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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
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1995-01-12
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PCX2CCS version 1.0
Minimum requirements: EGA monitor, AT or compatable, 360K free
conventional memory 300K free XMS, EMS or virtual memory
DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
EXECUTION PARAMETERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
SCREEN LAYOUT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
DIRECTORIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
MOUSE & KEYBOARD CONTROLS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
EDITING CAPABILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
MENUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
FILE MENU (F1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
EDIT MENU (F2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
VIEW (F3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
DO CHART (F4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
INFORMATION MENU (F5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
LIBRARY (F6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
HELP (F7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CURRENT SYMBOL (F8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
PCX VIEWER MODES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
VIEW MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SELECT SECTION TO PRINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SCALE IMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
CHANGE SIZE OF IMAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
INCORPORATE LIBRARY IMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CUT AND PASTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
SYMBOL REDUCTION/DITHERING ALGORITHMS. . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1
A FEW WORDS ABOUT SPEED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CONFIGURING/SELECTING A PRINTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
HOW & WHY TO REGISTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
REPORTING PROBLEMS/MAKING SUGGESTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2
DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT
Users of PCX2CCS must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
"PCX2CCS is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
warranties expressed or implied, including, without limitation,
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.
The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or
consequential, which may result from the use of PCX2CCS".
PCX2CCS is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge
to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your
friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products. If you find this program
useful and find that you are using PCX2CCS and continue to use
PCX2CCS after a reasonable trial period, you must make a
registration payment of $40.00 to Chris O'Donnell at the address
below. The $40.00 registration fee will license one copy to YOU
for use on any one computer at any one time.
Anyone distributing PCX2CCS for any kind of remuneration must
first contact Chris O'Donnell at the address below for
authorization. You are encouraged to pass a copy of PCX2CCS along
to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to
register their copy if they find that they can use it. All
registered users will are entitled to FREE minor upgrades, that
will be mailed to you. Please indicate preferred disk size. I
will notify you when the next version is available. The cost for
mailing a MAJOR upgrade is $5.00, payable BEFORE I mail it.
If you encounter a problem, or have any questions or comments
please contact me. Anyone who reports a problem will receive a
copy of the non-registered version (if a non-registered user), or
a FREE major upgrade (if a registered user).
Chris O'Donnell
PO Box 113
Middlebury, Ct 06762
CIS: 70431,1427
Delphi: CHRISOD
Internet: 70431.1427@compuserve.com
chrisod@delphi.com
3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Kathy and Duck for all their help in "breaking" the
program.
To all the people who volunteered to Beta Test the program and
gave constructive input.
To Steve Rimmer of Alchemey MindWorks who wrote the graphics
books that became my constant reference on "how-to"
Especially to my husband & our boys who semi-understand that I
was "working"
INTRODUCTION
This section will explain WHAT the PCX2CCS program is
intended to do. During the testing of the program, there was a
lot of confusion regarding the display, the output and what
exactly should be expected. In order to ensure that the phrases
and "buzz" words that are used mean the same to everyone, let's
start with some terminology.
PIXEL - a graphical point of resolution. Each graphics
monitor is defined by the number of horizontal and vertical
pixels, EGA is 640x350, VGA is 640x480. When PCX2CCS is started
it sets the pixel resolution, a Super-VGA monitor is normally set
to 640x480, 256 colors. A monitor can be changed to another mode
by specifying that the graphics driver is to use, for example,
the EGA resolution of 640x350. Thus pixel is the individual point
that can be referenced on the monitor.
PCX - A method of encoding and decoding the graphical
information presented on a monitor. Thus a PCX image is a graphical
image that has been encoded using this methodology. In order to
re-generate the display, the decode methodology is used.
When an image is originally created, the artist has decided
which colors are to be used and has loaded these colors into a
"palette". The next step is to "draw" the image. Each pixel of
the image has one color assigned to it. The color is indicated by
the palette entry, therefore a pixel whose color is 1, is using
the color located in the first entry of the palette. If the color
located in entry 1 is changed, the pixel will immediately change
to the new color.
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When the image is saved, the palette configuration and the
color of each individual pixel is recorded, usually
left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Thus to restore the image, the
file is read, the palette is loaded and the pixels are colored,
left-to-right, top-to-bottom.
COLORS AND SYMBOLS
When a PCX file is read into PCX2CCS, each palette entry is
assigned a character. Entry 1 is a '!', entry 2 is a '\' and so
on. There are 256 different characters that can be used (257
including a background symbol). When an image is loaded, the
LIGHTEST color in the palette will be used as the background
against which the grid and all menus are drawn, the DARKEST color
in the palette will be used for the grid lines and all text.
EGA AND 16 COLOR VGA: 16 color monitors are limited to 16
colors out of a possible 64. When an image is loaded, each of the
RGB colors users are converted to the corresponding colors out of
the possible 64 colors. The first 16 unique colors are then used
to draw the image. The original color palette remains intact and
will be used for DMC color assignment and symbol reduction.
OVERVIEW
The purpose of this program is to take PCX files (some of
which are great pictures) and change them into charted stitch
patterns. The default maximum image size is 640 pixels x 480
pixels. The simplest use is to load in a PCX image and create the
hard copy of the chart.
Notations used: <alt> or <cntl> indicates to hold down the
alt or cntl key while simultaneously depressing the indicated
key. Thus <alt>R means hold down alt and depress the R key
(upper/lower case is irrelevant) <cntl>page up means hold down
the cntl key and depress the page up key.
EXECUTION PARAMETERS
Start the program by typing PCX2CCS. There are 2 optional
parameters you can supply:
L/l - set up the mouse as a left-handed mouse, that is swap
the functions of the left and right buttons. If you use this
option, remember to swap the words left and right when reading
the documentation.
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P/p# - Direct the printer output to LPT#. The default is
LPT1:
Any, all or none of these parameters can be supplied. The order
does NOT matter.
