration of the frame delay or choose ‘Other…’ to enter a custom time:

Once you have your completed frame set-up, you need to output your animated .gif in the most web-friendly way. Go to ‘File’ and select ‘Save for Web & Devices…’:

You will be presented with a number of options. Make sure you select GIF, as this is the only format which supports animation. If you select the ‘Optimized’ preview on the top left tab and play around with the settings, you can preview the animation before you save. Here are the settings I have used.

You should now have your animated image slide show with smooth transitions! Play around with the settings and tools to find out what suites your task best. My result is below:

BE AWARE that a .gif file can only hold 256 colours (in total, not per frame), so the more images with more colour you cram into one file, the stranger your images may appear. File sizes can also get rather large if you create a file with many frames and large pixel dimensions.

Thanks for reading – any problems, thanks, or suggestions, please point your cursor toward the comment box and start typing!

-Doug

I originally created this in response to a post on MacRumors but thought it might make a nice first tutorial for my site. Although the example used is a poster, this method can be used on any PDF, no matter what size, shape or intended purpose.

Right, do yourself a poster. I did a quick example in Adobe Illustrator just for this tutorial, but any PDF should be the same if created with a respectable program.

Once PDF’d, open with Acrobat Pro (I’m using 8). Use the TouchUp Object tool to delete anything you may have placed as a placeholder, like my yellow box and the text ‘Space for customised text.’

Next use the Text Field tool to draw a text field. This will be where your customisable text will be entered.

The dialogue box that pops up will let you set all the options you want to apply to this entry field. Double click on the text field using the Select Object Tool to edit the details in the future.

Once your done, enable the usage rights in Reader, agree to whatever it says and save it where you want it. (Probably best to save it as a new file rather than over your original.)

Anyone should then be able to open the PDF in an up-to-date version of Acrobat Reader (available free) and replace the text by clicking on it and typing. They will then be able to save, save as, e-mail, print etc.

I hope this makes sense and works for you! If not, post a comment and I’ll see what I can do to help.

-Doug