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1991-09-20
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//
\\ // PictSaver V2.0
\//
1991
by
Preben Nielsen
PICTSAVER ?
Up to this version the name used to be '
PicSaver
' - I have now changed
it to '
PictSaver
'.
WHAT'S NEW SINCE V1.1 ?
PictSaver V2.0 has a completely new way of interacting with the user.
It now features auto-numbering (automatic changing of filename) to help
you when saving a series of pictures. It also features optional compression
of pictures (ByteRun1 or not). I have corrected a few minor and major bugs,
and I believe that PictSaver now saves all screen-modes and sizes correctly.
Furthermore it is now possible to save pictures as large as 2400 bit wide and
32 bit deep (haven't actually tried that yet). Finally I have implemented
buffered output which means that PictSaver will be able to save the pictures
many times faster than before.
WHAT IS PICTSAVER ?
PictSaver is a small utility that allows you to take snapshots
of windows, screens or only part of screens and store them on disk
as IFF-ILBM files, which can then be used in almost any paint-program.
HOW TO START PICTSAVER
From CLI : Type '
PictSaver
' and press RETURN.
There is
NO
need to use
RUN
,
RUNBACK
,
ARUN
etc.
PictSaver is auto-detaching when run from CLI (It
will not prevent you from closing the CLI-window).
From Workbench: Double-click on the '
PictSaver
' icon.
HOW TO END PICTSAVER
To remove PictSaver simply run it again as explained above.
An easier way to remove PictSaver will be explained below.
HOW TO USE PICTSAVER
Lets first of all agree on some terms.
When I write: Then I mean:
=====================================================================
LMB
The left mouse-button.
Press
CTRL-LALT-LSHIFT
Press the CTRL-key AND the left
ALT-key AND the left SHIFT-key
and keep them pressed.
Press
CTRL-LALT-'w'
Press the CTRL-key AND left
ALT-key and keep them pressed
while pressing the 'w' key.
Press
CTRL-LALT-'a'
Press the CTRL-key AND left
ALT-key and keep them pressed
while pressing the 'a' key.
Press
CTRL-LALT-'f'
Press the CTRL-key AND left
ALT-key and keep them pressed
while pressing the 'f' key.
Press
CTRL-LALT-'ESC'
Press the CTRL-key AND left
ALT-key and keep them pressed
while pressing the 'ESC' key.
Press
CTRL-LALT-'HELP'
Press the CTRL-key AND left
ALT-key and keep them pressed
while pressing the 'HELP' key.
Pressing
CTRL-LALT-'HELP'
pops up a window looking something like this:
------------------------------
| PictSaver V2.0 |
|----------------------------|
| ------------------- |
| File | <---|-|---\
| ------------------- | \
| ------------ | \
| | Ok | | \
| -----^------ | \
--------------|--------------- Here you write the
| name of the file to
| create.
Click here to make
the window go away.
The next time you
open the window, it
will appear on its
current position on
the screen.
While the window is open, it has two menus by which you can control
PictSavers way of saving pictures.
The '
Special
' menu contains two menu-items - '
Auto-numbering
' and
'
Compression
'.
If
Auto-numbering
is on, then every file saved will get an extension
added to its name. The extension will be of the form '.###', e.g. '.001'.
Turning auto-numbering on will add such an extension to the filename if
it doesn't already have one. For every picture saved while auto-numbering
is on, the extension will be incremented to '.002', '.003' etc. Suppose
you have typed 'filename.023' and use auto-numbering - the next saved file
will be named 'filename.023' and the next again 'filename.024' and so on.
If auto-numbering if off, you will have to open the window every time to
change the name yourself.
PictSaver will allow you to make the path/filename combination 120 bytes
long, but you have to be careful not to make the filename part longer than
30 bytes (Amigados don't use more). When using auto-numbering, you have to
remember that the extension is 4 bytes, and that the rest of the filename
shouldn't be longer than 26 bytes.
If
Compression
is on then pictures will be saved using the usual 'ByteRun1'
compression method (the one every paint-program can use). Otherwise, pictures
will be saved uncompressed (this is sometimes better if you wan't to pack
the picture-file with e.g. PowerPacker).
