===== Ventana BIF slides =====

Two variants exist of the Ventana BIF file format:
  * One variant that was produced by scanners manufactured before 2015, and that required both a TIFP and a BIF file file to be rendered correctly
  * A single file BIF variant used by the new scanners manufactured after 2015

It is possible to encounter BIF files that originate from (pre-2015) scanners that require the TIFP file to be rendered correctly. As of version 3 of PMA.core, we no longer ship the Ventana SDK as part of our software anymore, so we're no longer in the capacity to generate these TIFP files ourselves anymore in case they are missing.

[[https://free.pathomation.com|PMA.start]] however does still ship with the original Ventana SDK.

The **solution** then is to open the original BIF locally with [[https://free.pathomation.com|PMA.start]], see the TIFP file appear, and then place th TIFP file next to the original BIF file on the server.

Can't see the TIFP files in your Windows Explorer, even after the slide renders correctly now in PMA.start? Then make sure that you have confirmed that hidden files are shown in addition to regular files:

{{ :show_hidden_files.png?400 |}}

If you have a large repository of BIF files that require these TIFP files to be (re)created, you can use [[https://www.pathomation.com/developers/#python|Python automation]] to automate this process further.

[[format_troubleshoot|More on file format troubleshooting]]