The Art Department Professional 2.3.0 ReadMe Late Breaking News and Manual Corrections =========================================================================== The serial number for this copy of the ADPro package is: 25970147 =========================================================================== Contents: o Obtaining Technical Support o ADPro Copyrights Are Registered o User Manual and Tutorial Pictures Acknowledgements o Usage of Distribution Disks o Special Notes for AmigaOS 1.3 Users o Special Notes for Deluxe Paint IIe Users o Special Notes for MorphPlus Owners o Special Notes for FRED Users o Special Notes for Expansion Module Owners o Special Notes for Deluxe Paint AGA Owners o Special Notes for Mimetics FRAMEBUFFER Owners o Sentry Tutorial: Automatic JPEG Archiving Using Sentry o Last-Minute Features, Changes, and Clarifications o User Manual and Addendum Corrections =========================================================================== Obtaining Technical Support Whenever you call us for technical support, please have your ADPro serial number (shown at the top of this file), as well as the exact version number of the program (found by pressing the About button on the main screen of the ADPro program or the Help Key), handy. Having this information available will allow us to better serve you. You can reach us at the phone number listed in your manual. =========================================================================== ADPro Copyrights Are Registered Copyrights covering ADPro are registered with the United States Copyright Office. This provides ASDG with additional leverage in enforcing legal action against unauthorized duplication or distribution of ADPro. These rights extend directly to MorphPlus as well. Be aware that ASDG considers prosecution of copyright infringers part of its obligation of providing a quality product and service to its paying customers. =========================================================================== User Manual and Tutorial Pictures Acknowledgements Several of the miscellaneous example pictures used in the manual are based on images from the PhotoDisc(tm) collection (Volume I: Business and Industry, Volume II: People and Lifestyles CD-ROMs). They have been scaled, cropped, reduced in color, and converted to IFF-ILBM format so that they would fit on a floppy disk and be usable with ADPro. =========================================================================== Usage of Distribution Disks Included in the ADPro package are four (4) distribution disks. The following lists these disks and their intended use: Label Disk Name Description ------ --------- -------------------------------------------------------- Disk 1 ADPro_D1 Main Installation/Program Disk 1 Disk 2 ADPro_D2 Program Disk 2 Disk 3 ADPro_D3 Independent (non-ASDG) Modules Disk & Other Utilities Disk 4 ADPro_D4 Expansion Module Patches Disk Before you execute the Install-ADPro installation script, please be sure to have all of these disks available. If you are missing one or more of these disks, please contact our Technical Support department; the phone number is listed in the Troubleshooting Appendix of the manual. =========================================================================== Special Notes for AmigaOS 1.3 Users ADPro version 2.3.0 will be the last version to support version 1.3 of the Amiga's operating system, either in whole or in part. Future versions will require at least AmigaOS 2.04. =========================================================================== Special Notes for Deluxe Paint IIe Users If you own or use files from Deluxe Paint IIe on the MS-DOS platform, please note that the DPIIE loader has been removed from this version of ADPro and its functionality absorbed within the IFF loader. The installation script will delete the DPIIE loader from your system, if it exists. The UNIVERSAL loader has also been modified to call the IFF loader if a DPIIE file is selected, so if you use the UNIVERSAL loader to import DPIIE files you will not notice anything different. ARexx scripts that use the DPIIE loader will have to be modified to use IFF instead. =========================================================================== Special Notes for MorphPlus Owners Although ADPro is a stand-alone product, all of its modules can be used directly from MorphPlus (if you currently own it). Note that you have the option of specifying a location for the ADPro program, different from the MorphPlus program. If ADPro is not installed in the same directory as the MorphPlus program, then the modules that come with the ADPro package will be separate from the modules that came with the MorphPlus package. What this means is that you will not be able to use the MorphPlus modules from the ADPro control screen, and vice versa, not be able to use the ADPro modules from the MorphPlus control screen. We highly suggest you choose the same directory for both programs. NOTE: If you are a MorphPlus user who has NOT registered your software with us, you should contact us (the phone number is listed in the Troubleshooting Appendix of the included (new) ADPro manual or in the Technical Support section of your MorphPlus manual) to register and upgrade your software to a newer version. Also, if you have both MorphPlus and ADPro and have been upgrading both packages and installing them in the same directory, you should follow the sequence of installation instructions to guarantee that your programs and modules are the most up-to-date: 1. ADPro 2.0.x 2. ADPro 2.1.x 3. MorphPlus 1.0.x 4. MorphPlus 1.1.2 5. ADPro 2.2.0 6. MorphPlus 1.2.0 7. ADPro 2.3.0 =========================================================================== Special Notes for FRED Users If you are using the FRED Script called SaveAsANIM.fred (from FREDSCRIPTS:FREDSavers) and have defined one of your cells to be of a length greater than 1, you must insert the OverrideLength.fred script (also from FREDSCRIPTS:FREDSavers) immediately before the SaveAsANIM.fred script in the Invoke ADPro control panel, and set the Invoke