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------------------------------------------------------------------------- PictureBox v1.2 Skyline Multimedia, 32 Bayview Road, Bangor, Co. Down. BT19 6AR ********************************* * Presented free with CU Amiga * ********************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program: PictureBox v1.2 OS: Workbench v1.3 or above (including v2.x) Author: John T. Kennedy Copyright: Copyright© 1992 John T. Kennedy, Skyline Multimedia. Date: September/October 1992 System: Amiga CDLA1500 (500plus), GVP A500-HD+, SSL A5000. Language: C (Lattice), 68000 Assembly language (DevPac2) Status: Freely distributable, but not to be used on magazine coverdisks over than CU Amiga. Not to be sold for more than the price of the media it is supplied on and reasonable supply costs. No changes to be made to any of the six supplied files - including this one. Hardware requirements: Any Amiga with at least 1Mb of RAM. Accellerator, extra memory and hard disk strongly recommended. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Files: 1. PictureBox,PictureBox.info Main program file. 2. PictureBox020,PictureBox020.info Main program file for Amiga's with 68020 and above fitted. 3. PictureBox.data,PictureBox.data.info Support file - must be in same directory as picturebox. 4. PictureBox.doc This document. 5. Tutorial1.iff An example picture file. 6. Tutorial2.iff Another example picture file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PictureBox.doc -------------- Contents 1. Overview 2. Instructions 3. Tutorials 4. Options in detail 5. Trouble shooting 6. Advertisement 1. Overview ------------ PictureBox is a 12-bit image processing and manipulation program for the Amiga® range of micros. It was written with the beginner in mind, and requires no extra memory (above the new minimum of 1Mb - older Amigas which have only 512K will require an upgrade to render any pictures) or graphics hardware. It was designed to complement a paint package such as DeluxePaint® or a digitising set-up such as VIDI®. Its operation is based on the use of two 'image buffers', which both appear on-screen in small monochrome windows. The buffers may contain colour or grey information, but are always displayed in monochrome. A message in their title bars will inform the user of their coloured or grey status. The primary buffer may be rendered in full size, and in various different ways, on a separate screen. This image will be in colour if required. Using the Amiga hotkeys Amiga-M and Amiga-N, this image can be seen at any time, although the image can be made visible from a menu option. When brought to the front, a single mouse click will hide it again. PictureBox provides many image processing features, which are always performed on the primary buffer. Buffer contents may be copied and swapped at any time (this can provide an undo feature), and also merged or 'rubbed through' with a form of chromakeying. Support is provided for both Amiga IFF and TIFF formats. The latter allows the use of Apple Macintosh® produced images, and is also used to save 'raw' image buffer information. All image files must be 320 by 256 pixels in size. The program attempts to auto-detect a non-PAL system, and limits the screen to the NTSC size of 200 lines. Two versions are supplied - use 'PictureBox020' if you have an '020, '030 or '040 accellerator card. Newer Amigas have some of these chips as standard. PictureBox020 will NOT work on 68000 based Amigas. 2. Instructions ---------------- The user is encourage to experiment with the program, rather than trying to read and understand all the options in one go. Some tutorials are provided which will demonstrate most operations, the others can be checked against the menu descriptions which follow. Running the program is a matter of double clicking on its icon from Workbench, or from the CLI by typing 1. CD <directory with PictureBox is> 2. PictureBox After a copyright screen, the program is ready for use. If something has gone wrong, please check out the 'Trouble shooting' section which follows. The first step will be to load an image using the options in the PROJECT menu. Normally this will be an IFF file, so selection the 'Load IFF' option or press the hotkey right Amiga-L. This will bring up the file requestor. Select the file you want and click on OK. Try loading the 'tutorial1.iff' file supplied with PictureBox. After a short while it will load, and a miniature display will be drawn in the primary image buffer window. Now you can process the image - see the tutorials that follow for details. 