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- #BEGIN introduction "Introduction"
- Welcome to the latest version of XPaint.
-
- XPaint is a color image editing tool which features most standard paint
- program options.
- It allows for the editing of multiple images simultaneously and supports
- various formats, including PPM, XBM, TIFF, etc.
-
- The functionality of XPaint is divided into a toolbox area for selecting
- the current paint operation and paint windows for modifying/creating
- images. Each paint window has access to its own color palette and set
- of patterns, although the paint operation in use is globally selected
- for all windows.
-
- XPaint runs on a variety of displays. Saving
- images will adapt them to the current display type (i.e. a color image
- loaded on a greyscale screen will be saved as a grey image).
-
- More information is available under the specific topics. Enjoy!
-
- #BEGIN command "Command Line Options"
- xpaint [-popped][-size WIDTHxHEIGTH][-rcFile FILE][-12][-24][<files>...]
- #NL
- -size default width and height for new images
- #NL
- -12 use a 12 bit PseudoColor visual
- #NL
- -24 use a 24 bit TrueColor visual
- #NL
- -popped popup an empty canvas on startup
- #NL
- -rcFile use file instead of default .XPaintrc
- #NL
- <files> image filenames to open
- #NL
- #BEGIN toolbox "Toolbox"
- The toolbox is used to set those options which are applicable to all
- XPaint canvases.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN tool_file "File Menu"
- The file menu is used to create a new canvas or load an image from a file.
-
- New Canvas
- #NL
- Create a new blank canvas (default size:
- #NL
- 640x480). See "Command Line Options" for
- #NL
- changing the default size.
-
- New with Size...
- #NL
- Create a new canvas with the specified
- #NL
- dimensions.
-
- Open...
- #NL
- Open an image file for painting. Images can
- #NL
- be opened in a variety of formats. If none
- #NL
- of the specific formats is selected, XPaint
- #NL
- will attempt to perform a "Best Guess" as to
- #NL
- the image format. Unknown formats will result
- #NL
- in an error message.
-
- Load Clipboard...
- #NL
- Open an image file into the XPaint clipboard
- #NL
- for pasting. Images which have been saved in
- #NL
- a format supporting odd-shaped regions will be
- #NL
- loaded as they were selected, otherwise all
- #NL
- images are rectangular. See "Paste" and
- #NL
- "Save Region..." under the Edit and File menus
- #NL
- of the Painting Window for more information.
-
- Quit
- #NL
- Exit XPaint, closing all windows.
- #BEGIN tool_line "Line Menu"
- The line menu sets the value of the line width. This value is used by all
- operations which paint any type of line, including the borders of boxes,
- ovals and polygons.
- #BEGIN tool_font "Font Menu"
- This menu selects the current font to use for the text operation. There are
- a few specific fonts choices listed, but all fonts are available through
- the font browser.
-
- Note: Changing a font while inserting will not allow backspacing over text
- in a previous font.
-
- See "Font Browser" for more information on its use.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN font_browser "Font Browser"
- The font browser is designed to allow any available font to be used for
- painting with the text operation. A font is selected by choosing an item
- from each of the given lists until the font is displayed in the "selection"
- area. As items are selected, all lists will adjust to reflect existing
- fonts with the selected characteristics. Clicking in the blank area
- of a item list will reset that list to all available options (i.e. unselect
- the current one).
-
- If the X server supports variable sized fonts, the point size list will
- contain a "0" entry, which will use the value specified in the
- "Point Size" field.
-
- #POP
- #BEGIN tools "Painting Tools"
- The painting tool icons set the current painting operation for all canvases.
-
- Operations are selected with mouse button one. Pressing mouse button three
- while over any of the icons will bring up a menu of options available for
- that tool. Some icons also allow double-clicking as a faster method of
- bringing up style options.
-
- See the specific paint operation for more information.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN arc "Arc"
- The arc operation paints an arc between two selected points in the primary
- color/pattern, using the current line width. Arcs are generally a
- quarter of an ellipse, but may be restricted to a circular shape by
- pressing the shift key while painting.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN box "Boxes"
- The box operations paint either rectangles or squares using the current line
- width. Pressing shift while moving the mouse after selecting the first point
- will constrain the box to a square.
