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NeoPaint - Version 3.1 (C)1992-95 NeoSoft Corp. * IMPORTANT INFORMATION * -------- CONTENTS -------- * About NeoPaint * New Features in Version 3.0/3.1 * What Happened to GIF? * System Requirements * Supported Video Cards * Starting NeoPaint * Command Line Options * NeoGrab Screen Capture Utility * Optimizing NeoPaint * Acquiring Additional Fonts * Acquiring Additional Stamps * Special Effect Considerations * Mouse Driver Mysteries * Problem Images * Customer Services & Technical Support * Registering NeoPaint * Other Products from NeoSoft -------------- ABOUT NEOPAINT -------------- NeoPaint is the ultimate image editing program for DOS! Until now sophisticated image editing has required spending hundreds of dollars on software and hardware. At $45 (U.S.), NeoPaint sets a new standard in price/performance. NeoPaint is as simple to use as any paint program, yet with many powerful features usually found only in high-end picture publishing systems. Better still, NeoPaint is NOT a Microsoft Windows program, so it's easy to install, set up and use. NeoPaint's state of the art GUI interface allows you to edit and view multiple images at the same time in resolutions as high as 1024x768. When you compare NeoPaint with high end graphics packages costing hundreds of dollars we think you'll discover that NeoPaint gives you tremendous power at any price! NEOPAINT FEATURES: ----------------- o File Formats: PCX, TIFF and BMP o Video Modes: Hercules (720x348x2), EGA (640x350x16), VGA (320x200x256, 640x480x2, 640x480x16), Super VGA* (640x480x256, 800x600x16, 800x600x256, 1024x768x256) o Multiple Images: View and Edit multiple images in adjustable on-screen windows o Drawing Tools: Brush, Air Brush, Eraser, Color Eraser, Flood Fill, Tile Fill, Gradient Fill, Color Convert, Text, Line, Bezier Line, K-Line, Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse/Circle, Polygon, Freehand Polygon, Editable Polygon, Grid, 3D Cube, 3D Pyramid, Gradient Rectangle, Gradient Ellipse/Circle, Magic Marker, Smudge Tool, Blend Tool, Charcoal Pencil, Crayon, Water Color Brush, Oil Brush, Quill Pen, Clone, Color Similarity, Stamp Pad, Solid and Transparent Patterns o Fonts: Multiple Styles and Sizes with Bold, Italic, Underline, Outline and Shadow effects; Additional fonts available from NeoSoft and third party vendors o Selection Tools: Rectangle, Polygon and Freehand Polygon/Lasso, Bezier Ellipse (Transparent and Solid) o Effects: Invert, Flip, Rotate, Scale, Stretch, Skew, Distort, Acid Wash, Average, Blend, Border, Emboss, Equalize, Soften, Screen, Smear, Pixelize, Lattice, Blur, Darken, Lighten, Fade, and more. o Zoom: Multilevel Zoom allows precise editing; Scrolling and most drawing tools also work in Zoom Mode. o Color Control: Works with 2, 16, 256, 32K, 64K and 16 Million Color Images; Color Balance, Brightness, Contrast and Color Reduction/Conversion are supported o Output: Supports over 300 printers! Produce high quality halftones on HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet and Postscript or compatible printers; Scaling and Orientation controls; also supports Epson/IBM compatible dot matrix and color printers such as HP DeskJet 500/550C. o Memory Management: Supports Expanded (EMS), Extended (XMS) and Virtual Disk Memory for working with very large images ------------ NEW FEATURES ------------ The following features are new to version 3.0: o Support for additional video cards and chipsets (see System Requirements below for details) o 24-Bit/True Color (paint with 16 million colors on supported video cards) o 320x200x256 Mode (256 colors on a standard VGA card) o Read/Write BMP files (Windows and OS/2 formats) o DOS Shell (File menu) o 1° Image Rotation (Picture menu) o Free Form 3D Objects (below 3-D Cube icon) o New Gradient Fill Type (Pyramid) o NeoGrab Screen Capture utility now works in Text Mode o Image Preview added to Palette/Contrast Adjustment tools o Circular Selection Tool (below Scissors icon) o Mount option to change paper size of existing images/cutouts (Edit menu) o Quill Pen Tool (below Marker icon) o Oil Brush Tool (below Marker icon) o Improved Water Color Brush Tool (below Marker icon) o First and last palette colors are no longer required to be black and white o Enhanced Palette Editor (File menu) o Enhanced Pattern Editor (File menu) o Enhanced Special Effect filters (twice as many as before and their faster!) o Image/File Delete Function (File menu) o ASCII Text Import (draw a box with text tool) o Moveable Text Entry Field o Fly-Out Palettes o Window Iconize (new button on window title reduces image to a small icon) o Faster Printing w/multiple copies o Improved/Faster Special Effects o Stamp Directory may be changed from within Stamp Pad dialog. Removed option from Preferences. o Font Directory may be changed from within Font dialog. Removed option from Preferences. o Use the shift key with the Color Eraser to replace target color with the line or fill color instead of white. o Option added to the Airbrush Setup that allows the airbrush to fade from one color to another. o We've also added dozens of other small enhancements not listed