SCREEN LAYOUT
The screen shows a grid with every tenth line being a dashed
line. Across the top of the screen is an option bar presenting
the various menus and options. Here is a brief description of the
options, see the section entitled MENUS for complete details of
the menus, see the section entitles PCX VIEWER MODE for details
on View mode.
FILE (F1) - this menu contains options related to file
controls i.e. loading files, saving file, changing directories.
EDIT (F2) - this menu contains options related to editing the
loaded image.
VIEW (F3) - This menu allows you to either view the image as
in a graphical image viewer, or view the symbols used in the image
and the currently assigned DMC color number and name.
DO CHART (F4) - This menus allows you to produce a chart of
either the entire image or a section of the image
INFORMATION (F5) - This menu presents you with information
about the current image.
LIBRARY (F6) - This menu allows you to create or edit library
elements, and/or incorporate library elements into the current
image. (SEE LIBRARY FOR MORE INFORMATION)
HELP (F7) - this menu presents you with the various help
topics available.
CURRENT SYMBOL (F8) - this option allows you to change the
current symbol that will be used when adding new symbols
Across the bottom of the screen, and on the right and side
are 2 scroll bars. The marker indicates which section of the
image is currently being seen.
If the entire height or width of the image is visible, then
the corresponding scroll bar will be white, and will NOT respond
to the mouse.
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When moving around the image, the edges of the image, and/or
the grid, are indicated by a thick black line.
DIRECTORIES
The program keeps track of 4 independent directories:
1) the current working directory This is the directory used
for PCX and CCS file input and output. DEFAULT: directory
where PCX2CCS is running.
2) the print directory - This is the directory where charted
pcxs are stored. DEFAULT: \CCSPRT under the directory where
PCX2CCS is running, it will be created.
3) the library directory - This is the directory used for
library element input and output. DEFAULT: \LIB under the
directory where PCX2CCS is running, it will be created.
4) The directory where PCX2CCS is running from - This is the
place were the printer and machine configuration files are
expected to be found.
The first 3 directories can be changed via the file selection
window. If you change any directory, it will be "remembered"
until it is changed again. In addition, you can change the
defaults by using the configuration option on the FILE MENU and
specify the default directories and DMC file to be used.
The default file for RGB-DMC color mapping is MASTER.DMC,
located in the same directory where PCX2CCS is located. This
default can also be changed via the configuration menu. In
addition, you can change the dmc file using the SELECT DMC DATA
FILE on the FILE MENU.
MOUSE & KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Personally I can't stand the mouse and I object to any
software that requires the mouse. Therefore, everything that can
be done via the mouse can be done via the keyboard. The menu
options can be invoked via an <alt> key combination. The key
combination is indicated on the menu by a diamond followed
by the key. This information is also available vie the help menu
option "Keystrokes".
The menus themselves can be invoked by the corresponding
Function key, F1 is FILE, F2 is edit and so on.
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All up and down scroll bars can be activated as follows:
1) position the arrow on the marker, depress the left mouse
button and move the marker up and down.
2) position the arrow on the up or down arrow and depress the
left button
3) position the arrow in the black section above or below the
marker and depress the left mouse button.
As long as the mouse button is depressed, the marker will
move. The arrows increment/decrement the marker by 1, the
black section of the scroll bar moves the marker by 1 "page". A
menu "page" is the next section of menu option, a grid "page" is
the next section of the grid. Page Up and Page Down will also
perform a "page" scroll. The menu, file list or grid will NOT be
updated until the mouse button is released and the marker stops
moving.
The left and right scroll bars responds in an identical
manner. The key combination to move the marker is <cntl>L to
scroll 1 page left and <cntl>R to scroll 1 page right.
In addition the scroll bars for the grid will also respond to
<cntl>Page Up to scroll to the top of the image, <cntl>Page Down
to scroll to the bottom, <cntl>End to scroll to the far right of
the image and <cntl>Home to scroll to the far left.
The arrow itself will also respond to the keyboard. The arrow
keys will move the arrow 1 space. The Home key will position the
arrow at the furthest most left square and End will position the
arrow the furthest most right square.
All of the windows use the same format to present
information. The CANCEL button or ESC key will terminate windows
without performing any action. The OK button or ENTER will
perform the selected action. To select from a list, position the
arrow on the desired option and depress the left button. A
highlight bar will appear indicating the selected option. Keeping
the button depressed and moving the mouse will move the highlight
bar up and down. Release the mouse button and select OK to
finish making a selection. To view more of a list, use the scroll
bar.
To make a selection via the keyboard, depress the S key to
activate the highlight bar. Use the up and down arrow keys to
move the highlight bar up and down. When the desired option is
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highlighted, hit ENTER. Use Page Up and Page Down to active the
scroll bars.
If you have highlighted an option and then scroll, the
highlight bar will go away and you will have to re-select and
option.
To select a checkbox, such as a dithering algorithm, the
keystroke is presented in parenthesis. Depressing the indicated
key will 'X' the associated box, indicating that the option is
selected. To use the mouse, position the arrow on the check box
and depress the left button. To de-select a checkbox, select the
box again. Some check boxes are exclusive, so that selecting
another option may de-select the selected option.
Editable text is presented in a box filled with the
information to be edited. Select the box either by positioning
the arrow on the box, of by depressing the associated key. A
cursor marker will appear at the beginning of the text. The
cursor can be moved left and right via the arrow keys. The DEL
key will delete characters to the right of the cursor, the
backspace arrow will delete the character to the left of the
cursor. Additional characters can be inserted at the cursor
marker. The maximum number of characters is limited by the length
of the box.
The window for selecting files for loading or saving files
presents the current directory path and file extension used, a
scrollable list of the files found in the directory, and an
editable field. When loading a file, the editable field is blank.
When a file is selected the editable field displays the file
name. Selecting OK will load the selected file. When saving a
file, the name of the previously loaded file, with the
appropriate extension is presented in the editable field. To save
using this file name, select OK. To save to a different file,
select desired file and select OK. To save to new and different
file name, edit the name in the editable field and select OK.
