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PC-SIG Diskette Library (Disk #2277)
[PCjs Machine "ibm5170"]
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Information about “GRAPHIC WORKSHOP, GRAFCAT, CROPGIF”
Need to convert .GIF or .PCX files for inclusion as halftoned art in
desktop publishing, or use MACPAINT pictures for WORDPERFECT? Then try
this program -- the last word in image programs.
It converts, prints, views, dithers, transforms and halftones:
MACPAINT, GEM/VENTURA, .IMG, .GIG, .TIFF, .WPG, .MSP, and .ESP files.
Batch processing is featured if you need to convert many files.
Extended and expanded memory are supported. It has an intuitive user
interface and easy-to-follow menus. With GRAPHIC WORKSHOP, you can
even convert color image files into superb black and white clip art for
desktop publishing.
Other features:
~ Rotate image files in 90 increments.
~ Flip image files horizontally and vertically.
~ Print to most laser and dot matrix printers.
~ Support for .IFF/.LBM files allows pictures which originate in Amiga
and Deluxe Paint files to be converted into more common PC formats.
Print a visual catalog of your image files, sixteen to a page. Drive
all LaserJet and PostScript laser printers, and work with any mixture
of.GIF, .MAC, and .IMG files.
Crop smaller fragments out of your .GIF files. Use the GRAPHIC
WORKSHOP to convert other formats into .GIF files for cropping.
CROPGIF uses a simple mouse interface to make cropping image fragments
no more complicated than using a paint program.
CROPGIF.DOC
GIF FILE CROPPER 1.1
__________________________________________________________________
If you like this program, please do one of the following:
Go down to your local bookstore and buy a copy of "Coven: A
Novel", by Steven William Rimmer, published by Ballantine Books.
In Canada, try Coles... they usually have it. Read the book and
tell your friends about it if you like it. Send us some comments
about the book or a photocopy of the cover and we'll consider you
a registered user of this program.
Alternately, send us $25.00, the normal user fee for this
software. (The book is $3.95 or $5.50 in Canada: considerably
cheaper than cash.)
Registered users of this software are entitled to phone support,
notification of upgrades and good karma. Our address can be found
at the end of this file.
__________________________________________________________________
Thanks for checking out CROPGIF.
This program will allow you to crop fragments from existing GIF
files. The fragments will be written to new... smaller... GIF
files.
Unlike other GIF cropping programs, this one doesn't involve the
use of any tricky measurements. It works like the cut and paste
functions of a paint program. It requires that a Microsoft
compatible mouse driver be present before it will work, as the
mouse does all the work.
In order to make the program work reasonably fast and in a
decent amount of memory, the image you'll get to work with
will not be a full colour one. Instead, CROPGIF will show you a
dithered monochrome version of your source GIF file. However, the
destination file will have the same colours as the source file
did.
Because the CROPGIF display works with monochrome graphics, it
can be used with pretty well any display card. It supports:
- CGA (ugh!)
- EGA
- VGA
- Hercules monochrome
and, of course, anything which can emulate these modes. It should
automatically sense your display card type.
Here's how the beast works. Let's assume that you have a GIF file
called ANGELA.GIF, from which you wish to crop a fragment to be
called FACE.GIF. We'll allow that the fragment will probably
contain Angela's face, although the program itself probably won't
care.
Note that FACE.GIF, the destination file, will be created by
CROPGIF. ANGELA.GIF, the source file, will not be modified in any
way.
Making sure that you have previously loaded your mouse driver...
and that, prior to doing so you have indeed remembered to buy a
mouse... you would type the following:
CROPGIF ANGELA.GIF FACE.GIF
In fact, you can leave off the .GIF extensions, as CROPGIF
assumes these. You will see a beg notice... please don't merely
ignore this... with the program status below it. CROPGIF will
begin by loading ANGELA.GIF. It will then proceed to dither
ANGELA.GIF, that is, to create a temporary black and white
version of it. When this is complete, your screen will pop into
graphics mode and you'll see the dithered image.
The dithered image probably won't look too great, but don't worry
about this. It's only used to help you decide what to crop out,
and has no effect on the final image.
Move the mouse cursor to the upper left corner of the part of the
image you want to crop out. Hold down the left mouse button and
drag your mouse until the bounding rectangle encloses everything
you want to crop into FACE.GIF. Release the mouse button.
If you discover that you've selected the wrong bit of the picture
you can click your mouse to erase the bounding rectangle and try
again.
When you've got the right part of the picture enclosed, hit the
End key and your screen will return to text mode. The beg notice
will return... once again, please don't ignore this... and you'll
see a line at the bottom of your screen informing you that your
fragment is being written to FACE.GIF.
When this is done, you'll return to the DOS prompt.
If you change your mind and decide you don't want to crop a
fragment once you're in graphics mode, just hit Esc to return to
DOS.
Note that if you attempt to crop a fragment in which either
dimension is less than eight pixels, CROPGIF will assume you've
made a mistake and abort.
Also note that the cropped fragment will include everything
within the bounding rectangle and the pixels under the lines of
the rectangle.
OTHER DETAILS
_____________
CROPGIF uses a fair bit of memory, especially for large GIF
files. It might refuse to function on machines with restricted
memory, or on computers which have a lot of resident stuff
already loaded.
Some of the more voluminous GIF files around might be larger than
your screen. This probably won't occur if you use a VGA card...
which will show you up to 640 by 480 pixels in monochrome mode...
but it could happen on an EGA or Herc system. In this case, you
can make the picture scroll around by simply moving the mouse
cursor to the edge of your screen.
If your computer refuses to go into graphics mode, chances are
you have a multimode card which is confusing CROPGIF. In this
case, you can manually force the screen mode by adding a third
command line argument. For example, this would make CROPGIF use
Hercules graphics.
CROPGIF ANGELA.GIF FACE.GIF /HER
The following are the mode switches which CROPGIF recognizes.
/CGA - CGA card
/EGA - EGA card
/VGA - VGA card in 640 by 480 monochrome mode
/HER - Hercules card in 720 by 438 monochrome mode
Some low rent Microsoft compatible mice seem to have a problem in
some graphics modes, in that their cursors will refuse to move
more than about halfway down the screen, flash on and off, vanish
and so on. The Agiler mouse, for example, is a problem. This
doesnt happen with real Microsoft mice, or with the better
compatibles, such as the LogiTech mice.
Some versions of the ATI EGA Wonder card refuse to go into the
Hercules graphics mode under CROPGIF. The EGA graphics mode works
fine. We're looking into this.
ROLL YOUR OWN
_____________
This is another book plug. If you're interested in writing
programs which use graphics, you'll find everything you need to
know in "The Book of Bitmapped Graphics", also by Steven William
Rimmer. It's published by TAB books, (TAB book 3558) and should
be available in August 1990. It features code to pack and unpack
MacPaint, IMG, PCX, GIF and TIFF files, as well as chapters on
screen drivers, dithering and printing.
MORAL DOGMA
___________
If you like this program and find it useful, you are requested to
support it either by buying the book mentioned at the top of this
file or by sending us $25.00. We'd rather you bought the book.
This will entitle you to telephone support, notification of
updates and other good things like that. More to the point,
though, it'll make you feel good. We've not infested the program
with excessive beg notices, crippled it or had it verbally insult
you after ten days. We trust you to support this program if
you like it.
Oh yes, should you fail to support this program and
continue to use it, a leather winged demon of the night will tear
itself, shrieking blood and fury, from the endless caverns of the
nether world, hurl itself into the darkness with a thirst for
blood on its slavering fangs and search the very threads of time
for the throbbing of your heartbeat. Just thought you'd want to
know that.
We are
Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
P.O. Box 500
Beeton, Ontario
L0G 1A0
Canada
Other programs we've done that you might like include:
Scoop - MacPaint, GEM/IMG and PC Paintbrush file readers,
with Epson FX-80, LaserJet and PostScript printer
support. Drives CGA, EGA, VGA and Hercules cards.
Source code in Turbo C and Microsoft MASM is
included for this program.
HP_Slash - Make LaserJet soft fonts smaller by selectively excising
those characters you'll never use.
Calendar - Slick perpetual calendar that tells you when the
equinoxes happen, what day Michaelmas fell on in 1705
and so on.
gemCAP - Capture graphics screen in GEM/IMG paint format,
suitable for inhalation into Ventura.
CPM2DOS - Read CP/M formatted disks on your PC.
IMGCUT - Crop GEM/IMG paint files into smaller files.
ADDRESS - Memory resident envelope addresser with graphics.
VFM - Ventura soft font manager deluxe with a side of fries.
Adds new fonts and creates width tables with menu
driven simplicity.
MCOPY - Copying program which packs as many files as possible
onto a floppy, pauses when the current floppy is
full and asks for another one.
TCAP - A text screen capture program which generates GEM/IMG
graphics that look like your text, all ready for inhalation
into Ventura.
GRAFCAT - Prints a visual catalog of your image files, with
sixteen pictures to a page. Drives all LaserJet and
PostScript laser printers, and works with any mixture
of GIF, PCX, MAC and IMG files.
GRAPHIC
WORKSHOP - This is the last word in image programs. It converts,
prints, views, dithers and halftones MacPaint,
GEM/Ventura IMG, PCX, GIF, TIFF and EPS files. It
drives CGA, Hercules, EGA, VGA, Paradise and ATI VGA
Wonder cards. It features batch processing, extended
and expanded memory support, an intuitive user
interface and easy to follow menus. It allows you to
convert colour image files into superb black and
white clip art for desktop publishing, among other
things.
If you can't find them in the public domain, they're available
from us for $25.00 each, except Graphic Workshop, which is
$35.00.
REVISION HISTORY
________________
Version 1.1 - Now supports monochrome GIF files.
LEGAL DOGMA
___________
The author assumes no responsibility for any damage or loss
caused by the use of these programs, however it comes down. If
you can think of a way a picture program can cause you damage
or loss you've a sneakier mind than mine.
All the trademarks used herein are registered to whoever it is
that owns them. This notification is given in lieu of any
specific list of trademarks and their owners, which would not be
as inclusive and would probably take a lot longer to type.
That's it...
FILE2277.TXT
Disk No: 2277
Disk Title: Graphic Workshop, Grafcat, CropGIF
PC-SIG Version: S1
Program Title: Graphic Workshop
Author Version: 1.9
Author Registration: $35.00
Special Requirements: None.
If you need to convert GIF or PCX files for inclusion as halftoned art
in desktop publishing, or use MACPAINT pictures for WORDPERFECT then try
this program -- the last word in image programs.
It converts, prints, views, dithers, transforms and halftones: MACPAINT,
GEM/VENTURA, IMG, GIG, TIFF, WPG, MSP, and ESP files. Batch processing
is featured if you need to convert many files. Extended and expanded
memory are supported. It has an intuitive user interface, and
easy-to-follow menus. With GRAPHIC WORKSHOP, you can even convert
color image files into superb black and white clip art for desktop
publishing.
Other features:
~ Rotate image files in 90 degree increments
~ Flip image files horizontally and vertically
~ Print to most laser and dot matrix printers
~ Support for IFF/LBM files allows pictures which originate in Amiga
and Deluxe Paint files to be converted into more common PC formats.
Program Title: GrafCat
Author Version: 1.9
Author Registration: $20.00
Special Requirements: Laser printer.
This program prints a visual catalog of your image files, with sixteen
to a page. Drives all LaserJet and PostScript laser printers, and works
with any mixture of GIF, MAC, and IMG files.
Program Title: CROPGIF (GIF File Cropper)
Author Version: 1.1
Author Registration: $20.00
Special Requirements: 640K RAM, and a mouse.
With this program you can crop smaller fragments out of your GIF files.
Use the GRAPHIC WORKSHOP to convert other formats into GIF files for
cropping. CROPGIF uses a simple mouse interface to make cropping image
fragments no more complicated than using a paint program.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< PC-SIG Disk #2277 GRAPHIC WORKSHOP, GRAFCAT, CROPGIF >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To view instructions on how to start all three programs, type: ║
║ TYPE READ.ME (press Enter) ║
║ ║
║ To print out the documentation of each of the three programs after ║
║ unzipping them, type: COPY <respective program filename>.DOC PRN ║
║ (press Enter) ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
(c) Copyright 1990, PC-SIG Inc.
GRAFCAT.DOC
GRAFCAT 2.0
Graphics cataloging program deluxe:
Requires a laser printer... LaserJet Plus compatible or
a Postcript printer... and some graphics to catalog. Works
with any mixture of MacPaint, GEM/IMG, PC Paintbrush PCX
and GIF files.