here... The following features are new to version 3.1: o Added support for 32K and 64K High Color video modes. o Removed support for GIF image files (see "What Happened to GIF?" below) --------------------- WHAT HAPPENED TO GIF? --------------------- After many years of allowing free use of the LZW compression routine used in GIF format images, Unisys Corp. (which holds a patent on this process) has decided to begin requiring royalty payments from anyone who creates and sells new products that display or save GIF and other LZW compressed images. Royalties will be required for any new or modified products produced after January 1, 1995. The royalty does not apply to products that are not created for sale. CompuServe, which developed and promoted the GIF format, has been privately negotiating with Unisys for nearly two years over this issue. These negotiations were not made public, nor were developers, including NeoSoft Corp., notified by either CompuServe or Unisys that a change of policy was coming. Unfortunately, CompuServe and Unisys did not give timely notification of the new policy and details only became widely known, after the fact, during the last week of December 1994. NeoSoft Corp. will join other software publishers in abandoning the GIF format in this and future versions of its products. NeoSoft is also offering a utility which allows existing GIF images to be converted to PCX format. The PGC.EXE utility is available from NeoSoft's BBS (503-383-7195) and on its CompuServe forum (type "GO NEOSOFT" at any ! prompt). There is no charge for using the PGC.EXE program. ------------------- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- To use NeoPaint you will need the following: o IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or 100% compatible computer. A 286 or better CPU is recommended. o EGA, VGA, Super VGA, Hercules monochrome or compatible graphics card and monitor. See Supported Video Cards below for information on compatible Super VGA cards. o 640K minimum RAM o A hard disk o MS-DOS, PC-DOS 3.1 (or higher) or DR-DOS o Microsoft, Logitech or compatible pointing device o Printer (optional) --------------------- SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS --------------------- NeoPaint will run on any computer system equipped with a 100% compatible EGA, VGA, Super VGA or Hercules graphics card. To operate NeoPaint in 256 or 16 Million color video modes, you must have a Super VGA video card equipped with one of the following chipsets (or a close compatible): Advance Logic Ahead Systems ATI Cirrus Logic Compaq QVision Oak Paradise/Western Digital S3* Trident Tseng ET3000 Tseng ET4000 Video Seven Weitek XGA or any VESA compatible chipset. * Some S3 video cards require special command line options in order to work properly with NeoPaint. If you have an S3 chipset and you experience problems, contact NeoSoft Technical support (503) 389-5489. NOTE: There may exist either now or in the future, video cards based on revisions of the above chipsets which may not be recognized by this version of NeoPaint. If you experience problems related to your video card, please contact NeoSoft Technical support (503) 389-5489. CGA USERS: Due to severe limitations inherent in their design, CGA video cards are not supported. This includes many Tandy 1000 systems which are essentially CGA. ----------------- STARTING NEOPAINT ----------------- For the steps below, we assume that you have installed NeoPaint in the directory C:\NEOPAINT. If you installed NeoPaint in a different DOS subdirectory, then substitute that name for C:\NEOPAINT below. o Your mouse driver (usually MOUSE.COM) must be loaded before running NeoPaint. Please refer to your mouse's user manual for more information. o To change to the NeoPaint directory, at the DOS prompt (C:\), type CD\NEOPAINT and press Enter. This places you in the NeoPaint subdirectory. o Once you have switched to the proper directory, NeoPaint can be started from the DOS command line by typing NEOPAINT followed by the Enter key. -------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS -------------------- You can specify several command options when starting NeoPaint. An option consists of a slash (/) followed by an option letter and information about that option. LOADING NEOPAINT'S OVERLAY INTO EXPANDED MEMORY ----------------------------------------------- USAGE: /E EXAMPLE: NEOPAINT /E PURPOSE: NeoPaint's overlay file (NEOPAINT.OVR) can be loaded into expanded memory, thus speeding up execution of some NeoPaint functions. When exiting NeoPaint the overlay is removed from memory. This option requires approximately 400K of expanded (EMS) memory. NETWORK SETUP FILES ------------------- USAGE: /S[file] EXAMPLE: NEOPAINT /Sf:\users\cindy.set PURPOSE: Normally NeoPaint stores its setup information in the NEOPAINT.SET file in the NeoPaint directory. This file contains information about the default settings such as video mode and memory usage options. In a multi-user environment with PCs of vastly different configurations it is necessary to specify setup files for different users and/or different machine types. The /S option allows users to load NeoPaint with