Damsel Software Group's NEOPLASTIC DESIGNS SCREEN SAVER SHAREWARE EDITION Compatible with Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95. ******************************************************** * For Power Users who want to get right to the program * * the Screen Saver is now loaded. Exit this text file * * and go right to where Windows stores its own screen * * savers. This screen saver will be listed in that * * group as Neoplastic Share. Select it. That's it. * * ---> When you want to find out how to get rid of * * the opening screen and get the free software you * * receive by registering this program, or to read more* * about Piet Mondrian and Neoplasticism, come back and* * read this readme.txt file in the NPD1SHAR directory.* ******************************************************** To read this file now, click on your "expand window size" symbol. Thanks! This file contains information on the following subjects: 1. Product Registration 2. The Association of Shareware Professionals 3. Copyright Information 4. Minimum System Requirements 5. Setting Up Your Screen Saver and Wallpaper 6. Screen Saver Function and Features 7. Image Compression 8. Uninstalling Your Screen Saver 9. Warranty Information 10. Piet Mondrian and the Origins of Neoplastic Design 11. Registration Form In order to assist the reader, the older Windows 3.x instructions have been left intact. Windows 95 instructions, where different, are either given their own sentences or are indicated by the use of parentheses. This is the only time this README.TXT file will appear automatically. In the future you can read the file by coming back to your Windows 3.x Notepad, located under Accessories in your Program Manager menu, and opening the README.TXT file found in the NPD1SHAR directory, or by two clicks on the filename directly from within File Manager. In Windows 95 the Notepad is reached from the Start button followed by Programs\Accessories\Notepad. You may also read the file from your C:\> DOS prompt by typing TYPE C:\NPD1SHAR\README.TXT | MORE. You may exit this file at any time by clicking on the minus sign of Windows 3.x's Notepad window at the upper left-hand corner, or by clicking on the "X" Close button in Windows 95's Notepad upper right-hand corner. This README.TXT file can be printed in a variety of ways. In MS-DOS you can print it at any time from your C:\NPD1SHAR> prompt by typing COPY README.TXT PRN and pressing Enter. Within Windows it can be printed from the Notepad or from any other word processing program that can open a .TXT file. In Windows' Notepad you should set File\Page Setup\Left Margin to as low a value as possible before printing to insure that each line will print in its entirety. This text file will not appear during the actual running of the screen saver. 1. PRODUCT REGISTRATION This is the Shareware Edition containing 10 640 x 480 pixel designs. The registered version contains an additional 10 screens for a total of 20 640 x 480 designs, all in 16-color format suitable for all Windows 3.1 or higher systems. Registered versions of Damsel products do not contain opening promotional screens. If you find you are enjoying Damsel's Neoplastic Designs as a screen saver, wallpaper, or both, and you intend to continue its use, you should register the program within 30 days by using the Registration Form found at the end of this readme.txt file. The registration fee may be paid by check, money order or with a MasterCard/Visa charge. The cost? Only $14.95 in U.S. currency. This fee entitles you to the reg- istered version of Damsel's Neoplastic Designs Screen Saver, complete with User's Guide, lifetime technical support, and a free catalog of other Damsel products. The User's Guide alone is valuable in that it includes a name- to-image matching list for ease in selecting screens for use as wallpaper. As an added inducement you will receive a second screen saver consisting of 6 additional 640 x 480 images which break up and scatter rapidly around the screen in almost continuous motion. Send US$14.95 and get it all, ... plus FREE shipping and handling on this, your first order. Your order will be shipped on 3.5" virus-free diskettes only, in a handsome CD-case with full- color cover. Mail the completed form to: Damsel Software Group P.O. Box 713 Concord, NH 03302-0713 Or, you may fax your order to 603 485-2677. Our fax number is also a voice line, so you may call us if you desire verification of our current location. FLASH !!! Here's part of what you will find in the catalog! If you like this screen saver you can order more great screen savers immediately by sending check, or money order in U.S. currency drawn on a U.S. bank, or by MasterCard/Visa along with your order to Damsel at the above address. For these multiple screen saver orders add $4.00 shipping in the U.S. $6.00 Canada/Mexico All screen savers require 386 machines $8.00 South America minimum with a 256-color VGA display. $12.00 All other foreign for shipping the added order. This catalog has another screen saver offer to save you money. If you order two additional screen savers, you will get a third one of your choice FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! Here are your