3. Tutorials ------------- a. Doing amusing things with a face ------------------------------------ Start PictureBox running (see previous section and 'Trouble Shooting' if necessary). Select the 'Load IFF' option from the 'Project' menu, or press the right Amiga key and L for the keyboard short-cut. The file requestor will appear. If you have not used a file requestor before, check out the next section - otherwise select the file 'tutorial1.iff' and load it. The image will be displayed in the primary image window in shades of grey. As the original picture is also grey, the title bar of the window will say 'Grey'. Now select the 'Mirror horizontally' option from the buffer menu. After processing, the primary image window will be up-dated. To see the full-size image, select 'Render monochrome' from the 'Display' menu. After a short while the image will pop up in front of you. Click once with the left mouse button to return to the main PictureBox screen. Use the 'Re-display' option to see the full-size picture again. If you want to store your results, select Save IFF from the 'Project' menu, or press the right Amiga key and S. b. Performing image processing with an Undo buffer --------------------------------------------------- As in the previous section, load the file 'tutorial1.iff'. If you already have an image loaded (for example, after performing the first tutorial), you will be asked if it is ok to replace the primary image. In this case it is ok, so click on the 'yes!' gadget. Before we process the image, we shall make a copy of it: select 'Copy primary to secondary' from the 'Buffer' menu. As all operations will effect only the primary buffer (with one exception as we shall see later), this copy will be our security back-up. Now try an option from the 'Process' menu - 'Edge1' is as good as any. When the processing has finished, create a full-size picture using 'Render monochrome' from the 'Display' menu. Get back to the main PictureBox display (click once), and select 'False Colour' from the 'Process' menu. Now the primary image will be converted into a colour image, and then given random colours. When processing has finished, select 'Render HAM' from the 'Display' menu to see the colour image. Once it has been drawn, try selecting some different rendering modes to see what effects you can achieve. Try using the 'Invert' option from 'Settings' menu and re-drawing the image. To undo all the above operations, select 'Swap primary and secondary' from the 'Buffer' menu. When you now select a rendering mode, you will see that the image has not been changed. Select 'Swap primary and secondary' once mode to see your coloured version. Remember: You must select a rendering mode from the 'Display' menu to actually draw the full-size image. Simply swapping or copying buffers will not update or create this display. c. Using the 'rub through' option ---------------------------------- Load the image called 'tutorial2.iff', and then swap buffers. Next load the image 'tutorial1.iff'. Now we have a completely different image in each buffer. Before we can merge the two, make the first image coloured by selecting 'Colour' from the 'Process' menu (or press Amiga-C). This is to ensure that the final image will be coloured, and not grey. From the 'Buffer' menu select the option 'Rub through black', and when it has finished select 'Render HAM' to see the results. You will notice that the face from the primary image has been superimposed onto the cloud background like a sort of 'chromakey'. If the primary image's background was white you would have used the 'Rub through white' option instead. d. Advanced use of the 'rub through' option -------------------------------------------- As in the last tutorial, load the image 'tutorial2.iff', swap buffers and load 'tutorial1.iff'. Select the 'Rub through shadow' option from the 'Buffer' menu, and then 'Rub through black'. You will be asked to confirm if you want to continue. Answer 'yes!'. Swap the buffers and render a colour image. Notice that the shadow has altered this image, by darkening the overlaid parts. To improve the effect, select 'Blur' from the 'Process' menu. Swap the buffers again, and now re-load the image 'tutorial1.iff'. We can't use the original, because it has now been rubbed through - without the blurring. From the 'Buffer' menu, de-select the shadow option and perform another 'Rub through black'. Render the final image, noting how the blurred background gives the picture more depth. Try it again, this time colour the face with the 'Settings' menu options and use a different option to 'Blur' (for example 'Edge2') on the clouds. Finally 'Anti-alias' the entire image to improve the digitised picture. 