To change the directory, select ..\ to go up 1 level or
select the directory name in the file list, to go down 1 level.
The file list will be update to reflect the files in the new
directory. The new directory will be saved and used for
subsequent file selections.
9
KEY STROKES & HOT KEYS
Right arrow/R/r - move mouse arrow 1 square to the right *
Left arrow//L/r - move mouse arrow 1 square to the left *
Up arrow/U/u - move mouse arrow 1 square up *
Down arrow/D/d - move 1 mouse arrow square down *
home/H/h - move mouse arrow to farthest left visible square
end/E/e - move mouse arrow to the farthest right visible
square
page up - scroll up 1 screen height of the grid
page down - scroll down 1 screen height of the grid
<cntl>R - scroll to the right 1 screen width of the grid
<cntl>L - scroll to the left 1 screen width of the grid
<Cntl>Home - move to the left edge of the design *
<Cntl>End - move to the right edge of the design *
<Cntl>Page up - Move to the top of the design *
<Cntl>Page down - Move to the bottom of the design *
C/c - move to the center of the grid no matter where in the
grid you are
F1 - File Menu
F2 - Edit Menu
F3 - View Menu
F4 - Do Chart Menu
F5 - Information Window
F6 - Library Menu
F7 - Help Menu
F8 - Change Current Symbol
<alt>A - Save Image as a PCX
<alt>B - Toggle Background Stitch on/off
<alt>C - Cut & Paste Edit
<alt>D - Use a different DMC data file
10
<alt>E - Select a section to print
<alt>F - Change configuration
<alt>I - Show Information about a PCX file
<alt>J - Show Information about an CCS file
<alt>L - Load a PCX
<alt>M - Mass symbol update
<alt>N - Reduce number of symbols
<alt>P - Change Color Palette
<alt>Q - Quit without Saving
<alt>R - Restore current image
<alt>S - Scale current image
<alt>T - Toggle between B&W symbols and colored symbols
<alt>V - View current image as a graphical image Viewer
<alt>W - Print entire chart
<alt>X - Load CCS file
<alt>Z - Save CCS file
<alt>1 - View symbols and DMC color number and name
<alt>2 - Edit Rows and/or Columns
<alt>3 - Change current symbol color
<alt>6 - Load library element for editing
<alt>7 - Save library element
<alt>8 - Incorporate library element into image
* These commands will also control the box in graphical image viewer mode
EDITING CAPABILITIES
There are 3 ways to edit the image. One method is a
symbol-by-symbol method, another is to use the cut & paste option
on the edit menu (SEE GRAPHICAL IMAGE VIEWER MODE FOR DETAILS), and
finally the MASS UPDATE option on the EDIT menu (<ALT>M) can be used to
change ALL OCCURRENCES of specified symbols.
Symbols can be added to the pattern and deleted from the
pattern using the ENTER key and DEL key, or the left and right
mouse buttons, respectively. These keys will perform their
actions on the grid square where the cursor is. Symbols can be
replaced by positioning the arrow on the symbol to be replaced,
and hitting enter or the left mouse button. The Current Symbol
will replace the previous symbol. With the mouse you can do
repeated adds/deletes by continuing to hold down the mouse button
as you move it. Any square the arrow passes over will have the
symbol added or deleted.
In addition to editing 1 symbol at a time technique, the
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borders of the image can be adjusted. Using the Edit Menu, it is
possible add rows or columns to the edges of the design. The
border markers will be moved out 1 row/column. It is also
possible to move the border IN to the current cursor position.
When the borders are moved in, all symbols the are beyond the new
border(s) are deleted. This technique can be used to trim or crop
an image by positioning the cursor at the edges of the desired
section, and moving the borders in.
MENUS
The menus are listed across the top of the screen. The hot
keys for the menus is the corresponding function key. NOTE: IF
YOU HAVE RE-DEFINED YOUR FUNCTION KEYS THEN THEY WILL NOT BE HOT
KEYS.
Every menu functions in the same manner, the options for the
menu are presented in a scrollable list. The list can be scrolled
either by the mouse or the keyboard. To select an option using
the mouse, position the mouse arrow on the desired option and hit
the left mouse button. Keeping the button depressed and moving
the mouse will move the highlight box up and down. Moving the
arrow off the menu list will shut off the highlight bar.
Releasing the mouse button will leave the highlight bar on the
selected option. After highlighting the desired option, click
the OK button. Selecting CANCEL will terminate the menu with no
action taken. To select an option via the keyboard, depress
the 'S' key and the highlight bar will appear. Using the up and
down arrows, position the highlight bar on the desired option.
Hit ENTER to activate the selected option, hit ESC to cancel.
FILE MENU (F1)
The file menu has all the options for file input and output.
From here you can select the image to load, where to save the
current image, get information about an image, change the DMC
file to use, change the configuration of the machine, either
permanently or temporarily and exit from the program. The 10
options are:
LOAD PCX FILE - This option will display a list of PCX files in
the current directory. Select the PCX file to load, or change
directories.OK/ENTER will load the selected file, CANCEL/ESC will
NOT load.
LOAD CCS FILE - This option will display a list of CCS files
in the current directory. Select the CCS file to load, or change
12
directories. OK/ENTER will load the selected file, CANCEL/ESC
will NOT load.
INFORMATION ABOUT PCX - This option will display a list of PCX
files in the current directory. Select the PCX file for
information, or change directories. If you select a file, the
height and width will be display. At this point you can select to
Load (ENTER) or Not Load (CANCEL) the PCX.
INFORMATION ABOUT CCS - This option will display a list of CCS
files in the current directory. Select the CCS file for
information, or change directories. If you select a file, the
height and width will be display. At this point you can select to
Load (ENTER) or No Load (CANCEL) the CCS.
SAVE CURRENT PATTERN (CCS) - This option will display a list of
CCS files in the current directory. Select the CCS file to be
written to, or enter a new file name. OK/ENTER will write to the
file the symbols colors, the DMC information and the current
image. Although the image information is in standard PCX
format, the rest of the information is unique to this program,
and thus this file can ONLY be read by this program.
