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PaintPower ------------- Hi Tech Entertainment ------------------------ PaintPower is a special edition of NeoPaint produced for Hi Tech Expressions. Copyright 1992, 1993 OSCS Software Development, Inc. Getting Started..........................................3 If You Have Questions...............................3 Things You Need.....................................3 Installing PaintPower...............................4 Using PaintPower.........................................5 Starting PaintPower.................................5 Command Line Options................................5 Mouse Actions.......................................5 PaintPower's Screen.................................6 The Menu Bar...................................6 The Video Mode Menu............................7 The Mouse Coordinate Display...................7 The Tool Bar...................................7 The Size Selector..............................7 The Color/Pattern Status Box...................8 The Hollow/Solid Selector......................8 The Pattern Window.............................8 The Color Palette..............................9 The Drawing Board..............................10 The Menu Bar.............................................13 The FILE Menu.......................................13 The EDIT Menu.......................................16 The PICTURE Menu....................................17 The OPTIONS Menu....................................19 The HELP Menu.......................................22 The Tool Bar.............................................23 The SCISSORS Tools..................................23 ERASER Tools........................................24 The TEXT Toolbox....................................25 ZOOM................................................25 The COLOR SAMPLER...................................27 The HIGHLIGHTER.....................................27 BRUSH Tools.........................................27 FILL Tools..........................................28 The AIRBRUSH Tool...................................29 STAMPS..............................................29 LINE Tools..........................................31 The RECTANGLE Tool..................................32 ROUNDED RECTANGLE...................................32 CIRCLE..............................................33 POLYGON.............................................33 THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT Tools......................34 Import and Output........................................36 Converting Images...................................36 File Format....................................36 Color Resolution...............................36 Size...........................................37 Importing/Exporting Palettes........................37 Importing Fonts.....................................38 Printing Considerations.............................38 2 Output to Printer (See also the CPRINT Utility)38 Writing to a File..............................38 Appendix A - PaintPower Command Line Options.............40 Appendix B - NeoGrab Screen Capture Utility..............41 NeoGrab Command Line Options........................41 Appendix C - Speed and Memory Considerations.............43 Appendix D - Microsoft Windows Considerations............45 Appendix E - Keyboard Uses...............................46 Accessing the Menus.................................46 Other Keyboard Shortcuts............................46 CPRINT - A Graphics File Printing Utility................47 * All Rights Reserved. This manual and the software described therein are copyrighted with all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, trascribed. stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form without the express written permission of OSCS Software Development, Inc. Portions (C) Genius Microprogramming. The Enclosed software, this manual, and any accompanying documentation are protected by both United States and international Copyright laws. Duplication by any means is strictly forbidden and a violation of copyright laws. This license permits you to use the accompanying software on one, single-user computer system. You may produce an archival copy of the enclosed diskettes only. You may not duplicate or transmit any portion of this manual, labels, packaging, serial numbers, Product Registration Card, or related printed information included with this product. 3 _______________ Getting Started _______________ Getting Started _______________ Getting Started You should read this section before going any further. This chapter gives you a step-by-step guide to installing PaintPower on your computer system. Even if you are new to computers, you should have no trouble getting PaintPower up and running. When you have finished this chapter, you'll be ready to start PaintPower and begin creating your first picture. Before continuing, please take a few minutes to fill out the enclosed Registration Card and drop it in the mail. Be sure to keep the upper portion of the registration form for your records. If You Have Questions If You Have Questions If You Have Questions + Try to duplicate the problem and write down what appears on your screen. + Retrace your steps. + Consult the READ.ME file in the PAINT directory. This file contains answers to questions commonly asked about PaintPower as well as the latest information on PaintPower. + Ask your dealer for help. + Contact Hi Tech: Call 1-305-581-4240. Things You Need Things You Need Things You Need To use PaintPower, you will need the following: + IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or 100% compatible computer. Use of a computer based on a _286_ or better CPU is highly recommended. + EGA, VGA, super-VGA, Hercules monochrome or compatible graphics card and monitor. A super-VGA card based on Tseng ET3000, Tseng ET4000, Paradise, Video Seven, ATI Trident, VESA or a compatible chipset is required to display resolutions at 800x600, 1024x768 or 256 colors. + 640K minimum RAM, and a hard disk + MS-DOS, PC-DOS 3.1 (or higher) or DR-DOS + Two original PaintPower 5 1/4_ diskettes or one 3 1/2_ diskette 4 + Microsoft, Logitech or compatible pointing device + Printers supported (optional) include Epson and IBM dot matrix printers with graphic capability, plus HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet II, Postscript and 100% compatibles. Installing PaintPower Installing PaintPower Installing PaintPower Before going any further, you'll need to run PaintPower's easy installation program. The installation program creates a directory of your choice and transfers the appropriate files to your hard drive. NOTE: You must use the INSTALL program to properly transfer PaintPower onto your hard drive. To run the INSTALL program: + Insert the diskette labeled _PaintPower INSTALL_ into drive A. (You may substitute drive B if needed.) + At the DOS prompt ( C:> ), type A:INSTALL and press Enter. + Follow the instructions on the screen. For information about PaintPower command line options, please refer to Chapter 2 of this manual. 5 ________________ Using PaintPower ________________ Using PaintPower ________________ Using PaintPower You will need to learn a little about PaintPower's concepts and design before you start using it. PaintPower has been designed to work in a natural, intuitive fashion. Those of you familiar with graphical user interfaces should have no trouble becoming productive immediately. For those new to computer graphics programs, this chapter gives you basic information regarding how PaintPower works and how to get started. Starting PaintPower Starting PaintPower Starting PaintPower If you have not yet installed PaintPower on your computer system, please read Chapter 1 before continuing. For the steps below, we assume that you have installed PaintPower in the directory C:/HITECH, which is the default directory used during the installation procedure. If you installed PaintPower in a different DOS subdirectory, then substitute that name for C:HITECH below. Your mouse driver (usually MOUSE.COM) must be loaded before running PaintPower. Please refer to your mouse's user manual for more information. + To switch to the PaintPower subdirectory, at the DOS prompt (C:), type CD /HITECH and press Enter. This places you in the PaintPower subdirectory. C:/HITECH. + Once you have switched to PaintPower's subdirectory, PaintPower can be started from the DOS command line by typing _PAINT_ at the DOS prompt, followed by the ENTER key. Command Line Options Command Line Options Command Line Options You may type in configuration instructions along with the PaintPower command when starting the program. These options are listed in Appendix A. They are not necessary in order to run PaintPower on most systems, and some may cause problems if used on computers for which they are not intended. Mouse Actions Mouse Actions Mouse Actions 6 PaintPower will work with a Microsoft, Logitech or fully compatible mouse. Other pointing devices, such as trackballs, which are compatible with the above mice should work as well, but you may need to modify the instructions below to reflect individual operating characteristics. In such cases, consult the manufacturer's instructions which came with the device. Specific use of the mouse will be covered in the descriptions of specific tools and commands. Generally, however, the buttons are used in the following manner: Left This button is used for selecting<$ISelecting> items from menus and palettes, pressing command and menu buttons, positioning items such as text, drawing, erasing, selecting areas, and moving nodes on polygons. Right Used to choose line colors from the palette,<$ILines;Colors> to exit from dialogs, and to paint with a second color when in ZOOM and FILL modes. Drag You usually click once to select or position. Some actions and tools require that you _drag_<$ICursor;Dragging> the mouse cursor. To drag, you position the cursor over the object or starting point and press the left mouse button. Holding down the left mouse button, move the cursor to the ending position before releasing the button. Double Click Some features in PaintPower are accessed by clicking twice on an icon, color, etc. You needn't worry about clicking twice quickly as in some programs. In PaintPower, the first click selects an item, the second click on an already selected item will allow you to edit or make a further selection. Note: If you wish to reverse the action of the left and right mouse buttons for use with the Left hand, you may make this change by using the OPTIONS button on PaintPower's Menu Bar and choosing the PREFERENCES selection to set the mouse button mode. PaintPower's Screen PaintPower's Screen PaintPower's Screen As you may have already discovered, your PaintPower screen consists of a large workspace, surrounded by several groups of tools, buttons and bars. For now, let's take a general look at how each area is used: The Menu Bar The Menu Bar The Menu Bar 7 This is a list of option buttons at the top of the screen (FILE, EDIT, PICTURE, OPTIONS and HELP). Note that a letter is underlined in the title of each button. You may pull down a menu from each button by either clicking on the button with your mouse, or by holding down the ALT key and pressing the underlined letter corresponding to the button you wish to select. This principle works for other PaintPower menu functions as well, and can be a real time saver. For example: to activate Help, either click the button or press ALT and the H key (ALT/H). The Video Mode Menu The Video Mode Menu The Video Mode Menu This menu box is located at the top, center portion of the PaintPower screen. It can be used to change the monitor resolution to expand or limit your working surface and color