Written by Russell Freeman Copyright (c) 1998. Email: russf@gipsysoft.com Web site: http://gipsysoft.com/ What does it do? ---------------- Zoom+ is a useful screen magnification utility. This means that you can zoom in on any portion of a screen or application quickly and easily. The idea of Zoom+ was taken from the original tool supplied with various Microsoft development tools but adds a significant Plus to it. Specifically, Zoom+ addresses all of the bugs and annoyances of ZoomIn and adds an array of new features. Why would you want it? ---------------------- Zoom+ is a useful tool to have if you are writing any Windows controls, designing graphics and icons, writing any drawing code or are just curious how an application has achieved an interesting effect with so few pixels and colours. Why is it better than Microsoft ZoomIn? --------------------------------------- There are several reasons Zoom+ is better than ZoomIn: Zoom+ does not flicker when resizing, ZoomIn does and really badly. Zoom+ interface uses the latest controls where allowable (a bare Win95 will not use the rebar and flat-look but it still uses the toolbar and sliders so it looks almost identical) where the ZoomIn interface is clumsy and old. Zoom+ stores all of your preferences and settings to the registry. This includes, window position and size, the state of the magnification, update rate, window on top, follow mouse, the directory in which images are saved, the style of your your saved images (zoomed/not). ZoomIn does not store any of your settings. Zoom+ has a simple interface where everything is instantly available. Zoom+ can stay on top of all other applications. Zoom+ will follow the mouse. Zoom+ has context help. Zoom+ allows you to save the image to a Windows uncompressed bitmap. Zoom+ has keyboard support for all of it's features. Zoom+ is small and light. I personally use Zoom+ when I am writing controls/drawing code to ensure my code is accurate. I also use Zoom+ when I want to copy a toolbar bitmap from a running application and paste just the small image into the toolbar editor (rather than having to cut out the tiny bitmap I need from a large window/screen grab bitmap). I use the follow mouse feature most because it is less CPU intensive and I have it 'on top' pretty much permanently. I love the fact that Zoom+ remembers it's settings from one session to the next, it means that once I have set it up to watch an area of the display I can open and close it without losing the settings. Features -------- * Magnify any portion of the screen. Simply click the Zoom+ display, hold down the Left Mouse Key and drag a focus rectangle off and drop it onto the area of the screen you wish to magnify. * Save any portion of the screen to an uncompressed Windows Bitmap File ready to load and edit using any bitmap editing tool such as MS Paint. * Copy the magnified image or the actual screen image to the clipboard so that you can paste into third party products. This saves the hassle of taking a screen shot and then editing out the rest of the screen/image just to acquire a small image. * Use the "Follow Mouse" feature to make the magnification area follow the mouse as you move it. The Zoom+ display will update every time you move the mouse. This is useful if you are not sure where the area of interest may be. * "Auto Update" allows Zoom+ to watch the specified area of the screen (where you dragged the rectangle) and automatically update the display at a preset interval. This is useful when you know where the area of interest is but you need to perform some action to get to the interesting display behaviour (ToolTips, for example). * "Follow Mouse" and "Auto Update" can be used in conjunction or separately with no restrictions. * "Always on Top" forces the Zoom+ window to stay at the very top of all other windows that do not have an 'on top' attribute set. This allows you to maximise the application you are interested in. * "Save to File" allows the display or the magnified image to be saved to an uncompressed Windows Bitmap. This file can then be read into third party tools such as MS Paint or MS Word. * "Copy to Clipbard" allows you to instantly copy the displayed or screen image to the clipboard, you can then paste these bitmaps into third party applications such as MS Paint or MS Word. Zoom+ is Shareware. That means you can use and distribute it for free, but if you like Zoom+ then you need to register it. To register Zoom+ simply send me £10 (10 Pounds Sterling) in an envelope and mail to: Russ Freeman 22 Gipsy Lane Exmouth Devon EX8 3HW England Don't forget to give me your name, address and email so that I can let you know of updates and other products that I write. Important: ---------- If you redistribute Zoom+ please leave the zip file intact Do not replace/modify the help file You must not sell Zoom+ or redistribute it as part of a commercial product without prior agreement with Russ Freeman This file is provided "as is" with no expressed or implied warranty. The author accepts no liability if it causes any damage to your computer. Expect bugs. Please use and enjoy. Please let me know of any bugs/mods/improvements that you have found/would like and I will fix/incorporate them.