SAVE AS PCX FILE - This option will display a list of PCX files
in the current directory. Select the PCX file to be written to,
or enter a new file name. OK/ENTER will create a standard PCX
file that can be read by any PCX viewer.
QUIT (NO SAVE) - The program willl gracefully exit,without saving
the current image.
SAVE (CCS) & EXIT - This option is a combination of SAVE CURRENT
PATTERN and QUIT.
SELECT DMC DATA FILE - This option will present a list of .DMC
file in the current working directory. Select the file to use for
subsequent images. The file will be read immediately and the DMC
information will be assigned to the current image.
CHANGE CONFIGURATION - This option allows you to change the
graphics resolution of the monitor, the maximum image height and
width, the spacing for the dashed lines and the default startup
directories and files. The maximum height multiplied by the
maximum width cannot exceed the largest amount of free memory.
This information can be saved and will then be the default
configuration, or it can set for just the current session.
13
WARNING: IF YOU SET THE GRAPHICS SCREEN RESOLUTION FOR GREATER
THAN YOUR MONITOR/VIDEO CARD CAN HANDLE YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR
MONITOR/CARD. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW THE MAXIMUM
RESOLUTION. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY SETTING THE
RESOLUTION TOO HIGH.
EDIT MENU (F2)
The edit menu contains 10 options for changing both the image
and the presentation of the image.
MASS SYMBOL UPDATE - This option performs deletion, addition and
replacement of all occurrences of specified symbols. When this
option is selected a second window presents the options for Mass
Update. These options are:
1) RE-INITIALIZE GRID - Clear the grid of all symbols and reset
the size of the grid to the maximum height and width, and reset
the color palette.
2) DELETE 1 SYMBOL - A window displaying all the symbols is
presented with a "select symbol to delete" message across the
top. Select the desired symbol by selecting the associated
checkbox. The arrow starts at the current symbol. The arrow will
move according to the mouse or via the arrow keys. When the
desired symbol is selected, select OK (Enter). To abort this
function select CANCEL.
3) REPLACE 1 SYMBOL WITH ANOTHER - A window displaying all the
symbols is presented with a "Replace This symbol...." message
across the top. Select the desired symbol by selecting the
associated checkbox. The arrow starts at the current symbol. The
arrow will move according to the mouse or via the arrow keys. To
abort this function select CANCEL. When the desired symbol is
selected, select OK (Enter). The message has "...With This
Symbol" appended to it. Select the symbol to be used for
replacement. Select OK to perform the replacement, select CANCEL
to abort process.
4) FILL BLANK SQUARES WITH A SYMBOL - A window displaying all the
symbols is presented with a "Select symbol to fill in blanks"
message across the top. Select the desired symbols by selecting
the associated checkbox. The arrow starts at the current symbols.
The arrow will move according to the mouse or via the arrow keys.
When the desired symbol is selected, select OK (Enter). To abort
this function select CANCEL.
14
SCALE - This option allows the image to be scaled up or down, in
or out. In the lower left corner of the window is the current
size in stitches and inches. As scale options are selected and
changed, this information is updated. The scale options are:
1) SCALE HEIGHT UP (U) - Select this option to increase the
HEIGHT of the image. A second line will appear: (R) Expand 1 row
into X, where X is an editable field.
2) SCALE HEIGHT DOWN (D) - Select this option to decrease the
HEIGHT of the image. A second line will appear: (R) Combine X
rows into 1, where X is an editable field.
3) SCALE WIDTH OUT (O) - Select this option to increase the WIDTH
of the image. A second line will appear: (C) Expand 1 row into X,
where X is an editable field.
4) SCALE WIDTH IN (I) - Select this option to decrease the WIDTH
of the image. A second line will appear: (C) Combine X rows into
1, where X is an editable field.
After setting the scale options, select OK, or hit the Enter key.
You will be put into PCX viewer mode, showing the image as it
looks with the scale factors applied. From here you can save the
image, or not. (See PCX VIEWER MODES for more information about
the various PCX viewer modes)
CUT & PASTE - This option will put you into PCX viewer mode. In
this mode the box can be used to encompass the section of the
image to the moved, copied or deleted. See PCX VIEWER MODES for
the various options.
EDIT ROWS/COLUMNS - The option allows you to add or insert blanks
rows and/or colunms, or delete or clip rows and/or columns from
the image. A window presents 2 groups of options, the ACTION to
be performed and the DIRECTION of the action. The actions are:
Add (A) - Add to the EDGE of the image
Insert (I) - Insert within the image
Delete (D) - Delete within the image
Clip (C) - Delete everything to the edge and move the edge to a
new position.
Any 1 of these options can be selected. The next 4 options
control the DIRECTION of the action:
Left (L)
15
Right (R)
Top (T)
Bottom (B)
Any and all of these directions can be selected at the same time.
Finally, for Add, Insert and Delete you can change the NUMBER of
rows and/or columns to Add, Insert or Delete:
This Many (#): The default is 1, but this can be changed.
If you selected Insert or Delete you will be prompted to position
the mouse at the row or column where you wish the insertion or
deletion to begin. You will receive this message once for every
direction you choose, thus if you selected to insert 1 row/column
in all 4 directions you will be prompted 4 times to specify a
location. The prompt will contain information about the
direction.
CHANGE SYMBOL COLOR - This option will present the entire color
palette from which you can select the color to be used by the
current symbol. There may be 2 "pages" of colors. Select Next or
Prev to switch between pages. The arrow will respond to both the
mouse movement, and the arrow keys.
CHANGE COLOR PALETTE - This option will also present the entire
color palette. When you have selected the color you wish to
change, a window will display a large colored square and 3 scroll
bars. At the top of each scroll bar is a number. As indicate by
the label at the bottom of each scroll bar, each bar represents
the red, green and blue components of the selected color.
