Floppyshop 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Floppyshop 2 / Floppyshop - 2.zip / Floppyshop - 2.iso / art&graf.ix / art-0063 / insider.txt < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 24KB | 521 lines

BUTTERFLY-ARTIST User Guide --------------------------- CONTENTS -------- 0. General 1. Memory configuration 2. Options menu 3. Loading Pictures 4. Saving Pictures 5. Printing 6. Selecting sections from the canvas 7. Backup Menu 8. Copy 9. Lasso 10. Text 11. Fill Patterns 12. Fill 13. Accessories 14. Zoom 15. Masking 16. 'Single Splat' mode Author's Note : --------------- If you've read INTRO.TXT and already loaded the program to have a look at it, you probably have a good idea of what it's all about; so lets plunge in at the deep end. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 0. General : ------------------------------------------------------------------ - Left Mouse_button('Links') = Select, Draw, Put/set - Right Mouse_button('Rechts') = Cancel (back to Menu) especially at sub-menus - 'Esc' = Quit the current function - 'Help' = Info + keyboard mapping - 'Undo' = Undo - 'ClrHome' = Total-Undo, i.e. put the picture back to the State it was at the start. - 'Space' = allow active window to scroll over work-area (with mouse or joystick). - ( Shift+ ) Cursor and 1-9 on numeric keypad = scroll around work-area The drawing mode is selected using 1-4 on the main keypad : 1 = replace 2 = transparent [ OR ] 3 = XOR 4 = reverse transparent [ ??? ] valid for all functions ! The result of changing mode is immediately visible - WYSIWYG in action. Known funnies: Sometimes the mouse gets stuck in the menu bar area (question for programmers : How can I stop this?). If it happens to you click the left mouse button. Sometimes you see 'nothing' on the Monitor : some possibilities are - the Write Mode is wrong or - the Fill pattern is wrong or - you're doing a very long flood-fill ( by accident? ) or - you've got the colours wrong or - the mouse is off the side of the screen or - the mouse is stuck in the Menu bar ( top of screen ) or - ??? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Memory Configuration menu : ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Setting-up of the memory configuration needs some care on a 1 MB machine; with 2 MB you should have plenty of space. Butterfly will make use of all the available RAM in the system. The more RAM you allocate to the font buffer, mask screen and lasso buffer, the less area you have to draw on. For example : if you don't need any fonts in your drawing, set the Font buffer to 0 Kb and you'll get a work-area up to 100 Kb larger. IMPORTANT : If you don't initialise the font buffer, you obviously won't be able to load any fonts. IMPORTANT : With a 1MB machine, if you load more than 300 Kb of accessories and resident utilities ( RAMdisk, replacement file selector etc. ) Butterfly won't work at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Options menu : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Info on - extra help/info in certain functions Growbox - enable/disable GEM grow and shrink boxes ( off = faster routines ) Verify - switch verify for disk writes on/off D-Free - check for sufficient free space before writing to disk WARNING: may take a while with hard disks Click - Key-click switch. Blitter - switch on/off ( if you've got one! ) Fontbuffer - size to which initialised Blockbuffer - always 32kb. Lassobuffer - size to which initialised ( 0/32/64 kb). Workspace - size dependent on free RAM, Font & Lasso buffers and mask screen - Width (min.640 Pixel) and - Height (min.400 Pixel) can be modified to suit the shape of canvas you wish to work on; but do this before you start drawing or you may lose some of your work. - Max. value: Abs.= absolute (ie maximum if other dimension were set to minimum) Rel.= relative ( ie maximum without reducing other dimension first) Co-ordinate specification - reports the current mouse position on the workarea or on the monitor ( x = 0->639 | y = 0->399 ) - the point of origin can be specified, (normal:x=0, y=0, ie the top left corner). Mirror - various modes of operation, with definable zero-point. Works with almost all drawing functions, and can be switched on/off with F4. Masking, single-splat and colour - switches to duplicate the effect of F2,F3,F5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Loading Pictures : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - loading always takes place at the current position in the active window - The file-name extension is irrelevant - you can't Undo ! Screen-Format: standard format; many graphics packages (DOODLE, MONOSTAR, STAD, ...) support this whole-screen format (32kb raw bitmap data); Butterfly can also handle files of other sizes where : datalength <= 32kb : whole file is loaded datalength > 32kb : the first 32kb is loaded at the current position and subsequent 32kb