__________________________________________________________________
If you like this program, please do one of the following:
Go down to your local bookstore and buy a copy of "Coven: A
Novel", by Steven William Rimmer, published by Ballantine Books.
In Canada, try Coles... they usually have it. Read the book and
tell your friends about it if you like it. Send us some comments
about the book or a photocopy of the cover and we'll consider you
a registered user of this program.
Alternately, send us $20.00, the normal user fee for this
software. (The book is $3.95 or $5.50 in Canada: considerably
cheaper than cash.)
Registered users of this software are entitled to phone support,
notification of upgrades and good karma. Our address can be found
at the end of this file.
__________________________________________________________________
New features as of version 2.0
______________________________
- Fixed a bug which caused some sixteen colour PCX files
(from programs which didn't really pack 'em properly) to
print mangled.
New features as of version 1.8
______________________________
- Does Bayer dithering, which is faster than the
Floyd-Steinberg dither used in previous versions.
- Supports PostScript as well as LaserJet printers.
- Supports GIF files, dithering them down to black and
white before printing. (This requires lots of memory...
if there is not enough free memory available, this
feature automatically switches off and the GIF pictures
print very contrasty.)
- Supports "headerless" MacPaint files of the type used
by First Publisher. They can be intermixed with normal
MacPaint files... GRAFCAT will figure out which is which.
- Fixes a bug in the PostScript printing which caused some
printers to hang after the first page.
What it Does and Why
____________________
We have seven hundred and sixteen image files in a subdirectory
called \GEMART. They occupy almost twenty megabytes. We use 'em a
lot... they're all public domain graphics and we can pop them
into desktop publishing documents when we want to dress up a page
quickly or just throw in a nude for effect.
You know, it's damn hard to remember what three hundred and
seventy five picture files contain. In addition, I think that
late at night after we've gone away the little mothers breed in
there.
In order to help figure out what all those file names are, we
wrote GRAFCAT. It creates a visual catalog of picture files which
makes it easy to check out a whole collection of pictures and
find the one you want. The pictures can be MacPaint files,
GEM/IMG files like the ones Ventura uses, colour GIF files with
up to 256 colours and PCX or PCC files from PC Paintbrush.
The program prints sixteen files to a page. Said pages come out
of a laser printer... you'll need one of these or GRAFCAT won't
be much use. The pictures are printed at three hundred dots to
the inch, so they come out readable but pretty small... which is
how so many make it onto a page.
The printer must be connected to LPT1 on your computer. You'll
need at least a megabyte of memory in the printer.
GRAFCAT will print pictures up to 576 by 720 pixels in their
entirety. This is the size of a MacPaint file. Confronted with
GIF, IMG or PCX files bigger than this, it will print the middle
part of the image.
GRAFCAT can print a mixture of image types at once. Thus, if you
just tell it to print *.*, it will sort out the file types it
knows how to handle and print them, ignoring anything else.
It assumes that the file extensions reflect the file types
properly, that is:
MAC for MacPaint
IMG for GEM/IMG
PCC or PCX for PC Paintbrush
GIF for GIF files
GRAFCAT does not handle colour IMG files or PC Paintbrush files
with 256 colours. PC Paintbrush files with sixteen or fewer
colours do print, although some of the colour information will
be ignored. Colour GIF files are dithered to black and white.
How to use GRAFCAT
__________________
Well, it's pretty heavy stuff. Type GRAFCAT followed by any wild
card file specification that points to some image files of the
types discussed. Examples are:
GRAFCAT D:\*.PCX
GRAFCAT \GEMART\*.IMG
GRAFCAT *.MAC
GRAFCAT *.*
GRAFCAT A*.GIF
GRAFCAT @LISTFILE
Make sure there's lots of paper in your printer and that you have
some time to kill. GRAFCAT takes a while, especially on slower
laser printers.
If you want to print selected pages of a large collection of
images, you can use GRAFCAT's command line options, to wit,
/Sn for the page to start printing with
/En for the page to stop printing after
To print pages 10, 11 and 12 of a catalog of images, you would do
this:
GRAFCAT *.IMG /S10 /E12
If you want to work out which images these would be, you can do
so as follows. First off, use a sorted directory utility to look
at the image file names. GRAFCAT prints them in alphabetical
order. Page 10 would start 160 files from the beginning of the
directory, as there are sixteen images to a page.
If you create a text file with the names of all the files you
want cataloged, to you can make GRAFCAT print those files by
passing the name of the text file as the file parameter with an
"@" in front of it, for example:
GRAFCAT @LISTFILE
Where LISTFILE is the name of a plain text file with one file
name per line. LISTFILE must be in the subdirectory where the
files you want to print reside.
GRAFCAT normally prints GIF files by dithering them if there's
enough memory to do so. You can disable this... to speed up
printing slightly... by adding the /D switch to your command
line.
If there is not enough memory to hande dithering, GRAFCAT will
throw the /D switch for you.
Without dithering, GIF images come up pretty contrasty looking.
The other image types are not affected.
If you attempt to print to a PostScript printer with insufficient
memory or with the /D switch set, GRAFCAT will complain. It needs
a big buffer to handle PostScript graphics.
GIF images are passed through a Bayer dither filter to make them
look more recognizable in black and white.
It's all so simple a politician could use it... probably.
PostScript Printing
___________________
GRAFCAT defaults to printing to a LaserJet Plus compatible
printer, but you can use it with a PostScript printer by using
the /P command line switch. PostScript is much slower at printing
bitmaps than a LaserJet is. If you have a printer which supports
both page description languages, you should use the LaserJet
mode.
There are reputedly some PostScript printers which hang after the
first page of printing. Ours does not, and we're pretty sure this
version of the program gets around this bug. However, if you
encounter it anew please let us know.
Roll Your Own
_____________
This is another book plug. If you're interested in writing
programs which use graphics, you'll find everything you need to
know in "The Book of Bitmapped Graphics", also by Steven William
Rimmer. It's published by TAB books, (TAB book 3558) and should
be available in August 1990. It features code to pack and unpack
MacPaint, IMG, PCX, GIF and TIFF files, as well as chapters on
screen drivers, dithering and printing. It also includes the
source code for a simplified version of this program.
Moral dogma
___________
If you like this program and find it useful, you are requested to
support it either by buying the book mentioned at the top of this
file or by sending us $20.00. We'd rather you bought the book.
This will entitle you to telephone support, notification of
updates and other good things like that. More to the point,
though, it'll make you feel good. We've not infested the program
with excessive beg notices, crippled it or had it verbally insult
you after ten days. We trust you to support GRAFCAT if you like
it.
Oh yes, and if you fail to support this program and continue to
use it, a leather winged demon of the night will tear itself,
shrieking blood and fury, from the endless caverns of the nether
world, hurl itself into the darkness with a thirst for blood on
its slavering fangs and search the very threads of time for the
throbbing of your heartbeat. Just thought you'd want to know
that.
We are
Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
P.O. Box 500
Beeton, Ontario
L0G 1A0
Canada
Other programs we've done that you might like include:
Scoop - MacPaint, GEM/IMG and PC Paintbrush file readers,
with Epson FX-80, LaserJet and PostScript printer
support. Drives CGA, EGA, VGA and Hercules cards.
HP_Slash - Make LaserJet soft fonts smaller by selectively excising
those characters you'll never use.
Calendar - Slick perpetual calendar that tells you when the
equinoxes happen, what day Michaelmas fell on in 1705
and so on.
ADDRESS - Memory resident envelope addresser with graphics.
VFM - Ventura soft font manager deluxe with a side of fries.
Adds new fonts and creates width tables with menu
driven simplicity.
MCOPY - Copying program which packs as many files as possible
onto a floppy, pauses when the current floppy is
full and asks for another one.
CROPGIF - allows you to crop smaller fragments out of your GIF
files. Use graphic Workshop, above, to convert other
formats into GIF files for cropping. This program
uses a simple mouse interface to make cropping image
fragments no more complicated than using a paint
program Requires a Microsoft compatible mouse.
GRAPHIC
WORKSHOP - This is the last word in image programs. It converts,
prints, views, dithers, transforms and halftones
MacPaint, GEM/Ventura IMG, PCX, GIF, TIFF, WPG, MSP
and EPS files. It drives CGA, Hercules, EGA, VGA,
Paradise, Video 7 and ATI VGA Wonder cards. It
features batch processing, extended and expanded
memory support, an intuitive user interface and easy
to follow menus. It allows you to convert colour
image files into superb black and white clip art for
desktop publishing, among other things.
If you can't find them in the public domain, they're available
from us for $20.00 each. Source is available for Scoop, for $25.00.
Legal dogma
-----------
The author assumes no responsibility for any damage or loss
caused by the use of these programs, however it comes down. If
you can think of a way a picture program can cause you damage
or loss you've a sneakier mind than mine.
All the trademarks used herein are registered to whoever it is
that owns them. This notification is given in lieu of any
specific list of trademarks and their owners, which would not be
as inclusive and would probably take a lot longer to type.
That's it...
DRIVERS.DOC
Dot matrix printer drivers for Graphic Workshop
_______________________________________________
This version of Graphic Workshop includes the following dot
matrix printer drivers. All the supplied drivers print to LPT1.
You can redirect this with the DOS MODE command. If you write a
custom driver you can have it print to any port you like.
Note that while the external printer driver facility was
implemented in Graphic Workshop to support dot matrix printers,
you can write a driver to support pretty well any output device,
including film recorders, FAX boards and so on.
This release of Graphic Workshop is a bit thin on specialized
drivers... yes, two is a bit thin. We're working on borrowing
some of the popular printers to write drivers for them.
EPSNFX80.PDR This is a driver for the generic Epson FX-80
modes. It will work with many dot matrix
printers, although with far less resolution than
some newer printers can manage.
EPSNFX80.ASM This is the source code for the generic Epson FX-
80 driver, for use as a starting point in writing
your own custom driver. If you come up with a
printer driver of your own, please send us the
source and we'll include it in future releases of
Graphic Workshop with suitable credit.
GEMINI.PDR This is a driver for the 480 dot wide mode of the
arcane Star Micronics Gemini 10X. The output from
this printer is pretty ugly. The double
resolution graphics mode of the Gemini 10X is a
bit narrow, and pictures come out with badly
distorted aspect ratios, so we didn't use this
mode.
Registered users of Graphic Workshop wishing to write their own
drivers are welcome to whatever help we can supply. We can't
teach you to program in assembler over the phone, but we can
probably help you with basic questions and suggest ways around
any problems you encounter.
Super VGA card drivers for Graphic Workshop
___________________________________________
NOTE: As of version 2.4 of Graphic Workshop, the internal
structure of the super VGA drivers changed a bit. The old drivers
will no longer work with GWS.EXE. New versions of all the current
drivers are included with this release... delete your old
drivers.
MORE NOTES: As of version 2.7, all the drivers were changed
slightly. This involved using a slightly different technique for
setting the VGA palette to make palette adjustments from within
the VGA 256 colour mode look nicer. Older drivers... written after
version 2.4 of Graphic Workshop... will still work, but you'll
see a bit of screen trash when you adjust the VGA palette.
This version of Graphic Workshop includes the following drivers:
TRIDENT.DRV This is a driver for the Trident VGA graphic
cards. It drives the card in its 640 by 400, 256
colour mode, and will work with cards having 256
kilobytes or more of onboard memory. We
originally found the Trident card this driver was
developed on in a Sun Moon Star 386SX we were
loaned. It turned out that the monitor provided
with this computer would not sync in the 640 by
400 256 colour mode, even though the card was
doing fine. If you have this system, you probably
won't be able to use this driver unless you
spring for a multisync monitor.
VIDEO7.DRV This is a driver for the Headland Technologies
Video Seven VRAM and Video Seven 1024i cards. It
supports the 640 by 480 line 256-colour mode. It
uses the standard VGA and EGA 16-colour and
monochrome modes... we decided not to implement
the 1024 by 768 16-colour mode. There are very
few 16-colour images around which could take
advantage of this mode, but there are a lot of
monitors which cannot.
PARAPLUS.DRV This is a full featured driver for the Western
Digital Paradise Plus card. This driver also
works with the Dell Super VGA card, which is
actually a Paradise 16-bit card.
