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Text File | 1994-04-28 | 15.4 KB | 397 lines

VuePrint User's Guide Version 2.2 Copyright (c) 1994 Edward B. Hamrick All Rights Reserved 1.0 Introduction VuePrint is a Windows 3.1 program that lets you display and print graphics files that use the GIF, JPEG, and BMP graphics formats. VuePrint supports all graphics displays and printers that operate with the MicroSoft Windows 3.1 operating environment, using a 386 or 486 microprocessor. The two key features of VuePrint are speed and ease of use. VuePrint is more than twice as fast as most other JPEG viewers, and is able to scale images to full-screen more than five times as fast as other viewers. VuePrint will scale images to fill a window automatically, without distorting the image shape. While VuePrint has many features, and all are integrated in an easy to use menu system. Version 2.0 of VuePrint added one key feature - the ability to display 24-bit per pixel JPEG files on 16-bit and 24-bit Windows displays. This means that JPEG files will look much more natural and smooth than under previous versions of VuePrint. JPEG files displayed on some 16-color displays may look much better as well. Version 2.1 adds full integration with the Windows File Manager, supports drag & drop files, better supports extremely large JPEG files, adds support for .SLI (slideshow) files, uses standard Windows dialogs for printing and opening files, supports GIF89a transparency, fixes miscellaneous bugs, and adds lots of features. Version 2.2 adds support for compressed BMP (DIB) files, and prevents screen savers from starting when a slide show is running. It also searches for VUEPRINT.INI in the current directory, then uses the DOS PATH variable, then uses the Windows directory. Pressing both mouse buttons simultaneously will exit the program. Most printers are only capable of displaying an array of black (or sometimes colored) dots. However, many graphics files contain images with up to 256 different colors. VuePrint uses a very fast error-dispersion algorithm (also called a dithering or half-toning algorithm) to print the image in the graphics file. This error dispersion algorithm takes advantage of the number of colors that a printer supports. If a display is unable to display 256 colors, VuePrint uses this same dithering algorithm to display an image. VuePrint also supports viewing GIF or JPEG images that can't completely fit into the available memory. It does this by storing a lower-resolution image in memory. This is useful when running multiple copies of VuePrint in different windows, doing slide shows in each window. Running multiple copies of VuePrint simultaneously works best on 16-bit and 24-bit displays, but it works acceptably on other types of displays. One of the design goals of VuePrint was to make it quick and inexpensive to download. The size of the file VUEPRI.ZIP is about 75,000 bytes, which can be downloaded in about 5 minutes at 2400 baud. This costs less than $1.00. Other programs with comparable functionality take up to four times as long to download. 2.0 Prerequisites In order to use VuePrint, you will need a personal computer that is running Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or higher. You will also need a 386 or 486 microprocessor. VuePrint will work with any Windows display, including Hercules, EGA, 16-color, 256-color, 16-bit color, and 24-bit color displays. VuePrint is distributed via CompuServe as shareware, and may be evaluated for 15 days. If you decide you want to register VuePrint, type "GO SWREG" and register program #1883. When you register VuePrint, you'll receive assistance via e-mail with any problems you may encounter. You'll also receive a Serial Number identifying your copy of VuePrint. This serial number is also valid for VueSav - a fast JPEG/GIF Screen Saver for Windows 3.1. VueSav can be obtained separately from CompuServe, America Online, and various Internet and BBS sites (VUESAV.ZIP). If you'd prefer to register VuePrint by mail, you can send the $40.00 registration fee to: Ed Hamrick 11588 Raintree Spring Ct. Cupertino, CA 95014 3.0 Installing and Running VuePrint To install VuePrint, put the file VUEPRINT.EXE in a directory that's convenient for you. Then use the Windows Program Manager's File->New menu item to install a new program item named VuePrint. To run VuePrint, just double-click on the VuePrint Icon. To get the highest quality image display, set up Windows to use the highest resolution display driver available. If you run VuePrint with a 16-color display driver, you'll get a hint that a 256-color or higher display driver will help. This message is only displayed for the two days after first running VuePrint. To get the highest quality JPEG displays, use a 16-bit or 24-bit display driver. All commands are accessible through the menu bar. Each command has a short-cut key which consists of a single keystroke. In addition to the short-cut keys documented in the menu bar, the arrow keys move the image when it is zoomed in. The arrow keys along with the shift- key move the image one full screen at a time. Pressing the left-hand mouse button causes the image to zoom in by a factor of two at the point the mouse was located. Pressing the right-hand mouse button allows you to move the image around when it is zoomed in. Double-clicking the right mouse button displays the entire image, undoing any previous zooming. Holding down both the left and right mouse buttons exits the program. Note that the menu items that increase and decrease the contrast are actually increasing and decreasing the "gamma" of the image. Gamma is a non-linear function that compensates for the fact that most monitors display non-linear intensities when presented with linear color lookup tables. The gamma adjustment that's used for the display is also used to change the contrast on the printout. One feature that's a little bit subtle is the ability to convert JPEG files to GIF files. If you check the JPEG Option "Write GIF", every time you view a JPEG file, a GIF file will be written at the same time. For instance, if you display XYZ.JPG, you'll find a file XYZ.GIF in the same directory. When VuePrint is started, the JPEG (and View) options are set to the values that should result in the highest quality display. 