xRes™ 2.0 Special Edition ReadMe March 1996 Welcome to Macromedia xRes Special Edition -- the most powerful creative tool for hi-res images. No matter what your skill or experience level, Macromedia xRes Special Edition offers you the tools to compose and create -- fast. No matter what your needs -- image layout and design, retouching, creating compositions, collages, or photomontages, or combining painted and photographic effects -- Macromedia xRes provides enhanced creative functionality and productivity with its advanced handling of hi-res images. And if you are creating for the web or for multimedia, you'll find that xRes' Direct Mode provides you with an excellent solution for creating and editing images and compositions for online display. Web file formats like GIF89a, Progressive JPEG, and PNG make creating web images from hi-res images a snap! Macromedia xRes Special Edition offers a limited set of features from the full version of Macromedia xRes. As an owner of this limited edition, you qualify for a special upgrade price to the full version. (See the offer included with your packaging for more information.) The complete version offers more powerful features like: *CMYK editing and color separations *Unlimited floating objects *Additional filters including Curves, Calculations, and artistic filters *Additional artistic brushes and presets *Additional textures *Path functionality, including path import from Macromedia FreeHand™ *Custom color libraries from Trumatch and Pantone *Batch conversion to and from Macromedia xRes' native file formats The full version of Macromedia xRes also includes other great goodies not included with the Special Edition: XTRAS Kai's Power Tools 3.0 S.E. Macromedia Edition including the Gradient Designer, the Texture Explorer, the Spheroid Designer and a sampler of Compact Filters using the new Lens FX interface. These filters ship with over 700 Graphic Presets exclusive to Macromedia customers! STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY & GOODIES Over 450 MB of high and low resolution photography in xRes' native LRG format from vendors like PhotoDisc, Visual Language, Texture Farm, Classic Photographic Image Objects, Image Kit, Digital Stock Corporation and Xaos Tools. GOODIES Goodies include fonts and demos of other Xtras from 3rd party vendors! ADVANCED IMAGING TUTORIAL Included are sample files and a step-by-step of basic and advanced techniques. FULL DOCUMENTATION Included are a Getting Started manual and User Manual. To upgrade to the full version, contact Macromedia at 1-800-457- 1774 in the United States and Canada, or 415-252-2000 in the rest of the world. TECHNICAL NOTES USING PLUG-IN FILTERS To use plug-in filters, do the following: Make sure "Support Plug-ins" is checked in the Preferences > General dialog. Access Preferences > Set Plug-In Folder…, locate your plug-in folder, and click Select at the bottom of the dialog. After checking "Support Plug-ins" in the General Preferences, and specifying the location of your plug-in folder, relaunch xRes. The following plug-ins have been successfully tested with Macromedia xRes: *KPT 3.0™, by Meta Tools *KPT 2.1™, by Meta Tools *Terrazo™, by Xaos Tools *TypeCaster™, by Xaos Tools *Paint Alchemy™, by Xaos Tools PLUG-IN TIPS Third-party plug-ins can be very memory intensive. xRes will behave differently with plug-in filters depending on whether you are using the plug-ins in Direct Mode or xRes Mode. Using Direct Mode: In the Direct Mode, xRes will immediately warn you if there is not enough memory for the plug-in to apply. Using xRes Mode: Since delayed processing is used in xRes Mode, xRes cannot tell you if there is enough memory to run the plug-in until you render the file. (Rendering occurs when you export the file format to any format except MMI.) If there is not enough memory to apply the plug-in file, the following error message will appear: "Not enough memory to run plug-in. Plug-in effect will not render. Increase heap size by [x] MB." At this point, you have a couple of options: One, save the file, exit xRes, increase the amount of memory allocated to xRes as specified by the error message, start xRes, and then apply the plug-in effect. For instance, if the error message tells you to increase the heap size by 5 MB, then exit xRes, increase the RAM allocated to xRes by 5 MB, then restart the program, and re-apply the plug-in. The second option is to export the file at a lower zoom level, one that will generate a smaller file size and require less memory to render. There is an easy test to figure out if the plug-in will render in the final image. After applying the plug-in, zoom in to the 1:1 level. If an error message appears saying that there is not enough memory to run the plug-in, then that means there is not enough memory to apply the plug-in in the final rendered file. Next, zoom out to 1:2. If there is no error message at this level, then render the file at 1:2 to see the plug-in effect in the final file. If there is an error message at 1:2, then zoom out to 1:4, and so forth. Macromedia advises that you apply plug-ins in Direct Mode for the most predictable performance. If you are using a plug-in that is not on the approved list, then try it on a dummy file before using it in