The '
Bitplane
' menu contains seven menu-items. This menu lets you control
the maximum number of bitplanes to be saved from a screen. You can choose
'
1
', '
2
', '
3
', '
4
', '
5
', '
6
' or '
All
'. If you e.g. are about to save a 5
bitplane picture and but only need to save the two lowest bitplanes, then
just select '
2
' before saving the picture. Lets on the other hand suppose
that you have chosen '
3
' and then want to save a picture which only has two
bitplanes - PictSaver will then ignore the '
3
' choice and save only two
bitplanes. If you select '
All
' then PictSaver will just save the number of
bitplanes that the actually screen has. If you save pictures from HAM or EHB
screens and have specified a bitplane number less than '
6
', then the saved
pictures will no longer be HAM or EHB pictures, but just plain ones.
When started, PictSaver defaults to
Auto-numbering off
,
Compression on
and
All bitplanes
.
SAVING PICTURES !
PictSaver will let you save images from screen i three ways:
1. You can save the whole screen
2. You can save a window
3. You can cut out a rectangle just as you do in e.g. Deluxe Paint.
If PictSaver, for some reason, can't save the picture (e.g. because
of disk-errors), then it will tell you using a requester. Otherwise
PictSaver will flash the screen to indicate that all went well.
HOW TO SAVE AN ENTIRE SCREEN
To save the active screen (screen containing an active window) simply
Press
CTRL-LALT-'a'
. Pressing
CTRL-LALT-'f'
will save the frontmost screen
instead of the active one (very useful because screens can't become active
if they contain no windows).
HOW TO SAVE A WINDOW
To save a window you have to make it the active one (e.g. by clicking
the mouse in it), and then press
CTRL-LALT-'w'
.
HOW TO SAVE A RECTANGULAR AREA OF A SCREEN
This can only be done with screens that contain windows - so first
activate it (e.g. by clicking the mouse in a window on the screen).
When the screen is active you have to:
1. Press
CTRL-LALT-LSHIFT
.
A cross-hair will now appear.
2. Use the cross-hair to position the mouse in one corner of the
rectangular area you want to save.
3. When the mouse is in place press the
LMB
and hold it down (don't
release
CTRL-LALT-LSHIFT
). The cross-hair is now replaced by a
rubber-band (Yes, just like re-sizing windows).
4. Now move the the mouse until you have framed the area you want
to save.
5. Release the
LMB
.
The rubber-band dissapears and the area will be written to a file.
NOTE: Cutting out rectangular parts of HAM screen practically never
produces useful results due to the nature of HAM.
WHAT IF I HAVE STARTED TO STRETCH THE RUBBER-BAND AND I FIND OUT
THAT I DON'T WANT TO SAVE THE AREA ANYWAY ??
Just release the
CTRL-LALT-LSHIFT
keys (one or all)
BEFORE
releasing
the
LMB
. This will erase the rubber-band (or the cross-hair) and you can
start over.
ONE MORE WAY TO END PICTSAVER AND REMOVE IT FROM MEMORY
Simply press
CTRL-LALT-'ESC'
.
HOW DOES PICTSAVER WORK ?
PictSaver works by installing an input-handler at priority 55. This
handler then signals the program (10 different signals actually) which
then takes action.
COMPATABILITY !
PictSaver has been tested under kickstart 1.2, 1.3 and 2.x on a
2.5 MB 68000 based Amiga 1000 (0.5 MB chip-ram). Let me know if
any problems is encountered with other configurations.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE !!
I haven't yet decided whether future versions of PictSaver will be
Public Domain, Freeware, Shareware or what ever. For this reason there
is no source-code accompanying this release. However, this version 2.0
of PictSaver is
Freeware
. This means that it can be freely distributed
as long as you don't ask for more than a nominal fee for copying. This
documentation file must always be distributed along with the PictSaver
program.
=====================================================================
Please send me any kind of
bug-reports
,
suggestions
,
comments
etc.
If I get no response to this version of PictSaver, then this will be
the last and final version.
///
/// Preben Nielsen
\\\ /// Oehlenschlægersgade 72 st. T.V.
\\\/// 1663 Copenhagen V.
\/// Denmark
Phone: (009 45) 31 21 55 09