Changing the amount of red, green and/or blue will change the
color. You can change the red, green or blue by either sliding
the scroll thumb up or down, or by selecting the number at the
top of the bar, and typing in a new value. The valid value range
is 0 to 255. Using the keyboard, R will active the red bar, G the
green and B the blue. The thumb will respond to the page up and
page down keys. Once the new color is ready, select OK/enter and
the new color will replace the old.
TOGGLE COLOR/B&W SYMBOLS - This option will toggle between
displaying colored symbols in the grid and displaying "black"
symbols in the grid.
TOGGLE BACKGROUND SYMBOLS - This option will change every blank
square to a "background symbol", using the background colored
defined for the image.
16
REDUCE NUMBER OF SYMBOLS - This option will let you reduce the
total number of symbols used in the image. The process of
reducing the number of symbols involves creating a new color
palette and then remapping (with or without dithering) the old
image to a new image. Since this involves reading every single
symbols twice, the bigger the image, the longer it takes.
Messages identifying the various steps are displayed.
The window pre sents 2 categories of options: How many symbols to
reduce to and What algorithm to use (if any) after creating the
new color palette. You can reduce the number of symbols to:
No More Than 8 Symbols (1)
No More Than 16 Symbols (2)
No More Than 32 Symbols (3)
No More Than 64 Symbols (4)
No More Than 128 Symbols (5)
The phrase "No More Than" is used because depending on the
initial color palette, you may not get EXACTLY 8 symbols, it
might be 7 or even 5.
There are 7 different algorithms that can be selected for
adjusting the image to the new palette. These options are:
Floyd Dither Algorithm (F)
Stucki Dither Algorithm (S)
Burkes Dither Algorithm (B)
ReMap - No Dither (R)
Magic Square Matrix (M)
Dispersed Dot Matrix (D)
Clustered Dot Matrix (C)
When an image has the number of colors reduced, a brand new
palette is created. This new palette is created by determining
the most commonly used colors and the most unique colors in the
exiting palette. After creating the NEW palette, every single
symbol is then examined to determine which color in the NEW
palette is the BEST substitute for the color in the OLD palette.
This is a simple re-map, without any dithering. Most of the time,
the resulting image is so-so. In an attempt to make a "better"
image there are 6 different dithering algorithms. The first 3
options are different mathematical filters.
As the new color for each occurrence of each symbol is
determined, an "error" is computed. This error indicated how far
"off" the new RGB is from the old RGB. This error is than
17
distributed, adding or subtracting a number to the R, G and B
values of the surrounding pixels. Each filter uses a different
calculation for this distribution. For more details about the
math involved in each algorithm, see the section entitled
DITHERING ALGORITHMS.
There are also 3 Matrix filters. These 3 matrixes provide a
pattern for dithering. The Magic Square matrix is a pretty good
matrix. The Dispersed Dot matrix uses a crosshatched pattern
while Clustered-Dot uses a pattern similar to the pattern used by
newspapers. All 3 were provided by the graphics library I use,
and as such I don't have any way to provide any feedback while
it's working.
RESTORE IMAGE - This option will restore the original image by
re-decoding the PCX or CCS file.
VIEW (F3)
There are 2 options on the view menu: View image and View
symbols.Selecting View image will put you in PCX viewer mode.
(See PCX VIEWER MODES for details of the various functions that
can be performed.) The image will be drawn without the grid
lines, but with a box showing the section of the image that was
visible in grid mode. The box can be moved and new location
selected.
View Symbols will present you with a scrollable list of all
the symbols currently used in the image, and the DMC color number
and color name assigned to the symbol. This color number and name
can be changed by selecting a symbol. The DMC information will
appear in 2 appropriately labeled files. You can selected either
field and change, edit or erase the information.
You can also get a copy of just the symbol table by selecting
PRINT. This copy can either be printed or put to a PCX file. If
you choose to create a PCX file of the symbol table, you will be
presented a window showing the files in the current print
directory. You can change the directory, select a file, or enter
a name for a new file. The symbol table will then be encoded
to the file.
If you choose to print to the printer you will be presented
the following information:
Page Height (H):
Page Width (W):
Title etc (T):
18
Changing the Page height and/or width will change how much of
the symbol table can be printed in each page. Using the Title
field, you can add up to 50 characters for a title, copyright or
other information. Select OK when the information is correct.
DO CHART (F4)
This option allows you to create a chart of the current
image. You can select to create the full chart, or create a chart
of a section of the image. If you choose to select a section of
the image to chart, you will be put into pcx viewer mode to
select the section. If there is no pcxccspt.cfg file present, a
PCX file is the default, otherwise the printer is the default. To
create a pcxccspt.cfg file see the section entitled
"CONFIGURING/SELECTING A PRINTER"
In either case, when you are ready to create the chart you
have 2 options: Print the chart on the printer or create a PCX
file of the chart. If you choose to create a PCX file of the
chart, you will be presented a window showing the files in the
current print directory. You can change the directory, select a
file, or enter a name for a new file. The image will then be
charted to the file.
If you choose to print to the printer you will be presented
the following information:
Page Height (H):
Page Width (W):
Title etc (T):
Changing the Page height and or width will change how much of
the chart can be printed in each page. Using the Title field, you
can add up to 50 characters for a title, copyright or other
information.
At this point you wil also have to select the Dots Per Inch
(DPI) that you want the printer to use. The avaialble DPI options
are presented as checkboxs. Select the density you want to use.
The higher the DPI, the smaller the squares. Select OK when the
information is correct.
In addition to any title, on the top of each page will ba a
page number, for example page 1.1, page 1.2, page 2.1 The first
number is the "column" the second number is the row. This
information is presented to help with multi-paged charts.
19
If the chart of the image plus the symbol table take up more
than 1 page, the symbol table will be printed on a separate page.
INFORMATION MENU (F5)
The information menu presents the information for the current
image, including the size in stitches and inches and the current
evenweave count. Any and all of these bits of information can be
changed and the associated information will reflect the change.
But NO physical change is made to the image until OK is selected.