DELLVGA.DRV This is a version of PARAPLUS.DRV, above. It has
been modified not to use the 800 by 600 pixel EGA
and monochrome modes of the Paradise card, as
this causes the super VGA monitor on a Dell to
click a (loud) internal relay every time it
changes modes. If you don't mind the relay, or
you want the 800 by 600 modes, use PARAPLUS.DRV,
above.
Note: rumour has it that some Dell systems have
been shipped with Headland Video 7 cards rather
than Paradise cards. If your Dell system is so
equipped... or if you can't get GWS to work in
the super VGA modes with one of the above two
drivers... try VIDEO7.DRV.
ATIWONDR.DRV This is a driver for the ATI VGA Wonder and ATI
VGA Edge cards. It drives the 256 colour screen
in the 400 line mode, and will work with cards
having 256K on them. The upper 256K on half meg
cards will be ignored by this driver.
ATI512.DRV This is a driver for ATI Wonder cards having 512K
of memory on board. It will display pictures in
up to 800 by 600 pixel resolution, selecting
among the three available 256 colour display
modes based on the dimensions of the image to be
viewed.
GRAFDRV.DRV This is a stock VGA card driver. You might want
to use this if there is no super VGA card driver
available for your card, however, as it handles
the 16-colour and monochrome modes in potentially
more useful ways than the internal VGA driver of
Graphic Workshop does.
VGA400.DRV This is a "gadget" driver for a stock VGA card
which reprograms the beast into an undocumented
320 by 400 line mode. It should work on any VGA
card, but being undocumented one cannot be sure.
In any case, while interesting, this mode has
such a squashed aspect ratio that it's not really
useful for anything. In addition, having heavily
interlaced memory, it's painfully slow to update.
VGA480.DRV This is another undocumented mode. It gets still
more on the screen, with still more distortion.
To use one of these drivers, use GWSINSTL to select EXTERNAL for
display type and enter the path to your driver in the path name
field at the bottom of GWSINSTL screen. This should be the
complete path, including the drive letter. Graphic Workshop does
not assume that driver file names end in .DRV... you can call 'em
anything you like.
The name of the driver you've loaded should appear in the
F10 "About" window when you're running GWS.EXE.
Writing your own driver
Also included with this version of Graphic Workshop is
GRAFDRV.ASM, the source code for GRAFDRV.DRV. This file can be
used as the boilerplate for writing your own super VGA card
driver. You will need a pretty good grasp of assembly language
and the hardware specific details of the card you want to write a
driver for to get this together. This file should be assembled
with Microsoft's MASM assembler, version 4.0 or better.
The following batch file is useful in assembling
GRAFDRV.ASM into GRAFDRV.DRV... or any other driver you happen to
write.
MASM %1 %1 NUL NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO PROBLEM
LINK %1 @AUTOLINK
EXE2BIN %1 %1.DRV
DEL %1.EXE
DEL %1.OBJ
:PROBLEM
The file AUTOLINK must be present... it contains four
carriage returns, that is, four blank lines.
In future releases we hope to include a number of SVGA
drivers with Graphic Workshop. If you write one using the
GRAFDRV.ASM skeletal driver and care to send us the source, we'll
be pleased to include it with future releases, with suitable credit.
Registered users of Graphic Workshop who want to write
their own drivers are welcome to the source code for all the
above drivers... you might find some of the techniques used in
them helpful in writing your driver. The only conditions are that
you must be a registered user and we'd like to have the source
code for the driver you write when you get it working... we'll
include the object file in with future releases of Graphic
Workshop.
We'll be happy to give you whatever help we can in
writing your driver, too.
If you want the driver source files, please phone or
write us and we'll send 'em off to you.
Custom drivers
We've been asked on a few occasions whether we'll write custom
drivers for Graphic Workshop on behalf of various interested
parties. We might be able to, depending on time and whathaveyou.
If you really want a specific SVGA driver for Graphic Workshop...
for example, if you want to licence it for inclusion with a
particular card or computer... and you can't get it together
yourself, contact us. Our address is in GRAFWORK.DOC.
EPSNFX80.ASM
COMMENT %
GRAPHIC WORKSHOP DOT MATRIX PRINTER DRIVER
COPYRIGHT (C) 1990 ALCHEMY MINDWORKS INC.
VERSION 1.0
%
PAGEWIDE EQU 612 ;PAGE WIDTH IN PIXELS
PAGEDEEP EQU 756 ;PAGE DEPTH IN PIXELS
LINEDEEP EQU 8 ;NUMBER OF BITS (PINS) IN A LINE
COLOURS EQU 1 ;ONLY ONE COLOUR SUPPORTED AS YET
VERSION EQU 1 ;VERSION NUMBER
SUBVERSION EQU 0 ;SUBVERSION NUMBER
_AOFF EQU 6 ;STACK OFFSET
CODE SEGMENT PARA PUBLIC 'CODE'
ASSUME CS:CODE
ORG 0000H ;ORIGIN FOR LOADABLE DRIVER
DB 'ALCHPRDR' ;SIGNATURE - DON'T CHANGE THIS
;THE FOLLOWING ARE THE POINTERS TO THE CALLABLE ROUTINES AND THE COMMON
;DATA. THE SEGMENTS ARE FILLED IN BY GRAPHIC WORKSHOP. DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING.
DISPATCH PROC FAR
DW INIT_PRINTER ;FAR POINTER TO PRINTER INITIALIZATION
DW ?
DW PRINT_LINE ;FAR POINTER TO LINE PRINT
DW ?
DW DEINIT_PRINTER ;FAR POINTER TO PRINTER DEINIT
DW ?
DW PRINT_TEXT ;FAR POINTER TO TEXT PRINT
DW ?
DW 0,0 ;NULL ONE
DW 0,0 ;NULL TWO
DW 0,0 ;NULL THREE
DW 0,0 ;NULL FOUR
V_PAGEWIDE DW PAGEWIDE
V_PAGEDEEP DW PAGEDEEP
V_LINEDEEP DW LINEDEEP
V_COLOURS DW COLOURS
;THESE VERSION NUMBERS REFLECT THE DRIVER TEMPLATE VERSION AND THE
;VERSION OF THE DRIVER ITSELF. YOU CAN CHANGE THE SUBVERSION VALUE
;TO REFLECT CHANGES IN YOUR DRIVER. THE VERSION VALUE MUST REMAIN
;UNCHANGED OR GRAPHIC WORKSHOP MAY REJECT YOUR DRIVER.
DW VERSION
DW SUBVERSION
;THIS SHOULD BE THE PRINTER NAME AS IT WILL APPEAR IN THE GWS MENU.
;THE FIRST BYTE MUST BE 01H AND THE NAME MUST BE EXACTLY 19 BYTES LONG
;PLUS ONE ZERO BYTE AT THE END.
DB 01H,'Epson FX-80 ',0
DISPATCH ENDP
;THIS PROCEDURE SHOULD INITIALIZE THE PRINTER. IT SHOULD ALSO STORE THE
;FIRST THREE INTS ON THE STACK FOR FUTURE USE. THESE ARE IMAGE_WIDTH,
;IMAGE_DEPTH AND IMAGE_BYTES RESPECTIVELY. ALSO ON THE STACK ARE A POINTER
;TO THE GWS CONFIGURATION STRUCT AND A POINTER TO THE CURRENT FILE NAME
INIT_PRINTER PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
MOV AX,[BP + _AOFF + 0]
MOV CS:[IMAGE_WIDTH],AX
MOV AX,[BP + _AOFF + 2]
MOV CS:[IMAGE_DEPTH],AX
MOV AX,[BP + _AOFF + 4]
MOV CS:[IMAGE_BYTES],AX
MOV DX,OFFSET INIT_SEQ
CALL PRINT_STRING
POP BP
RETF
INIT_PRINTER ENDP
;THIS PROCEDURE SHOULD PRINT ONE LINE. A POINTER TO THE LINE IS
;ON THE STACK.
PRINT_LINE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
MOV CX,CS:[IMAGE_WIDTH]
CMP CX,0
JE PRINT_L3
CMP CX,CS:[V_PAGEWIDE]
JL PRINT_L1
MOV CX,CS:[V_PAGEWIDE]
PRINT_L1: MOV CS:[START_LO],CL
MOV CS:[START_HI],CH
MOV DX,OFFSET START_SEQ
CALL PRINT_STRING
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0]
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2]
MOV DX,0
PRINT_L2: PUSH CX
CALL GET_BYTE
CALL PRINT_BYTE
INC DX
POP CX
LOOP PRINT_L2
MOV DX,OFFSET END_SEQ
CALL PRINT_STRING
PRINT_L3: POP DS
POP BP
RETF
PRINT_LINE ENDP
;THIS SHOULD DO ANYTHING NECESSARY TO FINISH THE PICTURE. IT SHOULD NOT
;ISSUE A FORM FEED, THOUGH.
DEINIT_PRINTER PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
MOV DX,OFFSET DEINIT_SEQ
CALL PRINT_STRING
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
DEINIT_PRINTER ENDP
;THIS WILL PRINT A LINE OF TEXT TO THE PRINTER. THE STRING IS ON THE
;STACK FOLLOWED BY THE LENGTH OF THE STRING
PRINT_TEXT PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0]
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2]
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 4]
CMP CX,0
JE PRINT_T2
CLD
PRINT_T1: LODSB
CALL PRINT_BYTE
LOOP PRINT_T1
PRINT_T2: POP DS
POP BP
RETF
PRINT_TEXT ENDP
;GET ONE BYTE FROM THE LINE FIELD
GET_BYTE PROC NEAR
PUSH BX
PUSH CX
PUSH DX
PUSH SI
MOV BX,DX
SHR BX,1
SHR BX,1
SHR BX,1
MOV AH,80H
MOV CL,DL
AND CL,0007H
SHR AH,CL
MOV AL,0
MOV CX,CS:[V_LINEDEEP]
MOV DH,80H
GETBYTE1: TEST DS:[SI + BX],AH
JNZ GETBYTE2
OR AL,DH
GETBYTE2: ADD SI,CS:[IMAGE_BYTES]
SHR DH,1
LOOP GETBYTE1
POP SI
POP DX
POP CX
POP BX
RET
GET_BYTE ENDP
;PRINT A PASCAL STYLE STRING IN CS:DX
PRINT_STRING PROC NEAR
PUSH CX
PUSH BX
MOV BX,DX
MOV CX,0
MOV CL,CS:[BX]
PRINT_S1: INC BX
MOV AL,CS:[BX]
CALL PRINT_BYTE
LOOP PRINT_S1
POP BX
POP CX
RET
PRINT_STRING ENDP
;PRINT ONE BYTE IN AL
PRINT_BYTE PROC NEAR
PUSH AX
PUSH BX
PUSH CX
PUSH DX
PUSH SI
PUSH DS
PUSH AX
PRINT_B1: MOV AH,2
MOV DX,0
INT 17H
TEST AH,80H
JZ PRINT_B1
POP AX
MOV AH,0
MOV DX,0
INT 17H
POP DS
POP SI
POP DX
POP CX
POP BX
POP AX
RET
PRINT_BYTE ENDP
IMAGE_WIDTH DW 0
IMAGE_DEPTH DW 0
IMAGE_BYTES DW 0
;
; NOTE - ALL STRINGS START WITH A LENGTH BYTE
;
;THIS IS THE STRING SENT TO THE PRINTER AT THE START OF A GRAPHIC LINE
START_SEQ DB 5,1BH,'*',06H
START_LO DB 0
START_HI DB 0
;THIS IS THE STRING SENT TO THE PRINTER AT THE END OF A GRAPHIC LINE
END_SEQ DB 4,0DH,1BH,'J',18H
;THIS IS THE STRING SENT TO THE PRINTER TO INITIALIZE THE BEAST
INIT_SEQ DB 2,1BH,'@'
;THIS IS THE STRING SENT TO THE PRINTER TO DIINITIALIZE THE BEAST
DEINIT_SEQ DB 4,0DH,0AH,1BH,'@'
CODE ENDS
END
EXAMPLES.TXT
The example files are images to try Graphic Workshop
out with.
Example 1 - two colour image file. This will be
viewable on any card.
Example 2 - sixteen colour image file. This will
be viewable on EGA and VGA cards.
Example 3 - 256 colour image file. This will be
viewable in its true colours on VGA
cards, although you'll be able to see
it on EGA cards using colour approximation.
To really see what dithering can do, print out
example one.
GRAFDRV.ASM
COMMENT %
GRAPHIC WORKSHOP VGA SCREEN DRIVER
COPYRIGHT (C) 1990 ALCHEMY MINDWORKS INC.