chunks are loaded at further (selected) positions until the end-of-file. Ideal for 64kb double-screen formats. STAD-Format : packed format used by STAD. (Good algorithm!) DEGAS-Format : as used by DEGAS, NEOCHROM(?) and ART DIRECTOR; converted as and when necessary or automatically - see 'Options'. FAULT: packed colour DEGAS-files aren't unpacked correctly. Does anyone know how to do this? ATTENTION: NEOCHROM- and ART DIRECTOR-files must have the correct length and extension ! IMG-Format : packed IMAGE-Format (SNAPSHOT,1ST-WORDPLUS,Scanner- -Programs,...); monochrome only; any size, but must be able to fit on the canvas at the current position. ( reasonable packing algorithm, good for graphics with lots of fill !) CMP-Format : COMPACTOR format from Magazine ST-Computer 12/86 is used by PUBLIC-PAINTER ( not a very good compression algorithm ). ???-Format : any size, for non-standard formats; uses an internal buffer of up to 80kb. If the file is bigger you will be prompted to supply an offset within the file to start loading from. Press 'Help' for help. The screen width can be reduced from 80 bytes to e.g. 11 bytes. If you load a graphic file only 11 bytes wide to an 80-byte screen, you see garbage. If you set the screen width to 11, the 1st 11 bytes of the file are written to the 1st line, the 2nd 11 to the 2nd line etc. ( 11 is only being used as an example, the range is 1 to 80 ). When everything looks right you can cut the block for use ( '\' for the menu ) or write it to a file. If you're not sure what width you should be using, just try it out. You can scroll around the file with the cursor keys - a pixel at a time with Shift+cursor, but only vertically. CAUTION: There is no warning at end-of-file, and nothing to stop you scrolling through ( and changing ) the rest of your ST's memory. IMPORTANT : 'Esc' = Exit Convert. : convert current ( visible ) colour screen to high- resolution. Abort with 'Esc'. STAD-Mode : simple routine ( slow and in Basic. Does anyone have an Assembler version? ) DEGAS-Mode: the conversion process can use either the palette currently held in the buffer or that from the file to be converted; the buffer is reset when you load a DEGAS or other colour picture. Conversion uses the first 22 fill patterns to replace colours, an alert-box tells you which. Tip : The first number is usually the background colour; abandon the conversion and clear this pattern in the fill- pattern editor. Re-convert, and the background of the picture will have disappeared. Experiment with a test picture and different writing modes; you can reinforce contrast etc. like this too. Options : you can switch automatic conversion of Degas pictures on & off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Saving Pictures : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Screen : save the visible screen (32kb) STAD : visible screen in STAD-format DEGAS : visible screen in DEGAS format (unpacked: 32032 Bytes). The DEGAS format includes a colour palette, normally used only for low and medium resolution. You can select this either from the palette buffer or from any Degas file. IMPORTANT : files for subsequent use in DEGAS must have an extension of ".PI3",".PI2" or ".PI1". ALSO : when you give the extension as PI1 or PI2 Butterfly will make the necessary internal changes so that DEGAS will recognise the file as a colour picture. IMG : IMAGE-Format; any size,so you start by defining the section of the canvas to be saved (see section 6). Then select a filename. Two packing algorithms are offered: Optimal - highest packing density. Speed - only compresses 2 lines at a time, faster with RAM or hard-disk but generates noticeably longer files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Print : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Size-wise a 9-pin printer gives the most faithful representation (1cm Monitor = 1cm on the Printer); a 24-pin comes out somewhat smaller. Density: 24-pin : normal : 1 Pixel = 4 print dots (90*90 DPI) super : 1 Pixel = 1 print dot (180*180 DPI = ½ size) 9-pin : no change in size The area to be printed must first be defined (see section 6). Left border in pixels : the actual left border on the printer is dependent on the density used (only makes a difference with 24-pins). Overview (ubersicht) : not implemented yet! Destination: The data, in the format in which it would normally be sent to the printer, can instead be written to file. It can then be printed directly from the desktop without the need to load any graphics software - very handy for frequently needed things like labels. A RAM disk is obviously best for speed, but note that these files can be very large; a 32kb screen to be printed on a 24-pin printer at normal density will become 131kb. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Selecting sections from the work-space : (for Printer + IMG-Format) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can use the mouse to scroll over the entire canvas; as you reach the screen edge the picture will scroll. A joystick in port 1 will do the same job (Fire = right mouse button). - left Mouse button = set corner 1 - left button again = set corner 2 (section now defined) - Shift & right mouse button = unset corner 1 (start again) -right Mouse_button = quit (the last section remains current) Info on coordinates: b(readth) : h(eight : ( of section ) xb : yb : ( corner 1 ) x : y : ( current mouse position ) - units are always pixels. The section definitions are stored ( separately for IMG and printer, naturally ) internally and can be re-used : next time don't define a new section, just click the right mouse button. At initial entry the definitions default to the first screen (32kb) at the top left of the canvas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Backup Menu : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you save a file it may happen that a file of the same name already exists in the directory in question. In this case the Backup Menu will appear. The choices available are: 1) overwrite the file ( ie original deleted ) 2) rename the original to *.BAD before saving 3) append the new data to the original file. Take care with this one; it will work ok with straight screen dumps but doing it with any of the compressed formats will give you an unreadable file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Copy : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the number keys 1,2,..,9,0 (main keyboard, not numeric pad), and also Shift 1,..0 various drawing options can be set up: The first four : 1 = replace 2 = transparent [ OR ] 3 = Xor 4 = reverse transparent [??], valid for all functions The result of a change is immediately visible. Blockmenu : (with '\' key) -Alas so far only very few functions implemented, because it takes time and effort to do it properly. Has anyone got code already to do this? -can also be accessed from the Lasso routine -some functions also have keyboard shortcuts ( e.g. 'm' = mirror block vertically ) Block load/save : Format details: Block = GFA-Basic GET/PUT Block (also used by MONOSTAR etc.) Lassoblock = Block and Mask saved in the file one after the other. IMG = IMAGE-Format, up to 640*400 pixels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Lasso : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The STAD-format picture 'LASSO.PAC' gives a complete demonstration of how to use the lasso; load it up and have a look. (The text is in German, but the pictures aren't). - A real LASSO with editable Mask !!! - All the block manipulation functions are available (e.g. 'd'= rotate Lasso block around 90° left)! - Its own buffer (requires initialisation when starting the program; NOTE if set to 32kb, and you cut an area greater than 16kb, the associated mask cannot be buffered and will be lost ) - choice of shapes for cut (Freehand,Rectangle,Circle,...) - various drawing modes (see COPY) - special 'Shadow' mode : when pasting type 'j'; the block is 'shadowed' with the current fill-pattern (changeable). Experiment for yourself - try 'Shift-j' as well. - Contour (especially in Shadow-Mode): when pasting type 'k' and see the effect of the different write modes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Text : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - for help use the 'Help' key - all parameters are set using 'Control'+key combinations - access the menu with 'Control - \' - Load up to to 5 further GEM fonts ! CAUTION : they must be genuine GEM fonts, as used by HyperDraw, EASY-DRAW, Timeworks, FontKit etc. (Does anyone have a routine in Basic,C,Pascal etc to convert SIGNUM fonts into GEM fonts? This would give access to the vast pool of PD Signum fonts). (Translator's note: Jeremy Hughes' Fontkit Plus from the ST Club does this and more). - Text-Style Programming This uses the GEM VDI routines to write the same text string several times one after the other with changed attributes (italic, light, ...). With the right choices this can give amazing graphic effects; see for example the text in the Fill Editor screen. An example : - start up 'Programming mode' ( hit 'Control-p' = ^p for Program menu, then click the 'teach on' field ; the colours will invert. To switch off, click the same field again ) - quit the Program menu (right Mouse_button) - type in some sample text (your name or whatever) - adjust the parameters (e.g. italic, light, OR-combination = ^8,^7,^2) - left-click to set the text (parameters are stored) - amend the parameters (now: upright, black = ^8,^7) - set the text again,...etc....