Chip: Internet/Chip Internet.iso/viewer/acdc121/acdsee.txt

Text File | 1995-01-25 | 14KB | 322 lines

                               ACDSee v1.21
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Congratulations on obtaining version 1.21 of ACDSee, the fastest,
      easiest-to-use Windows image viewer currently available!


Current features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   * effective image browsing shell interface
   * supports most JPEG, GIF, Windows BMP, PCX and TGA files
   * rapid JPEG decompression
   * view images as they are decompressed
   * mega-fast image preview
   * easy, quick image panning, even during decompression
   * supports 256, 32768, 65536 and 16 million colour screen modes
   * automatically launch other applications by clicking on document files
   * supports viewing & editing 4DOS descriptions
   * drag-and-drop support for single and multiple files
   * automatic or manual slideshow with optional read-ahead decompression
   * always-on-top and full-screen viewing window options


System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   * 386sx or better (Pentium 90 is nice)
   * 256 colour or better graphics card (high/truecolour recommended)
   * 4 Megs of RAM (8 Megs or more recommended if running in high/truecolour)
   * Windows 3.1
   * ~300k of disk space


Installing ACDSee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   1) Copy the ACDSEE.EXE file anywhere you like

   2) Create an icon for it in Program Manager

   3) If you have a copy of CTL3DV2.DLL in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory that
      is the same or newer than the copy in the ACDSee distribution, then you
      should just delete the one in the ACDSee distribution file.  Otherwise,
      you should move the ACDSee CTL3DV2.DLL [over top of] your older
      CTL3DV2.DLL file in WINDOWS\SYSTEM.

                              *** IMPORTANT ***
      In any case, DO NOT LEAVE CTL3DV2.DLL IN THE DIRECTORY CONTAINING ACDSEE!
      It will not work unless it is moved to the windows system directory!
                              *****************

   4) You will probably want to set up File Manager so that it associates
      image files with ACDSEE.EXE  This will allow you to view pictures from
      File Manager by simply double-clicking on them.

      To make an association, highlight any file in File Manager and then
      choose File|Associate... from the menu.  Click on Browse... and locate
      the ACDSEE.EXE program and then hit OK.  If you know how to use
      Windows RegEdit, then you'll find it easiest to create an entry for
      ACDSee (call it "Images") first.


Running ACDSee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can start ACDSee from the Program Manager by double-clicking on its icon.
You will immediately be presented with the Image Browser dialog where you can
browse your directories for images to look at.

If you have made an association between image files and ACDSee, you can also
start ACDSee from the File Manager by just double clicking on an image file.
Note: When ACDSee is run in this manner, pressing Escape will exit the
program, rather than take you to the Image Browser.  The reason for this is
to avoid confusion when using the Spawn Viewer option (see below).


Image Browser
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is where you can pick an image to open.   The top part of the window
displays the current directory.  Below that is a list of files,
subdirectories within the current directory, and other drives.  You can also
select multiple files, if you want to SlideShow them (see Open, below).  The
Image Browser window is Drag-And-Drop aware, which means that you can drag
one or more image files from the File Manager and drop them on the Image
Browser window, whereupon they will be opened by ACDSee.

Open
   If an image is selected in the file list, it will be opened.
   If a directory or drive is selected, the Image Browser will go into
   that directory or drive.  Selecting "[..]" will move to the parent
   directory, and selecting "[.]" will re-load the current directory.

   If multiple files are selected, ACDSee will enter "SlideShow" mode.
   Images are viewed one at a time, and you can flip forward/back using
   the Prev/Next menu selections, or SpaceBar/Backspace keys.  If items
   are selected that are not readable images, they will be simply skipped.

   You can also have ACDSee automatically flip the images for you.  ACDSee
   will stop flipping images when you switch  back to the Image Browser,
   or if you select either Prev/Next.

   ShortCuts:  Alt-O, Enter, Double-click on a file/directory/drive

Exit
   Quits ACDSee
   ShortCuts: Alt-X, Ctl-X, Alt-F4.

Preview
   Brings up a thumbnail of the image.
   ShortCut: Alt-P

Delete
   Deletes the currently selected file(s).  (Directories and drives cannot
   be deleted)
   ShortCut: Delete key.

Edit Desc.
   Allows you to create or edit a 4DOS description for the file(s).
   (This works even if you don't have 4DOS.)  ACDSee supports Descriptions
   up to 200 characters in length.

   ShortCut: Alt-E, Click on a file/directory with right mouse button.


Image Browser Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Auto Preview
   When checked, a preview of the currently selected image is brought up
   automatically.

File Information
   When checked, the file list displays one file per line, including 4DOS
   descriptions and image information (type/size/#colours).
   When cleared, only the file names are shown, in multiple columns.

Image Files Only
   When checked, only files with extensions that correspond to images types
   that ACDSee can view are displayed.   Otherwise, all files are shown.

Sort By Ext.
   When checked, files are sorted first by extension, then by name.
   Otherwise, files are sorted by name only.  This does not apply to
   directories, which are always sorted by name only.

Spawn Viewer
   When checked, ACDSee will execute an external program to view the image
   rather that use its built-in viewer.  Usually you will associate the image
   files with ACDSee, in which case a new copy of ACDSee will be "spawned".
   This option is useful if you need to view several images simultaneously.
   (i.e., you can switch back to the first copy of ACDSee while the second
   copy is still running and open another image)

   When the option is unchecked, the current copy of ACDSee closes the
   Image Browser and views the selected image(s).

   In  either case, you can press Escape while in the View Window to close
   the image and return to the Image Browser.

Font Size
   This option can only be changed by editing the acdsee.ini file.  Look for
   the "FontSize=" line in the "[Browser-Options]" section.  This value
   determines the size of the font used in the file list.  Valid values are
   in the range 1 through 40.  The default is 12.