their own personalized setup file. For example: if Cindy keeps her personal files in the PAINT directory on her C: drive then she might start NeoPaint by typing: NEOPAINT /Sc:\paint\cindy.set DISABLE DOS SHELL ----------------- USAGE: /H EXAMPLE: NEOPAINT /H PURPOSE: This option disables the DOS Shell selection from the File Menu. DISABLE PREFRENCES ------------------ USAGE: /P EXAMPLE: NEOPAINT /P PURPOSE: This option disables access to the Set Preferences selection in the Options menu, thus preventing a user from changing the setup. LOADING IMAGES FROM THE COMMAND LINE ------------------------------------ You can also load images into Neopaint directly from the DOS command line. Simply run NeoPaint with the names of the files you wish to load as parameters. For example: NEOPAINT C:\PCX\VANGOGH.PCX C:\BMP\IRISES.BMP You may load as many files as will fit on the DOS command line. ------------------------------ NEOGRAB SCREEN CAPTURE UTILITY ------------------------------ Included as part of the NeoPaint Package is an easy-to- use screen capture utility called NeoGrab. NeoGrab will capture graphics or text displayed on your monitor and convert it into PCX format files which may be used in NeoPaint and other programs. To load NeoGrab, at the DOS prompt type: NEOGRAB [Options] To capture a graphics or text screen, press <Ctrl> <Print Screen>. A small prompt like the one below will appear in the center of your screen: ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Press ENTER to capture entire screen, │ │ F1 to select area or ESC to cancel. │ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ Press ENTER to capture the entire screen not including the NeoGrab prompt. F1 will allow you to select a rectangular portion of the screen using your mouse. Two short beeps means the screen was captured successfully. One long beep means an error occurred and the screen could not be captured. An error will occur if you are in an unsupported graphics mode or if your disk is full. NeoGrab supports all standard video modes and most super VGA modes so you shouldn't have any trouble using it with popular software. NeoGrab will not, however, work with Microsoft Windows. Screen captures are stored as PCX files and placed in the directory where the NEOGRAB.EXE file is located. Files are numbered sequentially starting with 00000001. For example the first captured screen will be named 00000001.PCX the second 00000002.PCX and so on. NeoGrab will not delete files to make room - it simply selects the next available file name in the sequence. Deleting files is up to you. NEOGRAB COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ---------------------------- You can specify several options when starting NeoGrab. An option consists of a forward slash (/) followed by an option letter. ALTERNATE HOTKEY ---------------- USAGE: /K EXAMPLE: NEOGRAB /K PURPOSE: Changes the hotkey from the default <Ctrl> <Print Screen> to <Alt> <Scroll Lock>. This is useful if another program is already using the default hotkey. SPECIFY CAPTURE PATH -------------------- USAGE: /P[path] EXAMPLE: NEOGRAB /Pc:\pcx PURPOSE: This option allows you to specify a drive and directory for captured PCX images. By default captured screens are stored in the directory that contains the NEOGRAB.EXE file. UNLOADING NEOGRAB ----------------- USAGE: /U EXAMPLE: NEOGRAB /U PURPOSE: Use this option to unload NeoGrab from memory. This will only work if NeoGrab is the last TSR loaded in memory. BYPASSING THE NEOGRAB PROMPT ---------------------------- USAGE: /B EXAMPLE: NEOGRAB /B PURPOSE: Causes NeoGrab to automatically capture the entire screen and does not display the "Press ENTER to capture the entire screen, or F1 to..." message. ------------------- OPTIMIZING NEOPAINT ------------------- NeoPaint has been designed to run acceptably on a wide range of DOS based systems and will automatically try and take optimal advantage of all supported hardware resources available to it. Some machines have processing speed, disk space, and memory limitations which will affect how NeoPaint can perform. Graphics programs by their nature are demanding of system resources. Some images, particularly 256 and 16 million color pictures in larger sizes, can easily use more than 1 megabyte of memory and storage space. If you have a system with speed and memory limitations, one or more of the following suggestions may offer relief: o If you have a choice between configuring your system's memory as either EMS (expanded memory) and XMS (extended memory) on your system, use EMS for NeoPaint. Using EMS memory can dramatically speed up many NeoPaint functions including rotating, flipping and special effects. o If you're using a memory manager (such as QEMM, 386Max or EMM386) that draws EMS and XMS from the same pool, turn EMS on and XMS off in NeoPaint. Select Options/Preferences/Miscellaneous from the main menu to modify NeoPaint's memory management. This will free up some valuable conventional memory and speed up many of NeoPaint's functions. o Turn off the UNDO command under the SET PREFERENCES selection in the OPTIONS menu. UNDO keeps a record of the image prior to the last change you made. This