SeePix -- v4.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hank Schafer November 15, 1992 Legalese: ~~~~~~~~~ SeePix is Copyright © 1992 by Hank Schafer; All Rights Reserved. SeePix is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 1, or (at your option) any later version. SeePix is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to: Free Software Foundation, Inc. 675 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge MA 02139, USA What SeePix Is: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SeePix is an IFF ILBM picture viewer. It handles HAM, Extra-Halfbrite and OverScan pix, of course, it can also handle 16 or 32 Color [LO,MED,HI]-RES pix. It adjusts to the machine it's on (NTSC or PAL). It can be invoked from either the Shell/CLI or Workbench. SeePix features an ARP interface, Iconization and the PathMaster File Selector. The most important feature of SeePix is the ability to modify the colors of a pic BEFORE printing, without modifying the pic itself. NOTE: As of Release v4.0 the ARP File Requester has been reinstated as a compile-time option. However, since I'm partial to the PathMaster, the executable I'm distributing is sans the ARP FileReq. So, if you received this program with the source, and compile it using the ARP FileReq, then just assume every mention of PathMaster below to refer to ARP instead. The exception to this are references to quitting the program from the requester and deleting of files (these aren't implemented with the ARP FileReq). Workbench Usage: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simply hold down the [SHIFT] key and single-click the icon(s) of the pix you want to see, then double-click the SeePix icon OR single-click the SeePix Icon and hold down the [SHIFT] key and select the icon(s) of the pix you want to see, double-clicking the LAST pix icon. Either method opens a small window at the top of your Workbench screen, which shows you the name of the file, and it's status, i.e., "Loading..." or "Done." or "Not an IFF File!" OR Just double-click the SeePix Icon, and you'll be greeted with the PathMaster File Selector. This method does not open a status window. Shell/CLI Usage: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SeePix [VERSION] [HELP] [NOMODE]/[LACE] [CYCLE] [File(s)/WildCards] Both AmigaDOS (#?) & ARP (*) wildcards are supported. VERSION - Displays Version & Creation Date. HELP - Displays the Shell/CLI Usage your'e reading now. NOMODE - Force scrollmode (ignore HIRES/LACE). LACE - Force interlaced display mode. CYCLE - Force color cycling on startup. NOTE: NOMODE and LACE are mutually exclusive. File Specification: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Both the AmigaDOS wildcard specification (#?) and the ARP wildcard specification (*) are supported. What does this mean? Invoke SeePix from the Shell/CLI, doing it this way: SeePix DF1:Pictures/#? - Will show all pix on drive DF1: in the directory "Pictures". SeePix DH1:Graphics/DirtyPix/* - Will show all pix on drive DH1: in the directory "Graphics" and the sub-directory "DirtyPix". Alternately, you may specify the filename(s) of the pix you want to see: SeePix DF0:Pic1 DF2:Pic2 DH1:Pic3 - Shows Pic1 on DF0:, Pic2 on DF2: and Pic3 on DH1:, what could be simpler? Suppose you're already in the directory where you keep all the pix you want to see, then just issue the command: SeePix * OR SeePix #? - Shows all the pix in the current directory. What the Shell/CLI Options mean... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VERSION... Shows the Version and compilation date of the executable. HELP... Gives the "Usage:" statement at the beginning of this document. NOTE: The escape sequences which were used extensively in formatting the output of the VERSION & HELP Options have been removed, resulting in a smaller executable. (SeePix v3.4) NOMODE... This is MOST effective on HI-RES+LACE pix, as you'll get a display that's 4 times the normal size, which you can scroll around in and 'zoom' in on the best parts. With LACE (only) pix, you get a display that's twice as tall. Of course, with HI-RES (only) - display is twice as wide. LACE... Has no effect on LACE pix, but on non-interlace pix, halves the height of the pic and presents it in LACE mode. CYCLE... This is useful only on pix which have been done using cycle paint... If using CYCLE and one of the pix in your command line arg happens to be HAM, SeePix might crash on some Amigas, (HAM pix aren't normally cycle-painted.) If SeePix is invoked from the Shell/CLI without file specifications (or the VERSION/HELP args above), you'll be greeted with the PathMaster File Selector (See PathMaster.Doc for ALL the details, but it's self explanatory, really!). To view OverScan pix, use the ARROW keys (not the keypad) or press the left mouse button with the cursor at one of the pic borders. New to SeePix v3.7 is the ability to delete files. Just use the "Delete" Button on the PathMaster File Selector. The SeePix Menu... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once in SeePix, pressing the right mouse button near the upper left corner of the screen will reveal a menu with a few choices, here is a summary: About SeePix... [Right-AMIGA A] - Brings up a little requester with some shameless horn-blowing and brief instructions. The Hot-Key for this item now works properly. (SeePix v3.3) Toggle Title Bar [Right-AMIGA T] - Does what it says. Toggle Cycling [Right-AMIGA C] - Toggles cycling on and off. Cycling can also be invoked by the [TAB] key (for you DeluxePaint fanatics!). Print Pic [Right-AMIGA P] - Changes your cursor to a small crossbar with the designation "size" next to it. click on the 1st corner of the area you wish to print, and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the box to cover the entire area you wish to print, then release the left mouse button. The area chosen will then be sent to the printer. Modify Colors [Right-AMIGA M] - Brings up a palette requester allowing experimentation with new colors. You can't change the colors on a permanent basis, but if your print-out isn't what you'd like it to be (i.e. Blue is printed Purple), you can "tweak" the colors until the print-out is what you expect; likewise, if a picture has a solid color background; Red, for instance, you could change that color to white to save ribbon or ink. After color modification, click on the "OK" gadget and you're given the same cursor mentioned in "Print Pic" above. You MUST click on "OK" to invoke printing, clicking on "CANCEL" just quits the palette function, without taking you to the presses. If for some reason you don't want to print, and have clicked on the "OK" gadget, just click the left mouse button once and release. This action allows you to bypass printing. Getting the appropriate results for your color printer using this method, is by necessity, a matter of trial and error. However, once you've mastered the modifications required for your particular printer, it becomes second nature. You'll develop a "baseline formula" for your particular printer, that should only require minor adjustments for each picture. Oh, don't think that only COLOR printers can benefit from color modification, B&W printers can too! By default, the palette requester comes up allowing you to modify the RGB values of the picture, though not apparent, if you click on the "RGB" labels (next to the sliders) of the requester, they will change to HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance). Some people prefer to use this method of palette control. It's your choice. NOTE: New to SeePix v3.3: the menu colors are determined by the pic palette. Making it possible to modify the colors in such a manner as to make the menu items invisible (Learn those HotKeys!). Iconify [Right-AMIGA I] - The boss walks in while you're looking at the latest T&A picture you downloaded during your lunch hour, this option turns SeePix into a small "SeePix" icon in the center of your screen (Yeah, right, like you're actually using your Amiga at work!). Double-clicking on the icon will, depandant upon your method of startup, either give you the PathMaster File Selector, or the next Pic. Next Pic [Right-AMIGA N] - Takes you to the next picture specified on the Shell/CLI Command line, or if none specified (or invoked via WorkBench with no extended-select) gives you the PathMaster File Selector. This item is "ghosted" if you're looking at the last pic, when invoked either from Workbench (extended select) or from Shell/CLI if filenames have been given as arguments (not wildcards). Quit SeePix [Right-AMIGA Q] - Quits SeePix. ---===] NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! [===--- The executable SeePix in this distribution has been compressed using PowerPacker. This does not impact the viewing of OverScan pix, and offers a large (43,944 Bytes -> 25,816 Bytes; saving 18,098 Bytes for a 42% savings) reduction in the size of the final executable. That's it, I hope you enjoy SeePix! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~