View Window
~~~~~~~~~~~
This is where the images are displayed.  If the image is larger than the
size of the ACDSee window, you can pan (scroll) the image either with the
cursor keys, or by "grabbing" part of the image with the mouse cursor and
dragging it around.  This can be quite fun, especially on an accelerated
video card.  For those of you that don't like to wait, the scrolling feature
can be used even while the image is being decompressed!

The View Window (and the ACDSee icon, when ACDSee is minimized) is
Drag-and-Drop aware, so that you can drag an image file (or several image
files) from the File Manager and drop it onto ACDSee's View Window or
Image Browser window, and ACDSee will open and display them.


View Window Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chunk Decompression
   By default, the image is decompressed and displayed 16 lines at a time.
   You can change this to a single line at a time by unchecking
   Options|Chunk Decompression.  This may cause the decompression to appear
   "smoother", but will slightly slow down the rate of decompression.  On
   the other hand, it causes ACDSee to relinquish control to other
   applications more often, which makes it "nicer" from a multitasking
   standpoint.  You should try this option if you experience CRC errors
   when transferring files with the modem in the background while viewing
   images.  Note that scrolling the image is VERY cpu-intensive, so you
   may loose some modem bytes if you get too into the scrolling feature.

Auto-size Window
   By default, ACDSee remembers the size and position of the View Window
   and Image Browser between invocations.  By checking this option,
   the window will automatically change its size to match the currently
   loaded image.  By unchecking this option, you can go back to your
   preferred window size and position again.

Full-Screen Window
   Selecting this item will cause the viewer to enter Full-Screen mode,
   where the window is maximized, and the titlebar and menu are hidden.
   To get back to normal mode, hit CTRL+F or double click with the left
   mouse button.
   Shortcuts: CTRL+F, double-click with left mouse button.

SlideShow...
   This brings up a dialog box that lets you configure ACDSee's slideshow
   feature.
   Shortcut: CTRL+S

   Enable automatic flipping
      Causes ACDSee to automatically change the image every few seconds.
   Wrap around at last image
      When checked, ACDSee will start over from the first image after the
      last image in the sequence has been displayed.   Otherwise, ACDSee
      will halt the automatic flipping process.  This option has no effect
      when manually flipping images.
   Page flip delay
      This slider lets you set the time delay between images.  After the
      current image has been completely decompressed, ACDSee will pause
      for the requested number of seconds before displaying the next image.
   Enable read-ahead
      When checked, ACDSee will immediately start decompressing the next
      image in the sequence after the currently viewed image has been
      completely decompressed.  This means that when you flip to the next
      image, it will already be partially or completely decompressed.
      The disadvantage of this feature is that scrolling tends to be more
      chunky when ACDSee is decompressing.

256 Color Mode Dither
   When running Windows with a 256-colour graphics driver, HiColor and
   TrueColor images are quantized down to 216 colours.  To improve the
   appearance of the quantized image, a dithering algorithm may be applied.
      None:            Quickest but poor quality.  For interest's sake only.
      Ordered:         Slightly slower but good quality.  Good trade off.
      Floyd-Steinberg: Slowest but best quality.
   The default is Ordered dithering.

Always On Top
   This option is available from the System Menu of the View Window.  When
   checked, the View Window will appear as the topmost window, even when
   other windows are activated.  Otherwise, the window behaves normally.


Sample Images
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We leave the Big Island in release 1.1 and move on to an island in British
Columbia, Canada.  BUTCHRT1.JPG (taken by me) and BUTCHRT2.JPG (taken by
my friend Peter) are two pictures of the beautiful and world-famous Butchart
Gardens, located here in Victoria.  ACDSEE.JPG is just a quick
ray-trace-photoshop job I put together.  Please excuse the small size of
the images. (I didn't want to waste too much of your downloading time on
pictures...)


Registration
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACDSee is "ShareWare".  This entitles you, the customer, to try out
the software for up to 30 days without obligation to pay for it.

If you use ACDSee beyond the 30 days, you should register it.  Registration
entitles you to free upgrades to the software, which is nice.  You can
easily register by calling a toll free number, or, if you are a member of
CompuServe, through the registration database (Reg. ID 4057).  The cost of
registration is US$15.00

As a reminder, ACDSee will occasionally bring up its About box when you
open a file or quit the application.  This is supposed to be very annoying,
and will of course cease and desist the moment that you register.

To register, go into the View Window and select Help|Register... or
hit Ctrl+R when either in the View Window or the Image Browser.  Then just
follow the instructions.


Distribution
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This software may be freely distributed, provided that:

    (1) Such distribution includes only the original archive supplied
        by ACD Systems, Ltd.  YOU MAY NOT ALTER, DELETE OR ADD any files
        in the distribution archive.

    (2) No money is charged to the distrubtee, beyond reasonable cost of
        packaging and other overhead.


Technical Support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Should you need assistance with the use of ACDSee, please send E-Mail to
[e-mail], or phone [phone] between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM
Pacific Standard Time.


Comments, Bug Reports
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please send any comments, suggestions for enhancements or bug reports via
E-Mail to [e-mail]


Possible Future Enhancements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   o 2-pass quantization support for 256 colour users
   o support for Amiga IFF and other file formats
   o faster decoding of all image formats
   o faster dithering
   o nicer thumbnails (maybe colour?)
   o resize-to-fit-window/screen option
   o Windows Help


Credits
~~~~~~~
The JPEG decoding routines of ACDSee were built from code written by and
licensed from Oliver Fromme, author of the world-famous Q-Peg viewer for DOS.

The colour quantization/dithering features were made possible through the
use of code produced by the Independent JPEG Group.

Thanks to Peter Chambers for beta-testing and his innovative suggestions
for features.