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V G A C A D Copyright (c) 1988-91 Lawrence Gozum & Marvin Gozum, MD. USER MANUAL 1. DISCLAIMER This product is distributed AS IS. The authors specifically disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to defects in the diskette and documentation, and program license granted herein, in particular, without limiting operation of the program license with respect to any use or purpose. In no event shall the authors be liable for any loss of profit or damage including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. 2. LICENSING AGREEMENT Freely use and EVALUATE ITS USEFULNESS for a 10-DAY TRIAL PERIOD. If you find it useful, you MUST REGISTER by sending registration form and check payable to Marvin Gozum; see last section for details/benefits. Freely distribute UNMODIFIED copies (which include all files listed in README.1st) provided you do not include it with commercial software, and charge no more than $10, in lieu of recognized User Group guidelines (e.g., Association of Shareware Professional, New York Amateur Computer Club), for copying/distribution costs. 3. REQUIREMENTS IBM PS/2 or IBM PC/XT/AT with VGA compatible graphics card capable of displaying mode 13H (MCGA 300x200x256 color mode), 512k free memory, analog or multifrequency monitor. We strongly suggest you get a mouse since VGACAD was designed with a mouse device in mind. Users with <= 512kb RAM must AVOID the use of command line "/R" option to reduce the RAM requirement. Variable disk space is required (depending on Virtual Screen size used). A Hard Disk is highly recommended but not required. High density dual drive users (1.2MB AT drives or 720KB 3.5 inch drives) would have adequate space to run the program and work on regular GIF files. If you have extended or expanded memory, use a RAMDISK for the Virtual Screen; a cache program will help accelerate the program since this version uses a "chained environment". We can no longer support dual 360KB users; in any case, it is highly unlikely that you have VGA or a PS/2 and are using dual 360KB floppies ! PLEASE READ 'README.2ND' REGARDING HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY. Page ... 1 4. INSTALLATION All required files in README.1st MUST be in the default drive and/or directory. To use the keyboard, run "KEYME.com" prior to running VGACAD; you can review the keyboard commands at start-up. If you have a lot of TSRs, some may have to be removed (eg., SHELL of DOS 4.01), or AVOID the "/R" command line option discussed below. After initialization, the total amount of free memory will be shown - which tells you how much resident software can be used with VGACAD. 5. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS TYPE "VGACAD ?" TO SEE ALL COMMAND LINE OPTIONS. Switch "/Q" ("Quiet") will silence all the audio feedback beeps except error or warning messages. To totally "cut" all audio; we suggest using a Shareware program called SILENCE.ARC (.ZIP). Switch "/P" ("Palette") will NOT use VGA BIOS read/write routines BUT the FAST hard-coded register-compatible routines which are MUCH faster. Switch "/R" ("RAM") will increase VGACAD's memory allocation by 64KB and use it for FAST "UNDO"ing during certain operations. Switch "/FM" ("Force Mouse") maintains your current mouse settings and assumes a mouse is properly initialize; this allows initializing your mouse with ANY program; make sure that the text cursor is set OFF ! Switch "/FK" ("Force Keyboard") will disregard any mouse device and operate in mouse emulation mode through the keyboard. "KeyME.com" MUST be resident if you use this switch or the system will HANG ! Switch "/SL:n" "SLow Mode" will require release of the mouse button to proceed. The value "n" will determine a delay factor for the Spray Paint function; a value of 1000 will be sufficient for Fast machines. Switch "/MX:n" adjusts the mickeys/8 pixels ratio on the X axis. The default is 8/8. "n" is any number from 1 and 16. "1" will make your mouse travel 8x faster while 16 will make your mouse travel 2x slower on the x axis. Switch "/MY:n" adjusts the mickeys/8 pixel ration on the Y axis. The default is 16 mickeys/8 pixels. Switch "/MT:n" adjusts the "motion threshold"; the default setting is 64 mickeys/second. If your mouse seems to be returning to its same position or seems restrained after zipping quickly from any direction, its movement was successively doubled resulting in the mouse returning to its former location; this is a function of your CPU speed. "n" is any number between -32767 to 32767. Refer to your mouse manual for more information. Page ... 2 Use a batch file to keep your desired settings. The sample "*.BAT" entry below, uses VGA BIOS palette routines, turns the sound off, reduces the memory by 64K, triggers the SLow Mode with a 1000 delay loop, doubles the speed in both the x and y axes, and keeps the motion threshold at its maximum. VGACAD /P /R /Q /SL:1000 /MX:4 /MY:8 /MT:-32767 6. TESTING & BUG REPORTS VGACAD was tested on a 8MHz IBM XT compatible with a STB VGA Extra E/M (w/ Princeton Ultrasync), a PS/2 Model 50 (w/ 8513 Monitor) and 386sx with the ATI VGA Wonder. For comments, particularly bug reports, we would appreciate E-Mail at CompuServe for Lawrence Gozum [73437,2372]. 7. MAIN MENU Click your RIGHT mouse button, the Main Menu screen will pop-up. There are 8 boxes: Undo, ImgP(Image Processing Menu), Edit Menu, Text Menu, Shps (Shapes Menu), Color Menu and File Menu. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ Main Menu │┌───┐┌───┐┌───┐┌───┐┌───┐┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───<┼current option ──┼┼> ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ │ │ │ │ ││background filled with│└───┘└───┘└───┘└───┘└───┘└───┘ └───┘ └───┘│color current │ Undo ImgP Edit Text Brsh Shps Color File │ foreground │{▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒▒░░▓▓▒▒░░▓▓██▓} │ <─┐ color └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ ├─ Color {▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒▒░░▓▓▒▒░░▓▓██▓} <─┘ Bars ^ ^ └───────────── Scroll Arrows ───────────┘ You will, immediately, be in 'brush' mode and can begin painting. If you move your cursor below the Main Menu, the menu will disappear and will reappear when you press the RIGHT mouse button. Clicking a Main Menu box will operate immediately or display another menu. To exit without choosing any option, put your cursor below the menu. As a rule, the RIGHT button will EXIT or ABORT, while the LEFT will be do everything else or ACCEPT a change. Use the color bars to select foreground or background colors. Place the "arrow" cursor over a desired color and click the LEFT button for a new foreground color or the RIGHT for background. The color bars provide 32, 64 or 128 colors from your 256 color palette at any time. At default, each color bar contains 16 colors. Use the scroll arrows to change the colors selections. The upper and lower color bars play an important role in colorizing grey pictures. This will be explained further. Page ... 3 8. UNDO When the Main Menu screen pops-up, your current screen is saved and your can 'undo' all the changes from the last time the Main Menu was invoked. Regardless of changes made, your screen will be restored. If the Main Menu is invoked and no options are selected, your next UNDO will be based on that screen; the UNDO screen is generally the screen last modified BEFORE invoking the Main Menu. 9. BRUSH MENU ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌────┐┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ────┼┼> ││ │ │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ Active │└────┘└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ BRUSH ┌─>normal <> MODE Rect Circ Line Diag MASK│ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ current mode The Active box will show the current "brush" selected. The "<>" box cycles through the different brush sizes or variations. There are 6 RECTangular sizes, 3 CIRCular, 3 Horizontal LINEs, 3 Vertical LINEs, and 6 DIAGonal brushes. The "MODE" box cycles through five different brush modes: normal, spray, air#1, air#2 and eraser. Spray paint and airbrush (Air#1 and Air#2) modes work only with the RECTangular or CIRCular brush; these brush modes will operate on the rectangular areas defined by the brushes. Air#1 is a REAL airbrush that "adds" a color mixture as you paint over your picture, following the principle of Additive Color Mixtures (see "Notes on Additive Color Mixtures" in Appendix B). Air#2 mixes colors in a more gradual fashion. With Air#1, if you spray yellow over a red area, the closest color to orange in your palette will be painted; with Air#2, the closest color to yellow-orange in your palette will be painted. Spray will paint random dots over a defined area; if used with the MASK flag on, you will be able to spray over a selected color as if you placed a stencil over the area to be painted. Eraser mode uses the color BLACK (color 0) as the foreground color; you cannot choose BLACK as a foreground color. Use large RECTangular brushes for quicker erasures. The MASK flag acts as a stencil; when this flag is set, only pixels with the current background color will be replaced with the current foreground color; this will work in all modes except Air#1 and Air#2. Page ... 4 10. COLOR MENU Selecting "COLOR" from the Main menu brings you to this sub-menu. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ OVRL SWAP FILL CBAR ZOOM AREA COLOR UNDO│ │ - Color - Menu - Colorization - MAP mode│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ "OVeRLay" replaces all pixels with background color with foreground. "SWAP" exchanges all pixels with background color with foreground and vice-versa. "UNDO" mode cancels "OVRL" and "SWAP" implementation. Clicking "ColorBAR" (CBAR) will make the Scroll Arrows cycle through 16, 32, or 64 COLOR RANGE colorbars. Use the 32 or 64 COLOR RANGE to view and select more colors at any time. COLOR RANGES are extensively used by the "AREA colorization" and "ZOOM" functions. │{▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒█▓▒▒░██░░▓▓▒▒░░▓▓██▓}│ <─┐ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Color {▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒▒░░▓▓▒▒░██▓▓█▓▓▓▓██▓} <──Bars ^ ^ └─────────────── Scroll Arrows ──────────────┘ In "Area" (colorization), the upper and lower colorbar selections are significant. When selected, all colors in the lower colorbar will be replaced by all the colors from the upper colorbar with a one-to-one correspondence. Once selected, on exit, the arrow cursor will appear instead of your current brush. THE APPEARANCE OF THE ARROW CURSOR GENERALLY INDICATES A BLOCK FORM OF EDITING OR SETTING OF A STARTING POSITION WHEN PERFORMING ANY AREA PROCESSING FUNCTION. Pick a starting point on your screen and drag the cursor (pressing LEFT button). Upon releasing the LEFT button, all colors in the upper colorbar will replace all the colors in the lower colorbar. The "colorized" area will be have a blinking outline; click RIGHT to reject or the LEFT to accept. Grey images provide the luminance information of your picture (16, 32 or 64 grey scales); by altering color ranges, you can select/replace the colors within the range with any other color range defined in the COLOR MAP. The minimum range you can affect is 16. Use the OVeRLay color function or MASKed brushes to replace individual colors. Page ... 5 "ZOOM" (colorization) works like "Area" but on a "zoomed area". ZOOM has three modes - NORMAL, XCOLOR and PROCESS. XCOLOR (eXchange COLOR) mode replaces individual colors using the colorbars as reference; only selected colors on lower color bar are replaced with upper colorbar. ZOOM (in XCOLOR mode) lets you change those "difficult areas" where objects border other objects or the background. NORMAL mode is like any other ZOOM function where you paint over any color;other options while "ZOOM" editing. The PROCESS mode uses color image processing algorithms; these are discussed later. "COLOR MAP" shows all 256 colors. Colors are arranged in 8 rows of 16 color boxes. The first 128 colors are arranged from the LEFT to RIGHT starting from TOP to BOTTOM (COLORS 0 to 127). The next 128 colors (COLORS 128 to 255) are arranged in the reverse order from RIGHT to LEFT starting from the BOTTOM to the TOP; this shows its inverse organization. See Appendix A (Palette Organization Map) for details. Each color box is configured to show its complimentary or inverse color for experimenting with creative "color inversing" techniques. ┌────────┐ Main Color ─────┼>████ │ │█████ │ │ <┼───── Inverse color └────────┘ You can pick any foreground color EXCEPT COLOR 0 (see Appendix A); to use COLOR 0 (normally BLACK), you will have to use the ERASER brush. Click LEFT over any color to select a foreground color or RIGHT to select background; these will be appear at RGB boxes (at lower left). ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ R=63 G=20 B=10 │ │ ┌────┐ ┌────┐ ┌────┐ │ │ │ ^ │ │ ^ │ │ ^ │ <┼───── background color │ └─┼──┘ └─┼──┘ └──┼─┘ │ └───┼───────┼────────┼────┘ │ │ │ └── foreground color Palette editing is accomplished by altering the RGB values of the foreground color. Place your cursor on any of the 3 boxes labelled [R]ed, [G]reen or [B]lue. Clicking the RIGHT quickly increases RGB values. Clicking the LEFT decreases RGB values by one. As you modify the mixture, you'll see the color change. You cannot select COLOR "0" as foreground; if you want to modify it, use editing functions below. See Appendix B for more information on color mixing. IF YOUR COLOR MIXTURE RESULTS IN TWO INVERSELY RELATED COLORS IN A COLOR BOX TO BE EXACTLY ALIKE, YOUR CHANGE WILL BE REJECTED ! To the lower right corner are four boxes. Copy, Swap, Digi and Reset provide extensive palette editing functions. Page ... 6 COPY is very useful in making very subtle color changes since an increase in the "quanta" of R(ed), G(reen) or B(lue) by 1 may not be noticeable. To copy a color, select the source color as BACKGROUND then select the destination color as FOREGROUND. Click the COPY box with your LEFT mouse button. SWAP works like COPY but exchanges the selected foreground color with the selected background color; use this to rearrange your entire palette. RESET restores a selected color's registers or the whole palette after any modification BEFORE selecting a new foreground or background color to edit. DIGI will "fill-in" or "spread" all colors between selected foreground and background colors. The colors generated between the two "anchors" follow the Principle of Additive Color Mixture (see Appendix C). To select a range, pick a foreground color as the start of the range, and a background color as the end of the range. Click the DIGI box and all the colors in the range will "spread" between the two "anchors". CLICK THE RESET BOX TO RESTORE YOUR PALETTE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS FUNCTION; THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO UNDO ! To exit, click EXIT box with the LEFT button; for quicker exits, click both buttons in succession. After selecting a new foreground color, BEFORE releasing the LEFT button, click the RIGHT; OR after selecting a new background color; click the LEFT button before releasing the RIGHT button. The last option in this menu is the "Fill Menu"; clicking this box transfers you to the border tracing, pattern/gradient fill functions. 11. FILL MENU ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │███│ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ CBAR UpDn DnUp LfRt RtLf PTRN TRACE EXIT│ │ ------ Gradient Fill ------ Pick Shape Menu│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The FIRST box you MUST select is TRACE Shape. Select any object with a solid color or the background; place your cursor at the center of the shape; press the LEFT button. The shape will be filled with the foreground color. All pixels in that shape with the same color (i.e., whatever was under the cursor) will be filled. Keep that filled object as is, or pick a new color and repeat the process indefinitely. TRACE Shape was designed for complex shapes NOT complex patterns within pictures. INTRICATE PATTERNS INSIDE PICTURES HAVE COMPLEX 'TRAPS' OR REQUIRE TOO MUCH MEMORY - RESULTING IN A WARNING BEEP. You can always retrace and fill 'unfilled' portions; be patient and wait for the warning beep in rare cases when TRACE gets 'trapped'. Page ... 7 Gradient fills are ranges of colors spread evenly throughout your traced shape. The range of the gradient fill is determined by CBAR (ColorBAR); four types of gradient fills are available: UpDn, DnUp, LfRt and RtLf. The selected range is the upper Color Bar; use the scroll arrows to select different color gradients. Pattern fills can be selected by invoking the PTRN (PaTteRn) PICK box; when you slide your cursor out of the menu, an entire screen of 16x16 patterns (256 colors maximum) will be presented. Point your arrow cursor over any pattern; the LEFT button will underline your selected pattern. Press the RIGHT button to EXIT and fill your shape with the selected pattern. Pressing the RIGHT button over any pattern will immediately select that pattern and EXIT to fill your shape. You can fill a traced shape with any gradient or pattern fill option indefinitely ! If EXIT is selected or another shape traced then the fill is set; you can UNDO fills ONLY from the Main Menu. GRADIENT OR PATTERN FILL FILLS REQUIRE A COMPLETELY TRACED OBJECT. Editing any pattern is similar to editing a picture. PATTERN.BLD has all the patterns. Each pattern is a 16x16 matrix of colors arranged on the screen and is located at every 20th pixel (horizontally and vertically). Use the ZOOM editing features to edit or create you own patterns. PATTERNS PROVIDED WITH VGACAD USE THE DEFAULT.PLT; THE APPEARANCE OF PATTERNS WILL CHANGE WITH OTHER PALETTES. THE FILENAME PATTERN.BLD IS RESERVED; "PTRN PICK" WILL ALWAYS LOOK FOR THIS FILE. To create a new pattern file with a different palette, copy/rename the PATTERN.BLD file; load a different palette and edit the PATTERN.BLD file to your heart's content. 12. ZOOM MENU ZOOM features are compiled in a "chained" module for easy update as a separate component; all UNDOing must be performed before exiting this module. When ZOOM is selected from the COLOR Menu, a "Viewing Window" will appear as your cursor; place the cursor over any section to be "zoomed" and click the LEFT button; the RIGHT button exits back to the Main Menu. While in "ZOOM" mode, other options will appear. After editing and exiting (i.e., clicking "*OK*") you can continuously select another area for "ZOOM" editing until you click the RIGHT button. The edited area is always displayed in the Viewing Window. VIEWING ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ WINDOW │┌─────┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ └───────┼┼> │Mode │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ CURRENT │└─────┘ │ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ MODE ────┼>NORMAL <┘ UNDO FIND MARK CBAR COLOR *OK*│ │{▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒█▓▒▒░██░░▓▓▒▒░░▓▓██▓}│ <─┐ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Color {▓▓▒░░▒░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒░░▒▒░░▓▓▒▒░██▓▓█▓▓▓▓██▓} <──Bars ^ ^ └─────────────── Scroll Arrows ──────────────┘ Page ... 