To change any field, select the box where the information is,
or depress the associated key. A cursor marker will appear at the
far left of the box. As long as the cursor marker is visible the
field can be edited. The marker moves via the left and right
arrows, the home and end keys, and the backup and delete key.
After makeing your changes, select OK or hit enter. If you
changed the Image height and/or width, in stitches or inches, you
will be put into the PCX Viewer Mode to view the resulting image.
(See PCX VIEWER MODE for information about the various modes and
menus). If you changed the EvenWeave count you will return to
the grid, with no visible changes.
LIBRARY (F6)
The library function allows you to incorporate other PCX
images into the current image. A library element is defined as
any PCX file located in the directory defined as the library.
There are 3 options on the menu:
EDIT LIBRARY ELEMENT - This option allows you to load a PCX image
from the library directory and edit it. The library directory can
be changed to any directory. The default directory is /LIB under
the directory where PCX2CCS is running from.
SAVE LIBRARY ELEMENT - This option allows you to save the current
image into the library directory for later incorporation.
INCORPORATE LIBRARY ELEMENT - This option allows you to select an
image from the current library directory to incorporate into the
current image. After selecting the element, you will be switched
into PCX Viewer mode. This box indicates the relative of the
selected library element. The box can be moved around, the size
changed until it is positioned where you want the element.
Hitting the left mouse button/Enter will incorporate the element
into the image. See PCX VIEW MODE for other details of the pcx
viewer mode.
20
HELP (F7)
This menu contains extracts from this document. The menu
options are:
SCREEN LAYOUT
MENUS
FILE
EDIT
SYMBOL
VIEW
VIEW IMAGE
VIEW SYMBOLS
PRINTING CHART
INFORMATION/RESIZE
SCALE
KEYSTROKES
LIBRARY FUNCTION
PCX VIEW MODES
DMC COLORS
COLOR/SYMBOL REDUCTION
CURRENT SYMBOL (F8)
The current symbol is the symbol that will be added to the
image. To select another symbol, select the CURRENT SYMBOL or
depress F8. This will present a window of all the symbols. The
current symbol has an 'X' in the associated checkbox. To select a
new symbol to be used as the current symbol, move the 'X' to a
new symbol. OK will save this symbol as the current, CANCEL will
terminate this function.
PCX VIEWER MODES
There are 6 functions that use a PCX viewer mode. Each of
these functions has it's own menu. Whenever you start a PCX
viewer function, or change a pcx viewer function, a message will
remind you that to get the menu for the function, hit Enter/left
mouse button. Each menu has 8 identical options:
RETURN TO GRID - This option will return you to grid mode showing
the same section of the image that was visible before entering
the pcx viewer mode.
PRINT ENTIRE IMAGE - This option will chart the entire image as
you currently see it. As with the chart option on grid mode, you
will be able to create either a PCX of the chart or a hard copy
of the chart. If you have changed the size of the image, either
21
by scaling or re-sizing, the chart be printed exactly as you are
viewing it.
SCROLL IMAGE - If the dimensions of the image are greater than
the screen resolution, you can scroll the image. Two scroll bars
will appear, one down the right side of the image, and one across
the bottom. Using the scroll bars you can change the section of
the image that you are viewing.
CHANGE TO SIZE FUNCTION
CHANGE TO SCALE FUNCTION
CHANGE TO PRINT FUNCTION
CHANGE TO LIBRARY FUNCTION
CHANGE TO EDIT FUNCTION
CHANGE TO VIEW FUNCTION - Each of these options will change the
menu you get when you hit enter. You will reminded to hit enter
to get the menu, because physically the only change the screen
may be the appearance, or disappearance of the box. PRINT,
LIBRARY, EDIT and VIEW use the symbol table to perform their
functions. Therefore if you change to these modes and HAVE NOT
saved the current image to the symbol table, you will be given
the option to either save the current image, or restore the
original image. You cannot PRINT, EDIT, INCORPORATE LIBRARY
ELEMENTS, or VIEW a scaled or re-sized image.
VIEW MODE
This mode is a simple VIEW of the image. The box represents
the section of the image that was visible in grid mode. There two
additional menu options.
MOVE BOX - The box will now respond to the movement of the mouse
or the arrow keys, Home and End keys, Page Up and Page Down, and
the <CNTL>L, <CNTL>R, <CNTL>Page Up and <CNTL>Page Down key
combinations. Hitting enter or the left mouse button will
terminate this option, leaving the box wherever it may be.
SAVE THIS LOCATION - This option will return you to grid mode
showing the section of the image that was enclosed in the box.
SELECT SECTION TO PRINT
This mode will allow you to define a section of the image to
chart.
MOVE BOX - The entire box will follow the movement of the mouse.
MOVE TOP EDGE OF BOX
22
MOVE BOTTOM EDGE OF BOX
MOGE LEFT EDGE OF BOX
MOVE RIGHT EDGE OF BOX - These options allow you to move any 1
side of the box. The selected side will move in accordance to
the or via the same keystrokes that move the entire box.
CHART THIS SECTION - The area encompassed by the box will be
charted. You will be given the option to chart to a PCX file or
to the printer.If you choose to create a PCX file of the chart,
you will be presented a window showing the files in the current
print directory. You can change the directory, select a file,
or enter a name for a new file. The image will then be charted
to the file.
If you choose to print to the printer you will be presented
the following information:
Page Height (H):
Page Width (W):
Title etc (T):
Changing the Page height and/or width will change how much of
the chart can be printed in each page. Using the Title field, you
can add up to 50 characters for a title, copyright or other
information. At this point you wil also have to select the Dots
Per Inch (DPI) that you want the printer to use. The avaialble
DPI options are presented as checkboxs. Select the density you
want to use. The higher the DPI, the smaller the squares. Select
OK when the information is correct.
In addition to any title, on the top of each page will be a
page number, for example page 1.1, page 1.2, page 2.1 The first
number is the "column" the second number is the row. This
information is presented to help with multi-paged charts.
If the chart of the image plus the symbol table take up more
than 1 page, the symbol table will be printed on a separate page.