choices. PaintPower automatically includes as selections, only the screen resolutions and colors supported by your monitor and graphics card hardware. The menu will drop down when you click on the arrow at the right side of the box showing the currently selected resolution. Note: when changing resolutions, any drawing currently loaded must be closed. PaintPower will prompt you to do this. Once the screen display has been switched to the new resolution, you may then reload any drawings and convert them to the new mode. The Mouse Coordinate Display The Mouse Coordinate Display The Mouse Coordinate Display At the upper right corner of the screen are two boxes which display the position of the mouse cursor/pointer. The position is measured in the number of pixels relative to the upper left corner (i.e., 0, 0) of the drawing on which you are working. The Y position is the number of pixels down from the top, and the X position represents the number of pixels from the left. This is very useful for precise sizing and placement. The Tool Bar The Tool Bar The Tool Bar Immediately below the Menu Bar, a selection of tool icon buttons is displayed. The tool displayed on a button can be selected by clicking on that button with the mouse. Note that some of these icons contain a small arrow at the lower right corner. This indicates that you may modify how that tool functions by clicking a second time on that icon. The Size Selector The Size Selector The Size Selector 8 This box is located on the left side of the PaintPower screen. Clicking on the arrow will drop down a menu containing a range of sizes for the tool selected. The tools affected by this box include the erasers, the marking pen, the brushes, airbrushes, and the thickness of the lines used to form straight lines, squares, circles, polygons and 3D objects. The Color/Pattern Status Box The Color/Pattern Status Box The Color/Pattern Status Box The currently selected line color, fill color and pattern are displayed in the box immediately below the Size Selector. The outside border of the box represents the color and pattern of any lines being drawn, while the interior shows the color currently selected to fill the interior of objects being drawn or filled. If a pattern has been selected, this will be also shown, in the currently selected color. The Hollow/Solid Selector The Hollow/Solid Selector The Hollow/Solid Selector You may choose whether the fill of an object being drawn will obscure figures directly underneath it. Click on the HOLLOW button to draw hollow shapes. Click on the SOLID button to fill the object drawn with the selected color. Also, clicking with the right mouse button will choose whether the line will be HOLLOW or SOLID. Note: To allow the background to show through a pattern, use the TRANSPARENT PATTERNS option, and not the HOLLOW/SOLID SELECTOR. If you select a pattern when the TRANSPARENT PATTERNS mode is selected from the OPTIONS Menu, the texture will overprint the background, allowing areas not covered by dots in the pattern to show through. This can be used to obtain some interesting `` transparent'' effects. The Pattern Window The Pattern Window The Pattern Window Directly below the HOLLOW/SOLID selector, a small window is displayed which contains a selection of patterns and textures. A thumbnail bar appears on the right side of the window which allows you to scroll through the selection of patterns currently loaded. You move through the selections by clicking on the thumbnail button and moving the button up or down while depressing the mouse button. Alternatively, you may click on the arrows at the top and bottom of the thumbnail scroll bar to advance through the selections one frame at at time. Use the left mouse button to select a pattern to be used for FILLS and BRUSHES; use the right mouse button to select a pattern for lines and outlines. You may edit individual patterns by clicking a second time on the currently selected pattern (either in the PATTERN WINDOW, or in the COLOR/PATTERN STATUS BOX). The EDIT PATTERN dialog window will appear. 9 On the left side of the editing window, is the pattern editing workspace. to the right is a preview of the effect your edits have over a large area. You draw your pattern/texture by clicking on individual squares in the editing screen to the left. A click on a white pixel will change it to a black pixel. Clicking on black will change it to white. Four command buttons are at the bottom of the window. The CLEAR button clears the existing pattern and gives you a blank workspace. The INVERT button changes the black pixels to white and the white pixels to black, producing a reverse pattern. The OK button saves your changes and returns you to the drawing screen. The CANCEL button returns you to your drawing without saving your changes to the pattern. Note: White areas in your pattern will remain white unless TRANSPARENT PATTERNS is selected from the OPTIONS Menu. The Black areas in your pattern will be shown in the currently selected Fill Color when used in your picture. Your pattern, used in the transparent mode may be used to produce interesting effects. The Color Palette The Color Palette The Color Palette The bottom, left section of the screen is occupied by the PALETTE window. Again, as in the PATTERN WINDOW, a thumbnail scroll bar on the right side of the window allows you to scroll through the selection of colors (the palette) currently loaded. You may select a background color by moving the cursor over the desired color and clicking the left mouse button. The line color (or second paint color when using ZOOM or FILL tools) may be selected by clicking the right mouse button. Note: The number of pure colors with which you may work is determined by your system's monitor/video card configuration and the resolution selected in the VIDEO MODE box (see above). When limited to 2 or 16 pure colors, PaintPower approximates other shades by mixing the available colors. Each color in the palette may be altered individually by clicking a second time on any color (on either the palette or the COLOR/PATTERN STATUS BOX) except black and white, which cannot be edited. The EDIT COLOR dialog box will be displayed. Four sliding bars representing the value of each of three colors and the brightness level are displayed at the top of the editing screen. You may use your mouse to scroll each bar to a new value. Finer incremental adjustments can be made by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. Use the TAB key to switch between scroll bars when using the keyboard. A preview of the effect of your changes is shown in a small window at the bottom/center of this dialog box. 10 PaintPower uses the RGB color model to control color balance and brightness. This is the same model used on color monitors and expresses each color as combination of Red, Green and Blue values. The following table shows how to set the three color values to produce common pure colors. An enormous range of additional tints may be obtained through adjustments made to the color balance using this function. Red Red to right, other bars to left Green Green to right, other bars to left Blue Blue to right, other bars to left Yellow Red and Green to right, Blue to left Magenta Blue and Red to right, Green to left Cyan Green and Blue to right, Red to left White All colors to right Black All colors to left Three command buttons also are arranged along the bottom of this window. The RESET button returns the color and brightness values to the state which existed when you began editing. The OK button saves your changes to the palette and returns you to your drawing. Pressing the CANCEL button ignores any changes you have made to the color and returns you to the drawing. Note: Any changes to the palette affect the current drawing only. Changes to the palette are saved to the disk when you save the drawing file. Each drawing has a palette associated with it. See Chapter Five for information on importing and exporting palettes between drawings. The Drawing Board The Drawing Board The Drawing Board The drawing workspace occupies most of PaintPower's screen. This is the area where you will do most of the drawing and editing of your images. You may open several drawing board windows at one time, each containing a different image. The image window in which editing is taking place will be shown with active scroll bars and command buttons. The other, inactive image windows will not show these features, and may be overlapped by the active window, or switched completely to the background. At the top of the active window are two buttons and a bar containing the name of the currently loaded image. The square button to the left may be accessed from the keyboard by holding down the ALT key and pressing the SPACE key. This will present you with a menu containing four choices. Using the keyboard, you may select any command by highlighting it using the 11 arrow keys (or by typing the first letter in a command's title) and pressing the ENTER key to accept or the ESC key to cancel. Move Allows you to move the entire window containing your image to another position on your screen. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to reposition the window. This is handy when displaying more than one image file at one time. Note: the window must be smaller than the workspace area in order to move it. Mouse users will prefer the shortcut below. Size This function allows you to shrink or expand the window. Use the keyboard arrows to resize the window to the desired size. Again, a shortcut for mouse users appears below. Zoom You may switch your current drawing from a small sized window to a large window occupying the entire workspace (and back), by selecting this option. Close This selection will close the current window. If the image in the window has changed since last being saved, you will be given the option of saving your changes. If you do not save your changes, they will be lost and the image will remain as it was when last saved. There are a few shortcuts which are useful alternatives to the above. The ``X'' button on the left side of the window's title bar will close the window. The title bar of a small image window can be ``dragged'' with the mouse to move the window to a new location. The ZOOM button in the upper right corner (stacked up/down arrowheads) can be used to maximize or minimize the size of the current window. The narrow frames surrounding small windows can be used to resize a window on one side at a time. The resize button at the lower right corner can be used to simultaneously size any window both horizontally and vertically. Note: when working on a new drawing, the title bar for the image will be labeled ``untitled'' until you SAVE the image (see File Menu Functions in the next chapter). Along the right and bottom of this window are two sets of scroll bars. You will note that the thumbnail buttons on each bar will change size to show what percentage of the entire drawing is displayed within the window. As with scroll bars on other windows, you may hold down the thumbnail button while moving the mouse to scroll around your drawing. The image in the window will move along with the button to reflect your current position on the page. Alternatively, you may click on the arrows at the ends of the bars to scroll through the image. Some hardware configurations may allow you to change the maximum amount of the drawing surface which may be displayed on the screen. To try this, you should access the VIDEO MODE Menu (see page 10). You may 12 also change the size of the image using the SCALE function under the PICTURE Menu Button. The initial drawing screen for a new picture is always white. A blue or dark background along with the absence of window title and scroll bars indicates that you are not in the draw/paint mode and that no drawing has been loaded. You must choose the OPEN option under the FILE Menu button and select either an existing image or select NEW for a blank window. 