(max.17 times) - go back to the menu (Control '\'), then to the Programming menu and switch off 'teach' and switch on 'benutzen' ('use'). - now with one click you can paste down the combination of text you've built up, and repeat it as necessary. Text height can still be modified; the other parameters can't be changed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Fill Patterns : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If the folder from which BUTTERFLY is started contains a file called 'MUSTER.DAT' (3840 bytes) this is loaded and used as the default set of fill patterns. If you have a personal set of patterns you can rename your file and cause them to be loaded automatically instead of doing this manually every time you run Butterfly. CAUTION: The first 22 Patterns are used for converting DEGAS- format colour graphics to monochrome (see 'Loading Pictures'). You can select an active pattern for use: 1. From the top Menu ( click the box headed 'Muster' ) 2. In the pattern editor 3. during a drawing function by hitting 'f', which will bring up the pattern-selection screen (for example when drawing filled rectangles). The Pattern Editor : 'Help' = show keyboard mappings Select a pattern to edit with the left mouse_button; use the right mouse_button to copy a pattern. Manipulation options: arrow symbols: self-explanatory holen(grab) : grab a 16*16-pixel block from the main screen to use as a pattern grau(grey) : graduated fill not yet implemented. invert & loschen(clear): obvious Pattern load : various formats (MONOSTAR,DEGAS,STAD,BUTTERFLY,....) Pattern save : either all 120 Patterns in Block (120*32 bytes = 3840 bytes) or the current one (32 bytes; MONOSTAR- format) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. Fill : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can fill black areas by switching the drawing colour to white (F5). (Try write-mode 'OR' - '2' on the main keyboard). NOTE: The key combination 'Control-Alternate-Shift(left)' which normally quits the program can be used to break into a fill routine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Accessories (Acc's) : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accessories can also be opened from BUTTERFLY: click the Desktop icon at the top left of the main menu and a menu-bar will appear. CAUTION :BUTTERFLY-ARTIST is not fully integrated with GEM. This means that accessories which open a window or dialog-box (which means most notepad/calendar/help utilities etc.) must be properly closed before you take the 'EXIT' option from the menu-bar to return to Butterfly. If not the screen will go out of control. (Does anyone know the cure for this?). You can use the cursor and numeric-keypad keys to scroll around the work-area as usual. The menu-bar will be overwritten, but will continue to function as before - just move the mouse to the top of the screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14. Zoom : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - The degree of magnification is fixed - You can call up the facility anytime with key 'F1' - fill : you can flood-fill the zoom-window; use 'f' to select a pattern - Undo will undo the last change made; Clr/Home will restore the state on entry to Zoom. - You can use the arrow-symbols to move the zoom-window around the current screen ( ie the 640*400 pixel screen which was visible entering zoom; not the whole work-area). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. Masking ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F2 switches this facility on & off To use the function, you must have initialised the Mask area at the start of the program. The mask screen is simply a 32K ( whole screen ) picture to which you can switch by hitting '0' on the numeric keypad; to get back to the normal screen hit '0' again. You can work on this screen in exactly the same way as the normal screen. When Masking is switched-on and you are working on the normal screen, you won't be able to draw on any areas which are 'black' on the mask screen. Example: Say you want to work in the border around a graphic object, but leave the object itself untouched. Mark out the border, then cut it and paste it to the mask screen. Then fill the area you want to preserve, either by filling with a solid black pattern or drawing a filled rectangle. Then you can switch back to the main screen, switch on masking and draw to your heart's content. If you move the active window masking will still work, but may be meaningless because the mask screen is only 32k and therefore doesn't move. TIP : When creating a mask screen, the 'shadow' option on lasso (with a solid black fill-pattern) can be very useful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. 'Single Splat' Mode ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In many graphics packages, if you've defined an object (e.g. a filled circle) and pasted it on the screen, then you have to define it again if you want to repeat the action. By default BUTTERFLY will retain the object; if you don't want this, switch 'Single Splat Mode' on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E N D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------