cycle gadget to "Once Per Frame". Otherwise, for each cell which is of length (n) greater than 1, SaveAsANIM will create (n * n) frames for this cell--which is probably not what you intended. =========================================================================== Special Notes for Deluxe Paint AGA Owners If you own Deluxe Paint AGA (version 4.5) and have selected to install the DPAINT loader and saver modules, then you must patch your version of Deluxe Paint AGA to version 4.6. This patch is available on Disk 4: Patch Disk (ADPro_D4). Electronic Arts has graciously provided an installation script (modified as Install-DPaintPatch to be more descriptive and less confusing) for your convenience. Please consult the ReadMe file on Disk 4 for more information. =========================================================================== Special Notes for Expansion Module Owners If you own the Sharp JXScan (JX-300/JX-320/JX-450/JX-600) Loader for ADPro/MorphPlus, please be sure to contact us for upgrade information. Our phone number is listed in the manual. We have added the ability to display the Preview Screen image in 256 shades of gray when running the software on an AGA-equipped machine, such as the A4000. Although we provide the patches for the EPSON scanner module with the ADPro package, the patches for the Sharp scanner module are available separately. =========================================================================== Special Notes for Mimetics FRAMEBUFFER Owners As of ADPro 2.3.0 the Mimetics FRAMEBUFFER saver module has been taken out of the package. This was done after serious consideration to the current state (availability) of the device. Owners of previous versions of ADPro should install ADPro 2.3.0 into the same directory as their current version---the FRAMEBUFFER saver module has not been modified for a long time. New owners of ADPro who need this module should contact Technical Support. =========================================================================== Sentry Tutorial: Automatic JPEG Archiving Using Sentry The ADPro File Sentry can be used to automate the process of archiving images. Video Toaster users should find the following short tutorial very useful for archiving their FRAMESTORE or RGB (IFF24) files in JPEG format. NOTE: Sentry requires AmigaOS 2.04 or higher to run. Double-click on the Sentry icon. The main Sentry control panel will appear, ready for a new project to be defined. Double-click on the "Directory..." button and select the directory where your FRAMESTORE or RGB files are currently stored or where they will be saved (remember that Sentry can process files as they are generated). Press the OK button to confirm your selection. Toggle the "Scan Mode" cycle gadget until it displays "Continuous" (if it doesn't display it already). This tells Sentry to continue processing files until you tell it to stop. If the files in the selected directory have (or will have) a certain type of filename (such as: .FS. for most Framestore files), then tell Sentry that you only want those named files to be considered by entering a filename pattern in the "Include Pattern" input field. For the example pattern above you would enter: #?.FS.#? which means to consider any file that has ".FS." somewhere in the middle of its filename. Note that this is not as strict a pattern as can be, but should be simple and easy enough to remember for most users. If you want to process all the files in the selected directory, then use: #? for the pattern. The "Exclude Pattern" specification can be set to another filename pattern, although leaving it blank for this tutorial should be fine. This value operates similarly to "Include Pattern" in that it filters filenames, except in this case it removes files from being considered for processing. If the selected directory already has files within it that need processing, then make sure the "Consider Existing Files?" checkbox is checked. If you want the processed files (these are the original files, and not the JPEG files that will be generated) to be deleted after being used, check the "Delete Processed Files?" checkbox. You might want to do this if you are low on disk space or if you will be low if both the original and created versions of the files are on the disk at the same time. If this checkbox is checked you can control whether Sentry will ask you to confirm the removal of the processed files by checking the "Confirm Before Deleting?" checkbox. To actually tell Sentry what to do with the files, we need to define a list of "steps" or commands to perform on the files. This is done through the list at the bottom of the panel. Select the "Add..." button to enter a new command specification. Make sure the "Type" cycle gadget is set to "Rexx". We will be using one of the supplied FREDScripts--namely, the SaveAsJPEG.fred script--for use in our project. Select the "Command..." button and locate the "FREDSCRIPTS:FREDSavers/SaveAsJPEG.fred" script using the file requester controls. Press the OK button to accept that script. Make sure the "Arguments" input field has: "$SENTRYFRAME $SENTRYFULLPATH" (no quotes). This information is needed to properly process FRED scripts. Before we proceed, save the project (use "Project"/"Save As...") under the name: ArchiveAsJPEG.spj (the .spj is short for "Sentry ProJect"). To perform the operation, select "Project"/"Accept..." The Status panel will appear, along with another smaller panel (the Number Of Cells panel) above it. Sentry noticed that you specified a FREDScript. These types of scripts need to know how many files (cells) will possibly be encountered. To process as many files as possible, enter 0. This value means that we have no idea how many we have and to just process as many files as possible. The SaveAsJPEG.fred script will then ask you some questions on the ADPro screen relating to how the files should be JPEG'd as well as how to modify the files' names. For general use, you can use the default value of 32 for Quality Level and Boosted Quality. When it asks how the filename should be modified, select "Append ???" and accept the default ".jpeg" filename suffix. Each JPEG'd file will then have ".jpeg" appended to it. You should choose to move these JPEG'd files to a different directory. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Keeping the modified files in the same directory will cause Sentry to JPEG them again, which is not what you want at all. You can stop processing by either pressing the "Control Panel..." or "Quit" buttons. We hope that this short tutorial gives you a flavor of what can be accomplished with Sentry. =========================================================================== Last-Minute Features, Changes, and Clarifications We're sorry...we added a few new features to the ADPro package after the user manual and addendum went to the printers. Listed in the next few sections are descriptions of these new features, as well as any changes and clarifications that need to be made. They include: o HSI-Variant JPEG File Support o Invoking CLI Scripts Through Sentry o Scale Operator Enhancements o Framestore Saver Enhancements o PICT Saver Enhancements o New Icon Tool Types and Shell Options for ADPro o New ARexx Commands for ADPro --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HSI-Variant JPEG File Support In addition to the JPEG files previously readable with the JPEG loader, the loader can now import HSI style JPEG files. These files have a mixture of GIF and JPEG encoding styles. The loader will import both the old and HSI style of JPEG file transparently. The saver does not save in this new format. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Invoking CLI Scripts Through Sentry Although the ADPro File Sentry utility can invoke ARexx/FRED scripts and CLI programs by placing the name of the script/program in the "Command" input field, to properly execute CLI scripts you must place the "Execute" command in the "Command" input field and the name of the CLI script in the "Arguments" input field. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scale Operator Enhancements The Scale Operator has been made easier to use by removing the need to switch between Enlarge and Reduce modes when manually entering values into the pixel and percentage input fields. Now, if you are in Enlarge mode you can enter a pixel or percentage smaller than the current width/height dimensions, and in Reduce mode you can enter larger pixel or percentage values. Note that if you make these types of changes and switch to the other mode, then back to the first mode, the Width and Height percentage values will change to the values associated with their corresponding slider knob positions but the Width and Height pixel values will be unchanged. Also, the text at the top of the control panel now just says, "Scale"; it used to say "Variable Reduction" (for Reduce mode) or "Variable Enlargement" (for Enlarge mode). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Framestore Saver Enhancements Although the manual states that if you want to save a grayscale image from ADPro in Framestore format you have to first use the Gray_To_Color operator, you can actually do so now without converting it to 24-bit color data. The conversion into 24 bit will be done automatically during saving. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICT Saver Enhancements Professional Conversion Pack (PCP) owners can now save grayscale images in PICT format without having to first execute the Gray_To_Color operator. This operation will be done automatically by the saver. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Icon Tool Types and Shell Options for ADPro The following phrases can be entered into the Tool Types list of the ADPro icon. These same phrases can also be specified on the command line if starting the program from the Shell. FASTMEMONLY If defined, ADPro will be restricted to only using fast (non-chip/graphics) memory for its image buffer. This is very useful for Amiga users whose machines have equal amounts of chip and fast memory. In this type of setup previous versions of ADPro would likely use chip memory for its image buffer, leaving little or no memory available to display the images being loaded. If this option is not defined, then the program will behave as before--using the largest contiguous chunk of memory (whether chip or fast) for its image buffer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New ARexx Commands for ADPro Open a loader's graphical user interface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Syntax: LOAD_GUI Desc: This command will launch the currently selected loader as if it were selected manually from ADPro's main screen. Pseudo loader modules cannot be executed with this command. Open a saver's graphical user interface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Syntax: SAVE_GUI Desc: This command will launch the currently selected saver as if it were selected manually from ADPro's main screen. Pseudo saver modules cannot be executed with this command. Open an operator's graphical user interface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Syntax: OPERATE_GUI Desc: This command will launch the currently selected operator as if it were selected manually from ADPro's main screen. Pseudo operator modules cannot be executed with this command. =========================================================================== User Manual and Addendum Corrections p. 15 (Addendum) [Within Section 4.6, UNIVERSAL Loader, Table 4.1] The PICT loader will only use the ".pict" filename extension as a hint, and not ".pic". p. 89 (Addendum) [Within Section 10.3.5, FRAMESTORE Loader, ARexx Interface] The comp_opts arguments (new format) must follow the filename parameter. p. 92 (Manual) [Within Section 4.26, UNIVERSAL Loader, Table 4.1] The PICT loader will only use the ".pict" filename extension as a hint, and not ".pic". p.275 (Manual) [Within Section 10.3.13, FRAMESTORE Loader, ARexx Interface] The comp_opts arguments (new format) must follow the filename parameter. ===========================================================================