13 ____________ The Menu Bar ____________ The Menu Bar ____________ The Menu Bar The Menu Bar is positioned at the top, left hand corner of PaintPower's screen. Five buttons along its length may be pressed using either the mouse, or by holding down the ALT key while typing in the letter underlined in the desired button's title. The FILE Menu The FILE Menu The FILE Menu The FILE menu contains functions related to importing, exporting, printing and saving files. Chapter 5 gives more information on many of these commands. New Selecting this command will load a blank, untitled drawing into a window. PaintPower will suggest default dimensions for your new image, which you may override by typing in a preferred size. Open If you wish to edit a pre-existing drawing, you should select this command from the menu. You will be presented with the OPEN dialog which lists available image files in a window to the right. If there are more image files on the list than will fit in the space allowed, you may scroll through the list using the scroll bar provided. In most cases, you will simply click on the image's title in the list to open an image. The files which are listed have been sorted from your DOS directory using the three letter DOS extension. They are sorted alphabetically and limited to files that match the file mask. The current mask being used by PaintPower is displayed on OPEN's title bar. You may display files using other three letter file extensions or, list all files, by pressing the SEARCH button and selecting another file type from the drop down menu (click on the arrow to display choices). You may search for image files having one of the standard file masks from the list, or you may type in a filename directly. Note: File Search Shortcut: A row of diamond check boxes above the FILES listing keep track of where on the disk you last stored images in each of the file formats supported by PaintPower. If you check one of these, PaintPower will automatically jump to the DOS subdirectory in which that type file was last SAVED, and list files found at that location. To open a file from another drive accessible by your computer, you may select the corresponding drive letter from the list of drives recognized by PaintPower. Click on the arrow under DRIVES: to drop down the list of available choices. 14 You may also click through subdirectories to search for an image file. Subdirectories branching off from the current directory are listed by name in the DIRECTORIES box. You may click on one of these to log on to that subdirectory. If you wish to go back one step in the DOS Directory tree, click on the folder next to the two dots (..). If you wish to return all the way to the drive's root Directory, click on the folder next to the backslash. Any image files matching the file mask (specified in SEARCH) will have their names displayed as you go from subdirectory to subdirectory. Note: Typically, PCX format files end in ``.PCX'' TIFF format files end in ``.TIF'' and CompuServe GIF format files end in ``.GIF'' Save Selecting SAVE will write your image to the disk. Any changes you have made to the image will overwrite the original copy stored in the file. If you wish to save both the original file as well as your latest modified copy, you should save using the SAVE AS function described below. Save As SAVE AS allows you to assign a name to a new, untitled image you have just created; to save your edited version under a different name, thus preserving the original file; and to make a copy of the image in a different file format. To SAVE an editied image into a file other than the original, you must supply a filename at the line prompt. PaintPower supplies you with the current subdirectory path and all you need type is a one to eight character name for the file to be created. If you wish to store the new file in a different subdirectory, you may use either your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor to the left and edit the PATH to direct the file to the proper directory. A drop down menu at the bottom of the SAVE AS dialog allows you to save your work in a different image format. You are limited to eight characters when naming your image file. You need not type in the three letter DOS extension as PaintPower will assign these for you. Close Choosing CLOSE will unload the current image from PaintPower. If you have made any edits to the image, PaintPower will ask if you wish to save these changes or if you would rather leave the image in its original state. Close All If you have several image windows loaded into PaintPower, you may close them all at once by using CLOSE ALL. Again, you will be prompted to save any edits you have made, before PaintPower clears the workspace. 15 Load Palette A custom palette of colors may loaded from a previously saved palette file, or from a stored image file. You may use a file mask to select from lists of pre-stored ``.PAL'' files, or you may view and choose from image files in GIF or PCX format. See Chapter 6 for additional considerations regarding importing color palettes. Save Palette If you have altered the colors on PaintPower's palette, you may use this option to save them for use in other pictures. You may give the new palette a file name consisting of up to eight characters. PaintPower will assign the DOS extension ``.PAL'' to the name you supply. Load Pattern You may import previously saved patterns into the current image. Doing this will replace the patterns available in the PATTERN WINDOW with the new selection. Pattern file names on your drive will end with the DOS extension ``.PAT'' and should have been generated by PaintPower. PaintPower cannot use pattern files generated by other programs. Save Pattern If you have customized the patterns in PaintPower, you may wish to save your changes for use in creating future images. Selecting this option will allow you to assign a name of up to eight characters to your pattern file. PaintPower will automatically add the DOS extension ``.PAT'' to the file's name. Print Selecting PRINT will cause a dialog box to appear. Three drop down menus are used to select the type of printer connected to your computer, DOS output information, and paper orientation. You may use graphics printers compatible with devices listed in the menu. Note that not every printer is capable of printing graphic images. In addition, dot matrix graphics printers do not support halftones. Halftone printing improves image quality by converting colors into grey dot patterns. Consult the printer's documentation for compatibility considerations. The PORT Menu lists the DOS printer ports. You may also write the image to a print file by selecting the FILE option from the list. The direction at which your picture is to be printed on the paper is controlled using the ORIENTATION menu. The SCALE FACTOR controls the size of the printed image. Generally, a size of 300% will fit a 640x480 image onto a page printed in Landscape mode. 400% is very close to the size at which the picture appears on your screen. You may adjust this 16 percentage to obtain better resolution and to better match your printer's capabilities. Once you have finished configuring the settings for your printer, you may start printing by clicking on the PRINT button. If you wish to exit the PRINT dialog without printing, click on the CANCEL button. Exit EXIT will return you to DOS. If any files are still open in which edits have taken place, PaintPower will give you an opportunity to SAVE the changes before these files are closed. The EDIT Menu The EDIT Menu The EDIT Menu EDIT includes several functions usually used along with the SCISSORS tool described in the next chapter. Undo This will remove your last edit to the image. Use this immediately when you make a mistake such as using the wrong tool, erasing more than you meant, etc. Cut Once you have selected an area with the SCISSORS tool, you may use this option to CUT the area from your drawing. The area is placed, temporarily, onto the PaintPower CLIPBOARD (see below). If desired, you may use the PASTE command to re-insert this area into another image or onto the same image. Copy Selecting this command will make a COPY onto the CLIPBOARD of the area selected by using the SCISSORS tool. This area is then available for use by the PASTE command. Copy To After selecting an area using the SCISSORS tool, you may copy this area into its own image file. You will be asked to supply a name, consisting of up to eight characters, for this file . This file will not be overwritten by subsequent CUT or COPY commands Paste The PASTE command inserts the image stored on the CLIPBOARD (see CUT and COPY above) into the current image window. Once the area appears on the screen, it will be shown surrounded by a dotted line. You may reposition it by immediately positioning the mouse cursor in the center of the pasted area. The mouse cursor will change to a small hand when the cursor is over the area to be moved. At this point, you may press down on the left mouse button and drag the PASTED area to a new location. Note: if you intend to move an item pasted into the current image, you must do so immediately. Using or selecting a tool or menu item (other than from the PICTURE menu) will cause PaintPower to assume that you have decided to leave the pasted area in its current location. 17 At any time between pasting the area and going on to another tool, the pasted area may be FLIPPED, INVERTED, ROTATED, or manipulated with other SPECIAL EFFECTS. You may repeatedly PASTE the same item from the clipboard. See the Picture Menu, below. Paste From If you have copied an area using the COPY TO command, you may use this command to PASTE the image file you created into the active image window. You will be asked to supply the name of the file you created using the COPY TO command. You may also PASTE FROM using an entire normal image file, though these will usually be so large that they may blot out much or all of the current image. Delete Choosing this command will cause the area within a retanglular area selected by the SCISSORS tool to be wiped clean. Show Clipboard You may display the PaintPower CLIPBOARD as a reminder of its current contents. The clipboard only holds the last item placed there using either the CUT or COPY command. The PICTURE Menu The PICTURE Menu The PICTURE Menu CLEAR, ADJUST CONTRAST, ADJUST PALETTE, SHOW SCREEN, SHOW PREVIEW and PICTURE INFO are related strictly to the overall image in the current window. However, some of the items under the PICTURE button allow you to manipulate sections selected with the SCISSORS tool (see next chapter), PASTE command; as well as the entire image. One use for the various flip, rotation and scale functions is for producing a great number of variations of a single item in the CLIPBOARD. Clear Choosing this option will erase the entire image, leaving you with a blank drawing board window. Invert You may produce an opposite for your entire image, a freshly PASTED item, or just that part selected with the SCISSORS tool. Depending on the colors available, each color will be changed to its RGB opposite (i.e., black will become white, red will become blue-green, etc.), or an approximation. The palette will remain the same. This can produce very interesting effects. Flip Horizontal The entire image, a freshly PASTED item, or area selected by the SCISSORS tool, can be flipped, left to right. Flip Vertical Using this command, you can turn either your entire image, or just a selected area, upside down. Rotate 90 This command turns the selected area (or whole image, if no area is selected) 90 degrees to the right. You may immediately 