takes up memory. If your system has limited RAM and disk memory available, you may want to disable this in any case. If your system is limited to 640K of RAM, then UNDO may use your hard disk to store changed items. Using hard disk storage is slower than using RAM, and turning off UNDO will increase NeoPaint's performance. o Do not run NeoPaint as a DOS application under Windows. Windows will slow NeoPaint's execution, as Windows will still be using up your system's resources while NeoPaint is running. If you do need to run NeoPaint from Windows, use the included NEOPAINT.PIF file located in your NeoPaint directory. Refer to your Microsoft Windows documentation for more information about PIF files. o If disk storage space is a problem (and in many cases even if you have plenty of disk space) turn off the CREATE BACKUP FILES function in the PREFERENCES selection of the OPTIONS menu. Graphic files tend to take up a large amount of disk space, and creating a backup file (.BAK) each time you SAVE a picture can rapidly deplete the free space available on your drive. You might want to turn this feature back on, however, when working with particularly important images. o Try using the 640x480 VGA resolution in 16 colors as your default. Some video cards use a TSR program to display VESA compatible higher resolutions. Using a TSR program is a much slower method of interacting with your hardware. o When using the 3-D OBJECT icon, use the Wire Frame mode. o Turn the PREVIEW option off for STAMP PAD images. If none of the above seem to help, you may wish to consider upgrading your system's hardware. Four hardware options are listed below, in ascending order of cost: o Add 2 or more megabytes of (RAM) memory to your system. NeoPaint supports both the XMS and EMS specifications. o Add a larger, faster hard drive. o Upgrade your CPU. -------------------------- ACQUIRING ADDITIONAL FONTS -------------------------- NeoPaint comes with a variety of fonts. Additional fonts are available from NeoSoft. Our Font Pack contains three 720K diskettes full of typefaces. The ORDRFORM.TXT file located in your NeoPaint directory contains pricing and ordering information for the Font Pack. Third party software that can generate GEM screen fonts (used by the DOS version of Ventura Publisher) may also be used to create fonts for NeoPaint. Simply follow the program's instructions for generating screen fonts. Copy the fonts to your NeoPaint directory and rename them so that they use the .GFT extension. The NeoSoft Bulletin Board also contains a utility program that converts Microsoft Windows True Type fonts into NeoPaint compatible fonts. Our BBS is open 24 hours at (503) 383-7195 (N81,300-14.4) --------------------------- ACQUIRING ADDITIONAL STAMPS --------------------------- If you're interested in acquiring additional stamps for NeoPaint's Stamp Pad tool - you're in luck! NeoSoft has created a NeoPaint Stamp Collection with tons of high quality professional stamps. The ORDRFORM.TXT file located in your NeoPaint directory contains pricing and ordering information for the Stamp Collection. ----------------------------- SPECIAL EFFECT CONSIDERATIONS ----------------------------- With the advent of 15, 16 and 24 bit color, NeoPaint now includes a number a new special effects. Without the restrictions of 16 and 256 color fixed palettes these effects can produce spectacular results. However, if you are working with 16 or 256 color images, the palettes used by these images will greatly influence the effect and in some cases produce totally unexpected results. ---------------------- MOUSE DRIVER MYSTERIES ---------------------- If your mouse behaves strangely when using NeoPaint, you may need to update your mouse driver software. Problems such as an invisible cursor or a pointer that leaves a trail of pigment on the screen are typical of certain older mouse drivers. Contact the computer store where you purchased your mouse or the manufacturer for information about updating your mouse driver. -------------- PROBLEM IMAGES -------------- NeoPaint is designed to read and write the popular PCX, TIFF and BMP file formats. We tested literally hundreds of images during the design phase of NeoPaint. However, even with the best testing, it's entirely possible that there are some images that either don't follow the rules or employ a compression algorithm that is not supported by NeoPaint. During our research we discovered, much to our surprise, that there is no real consensus or standard among programs that use 16 Color TIFF images. Images created by one program frequently cannot be loaded by another program. With NeoPaint we employed what we believed to be the most popular format for 16 color TIFF images. If you have problems using 16 color TIFF images with other programs, try saving them as PCX or BMP files instead. 