The Quick and Cheapy 3D Stereoman User's Manual and Installation Instructions

Thank you for using 3D Stereoman. This will serve as a temporary user's manual for the time being.

Please Read This License Agreement before using the program:

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! These programs are provided here for your private and non-commercial use. Any other use of the programs will result in punishment to the maximum extent possible under the law. We are not responsible for any damage done to your computer whether it be by but not limited to: hardware damage, software damage, etc... by your misuse or use of any of the downloadable programs. These programs have been scanned for viruses so you need not worry about them, but these programs are not guaranteed to be free of them. The programs are provided as-is without any sort or warranty or support, written or implied. By downloading the programs, you will be thereby bound to the terms of this agreement. If you do not agree with these terms, do not proceed to use the program.

About Stereoman:

Three-d stereoman is a program that allows you to create three dimensional stereographic images for viewing without special glasses. These pictures are the ones you see in stores on postcards and calendars and are sometimes called 'magic eyes(tm).' To see these images, you pretend that you are looking through the image at something on the back of it. At the same time, you focus your eyes on the image. This makes your eyes overlap different areas of the image to create a three dimensional effect. Another way to see these images is to bring your eyes close to them and then draw it slowly back, letting your eyes relax. See a book with stereograms for more information about how to view them. This is a beta release of the 256 color version of the program. It will expire on the first day of the new year (1996). For more info about the algorithm used to create these images, check out Jom's General Magazine - December 1995 issue.

Installation instructions:

Download 3dlite.zip from a Jomnet ftp site.
Unzip the files in a temporary diretory.
Run the setup.exe program and follow the on-screen directions.
Running the program:
Click on the icon in program manager or the start menu.

The stereoman application runs like any paint program. You select the tool from the palette and use them to draw on the height field window. The color palette lets you select different shades of grey. The only difference between this program and an ordinary paint program is that the colors correspond to different depths in three dimensions. This means you actually are painting in three dimensions! The darker the color you paint in, the farther back the object will be when you render the image. To render, or convert, the image to a three-d stereogram, click on the camera button on the toolbar.

Quickie tutorial:

Run Stereoman.
Choose a middle range grey shade of color in the color palette.
Chose the 'scroll' tool in the color palette.
Click anywhere in the height field window.
The window should fill up with a gradient fill. This will give a slanted depth effect in the stereogram.
Now, choose a lighter color from the color palette.
Click on the 'arrow' tool in the toolbar. This is the draw tool.
Draw something on the height field window.
Now, click on the last button in the toolbar. This button lets you change the background image to any bitmap you choose.
Click on the 'sliver file' button. For this time, use the file 'rockback.gif' included with the program. Note: if you don't want to use a sliver file, make sure that the 'use sliver file' in the '3d special' menu is not checked.
Now, to generate the stereogram, click on the camera button on the toolbar.