18 repeat the command to rotate in further increments. (The FLIP VERTICAL command is the same as ROTATING twice.) Scale You may stretch or shrink the size of your image, or a selected area, by using the SCALE command. You have several pre-set sizes from which to choose. Simply click on the check box next to the desired new size. If you choose CUSTOM SIZE you should type in the size, in pixels. The first number represents the new width and the second, the new height of the image. The MAINTAIN ASPECT RATIO check box stops the image from being distorted. When this box is checked, PaintPower will come as close as possible to the SIZE specified, without stretching the picture out of shape. Adjust Contrast This command adjusts the overall contrast of the picture currently being edited. Click to the right side of the scroll bar to increase the contrast. Click to the left side to decrease the image contrast. You may use the mouse to hold down and slide the thumbnail button. Your image in the background will be updated as you decrease or increase the values. If you wish to make finer adjustments, use the left and right ARROW keys on the keyboard to move in single unit increments. Adjust Palette The color balance and brightness across the entire palette may be adjusted using the four thumbnail scroll bars in this dialog. Just as for your color monitor, PaintPower uses a RGB color model, which means that colors are expressed as values of Red, Green and Blue. You may change these by using either the mouse to move each thumbnail button, or by using the ARROW keys on your keyboard to move in finer increments. When using the keyboard, you can switch between scroll bars by using the TAB key. The effect of each change made to the current palette is reflected on your picture in the background. Note: As changes you make in ADJUST PALETTE will affect all of the colors in both your image and palette, you will usually want to make only very fine adjustments to the overall color balance. You may adjust individual colors on the palette using the EDIT COLOR feature. Use the RESET command button at the bottom of the dialog to clear your changes and start again. Click on the OK button to save your changes to the palette, and return to editing your image. Choose the CANCEL button to return to your picture without saving the color changes you have made. 19 Effects A variety of effects allow you to alter a selected area of your picture or, if no area has been selected with the SCISSORS tool (in rectangle mode), to apply the effect to the entire image. A descriptive name of each special effect may be selected from the drop down menu (click on the ARROW button to display). Once the desired effect has been highlighted, press the APPLY button. Depending on the effect, the number of colors on your display, the size of the area being transformed, the operating speed of your computer, etc., the time involved in processing your image may vary greatly. A graph showing the percentage completed will be displayed while the calculations for the effect are processed. If you are new to PaintPower, you may wish to experiment with each effect on a small area of an image. Although most effects will vary, depending on the characteristics of the selected area, you will be generally familiar with what results to expect. You may UNDO any special effect by immediately selecting the UNDO command from the EDIT Menu, or by pressing ALT/U. Show Screen Choosing this command will use your entire screen to display the active image. If the image will not fit into the area available on your monitor, a small HAND cursor will appear. You may use this cursor to drag the image, revealing portions lying outside the limits of your screen. Exit from this mode by pressing the right mouse button, or hitting a key on the keyboard. Show Preview Use this feature to view the entire image. The current image will be loaded into a window and completely displayed. Use this to view your entire picture at once, no matter what the size. Picture Info ... Selecting this command will present you with the filename, picture dimensions, and number of colors in the image's palette. The OPTIONS Menu The OPTIONS Menu The OPTIONS Menu The selections found under this menu allow you to set constraints on how various PaintPower features will work. Snap to Grid If SNAP TO GRID is enabled, a check mark will appear next to the menu selection. This will cause the cursor to snap to the nearest point on a grid as specified in the SET GRID 20 command (see below). Click on the menu command to enable or disable this function. Show Mouse Position This selection turns the MOUSE COORDINATE DISPLAY (see page 11) on and off. When this feature is enabled, two boxes will appear at the upper left of the screen. The box labeled X shows the cursor position as a number of pixels from the left The box labeled Y shows the position as a number of pixels from the top. You may switch the MOUSE COORDINATE DISPLAY on or off, by clicking on the menu command. Transparent Pattern The white background of any Pattern Fills will become transparent when this function is enabled. The background will show through and the pattern (the black portion when shown in the PATTERN WINDOW) will be added in the currently selected color. See page 13 for more information regarding editing patterns. Set Grid You may specify the width of a grid for use with the SNAP TO GRID selection above. You will be prompted to designate the size of the grid in terms of horizontal and vertical measurements. When you are satisfied with the size of the new grid, click on the OK button. When you click on OK in SET GRID, the SNAP TO GRID feature will be turned on automatically. You will only see the effect of your settings when SNAP TO GRID is enabled (see above). Set Tile Fill Use this command to specify a file to use with the TILE FILL tool. You may use any of the image file types supported by PaintPower Two check boxes allow you to choose whether the fill image will use the cursor position, or the upper, left hand corner of your picture as a reference point in positioning the fill. Set Preferences This command brings up a sub-menu of configuration choices. Typically, you will seldom need to reset these items: PICTURE allows you to set the Default VIDEO MODE the program will use when you load PaintPower. You may also specify the dimensions for new images opened using the NEW command under the FILE button. DIRECTORIES will allow you to change the DOS subdirectories PaintPower uses to store Fonts, Stamps and other information. PaintPower may need to use your hard disk to temporarily store image information. You can specify a certain directory, or indicate that PaintPower should use an existing Temporary subdirectory for this purpose. 21 If the directory you specify does not exist, PaintPower will not create a directory or move files for you. Click on the OK button to accept your changes, or CANCEL to exit the dialog without making changes to your configuration. MISCELLANEOUS: PaintPower's UNDO feature allows you to restore your image to its state prior to your last edit. This is a convenient feature for recovering from mistakes, however it does take up memory and may slow your system slightly. If you have either a slow system, or a system with limited memory, you might wish to turn this feature off to improve perfomance. The SWAP check box allows you to use the Left mouse button in place of the Right, and the Right mouse button in place of the Left. Left-handed and ambidexterous persons may find operating with the button functions switched to be more intuitive. The SWAP feature is on when this box is checked. Backup files enable you to recover an image file when the last saved version has been corrupted or contains unwanted edits. If this feature is enabled, PaintPower will write a copy of the file to the disk in its original state, prior to saving the latest edited version (using the SAVE command under the FILE button). Note, however, that image files tend to be very large, and unless you regularly erase old backup files (files ending in the DOS extension ``.BAK''), even large hard drives can quickly become filled. If you decide to leave CREATE BACKUP (BAK) FILES off, you can still keep backup copies of any file you wish by using the FILE/SAVE AS function instead of SAVE, and giving your edited file a name different from that of the original image. If this box is checked, PaintPower will write a backup copy of each edited file you SAVE. PaintPower will beep when you try to perform an invalid action. You may switch this off. If the BEEP WHEN ERROR OCCURS box is checked, PaintPower will beep. You may turn off the SHOW GRIDLINES IN ZOOM MODE feature. The gridlines allow for more accurate editing when using the ZOOM tool, but lends a slightly washed-out look to some colors. PaintPower is installed with this feature disabled. If you need the grid lines, click on the checkbox to turn this feature on. PaintPower will attempt to use all the free MEMORY which is available in your system. If for some reason you need to keep PaintPower from accessing one of the types of memory available on your system, you may do so by deselecting the corresponding box. Note: It is strongly recommended that you NOT limit PaintPower's access to memory. Doing this may slow down your system while 22 working in PaintPower. In any case, PaintPower needs some memory, you cannot uncheck all the memory boxes. The HELP Menu The HELP Menu The HELP Menu Clicking on the HELP Menu Button will present you with PaintPower's program information functions. Help If you need information regarding the proper use of a particular PaintPower function, it is usually more convenient to first use the HELP command to search for answers before resorting to this manual. On entering the HELP system, you will be presented with a TABLE OF CONTENTS containing categories of subjects covered. You may click on any category to display relevant subjects contained under that heading. You may also click on INDEX to show an alphabetized listing of all subjects in the HELP system. Clicking on any subject will bring up information regarding that subject. If there are related topics within the informational text, these will appear as underlined words or phrases. You may click on any related topic displayed to switch to a display of the information relating to that topic. You may also search for a specific topic by clicking on the FIND button. You will be asked to indicate the subject for which you are searching, and PaintPower will then try to match your request. View READ.ME File Late breaking information and features becoming available after the production PaintPower's documentation, will be included on the disk as an ASCII file named READ.ME. You may view this text from within PaintPower by selecting this command. System Info... This command will detail some of the hardware which PaintPower has found present on your computer system. About PaintPower Selecting this command causes a screen to be displayed which shows copyright and version information about PaintPower. 23 ____________ The Tool Bar ____________ The Tool Bar ____________ The Tool Bar The Toolbar is a row of tool icons which stretches across the top of the PaintPower screen. These tools are used to edit your image, and contain some of PaintPower's most powerful features. The time you take becoming acquainted with the various functions of these tools will pay off in terms of results which are produced with less effort, and which better reflect your ideas. Remember: should you make a mistake using any of the tools below, you can revoke your last edit using the UNDO command from the EDIT menu, or by typing ALT/U. The SCISSORS Tools The SCISSORS Tools The SCISSORS Tools The SCISSORS Icon is used to Select specific areas of your picture for further modification, as well as to cut and paste. After you have clicked on this tool, you select an area by dragging the mouse cursor from one side of an area to its opposite side. A dotted outline (or marquee) will surround the selected part of the image. To Deselect an area, simply click the right mouse button, or move the mouse cursor off to the side and click once. Once the desired area has been selected, you may Move this piece from your picture by positioning your mouse cursor in the center of the selected area. The cursor will change to a small hand. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cut piece to a new location and release. If you drop the piece in the wrong spot, use the UNDO command to restore the picture. You may Shrink, Enlarge or Distort the selected area by using the mouse to drag the nodes (or handles), which appear as small boxes at the angles of the dotted line. When your mouse is properly positioned over one of these nodes, the cursor will change to a pointing hand. Press down on the left mouse button and drag the node to a new position. As you move these, the marquee will stretch or shrink. If you wish to Copy the area (i.e., move a copy of the area while leaving the original surface intact) hold down the CTRL key while dragging the selected area to the desired location. Holding down the SHIFT key while moving the mouse will leave a trail of paint, allowing you to use the selected area as a paint brush. 24 Note: When selecting a rectangular area, part of which lies outside the image area displayed in the screen's workspace, simply continue holding down the mouse button and drag to the edge of the window nearest to the destination. The image will scroll underneath the cursor until you move the mouse off the window's edge, or until you reach the edge of the picture. An area may be Cut or Copied to the PaintPower CLIPBOARD, Copied to a File, or Deleted. Once a portion of your picture has been selected, these options are available under the EDIT Menu button. (See Chapter 3 for these commands.) Areas selected with these tools may also be modified using the commands listed under the PICTURE Menu button. Clicking a second time on the SCISSORS icon will drop down a menu containing three tool types. The topmost icon (SCISSORS next to a straight line) selects or cuts rectangular areas. Note: You must select a rectangular area using the straight line SCISSORS tool in order to use the PICTURE/EFFECTS command. If you need to apply a particular EFFECT to an irregular area, try dividing the area into sections and use several small rectangles to modify in more than one operation. The middle icon (SCISSORS next to a zigzag) selects or cuts polygonal areas. Click to draw line segments around the area you wish to select. You may complete the boundary by clicking a final time close to your starting point, or by clicking the right mouse button. At this point, a dialog window will allow you to make changes (see below). The lower icon (SCISSORS next to an undulating line) selects or cuts free form areas. Simply drag the mouse around the area to be selected. Unlike the straight line SCISSORS we've discussed above, the area boundaries delineated with the Polygonal and Freeform SCISSORS may be edited once the area has been selected. If you wish to make minor Adjustments to include or exclude areas, you are given an opportunity to use the mouse to reposition the nodes (or handles) which appear as small boxes at the angles of the border line. When your mouse is properly positioned over one of these nodes, press down on the left mouse button and drag the node to a new position. As you move these, the border will stretch or shrink. You may add or delete nodes by clicking with the left mouse button to add, or delete by holding down the CTRL key while clicking with the left button. Once the boundaries of the area are in place, click on the OK button in the dialog window. A marquee will appear around the entire area, which may then be Moved, Stretched, Distorted, Copied, etc. as above. ERASER Tools ERASER Tools ERASER Tools 25 The ERASER consists of two tools. You may choose between the tools by clicking a second time on the ERASER icon. The size of the ERASER cursor is controlled by the SIZE SELECTOR box on the left side of the PaintPower screen. The ERASER will be three to four times the selected line width. The topmost tool will erase everything under the cursor when the mouse is clicked or dragged. The second tool will erase only the current color selected in the COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX wherever the left mouse button is clicked or dragged. In this mode, clicking or dragging with the right mouse button will only erase the current line color as shown in the border around the COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. The TEXT Toolbox The TEXT Toolbox The TEXT Toolbox Text in a variety of styles and fonts may be placed within your picture. When you click on the TEXT icon, a TEXT cursor appears. Move the cursor to the location at which you wish your text line to begin, and click to begin typing. You may change the font, color, size and style, either prior to typing your text or at anytime before selecting another tool or starting a new line of text. By clicking a second time on the TEXT icon, you will be presented with a choice of text styles (e.g., Bold, Italic, etc. - see illustration at left). You may select to apply one or a combination of these styles to your text. Your text will be drawn in the current fill color selected in the COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. The current line color will be used for drop shadowing, when choosing the SHADOW command. The font and size are changed by clicking on the FONTS... function at the bottom of the menu. The FONT dialog window will be displayed with the current font selected. The selections may be viewed by clicking on the individual font names. The font will be previewed in the EXAMPLE window at the lower, left corner. Font and size choices may be scrolled using the scroll bars. Not every font comes in every size (though you may stretch or shrink any size using the SCISSORS tool). When entering text, you may use the BACKSPACE key to erase and ENTER to start a new line. The ESC key cancels the entry. ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM When it comes time to touch up the details in your picture, you will probably want to get a closer look at the part of the image being 26 modified. You can exercise precise, pixel level control by switching into the ZOOM editing mode. To do this, first click on the ZOOM icon. Move your cursor near to a corner of the area which you wish to enlarge. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to surround the area. A marquee will appear showing the boundary of the area selected. When you have enclosed the desired area, release the mouse button. The ZOOM window consists of a pair of thumbnail scroll bars along the right and bottom. These allow you to scroll to other points within your picture without exiting the ZOOM mode. On the left side is a scroll bar which permits you to increase or decrease the magnification factor. The magnification factor is displayed above the scroll bar and just above this is an actual size (1:1) view of the section of the image on which you are working. This small window will also show the effect of your edits as you make them. The main part of the ZOOM edit window is occupied by a magnified, editable view of a part of your picture. If there is any pattern in the section being edited, you will be able to distinguish the individual pixels which make up the image. You edit the image by clicking on individual pixels. Clicking the left mouse button will place the currently selected fill color, while clicking on the right button will place the currently selected line color. You may change colors at any time. Note: The PREFERENCES command under the OPTIONS menu button will allow you superimpose a grid for the ZOOM window. This will make it much easier to identify and edit individual pixels, though it may alter your perception of how the actual colors will end up looking. ERASER, BRUSH, FILL, HIGHLIGHTER, STRAIGHT LINE, RECTANGLE, GRID, ROUND RECTANGLE, CIRCLE, and COLOR SAMPLER tools can be used in ZOOM mode: + The ERASER and BRUSH may be used to click on individual pixels, or may be dragged across an area. + The FILL tool will either fill an enclosed area (of one color) with another color or tile pattern, or may be used to replace a one color (as selected in the COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX) with another throughout the ZOOM edit window. + The HIGHLIGHTER works by changing the color value of any pixel to which it is applied. + The COLOR SAMPLER is extremely useful in ZOOM mode, particularly when working with 256 color images. Instead of scrolling through the PALETTE, you can simply select a color you need directly from the ZOOM screen. 27 + LINE, RECTANGLE, GRID, ROUND RECTANGLE, and CIRCLE tools are dragged to produce these forms. You may also paint using PATTERNS, as well as colors from the palette, while in ZOOM. This allows you to precisely apply a pattern/texture to a specific area. To exit from the ZOOM edit window, click on either the small preview window on the left side, click on the image in the background, or click on the X button at the upper left corner of the window. The COLOR SAMPLER The COLOR SAMPLER The COLOR SAMPLER The color sampler may be used to select a color directly from the surface of the picture, rather than from the palette. This feature is particularly handy when working with 256 color or gray scale images, where it is either difficult to distinguish between individual shades, or when it saves time over making a search through the many selections available on the PALETTE. To use the color sampler, move the cursor directly over the desired color. You should be able to spot the color at the center of the crosshairs. The color you choose will become the selected color in the CURRENT COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. Press the left mouse button to change the current fill color, or press the right mouse button to select a new current line color. The HIGHLIGHTER The HIGHLIGHTER The HIGHLIGHTER The HIGHLIGHTER works in much the same manner as the felt tipped markers used for highlighting text. It adds its color value to the value of any color in the image with which it comes into contact. The size of the HIGHLIGHTER tip is controlled from the SIZE SELECTOR box. You may also highlight using a pattern. Note: The resulting value will depend on the two colors, and availability of suitable colors in the current palette. Highlighting results tend to be most predictable when using 16 color palettes. BRUSH Tools BRUSH Tools BRUSH Tools These tools are used for most freehand painting operations. Clicking on the icon will reveal a menu (next page) of the different BRUSH types from which you may select. The size of the BRUSH is controlled by choosing a width from the SIZE SELECTOR box. 28 Brushes may be used by either clicking at specific points, or by dragging the mouse to produce a stroke. The color will depend on the contents of the CURRENT COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. A PATTERN may be used with the color to obtain a textured effect. The left mouse button will paint with the current fill color and pattern. Using the right mouse button will paint with the currently selected line color. Note: the HIGHLIGHTER (see above) may be used for painting with semi-transparent washes. The STAMP tool may be used for painting with pictures and to create custom, multi-color brushes. FILL Tools FILL Tools FILL Tools Use this tool when you need to FILL large areas with a color, pattern, etc. The