-
- Squares can also be painted by selecting the 'center' option from the menu
- found by pressing button three on the icon. This will define the first point
- as the center of the square with the second point being on the perimeter.
-
- Filled boxes are painted in the primary color/pattern and filled
- with the secondary color/pattern for the canvas.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN brush "Brush"
- The brush operation uses the current brush to paint on the canvas(es).
- Painting is accomplished by holding down the mouse button and
- moving the mouse in the canvas area. Button one paints in the selected primary
- color/pattern, while button two uses the secondary one.
-
- The current brush style may be changed through the brush chooser available
- on the button three menu for either the brush or erase operation icons.
- #BEGIN cline "Connected Line"
- The connected line operation paints a series of straight lines connected at
- selected vertices. Each new vertex is selected using the first mouse button.
- The second mouse button ends this operation, without forming a new vertex.
-
- All painting is done in the primary color/pattern using the currently defined
- line width.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN dotPencil "Dot Pencil"
- The dot pencil operation paints a series of dots on the canvas, following the
- cursor while the mouse button is pressed.
-
- Button one paints in the primary color/pattern, button two the secondary
- color/pattern.
-
- See "Pencil" for painting connected lines.
- #BEGIN erase "Erase"
- The erase operation is designed to either erase a section of the painting to
- the set background color for the canvas or to revert the erased area to
- the originally loaded image. (Note: This is not the last saved image!)
-
- The eraser is the style of the current brush, and the brush selection
- window is accessible through the menu found by clicking mouse button
- three on either the erase or brush icons.
-
- See help on the "Brush" or on "Change Background..." under the Image menu of
- the Painting Window for more information.
- #BEGIN fill "Fill"
- The fill operation will paint an area around a selected pixel the current
- primary or secondary color/pattern (based on which mouse button used). The
- area is determined by matching adjacent pixel values until a variation is
- found. Diagonal pixels are not considered adjacent.
- #BEGIN line "Line"
- The line operation paints a straight line in the primary color/pattern
- between two selected points on the canvas, using the global line width.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
-
- Lines may also be restricted to increments of 45 degrees (i.e.
- horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) by pressing down the shift key while
- painting.
- #BEGIN oval "Ovals"
- The oval operations paint either circles or ovals using the current line width.
- Ovals/circles are painted by selecting two points which inherently define
- a box around the area for the oval. Pressing shift while moving the mouse will
- constrain the oval to a circle.
-
- Circles can also be painted by selecting the 'center' option from the menu
- found by pressing button three on the icon. This will define the first point
- as the center of the circle with the second point being the radius.
-
- Filled ovals and circles are painted in the primary color/pattern and filled
- with the secondary color/pattern for the canvas.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN pencil "Pencil"
- The pencil operation paints a connected line on the canvas, following the
- cursor while the mouse button is pressed. The global line width is used
- to determine the width of this line.
-
- Button one paints in the primary color/pattern, button two the secondary
- color/pattern.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN poly "Polygons"
- Polygon operations paint polygons as defined by a series of straight lines
- between selected vertices. Each new vertex is selected using the first mouse
- button. Ending this operation (done through pressing the second mouse
- button) does not create a new vertex and results in the last created
- vertex being joined to the first.
-
- All painting is done in the primary color/pattern using the currently defined
- line width. Filled polygons are filled in the secondary color/pattern.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN ray "Ray"
- The ray operation paints rays from the first selected point to all
- subsequent points in the primary color/pattern. Button two ends this
- operation without selecting a new ray point. Rays may also be restricted
- to slopes based on a 45 degree increment (i.e. horizontal, vertical,
- or diagonals) by pressing the shift key while painting.
-
- The width of the rays is determined by the global value for the line
- width, set via the "Line" menu.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN select "Select Regions"
- There are two operations for selecting regions: Select Box and Select Area.