8 13. NORMAL & XCOLOR ZOOM MODES Clicking the Viewing Window (with the LEFT button) will cycle the ZOOM mode between the XCOLOR (eXchange COLOR) mode, NORMAL mode and PROCESS mode. The NORMAL and XCOLOR modes will display the above menu. As explained in the AREA colorization function, XCOLOR mode replaces each pixel belonging to the range of colors specified in the lower color bar with corresponding colors in the upper color bar. NORMAL mode lets you change any pixel with the foreground color. In XCOLOR mode, all incidences of any color in the lower color bar will be replaced by the upper color bar. Only colors belonging to the lower colorbar will be affected. If no color exists which belong to the lower colorbar then nothing will be modified ! Clicking "zoomed" pixels with the LEFT button will be replaced by the foreground color in NORMAL mode or replaced with the corresponding colors in XCOLOR mode; all changes are reflected in the Viewing Window. Clicking the "RIGHT" mouse button will reset any particular pixel to its original color before "zoom" editing, despite the number of times you have changed the pixel color in ANY mode ! "Mark" will place an "*" on all "zoomed" pixels that match the fore- ground color to identify "hard to distinguish" colors due to subtle differences. Select a foreground color from the color bars then click "FIND"; all matching pixels will be marked with an asterisk ("*"). "Find" is the reverse function of "Mark"; it will find any color (by locating it on the appropriate LOWER colorbar). Simply click "Find" then click any pixel in your "zoomed image"; VGACAD will look for the correct LOWER colorbar and color, then highlight it. ColorBAR (CBAR) is basically the same function in the COLOR menu. This is an added convenience so that you can change the lower and upper color bar ranges while you work on the "Zoomed" image. "Color" - calls the COLOR MAP for palette editing; all functions COLOR MAP functions are replicated here for your convenience. "UNDO" - will restore ALL of the "zoomed image" to its original state despite ALL changes in ANY mode. "*OK*" - will replace your "zoomed area" in your picture and return you to the main screen; all changes are final. You can now select another area for "ZOOM" editing or exit. 14. COLOR PROCESS ZOOM MODE In PROCESS mode, each pixel will be altered by color image processing options: WASH, LITE, DARK, and BLEND. The boxes in the ZOOM Menu will be changed as follows. ┌─────┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ │ │Mode │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ └─────┘ │ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ PROCESS<┘ UNDO LITE HAZE DARK BLEND *OK* Page ... 9 HAZE, "smooths" each pixel with 10 levels of "smoothing"; high levels leave more detail but apply less "smoothing". DARK and LITE will either add or reduce the amount of "white" in a colored pixel. BLEND will "blend" your current foreground color with the color of zoomed pixels and select the closest color that matches the "color mixture" based on the Principle of Additive Color Mixtures (see Appendix C); BLEND functions in the same way Air#1 (Airbrush #1) does. All color processes select the closest matching color from your limited 256 color palette; the richer your palette, the better the match. BLEND is useful for "tinting" or "shading" any pixel with ANY foreground color. All functions (HAZE, LITE, DARK and BLEND) use a buffer of the image in the Viewing Window; as such, once a pixel is modified (i.e., HAZEd, or LITEened or DARkened) it cannot be modifed BUT it can be UNDOne at any time and for ALL your ZOOMed edits. For example, if you wanted to change a red pixel to pink, you would select the LITE box and the appropriate setting (by clicking the LITE box until you have a selected setting), then click that specific pixel. If you wanted it to become "light pink", clicking that specific pixel again will NOT make it lighter; either increase the LITE setting and click that pixel again or click OK and repeat the above process. This non-recursive rule applies to ALL color image processing ZOOM functions; this way, you have much better control over the pixels your are "zoom editing". NOTE: WHEN USING HAZE, LITE OR DARK, COLORBARS ARE DEACTIVATED. 15. PATTERN EDITING (ZOOM MODE) To edit a 16x16 section for use as a PATTERN FILL, select the pattern with the "Viewing Window" cursor; each 16x16 pattern is located at every 20th pixel (vertically and horizontally). Once an area is zoomed, check the alignment by clicking the RIGHT button over the Viewing Window to see how the pattern looks in a "filled" rectangle; misaligned patterns have unwanted borders replicated in each 16x16 section. Press any button to return to zoom editing; you can edit it using ALL Zoom editing functions in ANY mode. Whenever, you want to "see" the edited 16x16 pattern in a "test fill", click the Viewing Window with the RIGHT button. 16. IMAGE PROCESSING MENU (LOCAL) ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ HAZE DARK LITE CNVT CONT BLUR KERNL GO │ │ -Color Process- -- Gray Image Processing -- │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The HAZE, LITE and DARK functions described in the ZOOM Menus work in a similar manner here; the main difference is that they operate as an area process; any defined rectangular area will be affected rather than individual pixels. Page ... 10 TO PROCESS ANY GIVEN AREA (any method in this menu), determine your process and parameters by clicking the appropriate boxes successively; then CLICK "GO". As in "Area Colorization", define an area to be processed; it will be highlighted by a blinking frame for acceptance (LEFT) or rejection (RIGHT). If rejected, you can define another area or press the RIGHT button again to exit. 17. GREY SCALE CONVERSION CoNVerT will convert color to grey shades; screens and palettes are PERMANENTLY altered. Cycle through the options listed below by clicking the CNVT box; then click "GO". After conversion, the picture will be highlighted; as usual, LEFT accepts and RIGHT rejects. "Stretched 64" - the highest grey scale resolution. Your picture will be stretched to simulate 256 grey shades on a 64 grey continuuum. "Stretched 32" - medium grey scale resolution (256 grey scale on 32 grey continuum). This is useful when you intend to increase contrast or use more colors for colorizing after image processing. "Stretched 16" - low resolution grey scale (256 grey scale on 16 grey continuum). This has very high contrast and gets the most number of colors for colorization. USE ONLY PICTURES CONVERTED WITH THE "STRETCHED" OPTIONS FOR IMAGE PROCESSING. THE OPTIONS BELOW ARE FOR COLORIZATION AND SAVING OF A PROCESSED IMAGE. The included palette "GRAY256.PLT" will view all pictures saved "STRETCHED nn" options. "COLORS 16-31" - After processing your image, using any of the "stretched" options, use this to change your image/palette to fit the default 16 grey palette that the VGA/MCGA card initializes to. The image is converted and looks like the "Stretched 16" option. When you save an image converted with this option, your image can be "Bloaded" in BASIC without any palette or loaded into VGACAD at start-up without any palette. You will have 16 color ranges to colorize your image. "COLORS 32-63" - This option works the same way "COLORS 16-31" option does, but converts you image to correspond to the colors 32 to 63. The image looks like "Stretched 32" option. "GRAY32.PLT" will show all pictures converted with this option. This option allows 8 color ranges for colorization. "COLORS 64-128" - This option converts your image with as you would view it with the "Stretched 64" option. The included palette "GRAY64.PLT" will view pictures saved under this option. 4 color ranges for colorization are possible. Page ... 11 18. CONTRAST STRETCHING & ENHANCEMENT CONTrast Stretching uses a "histogram" of your grey pixels. Each pixel has a grey value (0-255); for this reason, it is important to use only "stretched nn" options when converting for image processing. Contrast Stretching equalizes the grey distribution to evenly span the range of 0 to 255 values. A typically unequalized image may have the following distribution of pixels. The low and high bins are the edges of the histogram distribution. All pixels between the edges (i.e., the high and low bin) are stretched to fill the entire 256 grey range. N ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ low ▓▓ high ║ P ║ bin ──┐ ▓ ▓▓▓▓ bin ║ i ║ │ ▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ │ ║ x ║ ▓ ▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓ ║ e ║ ▓ ▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓▓ ║ l ║ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ s ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 0 -------------------------127----------------------255 After Contrast Stretching the distribution will approximate this. N ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ▓ ▓ ║ P ║ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ║ i ║ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ║ x ║▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓║ e ║▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓║ l ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ s ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 0 -------------------------127----------------------255 You will note that the pixels now span the entire range and contrast is improved. Bright pixels are brighter and dark pixels darker, other pixels in between are affected the same way. You will requested for a "Minimum" number. This number is the threshold for selecting the high and low bins. The higher the number, the more likely that the bins will center on the middle and increase the Contrast Stretching effect. Since the histogram distribution is based on your defined area, the expected number of pixels per grey value will be much less in smaller areas than a larger area. Selecting a large "Threshold Minimum" for a small area may result in no change since no bins may be located. Try different Threshold Values to attain a desired effect. 