4. The Menus and requestors ---------------------------- i. Requestors -------------- PictureBox uses standard Amiga menus and requestors. Most requestors require a single click on the 'OK', 'YES!' or 'CANCEL' buttons with the left mouse button. The file requestor is a little more tricky. When the file requestor first appears, it will list the files available in the current directory. If you can see the file you want, or can find it by clicking on the vertical scroll bar, click on it to make its name appear in the 'File:' gadget and then click on the 'OK' gadget. If you can't see your file, click on the correct 'Device' gadget - 'df0:', 'RAM:' or 'DH0:'. The first is for a floppy drive, the second for the ram disk and the last for a hard drive (if fitted). Now find the correct drawer, click on it and continue until the file has been found - then proceed as above. You can type a full path directly into the 'Drawer:' gadget if your prefer - for example, 'df0:pictures'. Leave out any final backslash. The 'par/' gadget will bring you back up the directory tree by one level - for example, if you were in 'df0:pictures' clicking on 'par/' would put you in the parent directory, which is 'df0:'. Cancel will abort the operation, however if you were performing a load operation, the primary buffer will already have been erased. ii. Menus ---------- The menus will appear along the top of the screen when the right mouse button is held down. If they don't, click first with the left button in a screen area OUTSIDE the primary and secondary windows. A menu option is select by moving over it with the right button still held, and then releasing it. The menu options are as follows: a. The Project Menu 1. Load IFF (key short cut = 'L') 2. Load TIFF 3. Save IFF (key short cut = 'S') 4. Save TIFF 5. About... 6. Quit b. The Process Menu 1. Grey (key short cut = 'G') 2. Colour (key short cut = 'C') 3. False Colour 4. Blur 5. Smooth 6. Smooth2 7. AntiAlias 8. Sharp 9. Edge1 10. Edge2 11. Speckle 12. Shadow 13. RIP 14. Relief c. The Display Menu 1. Draw Primary (key short cut = '1') 2. Draw Secondary (key short cut = '2') 3. Quick Mono 4. Auto Redraw 5. Render HAM 6. Render 32 Quickly 7. Render 32 Octree 8. Render 32 9. Render 16 10. Render 8 11. Render 4 12. Render 2 13. Render Monochrome 14. Redisplay image 15. Close display d. The Settings Menu 1. Brighter 2. Darker 3. MoreRed 4. LessRed 5. MoreGreen 6. LessGreen 7. MoreBlue 8. LessBlue 9. Invert e. The Buffer Menu 1. Swap Primary and Secondary 2. Copy Primary to Secondary 3. Copy Secondary to Primary 4. Clear Primary 5. Clear Secondary 6. Merge 7. Rub through white 8. Run through black 9. Flip horizontally 10. Flip vertically 11. Mirror horizontally 12. Mirror vertically 13. Rub through shadow iii. Those menu options in detail... ------------------------------------- a. The Project Menu This menu contains general loading and saving options, as well as the only official to quit. 1. Load IFF (key short cut = 'L') Load an IFF image into the primary buffer. The image must not be greater than 320 by 256 pixels in size. It may contain 2 to 32 colours, or be in HAM or EHB mode. The primary buffer is cleared before loading, EVEN IF THE LOAD IS SUBSEQUENTLY CANCELED. 2. Load TIFF Load a 320 by 256 TIFF file. Assumes the image to use three bytes per pixel, for Red, Green and Blue. This format can usually be read directly by Apple computers. IBM PCs may be able to read this format, but might have trouble ordering the bytes in the Low/High format. Image compression is not supported. The new image replaces the primary buffer, which is cleared before loading, EVEN IF THE LOAD OPERATION IS SUBSEQUENTLY CANCELED. 3. Save IFF (key short cut = 'S') Saves an IFF file from the last rendered image - not necessarily the primary image buffer. If the image was rendered in HAM, a HAM file will be saved. The file will be an uncompressed 320 by 256 ILBM IFF file, as used by most Amiga programs e.g. Deluxe Paint. It may be reloaded by PictureBox, but be aware that none of the IFF file formats currently supported will save the image with ALL the information present. Use the TIFF format to preserve all information stored in the image buffers. 4. Save TIFF Saves a TIFF file. An Image does not have to be rendered, as the data is read directly from the primary 12-bit image buffer. This is the 'purest' way of storing files. Once saved, they may be compressed with an archiver such as LHA to achieve remarkably small files. 5. About... Presents copyright messages and general blurb. Includes details of PictureBox version 2. 6. Quit After confirmation, will quit the program - freeing all buffers and so loosing any data which has not been saved. b. The Process Menu This menu contains most of the image processing routines. All routines (bar one) act on the primary buffer only. Copy the primary image to the secondary to provide an 'undo' option. Most routines will run a lot faster - and look better - if used on a grey scale image. Most of the processes work on a convolution matrix basis, with colour operations being performed separately on the three colour components. 1. Grey (key short cut = 'G') Convert the primary image to grey scales, if it's not already grey. When an IFF has been loaded, a check is made to see if the picture is grey. If this check should fail, or a TIFF file is loaded, use this option. The colour of each pixel is an average of the Red, Green and Blue components. 