- "Select Box" will select a rectangular or square region (holding down
- shift while pressing the mouse button with constrain the region to a
- square). "Select Area" selects an arbitrary region. The three possible
- modes used by these operations are set by the options on the button three
- menu for either icon:
-
- All Colors Select the entire region.
- #NL
- Omit Color Range Select the region, excluding the
- #NL
- specified range of colors.
- #NL
- Only Color Range Select only the specified color range
- #NL
- in the region.
- #NL
- Select Range... Brings up a window to select the
- #NL
- range of colors for these operations.
-
- See "Range Selection" for more information on choosing a range of colors
- for these operations.
-
- Operations which may be performed on selected regions include the ability
- to move and resize them. Holding shift down during resizing will constrain
- the region to its original aspect ratio. Note that moving a region will
- result in the original location being painted in the current background
- color.
-
- See "Background Color..." under the Image menu of the Paint Window for
- more information.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN range_select "Range Selection"
- This window is designed for selecting a range of colors for use with
- the select region operations. The color range is determined by setting a
- base color and the amount of variance in each of the RGB values around
- this color. Colors are considered in this range if they match a value based
- on the base color +/- the given variance. Default base color is white.
-
- The "Pixel Delta" button allows the user to choose another color which will
- be used to calculate the variance from the base color.
-
- More information on colors and the use of the color wheel may be found
- under the "Pattern Editor on the "Painting Window".
- #POP
- #BEGIN blob "Shape"
- Shape operations allow the user to draw closed objects with a
- pencil-like operation. When the mouse button is released, the last drawn
- point is connected to the starting point.
-
- Painting can either be done in the primary color/pattern with button one or
- in the secondary color/pattern with button two. Filled shapes are filled in
- the other palette color/pattern. Border width is determined by the current
- setting for line width.
-
- See "Line Menu" under the toolbox for more information about line width.
- #BEGIN spray "Spray"
- The spray operation is designed to emulate a spray can. It will paint
- a random set of dots withing a given radius.
-
- It is possible to change the attributes of the spray operation to
- achieve the desired effect. There are three parameters which will
- modify the configuration of the spray tool:
- #NL
- radius how large of a circle to fill
- #NL
- density number of dots in the given area
- #NL
- rate speed to fill the area in tenths of a second
-
- Additionally, it is possible to change the distribution of the dots to
- be either even or gaussian (usually only noticeable at large radii).
- These options are found in the menu brought up by clicking button three
- on the spray icon.
-
- As with many other operations, the spray operation can make use of either
- the primary or secondary color/pattern based on which button (one or two,
- respectively) is held down while painting on the canvas.
- #BEGIN text "Text"
- The text operation allows for typing in the currently selected font.
- Pressing mouse button two in the canvas area while inserting text
- will paste text from the X clipboard at the current insertion point.
-
- See the "Font Menu" for information on changing the selected font.
-
- Note: Changing a font while inserting will not allow backspacing over text
- in a previous font.
- #POP
- #POP
- #BEGIN canvas "Painting Window"
- The painting window holds a canvas area for painting the displayed image,
- menus for performing operations on this image, and primary and secondary
- color/pattern palettes along with buttons for adding to these.
-
- Painting on the image is accomplished by selecting a operation from
- the global toolbox and applying it in the canvas area. See help on the
- specific paint operation for its use.
-
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN fileMenu "File Menu"
- The file menu on the painting window is for saving information associated
- with the image displayed on the current paint canvas.
-
- XPaint runs on a variety of displays. Saving
- images will adapt them to the current display type (i.e. a color image
- loaded on a greyscale screen will be saved as a grey image).
-
- See "Image Formats" for a description of the image formats usable
- by XPaint.
-
- Save
- #NL
- Save the current image with the original
- #NL
- filename and format. If this is a new
- #NL
- image, perform the "Save As" operation.
-
- Save As
- #NL
- Save the current image with the specified
- #NL
- filename and format (default is TIFF).
-
- Save Region...