19. GREY BLURRING (ANTI-ALIASING) BLURring results in a "smoothed" image with reduced "jaggies". The "Threshold Minimum" adjusts the amount of "spikes" or details retained; higher values result in smoother images (including all other detail). You have to experiment with the right "Threshold Minimum" that "smooths" your image yet keeps a lot of detail. Page ... 12 This function uses "3x3 Pixels Averaging" with a variable threshold; it adds grey levels in pictures with narrow grey scale distributions. If you captured an 320x200x16 grey GIF with VGACAP, using this method you will introduce intermediate grey values between the 16 grey scales which will make it more lifelike and approach photographic quality. 20. GREY MEDIAN THRESHOLD FILTERING There is a special mode. If you select a "Threshold Minimum" of 256, a "3x3 Pixels Median Filter" is used; this mode is effective in removing random noise while maintaining edge details. This method is slower but results in a smoother picture with more edge detail. On the "downside", it does not "add" intermediate grey pixel values. 21. KERNEL CONVOLUTION (EDGE DETECTION & BOOSTING) KERNeL Convolution will detect edges in your picture. You can detect only vertical, horizontal, diagonal or ALL edges. This Kernel detects all edges: ╔═══╦═══╦═══╗ ║-1 ║-1 ║-1 ║ ╠═══╬═══╬═══╣ ║-1 ║ 8 ║-1 ║ ╠═══╬═══╬═══╣ ║-1 ║-1 ║-1 ║ ╚═══╩═══╩═══╝ If the value "8" is changed to "9" then this becomes a "High Frequency Boost" which "feeds back" the edges of your image, resulting in a very sharp but "noisy" image. The center value can be varied up to 12 for creating "overexposed" effects. All image processing option follow the same user interface. Select a rectangular area to be processed. After processing an area, you can accept it or reject (and start over) or exit altogether. 22. EDIT MENU ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ AUTO USER EDIT Port 90' Horz 180' Vert│ │ Size Size Menu -- FLIP & CONVERT SCREEN -- │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ AUTO Size shrinks or expands any defined area with its aspect ratio intact. The image is always proportional regardless of resizing. Select a starting point; keep the LEFT button down and define an area. The captured area will be highlighted. Select a NEW starting position and define an area which the captured image will either shrink or expand into. Page ... 13 After releasing the LEFT button, the image will "resize" into the new defined area. Resized image are highlighted; as usual, accept with the LEFT or reject (and repeat or exit) with the RIGHT. Once you accept a change the image is permanently set; you cannot "undo" the change after accepting it. This function uses a 5/6 aspect ratio and will be distorted if you use the "1:1 aspect ratio" simulated by [F2]-Size function key in VSCRN menu (discussed later). USER Size works the same way AUTO sizing does without maintaining the aspect ratio. Your new image will be stretched or distorted anyway you like. Use this for special effects or to manually correct the aspect ratio of a digitized image. 23. FLIPPING IMAGES "Port" (Portrait) rotates you entire screen 90 degrees with corrected 5/6 aspect ratio; do not use this with [F2]-Size function key in VSCRN menu. A frame will appear which you can set as the desired location for your portrait. Use this to convert images captured sideways. ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────┐ │██████████████│ │█▓▓▒▒│ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ---> │█▓▓▒▒│ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ │█▓▓▒▒│ └──────────────┘ └─────┘ BEFORE AFTER "90'" will flip any captured area 90 degrees. Like portrait, it will correct the image with a 5/6 aspect ratio. Almost no detail is lost; the maximum size for conversion is the largest perfect square on your screen. Do not use this with [F2]-Size function key in VSCRN menu! "Horz" (Horizontal Flip) will flip any area as you would see it in a mirror. No detail is lost. "180'" (180 degree Flip) will flip any area as you would see it "upside down". No detail is lost. "Vert" (Vertical Flip) will flip any area as you would see it in a mirror, but "upside down". No detail is lost. 24. EDIT SUB-MENU (CUTTING & PASTING) ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │COPY CUT FILE DRAG INVS NORM OVRLY EXIT│ │-Clipboard- Menu -----Paste Options----- │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The "EDIT Menu" transfers you to a "CUTTING and PASTING" sub-menu. YOU CAN ONLY EXIT THIS MENU BY CLICKING THE EXIT BOX. "FILE Menu" will transfer to the file routines then return you to this menu. Page ... 14 To capture an image, choose COPY or CUT; the latter option deletes the image from your screen. Select area for COPY OR CUT; after releasing the mouse button, the defined area is highlighted for acceptance or rejection. If accepted, you can save it to a *.CLP file through the FILE Menu transfer or use any of the 4 pasting options. OVeRLaY will probably be your most often used mode. It will paste an image without destroying the background. Images with a BLACK (color 0) background will have a "lasso" effect, wherein only the foreground portion of the "clipped" image is placed on the screen. NORMal and INVerSe will replace any background image with the captured image; INVerSe uses the inverse or complimentary colors. DRAG will continuously OVeRLaY your captured image until you release the LEFT mouse button - good for special effects. To paste, simply select the mode then place your cursor at a starting location. The moment you press the LEFT mouse button, the image will appear (flashing); you can then move your captured image to the desired location. Once you release the LEFT mouse button the image will be set and highligted for rejection or acceptance. If rejected, you can simply start all over. You can only paste after capturing an image or retrieving one from a file. If you exit the EDIT menu, any clipped images will be released; be sure to save it through FILE menu. 25. SHAPES MENU Selecting SHPS ("Shapes") "chains" the Shapes module. Like ZOOM, this module will take a bit longer to activate and return to the Main menu; it is a separate module designed to "grow" and expand with extensive geometric and 'CAD' functions. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ │ 1 │ │ <─┼─┼───┼┼───┐ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ │ UNDO FILL Poly Rect Circ Line Curve EXIT │ │ │{█▓▓█▓▓░░▓▓██▓▓▒▒▓▓██▓▓▒▒▓▓▒▒▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒▓▓▒▒▓▓▒}│ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘resolution {▓██▓▓▓▒▒▓▓██▓▓▒▒▓▓██▓▓▒▒▓▓██▓▓▒▒██▓▓▒▒▓▓▒▒▓▓▒} of splines When constructing a shape, the RIGHT button aborts placement; pressing the RIGHT button with the "arrow" cursor exits. The LEFT constructs or sets a constructed shape. The UNDO function will UNDO the last shape set; you can only UNDO shapes here. VGACAD supports (filled or hollow) circles/ellipses and rectangles. Filled shapes paint over the current screen up to borders with the foreground color regardless of the image. Click the FILL box to fill constructed shapes. Use the FILL Menu (sub-menu of the COLOR Menu) to fill complex shapes with solids, gradient or pattern fills. Page ... 15 For circles, ellipses and rectangles, pick a starting position (e.g., upper-right for rectangles or center for ellipses); drag your cursor keeping the LEFT mouse button down; dragging the cursor down increases the length of the rectangle or Y radius of ellipse; moving right increases the rectangle width or the X radius of ellipse. When happy with the shape, release the LEFT mouse button. Place new shapes anywhere by moving your mouse even if an ellipse/circle was partially clipped during construction; hit the LEFT to set or RIGHT to abort. Rectangles can have borders (1 to 16 pixels thick); clicking the RECT box will increase and reset the border (to 1 when it exceeds 16). The border thickness in indicated in the LINE box. LINEs begin when you hit the LEFT mouse button and end when released. Once released, the line will blink. Hitting the LEFT button sets the line while the RIGHT aborts. CURVE will plot up to 32 points connected by straight lines. You can plot less than 32 by hitting the RIGHT button. After plotting your 32nd point (or last point), splines are calculated and connected. The number in the Curve Box is the resolution; the lower the number, the smoother the curves (it will also take longer to calculate). During calculation you will hear random beeps to tell you that it is working. POLY works like the Curve plotting but has unlimited connected lines. The last line (when RIGHT button is pressed) is always connected to the first to close the polygon. Use the Fill Menu to fill your polygons with the TRACE function. 