VERSION 1.1
This is a skeletal driver for use as the
basis for writing custom SVGA loadable drivers
for Graphic Workshop. You will require the
hardware specific information about your
card to customize this driver.
As it stands, the driver implements the code for
a stock VGA card running in mode 13H for 256
colour images, mode 12H for 16 colour images
and mode 11H for monochrome images.
To generate a driver from this file, it must
be assembled using MASM, linked and converted
to a binary file with EXE2BIN.
The binary driver file must be less than 64K in size...
not a likely problem.
Best of cosmic luck...
%
VERSION EQU 1 ;VERSION NUMBER
SUBVERSION EQU 1 ;SUBVERSION NUMBER
_AOFF EQU 6 ;STACK OFFSET
VGA_WIDE EQU 320 ;WIDTH OF VGA SCREEN IN PIXELS
VGA_DEEP EQU 200 ;DEPTH OF VGA SCREEN IN PIXELS
VGA_SCREENSEG EQU 0A000H ;SEGMENT OF VGA SCREEN
EGA_WIDE EQU 640 ;WIDTH OF EGA SCREEN IN PIXELS
EGA_DEEP EQU 480 ;DEPTH OF EGA SCREEN IN PIXELS
EGA_BYTES EQU 80 ;WIDTH OF EGA SCREEN IN BYTES
EGA_SCREENSEG EQU 0A000H ;SEGMENT OF EGA SCREEN
MONO_WIDE EQU 640 ;WIDTH OF MONO SCREEN IN PIXELS
MONO_DEEP EQU 480 ;DEPTH OF MONO SCREEN IN PIXELS
MONO_BYTES EQU 80 ;WIDTH OF MONO SCREEN IN BYTES
MONO_SCREENSEG EQU 0A000H ;SEGMENT OF MONO SCREEN
;THIS MACRO SELECTS AN EGA PLANE
EGAPLANE MACRO ARG1
MOV AL,2
MOV DX,03C4H
OUT DX,AL
INC DX
MOV AL,ARG1
OUT DX,AL
ENDM
CODE SEGMENT PARA PUBLIC 'CODE'
ASSUME CS:CODE
ORG 0000H ;ORIGIN FOR LOADABLE DRIVER
DB 'ALCHDRV2' ;SIGNATURE - DON'T CHANGE THIS
;THE FOLLOWING ARE THE POINTERS TO THE CALLABLE ROUTINES AND THE COMMON
;DATA. THE SEGMENTS ARE FILLED IN BY GRAPHIC WORKSHOP. DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING.
DISPATCH PROC FAR
DW VGA_ON ;FAR POINTER TO VGA MODE SELECT
DW ?
DW VGA_LINE ;FAR POINTER TO VGA LINE DISPLAY
DW ?
DW VGA_OFF ;FAR POINTER TO VGA MODE DESELECT
DW ?
DW VGA_PALETTE ;FAR POINTER TO VGA PALETTE SET
DW ?
DW VGA_OVERSCAN ;FAR POINTER TO VGA OVERSCAN SET
DW ?
DW EGA_ON ;FAR POINTER TO EGA MODE SELECT
DW ?
DW EGA_LINE ;FAR POINTER TO EGA LINE DISPLAY
DW ?
DW EGA_OFF ;FAR POINTER TO EGA MODE DESELECT
DW ?
DW EGA_PALETTE ;FAR POINTER TO EGA PALETTE SET
DW ?
DW MONO_ON ;FAR POINTER TO MONO MODE SELECT
DW ?
DW MONO_FRAME ;FAR POINTER TO MONO PAGE DISPLAY
DW ?
DW MONO_LINE ;FAR POINTER TO MONO LINE DISPLAY
DW ?
DW MONO_OFF ;FAR POINTER TO MONO MODE DESELECT
DW ?
DW 0,0 ;NULL ONE
DW 0,0 ;NULL TWO
DW 0,0 ;NULL THREE
DW 0,0 ;NULL FOUR
V_VGAWIDE DW VGA_WIDE ;VGA SCREEN WIDTH
V_VGADEEP DW VGA_DEEP ;VGA SCREEN DEPTH
V_VGASCRNSEG DW VGA_SCREENSEG ;VGA SCREEN SEGMENT
V_EGAWIDE DW EGA_WIDE ;EGA SCREEN WIDTH
V_EGADEEP DW EGA_DEEP ;EGA SCREEN DEPTH
V_EGABYTES DW EGA_BYTES ;EGA SCREEN BYTES
V_EGASCRNSEG DW EGA_SCREENSEG ;EGA SCREEN SEGMENT
V_MONOWIDE DW MONO_WIDE ;MONO SCREEN WIDTH
V_MONODEEP DW MONO_DEEP ;MONO SCREEN DEPTH
V_MONOBYTES DW MONO_BYTES ;BYTE WIDTH ON MONOCHROME SCREEN
V_MONOSCRNSEG DW MONO_SCREENSEG ;MONOCHROME SCREEN SEGMENT
;THESE VERSION NUMBERS REFLECT THE DRIVER TEMPLATE VERSION AND THE
;VERSION OF THE DRIVER ITSELF. YOU CAN CHANGE THE SUBVERSION VALUE
;TO REFLECT CHANGES IN YOUR DRIVER. THE VERSION VALUE MUST REMAIN
;UNCHANGED OR GRAPHIC WORKSHOP MAY REJECT YOUR DRIVER.
DW VERSION
DW SUBVERSION
;THE DESCRIPTION APPEARS IN THE F10 "ABOUT" BOX IN GRAPHIC
;WORKSHOP WHEN AN EXTERNAL DRIVER IS BEING USED. IT CAN'T
;EXCEED 24 CHARACTERS AND MUST BE NULL TERMINATED
DB 'Standard VGA 320 x 200 ',0
DISPATCH ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SELECTS THE VGA 256 COLOUR MODE
;THE HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF THE IMAGE ARE ON THE STACK - THESE
;MAY BE USEFUL IF YOU WANT TO PICK ONE OF SEVERAL AVAILABLE
;MODES BASED ON THE AREA OF THE PICTURE TO BE DISPLAYED
VGA_ON PROC NEAR
PUSH DS
MOV AX,CS
MOV DS,AX
MOV CX,VGA_DEEP ;DEPTH OF SCREEN
SUB DX,DX
MOV SI,OFFSET SCREENTABLE
VGA_ON1: PUSH DX
MOV AX,VGA_WIDE ;WIDTH OF SCREEEN
MUL DX
MOV [SI],AX
ADD SI,2
POP DX
INC DX
LOOP VGA_ON1
MOV AX,0013H
INT 10H
POP DS
RETF
VGA_ON ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DISPLAYS A VGA LINE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK (2 WORDS) IS A FAR POINTER TO
;THE LINE. THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE LENGTH OF THE LINE IN PIXELS
VGA_LINE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF SOURCE
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF SOURCE
MOV BX,[BP + _AOFF + 6] ;GET LINE NUMBER
CMP BX,VGA_DEEP
JGE SHOWVGAX
SHL BX,1
MOV DI,CS:[SCREENTABLE+BX]
CLD
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;LENGTH OF MOVE IN BYTES
CMP CX,0
JE SHOWVGAX ;CHECK FOR NASTIES
CMP CX,VGA_WIDE
JL SHOWVGA1
MOV CX,VGA_WIDE
SHOWVGA1: MOV AX,VGA_SCREENSEG
MOV ES,AX
REPNE MOVSB
SHOWVGAX: POP ES
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
VGA_LINE ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DESELECTS THE VGA 256 COLOUR MODE
VGA_OFF PROC NEAR
MOV AX,1200H
MOV BX,0031H
INT 10H
MOV AX,0003H
INT 10H
RETF
VGA_OFF ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SETS THE VGA PALETTE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK IS A FAR POINTER TO
;THE PALETTE DATA. THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE NUMBER OF COLOURS.
VGA_PALETTE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV AX,CS
MOV ES,AX
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF SOURCE
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF SOURCE
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;NUMBER OF COLOURS
MOV DI,OFFSET VGAPALETTE
CMP CX,0 ;CHECK FOR NASTIES
JG GVP0
JMP GVPX
;WE'LL SET THE PALLETTE USING DIRECT REGISTERS RATHER
;THAN A BIOS CALL AS IT LOOKS NIVER
GVP0: MOV DX,03C6H
MOV AL,0FFH
OUT DX,AL
MOV BX,0
GVP1: PUSH CX
MOV DX,03C8H
MOV AL,BL
INC BX
OUT DX,AL
INC DX
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
OUT DX,AL
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
OUT DX,AL
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
OUT DX,AL
POP CX
LOOP GVP1
COMMENT &
GVP0: PUSH CX
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
STOSB
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
STOSB
LODSB
SHR AL,1
SHR AL,1
STOSB
POP CX
LOOP GVP0
MOV AX,1012H ;POINT TO THE PALETTE
MOV BX,0000H
MOV CX,256
MOV DX,OFFSET VGAPALETTE
INT 10H
&
GVPX: POP ES
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
VGA_PALETTE ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SETS THE VGA OVERSCAN.
;THE FIRST STACK ARGUMENT IS THE COLOUR NUMBER.
VGA_OVERSCAN PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
MOV AX,1001H
MOV BX,[BP + _AOFF + 0]
XCHG BH,BL
INT 10H
POP BP
RETF
VGA_OVERSCAN ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SELECTS THE EGA 16 COLOUR MODE
;THE HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF THE IMAGE ARE ON THE STACK - THESE
;MAY BE USEFUL IF YOU WANT TO PICK ONE OF SEVERAL AVAILABLE
;MODES BASED ON THE AREA OF THE PICTURE TO BE DISPLAYED
EGA_ON PROC NEAR
PUSH DS
MOV AX,CS
MOV DS,AX
MOV CX,EGA_DEEP ;DEPTH OF SCREEN
SUB DX,DX
MOV SI,OFFSET SCREENTABLE
EGA_ON1: PUSH DX
MOV AX,EGA_BYTES ;WIDTH OF SCREEEN
MUL DX
MOV [SI],AX
ADD SI,2
POP DX
INC DX
LOOP EGA_ON1
MOV AX,0012H
INT 10H
POP DS
RETF
EGA_ON ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DISPLAYS AN EGA LINE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK (2 WORDS) IS A FAR POINTER TO
;THE LINE. THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE LENGTH OF THE LINE IN BYTES
EGA_LINE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF SOURCE
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF SOURCE
MOV BX,[BP + _AOFF + 6] ;GET LINE NUMBER
CMP BX,EGA_DEEP
JGE SHOWEGAX
SHL BX,1
MOV DI,CS:[SCREENTABLE+BX]
MOV AX,0A000H
MOV ES,AX
MOV BX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;LENGTH OF MOVE IN BYTES
MOV CX,BX
EGAPLANE 1
CLD
PUSH DI
REPNE MOVSB
POP DI
MOV CX,BX
EGAPLANE 2
PUSH DI
REPNE MOVSB
POP DI
MOV CX,BX
EGAPLANE 4
PUSH DI
REPNE MOVSB
POP DI
MOV CX,BX
EGAPLANE 8
PUSH DI
REPNE MOVSB
POP DI
EGAPLANE 0FH
SHOWEGAX: POP ES
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
EGA_LINE ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SETS THE EGA PALETTE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK IS A FAR POINTER TO
;THE PALETTE DATA. THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE NUMBER OF COLOURS.
EGA_PALETTE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF SOURCE
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF SOURCE
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;NUMBER OF COLOURS
SUB BX,BX
CMP CX,16
JLE EGA_PALETTE1
MOV CX,16
EGA_PALETTE1: MOV BH,[SI]
MOV AX,1000H
INT 10H
INC BL
INC SI
LOOP EGA_PALETTE1
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
EGA_PALETTE ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DESELECTS THE EGA 16 COLOUR MODE
EGA_OFF PROC NEAR
MOV AX,0003H
INT 10H
RETF
EGA_OFF ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE SELECTS THE 2 COLOUR MODE
;THE HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF THE IMAGE ARE ON THE STACK - THESE
;MAY BE USEFUL IF YOU WANT TO PICK ONE OF SEVERAL AVAILABLE
;MODES BASED ON THE AREA OF THE PICTURE TO BE DISPLAYED
MONO_ON PROC NEAR
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV AX,CS
MOV DS,AX
MOV ES,AX
MOV AX,0011H
INT 10H
MOV CX,MONO_DEEP
SUB DX,DX
MOV SI,OFFSET SCREENTABLE
MONO_ON1: PUSH DX
MOV AX,MONO_BYTES
MUL DX
MOV [SI],AX
ADD SI,2
POP DX
INC DX
LOOP MONO_ON1
POP ES
POP DS
SUB AX,AX
RETF
MONO_ON ENDP
UPDATE_MOVE EQU 2
UPDATE_PAD EQU 4
UPDATE_ADJUST EQU 6
;THIS ROUTINE DISPLAYS A FULL MONOCHROME PAGE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK IS A FAR POINTER TO THE PAGE
;THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE WIDTH OF THE BITMAP (IN BYTES)
;THE THIRD ARGUMENT IS THE NUMBER OF LINES TO DISPLAY
;NOTE: THE SOURCE BUFFER MAY BE BIGGER THAN 64K.