- #NL
- Save the selected region, in the original
- #NL
- form that it was selected (width, height and
- #NL
- rotation). Odd-shaped regions will be saved
- #NL
- as rectangles filled with the background
- #NL
- color. If the output format supports image
- #NL
- masks (e.g. TIFF, XPM), then this
- #NL
- information will also be saved. See "Load
- #NL
- Clipboard..." under the toolbox file menu
- #NL
- for more information about odd-shaped
- #NL
- images.
-
- Save Palette...
- #NL
- Save the current palette. See "Palette
- #NL
- Area" for more information on how
- #NL
- patterns are loaded.
-
- Close
- #NL
- Close the current painting window, saving
- #NL
- the image if desired.
-
- #BEGIN editMenu "Edit Menu"
- The edit menu provides for a set of operations which interact with the
- current selection and the paint clipboard. This menu is also accessible
- through button three on the painting canvas. The clipboard is an off-screen
- image which is loaded either from a selected region via these operations
- or from a file.
-
- See "Load Clipboard..." on the toolbox "File Menu" for more information
- about loading images from a file and "Change Background..." under the
- "Image Menu" for more information on the background color.
-
- Undo
- #NL
- Reverse the last performed operation (with
- #NL
- the exception of the region operations).
-
- Cut
- #NL
- Load the originally selected region into
- #NL
- both the XPaint and X server clipboards and
- #NL
- change the area on the screen to the
- #NL
- background color.
-
- Copy
- #NL
- Load the originally selected region into the
- #NL
- XPaint and X server clipboards.
-
- Paste
- #NL
- Place the image in the clipboard onto the
- #NL
- canvas at the last position where button one
- #NL
- or two was pressed. Images are first
- #NL
- searched for in the X server clipboard and
- #NL
- then the internal XPaint clipboard.
-
- Clear
- #NL
- Remove the current selection from the paint
- #NL
- canvas.
-
- Duplicate
- #NL
- Perform both the copy and paste operations in one.
-
- Select All
- #NL
- Select the entire image on the canvas.
- #NL
- (Note: This does not use the color range
- #NL
- options which the select area operators from
- #NL
- the toolbox do!)
-
-
- #BEGIN regionMenu "Region Menu"
- This menu provides operations which can be applied to the currently
- selected region. See the "Select Regions" item under the toolbox
- Painting tools for information on how to select regions.
-
- Note: The 'undo' operation found under the Edit menu does not work
- on these operations!
-
- Flip X Axis
- #NL
- Flip the current region horizontally.
-
- Flip Y Axis
- #NL
- Flip the current region vertically.
-
- Rotate By
- #NL
- Rotate...
- #NL
- Both of these operations allow for rotating
- #NL
- the current image by a specified number of
- #NL
- degrees. Rotation may also be done
- #NL
- by pressing button two on the
- #NL
- selection.
-
- Invert
- #NL
- Inverts the colors of the selected region
- #NL
- (e.g. black to white).
-
- Sharpen
- #NL
- Applies an image processing algorithm in an
- #NL
- attempt to increase the detail on the
- #NL
- selected region. This operation is not
- #NL
- reversible.
-
- Smooth
- #NL
- Attempts to blend the colors of the region
- #NL
- by averaging the pixel's color values with
- #NL
- those of its neighbors. This operation is
- #NL
- not reversible.
-
- Edge Detect
- #NL
- Performs an image processing edge
- #NL
- detection. Not reversible and ugly.
-
- Emboss
- #NL
- Converts the selected region to a grey image
- #NL
- which is highlighted such that the details
- #NL
- appear to stand out from the screen.
-
- Reset
- #NL
- Return the current image to its original
- #NL
- size and orientation. Note: None of the
- #NL
- image processing operations will be undone.
-
- #BEGIN imageMenu "Image Menu"
- The image menu provides a set of operations which are applied to
- the current image/paint canvas.
-
- Fat Bits
- #NL
- Brings up the Fat Bits editor which allows
- #NL
- for editing an enlarged area of the current
- #NL
- image without having to enlarge the entire
- #NL
- image.
