DiscWorld
Aaron Timbrell rounds up the software directory
As usual we have a packed range of new software for your pleasure. We have pulled out all the stops and have decided that this issue we will give away a free ProArtisan2 to every subscriber. In addition we have an updated DrawWorks XE and a Q BASIC to BBC Basic translator. As always we have the latest PD/Freeware nd shareware releases and the latest RISC OS games. Still lets kick off with ProArtisan2.
ProArtisan2
ProArtisan 2 is a multi mode art and image processing application for the range of Acorn RISC OS machines. A great deal of effort has gone into creating a user interface that gives access to the power of ProArtisan 2 without making it complex to use.
Using ProArtisan 2 you can create and manipulate stunning images with ease. The user interface has been designed to be as intuitive as possible so that even inexperienced users can access its features without constant reference to this manual.
Menu options which lead to sub-menus have an arrow after them, eg. Subset ->
ProArtisan uses the standard Acorn conventions for the mouse buttons:
- SELECT is the left button, and the most commonly used.
- MENU is the middle button and is used primarily for opening menus.
- ADJUST is the right mouse button.
Unless otherwise stated Choose means move over something and click on it with SELECT or ADJUST.
Inserting a disc into the floppy disc drive and clicking on the disc drive icon is known as Mounting the disc. The disc's Directory display appears after you perform this operation.
Error or message dialogue boxes may appear from time to time. Read them before clicking on a button as you may lose data otherwise.
It is assumed that you have read the Welcome Guide supplied with your computer and are familiar with the RISC OS Desktop environment.
!Help
ProArtisan 2 has extensive support for the interactive !Help application supplied with your computer. When you first start using ProArtisan 2 we suggest that you have !Help loaded.
Technical Information
ProArtisan 2 is a 256 colour painting package. These colours are held as 24 bit values and can be selected from a palette of 16.7 million colours - even on RISC OS 2. With older computers such as the A5000 unless you have additional hardware such as the Computer Concepts/Wild Vision Colour Card or one of the State Machine cards you will be unable to see these additional colours on your computer.
Images created in ProArtisan 2 can be any size or resolution provided that your machine has enough memory and it supports the resolution that you want to work. Internally your images are always held at high resolution and in 24 bit colour, even when you work in a low resolution or low colour mode. When you return to a higher resolution mode the image is restored to the correct resolution. In other words, changing mode does NOT convert the image to that mode and potentially lose information. The image is only converted to another mode at save time and only then if you instruct ProArtisan 2 to save in another mode.
Upgrading to ProArtisan24
The latest version, ProArtisan24, is a full 24 bit art package and is therefore much more powerful and is ideal for editing modern 32,000 or 16M colour images and is also 32 bit neutral and runs natively on the Iyonix.
The normal price for ProArtisan24 is £39, but as a very special offer to RISC World subscribers we are offering the complete ProArtisan24 package for just £34. This price includes UK post, but please add £1.50 for carriage outside the UK.
APDL/ProAction
ProArtisan is � APDL/ProAction 2003. All rights reserved
No part of this product may be reproduced in whole or part by any means without written permission of the publisher. Unauthorised hiring, renting, lending, public performance or broadcasting of this product or its parts is prohibited.
ProArtisan is supplied under licence for use on one computer at a time. The user is forbidden to make any copies of the source media where the program is supplied on CD. Please contact APDL for details of site licences.
While every care is taken the publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors in this product, or for the loss of any data or consequential effects from the use of this package.
Published by
APDL
39 Knighton Park Road
Sydenham
London SE26 5RN
Phone -020 8778 2659
Fax -020 8488 0487
ProArtisan was written by Frank Dart and J.Warminster.
All trademarks are acknowledged.
The complete DiscWorld line up
Demos
Demos of various commercial products supplied by APDL/ProAction.
DrawWorksXE
An updated version of DrawWorksXE with a few minor bug fixes including a proper icon bar icon for the on-line manual.
Files
Brian Pickards sample PDF document from his article.
Games
All the games from this issues games world column.
PD
All the latest PD, shareware and freeware releases from the PD column.
Q_BBC
Q BASIC to BBC BASIC converter.
SouthWest
My tatty video from RISC OS SouthWest and a copy of KinoAmp to play it on.
Turbo
A drawfile showing the modifications required to turbo charge a StrongARM along with some test programs.
ToolBox
This contains two sets of Toolbox Modules. The Castle archive contains the latest 26/32 bit neutral system components, required if you want to run a lot of new software releases on 26bit machines (ie. anything that isn't an Iyonix). The RISCOS Ltd archive contains later and improved versions of a number of modules and is suitable for all versions of RISC OS from 3.1 onwards.
Aaron Timbrell