home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
-
- These changes to Image Alchemy v1.6.1 were made after the manual and
- addendum were printed:
-
-
- Viewing changes (MS-DOS version only)
-
-
- Support for additional 15 and 24 bit SVGA boards:
- Alchemy now supports 15 bit viewing for the following chipset
- equipped SVGA boards which have the appropriate amount of memory
- and DAC: Tseng 4000, S3, and NCR. Additionally, 24 bit viewing
- support is provided for 24 bit capable boards from: ATI, Genoa,
- Diamond, and Orchid.
-
- The best support for 15 and 24 bit viewing is for VESA driver
- equipped SVGA boards.
-
- Alchemy automatically picks the highest colour resolution which
- will fit the image you are trying to view. For example, if your
- SVGA boards supports 800x600x15 bit and 640x480x24 bit, Alchemy
- will use the 640x480x24 bit mode when viewing images which are
- 640x480 and smaller and the 800x600 mode when viewing larger
- images. You can of course override this by giving Alchemy a
- resolution parameter after the view command (for example, --v 640,
- to view in 640x480x24 bit mode).
-
- Offset view
- The -_ (dash underscore) option can now be used to position an
- image when viewing. The -_ option takes two parameters, the
- xoffset and yoffset (both in pixels).
-
- For example: -_ 0 -100 moves the image up 100 pixels, and
- -_ 200 0 moves the image to the right 200 pixels.
-
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- New Formats
-
-
- Calcomp CCRF
- Alchemy now reads and writes Calcomp raster files for thermal
- transfer printers and CCRF files for electrostatic plotters.
-
- To write a Calcomp file, use --l[type], where type is:
-
- Thermal transfer printer files:
- 0: uncompressed
- 1: white space suppression
- 2: run length compression
- Electrostatic plotter files (CCRF):
- 6: 8 bit bytes, 8 bit compression units
- 7: 8 bit bytes, 16 bit compression units
- 8: 8 bit bytes, 32 bit compression units
-
- If the image is colour, the resulting file will be CMYK. If the
- image is grayscale or a -b is specified, the file will be
- black/white. In either case a UCR file may be used; see the -C
- option in the Alchemy Manual.
-
- Alchemy searches for files with .ccrf, .crf, and .prn extensions;
- it creates files with the .crf extension.
-
-
- MacPaint
- Alchemy is now compatible with MacPaint files. MacPaint files are
- black and white images used by Macintosh computers.
-
- To write a MacPaint file use the --t option. Since MacPaint images
- are always black and white the use of the -c2 and -b options is
- assumed. The --t1 option will cause Alchemy to create a MacPaint
- file with a MacBinary header. This is useful for transferring the
- resulting image to a Macintosh by modem.
-
- MacPaint images are always 576x720 pixels; if you are attempting to
- write a MacPaint file which is larger, Alchemy will report this as
- an error. If you write an image which is smaller Alchemy will pad
- the image with white space along the right-hand side and bottom.
-
- Alchemy searches for files with the extension .mac and writes
- files with the extension .mac.
-
-
- Puzzle
- Alchemy now supports Puzzle files used by the UNIX supplied Puzzle
- program.
-
- To write a Puzzle file use the --U option. Puzzle files are always
- paletted, so Alchemy assumes the use of the -8 option when writing
- a puzzle file.
-
- Alchemy searches for files with the extension .pzl, .puzzle, and .cm
- and writes files with the extension .pzl.
-
-
- OS/2
- Alchemy now supports OS/2 bitmap files used by OS/2.
-
- Alchemy reads and writes 1, 4, 8, and 24 bit uncompressed and 4 and
- 8 bit RLE compressed files.
-
- To write a OS/2 Bitmap file use the -O[compression] (capital O),
- where compression is:
- 0:None
- 1:RLE (only allowed for 4 and 8 bit images)
- The default is 0.
-
- Alchemy searches for and writes files with the extension .bmp.
-
-
- Sun Icon
- Alchemy now supports Sun Icon files used by OpenLook.
-
- To write a Sun Icon file use the --N option. Sun Icon files are
- always black and white, so Alchemy assumes the use of the -c2 and
- -b options when writing a Sun Icon image.
-
- Alchemy searches for and writes files with the extension .icon.
-
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Changes to Existing Formats
-
-
- New IFF formats
- Alchemy can now read PBM type IFF files.
-
-
- New JPEG formats
- Alchemy can now read most multi-scan JPEG files.