26. TEXT MENU ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │███│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │NORM INVS NORM INVS MIX ---- COLOR ----│ │--Overlay-- ----Replace------ BAR │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ NORMal (Overlay) writes in the selected foreground color without destroying background (an "O" will have the image showing through its center). INVerSe (Overlay) places an inverse letter in the selected foreground color without destroying background; <spcbar> will leave a trail of solid blocks since a blank is a filled block when inversed. NORMal (Replace) places text on the screen, destructively - background is not preserved. INVerSe (Replace) will, destructively, place the inverse text image. MIX (Replace) will place text with both the selected foreground color and background (e.g., yellow text on a blue background). COLOR BAR will activate the colorbars for color selection. Page ... 16 To place text on your screen, first select the mode. An inverse box appears as the cursor. Place cursor at the starting point of your text and hit the LEFT button. A rectangular box will appear and you can begin typing your text. Text "wraps around"; pressing <return> moves to the next line. <Backspace> will undo your typos and restore the original image. Press <Esc> to keep your text, move to a new location, and repeat the process. You can always "undo" everything from the Main menu. To be able to go back and change your text to different colors at the their current positions, use the "Normal Overlay" mode and always start your text cursor at the "HOME" position (extreme upper-left); move around using <return> and <spcbar> to ensure text alignment. 27. FILE MENU Changes to .CLP when in EDIT sub-menu. ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │███<┘│OK │ │OK │ │OK │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │.BLD .PLT .GIF Meld Load Save VSCRN EXIT│ │ ---FileType---- │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Over "FileType" are three types of extensions. You must select a filetype before LISTing, SAVing or LOADing. ALL BOXES MARKED 'OK' REQUIRE CLICKING THE 'OK' BOX, AT BOTTOM-RIGHT, TO PROCEED (to avoid the inadvertent loss of your current screen and palette). ".BLD" are screens with "BLoaDable" format used in BASIC programs. You can import CGA pictures with CGA2VGA, "readmacs" with MAC2GIF or EGA/VGA 16-color pictures with EGA2VGA. ".PLT" are "PaLeTte" files, also in a "bloadable" format which can be used to save and restore ranges of palette information by using one BIOS call to reactivate the whole palette. ".GIF" are pictures saved in CompuServe's Graphic Interchange Format. In this release, any image up to 2048x2048x256 can be loaded, but interpolated to 320x200x256; use SQZGIF for large 256 color pictures or user the VSCRN options discussed below. ".CLP" are "CLiP" art files that were captured with the BASIC "GET" command and can be reloaded with the "PUT" command in another BASIC program. ".CLP" art files will can only be activated when in the EDIT sub-menu and called using the File Sub-Menu transfer option. To list files, click "BLD", "PLT", "GIF" (or "CLP") box; click again to cycle through remaining files (if any) until you reach the end. To change your drive or sub-directory click the word PATHNAME and key-in your new drive and/or sub-directory. Page ... 17 SAVE and LOAD will operate on files with .BLD, .PLT, .CLP and .GIF extensions. Once you select this box, an inverse "text bar" will appear; use that cursor to highlight a filename that you want to save or load. If you want to create a new file, move the "text bar" to FILENAME and click LEFT button; enter any name up to eight letters long. Incorrect filename lengths result in an error beep and are rejeced. Once a filename is selected by highlighting or keying-in a new name, click the "OK" box and your filename will be saved or loaded. The OK box is inversed while saving or loading. BLD files are automatically loaded with their matching PLT file. If no matching PLT is found then none is loaded; this is a convenience that applies ONLY to the "LOAD" file function. MELD lets you to load a different PLT file which the current screen and palette will be modified to closely approximate the new colors in the new palette. Both the PLT and MELD boxes will be "set" when MELD is selected. As usual, after transformation, you can accept with the LEFT or reject with the RIGHT. Meld is critical to mixing various colored screens into a large screen using VSCRN (explained below). Very divergent palettes will NOT MELD well; you have 262,144 color combinations and ONLY 256 colors at any time. The MELD function will perform at its best when you want to compose a large GIF from several screens or "clips" that have moderate to minor palette differences. If you are using a capture board, then try to keep the same palette (i.e., rescan or capture without changing the 256 color palette); if you don't have that option then avoid melding significantly different scans (e.g, "night scenes" and "day scenes"). "Exit" returns to the Main Menu or Edit Menu (if you used the File menu transfer option). "End" will terminate the program and verifies if you want to return to DOS; "Y"es ends the program. VSCRN options create TEMP files; you will be prompted to delete them or not. "Wipe" is basically a "clear screen" function. Clicking this box will clear your screen and return; this step is irrevocable - no UNDO. 28. VSCRN MODULE & THE VIRTUAL SCREEN ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │OK │ │ │ │ │ │OK │ │OK │ │███│ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ ImgP iSCR View List NCod DCod BLANK EXIT│ │ Edit vDSK ---------GIF---------- │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ VSCRN is a separate module. It is virtually a separate program linked to whatever screen you are working on; it is passed from one module to another, along with your interface settings. ALL BOXES MARKED WITH 'OK' REQUIRE CLICKING THE 'OK', AT BOTTOM RIGHT, TO PROCEED; this is a verification step to avoid losing the screen/palette currently loaded. Page ... 18 iSCR vDSK (Image Screen Virtual Disk) is your link to VERY LARGE GIFs. Pressing [F1] shows all the keyboard commands while the "iSCR vDSK" functions are activated. A Virtual Screen can be created by using the BLANK function or by decoding a LARGE GIF file with any number of colors (preferably 256 colors since disk space is wasted with less than 256 colors). With the BLANK function, only a specified selection of Virtual Screens are available. With LARGE GIF files, you can edit virtually ANY GIF file - up to 32KBx32KBx256 !!! Basically, a Virtual Screen is an image that is MUCH larger than your screen; what you see is a "viewing window" that scrolls all over the Virtual Screen. ┌──────────┐██████████████ │ Viewing │ ██ │ Window │ ██ └──────────┘ ██ ██ Virtual Screen ██ ██ ██ ██████████████████████████ A 640x400 virtual screen, has four 320x200 screens in it. Think of the "viewing window" as a "zoomed" portion of the total image; in the case of 640x400, you are seeing 1/4 of the whole picture at any time. Let us review what is an "aspect ratio"; it is the ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels that make a perfect square. The 320x200x256 mode has a 5/6 aspect ratio; for every 6 pixels, horizontally, you need 5 pixels to make the vertical line appear as the same lenght on the screen. 640x480 screens hav an aspect ratio of "1"; the horizontal pixels match the number of vertical pixels for a perfect square. All multiples of 640x480 have a "1:1" aspect ratio; this is why it is suited for DTP (DeskTop Publishing) - "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) ! Divide 640x480 by 2; you get 320x240; sound familiar ? Yes, 320x240 is the size of Jovian VIA scans which have a perfect aspect ratio of 1. 800x600 ? 1024x768 ? Any picture that is a multiple of 640x480 has a 1:1 aspect ratio. On the other "camp" are the 5/6 aspect ratios. 640x400 is a multiple of 320x200; so is 1280x800 and so forth. VGACAD uses 320x200 screens to edit pictures; as such, if you edit a picture with a 1:1 aspect ratio, it will look a little elongated. Pressing [F2] for 'size' will alter your screen aspect ratio so that editing in 320x200x256 will still give WYSISYG when editing a picture with a 1:1 aspect ratio. Although you are editing in 320x200x256, any 320x200x256 section of your Virtual Screen will be treated and look like it was created with an aspect ratio of 1 ! "[F2]-size" toggles between the 5/6 aspect ratio and 1:1 aspect ratio; you can edit both types of pictures accurately. The 5/6 and 1:1 aspect ratios cover the universe of IBM/MSDOS, Amiga, Atari and MacII pictures. Occasionally, you will get GIFs with weird aspect ratios (e.g. 360x480 and 320x400), which will look a bit distorted; despite distortion, if you are merely touching-up or "smoothing" a "hot spot", writing it back to the Virtual Screen will maintain its aspect ratio as long as it is not resized or flipped. Page ... 