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README
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1987-11-18
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PAINT
A Printer-Art Editor for the PC
by Dave Tutelman
This program, written in Turbo Pascal Version 1.0 (yup, real old),
is a screen-based editor for generating "printer art" on a line printer.
You use the program to generate or edit an on-screen, shaded-pixel
representation of a printer page (80 x 66). You can then send a text
version to the printer, or to a .LST file for later printing. The text
version substitutes printable ASCII characters (of greater or lesser
density) for the shaded pixels.
Included in this distribution is:
README This file.
PAINT.PAS The main Pascal file.
PIXEL.PAS "Included" file of Pascal graphics routines.
PTUTILS.PAS "Included" Pascal file.
PTFILE.PAS ditto
PTFANCY.PAS ditto
*.PIC A number of encoded (source) pictures for PAINT.
*.LST Printer-ready pictures for PAINT.
The program can be used either from the Turbo Pascal integrated environment
or from the command line (as a .COM file).
INSTRUCTIONS
The PAINT screen consists of a "page area" of 66 x 80 "shaded pixels",
and a "command menu area".
To use the PAGE AREA:
- The fast-blinking cursor is a "brush", one print-position in size.
- The brush can be moved in EIGHT directions, not just 4. The
cursor keys control horizontal and vertical movement; the other
keys on the cursor keypad control diagonal movement. (E.g. -
the "Home" key moves the cursor up/left one position.)
- The brush can take one of 6 values:
0 Neutral, or no-change.
1 Blank.
2 Light.
3 Medium.
4 Darker.
5 Darkest.
You can set the brush value by pressing a numeric key 0-5.
- As the brush is moved around in the page area, it paints its value
on each print position it visits. (If its value is zero, the
brush leaves print positions unchanged.)
- Use the above instructions to paint a picture in the page area.
(You can also use some fancier constructs from the command menu,
like "mirror" and "fill".)
To use the COMMAND MENU:
- A command is selected by pressing the key corresponding to the
capitalized letter in the menu.
- You are prompted for a confirmation and/or further information.
- In the "Fill" command, "darker" refers to the shade on the PRINT,
not on the SCREEN.
- In the "Print" command, the default is to scroll the ASCII-text
picture to the PC screen (CON:). You can also send it to a file
of arbitrary name, or to the printer (PRN:).
- The "Save" and "Load" commands deal with a "live" (editable)
version of the picture, not a print-ready version. However, it
too is legal ASCII text, not a [more efficient] binary
representation.
I encourage you to play with the features for a few minutes before using
them on a "real" picture.
Dave Tutelman
November 2, 1987