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1990-11-01
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VIEWGIF (Version 1.2)
Copyright 1990 by Craig S. Buchanan
SHAREWARE
This program is copyrighted software. This program and its documentation may
be freely copied and shared with others, as long as no charge is made, and the
program and this document are unaltered.
If you use this program please register by sending:
$20 U.S., check or money order OR
$20 Canadian, cheque or money order, OR
10 Pounds Sterling in Marks and Spencer's Gift Certificates,
and any suggestions for improvements to the address listed below. Please
specify the version number you are using (1.1). Your support will ensure that
improvements are made.
4-319 Mackay St.
Ottawa, Ont.
K1M 2B7
First, a thank you.
This is a thank you to all of those users of VIEWGIF who have registered. Your
support makes improvements like this release possible. Your feedback on
VIEWGIF is invaluable. Without support VIEWGIF would still be at version 0.6.
Note that if you are registered for a previous version of VIEWGIF you do not
need to reregister for version 1.2.
Table of Contents:
1. WHAT'S NEW? 1
2. INTRODUCTION 1
3. FUNCTION OVERVIEW 2
3.1 FILE - menu 2
3.2 EDIT - menu 3
3.3 MODE - menu 5
3.4 Mouse Shapes 7
4. HOW TO USE VIEWGIF 7
4.1 Guide to File Types 7
4.2 The COLOUR mode 9
4.3 The GRAY mode 9
4.4 The FL and CP8 formats 10
4.4 Use with SPECTRE 128/GCR 10
4.5 Overscan 11
5. KNOWN SHORTCOMINGS/BUGS 12
6. ENHANCEMENTS UNDER CONSIDERATION 12
7. PROGRAM HISTORY 13
8. REGISTRATION FORM 17
1. WHAT'S NEW?
1. A Full Screen mode has been added.
The entire ST screen can now be used to display images. By simply
pressing the escape key the image in the top window will replace
the entire screen. This feature only works in Native ST
resolutions. (ie. Full Screen Mode does not work with Overscan or
large screen monitors.)
2. Degas and Neochrome save uses Full Screen Mode to preview.
The image being saved can be adjusted using the Full Screen Mode
controls. Selecting the final clipping of a large image is now
much easier. The save is unchanged when using non native ST video
modes.
3. Much improved IFF file loading.
Version 1.1 had trouble understanding many IFF files. Version 1.2
can read many more IFF files.
4. An Added Bonus. NeoDesk 3.0 Icons.
The included .NIC file contains icons for use with NeoDesk 3.0.
Icons are provided for most of the filetypes VIEWGIF uses. Note
that the NeoDesk 3.0 documentation claims that 3.0 icons cannot be
used with earlier versions of NeoDesk.
2. INTRODUCTION
So what are GIF files and why should I be interested? GIF files are
computer graphic images stored in a compressed, hardware independent manner.
The hardware independent format makes it a standard for moving images between
different computers.
VIEWGIF allows your ST to show graphics created on a PC, an Amiga, or
whatever, even if the original image has more colours or pixels than the ST
can display. It also allows you to convert your Atari ST images into GIF
format for exchange with other systems.
VIEWGIF is GEM based and operates in all three resolutions. Images are
displayed in scrollable windows. Once an image is loaded it can be saved in
NEO, Degas , Macpaint (in Monochrome) or FL Format. The image can also be
cropped and shrunk to fit the ST screen. VIEWGIF also allows a GIF image to be
directly transformed into AIM (the Atari Image Manager) and Spectrum 512
pictures. This allows the 512 colour Spectrum mode to be used to display 256
colour VGA images.
1
3. FUNCTION OVERVIEW
Most menu items have keyboard equivalents which are noted at the end of
each menu item. A caret (^) denotes a control key while a small triangle
denotes an alternate key. The equivalents are listed with their corresponding
functions in the list below.
3.1 FILE - menu
GIF INFO: (ALT I)
Given a GIF file it displays the image attributes including dimension,
number of colours, size of colour palette, etc. It also tries to
determine the image's original video format.
LOAD FILE... (ALT L)
Displays the file load form. Allows the following file types to be
loaded:
GIF (ALT G), IFF (ALT A), LBM (ALT B), MAC (ALT M),
NEO (ALT N), DEGAS (ALT D), FL (ALT F), CP8 (ALT P).
The keyboard equivalents can be used to bypass the file type selection
form.
The GIF, IFF and LBM modes read in the file and then translate it to
the current ST format according to the options set in the MODE menu.
The two modes are COLOUR and GRAY. (See discussion of MODE.)
The DEGAS mode currently reads uncompressed (PI#) DEGAS only.
The MAC mode will read and translate into the current resolution any
MacPaint or Mac StartUpScreen image. Determination of image type is
automatic.
The CP8 mode always uses the dispersed dot dither to translate the
image into the current ST format regardless of the MODE options COLOUR
and GRAY. (See CP8 discussion in TRANSFORM.) The dispersed dot dither
MODE options HISTO and SCALED are used. (See MODE discussion.) If the
file contains more than one channel (image) the user will be prompted
for the channel to load. The channel number appears after the filename
in the window border enclosed in square parenthesis.
Each image is displayed in its own window and each window has its own
colour palette. The top window's colour palette is always used. The
original image dimensions are maintained but the CLIP and SHRINK
functions can be used to reduce the image size. The title bar of each
window contains the image filename and the information bar contains a
description of the image colours along with the dimensions of the
image. If the image is in colour then the information bar contains
[a:b] where 'a' is the number of colours in the original image and 'b'
is the number of Atari ST colours. If the image is displayed in gray
scale then the information bar contains [a:b] where 'a' is the number
of colours in the original image and 'b' is the number of grays in the
2
image.
SAVE FILE... (ALT S):
Displays the file save form. Allows the following file types to be
saved:
GIF (CTRL G), FL (CTRL F), NEO (CTRL N),
DEGAS (CTRL D), MacPaint, (CTRL M),
Mac StartupScreen (CTRL T).
The