19 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ *** WARNING *** │ │ The [F2]-size option requires a 100% VGA compatible card! │ │ This option has not been tested for MCGA or PS/2 Model 25/30. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To create a BLANK Virtual SCreen, simply click "BLANK" and select from the choices (eg., [A] 640x400, [B] 640x480 and [C] 800x600). Using the 640x400 Virtual Screen maximizes VGACAD's editing capabilities since it was optimized for the 320x200x256 mode. You can paste any image created from scratch WITHOUT the [F2]-size option OFF or any image originating from a picture with a 5/6 aspect ratio (e.g., 320x200, 640x400, 1280x800). If you opt for the 640x480 or 800x600 Virtual Screen, then toggle the [F2]-size option ON. Images created with [F2]-size option ON will have a WYSIWYG capability. Images "clipped" from pictures with 1:1 aspect ratios will retain its aspect ratio even if the [F2]-size is OFF (it will look a bit elongated in VGACAD but will look correct when viewed as a total picture). Thus, you can use any clip from a picture with a 1:1 aspect ratio or create it from scratch with [F2]-size ON. Remember, you CANNOT mix aspect ratios unless you resize it manually (which can be a bit daunting) or create them from scratch with the correct aspect ratio setting (with [F2]-size ON). Use "DCOD" (DeCODe) to create a Virtual Screen from a large GIF or PCX (256-color) file. PRESS [F3] TO TOGGLE BETWEEN PCX OR GIF. Click "LIST" to see what GIFs are available (change the path if necessary). Click DCOD and click "OK"; that's it! A 640x480x256 GIF will need 307,200 bytes of disk space; 800x600x256 needs 480,000; 1024x768x256 needs 786,432 ! With a Virtual Screen you can edit virtually ANY GIF (up to 32KB x 32KB x 256). There is a special path called "VDSKpath" which tells VGACAD were to write/read pixels to/from the Virtual Screen. The speed of the "viewing window" is directly related to your disk drive; RAMDISKs are fastest ! If you have extended or expanded memory, use a RAMDISK for the Virtual Screen; a cache capability will help. Once you have created a Virtual Screen, the next thing to learn is moving the "viewing window". "iSCR SCRN" lets you view, get or put screens from/to the Virtual Screen. <Return> "puts" your current screen in any given location on the Virtual Screen; <Esc> "gets" a screen from the Virtual Screen for editing and image processing and replaces the current screen loaded in the "viewing window". Moving around the Virtual Screen is done through numeric keypad keys. Press [F1] for HELP; it provides a summary of these functions. <Shift-Home> or <Shift-7> jumps to the upper-left section. <Shift-End> or <Shift-1> jumps to the lower-left section. <Shift-PgUp> or <Shift-9> jumps to the upper-right section. <Shift-PgDn> or <Shift-3> jumps to the lower-right section. <Shift-5> centers the "viewing window" on the Virtual Screen. Page ... 20 *** ALWAYS KEEP THE NUMLOCK KEY UP *** ┌─────────┐ - - - -┌─────────┐ "viewing │ Shift- │ │ Shift- │ window"->│ Home │ │ PgUp │ ├─────────┘ └─────────│ | ┌─────────┐ | | │ Shift-5 │ | | │ │ <---- Virtual Screen | └─────────┘ | ├─────────┐ ┌─────────┤ │ Shift- │ │ Shift- │ │ End │ │ PgDn │ └─────────┘- - - - └─────────┘ By the same logic, all the arrow keys, Home, PgUp, End, and PgDn will move the "viewing window" in variable increments of 4 to 64 pixels, horizontally, vertically and diagonally. On default, the range of pixel movement is 16. Pressing [+] increments the range, while [-] decrements; [*] resets the variable "scroll" to 16. When you press the [+],[-] or [*] keys, a rising tone indicates the increment level (highest tone = 64); lower tones indicate decrements. For precise movements, the shifted-arrow keys will "scroll" in the vertical or horizontal axes by one pixel. After editing, you can NCOD (eNCODe) your Virtual Screen into a LARGE GIF - viewable with VIEW which "chains" MVGAVU (see MVGAVU.doc for complete discussion of features and options). 29. VDISK: THE GIFPUB, GIFHEX & SQZGIF CONNECTION VSCRN is the external utility integrator. Pressing the corresponding function key transfers control to these utilities. [F3]-SQZGIF(+EGA2VGA) [F4]-GIFHEX [F5]-GIFPUB(+GIFDOT) GIFPUB/GIFDOT can be called to created a dithered B&W output for desktop publishing (or direct printing on Epson/IBM dot matrix printers) of your current 320x200x256 image or the entire Virtual Screens; TEMP files are printed by simply selecting a new picture and selecting GIF or PCX (which in turn detects TEMP files and prompts you to use or not to use them). If you load a new picture (GIF, or PCX) and opt not to use the TEMP files, then TEMP files are DELETED. If you load a new Bload picture, the old image (directly transferred) is retained when you return to VGACAD. GIFHEX, the 256-color to 16-color dithering utility has similar image passing characteristics. SQZGIF/EGA2VGA creates resized 256-color USERSCRN files from 256-color images or 256-color images generated using EGA2VGA functionality. USERSCRN images are whole screens or 'clips' which can be 'pasted' on LARGER SVGA or MVGA images with the IMGPRO 'iPut' function discussed in another section. Page ... 21 30. IMGPRO MODULE - FULL SCREEN MVGA/SVGA EDITING ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐│ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │└───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘│ │ xVGA iGet iPut Vars HAZE WASH Cnvrt EXIT│ │ Mode -Img Edit- ImgP Blur Lite Greys │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ So far you have learned how to use virtual screen 320x200 editing techniques. For full screen image processing and editing in MVGA and SVGA modes, click the "ImgP Edit" box from the VSCRN menu; the IMGPRO menu shown appears. It can only be accessed from the VSCRN menu IF ONLY IF an image has been decoded to TEMP files or a BLANK virtual screen has been created. IN THE IMGPRO MODULE, IF THE CURSOR DISAPPEARS AFTER PRESSING A FUNCTION KEY, THEN PRESS A MOUSE BUTTON. The "xVGA Mode" box triggers a menu to change the current SVGA or MVGA video mode. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SELECT A VIDEO MODE AND CHIPSET THAT YOUR CARD SUPPORTS OR UNPREDICATBLE RESULTS WILL HAPPEN. "iGet" and "iPut" boxes copy or paste MVGA/SVGA screen "clips" or USERSCRN images generated with SQZGIF/EGA2VGA. All screen images are interpolated to fit the entire screen of the selected video mode; this way having to experiment with aspect ratios is minimized. SVGA/MVGA editing is "cutting & pasting". When VSCRN is invoked, the user is prompted to save a 320x200 USERSCRN; if the 320x200 image is saved then that section is used when the 'iPut' function is invoked; conversely, when 'iGet' is selected, any image portion of the large SVGA/MVGA screen can be "copied" and saved to USERSCRN files for pasting. All "cut & paste" screens are color-matched to the fit the decompressed GIF/PCX file or palette when you create a BLANK screen. A BEEP AFTER SELECTING AN IMAGE WITH "iGet" MEANS INSUFFICIENT DISK SPACE TO SAVE YOUR USERSCRN 'CLIP'. VGACAD WILL DELETE ANY USERSCRN FILE TO FREE DISK SPACE. IF A SECOND TRY STILL RESULTS IN AN ERROR BEEP, THEN TRY CHANGING YOUR USERSCRN PATH TO ANOTHER DRIVE (YOUR RAMDISK, IF USED, MAY BE FULL). SVGA/MVGA Editing is based on the video mode selected. If 360x480 mode is selected, then the virtual screen will "fit the screen". Images that are copied or pasted must match this aspect ratio (ie., one should only copy and paste images with similar aspect ratios (e.g., 320x200 with 640x400 or 320x240 with 640x480 or 800x600). SVGA/MVGA 'iGet' mode first shows a 'cross hair'. The RIGHT button exits the mode while the LEFT defines an area to be copied. After defining an area, the area is XORed (highlighted) for verification; pressing the RIGHT rejects the defined area for reselection (or exit) while the LEFT saves the defined area to USERSCRN files for pasting. Page ... 22 SVGA/MVGA 'iPut' mode first shows a rectangular area representing the USERSCRN image. You can move the box anywhere for placement; pressing the LEFT button copies the image; pressing the RIGHT button aborts the pasting processes. After pasting, a flashing border indicates verification; press the LEFT button to accept the 'paste' then another copy can be pasted anywhere; press the RIGHT button to abort pasting. PRESSING BOTH MOUSE BUTTONS UPDATES THE VIRTUAL SCREEN WITH THE NEW SCREEN SIZE DETERMINED BY THE SELECTED VIDEO MODE. If you saved a 320x200 USERSCRN when prompted, you can use SVGA/MVGA paste function instead of the iSCR SCRN functions for more creative but less precise positioning. If you 'chain' SQZGIF, you can make variable-sized USERSCRN files from LARGE 256-color GIF or PCX files via interpolation or color averaging, and create a montage of smaller images. 2,4,8,16,32,64 and 128 color images are processed with the EGA2VGA algorithm to generate 256 new colors. USERSCRN files save their own palette and are MELDED TO FIT THE VIRTUAL SCREEN'S COLORS WHEN USING THE SVGA/MVGA PASTE FUNCTION. 