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1987-04-21
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Graphical Bits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There have been a few hints and tips sections in Stosser but nothing
about graphics so here goes;
Medium Resolution Pictures
==========================
The Problem:
There are times when you want to use graphics in another resolution
other than low or high, yes you guessed it. The dreaded medium
resolution. Few people actually use pictures in medium resolution,
probably because of the colour limitations mixed along with the
terrible rectangular pixels, and there is a severe lack of decent
medium resolution paint packages. So if you're not the Leonardo (the
painter not the the turtle) of the pixel painting world - me
included... Urgh! it looks horrible.
You could of course 'convert' from low to medium or high to medium
using one of the many convertor programs. Converting from high res to
medium is usually quite succesful, the convertor programs 'dither' the
picture to give the illusion of colours. Medium res has enough pixels
to make the high res picture look fine enough and the extra colours
make everything look smooth - if occasionally blurry.However, when
converting from low to medium most programs make a total pigs dinner of
it. Trying to 'boil down' 16 colours into 4 seldom, if ever, works.
The more awake among you may have already guessed what's coming.
The Solution:
The way round the problem is to convert to hi res first. This
automatically dithers the picture to represent shades, in a similar way
to newspaper photos. Converting this high resolution dithered image
into medium resolution now gives better results. A slight adjustment to
the colour palette will usually be needed - but it's a lot easier than
drawing directly in medium res. Looks better too.
Recommended convertor: Picswitch 0.7 (well I use it and it works!)
STOS Packed Pictures
====================
Whether you know this or not, the STOS packed picture format is
excellent. It has a pack ratio similar to the famous Tiny format. It
really is great. There are a few things that might help you:
If you have drawn a single colour picture, a single colour font or
indeed anything in one colour then make sure that colour is colour 0
(zero). Why? Well if colour 0 is used only 1 bit plane will be packed,
so saving 4 times the space. Try re-colouring the picture to use colour
15 and try repacking it. See BIG difference.
When unpacking a STOS packed picture the pallete changes. Whether you
want it or not. In the compact accessory the option 'change palette'
has an asterisk beside it. Click on this option until the asterisk goes
away. If you now pack you picture, the pallete will not change when you
depack it.
Getting a 7 shades from a 1 shade scanner
=========================================
I only have a single colour scanner. The images it produces are of
pretty good quality but are still in black and white. This was fine
when I was using the scanner for dtp work, printers are mono, but when
transferring these pictures to a low res screen the results were very
grainy, and lacked any detail.
By accident I discovered that full screen 7 colour scans can be
produced even if the software that came with your scanner doesn't allow
this. All you need is Crack Art - possibly the best art package under
£20 - and scanner software that can save sections in degas .pi3/pc3
format.
The first thing to do is set up the size of your scan. you need a high
res image of 1280 x 800 pixels. or on my scanner a 4 inch 200 dpi scan.
and save this as 4 degas pi3 screens making sure that there are no
overlaps. Name them PICTURE1.PI3 to PICTURE4.PI3.
--------------------
| | | <-1280x800 image
| 1 | 2 | split into 4 degas
|---------|----------| PI3 image.
| | |
| 3 | 4 |
--------------------
Load up Crack Art and from the file selector select pi3 loading. then
load in the first section of your scan (PICTURE1.PI3) into screen 1.
Crack art will load the file and then ask you 'whole' or 'special'
Select 'Special.'
The screen will display the image and a big red rectangle. Move the
rectangle to the top left of the screen and press the mouse button.
--------------------
Big Red Rectangle-> |xxxxxxxxx |
stage 1 |xxxxxxxxx |
|xxxxxxxxx |
| |
| |
--------------------
After a short pause you will be able to see a greatly enlarged section
of this degas picture. Now repeat this procedure again for this
PICTURE1.PI3 (loading,'special',top right section) four times until you
have the four seperate screens (screens 1-4) holding the enlarged
sections of the 1st degas screen.
--------------------
Big Red Rectangle-> | xxxxxxxxx|
stage 2 | xxxxxxxxx|
| xxxxxxxxx|
| |
| and3 and4 |
--------------------
You are now ready to create the top left corner of your picture. Go to
the effects menu. While on screen 1 select the option 'mini.' This will
reduce the whole screen to a little image in the top left of your
screen. Press number 2 and again select 'mini'. Repeat this for screens
3 and 4.
What we now have are 4 litle pieces of our first corner. We now have to
assemble this section. Click on 'edge stop' on the menu screen. Goto
screen 2 and 'cut' out the section that you can see. (If you don't know
how to 'cut' then consult the documents that came with Crack Art.) Once
you have the cut section move to the 1st screen and paste it beside the
the first piece. The cut piece should go to the top and to the right of
the piece in screen one. Now repeat this procedure for the pieces found
on screens 3 and 4.
You should now have a 7 colour corner of your original scan.
Copy screen 1 to screen 9 by positioning the pointer over the icon for
screen 1. Drag this icon accross to screen 9. A dialog box will appear
asking various options. Just hit return to copy the entire image. Goto
screen 9 and cut the screen section. This is for safety. Goto the main
menu and click on the trash can. A dialog will appear waringin you of
what is about to happen. Click on okay. Now paste the section you
previously have cut onto screen 9.
Well have you managed to follow this?
You will now have to repeat the entire procedure for PICTURE2.PI3 to
PICTURE4.PI3. It's tedious I know but the results are worth it.
voila. you have a 7 colour scan. Now if only someone would automate
this!
Cheating
========
Okay I surrender! I cheat whenever possible. I've been using a pencil
and paper for..ooh.. 25 odd years. I've been using a mouse for about 7
years. No contest. I can handle a pencil 500 times better than a mouse.
Most people I will assume are the same.
Using a mouse is very unsatisfactory. It's a nasty piece of plastic
that rolls around the desk on a little rubber mat, slipping, sliding
and squeeking it's way to a badly drawn..erm..drawing. It lacks the
flow that a pencil can produce and you spend half your time 'fixing'
the proportions.
Okay the solution.
1 Draw using pencil and paper! - you can handle that can't you?
It's best to keep it simple, you are looking for help with outlines
and proportions. And anyway if you make it complicated you will get
bored after redrawing it again.
2 Once your happy with the outline, trace it to a new sheet of paper
using carbon paper, (about 20 pence per sheet at my local shop and
last for 6 or so drawings)
3 Break open your scanner and scan this simplified drawing.
4 load it into your fave art package and trace round it.
Cello..erm..voila..a stable and accurate outline of what you wanted in
the first place. It still qualifies as hand drawn, you've bent the
rules that's all!!!
You can actually cheat doing this and reduce a 'proper' digitised piccy
into a hand drawn picture. But that's really cheating..innit!