2. Colour (key short cut = 'C') Make a grey image coloured. This will not create any colours, rather it will inform the software that the image is no longer grey. To add colour, use the 'Settings' menu, or the function below. 3. False Colour Swaps the inverts the Red, Green Blue components for a strange effect. If the image is grey, it will be coloured first. 4. Blur Blurs the primary image. A good way to provide fake depth. 5. Smooth Smooth the image, removing rough edges. 6. Smooth2 A slightly different effect to above. Try it and see. 7. AntiAlias Almost, but not quite, like Blurring or Smoothing. Tends to subtly improve some digitised pictures. 8. Sharp Enhance pixels. 9. Edge1 Enhance horizontal edges. 10. Edge2 Enhance vertical edges. Best seen to be believed. 11. Speckle Yes, well. An effect rather like loosing your eyesight. 12. Shadow A combination of two edge enhancement filters. 13. RIP Remove Individual Pixels. Good for cleaning up digitised or scanned images. 14. Relief Produces a 'brass rubbing' effect. Works best in mono. c. The Display Menu 1. Draw Primary (key short cut = '1') Re-draw the monochrome primary image. This is done automatically if the 'auto redraw' option is selected. 2. Draw Secondary (key short cut = '2') Re-draw the secondary image. This is done automatically if the 'auto redraw' option is selected. 3. Quick Mono If this mode is selected, only a fraction of the primary and secondary images are plotted when redrawn. Use this option if a full re-draw takes too long on your Amiga. 4. Auto Redraw When selected (as it is on start-up), the images will be redrawn when any changes are made to them. It can get a bit irritating, so if it does switch this option off and use 'draw primary' and 'draw secondary' and their hotkeys. 5. Render HAM Create a HAM image representation of the primary image buffer. A 320 by 256 screen is opened as a backdrop, and the image rendered in HAM mode. An attempt is made to minimise fringing. This image may be saved as an IFF. 6. Render 32 Quickly Using a preset palette, create a 32 colour representation of the primary image buffer. Fast enough to provide a quick look at what is going on, although the colours are only approximations! This image may be saved as an IFF. 7. Render 32 Octree Using an intelligent (and also quite slow) algorithm, create a 32 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This method tries to preserve small areas of colour, by working in the 'colour space' rather than the 'image space'. Depending on the image, it may producing better results than the rendering method below. Try it and see! This image may be saved as an IFF. 8. Render 32 Using a popularity algorithm, create a 32 colour representation of the primary image buffer. The above method may sometimes produce better results. This image may be saved as an IFF. 9. Render 16 Using a popularity algorithm, create a 16 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This image may be saved as an IFF. 10. Render 8 Using a popularity algorithm, create a 8 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This image may be saved as an IFF. 11. Render 4 Using a popularity algorithm, create a 4 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This image may be saved as an IFF. 12. Render 2 Using a thresholding algorithm, create a 2 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This image may be saved as an IFF. 13. Render Monochrome Using a simple scaling and averaging algorithm, create a 16 colour representation of the primary image buffer. This image may be saved as an IFF. This method is quite fast. 14. Re-display If you want to look again at a previously rendered image, select this option. To return to the main screen, click with the left mouse button. This option will not re-render a new primary image, rather it will simply pop the screen to the front. 15. Close display Close down any screen opened to display an image created with the above options. It may be done to save memory, otherwise there is no real need to worry about it. It is done automatically on quitting the program. d. The Settings Menu This menu allows fine tuning of the levels of light and dark in the image. Each operation alters a colour (or colours) by 1 unit. Invert works on colour or monochrome images. 1. Brighter 2. Darker 3. MoreRed 4. LessRed 5. MoreGreen 6. LessGreen 7. MoreBlue 8. LessBlue 9. Invert e. The Buffer Menu This menu provides control over the image buffers. Some operations will permanently alter the contents of the buffers, so think twice before using them. 1. Swap Primary and Secondary As it says. Remember to redraw them with Amiga-1 or Amiga-2 if the auto-redraw option is off, otherwise you may become confused. 2. Copy Primary to Secondary A perfect way to provide an undo feature before an image processing experiment. 3. Copy Secondary to Primary A complement to the above option. 4. Clear Primary Erase the primary image. 5. Clear Secondary Erase the secondary image. 