tool at the top of the menu is the basic FILL tool. It will flood any enclosed area with the selected color. The color will depend on the contents of the CURRENT COLOR/ PATTERN SELECTION BOX. A PATTERN may be used with the color to obtain a textured effect. The left mouse button will flood with the current fill color and pattern. Using the right mouse button will FILL with the currently selected line color. Pressing any key on the keyboard will halt the execution of the flood. Note: The basic FILL tool will flood an area containing an existing color with a second color. There must be a border of another color which completely surrounds the area which you wish to FILL. A gap in this border, of even a single pixel, will allow the color to leak and you may end up inadvertently flooding a larger area than intended. Should this occur, use the UNDO command (ALT/U) to remove the color, then examine the border for gaps (with ZOOM if needed) and patch the gap before using FILL once again. The TILE FILL tool is the middle tool on the menu. This will allow you to fill an area with a stamp (tile fashion), or even another, entire picture. Before applying this tool, be sure to select an image for the fill, using the SET TILE FILL command under the OPTIONS menu button. An infinite variety of textures can be had by using this tool to import images containing complex textures and using these to fill a background ``masking'' color. To do this, you will first need to designate those areas in which the image will show through, by painting them with a color used nowhere else in that area (the ``mask''). Next, select the texture image file and TILE FILL that color. The last tool in this menu is the COLOR REPLACEMENT FILL. Applying this tool will replace every occurrence of the color on which you 29 click with the color contained in the CURRENT COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. The extent of the area affected by FILL is generally limited to the portion of the picture actually displayed within the current image editing window. If you desire to use FILL over areas lying outside the portion displayed, you will need to scroll to these areas and reapply the tool. The FILL tool may be used in ZOOM mode for more precise control. The AIRBRUSH Tool The AIRBRUSH Tool The AIRBRUSH Tool The AIRBRUSH tool is useful for subtle shading, blending and producing lines with indistinct edges. If you click a second time on the icon, a dialog window allows you to set the spray pattern produced by the nozzle and the rate at which the color droplets are sprayed onto your picture. Note: A slower FLOW RATE will give you more control, while a faster rate will be better for bold strokes. Just as for the BRUSH tools, the size of the area covered is controlled through the SIZE SELECTOR box. The color obtained by using the left mouse button is the current fill color displayed in the CURRENT COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. Using the right button will spray the current line color. The AIRBRUSH can be used by clicking once in a particular area, or by dragging the mouse while holding down the left or right mouse button. Just like a real airbrush or spray can, the longer you hold the tool over a particular area, the denser the paint build up. STAMPS STAMPS STAMPS The STAMP icon represents one of PaintPower's most powerful, yet easy to use tools. You can click once to STAMP the current stamp picture onto your image, just like a rubber stamp. You may also drag the STAMP cursor like a brush to paint with a STAMP image. You may choose, create and edit STAMP images by clicking a second time on the STAMP icon. This will bring up the STAMP PAD window. A scroll bar allows you to preview the STAMP images stored on your system. Clicking once on an image will select that image and highlight the image's title. Clicking a second time on an image (or clicking on the 30 OK button) will load that image onto the STAMP and return you to your picture. To create a STAMP image, select the ADD button from the STAMP PAD. You will be presented with an editing screen measuring 64x64 pixels. You may paint an image using any of the normal tools. Since the area is small, you may prefer to use the ZOOM (when working from a small window, be sure and click on the Maximize/Minimize button at the upper right corner to give you more working space). When done, click on the X box at the upper left corner of the window. A dialog box will ask you if you wish to save the STAMP, and if so, under what name. Your STAMPS are saved as image files, and thus, you are limited to eight valid DOS filename characters. Note: Any white areas in the STAMP will be transparent when applied. If you do not wish the background to show through the white areas of your pattern, you should paint out areas which will lie under the STAMP prior to using the STAMP tool. The EDIT button allows you to make changes to existing STAMP images. Select the image you desire to change by clicking once on the image or its title in the preview window. Next click on the EDIT button. You may make changes to the existing image just as you did when creating a STAMP using the ADD button. To delete a STAMP image file, click on the unwanted image to highlight the title, then click on the DELETE button. Similarly, you can RENAME a highlighted STAMP image file by clicking on the RENAME button. You will be asked to supply a new DOS filename composed of from one to eight characters. STAMPS will appear in alphabetical order in the STAMP PAD window. The PREVIEW option check box may be used to display or hide STAMP pictures. Unchecking this box will speed the display on slower computer systems. Multicolor brushes, textures and splatters are some of the sophisticated, custom tools which you may create with the STAMP PAD. Examples of these are included on your disk. A multicolor brush is a circular area containing a combination of colors. When dragged, this can produce a rich, often impressionistic effect. Textures are large patterns containing a great deal of transparent white. When repeatedly stamped over wide area of other colors, this gives a textured effect. Splatters are dots of color separated by intervening transparent white space. When this STAMP is clicked repeatedly, the effect is somewhat like that obtained from the AIRBRUSH except a combination of colors may be used. Dragging spatters will create streaks. Note: The ``/PAINT/STAMP'' subdirectory is used to store STAMP images, unless you have specified otherwise using the PREFERENCES dialog box. If you do tell PaintPower to store stamp files in another 31 location, it is up to you to be certain a valid DOS directory with that name exists - PaintPower will not create it. Aside from the STAMP PAD EDIT command, you may create STAMPS using the SCISSORS tool along with the EDIT/COPY TO command to import an area from an existing picture. After selecting an area using one of the SCISSORS tools, select COPY TO from under the EDIT menu button. Use the FILE TYPE drop down menu to select ``ST'' for the file type, then type in a 1-8 character name for the stamp. If you wish, an entire regular image file may also be saved as a STAMP, using the SAVE AS command. Using the SCISSORS tool to COPY an image (or portion of an image) into STAMP format can be used for creating a larger sized STAMP. Images beyond the STAMP PAD's 64x64 pixel format can only be shown in the STAMP PAD preview window as a large X, along with their titles. You can shrink a larger area to a 64x64 pixel size which can be previewed in STAMP PAD, by using the PICTURE/SCALE menu command to resize the image. Note: Try and keep stamps you create small in size. Large STAMP images may take up a great deal of disk space, and it is difficult to paint with large STAMP images - they tend to drag very slowly. LINE Tools LINE Tools LINE Tools Use the tools under the LINE icon to easily draw various line types. Clicking twice on the icon will drop down the tool selections. The width of lines is controlled from the SIZE SELECTOR box. At the top of the menu is the STRAIGHT LINE tool. When this tool is selected, you may draw a line by clicking and holding at one of the ends of your line, then dragging the mouse cursor to the point where the line should end before releasing. The line will be drawn connecting the two points. Repeat this procedure as often as you wish. Note: Holding down the the SHIFT key while drawing lines will cause the line to snap to an angle in 45 increments. The middle icon in the menu represents the RADIANT LINE tool. This tool is used to paint with lines to form star bursts and elaborate line designs. To use the tool, move the cursor to the point where you wish to start the design (the lines will radiate from this point). Next click and hold the mouse button and drag to form the first line of the design. When the line reaches the right length and position, release the button and move the the cursor around the axis to form your design. To complete the design, click once more. 32 The tool at the bottom of the menu is the BEZIER CURVE tool. Use this tool to draw smooth, accurate curves. To draw a curve, move the cursor over one of the endpoints. Click and hold the mouse button and drag to the point at which the curve will end before releasing the button. Move the mouse in any direction to pull out the curve. When the curve has reached the desired size, click once more and the final curve will be drawn. The RECTANGLE Tool The RECTANGLE Tool The RECTANGLE Tool Precisely drawn rectangles and squares may be quickly formed using the RECTANGLE tool. Clicking a second time on the icon will drop down options. To use the top RECTANGLE tool, position the cursor at the point at which one of the corners will be located. Press down and hold the mouse button and drag the cursor to the opposite corner. When the rectangle reaches the correct size, release the mouse button. Note: Holding down the the SHIFT key while drawing will restrict the object to a perfect square. The tool in the center is used to draw from the center of the RECTANGLE. Place the mouse cursor at the center of the area in which you wish the RECTANGLE to be drawn. Click and hold the mouse button, then drag in any direction. Once the object has reached the correct size, release. The GRID tool icon is found at the bottom of the RECTANGLE menu. This tool draws a rectangular GRID. The size of the grid will depend on the spacing last selected using the SET GRID command found under the OPTIONS menu button. Draw the grid just as you would a normal rectangle (see above). If you wish only whole units in the grid to appear, make sure SNAP TO GRID is enabled (under the OPTIONS button). ROUNDED RECTANGLE ROUNDED RECTANGLE ROUNDED RECTANGLE Use this tool to draw squares or rectangles having rounded corners. Clicking a second time on the icon will give you the choice of drawing a rectangle starting from the corner, or pulling a the object from a center point. Use the SNAP TO GRID command if you need to proportion the object exactly. Note: Holding down the the SHIFT key while drawing will restrict the box to a perfect rounded square. 33 CIRCLE CIRCLE CIRCLE This tool is used to draw circles and ellipses. Clicking a second time on the icon will give you the choice of drawing an ellipse starting from one corner, or pulling the circle from a center point. Use the SNAP TO GRID command if you need to draw an object with exact proportions. Note: Holding down the the SHIFT key while drawing will restrict the object to a perfect circle. POLYGON POLYGON POLYGON Drawing multi-sided figures is greatly simplified by using the tools found under this icon button. Clicking a second time on the icon will drop down the POLYGON menu. The selection at the top of the menu is the REGULAR POLYGON tool. To construct an object using this tool, move the mouse cursor to a point where an angle in your object will occur. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the line for the first side. When the line reaches the desired length and position, release the mouse. Next, move the mouse to the point where the second side will terminate. A rubberband line will follow the cursor. When the second side has been correctly positioned, click once with the left mouse button to set the line. Continue constructing the sides of your object. When you click on the point at which you started, the POLYGON will be complete, and the correct line width, color and object fill will be painted. You may also draw the last side by clicking once with the right mouse button. Note: Holding down the the SHIFT key at any time while drawing a regular POLYGON will cause the line being drawn to snap to a 45 increment. The second selection from the top represents the FREEFORM tool. Use this to create complex, irregular shapes. As above, you must first determine a starting point. With the mouse cursor over this point, press and hold down the left mouse button. While still holding down the button, slowly drag the mouse to outline your object. When you have come around again to the starting point (or close by), release the button and your object will be drawn. PaintPower will draw a straight line between the starting point and the point at which you release the mouse button. The third and fourth icons on the POLYGON menu are versions of the first two which give you a chance to adjust the object's outline 34 before the final figure is drawn. This is very useful for producing a precisely drawn form, masking out a precise area in an image, etc. To use these two tools, draw your figure as described above. Once you have completed the object, an outline will appear with a node (shown as small boxes) appearing at each angle. Use the mouse to drag the nodes to expand or contract the outline as desired. When your mouse is properly positioned over one of these nodes, press down on the left mouse button and drag the node to a new position. As you move these, the outlines will stretch or shrink. Should you need to add a node, simply position the mouse cursor over the point on the outline where you would like a new node to appear, then press the left mouse button. To delete a node, move the mouse cursor over the unwanted node. Holding down the CTRL key, press the left mouse button and the node will disappear. THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT Tools THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT Tools THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT Tools Clicking a second time on this icon will allow you to quickly and easily construct either 3-D rectangles or pyramids. Once you have selected either the cube or pyramid tool, place the object onto the drawing board by clicking at one corner and dragging to the proper size before releasing the mouse button. Depending on which tool you have selected, this initial side will be either ones side of a box or the base of a pyramid. Note: With a little experimentation, you can construct more complex 3-D figures by combining multiple blocks and pyramids. For instance, a house might be made of a cube, topped by a pyramid, with windows and doors drawn in. Once you have defined the dimensions of the first side, a dialog box (see above) containing several editing buttons will be presented. You can rotate your object along any combination of the X axis (vertical through the center from top to bottom), Y axis (horizontal through the center of the sides), and/or Z axis (through the center from front to back). Use the arrow buttons to rotate the object into the desired position. A pair of buttons allow you to Extrude the object to make it longer or shorter. Use the ``+'' button to increase the length of the object, and the ``-'' button to make the object thinner. A check box allows you to edit the object in either a ``solid'' mode with hidden lines removed and fills shown, or in a Wire Frame mode, which presents the object as transparent showing all edges. 35 You can click on the Rotation Angle box to increase or decrease the degree the object will move along each axis. Note: You can increase the speed by rotating in Wire Frame rather than ``solid'' mode. Rotations can be further accelerated by specifying a Rotation Angle of 45, or a multiple thereof. Line width and Fill attributes are determined by the values selected in the SIZE SELECTOR box and the CURRENT COLOR/PATTERN SELECTION BOX. Once you have rotated the object to the desired position, click on the OK button to place the object in your picture. 36 _________________ Import and Output _________________ Import and Output _________________ Import and Output Converting Images Converting Images Converting Images At times, you may wish to convert a previously saved image to a different file format, to a resolution containing more color choices, or to a different size. File Format File Format File Format To convert an image to another file format supported by PaintPower, use the SAVE AS selection under the FILE menu button. You will be asked for a File Name. Clicking on the File Type drop down menu will allow you to select from the various file types supported by PaintPower. Simply click on the File Type to which you would like your picture converted. PCX is a popular industry standard format supported by most PC based graphics programs. PCX files are not very space efficient. GIF files are in a compressed format used by many bulletin board systems. GIF files take up much less space than PCX. TIFF is a format shared by both PC's and Macintosh systems. ST files are used with PaintPower's STAMP tool. Color Resolution Color Resolution Color Resolution PaintPower looks at each image file it is asked to load to determine the number of colors it uses. To change the number of colors available, use the VIDEO MODE selector at the top of the PaintPower screen. Clicking on the arrow will display all resolutions supported by your computer graphics hardware. All you have to do to change is to click on a different VIDEO MODE resolution. You should be sure and SAVE any edited files which are open, as it will be necessary to close all files before changing to the new mode. Once PaintPower appears in the new mode, use the OPEN command to load the picture you wish to change. PaintPower will ask if you wish to change to a new VIDEO MODE, or CONVERT the picture. Choose to CONVERT in order to expand or limit the number of colors available to your picture. 37 Size Size Size To shrink an image, use the SCALE command under the PICTURE menu button. SCALE may be used to enlarge your picture as well. If you use the PRESERVE ASPECT RATIO feature, the image will be scaled as close as possible to the desired size without distortion. If PRESERVE ASPECT RATIO is not used, the image will be stretched to fit into the size you specify. If, however, you need to add more space around your picture, without increasing the size of the image itself, scaling the drawing will not provide this. You will need to move the image onto a larger, blank drawing board. To do this, open a second image window containing a NEW, blank picture. You will be asked to specify the size desired for your workspace. Next, use the SCISSORS tool to either cut or copy the entire drawing to the CLIPBOARD. Finally, use the PASTE command to position the image onto the larger, blank workspace. (See Chapter 3 for a description of each of these commands.) Importing/Exporting Palettes Importing/Exporting Palettes Importing/Exporting Palettes Palettes are imported using the LOAD PALETTE function under the FILE menu button. You may select from a custom PaintPower palette previously saved using the SAVE PALETTE command, a palette used by a PCX format image file which is on your disk, or a palette attached to a GIF format image file. Click on the check box in LOAD PALETTE to indicate which type of palette you wish to load into your picture. If necessary, you may search through your DOS directory tree to find the file containing the palette needed. Once the file has been found, simply click on the file name and the new palette will be loaded. Note: The palette you wish to import must be of use the same Color Resolution (see above) as the image in the current window. If you wish to import a palette from an image having a different Color Resolution, first convert the picture which will receive the new palette to the same number of colors as contained in the palette. (See the Color Resolution topic above.) PaintPower will try and match the colors in the current image with the colors in the newly loaded palette. This is not always possible, e.g., it may be hard to find a good match for the blue sky in your current image if you import a palette consisting entirely of various shades of green and brown. After importing the palette, you may decide that it is necessary to adjust individual colors. This will not alter other images which may have originally used the same palette. 38 You can use widely varying palettes as a filter to produce interesting, even startling effects. Feel free to experiment with loading palettes, altering colors, etc. If you do not SAVE the altered image, none of your changes, including import of new palettes, will affect the original file. If you want to make doubly sure you don't ruin an original picture file, SAVE the original picture under its own name, then use the SAVE AS command to make a copy of the original picture before playing with the palette. Importing Fonts Importing Fonts Importing Fonts Fonts compatible with the GEM software screen font format may often be used in PaintPower. Utilities are available from other vendors which can produce/convert fonts to a compatible format. To try importing these, move the fonts into the /PAINT directory. Change the three character DOS extension for the file's name to the ``.GFT'' extension which is used by PaintPower. If successful, the font should then appear as a selection within PaintPower. Printing Considerations Printing Considerations Printing Considerations Output to Printer (See also the CPRINT Utility) Output to Printer (See also the CPRINT Utility) Output to Printer (See also the CPRINT Utility) When printing, you are presented with the option of supplying a Scale Factor. Use this to fit your picture onto the size paper loaded into your print device. The scale at which you use to print will depend entirely on the size of your picture. As an example, a 640x480 image can be fit onto an 8.5x11 page (portrait orientation) using a Scale Factor of 300%. On laser type printers, PaintPower uses a sophisticated half-tone method to give you the sharpest possible gray scale output. PaintPower will automatically use this method on supported printers, you do not have to specify that half-tone printing be enabled. However, due to inherent hardware limitations, half-tone printing cannot be supported on dot matrix printers. Writing to a File Writing to a File Writing to a File You may direct your image output into a disk print file. This will be of use in those situations where you will be using someone else's printer to output your final copy, where you wish to send a batch of files to a printer at a later time, etc. To do this, first select PRINT from the FILE menu. Next, select the type of printer to which the picture file will be eventually sent. 39 Also select ``File'' from the PORT drop down menu. Finally, click on the PRINT button. You will be asked to supply a valid DOS filename for your picture's print file. The size of the file will determine the length of time it will take to print the image to your disk. Print your file on the destination device using the command: COPY [filename] [portname] e.g., ``COPY raisin.eps