MONO_FRAME PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
SUB SP,UPDATE_ADJUST
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV AX,MONO_SCREENSEG ;POINT TO THE SCREEN
MOV ES,AX
MOV AX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;GET THE WIDTH OF MOVE
MOV [BP - UPDATE_MOVE],AX ;SAVE IT LOCALLY
MOV WORD PTR [BP - UPDATE_PAD],0 ;SET ADJUSTMENT
CMP AX,MONO_BYTES ;IF THE MOVE IS LESS THAN
JL UPDATE0 ;SCREEN WIDTH, GO FOR IT
SUB AX,MONO_BYTES ;ELSE, SET MOVE WIDTH
MOV [BP - UPDATE_PAD],AX ;...AND THE AMOUNT TO
MOV AX,MONO_BYTES ;...ADJUST THE POINTER
MOV [BP - UPDATE_MOVE],AX ;...AFTER EACH LINE
UPDATE0: MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF BITMAP
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF BITMAP
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 6] ;NUMBER OF LINES
CLD ;CLEAR DIRECTION FLAG
SUB BX,BX
UPDATE1: PUSH CX ;SAVE COUNT (LINE NUMBER)
MOV DI,CS:[SCREENTABLE + BX]
ADD BX,2 ;POINT TO NEXT LINE
MOV CX,[BP - UPDATE_MOVE] ;GET THE MOVE SIZE
REPNE MOVSB ;DO THE MOVE
ADD SI,[BP - UPDATE_PAD] ;ADJUST THE POINTER
CMP SI,0F800H ;ARE WE WITHIN 2K OF TOP?
JL UPDATE2 ;IF NOT, CARRY ON
MOV AX,SI ;SEE HOW MANY SEGMENTS ARE
MOV CL,4 ;...IN SI (SI DIV 4)
SHR AX,CL
MOV CX,DS ;ADD THEM TO THE DATA SEGMENT
ADD CX,AX ;...(YOU CAN'T JUST ADD DS,AX)
MOV DS,CX
AND SI,000FH ;ADJUST SI (SI MOD 16)
UPDATE2: POP CX ;GET COUNT BACK
LOOP UPDATE1 ;DECREMENT AND LOOP
POP ES
POP DS
ADD SP,UPDATE_ADJUST
POP BP
RETF
MONO_FRAME ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DISPLAYS A SINGLE MONOCHROME LINE
;THE FIRST ARGUMENT ON THE STACK IS A FAR POINTER TO THE LINE
;THE SECOND ARGUMENT IS THE LINE NUMBER
;THE THIRD ARGUMENT IS THE WIDTH OF THE BITMAP (IN BYTES)
MONO_LINE PROC NEAR
PUSH BP
MOV BP,SP
PUSH DS
PUSH ES
MOV AX,MONO_SCREENSEG ;POINT TO THE SCREEN
MOV ES,AX
MOV CX,[BP + _AOFF + 6] ;GET THE WIDTH OF MOVE
CMP CX,0
JE MONO_LINE2
CMP CX,MONO_BYTES
JL MONO_LINE1
MOV CX,MONO_BYTES
MONO_LINE1: MOV SI,[BP + _AOFF + 0] ;OFFSET OF BITMAP
MOV DS,[BP + _AOFF + 2] ;SEGMENT OF BITMAP
MOV BX,[BP + _AOFF + 4] ;NUMBER OF LINE
SHL BX,1
CLD ;CLEAR DIRECTION FLAG
MOV DI,CS:[SCREENTABLE + BX]
REPNE MOVSB ;DO THE MOVE
MONO_LINE2: POP ES
POP DS
POP BP
RETF
MONO_LINE ENDP
;THIS ROUTINE DESELECTS THE 2 COLOUR MODE
MONO_OFF PROC NEAR
MOV AX,0003H
INT 10H
SUB AX,AX
RETF
MONO_OFF ENDP
;THIS IS A LINE START LOOKUP TABLE
SCREENTABLE DW MONO_DEEP DUP(?) ;LINE START TABLE
;THIS IS WHERE THE VGA PALETTE IS STORED
VGAPALETTE DB 768 DUP(?) ;PALETTE
CODE ENDS
END
GRAFWORK.DOC
GRAPHIC WORKSHOP 3.4
__________________________________________________________________
If you like this program, please do one of the following:
Go down to your local bookstore and buy a copy of "Coven: A
Novel", by Steven William Rimmer, published by Ballantine Books.
In Canada, try Coles... they usually have it. Read the book and
tell your friends about it if you like it. Send us some comments
about the book or a photocopy of the cover and we'll consider you
a registered user of this program.
Alternately, send us $35.00, the normal user fee for this
software. (The book is $3.95 or $5.50 in Canada: considerably
cheaper than cash.)
Registered users of this software are entitled to phone support,
notification of upgrades and good karma. Please tell us the
version number of your copy of Graphic Workshop when you
register... we'll send you the most recent one immediately if
it's newer than yours. Our address can be found at the end of
this file.
__________________________________________________________________
----> NEW: TIFF and LBM details
Grey scale TIFF support.
WordPerfect Graphic file support.
Microsoft Paint support.
VGA palette adjustment.
Driver update: Please see DRIVERS.DOC.
Dot Matrix Printer support: Also see DRIVERS.DOC.
Image rotation and flipping.
IFF/LBM/CE support.
Non-dither halftoning
Welcome to Graphic Workshop...
WHAT IT IS
__________
Graphic Workshop is a program for working with computer graphic
files. It will handle most of the popular formats:
- MacPaint files
- PC Paintbrush files with up to 256 colours
- GEM/IMG files of the sort used by Ventura Publisher
- GIF files of any size and up to 256 colours
- TIFF files (with some restrictions)
- EPS files... encapsulated PostScript... for some operations
- WordPerfect graphic files.
- Microsoft Windows Paint (MSP) files.
- IFF/LBM/CE files (from Deluxe Paint, among others)
Graphic workshop is a simple, menu driven environment which will
let you perform the following operations on the aforementioned
files.
- View them.
- Convert between any two formats (with a few restrictions).
- Print them to any LaserJet Plus compatible or PostScript laser
and many dot matrix printers.
- Dither the colour ones to black and white.
- Reverse the monochrome ones black for white.
- Rotate and flip them.
Using Graphic Workshop, you can have your image files in the formats
that your software wants to use them in, all without keeping
track of numerous funky utilities. In addition, using the
halftoning and dithering facilities of Graphic Workshop, you can
convert full colour digitized photographs... most notably GIF
files... for use as really excellent black and white clip art,
suitable for inclusion in your documents.
Graphic Workshop will handle image files of any size. It will use
extended or expanded memory if you have some, and disk space if
you don't. It has a fast and easily understood user interface.
Hopefully, it lacks even the merest vestiges of bugs... a likely
story, but we hope so.
Graphic Workshop will drive all of the popular display cards. At
present, it will support the following.
- CGA card (Ugh!)
- Hercules card
- EGA card
- VGA card
- Paradise Plus card
- Dell super VGA card (which is actually a Paradise card)
- ATI VGA Wonder card or ATI VGA Edge
- Headland Video 7
As it comes out of the box... or out of the ZIP... Graphic
Workshop is configured like this. If you want to change some of
these parameters, see the installation section at the end of this
file.
- Attempts to autodetect the display card type
- Uses expanded memory
- Uses colour text
- Prints titles on its hard copy
- Uses the following file name extensions:
- MAC: MacPaint files
- IMG: GEM/IMG files
- PCX: PC Paintbrush files
- GIF: GIF files
- TIF: TIFF files
- EPS: EPS files
- WPG: WordPerfect graphic files
- MSP: Microsoft Windows Paint files.
- LBM: IFF files (Deluxe Paint and others)
FILE FORMATS
____________
A NOTE ABOUT MEMORY AND FILE FORMATS: One of the design criteria
of Graphic Workshop is that it should have enough memory left
over on a 640 kilobyte PC to be able to unpack a 640 by 480
pixel, 256 colour file without having to resort to using extra
memory, which would slow it down. This requires a minimum of 300
kilobytes plus a bit for various internal things. To achieve
this, the size of the program itself has to remain at a
reasonable degree of hugeness. This is why, for example, the
installation functions, GWSINSTL.EXE, is separate from the main
program.
The lesser used functions of Graphic Workshop, dithering
and image transformation, have been implemented for the GIF file
format only in order to keep the code size down. This is a bit of
an inconvenience, as you will have to convert files in other
formats to GIF to use these facilities with them, and then
probably convert the results back to the format your files
started off in. However, not implementing these features for all
the formats supported by Graphic Workshop reduced the code size
of the program by something over a hundred kilobytes by our
estimates. The result is a much faster program at the expense of
a bit of inconvenience.
A long time ago someone decided that 640 kilobytes was
more memory than anyone could possibly want. Someone should find
the person responsible and paint something easily recognizable
on his bald head, such that the rest of us will know where to
throw things.
MacPaint files
These can come in two flavours. The most common one is straight
ported MacPaint files, that is, files having the "MacBinary"
header. The other is "headerless" files, these being the ones
used with PFS:First Publisher. Graphic Workshop reads both types,
but if you convert a file to MacPaint format you can select which
of these two variations on the format you want to use.
Files converted to the MacPaint format from other formats will be
cropped or padded out as necessary to fit in the MacPaint
format's 576 by 720 format. Only monochrome files can be
converted to MacPaint files, since MacPaint in a monochrome-only
format.
GEM/IMG files
There are actually quite a few variations on IMG files. Only the
monochrome ones are currently supported by Graphic Workshop.
This is the format used by Ventura for its monochrome image file
format. Any size monochrome image can be converted to this
format.
PCX files
These are the files used to hold images for Z-Soft's PC
Paintbrush package. These can range from monochrome to 256-colour
images. All the various formats are supported by Graphic
Workshop. Note, however, that Graphic Workshop will allow you to
create 256-colour PCX files from GIF files which may be too large
to work with using the current version of PC-Paintbrush.
GIF files
These can range from monochrome to 256-colour images in any size
you can find 'em.
TIFF files
Graphic workshop supports monochrome and grey scale TIFF files.
If you convert a colour file from PCX or GIF to TIFF, the
resulting file will be a grey scale version of the colour file.
These import into desktop publishing packages such as Ventura for
sharp looking PostScript halftones.
Note that due to the wide variations among the programs
which produce TIFF files, Graphic Workshop would be lying rather
badly if it claimed to be able to read all TIFF files.
EPS files
These are encapsulated PostScript files, and are not strictly
speaking image files at all. Graphic Workshop treats them a bit
differently.
Many EPS files which are created with the intent of
importing them into a desktop publishing package include
bitmapped "preview" images to be used for positioning. If you
attempt to view an EPS file with Graphic Workshop, you will see
the preview image. If there is no preview image in the EPS file
you select, Graphic Workshop will tell you so.
Graphic Workshop will print EPS files to a PostScript
printer. It will also convert other graphic files into EPS files,
suitable for use with desktop publishing programs. If you convert
a colour graphic into an EPS file, the result will be a black and
white halftone when you print it... pretty slick, this.
WPG files
These are the native import graphic files for WordPerfect. These
files can contain both bitmaps and line art, or vector graphics.
Graphic Workshop can only deal with the bitmapped parts of them.
If you view, print or convert a WPG file containing both
bitmapped and vector elements, the vector elements will be
discarded.
WPG files which refuse to read with Graphic Workshop are
usually those which contain only vector elements and no bitmaps.
If you use the F4 function on a WPG file which does not read, the
comments field of the file information box will say "No bitmap"
if this is the case.
Graphic Workshop will deal with WPG files having one,
four or eight bits of colour information, that is, monochrome
files, sixteen colour files and 256-colour files. It doesn't work
with two bit files as these are exceedingly rare.
MSP files
These are the image files used by the paint program which comes
with Microsoft Windows. Don't confuse these with PCX files...
some versions of Windows came with a Windows implementation of PC
Paintbrush from ZSoft as well. The two programs... and the two
file formats... are not compatible. MSP files are monochrome
only.
IFF files
These started out on the Amiga. The IFF file standard is
extremely flexible, and allows all sorts of things besides images
to be stored in IFF files. IFF files are found on the PC having
been ported from Amiga systems. They are also created on the PC
by several applications such as Electronic Arts' Deluxe Paint
package and Digital Vision's Computer Eyes video scanner board.
In the first case they are given the extension LBM. In the second
they are given the extension CE. The basic file structure is the
same, however.
The IFF format allows specific programs to include
proprietary "chunks" in a file which no one else knows how to
deal with without imparing the usefulness of the files in
question for other applications. For example, Deluxe Paint's LBM
files include a chunk called TINY, which contains a small version
of the image in the file which will appear when you're selecting
a file to load. Electronic Arts does not seem willing to part
with the structure of this chunk, and as it's more of an ornament
than an essential part of the IFF file structure, Graphic
Workshop simply ignores it. It does not read TINY chunks, nor
does it create TINY images in the IFF files it writes. As
such,there will be no preview image in the Deluxe Paint file load
dialog box when you select an LBM file created by Graphic
Workshop, but the file itself will load fine.
There are a few caveats in using IFF files under this
version of Graphic Workshop. First off, the IFF files created by
Graphic Workshop are not compressed as we have yet to find a
compression algorythm which will create files that Deluxe Paint
will accept reliably. As such, they tend to get a tad large...
this will be remedied by the next revision.
Secondly, odd size files converted into IFF files may not
load into all applications which accept IFF files. In the next
version Graphic Workshop will pad these out to dimensions which
IFF based software finds more edible.
If you encounter problems with IFF/LBM files please wait
'til the next release of Graphic Workshop... all will (most
likely) be well. We're in the process of trying to get Commodore
to tell us how the little beasts actually work. As of this
writing, the only documentation we've been able to find about the
IFF format was a five kilobyte text file on a bulletin board.
MEMORY REQUIREMENTS
___________________
Graphic Workshop will use whatever memory you have going. If you
ask it to do something which needs a large amount of memory, it
will try to use your normal DOS memory, which is fastest. If
there isn't enough DOS memory, it will use extra memory.
There are three sorts of "extra" memory which Graphic
Workshop can use, to wit, extended, expanded and virtual.
Extended memory is also called XMS memory, and is only available
on AT and 386 systems. Expanded memory, also called EMS or LIM
memory, is available if you have a LIM board and driver in your
machine. Virtual memory means using a big disk file and making
believe it's memory. Virtual memory is very slow compared to real
memory.
You must tell Graphic Workshop what to do about extra
memory when you install it. See the section on installation.
Graphic Workshop can run in restricted memory, such as
that which is found in a really old PC or when running "shelled
out" of another program. However, it can do nasty things when
it's really starved for memory. Some virtual memory operations
will not work in this condition, and if it's really stuck for
RAM... if there's only a few tens of kilobytes free... it may
manage to crash. Try not to run it when there's almost no room
left for it to store things. The help menu will tell you how much
memory is free.
PRINTERS
________
You can print to any sort of LaserJet Plus compatible printer
with one megabyte of memory or more or any sort of PostScript
printer. You can print to any dot matrix printer which is
supported by a Graphic Workshop external printer driver. These
are described in greater detail in DRIVERS.DOC. Note that if you
attempt to print PostScript data to a LaserJet or a dot matrix
printer you'll get reams of meaningless ASCII text.
Graphic Workshop allows you to print a picture in four
resolution modes to laser printers, ranging from 75 to 300 dots
per inch. This will determine the resulting size of your picture.
Each page of Graphic Workshop output can include any
combination of data about the picture on it you like. See the
installation section for more information about enabling this
feature.
The size and resolution of dot matrix printing is
determined by the driver being used.
Note that if you have a printer for which there is no
driver available, one of the Epson FX-80 drivers will probably
work, as most dot matrix printers support the Epson FX-80
standard. The print might not be as good as your printer can
manage, but it'll be better than a blank sheet of paper.
RUNNING GRAPHIC WORKSHOP
________________________
To run Graphic Workshop, type GWS at the DOS prompt. Depending on
your installation procedure, you may also want to type some
command line switches, as described in the installation section.
The main file screen will appear. Graphic Workshop always
shows you all the names of the image files it knows how to deal
with in the current directory, along with all the visible
subdirectory names, if any. If you are in a subdirectory, you
will also see a subdirectory entry which is two periods.
The cursor mover keys will move the file selector bar
around. If you move it to a directory entry... shown in dim
text... and hit Enter, you will move into that directory. If you
select the two period entry, you will move back up your directory
tree by one step.
If there are too many files in your current directory to
see all at once, Graphic Workshop will organize them into pages.
The PgUp and PgDn keys will step you through the pages.
If you place the selector bar on a file name and hit
Enter, Graphic Workshop will attempt to show you the file. It
will start by showing you a wait box, which has a bar graph in it
to show you the status of what you've asked Graphic Workshop to
do. When the picture is fully unpacked, Graphic Workshop will
switch to your display card's graphic mode and show you the
picture.
You can always abort an operation when the wait box is
visible by hitting the Esc key.
If the picture is larger than your screen, the cursor
keys will allow you to pan around it.
Esc will return you to the main screen.
Several things can go wrong here. If you have installed
Graphic Workshop for the wrong kind of display card, you might
see random characters rather than a picture. In this case, check
your installation.
If Graphic Workshop could not find enough memory to unpack
your picture into, it will abort the process and say so.
Finally, if your picture requires more colours than your
card can display, Graphic Workshop will tell you this. There is a
specific exception to this. Graphic Workshop will show you GIF
files having more than sixteen colours on a sixteen colour EGA
card by fudging the colours. Bear in mind that while you'll get
to see an approximation of the actual colours in the GIF file...
it will not be the real thing.
This does not work for 256 colour PCX files, just GIF
files. You must have a VGA card of some sort to see 256 colour
PCX files.
You can see how many colours a colour image has by using
the Get Info key, as discussed below.
Note that you cannot view grey scale TIFF files without a
VGA card.
In the VGA display mode... and in the super VGA modes
provided by external VGA drivers... you can make small
adjustments to the VGA colour palette while a picture is being
displayed. The 'r' and 'R' keys will increase and decrease the
amount of red in a picture, the 'g' and 'G' keys will adjust the
amount of green, the 'b' and 'B' keys will adjust the amount of
blue. The 'i' and 'I' keys will adjust the overall intensity of
the picture. The '=' key will return the picture to its normal
state. Note that these adjustments only affect the picture that
you're viewing... they do not alter the palette in the file on
your disk.
If you hear a beep while you're playing with these keys,
you've gone to the limit of whichever of the adjustments you're
using. Graphic Workshop will not allow you to adjust the palette
to the point where the picture would start looking weird.
Because Graphic Workshop will not allow you to actually
distort the colour balance of the palette, there will be some GIF
files which will not be adjustable using this feature.
OTHER KEYS
__________
If you hit "?", you'll see a menu of the keys which control the
main file screen of Graphic Workshop. This box also tells you how
much free DOS memory is available.
The Esc key will allow you to quit Graphic Workshop and return to
DOS.
If you hit "T", the currently selected file name will be
"tagged". The "U" key will untag it. The batch operations
described below will work with multiple files if you have some of
them tagged. If you hit "C", all the tags will be cleared.
If you hit "L", Graphic Workshop will allow you to log in a new
disk drive. Note that this version of the software does not check
for illegal drives or open drive doors. If you select an illegal
drive, the familiar "Abort, Retry or Ignore" message will appear,
but it will do so below the bottom of your screen, where you
can't see it. Close the drive door and hit "R" or hit "A" to
abort and return to DOS.
If you hit "D", you will be prompted to delete the current file.
Note that this is not a batch command... it only works on one
file at a time.
If you hit F5, Graphic Workshop will shell out to the DOS prompt
if there's enough memory. If you do this, Graphic Workshop will
still be in memory. Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to it
right where you left off. If you change drives or subdirectories
while you have the DOS prompt active, Graphic Workshop will
restore the previous drive and subdirectory when you return to
it.
The F10 key will show you some information about Graphic Workshop
as well as your current display adapter and memory settings.
GRAPHIC FUNCTIONS
_________________
The graphic functions of Graphic Workshop are accessed through
the function keys. They may be used on individual files or in
batch mode. If no files are tagged, the operation you select will
take place using the file name the selector bar is currently on.
If one or more files are tagged, the operation will take place
on all the tagged files.
Hitting Esc will abort any operation.
F1 - Print
This function will print one or more files to the printer
of your choice. Hit it and a menu of printers and resolution
settings will pop up. As with all menus under Graphic Workshop,
hitting Esc will make it go away if you discover you've gotten to
it in error.
Colour files printed to a PostScript printer will be
halftoned. Colour files cannot be printed to a LaserJet or a dot
matrix printer directly... you can dither them to black and
white, though, as described in a moment.
Big files can take a long time to print... be patient.
All printing to laser printers takes place through LPT1.
If you want to drive a different printer port, use the DOS MODE
command to redirect the output of Graphic Workshop to a different
port. Printing to dot matrix printers takes place through
whatever port the driver was written to work with.
One of the options in Graphic Workshop's installation
involves the default screen size for printing colour graphics to
PostScript printers. This can be set to anything you like for
special effects. However, the best results can usually be had by
allowing the PostScript printer to choose the optimum screen
setting.
Note that there's a potential memory problem involved in
printing to a dot matrix printer under Graphic Workshop. We've
never encountered it, but it could happen. In order to print to a
dot matrix printer through a PDR driver, Graphic Workshop has to
create a buffer which holds anywhere from eight to twenty-four
lines of your image, depending on how many pins your printer's
print head has. It also has to buffer the picture you're
printing, of course.
Now, it could happen that there's just enough memory to
buffer the picture but not enough to create the line buffer.
Graphic Workshop will refuse to print the picture under these
conditions.
This is a pretty unlikely occurrence. If you think it has
happened, you can easily check it. See how much free memory there
is by hitting a question mark, then open the F4 get info box. See
how much memory your picture needs to unpack into. Whipping out a
calculator, see how much memory is left over. Figure out how many
bytes a line of your picture takes to hold by dividing the
horizontal dimension by eight, rounding this number up if the
result isn't even. Multiply this number by the number of print
head pins in your printer... probably either eight or twenty-
four. If the result is bigger than the amount of free memory left
when your picture is loaded, you've encountered the
aforementioned condition.
Note that none of this applies if the help box tells you
there isn't enough memory to buffer your picture all by itself.
If this happens, Graphic Workshop will use extended, expanded or
virtual memory for your picture, leaving the DOS memory free for
a line buffer. We'll assume here that there's at least enough
memory free for a line buffer all by itself. Note that if you use
expanded memory, Graphic Workshop will need thirty-two kilobytes
of DOS memory to manage the expanded memory.
If you happen to encounter this condition, you can trick
Graphic Workshop into getting around it by forcing it to use
extended, expanded or virtual memory rather than DOS memory for
its picture buffer, thus freeing up the DOS memory for a line
buffer. Simply shell out to DOS and run a second copy of GWS.
Print from that. When you're done, quit the second copy and type
EXIT at the DOS prompt to get back to the first copy.
All this is a very unlikely situation, and one you'll
probably never run into.
F2 - Convert
You can convert a file of any format into a file of any
other format... with a few restrictions. The new file will have
the same name as the original but a new extension. Converting
PICTURE.MAC into an IMG file will create PICTURE.IMG. PICTURE.MAC
will not be touched.
As noted above, large images converted into MacPaint
files will be cropped to fit. Colour files cannot be converted
directly into monochrome-only formats, that is, to MacPaint,
Microsoft Paint or IMG.
Colour files converted to TIFF will be written as grey
scale files.
EPS files cannot be converted to any other format.
Any file can be converted into an EPS file. If you enable
the preview option during installation, the resulting EPS file
will have both the original image and a dithered preview image,
making it ideal for use with a desktop publishing package such as
Ventura. The results are stunning.
Note that Ventura will print an EPS file to a PostScript
printer. If you attempt to print a chapter with an EPS file in it
to a LaserJet, Ventura will print the preview image.
See the Ventura section below for more information about
using EPS files with Ventura.
Note that you can convert monochrome image files to EPS
files, but there's no good reason for doing so.
EPS files are huge, far larger than a compressed image
would be. Leave lots of disk space if you intend to use one. As
a rule of thumb, you can figure the size of a colour image packed
into an EPS file as being
width * depth * 2 plus a few hundred bytes
The width and depth can be worked out using the Get Info
function, below.
EPS files created by Graphic Workshop do not have
trailing showpage operators... ignore this remark if it doesn't
mean anything to you.
Note that you can batch convert any mixture of file types
using Graphic Workshop. Any files which are inappropriate for the
conversion you've requested will simply be ignored. The ongoing
status will appear at the bottom of the screen.
F3 - Dither/HT (Halftone)
Dithering is a sort of magical process by which colour
images can be converted into pretty excellent black and white
versions for reproduction on a monochrome screen or a black and
white laser printer. Graphic Workshop allows you to dither GIF
files down to monochrome IMG, PCX, MSP, WPG or TIFF files.
Dithering often works a lot better if you scale the
original image up. Graphic Workshop lets you dither with images
of anywhere from "size as" up to 500 percent expansion if you
have enough memory.
Aside from dithering to a file, you can dither to the
screen to see what your selection of dithering parameters will
look like.
Dithering is a fairly slow process, and the better the
dithering algorithm, the slower it gets. Big files and really
good dithering can take half an hour or more, although the
results are usually worth it.
At its best, dithering can look better than halftoning,
and a dithered file can be printed on both PostScript and
LaserJet printers.
If you have Graphic Workshop dither a file, it will
create a new file for you of the type selected and with "D_"
before the name. Thus PICTURE.GIF would be dithered to
D_PICTUR.IMG, for example. PICTURE.GIF would be left untouched.
If you want to dither a colour PCX file, you must first
convert it to a GIF file. Dithering only works on colour GIF
files.
The simplest... and fastest... form of dithering is a
Bayer dither. This does not produce great results, but it's
extremely quick. The EPS preview images created by Graphic
Workshop use Bayer dithering.
The remaining three dithering algorithms use what is
called "error diffusion". These produce really nice looking
dithers, but they're quite slow. The fastest... and least
attractive... is Floyd-Steinberg. The best... and by far the
slowest... is Stucki. The Burkes dither is somewhere in the
middle.
All three of these dithers come in two flavours, UD...
unidirectional... and BD... bidirectional. These options will
produce slightly different results.
You should plan to experiment with the dithering options
of Graphic Workshop a bit to see what it's capable of.
Dithering scans an image line by line, starting in the
upper left corner and working down to the lower right corner. For
this reason, you will find that if you rotate an image by ninety
degrees, dither it and then rotate the dithered version by a
further two hundred and seventy degrees, you'll get different
results than you would have had you dithered the original image.
The last two items in the dither menu are not really
dithering functions at all, but rather true halftones
They will produce sixteen and sixty-four grey level halftones
respectively from a colour image. They do this by approximating
the grey levels in dot sizes, just like newspaper halftones do.
The destination image will always have four or eight times the
dimensions of the source image. There is absolutely no advantage
to expanding images for halftoning, so the expansion menu will
not appear for sixteen and sixty-four level halftoning.
Halftones often look more realistic than dithers. The
drawback to using halftones is that the files can get enormous,
and even a sicty-four grey level halftone doesn't really handle
grey levels as well as an error diffused dither... although in
some cases it may look better.
F4 - Get Info
This box will show you some basic information about one
or more selected files. Among other things, it will tell you how
much memory the file needs to unpack into. You can use this
number to figure out whether the file in question will fit in
your available DOS memory or whether extra memory will be
required, as discussed previously. The amount of available DOS
memory is available by hitting the "?" key from within the main
screen.
The last field in this box displays the file comments if
there were any, or "No comments". File comments are, in fact,
Macintosh file names if they're present or, in some cases,
information about the internal structure of the file. You will
find Mac comments in some GIF files and many MacPaint files.
Some file formats actually contain a lot more information
than can be displayed in the normal Get Info box. TIFF files, for
example, can conatin the name of the artist responsible for them,
the type of software used to create them and so on. You can this
sort of optional information for formats which support it by
using the "details" option of the F4 box when it's available. The
arrow keys will scroll you through the detail window. Details are
available, for example, if you get information about TIFF and IFF
files.
You may need some external assiatnce in fully
interpreting the details.
F6 - Reverse
This function will create a reversed version of any
monochrome image file. The new file will have the same name as
the original file, with "R_" appended to the front of it. Thus,
reversing PICTURE.MAC will leave you with R_PICTUR.MAC. This
function will ignore any files which are not monochrome.
F7 - Transform
This key will pop up a menu offering you five image
transformations. You can rotate an image in ninety degree
increments and you can flip it horizontally or vertically. These
functions work on images of any number of colours, but only if
the source images are in the GIF format. You'll have to convert
images from other formats to GIF if you want to use the
transformation functions on them.
Note that the ninety and two hundred and seventy degree
rotation functions will take a very long time if your images are
large and require the use of virtual memory... this assumes that
you lack extended or expanded memory. Them's the breaks.
Transformed images will be stored in files with "T_" in front
of the names. Thus PICTURE.GIF will become T_PICTUR.GIF after any
of the five transformations have been wrought upon it. If you
rotate it and then flip the rotated image, for example, it will
become T_T_PICT.GIF, and so on, with intermediate files along the
way.
INSTALLATION
____________
Making permanent changes to the modifiable features of Graphic
Workshop involves using the installer, GWSINSTL.EXE. The
configuration of Graphic Workshop is handled by a separate
program in order to keep GWS.EXE as small as possible, leaving
lots of memory for putting graphics in.
Using the Installer
The GWSINSTL program actually modifies GWS.EXE. In order for it
to work, GWS.EXE and GWSINSTL.EXE must be in the same directory
and must be so named. Both programs must be of the same version.
Be aware that as it directly modifies GWS.EXE, there is the
outside chance that a bug in the installer might crop up and kill
GWS.EXE beyond repair. Make sure you have a virgin copy of
GWS.EXE somewhere before you use the installer.
Place GWSINSTL.EXE and GWS.EXE in the same directory and
type GWSINSTL. The installation screen will appear. It looks
something like this:
Screen colours: COLOUR
Memory type: VIRTUAL
Display type: EXTERNAL
Default printer: LASERJET - 150 DPI
PostScript Screen size: PRINTER'S DEFAULT
Default dither destination: IMG
Default dither type: FLOYD BIDIRECTIONAL
Default conversion type: IMG
Default expansion factor: SIZE AS
PostScript preview: ON
MacPaint file extension: MAC
GEM/IMG file extension: IMG
PCX file extension: PCX
GIF file extension: GIF
TIFF file extension: TIF
EPS file extension: EPS
Print filenames: ON
Print dates: OFF
Print image size: OFF
Print image colours: OFF
Print output resolution: OFF
Print EPS titles: ON
External driver path: GRAFDRV.DRV
Move the section bar to the option you want to change and hit
Enter to step through the available options. The PgUp and PgDn
keys will show you additional options. When you're all done, hit
F10 to save your changes or Esc to abort and return to DOS.
The file name extension fields allow you to type in new
extensions. Hit enter, change the field and hit enter again to
save the changes.
The Configurable Options
These are the things which you can change in Graphic Workshop.
These parameters can be changed permanently by using the
installer or temporarily by using the command line switches.
Having installed GWS.EXE for a particular set of options, you
might find it convenient to boot it up with one or more of these
switches to override the installed configuration for particular
circumstances, such as to use virtual memory for a particularly
large file when you know you won't have enough extended memory,
or to use a different PostScript screen size.
Memory:
Select EMS for expanded memory.
Select XMS for extended memory.
Select VIRTUAL to use a disk file if you have neither extended
nor expanded memory. Consult your system documentation to if
you're unsure about the memory situation of your machine. Note
that in order to use EMS or XMS memory, you will need the
appropriate driver installed in your machine, as provided with
your memory board. Also note that XMS memory will not work
properly if you have VDISK.SYS installed.
Display card:
If you have a fairly typical display adapter, select AUTODETECT.
If this doesn't work... if your card refuses to go into the
graphics mode you expect... select the specific card type you
have. If you have a VGA card and there's a driver available for
it, you can set this to EXTERNAL. See below for some additional
discussion of drivers. Otherwise, select the straight VGA setting.
Note that some ATI EGA Wonder cards will not go into
their Hercules graphics modes reliably under Graphic Workshop.
We're looking into this one.
Print options:
This controls the printing of information at the bottom of each
page of hard copy. You can enable none, some or all of these
items, as follows:
- Print the image file name.
- Print the date.
- Print the image dimensions.
- Print the number of colours in the original image.
- Print the resolution mode selected.
- Print the EPS title for EPS files only.
Preview:
You can enable or disable the creation of a preview image when
Graphic Workshop converts files to the EPS format.
Screen size:
You can select the screen size for printing colour images as
halftones to a PostScript printer. This does not effect
converting colour images to EPS files. Unless you particularly
want to create special effects, it's recommended that you leave
this at its default setting. Note that having printed one image
with a fixed size screen, all subsequent ones will print at that
size until you reset you PostScript printer or specify a new
screen size.
Command line switches
You can always see a complete list of these by typing GWS ? at the
DOS prompt.
/EXT - use extended memory
/EXP - use expanded memory
/VIR - use virtual memory
/CGA - use CGA card
/HER - use Hercules card
/EGA - use EGA card
/PAR - use Paradise card
/ATI - use ATI VGA Wonder card
/PRD - disable all print options
/S80 - set screen size to 80 lines
/S60 - set screen size to 60 lines
/S40 - set screen size to 40 lines
/S30 - set screen size to 30 lines
/S20 - set screen size to 20 lines
/S10 - set screen size to 10 lines
/SDF - set screen size to printer default
/PRE - enable EPS preview creation
/NOP - disable EPS preview creation
/PFN - enable printing filenames on hard copy
/PDT - enable printing dates on hard copy
/PPS - enable printing image size on hard copy
/PCL - enable printing number of colours on hard copy
/PRS - enable printing resolution on hard copy
/PET - enable printing EPS title on hard copy
/DRV - use the named external graphics driver (defaults to GRAFDRV.DRV)
/PRX - use the named external printer driver (defaults to PRINTER.PRD)
VENTURA PUBLISHER TRICKS
________________________
Graphic Workshop is great for getting images into Ventura
Publisher documents. Here are a few tips for getting the most out
of it.
Monochrome bitmapped images... anything other than EPS
files... should be converted into IMG files for use with Ventura.
Note that while Ventura will import colour PCX files with up to
16 colours, the results are rarely pretty. You'll do much better
to halftone or dither colour PCX files for use with Ventura.
Having poured an image into a frame, use the Sizing and
Scaling box in the Frames menu to select "By Scale Factors." Set
the scale width to the natural size of the image... as it
defaults to... or to some integral multiple of it. This will
eliminate distortion or plaiding of the image.
Using EPS files is a bit different if you want to get the
optimum image quality. (If you aren't too fussy, just pour 'em,
stretch 'em and see what happens.) In this case, you must load
the EPS file as line art... it's a PostScript file... and use the
"Fit in Frame" option of the Sizing and Scaling box. Set the
frame size initially to the natural size of the picture. If you are
working in inches, you can work this out by dividing the
dimensions of the image in pixels by 300.
If you have forgotten the dimensions of the original GIF
file you halftoned the picture from, use the DOS TYPE command to
look at the first few lines of your EPS file. You should see
something like this:
/width 640 def
/depth 480 def
These are the natural dimensions of the image in pixels.
The initial frame dimensions for this picture would be
2.13 by 1.60 inches.
Next, select "By Scale Factors" and "Distorted". Set the
scale dimensions to the same values as the frame size.
You can now change the frame size if you want to. You can
also expand the image dimensions by some integral amount.
EPS files used this way can be cropped just like any
other picture.
In addition to EPS files, you can create halftones from
colour images by converting them to grey scale TIFF files. There
are several advantages to producing halftones this way rather
than using EPS files. The files will be much smaller... by about
half... and Ventura will import them with less requisite fiddling
in the Sizing and Scaling box. In addition, Ventura allows you a
great deal of control over the way the grey scale and screening
information is handled in a TIFF file.
You might want to experiment a bit with these two types
of files to get a feel for the results produced by them in
Ventura chapters.
When you convert a GIF file to a TIFF or EPS file for use
with Ventura, it's a good idea to dither it to an IMG file at the
same time, renaming the resulting file so it has the same name as
your TIFF or EPS file... with an IMG extension, of course. This
will prevent Ventura from creating its own... almost always
cruder... IMG file, making your pictures a lot easer to see in
your Ventura chapters.
COREL DRAW TRICKS
-----------------
If you import bitmapped images into Corel Draw, you can decide
how they'll be handled once they get there by choosing the image
type you use. Imported PCX files will be scaled to an arbitrary
size upon entering Corel Draw, with the result that it's almost
impossible to adjust them to get a one to one relationship
between the image pixels and the printer pixels. This will make
many PCX print badly.
TIFF files, on the other hand, import initially with one
to one scaling. If you use TIFF files and leave them at their
initial size, or stretch them to integral multiples of their
original sizes, they'll print without distortion or plaiding.
Grey scale TIFF files imported into Corel Draw come up as
PostScript halftones... these can look very slick as part of a
line drawing.
Another book plug here: you might want to check out
"Mastering Corel Draw" by Steven William Rimmer, published by
Sybex Books. This will be available in May of 1990.
CUSTOM SCREEN DRIVERS
_____________________
If you have a super VGA card you can use its super VGA modes by
having Graphic Workshop drive your card through an external
driver. External drivers are little blocks of code which know all
about your specific VGA card, and present it to Graphic Workshop
in a useful form.
In order to have Graphic Workshop use an external driver,
you must select EXTERNAL for the display type in GWSINSTL and set
the screen driver path to reflect the name and location of your
driver. For example, if your driver was called TATUNG.DRV and it
lived in the directory \COMMON\DRIVERS on drive C:, you would
enter C:\COMMON\DRIVERS\TATUNG.DRV in this field.
The drivers included with this version of Graphic
Workshop are discussed in a separate file called DRIVERS.DOC.
Note that every super VGA card must have a custom
Graphic Workshop driver if it is to work in its super VGA modes.
The driver for one brand of card will not work for a different
card. If there's no driver for your particular card you can still
use Graphic Workshop in its default VGA mode, but you'll see
fewer pixels on your screen at a time.
In future releases we hope to include a number of SVGA
drivers. If you write one using the GRAFDRV.ASM skeletal driver
and care to send us the source, we'll be pleased to include it
with future releases of Graphic Workshop, with suitable credit.
CUSTOM DOT MATRIX PRINTER DRIVERS
_________________________________
Custom dot matrix printer drivers are used to support dot matrix
printers or other similar output devices which Graphic Workshop
doesn't know how to deal with directly. In order to load one, you
must enable the external printer driver option in GWSINSTL and
fill in the path to your printer driver.
When Graphic Workshop boots up with an external printer
driver in place, a ninth entry will be added to the printer
selection menu, this being the name of the printer your driver
drives.
Only monochrome pictures can be printed to dot matrix
printers... even if you have a colour dot matrix printer.
BUGS
____
There are bound to be some. If you encounter a problem with
Graphic Workshop, please contact us. We'll also be interested in
hearing your suggestions for future releases of this software. If
you encounter a file which Graphic Workshop won't read, we'll be
interested in having a look at it.
COMING NEXT VERSION
___________________
These are the features we're working on for the next major
release of Graphic Workshop:
- Targa support
- BMP support
If you register your copy of Graphic Workshop, you'll be notified
when the next release is available.
ROLL YOUR OWN
_____________
This is yet another book plug. If you're interested in writing
programs which use graphics, you'll find everything you need to
know in "The Book of Bitmapped Graphics", also by Steven William
Rimmer. It's published by TAB books, (TAB book 3558) and should
be available in August 1990. It features code to pack and unpack
MacPaint, IMG, PCX, GIF and TIFF files, as well as chapters on
screen drivers, dithering and printing.
MORAL DOGMA
___________
If you like this program and find it useful, you are requested to
support it either by buying the book mentioned at the top of this
file or by sending us $35.00. We'd rather you bought the book.
This will entitle you to telephone support, notification of
updates, a free copy of the latest version of Graphic Workshop
and other good things like that. More to the point, though, it'll
make you feel good. We've not infested the program with excessive
beg notices, crippled it or had it verbally insult you after ten
days. We trust you to support Graphic Workshop if you like it.
Oh yes, should you fail to support this program and
continue to use it, a leather winged demon of the night will tear
itself, shrieking blood and fury, from the endless caverns of the
nether world, hurl itself into the darkness with a thirst for
blood on its slavering fangs and search the very threads of time
for the throbbing of your heartbeat. Just thought you'd want to
know that.
We are
Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
P.O. Box 313
Markham, Ontario
L3P 3J8
Canada
Other programs we've done that you might like include:
Scoop - MacPaint, GEM/IMG and PC Paintbrush file readers,
with Epson FX-80, LaserJet and PostScript printer
support. Drives CGA, EGA, VGA and Hercules cards.
Source code in Turbo C and Microsoft MASM is
available for this program.
HP_Slash - Make LaserJet soft fonts smaller by selectively excising
those characters you'll never use.
Calendar - Slick perpetual calendar that tells you when the
equinoxes happen, what day Michaelmas fell on in 1705
and so on.
gemCAP - Capture graphics screen in GEM/IMG paint format,
suitable for inhalation into Ventura.
CPM2DOS - Read CP/M formatted disks on your PC.
ADDRESS - Memory resident envelope addresser with graphics.
VFM - Ventura soft font manager deluxe with a side of fries.
Adds new fonts and creates width tables with menu
driven simplicity.
MCOPY - Copying program which packs as many files as possible
onto a floppy, pauses when the current floppy is
full and asks for another one.
TCAP - A text screen capture program which generates GEM/IMG
graphics that look like your text, all ready for inhalation
into Ventura.
GRAFCAT - Prints a visual catalog of your image files, with
sixteen pictures to a page. Drives all LaserJet and
PostScript laser printers, and works with any mixture
of GIF, PCX, MAC and IMG files.
CROPGIF - allows you to crop smaller fragments out of your GIF
files. Use graphic Workshop, above, to convert other
formats into GIF files for cropping. This program
uses a simple mouse interface to make cropping image
fragments no more complicated than using a paint
program Requires a Microsoft compatible mouse.
If you can't find them in the public domain, they're available
from us for $20.00 each. Source is available for Scoop, for $25.00.
REVISION HISTORY
________________
For them what cares...
Version 3.4 - Fixed a bug in the monochrome EPS previews. There
aren't many uses for monochrome EPS files. Improved the
monochrome IMG file reader considerably... it now loads pretty
well any two colour IMG file, even the weird ones which Ventura
creates when it imports EPS files.
Version 3.3 - Added halftoning to the dither... now the
dither/halftone... functions.
Version 3.2 - Added detailed tag analysis for tag based formats.
Also added drop shadows to the menus and such... this adds four
bytes of code to the program. Fixed a bug of sorts in the TIFF
display code which made it a bit finicky.
Version 3.1 - Improved several of the image compression
functions... they're a lot more effective now. Also fixed a
cosmetic bug in the wait box which caused it to completely close
on files onler than about 1600 lines.
Version 3.0 - Added descriptive comments to some of the F4 Get
Info functions. Added IFF/LBM/CE support.
Version 2.9 - Fixed a potential bug in the PCX palette code,
added file renaming in the finder. Also, one of our users pointed
out that the compiler was adding a debug table to the final EXE
file without being asked to do so. Eliminating this has made the
code about twenty kilobytes smaller. Thanks, Don... things you
learn...
Version 2.8 - Added loadable drivers for dot matrix support,
fixed a few obscure bugs in the printing and display code. Added
image rotation and flipping.
Version 2.7 - Added VGA colour adjustment in the view mode. Added
Microsoft Windows Paint (MSP) file support. One might ask why...
Microsoft Windows Paint is not one of the leading lights in
digital artistry. It was mostly in the interest of completeness.
We had the format details and it was a hot Saturday afternoon
with nothing better to do.
Version 2.6 - Added WordPerfect Graphics support, fixed a bug
which kept some EGA cards from autodetecting properly, made the
TIFF and IMG packing code tighter still for large images. Fixed a
bug in the grey scale TIFF printing function.
Version 2.5 - Fixed a bug in the monochrome GIF file decoder
which caused files with horizontal dimensions not an even
multiple of eight to display incorrectly... but only on Tuesdays.
Version 2.4 - Fixed some bugs in the external super VGA graphics
drivers. Be sure to read DRIVERS.WS if you use and external
driver.
Version 2.3 - Added grey scale TIFF support (at last). Removed
the built in Paradise Plus and ATI VGA Wonder card drivers in
favour of the external ones, which frees up a bit of memory and
makes maintaining these drivers much simpler. Improved the TIFF
file creation routines, such that they now conform to TIFF 5.0,
and will import into most applications which accept TIFF,
including Corel Draw... which is a bit particular about the sorts
of TIFF files it want to deal with. Fixed a bug in the expanded
memory manager which caused a few hangs on really immense files.
Version 2.2 - Fixed a bug in the dithering code. This would cause
some machines to hang if an attempt was made to dither colour GIF
files to the screen with an external VGA driver loaded. Nasty but
obscure.
Version 2.1 - Added Macintosh GIF file reading. Macintosh GIF
files ported to a PC have a 128 byte "Macbinary" header before
the GIF file proper. Graphic Workshop now detects this, gets
around it and reads the GIF information normally. Also added a
comment field to the F4 file information box. This will display
the Macintosh file names of GIF and MacPaint files with Macbinary
headers. Fixed some very obscure bugs in the IMG and TIFF file
compression routines. These would occasionally cause very large
dithered files to compress incorrectly.
Version 2.0 - Fixed a fairly obscure bug in the 16 colour PCX
file compression code.
Version 1.9 - Added image reversal for monochrome files. The
menus got larger.
Version 1.8 - Added monochrome GIF file packing... monochrome
files in other formats can now be converted into GIF files. Added
an external driver for Headland Technologies Video Seven VGA
cards. Fixed (or rather sidestepped) a weird bug in the EPS
preview code which very occasionally generated unreadable preview
images.
Version 1.7 - Added loadable custom drivers for super VGA cards
other than the ones supported by the built in drivers.
Version 1.6 - Fixed a bug in the TIFF decoder and another really
tiny one in the file finder. Gettin' down to the aphids and fleas
now.
Version 1.5 - Added file deletion and fixed an obscure bug in the
dithering code. Added EGA palette reduction for GIF files.
Version 1.4 - Fixed a bug in the file finder that kept batch
processes from working across multiple pages. Also, a cosmetic
bug the in the wait bar graph that happened on files longer than
about two thousand lines.
Version 1.3 - Fixed a few persistent bugs in the ATI VGA Wonder
card driver. ATI cards were put in this dimension to vex us.
Version 1.2 - Fixed several bugs which prohibited PCX to GIF
conversion for 32 colour files, kept some extremely large
monochrome PCX files from converting and so on.
Version 1.1 - Added ATI VGA Wonder card driver
Version 1.0 - Sprung GWS on an unsuspecting universe.
SOURCE CODE
___________
After considerable meditation and several bad experiences, we
have decided not to release the source code for Graphic Workshop.
We do licence parts of it for specific applications... if you
want more information about using some of the functions of
Graphic Workshop in your software, please contact us.
BUNDLING GRAPHIC WORKSHOP
_________________________
If you'd like to include Graphic Workshop with your product,
please get in touch with us. We have several ways to help you do
this so your users get the most out of Graphic Workshop and we
don't have to set our leather winged demon of the night on 'em.
LEGAL DOGMA
___________
The author assumes no responsibility for any damage or loss
caused by the use of these programs, however it comes down. If
you can think of a way a picture program can cause you damage
or loss you've a sneakier mind than mine.
All the trademarks used herein are registered to whoever it is
that owns them. This notification is given in lieu of any
specific list of trademarks and their owners, which would not be
as inclusive and would probably take a lot longer to type.
That's it...
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #2277
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
GRAFCT20 ZIP 34348 5-13-90 7:03p
GRAFWK34 ZIP 221814 6-08-90 12:13p
PKZ EXE 21440 2-14-90 11:37a
CRPGIF11 ZIP 33474 4-16-90 9:43a
READ ME 373 6-10-90 7:46p
GO BAT 40 1-01-80 6:00a
GO TXT 804 1-01-80 2:21a
FILE2277 TXT 3997 7-17-90 9:54a
8 file(s) 316290 bytes
3072 bytes free