The symbols table will have only the symbols that are used in
this section of the image.
ABOUT THIS SECTION.... - This option will give you the stitch
size of the current section.
SCALE IMAGE
This mode will show how the image will look if the scaling
factor is applied. The menu has the following options:
23
SAVE THIS SIZE - The current size can be saved either to as an
CCS file and/or to the symbol table. If you choose the CCS
file, you will be presented with a list of CCS files in the
current directory. Select a file, or enter a new file name.
Unless you save to the symbol table, you will be reminded that
the new size was NOT save when you return to grid mode.
RESET TO ORIGINAL SIZE - This option will restore the image to
it's original size.
SCALE MENU - This option will present the scale menu. You can
change the scale factors. The current scale factors will be shown
in the edit windows. Any additional scaling will be performed on
THIS image, NOT the original image.
CHANGE SIZE OF IMAGE
This option displays the new size of the image, as specified
on the Information menu.
SAVE THIS SIZE - The current size can be saved either to as an
CCS file and/or to the symbol table. If you choose the CCS
file, you will be presented with a list of CCS files in the
current directory. Select a file, or enter a new file name.
Unless you save to the symbol table, you will be reminded that
the new size was NOT save when you return to grid mode.
RESET TO ORIGINAL SIZE - This option will restore the image to
it's original size.
SIZE MENU - This option will present the size/information menu.
You can change the current size. The current size is the size of
the image being shown.
INCORPORATE LIBRARY IMAGE
This mode will allow you to incorporate library images into
the current image. The box defines the size of the library
element.
MOVE BOX - The box will now follow the movement of the mouse,
and/or respond to the arrow keys.
CHANGE BOX SIZE - This option allows you to change the size of
the box. Up/down mouse movements will increase/decrease the
height. Left/right will increase/decrease the width. When the
24
library element is incorporated it will be scaled up or down in
accordance to the box size.
SHOW BOX DIMENSIONS - This option will show you the current size
of the box.
RESET BOX SIZE - This option will reset the box to the original
element size.
PUT HERE - This option will incorporate the element into the
image at the current box location and size.
GET ANOTHER - This option will present a file listing of the
current library directory. Another library element can be
selected and incorporated.
CUT AND PASTE
This option lets you select a section of the image and delete
it, move it or copy it. The menu options are:
MOVE BOX - The entire box will follow the movement of the mouse.
MOVE TOP EDGE OF BOX
MOVE BOTTOM EDGE OF BOX
MOVE LEFT EDGE OF BOX
MOVE RIGHT EDGE OF BOX - These options allow you to move any 1
side of the box. The selected side will can be controlled either
by the mouse movement of by the keyboard.
DELETE CONTENTS OF BOX - Everything within the confines of the
box will be deleted.
MOVE CONTENTS OF BOX
COPY CONTENTS OF BOX - Everything within the confines of the box
will be captured. The box will now respond to the movement of the
mouse. When the box is where you want the selected section to be,
hit the left mouse button/enter. The original section will be
moved/copied to the new section.
SYMBOL REDUCTION/DITHERING ALGORITHMS
For those of you interested in the mathmatical calculations
performed for the different dithering algorithms, this section
is extracted from Steve Rimmers SUPERCHARGED BITMAPPED GRAPHICS
published by WindCrest Books, an imprint of TAB books a division
of MacGraw-Hill pages 579-580
25
"...The process of dithering images being remapped is called
error diffusion. Error diffusion is handled using a diffusion
"filter" of which there are quite a few around. The most commonly
encountered one is the Floyd-Steinberg filter. It's drawn like
this:
X 7
3 5 1
In this diagram, the X represents the pixel to be remapped.
The other numbers represent adjacent pixels. The 5, for example,
is the pixel one line down and immediately below the pixel being
remapped. In looking at error diffusion filter diagrams, any
pixels that extend beyond the edges of the picture are ignored.
In this filter all the numbers add up to 16. The numbers
represent the numerators of fractions whose denominators are 16.
These fractions represent the proportion of the total error to be
diffused to each of the pixels in the diagram.
To apply this filter to remapping an image, then, you would
begin with the first pixel.... Having found the nearest match for
it in the destination palette, you would derive a color error for
the two RGB values by subtracting the destination red value from
the source red value, the destination green value from the source
green value, and the destination blue value from the source blue
value. We'll call these three numbers rd, gd, and bd
respectively.
Having derived the color error for the pixel being remapped,
it can be replaced be the palette entry in question.
Looking at the filter diagram, the pixel to the immediate
right of the one being remapped should recieve 7/16 of the color
error. As such, you would find the red value for this pixel and
add (rd X 7)/16 to it. The same thing can be done for the green
and blue values. Having done this, you would repeat the process
for any other pixels affected by this filter. The pixel indicated
by 3 would be ignored in this case, as it extends beyond the left
edge the of the picture if you're working with the first pixel in
a line.
Having remapped and diffused one pixel, the filter moves
right by 1 pixel and the whole circus can start again.....
Error-diffused dithering can produce distinctly better results if
you scale a source image up and then dither it.
26
The results of error-diffused dithering are also affected by
the filter you use. A filter that communicates with a larger
number of pixels usually produces more attractive results, as it
is less likely to make the picture look as if it has a pattern
built into it. The Stucki filter, for example, usually does much
better work than the Floyd-Steinburg filer. It looks like this:
X 8 4
2 4 8 4 2
1 2 4 2 1
The Stucki filter works with fractions of the color error in
which the denominator is 42, the sum of alll the numbers in the
filter diagram. It's pretty slow compared to the Floyd-Stienburg
filer.
The Burkes filers is somewhere in between the two preceding
filter. It looks like this:
X 8 4
2 4 8 4 2
......."
A FEW WORDS ABOUT SPEED
The production of the chart is NOT fast. On my machine (an AT
compatible) a 640x480 image charted to a PCX file takes 30
minutes. Why does it take sooooo long? To create the chart,
reach individual symbol is converted to an 10x10 dotted symbol.