31. IMGPRO MODULE - FULL SCREEN MVGA/SVGA IMAGE PROCESSING Please refer to previous section for menu diagram. You can HAZE/BLUR or WASH/LITEn (Lite & Dark function) any portion or the whole image (up to the video mode resolution you have chosen). As with SVGA/MVGA pasting, you select an area then it is processed. After processing, you are prompted to verify the change with the left mouse button (or right to reject). If you press BOTH mouse buttons then the change is updated to the virtual screen. If the left button is pressed, you can 're-process' (iteratively) the same image again. "CNVRT Greys" converts the whole image to selected grey scale options so that you can use local (old functions) and global SVGA/MVGA (new funtions) for grey image processing and colorization. The "VARS ImgP" box changes the image processing parameters. In HAZE MODE (color processing), variable ranges from 0 to 9; LITE variables are positive numbers while DARK variables are negative - the effect is equivalent to WASHing grey shades over existing colors. Position your cursor beside the parameter; press the right button to increment or the left button to decrement the parameter. IF THE HAZE FUNCTION IS INCREMENTED TO 10 OR ABOVE, THEN IT SWITCHES TO GREY IMAGE PROCESSING - USE OF THIS FUNCTION ASSUMES THE VIRTUAL SCREEN IMAGE HAS BEEN CONVERTED TO ONE OF THE STRETCHED GREY SCALES. Click OK to exit parameter setting. A value of "0" triggers "Median Filtering" instead of anti-aliasing; this is similar to the "local" function for noise removal (ie., salt & pepper pattern/spike removal). IN BLUR MODE (GREY IMAGE PROCESSING), LITE & DARK FUNCTIONS SWITCH TO FASTER GREY SCALE ROUTINES. Page ... 23 If Median Filtering is selected, a "boost" factor ranging from -20% to +20% (in 10% increments) can be sleected by adjusting the "BOOST" level. Boost levels can be modified from the ImgP Vars option when Median Filtering is invoked; this new function is available ONLY at the IMGPRO module. 32. VGACAD & MVGAVU INTERACTIONS This section describes the interacting features between MVGAVU and VGACAD. For a full description of MVGAVU's capabilities, refer to MVGAVU.DOC (MVGAVU user manual). Some GIFs have the same screen and image descriptors (e.g.CARMEN2); resulting in distorted aspect ratio. You can correct the aspect ratio by viewing it with one of MVGAVU's aspect ratio correction options. Since VGACAD will load SVGA images based on the image and screen information given in the file, GIF images are not adjusted the way MVGAVU corrects it. In those cases, view the image with MVGAVU and save/encode the adjusted image using the [tab] function. Simply view your GIF in any SVGA 256-color mode with the corrected aspect ratio and press the [tab] key. MVGASCRN.RAW and MVGASCRN.PLT files will be created for GIF conversion with VGAFIL (discussed in another section of this manual). Subsequent saves overwrite these files; encode with VGAFIL and rename immediately. MIGs (Multiple Image Graphics) are usually several 'overlayed' images (e.g, Jim Burton's Mermaid series of GIFs or FAIRY.GIF) which simulate animation. Since MIGs tend to change what you initially see from what you see at the end of the GIF, you may want to save the final rendered image rather than the first one for editing with VGACAD. Simply save the final rendered image as you would an aspect ratio corrected image (ie., using the [tab] key) and convert it with VGAFIL. A quicker way to import MVGAVU adjusted images, saved as MVGASCRN.RAW and MVGASCRN.PLT would be to follow these steps. Assuming you resized a 'weird' image to 640x480x256 with corrected aspect ratio. 1) From VSCRN menu, create a BLANK 640x480. 2) Replace TEMP files; type "copy MVGASCRN.* TEMP.*" <ret> MAKE SURE YOU COPY THE MVGSCRN FILES TO THE VDISK YOU SPECIFIED WHEN THE BLANK VIRTUAL SCREEN WAS CREATED. MVGAVU emulates "color" and "picture" adjustments "knobs" typically found on your TV. View a non-posterized GIF or BLD/PLT and adjust contrast and brightness through these "knobs". "Picture" will affect the "brightness". "Color" saturation adjusts chrominance levels (ie., color) vis-a-vis luminance (ie., grey level). Virtually all contrast and brightness adjustment can be emulated through these "knobs". KEEP NUMLOCK KEY UP! [Esc], [ret] or [spc] will exit vewing. Page ... 24 [->] increase "picture" [<-] decrease "picture" [dn] increase color saturation [*] reset palette [up] decrease color saturation [A] Adjust Monitor With VGACAD you can import the adjusted palette in your edited picture by pressing [backspace] key. When editing SVGA GIFs via VSCRN (i.e., "virtual screen"); eNCODe that GIF and view it with MVGAVU; adjust the palette, press [backspace] then exit to import that palette. ALL ADJUSTMENTS ARE PERMANENT ! 33. VGACAD, VGACAP & VGAFIL INTERACTIONS This section describes the interacting features between VGACAP, VGAFIL and VGACAD. For a full description of VGACAP's and VGAFIL's features and capabilities, refer to VGACAP.DOC (VGACAP user manual). If you capture a 640x480x256 or 800x600x256 screen (eg., SCREEN00.RAW & SCREEN00.PLT) with VGACAP for direct editing in VGACAD then: 1) From VSCRN menu, create a BLANK 640x480 or 800x600. 2) Replace TEMP files; type "copy SCREEN00.* TEMP.*" <ret> MAKE SURE YOU 'COPY' THE SCREEN00 FILES TO THE VDISK YOU SPECIFIED WHEN THE BLANK VIRTUAL SCREEN WAS CREATED. VGAFIl is not only a chained utility of VGACAD; it configures VGACAP for fast SVGA grabs and encodes TEMP, MVGASCRN, NYBLSCRN AND USERSCRN files in GIF or PCX format as a stand-alone utility. TEMPorary files are used by VGACAD, SQZGIF/EGA2VGA, GIFPUB, ... (and other utilities we may release). When TEMP files are detected by VGAFIL, you will be prompted to convert it. If you forget to encode your masterpiece and did not delete the TEMP files, you can use VGAFIL to encode it in GIF or PCX format by calling VGAFIL from DOS. MVGASCRN files are essentially similar to *.RAW files; notably the outputs from MVGAVU are saved with this filename. USERSCRN files are created with VGACAD and SQZGIF/EGA2VGA; these files have unusual screen sizes and have additional support files like TEMP files. NYBLSCRN (a "nybble" is half a byte or 4 bits or 16 colors) files have special meaning for VGAFIL; these files are normally outputs from GIFHEX (formerly VGA2EGA) and GIFBIT(B&W scanner utility). If VGAFIL detects this filename, it immediately converts the file in TRUE 16-color format; this applies only to GIF files. 34. CGA2VGA UTILITY CGA2VGA will capture/convert ANY VIEWABLE CGA picture for VGACAD use; 64kb RAM is required. CGA2VGA "bsaves" 4-color CGA screens. "Hotkey" is <Alt-F2>. CGA2VGA DOES NOT SAVE A PALETTE; captured screens will have 4 colors (Color 0-3); you can modify or add colors with VGACAD. Page ... 25 35. REGISTRATION REGISTRATION OF VGACAD IS BASED ON 'PERSONAL USAGE'. CORPORATE OR ORGANIZATIONAL USERS *MUST* REGISTER ALL COPIES USED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; A SPECIFIC PERSON (NAME) MUST BE EXPLICITLY ASSIGNED TO EACH REGISTRANT WHO WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A CORRESPONDING REGISTER.OVL FILE TO INDICATE REGISTERED USAGE. REGISTRATION GRANTS A SPECIFIC PERSON (NOT A JURIDICAL PERSON OR CORPORATE ENTITY) THE RIGHT TO 'USE' VGACAD. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ALTHOUGH WE WILL TRY TO RESPOND TO YOUR REGISTRATION IN 2-3 WEEKS,│ │ PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 4-6 WEEKS DELAY TO PROCESS YOUR REGISTRATION. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ As token of our appreciation (i.e., to registered users), we will send you the the latest version of the VGACAD system with the latest updated components; many of the programs listed below do not require a graphics card. GIFPUB/GIFDOT - converts 256 color GIF/PCX files to B&W images desktop publishing (DTP) as .PCX (Ventura, First Publisher, Publisher's Paintbrush, WP, Pagemaker). Variable sizing/contrast/brightness. Includes printing on IBM/Epson printers. Several sizes. 8 pics/page. Single/Double Pass printing. Preview in CGA/HGC/EGA/VGA/EEGA/SVGA. Histogram-equalization. No graphics card required. GIFBIT - converts B&W PCX files (e.g., scanner output to 32KBx32KB !) to grey shades for VGACAD image processing, GIFPUB redithering or printing, or GIFHEX conversion - it edits those "scan line jitters". Viewing modes in MCGA/VGA/SVGA. No graphics card required. SQZGIF/EGA2VGA - converts LARGE GIF/PCX pics (to 2KBx2KBx256) to several sizes and video modes using "color averaging" to blend/smooth "jaggies" or fast interpolation. Converts GIFs (2-128 colors) to any sized image with 256 new colors. Variable sizing. No graphics card required. MVGAVU - EGA/MCGA/EEGA/VGA/SVGA viewer for GIF and BLD/PLT files. Smart slideshows - picks best mode. 320x400x256, 360x480x256 and 640x400x16 modes on regular VGA. EGA posterization. EEGA/SVGA support. Auto-sizing. Contrast/Brightness. EGA/MCGA/VGA required. VGACAP - resident utility to capture 256-color MCGA/VGA or SVGA images. FAST SVGA 640x480x256 or 800x600x256 screen grabs. VGAFIL - GIF/PCX encoding utility. Accepts ALL RAW file formats used by our utilites as well as BLD/PLT files. This utility replaces RAW2GIF, RAW2PCX and BLD2GIF. VGA2CGA - converts 256 color GIFs to CGA! See "405" colors in an unsupported 160x100x16 CGA mode. CGA/EGA/MCGA/VGA required. MAC2GIF - converts .MAC ("readmac") pictures to 5-16 grey shades or color and saves to .GIF or BLD/PLT file. EGA/MCGA/VGA required. Page ... 