-
- Visible Grid
- #NL
- Turns on and off a visible black grid
- #NL
- between the original pixels on images with a
- #NL
- scale greater than 1 (i.e. zoomed). This
- #NL
- grid is only for painting purposes. It does
- #NL
- not affect the actual image.
-
- Snap
- #NL
- Turns on/off restriction of the current x
- #NL
- and y position for most operations to an
- #NL
- invisible grid.
-
- Snap Spacing...
- #NL
- Sets the distance between points on the
- #NL
- invisible snap grid.
-
- Change Background...
- #NL
- This operation changes the background color
- #NL
- for the current image (default color is
- #NL
- white). This is only used when a region is
- #NL
- erased or cut from the current image and
- #NL
- when odd-shaped regions are saved. See
- #NL
- "Color Wheel" under the "Pattern Editor" for
- #NL
- more information on selecting a color.
-
- Change Size...
- #NL
- Changes the size of the current canvas by
- #NL
- cutting away or adding area on the right and
- #NL
- lower sides. This operation is not
- #NL
- reversible and affects the actual image
- #NL
- size.
-
- Change Zoom...
- #NL
- Enlarges the working image by the specified
- #NL
- scale. This does not affect the size of the
- #NL
- image for saving, etc.
-
- #BEGIN patBox "Palette Area"
- There are two palette areas found on the painting window to
- select the primary and secondary colors or patterns. These two
- selections are accessible by many of the painting tools through
- use of either mouse button one or button two, respectively. See the
- specific tool for more information. All filled objects (i.e. boxes,
- ovals, and polygons) are always filled in the secondary color/pattern,
- with a border of the primary color/pattern.
-
- Colors or patterns may be modified by double-clicking on the icon.
- On a colormapped display (i.e. using less than 24-bit colors), changes
- to a selected color will change that color in all locations on the
- paint canvas as well. Color selection is done through a color
- wheel similar to that used under the "Pattern Editor". See help on
- the "Pattern Editor" for more details as well as for information
- on editing patterns.
-
- Colors and patterns are loaded from information merged
- from the following files each time a canvas is created:
- #NL
- .XPaintrc in the user's home directory
- #NL
- .XPaintrc in the current directory
-
- A quick method for adding a new color is found by using the "Lookup"
- button. This button allows the user to select any color available
- on the screen and will either locate it in the current palette or
- add it. Once the color is found in the palette, it is selected.
-
- Note: Color/pattern changes affect both primary and secondary palettes.
-
- All of the patterns and colors can be saved with the "Save Palette..."
- item in the file menu.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN pattern "Pattern Editor"
- The pattern editor creates new patterns or modifies existing ones
- for use on the painting canvas.
-
- The window contains the current pattern and (depending on display
- type) the current colormap and a color selection area.
-
- Patterns are by default 24x24 in size, but may be set to any size
- through the "Size" menu. The other menus available provide
- similar functionality to those in the paint window and pattern
- editing uses the normal paint operations.
-
- Patterns may be individually saved through the "Save As" option in
- the "File" menu or saved with the palette. See "Save Palette..."
- under the Paint Window. When loading an individual pattern, only
- the portion of the pattern which fits in the pattern area will be
- included.
-
- The "Grab" button allows the user to select a portion of the current
- screen to fill the pattern area.
- #PUSH
- #BEGIN colormap "Colormap Area"
- When using a colormapped display, selecting a colormap entry will
- allow the user to change the value of that entry. This will change
- all pixels on the canvas which share this colormap index.
-
- The "Lookup" button allows the user to select any color available on
- the screen and will locate the colormap entry for this color value.
-
- Note: Manipulating colormap entries effects the canvas immediately
- and does not revert when "Cancel" is chosen.
-
- #BEGIN colorwheel "Color Wheel"
- The XPaint color selection allows access to both the HSV or RGB color
- space models. The color wheel along with the value
- slider represents HSV, while the red, green, and blue sliders are for
- manipulating the color in an RGB space. Modifications in either of
- these color spaces will effect the other.