Thus ! becomes
.
. .
... .
..... .
..... .
..... .
... .
.
. .
.
Therefore each image row is printed as a chart by making 10 rows
(and a line). I'll gladly take any suggestions for speeding up
the printing and/or creating of the PCX image of the chart.
27
CONFIGURING/SELECTING A PRINTER
To select a printer, run SETPRINT.EXE. This program will
create a printer configuration file for PCX2CCS.
The program MUST be run from the same directory as PCX2CCS,
since it uses the symbol file for the printer test & the file
that is generated is "assumed" to be in the same directory as
PCX2CCS when you run it.
To run the program, type SETPRINT, at the DOS prompt. You
will be shown an alphabetic list of MANUFACTURERS. You can
scroll the list using the scroll bar. Location and select the
manufacture of the printer, or the emulator you plan to use.
The next display is of the different models made by this
28
manufacturer. The (E) or (HP) indicates the codes that are used
to run the printer. If your printer has a choice between Epson
and IBM, select (E) for the Epson code set and set the printer
for Epson. Mismatching the code set with the emulation will
result in a printer that does not respond to the print codes.
You will be given the chance to run a "quick" test of the
printer. If you say "yes", a number different test will be run,
one for each different dots per inch.
If the test fails, rerun the program: setprint d x . The D
will generate a printer.tst file. The X will use the current
pcxccspt.cfg. Without the X you'll have to re-select the printer.
Without the D you'll re-run the printer test. printer.tst
contains the commands that were sent to the printer and the of
data to be printed. Only 1 density will be used. Send this file
to Chris O'Donnell. This should help me fix what ever problems
you are having running your printer.
Even if you don't run the test, the configuration file will
be created. If you don't plan to change printers, you can delete
the following files:
setprint.exe
prtcode.asc
prtmodel.asc
DO NOT DELETE pcxccspt.cfg. If you do, you will have to re-run
SETPRINT. If you DO delete these files, and find that you need
to re-create the configuration, contact Chris O'Donnell,
specifying the make and model of the your printer, and I'll
generate you a new configuration file. OR send $5.00 (to cover
postage) and I'll mail you a disk with SETPRINT and all the
files.
HOW & WHY TO REGISTER
Why should you register? Well, if you're NOT using this
program then you shouldn't. If you are using the program then the
honest thing to do is register. Of course I have no way of
knowing whose not registered yet using the program, so for
registered users I offer the following:
1) a copy of the program without the obnoxious reminder to
register, a printed manual, a library of abc's and 123's, a
master.DMC of all 360 DMC colors, and the RGB2DMC program.
29
2) Notification of minor upgrades, which can be download from various
sites. OR I can mail them via USPS for $1 (within US $2 outside US).
3) Major upgrades for $5.00 (Shipping and handling)
4) Information on joining Delphi and getting 5 free hours.
There are 3 ways to register PCX2CCS:
1) If you are a member of CompuServe, GO SWREG and follow
the directions. The $40.00 will be charged to your credit card.
2) Printoff REG.TXT and mail it with $40.00 to:
Chris O'Donnell
PO Box 113
Middlebury Ct. 06762
USA
I will accept Cash, personal check, money order or bank
checks. If you are nervous about mailing cash, you can obtain a
Certificate of Mailing (USPS form 3817) from your Post Office.
This form is evidence that you mailed "something" to my address.
3) You can order with MC, Cisa, Amex or Discover from Public
(software) Library by calling 1-800-242-PSL or 713-524-6394 or FAX
713-524-6398 or by e-mail 71355.740@compuserve.com. You can also mail
credit card orders to PsL PO Box 35705, Houston Tx 77235-5705.
Psl number product number 11619.
THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY
Any questions regarding the startus of the shipment of the order,
refunds, registration options, produect details, technical support,
volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses etc must be directed
to Chris O'Donnell PO Box 113 Middlebury Ct 06762 203-758-1451
In general, I will contact you by e-mail (if you included
your e-mail address) as soon as I receive your registration
informing you that I receive your registration and when
(approximately) will be getting your package into the mail.
If you don't hear from me within 14 days of mailing your
registration, PLEASE CONTACT ME! I usually get the registered
package out within 3-5 days of recieving the registration. I do
NOT wait for a check to clear. Depending on the circumstances,
you will get a replacement registration package for little or no
charge. You will need to fill out USPS form 4314-C (US Postal
Customer Service Card) so we can get the Post Office offically
involved. Then:
If my package failed to reach you, I will put another in the
mail ASAP. (return receipt requested if you desire).
30
If you sent your registration by return reciept or recorded
delivery, send me a copy of the document with form 4314C and I'll
send you a registered user package.
If you used form 3817, send me a copy of the form, form 4314C
and $5.00 (for S&H) and I'll send you a registered user package.
If all you did was put a check in the mail, send form 4314C
and $5.00 (S&H) and I'll send you a registered user package.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATIONS
If you live outside the United States and want to register,
you have the same options, BUT, I will also accept:
1) foriegn currancy ONLY IF THE EXCHANGE RATE IS LISTED IN
BUISNESS WEEKMAGAZINE. (& add 10% for my hassle at the bank).
2) American Express Money Orders, payable in US dollars.
3) American Express travelers cheques
4) International Postal Money Orders in US dollars
5) A Check drawn on a US bank, written in US dollars.
I will send to you a registered user package identifing the
contents as: Diskette, Book and Intellectual Property License. In
general, only the book and diskette will be taxable. I will send
it Airmail.
REPORTING PROBLEMS/MAKING SUGGESTIONS
If you find a "bug", something that doesn't work quite right
or hangs your system. Please report it to me. If I can duplicate
the error, or in any way verify the problem, you will recieve a
free upgrade, regardless of registration status. (Typos in the
manual don't count)
If you have a suggestion for future versions (except
backstitch, I've already thought of that), please let me know. If
I incorporate your suggestion, you will receive a free upgrade,
non-registered if you're not registered, registered if you are.
31