26 36. WHAT'S NEXT ? As you have seen in this release, VGACAD has undergone radical transformation; notably we have consolidated the utilities to have more interaction with each other. With our "chained environment" updated components HAVE and WILL continue to be released on a modular basis. Notably, the IMGPRO module will be updated in a new series called VGAPIX; it will be the front-end of the IMGPRO module to continuously upgrade MVGA/SVGA image processing capabilities yet retain downward compatibility with MCGA 320x200x256 functions of VGACAD. Planned enhancements to IMGPRO through VGAPIX will include: (1) extensive grey MVGA/SVGA grey image processing algorithms such as user-definable histogram equalization and related contrast enhancement algorithms, local histogram equalization, image sharpening and oversampling techniques, user-definable Kernel convolutions and related filters, etc.; (2) extensive MVGA/SVGA color image processing algorithms such as local/global/variable TINT, WASH, SHADE, BLEND, GLASS, EMBOSS, and SHARPEN functions with related HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) and/or HLS (Hue, Light and Saturation) controls, etc.; (3) new MVGA/SVGA editing functions such as SCRAPE THROUGH, GRID, RGB/HLS/HSV/CMY palette control, variable color ranges for colorization, natural "Hue Mixture"-based airbrushes, etc.; (4) conversion of old VGACAD functions to MVGA/SVGA algorithms such as colorize, pattern and gradient fills, variable zoom, text and font editing, etc. VGACAD itself will expand to include, among others, a full-blown SHAPES module to incorporate more CAD functions, a separate 3D module, and support for other file formats such as TGA and TIF. In the short term, we are developing RGBLAB. This is a color reduction utility to 'downsize' 24-bit or 16 Million-color pictures to 256-colors. RAW red, green and blue files or TIFF (*.TIF) files or TARGA (.TGA) files will be the main input source. IDTVGA dithering (Improved Definition Television for VGA) will play a key role in previewing or rendering 24-bit images in SVGA 256-color modes. It will include OCUTIL, a video grabbing utility for the OCULUS video grabber (if you want us to develop for your particular image grabber, we would need a developer's working copy and complete information for manipulating control I/O registers). We are also, developing VGASHW (a 256-color presentation system), VGACBT (the PROGRAMMABLE Computer-Based Training counterpart of VGASHW) AND MANNEQUIN (what "Weird Science" tried to do in the movie it will do on the computer screen with potential applications for Advertising and Fashion Design, aside from creating your own artistic nudes). Page ... 27 All these planned enhancements and projects take a LOT of time and effort. This entire endevour is just a 'hobby'; with your help we can do it full-time. Support maverick authors like us, and we will continue to develop innovative products like nothing seen commercially - otherwise, they will, as many (sigh!) good Shareware programs, simply "DIE" from lack of support ! Compare the cost/benefit ratio of any of our products with commercial products; we want to continue supporting, developing and creating new products. Please support the User-Supported (Shareware) concept; you, and you alone, determine whether it will be worthwhile to continue developing. To register, send in the registration form and check payable to Dr. Marvin Gozum 2 Independence Place Apt. 1105 6th & Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 37. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank John Bridges for releasing VGAKIT.ARC which included source code for 'bank switching' the Tseng, Paradise, Cirrus, Trident, Everex, C&T and VGA Wonder, Oak and Tseng 4000 chips and source for the now, popular 360x480x256 mode. Also, we would like to thank Mike Abrash for publishing source code (in Programmer's Journal) for the 320x400x256 mode. Seminal variants have been developed based on their evolving work into MVGAVU. We are grateful to Don Babcock, for QBASM's GIF adaptations of Tom Pfau's Public Domain LZW source (in LZW.ARC) for QB4 linking, which provided invaluable guidance in resolving QB4 memory allocation problems. Thanks a meg - John, Mike, Don and Tom ! Page ... 28 Palette Organization Map Appendix A The following diagram shows where each of the 256 color registers of the color palette are located. Please note the inverse color relationships for each color box. For example, if you are modifying color 13, you must ensure that color 242 is significantly different that color 13 to maintain cursor visibility when placed over either color 13 or 242. A 16 color set is a line of 16 colors as illustrated below. Colors 0 to 16 is considered a color set, as well as colors 255 to 240 or 48 to 63. ───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬───┬┬─── 0││ 1││ 2││ 3││ 4││ 5││ 6││ 7││ 8││ 9││ 10││ 11││ 12││ 13││ 14││ 15 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 255 │254 │253 │252 │251 │250 │249 │248 │247 │246 │245 │244 │243 │242 │241 │240 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 16││ 17││ 18││ 19││ 20││ 21││ 22││ 23││ 24││ 25││ 26││ 27││ 28││ 29││ 30││ 31 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 239 │238 │237 │236 │235 │234 │233 │232 │231 │230 │229 │228 │227 │226 │225 │224 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 32││ 33││ 34││ 35││ 36││ 37││ 38││ 39││ 40││ 41││ 42││ 43││ 44││ 45││ 46││ 47 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 223 │222 │221 │220 │219 │218 │217 │216 │215 │214 │213 │212 │211 │210 │209 │208 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 48││ 49││ 50││ 51││ 52││ 53││ 54││ 55││ 56││ 57││ 58││ 59││ 60││ 61││ 62││ 63 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 207 │206 │205 │204 │203 │202 │201 │200 │199 │198 │197 │196 │195 │194 │193 │192 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 64││ 65││ 66││ 67││ 68││ 69││ 70││ 71││ 72││ 73││ 74││ 75││ 76││ 77││ 78││ 79 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 191 │190 │189 │188 │187 │186 │185 │184 │183 │182 │181 │180 │179 │178 │177 │176 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 80││ 81││ 82││ 83││ 84││ 85││ 86││ 87││ 88││ 89││ 90││ 91││ 92││ 93││ 94││ 95 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 175 │174 │173 │172 │171 │170 │169 │168 │167 │166 │165 │164 │163 │162 │161 │160 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 96││ 97││ 98││ 99││100││101││102││103││104││105││106││107││108││109││110││111 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 159 │158 │157 │156 │155 │154 │153 │152 │151 │150 │149 │148 │147 │146 │145 │144 ───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼───┬┼─── 112││113││114││115││116││117││118││119││120││121││122││123││124││125││126││127 ───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├───┘├─── 143 │142 │141 │140 │139 │138 │137 │136 │135 │134 │133 │132 │131 │130 │129 │128 ────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴─── Page ... 29 Notes on Additive Color Mixtures Appendix B The Principle of Additive Color Mixture is the same principle used by the television and monitors to generate images. The principle entails the ADDITION of three primary quanta: Red, Green and Blue when mixing any two colors. To understand how it works, let us assume you have three flashlights: one red, one green, and one blue. Since white is the maximum mixture of all three quanta or components, shining all three beams at the same spot will produce white. Since white results with maximum quanta of red, green and blue, then if we have half of each red, green and blue quanta, grey results ! Most of the rules for mixing colors with this principle follow our commonly held view of color mixing. If you shine the red and blue beams on the same spot you will get purple - so far everything seems logical. If you shine the blue and green beams you get blue-green. So where is yellow ? Now for the weird part; if you mix red and green, yellow results ! Yes, yellow is red and green together. Depending on the amounts of red and green, different shades of brown will result. If you have more red than green, you will get orange. If you have more green than red you will get yellow-orange. Alas, the Principle of Additive Color Mixture is quite different from the way we normally think colors mix. If you mix a pure yellow color with pure blue, pure green should result, right ? Wrong !!! Remember what white is made of ? Since we added pure blue to pure yellow, which is made of pure red and pure green, we now have - WHITE. The portions of red, green and blue that are common to all of the three will result in white - which will show as shades of grey if we have fractions of red, green and blue. If you mix, 50 quanta of red, 25 quanta of green and 33 quanta of blue, the common level of quanta is 25 - thus you will have 25 quanta of white. The primary quanta with the most portions will dominate; thus, in this example we will have a light red shade with a touch of blue -> light magenta. If you increased the portion of green to 50, such that R=50 G=50 B=33, you will now have 33 quanta of white since that is the common level of all three quanta. Since Red and Green = Yellow, and you have so much White in it, the color you will get is Light Yellow. Now if you have R=63 G=63 B=0 (pure yellow) "added" to R=0 G=0 B=63 (pure blue), the resulting color is R=63 G=63 B=63 (pure white). In VGACAD, you will notice that when using a blue airbrush on yellow areas, the color will either become light yellow or light blue depending on the RGB quanta - it will NOT turn green. Keep in mind that [1] common portions of red, green and blue add white to your hue, and [2] common portions of red and green add yellow to your hue. Experiment with different RGB settings in the Color Map menu and see what happens with different mixtures. Page ... 30