2 color and 256 color TIFF images are not effected by this problem. Another dilemma facing connoisseurs of TIFF images is the fact that there are so many different types. At last count there were over 30 distinct dialects of TIFF. It would be a tremendous task for NeoPaint to support all those varieties. Even the most expensive image processing software only support a few TIFF formats. So if you run across a TIFF image that is unreadable then you may need to translate it into a more basic format first. Better yet use PCX or BMP files! All formats, PCX, BMP and TIFF, are exactly the same when it comes to image quality, but vastly different when if comes to compatibility. If you happen to run across an image file in either PCX, TIFF and BMP format that you are unable to load with NeoPaint, upload the file to our BBS (503) 383-7195 (N/8/1/300-14.4) or place the image on a diskette and mail it to: NeoSoft Corp. Customer Support 354 NE Greenwood Avenue, Suite 108 Bend, Oregon 97701-4631 Include a brief note describing the image, where it came from and if possible what program was used to create it. ------------------------------------- CUSTOMER SERVICES & TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------------------------------------- NeoSoft provides its registered software customers with free technical support. We also provide limited technical support to persons evaluating our products during the 30 day evaluation period. We do, however, strongly encourage people to register. Software development and support is very expensive and we need your help if we are to continue to provide quality programs at affordable prices. If you haven't already, please take a few moments to register. This will assure you of eligibility for technical support, product update notification, special discounts, announcements, etc. If you should encounter a technical problem or question not covered in the manual, you may use one of the following avenues to obtain technical assistance: MAIL POSTAL CORRESPONDENCE TO: ------------------------------ NeoSoft Corp. Customer Support 354 NE Greenwood Avenue, Suite 108 Bend, OR 97701-4631 U.S.A. TELEPHONE SUPPORT: ------------------ Technical support and product update information are available between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time), Monday through Friday. Please have the following information available for the support staff when you call: o Brand name and model of your computer system, mouse, video adapter and monitor. o Operating system (DOS) version number. o A listing of the contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. o A description of the problem, how it occurred, and how to reproduce it. Telephone support may be obtained by calling (503) 389-5489. You may also FAX your questions to (503) 388-8221. ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE: ---------------------------------- Up to date product information, evaluation programs and supplements may be obtained via modem from our BBS. The telephone number is (503) 383-7195. The bulletin board operates using N/8/1/300-9600 Baud. COMPUSERVE SERVICE: ------------------- You may also receive technical support, updates information and evaluation copies of all our products from our forum on CompuServe. Simply type GO NEOSOFT at any ! prompt. -------------------- REGISTERING NEOPAINT -------------------- If you purchased NeoPaint in a shrink wrapped package with a NeoSoft logo on the back, a registration card was included in the package. Please take a moment to fill out the lower portion of the card and mail it to: NeoSoft Corp. Customer Registration 354 NE Greenwood Ave. Suite 108 Bend, Oregon 97701-4631. This will enter you as a registered user in our records and insure that you receive technical support, upgrade notices and information about future products. If you received NeoPaint from a friend, BBS, catalog or anywhere other than from NeoSoft or an authorized commercial software dealer or distributor, you may try the program for a trial period of up to 30 days before registering. To obtain a complete commercial package including registration number and typeset manual call NeoSoft at (503) 389-5489. We can process your order with VISA or MasterCard over the phone. The purchase price of NeoPaint is $45 + $5 ($10 outside United States) shipping and handling. If you prefer, FAX your order to us at (503) 388-8221. If you would like to mail a check or money order, make sure it's drawn against a U.S. bank in U.S. funds. Our address is: NeoSoft Corp. 354 NE Greenwood Ave. Suite 108 Bend, Oregon 97701-4631. You may also purchase NeoPaint from any one of our many dealers world wide. For a list of dealers see the DEALER.DOC file accompanying this program. If you would like to give a copy of this program to a friend or associate please do so, but you may NOT give anyone your registration/serial number. We hope you enjoy the program and share it with your friends. --------------------------------- OTHER GREAT PRODUCTS FROM NEOSOFT --------------------------------- For information on the many exciting products available from NeoSoft please refer to the CATALOG.TXT file in your NeoPaint directory. Evaluation copies of most NeoSoft products be obtained from better shareware disk vendors or downloaded from most major on-line services such as CompuServe (GO NEOSOFT) or from the NeoSoft BBS service at (503) 383-7195. For additional information, pricing or dealer information contact the NeoSoft Sales Department at (503) 389-5489.