4.0 Menu Items Each of VuePrint's menu items is described below. The single keystroke equivalent of this command is also included to the right of the menu name. 4.1 File Menu Open... O brings up the open file dialog box. Next Space displays the next image in the list. Previous BkSp displays the previous image in the list. Random Enter scrambles (randomizes) the list of images. Print P brings up the print dialog box. Printer Setup... S brings up the printer setup dialog box. Exit X exits VuePrint. About VuePrint... A displays information about how to register VuePrint. This is the menu item you choose when entering the VuePrint Serial Number. 4.2 View Menu Zoom In PgUp blows up the image by a factor of two. Zoom Out PgDn reduces the size of the image by a factor of two. It doesn't allow you to reduce the size of the image less than full size. Rotate End rotates the image 90 degrees clockwise. Mirror Ins makes a mirror image of the image (swaps the left side with the right side). Flip Del flips the image upside down. Brighter Keypad + increases the brightness of the image. Dimmer Keypad - decreases the brightness of the image. More Contrast Keypad * increases the contrast (gamma) of the image. Less Contrast Keypad / decreases the contrast (gamma) of the image. Reset Home causes the image to revert to full size, without any rotation, flipping, changes in brightness, or changes in contrast. 4.3 Options Menu Dither Display D causes the display to be made up of a pattern of dots (dither pattern) instead of trying to use the display's multiple-intensity capability. Dither Printer T causes VuePrint to send a pattern of dots to the printer driver when on. When turned off, lets the printer driver do the dithering. Color Display R displays the image in color. Color Printer N prints the image in color. White Border I displays the border in white when on. When turned off, displays the border in black. Show Comments H displays any comments associated with an image starting at the top of the screen. Causes the image to be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Auto Scale Tab displays the image scaled-up to fill the window whenever it is smaller than the window. When turned off, a small image is displayed centered in the window with no stretching. Images that are larger than the window are always shrunk to fit the window, regardless of the setting of this option. Fill Window Escape toggles on and off the Window frame and menu. Quarter Page Q causes any printed image to fill the upper-left hand quarter page. This is useful for test printouts to check intensity and contrast, since it allows printing to be 4 times faster than normal. Save F1 saves all options in VUEPRINT.INI in the Windows directory. Restore F2 restores all options from VUEPRINT.INI. Save On Exit F3 saves all options in VUEPRINT.INI upon program exit. Default F4 restores all options to their default settings. 4.4 JPEG Menu Two Pass W reads JPEG files in two passes. The first pass reads the 24-bit data, and the second pass converts from 24-bits to 8-bits. If the JPEG file is being displayed on a 16-bit or 24-bit display (and the Maximize Colors option is set), only one pass is performed, regardless of the setting of this option. Maximize Colors C causes 24-bit data to be stored in memory when reading JPEG files for display on a 16-bit or 24-bit display. Use Dithering U causes the 24-bit to 8-bit conversion process to use Floyd- Steinberg dithering. Use Grey Scale Y causes only the intensity data to be read from the JPEG file. While the resultant image is only grey- scale, this can be significantly faster than processing full color images. Block Smoothing B causes the 8x8 blocks to be smoothed before transforming from frequency domain. Pixel Smoothing E causes the 8x8 blocks to be smoothed after transforming from frequency domain. Write GIF F causes a GIF file to be written for every JPEG file that is read. 4.5 Slide Show Menu The slide show menu allows you to select a delay between images in a slide show of 1 to 9 seconds. If you choose 0, then there will be no slide show. While a slide show is being displayed, screen savers are disabled (even if VuePrint isn't zoomed to full screen). 5.0 Bug Reports and Enhancement Requests If you have problems running VuePrint, or have an idea for enhancing VuePrint, please send e-mail to Ed Hamrick on CompuServe at 71470,3236. You can also send e-mail from the Internet to 71470.3236@compuserve.com. VuePrint only reads images that have a maximum size of 2048 by 2048, and can zoom images up to 6000 by 6000. TRADEMARKS GIF, Graphics Interchange Format, and CompuServe are trademarks of CompuServe, Inc., an H&R Block Company. Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VuePrint is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.