an important project. If you have applied a plug-in effect, and then zoomed in, floated a selection, or saved the file, the plug-in dialog may re-appear. If it does, click the OK button to continue. If you have accessed a plug-in filter, canceled out of it, and then zoomed in, floated a selection, or saved the file, the plug-in dialog may re-appear. If it does, click Cancel to continue. The plug-in dialogs appear as xRes plays back the commands that have been applied to the file. USING KPT FILTERS Take note of the following incompatibilities when using KPT filters: The Gradients on Paths features of KPT 3.0 may not work on larger files. The Angular Shapeburst of the KPT Gradient Designer will apply as a Rectangular Shapeburst. When using the KPT 3.0 Glass Lens filter, an empty black dialog will appear when you render if there is not enough swap disk space to render the file. Click on this black dialog twice to continue. The KPT Fractal Explorer will not work unless you have a math co-processor installed. Problems have been noted with using KPT 2.1 and KPT 3.0 with images over 80 MB. See "Plug-in Tips" above for more information about maximizing xRes performance when applying filters to large images. Macromedia is currently working on ensuring compatibility with other plug-in vendors. WORKING WITH FILE FORMATS Recommended File Format: Macromedia recommends that, whenever possible, you use the TIFF file format to go back and forth between xRes and other applications. JPEG Files: xRes uses the latest JPEG code from the JPEG Standards Group. Applications using older code may have problems reading xRes JPEG files. JPEG Documentation Correction: The xRes User Guide states that Progressive JPEGs are lossless. This is incorrect. Progressive JPEGs, like all JPEGs, use a compression scheme that may cause data loss in files. When you are saving JPEG files, a Quality slider may be set between 1 and 100; a value of 100 generates a lossless JPEG file. EPS Files: xRes does not have TIFF previews for the EPS format. The EPS TIFF is only for PC applications. Saving Files at Different Zoom Levels: If you use the File > Save As command to save a file at a different zoom level, such as 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, or 1:16, you must close and re-open the file for the file to reflect the new size. The new file left on your screen will not reflect the new size until you open it. PERFORMANCE & COMPATIBILITY Optimum System Configuration: xRes performs optimally with the Macintosh's Virtual Memory turned off, the Disk Cache set to 32k and Modern Memory Manager (on newer Macintosh systems) set to on. Since xRes is disk intensive, regular software maintenance and regular optimization of your hard disk will help to keep xRes at top performance. Rendering Times: The time it takes to render a file depends on the type of machine, including the processor and memory installed, in addition to the size of the image, the number of objects in the image, and the commands applied to the image. Note that painting operations take longer than others to render because xRes must play back each individual brush stroke. Do not be disillusioned if you have done a lot of painting and the image takes a long time to render; simple image editing operations will render in a fraction of the time. On a PowerMac 8500 with 16 MB of RAM allocated to xRes, an 80 MB image with 8 objects renders in 9 minutes. Updating: In the current version of xRes, there are situations in which the application updates without an Updating Composite slider appearing on the screen. The program may appear frozen. In a few seconds the cursor will re-appear. Allocating Memory: If you are running xRes with another application, be sure the RAM you have allocated to these applications is less than your total RAM, minus your system RAM. For instance, if you have 32 MB RAM and your system occupies 6 MB of RAM, then allocate a total of no more than 26 MB to xRes and other applications. Microtek Scan Wizard™: If you are using the Microtek Scan Wizard, the dialog appears as if it will not allow you to reposition the preview area. To arrange the preview area, click on the desktop and then click on the dialog. The preview marquee starts blinking, allowing you to reposition it. TWAIN: xRes 2.0 does not support TWAIN compatible drivers. If your scanner comes with both a plug-in and a TWAIN scanner driver, be sure that you are using the plug-in version of the driver. If a TWAIN driver appears under the Acquire module, it is because you have included the driver in your plug-ins folder, and it is a third-party driver. Using this driver with xRes may cause crashing errors. External Swap Disks: If you have a 4 GB external swap disk that is divided into two partitions, you may only specify one of them as a swap disk to be used in xRes. We are currently researching this problem. TypeCaster: TypeCaster may not work on files over 10MB. There is a problem in generating ATM font sizes at very large sizes. Text at Large Sizes: Some fonts are only designed to be used up to a specific point size; after this, they will not show up in the rendered document. (A rendered document is a file you have exported to any file format except MMI.) If you are using text at a point size of 