-
- Colors can be selected on the color wheel by using the mouse to drag
- the selection circle or to click on a desired color. Changes
- to value will determine the brightness of the chosen color. Colors
- can also be modified through the red, green, or blue sliders or by
- entering values in the text fields.
-
- The "Match" button will set the current color by allowing the user to
- select any color on the screen. The exact color will be determined
- using the colormap of the selected window.
- #POP
- #POP
- #POP
- #BEGIN fileformat "Image Formats"
- XPaint can support a variety of image file formats, based on
- library availability at compile time. Some of these formats may not
- be accessible in the current running version.
-
- The table below provides a short summary of the features of each image
- format and support provided by XPaint. Note that not all formats are
- supported for both read and write operations.
-
- Color depth is given in terms of the number of bits used to store the
- colors in the image. This means that a color depth of 1-bit can only
- store black/white images, while 24-bit color formats can store images
- containing up to 2**24 (or approx. 16 million) colors. Regardless of
- the image format, saved images always reflect the ability of current
- display type (i.e. a color image loaded on a greyscale screen will be
- saved as a grey image).
-
- The image mask feature of an image format provides the ability to
- save/load odd-shaped regions (i.e. regions are not required to be
- rectangular and may have "holes" in them). See "Save Region" and
- "Load Clipboard..." for more information.
-
- Detailed information about each format is at the end of this section.
-
- Color Image
- #NL
- Read Write depth mask
- #NL
- GIF yes yes 8-bit no
- #NL
- JPEG yes no 24-bit no
- #NL
- PPM yes yes 24-bit no
- #NL
- PS no yes 24-bit no
- #NL
- SGI yes yes 24-bit no
- #NL
- TIFF yes yes 24-bit yes
- #NL
- XBM yes yes 1-bit no
- #NL
- XPM yes yes 8-bit yes
- #NL
- XWD yes yes 24-bit no
-
- GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
- #NL
- Popular image format used across a variety
- #NL
- of platforms, including PCs.
-
- JPEG - JPEG Format
- #NL
- A standardized format for storing compressed
- #NL
- color and greyscale images.
-
- PPM - Portable PixMap Format
- #NL
- Image format provided by the PBMplus toolkit
- #NL
- which allows for converting to a wide
- #NL
- variety of formats.
-
- PS - PostScript Format
- #NL
- PostScript images are normally used by most
- #NL
- printers and text processing packages.
-
- SGI - Silicon Graphics Image Format
- #NL
- This is a Silicon Graphics (SGI) specific
- #NL
- image format, supported by the libraries on
- #NL
- SGI machines. It is not accessible on other
- #NL
- platforms.
-
- TIFF - Tag Image File Format
- #NL
- Default image format used by XPaint.
-
- XBM - X Window BitMap
- #NL
- This is a black and white image format which
- #NL
- is used by X windows system.
-
- XPM - X Window PixMap
- #NL
- XPM images are stored in an ASCII text
- #NL
- format which can be included in programs.
-
- XWD - X Window Dump
- #NL
- Used for screen dumps by the X window
- #NL
- system.
-
- #BEGIN about "About XPaint"
- Hopefully, you find this software useful. If you find any bugs or have
- any comments, feel free to contact me.
-
- This software is created as DonateWare. If you enjoy using XPaint,
- it would be appreciated if you would make a donation to the
- author in the form of cookies, money, employment, or whatever.
-
- If you or your firm is looking to hire a skilled consultant, contact
- me for more details.
-
- David Koblas (koblas@netcom.com)
- #NL
- Extra Mile Consulting
- #NL
- PO Box 1352
- #NL
- Mountain View, CA 94042-1352 USA
-
- #BEGIN copyright "Copyright Information"
- Copyright (C) 1993, David Koblas
-
- Permission to use, copy, modify, and to distribute this software and
- its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee,
- provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
- both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
- supporting documentation. There is no representations about the
- suitability of this software for any purpose. This software is
- provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.
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