6. Merge Combine both image buffers, storing the results in the primary image. Ensure both images are both colour or both mono, or you may get un-predictable results. The merge will average the contents of the buffers. 7. Rub through white Any pure white (R=15,G=15,B=15) parts of the primary image will be replaced completely with corresponding parts of the secondary image. Will effect secondary buffer only if shadow option enabled! 8. Rub through black Any pure black (R=0,G=0,B=0) parts of the primary image will be replaced completely with corresponding parts of the secondary image. Will effect secondary buffer only if shadow option enabled! 9. Flip horizontally Alter the primary image as though seen in a mirror. 10. Flip vertically Turn the primary image 180 degrees. 11. Mirror horizontally Reproduce the left half of the primary image on the right, as though a mirror was placed on the image from top to bottom. A cruel effect when done with faces! (In which case try using 'flip horizontal' beforehand). 12. Mirror vertically Reproduce the top half of the primary image on the bottom, as though a mirror was placed on the image from left to right. 13. Rub through shadow If this option is enabled, any parts of the secondary image which 'rub through' to the primary during operations 'Rub through black' and 'Rub through white' will cast a downward shadow. This operation also alters the secondary buffer and can be used to create some impressive pictures, although it will take getting used to. 5. Trouble Shooting ------------------- Q. The program won't run. It seems to load, and then quits. A. Is the file 'picturebox.data' in the same directory as the main program? If you are running from the CLI, perform a CD to the correct directory before running. If running from Workbench, have you copied the file from one drawer to another, and left the data file behind? Check that 'picturebox.data' is copied as well. Check the answer to the following query too. Q. I don't have enough memory, and I get lots of error messages. A. Don't run any other programs before, or at the same time as PictureBox. Run PictureBox as soon after re-booting as possible. Buy a memory expansion. Q. It seems to run so slowly! A. PictureBox *is* a bit slow at times, especially on a 68000 and floppy disk based machine. My apologies. This problem is inherent with image processing, although it will be improved upon in future versions when more of the code will be re-written in machine code. In the meantime use the 'quick mono modes' or buy an accellerator card/new Amiga. Even an 68020 equipped Amiga will run PictureBox 5 times faster. Q. When I reload my saved pictures they have a funny square in the top right corner. A. This is a depth gadget, superimposed by AmigaDOS. It is placed there when you click with the mouse in the corner to flip the screen to the back. To avoid leaving the mark, don't click until the image has been completely drawn (when the image under this mark is specially stored and re-drawn) or use the Amiga hotkeys Amiga-M and Amiga-N or the menu options only. Q. What are hotkeys? A. Hold down the right Amiga key (the funny A key to the right of the keyboard) and press M or N. You are now flipping the screen using a hotkey. Some menu options in PictureBox can also be accessed in this way. Q. When I return to the main screen, the menu items are ghosted and I can't select any. A. Flip back the image display and click on it. Q. What does the 'Rub through' option do, and what does the shadow effect do? A. Try the tutorial and see. Q. Should I buy PictureBox v2? A. Certainly. 6. Advertisement ----------------- And now a word from our sponsor: Want to process files greater than 320 by 256? Want things to go a bit faster? Do you need ARexx support to create animations? Does the thought of special image effects and better IFF support get you excited? Do you want to exploit the new Amiga graphics modes? If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes', then you need PictureBox Version 2! The new, improved version should be available in early 1993 and will hopefully satisfy all your image manipulation needs - at a remarkably low price. Plans for a 24-bit PictureBox Professional are also underway, so for details on either these programs please contact: Skyline Multimedia, 32 Bayview Road, Bangor, Co. Down. BT19 6AR You know it makes sense! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Small print: i. ® All registered trade marks acknowledged. ii. Details on future products subject to whim. iii. Comments and suggestions welcomed. Disks cannot be returned unless accompanied by return postage. iv. PictureBox is supplied 'as is'. No responsibility can be accepted for data lost or destroyed, hardware damaged or any form of financial loss incurred through use of this program. In no event will the author be liable for direct or indirect, incidental or consequential damage. No warranty is made or implied. This program is used entirely at the user's own risk. Have a nice day!