lpt1'' would copy the file ``raisin.eps'' to a printer connected to the LPT1 port. See your DOS documentation for further instruction regarding copying a file to a printer port. 40 ____________________________________________ Appendix A - PaintPower Command Line Options ____________________________________________ Appendix A - PaintPower Command Line Options ____________________________________________ Appendix A - PaintPower Command Line Options The following options may be typed in with the PaintPower command when starting the program. These are not necessary for PaintPower to operate. Option: /E Usage: PAINT /E Purpose: PaintPower's overlay file (PAINT.OVR) may be loaded into expanded memory, thus speeding up execution of some PaintPower functions. When you exit from PaintPower, this overlay file is removed from memory. Using this option will require approximately 256K of Expanded (EMS) Memory. Option: /V Usage: PAINT /V Purpose: PaintPower has the ability to use a VESA compatible video card. Without the /V option, PaintPower will attempt to automatically detect the chipset employed by your computer's video card. Generally, directly detecting the chipset is preferable to using VESA emulation. VESA tends to be slow, and compatibility between VESA cards or drivers can vary widely. This option is included for compatibility reasons, however, wherever possible, we recommend avoiding use of VESA for the reasons stated above. Option: /S[file] Example: PAINT /Sf:/users/cindy.set Purpose: Normally, PaintPower stores its setup information in the PAINT.SET file which resides in the PAINT subdirectory. This file contains information about the default settings, such as video mode and memory usage options. In a multi-user environment containing PC's of vastly different configurations, it is necessary to specify setup files for different users and/or different machine types. The /S option allows users to load PaintPower using a personalized setup file for each.For example: if Cindy stores her personal PaintPower picture files in the PAINT subdirectory of her C: drive, then she might start PaintPower by typing: ``PAINT /Sc:/paint/cindy.set'' 41 ___________________________________________ Appendix B - NeoGrab Screen Capture Utility ___________________________________________ Appendix B - NeoGrab Screen Capture Utility ___________________________________________ Appendix B - NeoGrab Screen Capture Utility NeoGrab will capture graphics displayed on your monitor and convert them into PCX format files which may be used in PaintPower. To load NeoGrab, at the DOS prompt type: NEOGRAB [options] To capture a graphics screen, press CTRL and PRINT SCREEN keys simultaneously. Two short beeps will mean that the screen was captured successfully. One long beep will mean that an error occurred, and the screen could not be caputred. An error will occur if you are in text mode, an unsupported graphics mode, or if your disk is full. NeoGrab supports all standard video modes and most superVGA modes, so you shouldn't have any trouble using it with popular software. NeoGrab will not, however, work with screens generated under Microsoft Windows. Screen captures are stored as PCX files and placed in the directory where the NEOGRAB.EXE file is located. Files generated from screen captures will be numbered sequentially, starting with `` 00000001.PCX,'' e.g., the first screen captured will be named 00000001.PCX, the second will be named 00000002.PCX, and so on. NeoGrab will not write over previously captured files still on your disk, it simply selects the next available file name in the sequence. Deleting files which are no longer needed is up to you. Note: PaintPower's installation program places the NEOGRAB.EXE file in the PAINT subdirectory. NeoGrab Command Line Options NeoGrab Command Line Options NeoGrab Command Line Options You may specify several options when starting NeoGrab. These options are placed in the command line by typing a slash character (/) followed by an option letter (see below). Alternative Hot Key Usage: /K Example: NEOGRAB /K Purpose: Changes the Hot Key from the default CTRL - PRINT SCREEN to the ALT and SCROLL LOCK keys. This is useful should another program you are using be already employing CTRL - PRINT SCREEN. 42 Specify Capture Path Usage: /P[path] Example: NEOGRAB /Pc:/pcx Purpose: This option allows you to specify a drive and directory for captured PCX images. In the example above, the files will be stored in the ``/pcx'' subdirectory on the ``c:'' drive. By default, captured screens are stored in the directory which contains the NEOGRAB.EXE file. Unload NeoGrab Usage: /U Example: NEOGRAB /U Purpose: Use this option to unload NeoGrab from your system's memory. NeoGrab is a terminate and stay resident utility which takes up a small amount of your system's available memory. Once you have captured the screen images you need, you should employ this option to release this memory so that it is again available to PaintPower and other software programs. 43 ____________________________________________ Appendix C - Speed and Memory Considerations ____________________________________________ Appendix C - Speed and Memory Considerations ____________________________________________ Appendix C - Speed and Memory Considerations PaintPower has been designed to run acceptably on a wide range of DOS based systems and will automatically try and take optimal advantage of all supported hardware resources available to it. Some machines have processing speed, disk space, and memory limitations which will affect how PaintPower can perform. Graphics programs by their nature are demanding of system resources. Some images, particularly 256 color pictures in larger sizes, can easily use more than 1 megabyte of memory and storage space. If you have a system with speed and memory limitations, one or more of the following suggestions may offer relief: + Turn off the UNDO command under the SET PREFERENCES selection under the OPTIONS menu. UNDO keeps a record of the image prior to the last change you made. This takes up memory. If your system has limited RAM and disk memory available, you will want to disable this in any case. If your system is limited to 640K of RAM, then UNDO will use your hard disk to store changed items. Using hard disk storage is slower than using RAM, and turning off UNDO will increase PaintPower's performance. + Do not run PaintPower as a DOS application under Windows. Windows will slow PaintPower's execution, as Windows will still be using up your system's resources while PaintPower is running. + If disk storage space is a problem (and in many cases even if you have plenty of disk space) turn off the CREATE BACKUP FILES function in the PREFERENCES selection of the OPTIONS menu. Graphic files tend to take up a large amount of disk space, and creating a backup file (.BAK) each time you SAVE a picture can rapidly deplete the free space available on your drive. You might want to turn this feature back on, however, when working with particularly important images. + Try using the 640x480 VGA resolution in 16 colors as your default. Some video cards use a TSR program to display VESA compatible higher resolutions. Using a TSR program is a much slower method of interacting with your hardware. + If you have a choice between configuring your system's memory as either EMS (expanded memory) or XMS (extended memory) on your system, use EMS for PaintPower. + Bezier curves tend to rubber-band erratically on slower systems. If you absolutely must use this function on a slow system, move the mouse very slowly while holding down the left button. You may have 44 to pause now and again to allow your system to catch up to your movements. + Unload any TSR programs before using PaintPower. TSR programs take up valuable (RAM) memory space. + When using the 3-D OBJECT icon, use the Wire Frame mode. + Turn the PREVIEW option off for STAMP PAD images. If none of the above seem to help, you may wish to consider upgrading your system's hardware. Four hardware options are listed below, in ascending order of cost: + Add 2 or more megabytes of (RAM) memory to your system. PaintPower supports both the XMS and EMS specifications. + Use a graphics card containing a chipset supported by PaintPower. Cards containing chipsets compatible with ATI, Trident, Hercules monochrome, Paradise, Tseng (ET3000 or ET4000), or Video Seven can be addressed directly by PaintPower. + Add a larger, faster hard drive. + Upgrade your CPU. 45 _____________________________________________ Appendix D - Microsoft Windows Considerations _____________________________________________ Appendix D - Microsoft Windows Considerations _____________________________________________ Appendix D - Microsoft Windows Considerations PaintPower may be run as a DOS application under Windows 3.1, subject to certain limitations. We are not recommending that you use PaintPower under Windows, and believe you will prefer using the program under the quicker DOS environment. However, should you need to work from within Windows: + PaintPower does not support the Windows clipboard, OLE, etc. If you need to bring an image from PaintPower into a Windows program, this will best be done by importing the saved PaintPower image file directly. Most Windows programs which can display graphic images will support one or more of PaintPower's image file formats (i.e., PCX, TIFF, or GIF). + The NeoGrab screen capture utility is not designed to capture Windows screens. + Occasionally, using some keyboard shortcuts will cause Windows to corrupt the PaintPower screen. You will need to exit PaintPower to be able to continue. + Windows limits the memory resources available to the DOS programs it runs. This may cause problems in such operations as converting an image to a higher resolution or working with very large images. + PaintPower under Windows will tend to run noticeably slower than when run as a DOS application. 46 __________________________ Appendix E - Keyboard Uses __________________________ Appendix E - Keyboard Uses __________________________ Appendix E - Keyboard Uses Many of PaintPower's commands are accessible directly from the keyboard. Accessing the Menus Accessing the Menus Accessing the Menus You will note that each menu button contains one letter in its title which has been underlined. To open a menu button, hold down the ALT key while typing the underlined letter corresponding to the title of the desired function. Certain menu commands also have shortcut keys or key combinations. These are listed on the right hand of the menus. You do not have to be in the menu itself to use these shortcuts. E.g., you can use ALT/U to UNDO immediately after making a mistake, without moving your mouse Other Keyboard Shortcuts Other Keyboard Shortcuts Other Keyboard Shortcuts Holding down the SHIFT key while using LINE and POLYGON tools will restrict lines being drawn to 45 angle increments. Holding down the SHIFT key while using RECTANGLE, ROUNDED RECTANGLE, and CIRCLE tools will produce perfect squares and circles. Holding down the ALT key while typing the SPACE BAR will drop down a menu of options for the current image window. Holding down the CTRL key while moving an area which has been selected using the SCISSORS tool, will copy the area rather than cutting it. Holding down the SHIFT key while moving a selected area will use the area as a paint brush, leaving a paint trail of the area. Holding down the ALT key and typing C will close the current image window. ALT/X will exit from PaintPower completely. Finally, command buttons within various dialog boxes may contain underlined letters in their titles. Hold down the ALT key while typing the underlined letter for the desired command. The OK button may be activated simply by pressing the ENTER key. Use the ESC key to CANCEL. 47 
