Best Objectech Shareware Selections/UNTITLED.iso/boss/grap/util/009/read1st.txt

Text File | 1992-10-25 | 11KB | 212 lines

FILES CONTAINED IN GIFXTS.ZIP

     1) READ1ST.TXT - this file
     2) GIFXTS.TXT - Users manual. Not required reading, but might
         clarify some things.  (Version 3.2 - I just re-did the users
         guide)
     3) GIFXTS.EXE - The executable program
     4) various GIF files to get you started.
     5) PRTGIF.DTA - Data file containing symbols to generate print file
     6) REG.TXT - Registration/complaint form
     7) SETPRINT.EXE - program to create printer configuration file
     8) REV.TXT - Revision history of GIFXTS - Also found in GIFXTS.TXT
     9) PRINTERS.COD - File read by setprint
     10) Various files .mnu .msg .hdrs .hlp - contain menus, messages,
        headers and help text used by the program. DO NOT DELETE THEM.
        (See GIFXTS.TXT for detailed description of these files)


RUNNING THE PROGRAM:

    To run gifxts, go to the directory where the program is located, and
type GIFXTS. You MUST start here, because the additional files required by
the programs as EXPECTED to be with the program. I determine WHERE you are
when you execute the program and "assume" that ALL the required files will
be here. Once the program has been started, you can go to any directory or
drive you want.

In order to print directly to a printer, you MUST run SETPRINT first, to
create gifxtspt.cfg. This is the printer congifuration file. Although this
file is NOT required to run the program, it is required to print to the
printer.

INTRODUCTION:

     This section is repeated in GIFXTS.DOC. For those of you who
don't read manuals, please at least scan this section. If you decide
not to register, I would be interested to know why, What is the program
NOT doing that you need. The registeration from has a room for comments and
complaints. Please feel free to fill this section out and mail, or E-mail,
me a copy. I will try to respond to all comments and complaints.

     This section will explain WHAT the GIFXTS program is intended to do.
During the testing of the program, there was a lot of confusion regarding
the display, the output and what exactly should be expected. In order to
ensure that the phrases and "buzz" words that are used mean the same to
everyone, let's start with some terminology.

     PIXEL - a graphical point of resolution. Each graphics monitor
contains a maximum number of addressable pixels, EGA is 640x350, VGA is
640x480.  When software is written it sets  the resolution, thus a VGA
monitor can be "changed" to EGA mode by specifying that the graphics driver
is to use the EGA pixel resolution of 640x350, or even 640x200. Thus
"pixel" is somewhat independent of the monitor. Independent in that
although the monitor has a physical MAXIMUM resolution, any lower
resolution can be used. Gifxts supports EGA resolution, 640 pixels by 350
pixels & CGA, 640 pixels by 200 pixels.

     GIF - Graphics Interchange Format - A method of encoding and decoding
the graphical information presented on a monitor.  Thus a GIF image is a
graphical image that has been encoded using this methodology. In order to
re-generate the display, the decode methodology is used.

* GIF and "Graphics Interchange Format" are trademarks (TM) of Compuserve,
Inc., an H&R block company.

     When an image is originally created, the artist has decided which 16
colors are to be used and has loaded these colors into a "palette".
Although the computer can generate 256 different, most monitors can
display only 16 colors at one time. Thus the artist will select the 16
colors, including the background color, and load the palette. The next step
is to "draw" the image.Each pixel of the image has one color assigned to
it. The color is indicated by the palette entry, therefore a pixel whose
color is 1, is using the color located in the first entry of the palette.
If the color located in entry 1 is changed, the pixel will immediately
change to the new color.  When the image is saved, the palette
configuration and the color of each individual pixel is recorded, usually
left -to-right, top-to-bottom. Thus to restore the image, the file is read,
the palette is loaded and the pixels are colors, left-to-right, top-to-
bottom.

GIFXTS COLORS: (EGA ONLY)

When a GIF file is read into GIFXTS, each palette entry is assigned a
character. Entry 1 is a '!', entry 2 is a '\' and so on. There are 94
different characters that can be used. However, there are only 14 colors
available.  The colors BLACK and WHITE are reserved. There is a really GOOD
reason for this, that I will try to explain:

     The default background color (palette entry 0) is black, white is
defaulted to entry 15. When I first started programming this program, I
looked at "white grid on black background" vs. "black grid on white
background". The white on black was very difficult to look at, so I opted
for black on white. The menus use white text on a black background with
a colored highlight bar. The menu bar uses black on a colored background.
When I first started loading GIF images, everything went smoothly until
on day. The menu bar disappeared, the menus were blank, the menu highlight
bar was gone. It turned out that the color palette associated with the GIF
I reading consisted of 2 colors, white ,entry 1, and black, every other
entry. At that time I decided that not only would I protect  the palette
entries for black and white, but I would not allow any other entry to be
set to black or white.

This can have a very interesting affect on some images, so once an image
is loaded into GIFXTS FORGET THE COLORS. THINK SYMBOLS! It doesn't matter
if the spots on Bambi are green, blue or white. As long as they are a
different SYMBOL than the rest of the image. If the color(s) really bother
you, use the EDIT MENU and select the option to use BLACK SYMBOLS. Then the
only time you will see the colors is when you use the VIEW, PRINT or SCALE
options.

Once you have an image loaded, you can add detail by adding new symbols or
delete detail by deleting symbols. You can also change the color palette,
change the colors assigned to individual symbols and trim the image down to
any segment of the image.  After performing whatever editing you want, you
can save the image.

SAVING IMAGES WITHIN GIFXTS:

There are 2 ways to save an image that you have loaded into GIFXTS.  You
can save it as a GIF file. This file will be readable by any GIF viewer BUT
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE COLOR CONSTRAINTS EXPLAINED ABOVE ARE IN EFFECT IN
THE SAVED FILE!  Or you can save the file as an XTS file. This file is NOT
readable by a GIF viewer.  It contains some additional information about
the image, such as the colors assigned to each of the 94 symbols, and which
symbols were used.

PRINTING THE IMAGE AS A PATTERN:

Gifxts can either print the symbolized image, or produce a GIF file that
can be printed using a GIF print utility for your printer. (I suggest that
you wander thru the Graphics Support and/or Quick Pictures for a GIF print
utility that suits your printer, and your pocketbook.) This file is MUCH
bigger than the original GIF image. This is because each individual pixel
is now being changed to a 6x7 pixel character, plus the grid lines. Thus
the final printable symbolized GIF file size will be:

      (original width x 9)+1 and (original height x 9)+1(+ the symbol
chart at the bottom of each image)

BUT there are 2 ways to produce this file:  You can either "print" the
entire file, or you can select sections to print. See PRINT OPTIONS for
information about selecting sections of the image to print. The symbol
chart at the bottom of the file will list every symbol used for the ENTIRE
image.

CONCLUSION:

Hopefully this little explanation will help you understand what you are
viewing, and creating when using GIFXTS. If you have any questions, and
are a registered user, feel free to contact me:

          Chris O'Donnell
          576 Benson Road
          Middlebury Ct. 06762

     CIS: 70431,1427

I usually access CIS between 8:00 and 9:00 AM and again around noon. If
you're REALLY S