400, test it out in a dummy document before using it in an important project. Printing: xRes 2.0 S.E. requires LaserWriter version 8.0 or greater. CUTTING, COPYING, & PASTING TO THE CLIPBOARD The Cut and Copy commands are used to copy information to the clipboard. The Cut command cuts the entire object from the document, even if there is a selection. When you Paste after applying the Cut command, the entire object will be pasted. The Copy command copies the image area inside of a selection. When you Paste after applying the Copy command, only the image area inside of the selection will be pasted. When you paste an object into a document, that object appears in the top left corner of the zoomed out view of the document. You may not see this object if you are in a zoomed-in view; to see the object (and move it around), zoom out until you can see the entire image within the image window. To copy and paste between different applications (such as from xRes to Photoshop), use the Cut or Copy commands from the Direct Mode of xRes. The Direct Mode will copy the information to the system clipboard. WORKING WITH OBJECTS New Objects: When you click on the New Object Icon in the Objects Window, a dialog allows you to specify the size of the new object. For most new objects, you will want to uncheck the Transparency box in this dialog; otherwise the object will come into the document as a clear sheet of acetate. Filling Transparencies: In this version of xRes, you may not fill transparent objects with the Gradient Tool, the Bucket Tool, or the Edit > Fill command. Resize Error: A checkbox called Maintain Size appears in the Resize Document dialog (Modify > Resize > Document.) In some very large documents, xRes may generate an error message when you attempt to type in a new height, width, or resolution. If this error occurs, change the pop- up menus in the dialog to pixels before checking this checkbox. Rotate Commands: The Modify > Rotate > CW 90 and Modify > Rotate > CCW 90 menu commands rotate the entire document, not just the active object as documented. These commands allow a fast and easy way to rotate multi-object documents. The Modify > Rotate > Arbitrary can be used to rotate the topmost active object. WORKING WITH BRUSHES & TEXTURES Line Tool: If you are using the Line Tool with multi-tipped brushes, only one of these tips will follow the line that you have drawn out with the Line Tool. New Pressure-Sensitive Preference: A new preference has been added to the General Preferences for customers using pressure-sensitive tablets. The preference is called "Set Tablet Pressure" and refers to the minimum pressure needed for xRes to register tablet input. Older tablets may require higher values. Multi-Tipped Brushes: Some multi-tipped brushes, such as the Hav variant, Glass variant, and Nature variant located in the Styles brush, may be slow on some systems due to the randomization of tip spacing, which requires a lot of number crunching. Allocate more RAM to the program to increase performance of these brushes, or use one of the many other brushes, such as Felt Tip, Calligraphy, Chalk, Pencil, Soft, or Hard. Texture Scale Box: A checkbox in the Textures Palette called Scale is currently nonfunctional. PREVIEWING FILTERS One way to preview filters is to use the preview box, accessed by checking Use Preview Box in the General Preferences. The preview box previews the image as if you were applying the effect at the 1:1 zoom level. If you are working at a zoom level such as 1:4 or 1:8, the effect appearing in the preview window will not match the effect as applied to the image at the current zoom level. The Preview Box will not work if you are previewing Indexed 256 files, or if you are using an 8-bit monitor display. CROPPING OPTION A new dialog has been added that appears when you have cropped an image, applied alpha channels, and saved the file. This dialog only appears if you are working with a one-object document and saving the file as a format other than the MMI format. In this instance, a dialog allows you to either: a) keep the cropped boundaries of the document but delete any extra channels, or b) return the image to its uncropped size and keep the alpha channels. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Documentation Errors: The keyboard shortcuts Command-T and Command-H are not implemented in this version of xRes. The keyboard shortcuts Command + and Command - can be used to zoom either in or out. In a few rare instances, these commands may become inactive. If this is the case, click on the desktop, then click back in the application; the zoom shortcuts will work again. The function keys F1 through F15 control brush sizes; F1 creates a very small brush, while F15 creates a very large brush. To upgrade to the full version, contact Macromedia at 1-800-457- 1774 in the United States and Canada, or 415-252-2000 in the rest of the world. A FINAL WORD We hope you find Macromedia xRes 2.0 S.E. a great asset to your work or entertainment. Let us know if you have any suggestions, praises or complaints…we're committed to keeping a firm step ahead, and that will only happen if you pass along your comments. Thank you for choosing xRes. ©1996 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved.