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PicSwitch Picture Utility
(c)1987 John Brochu for Advanced Software
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Version: 0.7
Released: April 19, 1987
PicSwitch 0.7 is distributed as SHAREWARE. You are encouraged to freely
distribute the program, but please include this doc file with the program.
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New features
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The following enhancements have been added from PicSwitch 0.6 ...
o Runs on color AND monochrome systems, all features supported on both
monitors except PREVIEW (color only)
o New formats: DEGAS compressed, Tiny, and Atari 8-bit files
o Much improved low-res and med-res to monochrome conversions
o PicSwitch printer driver now supports all three resolutions
o Color cycling is now supported, and is converted between formats
o Converted pics are now saved to the original pic's directory, or
optionally using the file selector to any drive/path
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About PicSwitch
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PicSwitch started out as a simple Amiga IFF file viewer back when ST paint
programs were hard to come by (around October of '85)! Since then it has
undergone lots of upgrading through versions 0.5 (the original), 0.6, and
now 0.7. The basic intent of the program is to provide ST users with the
ability to view as much artwork as possible, and to convert to a format
that is usable to them on the ST. With this version I have addressed the
major complaint most people have had with the program, that is monochrome
support!
All pics can be viewed on either the color or monochrome monitor, and can
be saved in any resolution with either system, with automatic conversion
to the selected resolution. Conversions from a higher res to a lower res
are automatically optimized using a color averaging technique, while
conversions from low & med-res to monochrome use a sophisticated dithering
technique.
Conversions from monochrome allow you the option of saving the picture
using the full palette (best if you may want to restore the pic to its
original state at a later date) or with the minimum possible palette
(low-res conversions would use 5 colors, med-res 3).
MacPaint and NVision/Paintworks monochrome page files are also allowed a
fourth res-save option. Compressed save allows you to 'squeeze' a full
720-line MacPaint document or 800-line Paintworks pic into only 240 or 267
med-res lines, thus allowing you to view more of the pic on screen at
once.
On a color monitor, you are allowed to 'Preview' the conversion before
saving, without affecting the original picture. Hi-res previews will
display the picture in PicSwitch's 'simulated monochrome' mode.
Printouts of ANY screen or full-page picture can now be done with the
built-in driver on most 8-pin graphics printers. You can also load DEGAS
printer drivers for printouts if you wish.
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Supported formats
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This version reads the following file formats:
o DEGAS................................. [.PI1-.PI3]
o DEGAS Elite compressed................ [.PC1-.PI3]*
o NeoChrome.................................. [.NEO]
o Tiny............................... [.TNY, .TN1-3]*
o NVision.................. [.SC0-2, .CL0-2, .PG0-2]
o Amiga IFF low- & med-res................... [.IFF]
o MacPaint................................... [.MAC]
o Mac Startup screen......................... [.MAS]
o CIS Vidtex hi-res RLE...................... [.RLE]
o Atari graphics 8 screen dump............... [.GR8]*
o Atari graphics 9 screen dump............... [.GR9]*
o Atari Koala/MicroIllustrator............... [.KOA]*
o Atari MicroPainter......................... [.MPT]*
And writes the following ST file formats:
o DEGAS
o DEGAS Elite compressed*
o NeoChrome
o NeoChrome 'page' (for NVision)
*New additions from 0.6
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Using the program
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To load a picture using the GEM file selector, double click on its
filename or single-click and then click OK. The file will load and
display. You are now in 'command mode'. Following is a list of key
commands available:
For all pics...
---------------
o [Undo], right mouse button: aborts the pic and returns you to the file
selector.
o [Help]: displays the command list.
o [I]: displays the information screen.
o [S]: displays the save dialog (see below).
o [P]: prints the current pic in its original form (screen OR
full-page). [Undo] aborts a printout. The default printer type
is Epson/Atari dot matrix. Other printers capable of 8-bit
graphics can be configured using a ".PSW" driver as described
further on.
o [D]: dumps a color or monochrome screen to the printer. To use this
option, you must have a DEGAS printer driver with a ".PRT"
extender present in the directory the program is in when it is
first run. The [Alt] key works as in DEGAS, ie.[D] prints a full
page sideways, [Alt-D] prints a half-page. Pressing [Undo]
during a print aborts the dump.
For MacPaint/NVision pics only...
---------------------------------
o left mouse button: activates a 'grabber' similar to Neochrome.
o [C] (monochrome pics / color system only): compress a monochrome page
vertically. This option converts 3 monochrome lines into 1
med-res line. Therefore a 720-line MacPaint document would
reduce to a 240-line med-res scrollable image. Pressing this a
second time restores the original image. Note this option is
available in the save dialog on both monitors.
For Amiga IFF pics only...
--------------------------
o [1]-[6]: selects the bit-planes to be displayed.
o [Space]: cycles through settings [1]-[6].
o [R],[G],[B]: boosts the selected color.
o [Return]: restores the default planes and colors.
Low-res 32-color pics have 5 'planes' or 5 bits of color-register
selection. Keys 1-5 'pull out' one of the planes for display on the ST's
4-plane hardware.
Med-res 16-color pics have 4 planes. Keys 1-6 in med-res therefore need
to pull out 2 planes at a time. The following table summarizes the planes
that are displayed. The space bar cycles through each in turn.
+-----+---------+-----+
| key | low | med |
+-----+---------+-----+
| 1 | 1,2,3,4 | 2,3 |
| 2 | 0,2,3,4 | 1,3 |
| 3 | 0,1,3,4 | 1,2 |
| 4 | 0,1,2,4 | 0,3 |
| 5 | 0,1,2,3 | 0,2 |
| 6 | ---na-- | 0,1 |
+-----+---------+-----+
Amiga's hardware also allows 4-bit color resolution, or 16 levels each of
red, green, and blue. Since the ST only has 3-bit resolution, each IFF
RGB color palette entry is cut in half to bring it into the ST's range.
The R,G,B keys add one to the IFF value before halving it. This helps
bring out some of the detail that may be lost if some of the registers
convert to the same color.
Other pics...
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o [SPACE] (RLE & GR8 pics): invert the palette.
o [SPACE] (GR9 pics): select red/green/blue gray scale.
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The SAVE Dialog
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The top three lines in the dialog indicate the loaded picture's path
(directory), filename, and original picture format. You can choose to
save in any format and resolution by selecting the desired buttons.
If you are using a color monitor, you can Preview what the image will look
like in the selected format by clicking and holding the 'Preview' button.
If you're running a monochrome monitor, this button will be disabled;
however, you can still save in any format on both monitors.
For mono to low- and med-res conversions, you have the option of
converting the pic using all 16 or 4 palette colors ("FULL"), or using the
"MINIMUM" possible number of colors (5 low-res, 3 med-res).
Once you have selected the desired format, res, and palette set-up, you
can save the pic using the "SAVE --------.---" or "SAVE AS" buttons. The
SAVE button will save to the directory that the original pic came from
(displayed on the top line of the dialog). SAVE AS will bring up the file
selector so that you can save to any drive/directory you like, or change
the filename. Note the save file selector's directory is always preserved
and saved separately from the load file selector, so that you can quickly
convert many pics from one drive/directory to another.
If you specify an extender in the file selector, it will be ignored, and
the proper file extender for the specified pic format will automatically
be appended. Selecting Cancel in the file selector will get you back to
the Save dialog with no action taken.
If the original pic had color cycling information, and you save to the
same resolution, the cycling info will be preserved and saved in the new
file. Converting to/from DEGAS or Elite format will use animation channel
one.
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Printer Drivers
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Printer drivers are loaded automatically when you first run the program.
The file extenders ".PRT" and ".PSW" are searched for in the current
directory (this allows you to have all PicSwitch-related files in one
folder if you like). The first file of each type that was written to that
directory is loaded. A PRT file is necessary to use the screen [D]ump
command. These are the stand-alone 2K DEGAS printer drivers that are
available on GEnie, CIS, Delphi, and other systems. A PSW file is
necessary to use the [P]rint command only if you do NOT have an
Epson-compatible printer.
The printer driver in the current version of PicSwitch only supports 8-pin
graphics and 960 dots per line density. PSW files are text files
containing the decimal ascii codes necessary for setting up your printer
for graphics. All PSW files must have three command lines separated by a
single carriage return. Only the ascii characters 0-9, L, l, H, h,
, , and CR/LF are recognized; all other characters are
ignored. Each printer code must be separated by a space or comma
delimiter. A maximum of 32 codes are allowed on each line.
The first line contains the decimal codes for initializing your printer
for graphics. These codes are sent to the printer only once at the start
of a graphics dump. The second line is sent before every line of graphics
and tells the printer how many columns of data are to follow. The third
and final line is sent after the graphics dump is finished and restores
the printer to normal operation.
The following is a sample PSW file (this is the built-in EPSON default):
27 51 23
27 76 L H
27 50
The 1st line: "3" 23, tells the Epson to set the line spacing in
216ths of an inch increments, to 23/216 of an inch. You could substitute
any line spacing command you like here. I found this setting worked very
well in getting rid of the dreaded white lines. [Warning: some
"Epson-compatibles" do not support this escape code. Consult your printer
manual if you have problems.] Note that 24/216 or 8/72 is the more
'correct' setting to use here since the Epson's pin spacing is 1/72".
The 2nd line: "L" L H, tells the Epson to print (L+256*H) columns of
960 dots per line graphics. You need not be concerned with the actual
'L'ow and 'H'igh values here, PicSwitch will substitute the correct values
for L and H according to how long the actual line of picture data is.
Just make sure you put the L and H in the correct place for your printer.
Note you MUST use 960 dots per line density.
The 3rd line: "2", tells the Epson to return to the original 1/6 of
an inch line spacing. You could also use a 'reset' command here (
"@" for the Epson) if you wish.
A form feed is sent at the end of each completed printer dump. If the
printer is not available or a driver was not loaded, the console bell will
sound.
All printouts done with either [P]rint or [D]ump are printed in the
ORIGINAL picture's resolution, not from screen memory. This allows mono
pics to be printed with no loss of resolution. MacPaint/Paintworks pics
cannot be printed in compressed mode unless you first save the file in
compressed form, reload it, and then print it out.
Remember, the [D]ump command is for screen dumps only, and only works if
you have loaded a DEGAS printer driver at run-time. If the picture is a
full-page MacPaint or Paintworks image, the section of the pic currently
displayed is what gets printed.
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Thanks!
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Again, many thanks to everyone who took the time to write us, especially
those who have contributed. You will not be forgotten!
Please consider the time it takes to develop and debug a utility such as
this. If you haven't already contributed, please honor the shareware
policy and send your contribution, however small, to the address below.
As always, I can be reached on GEnie [JAKOB], CIS [70376,1235], and Delphi
[JAKOB], or you can write me at the address below. If you have any
comments or ideas, I'd like to hear from you!
John Brochu
Advanced Software
21 Northend Street
Peabody, MA 01960
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