-
-
- New PCL formats
- In addition to the Uncompressed and TIFF compressed PCL files which
- previous versions of Alchemy are able to read and write, Alchemy
- now supports RLE compressed and landscape mode PCL files.
-
- To write an RLE compressed PCL file use compression type 1 after
- the -P command (e.g. -P1). Alchemy automatically recognizes RLE
- compression when reading PCL files. Note that only certain model
- PCL compatible printers can print RLE or TIFF compressed PCL files.
- In particular, only LaserJet III and IV printers can print TIFF
- compressed files.
-
- To write a Landscape PCL file add a 10 to the PCL compression type.
- For example, to write an uncompressed, landscape mode PCL file use
- -P 10. Because of changes in the PCL format, only LaserJet III or
- IV printers can print Alchemy produced landscape PCL files.
-
-
- New PICT format
- The -m1 option will cause Alchemy to create a PICT file with a
- MacBinary header. This is useful for transferring the resulting
- image to a Macintosh by modem.
-
-
- New RTL formats
- Alchemy can now write single plane RTL files if you specify a -b
- option in the conversion. In addition, two new compression types
- have been added. They are:
- 6: on the fly uncompressed
- 7: on the fly rle
- These are equivalent to types 1 and 2 except they tell the plotter
- it may plot the data as received instead of waiting for the entire
- image. This is useful on the DesignJet plotters which have small
- buffers compared to the imageable area.
-
-
- New XPM formats
- Alchemy now reads and writes two new styles of XPM files.
-
- The different type XPM files can be identified as follows:
-
- Type 0:
- #define type0_format 1
- ...
- static char *type0_colors[] = {
- "a", "#000000",
- ...
-
- Type 1:
- /* XPM */
- static char * type1[] = {
- "32 20 12 1",
- "a c #000000",
- ...
-
- Type 2:
- ! XPM2
- 32 20 12 1
- a c #000000
- ...
-
- To write the appropriate type XPM file use the corresponding type
- number as a parameter to the --x command (--x0, --x1, or --x2).
-
- Also, the UNIX version of Alchemy now searches for the rgb.txt file
- which some XPM images require. The search path is as follows:
- . /usr/lib/X11 $OPENWINHOME/lib /usr/openwin/lib
-
-
- New XWD formats
- Alchemy can now read and write 4 and 8 plane XY type XWD files. To
- write a XY type XWD file use an option of 1 after the --w (to write
- a Z type use a 0). The default is a Z type XWD file.
-
-
- Changes to TIFF
- When writing TIFF files using any of the fax compression types
- (Group III, Group IV and CCITT RLE), Alchemy uses a photometric
- interpretation of minIsWhite instead of minIsBlack.
-
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Other Changes
-
-
- Changes to UCR files
- When using a UCR file while creating a black and white image, the
- density maps are now interpreted in a manner consistent with the
- application to CMYK images.
-
-
- New spiff type
- Type 'c' spiffing has been added to the spiff option. This is
- similar to type 'a' spiffing, except that the colours absolute
- black and absolute white are ignored in the image. This option is
- useful if an image has a caption or a border which is black or
- white, since type 'a' spiffing would treat these as part of the
- image and not perform any spiffing.
-
-
- Flip images
- The -^ option will cause the image to be flipped vertically.
-
-
-
- Input file type override
- The -= type option overrides the input type, so you may force Alchemy to
- treat a file as if it's a certain type if it fails to correctly identify
- the file. The parameter type should be one of:
- Adex 24
- AlphaMicro 42
- ART 46
- Autologic 28
- AVHRR 43
- BIF 31
- Calcomp CCRF 50
- CALS 41
- Cubicomp PictureMaker 44
- CUT 45
- Erdas 19
- GEM 22
- GIF 1
- GOES 40
- HP PCL 15
- HSI JPEG 30
- HSI Palette 3
- HSI Raw 5
- IBM PictureMaker 48
- IFF 7
- JPEG 2
- Macintosh PICT 10
- MacPaint 49
- MTV 17
- OS/2 BitMap 55
- PBM/PGM/PPM 13
- PCX 9
- PDS 37
- Pictor 29
- Puzzle 51
- Q0 21
- QDV 18
- QRT 20
- RIX 38
- SGI 11
- Spot 39
- Stork 32
- Sun Icon 52
- Sun Raster 8
- Targa 6
- TIFF 4
- Utah RLE 23
- VI 36
- Vivid 16
- Windows BMP 12
- WPG 27
- XBM 35
- XPM 47
- XWD 33
-
- For example, to force Alchemy to read a PCL file which it can't
- identify use -=15.
-
-
-
-
-