selections. Use your scroll bar if you would rather move to the rest of your shareware documentation. Screen Savers / Wallpaper Price ($US) ------------------------- ----------- New Hampsire Wilderness, Vol.1 $14.95 24 640 x 480 scanned photos of mountains, waterfalls, forests and lakes in JPG format shipped on two 3.5" diskettes in a CD-case, with a User's Guide containing full documentation on features and functions, including a short description of each of the 24 scenes. All images are 256-colors. Several are in BMP format for use as wallpaper. New England Wildflowers, Vol.1 $14.95 24 640 x 480 scanned photos of New England's wildflowers from early summer to late fall in an assortment of colors and shapes, shipped in a similar package as the NH Wilderness collection. Eastern Skies $14.95 24 640 x 480 scanned photos of sunrises, sunsets, clouds, storms and other meterological formations, shipped in a similar package as the NH Wilderness collection (two 3.5" diskettes in a CD-case). David Martsolf, Surrealist $14.95 27 640 x 480 scans of the surreal work of artist David Martsolf. Most are images of the entire work. Some are detail closeups of portions of complex canvases. The artist has been recognized in national juried competitions. Two 3.5" diskettes are shipped in JPG format with a User's Guide in a CD-case. All images are 256-colors, some in BMP format. Damsel Bitmap Collection, Vol.1 & 2 $14.95 each (sold separately) A collection of 640 x 480 images and tiled images of original artwork and scanned photos representative of the other Damsel collections shown above. Shipped on two 3.5" diskettes with a User's Guide, but without a CD-case. All images are in BMP format for use also as wallpaper. Some are 16-color, some are 256-color. Volume 1 can be found elsewhere in the market as Shareware. Damsel Screen Saver Sampler $14.95 A collection of 24 640 x 480 pixel images of scanned photos in 256-colors with samples representative of four of the other Damsel collections shown above. Shipped on two 3.5" diskettes with a User's Guide, but with- out a CD-case. All images are in JPG format and cannot be used as wall- paper. Note that this collection is available elsewhere as Shareware. 2. THE ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS Damsel Software Group is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA 49442-9427, Fax 616-788-2765, or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. THE SHAREWARE CONCEPT Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed material. Shareware differs from public domain software in that there is the under- standing of payment IF the user continues to actively employ the software. Shareware is also copyrighted where public domain software is not. Copy- right restrictions vary from author to author. Damsel's Bitmap Collection is copyrighted. The details of this copyright follow below. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. 3. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Damsel Software Group's Shareware version of its Neoplastic Designs can be shared freely with everyone. We do request that a copy of this README file accompany the program so that others may register the product if they so desire. For commercial disk vendors this request is an absolute requirement. This Shareware version cannot be used for commercial applications. Once registered, the images contained in Damsel products may be used as wallpaper or as baseline images for further private or commercial process- ing. Your only restriction as a registered purchaser, owner, or user, is that Damsel products or their individual images not be resold or distributed in their original unmodified form. Images may be used unmodified in commercial publications where they form an integral part of a larger work to be sold or marketed as such. The images cannot be resold as stand-alone graphics without the expressed written consent of Damsel Software Group. The screen saving functions cannot be redistributed except in Shareware or other Damsel-approved versions with their original associated Damsel images. 4. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS This is the only product offered by Damsel that consists entirely of 16- color images. This limitation is a positive value for those users with older systems. Basically, if you can run Windows 3.1 or higher in color, this screen saver will work for you. It requires a video display board with 16-color capability for display on a VGA or SVGA monitor. You will need an IBM PC-compatible with a 386 or higher-type micro- processor, 4MB RAM, and a hard disk with 5MB free disk space. Damsel products run with MS-DOS 3.1 or higher using Windows 3.1 or higher. Damsel products are fully compatible with Windows 95. 5. SETTING UP YOUR SCREEN SAVER AND WALLPAPER First, the Screen Saver: Exit this README file by clicking on the minus sign or the Close ("X") button of the Notepad window. Then, turn off any other screen savers you may be using unless they are the ones linked directly to your Desktop (Display) Accessories module, following the manufacturer's instructions. *** ACCESS IN WINDOWS 3.X *** To access your Neoplastic Designs Screen Saver from Windows' Program Manager, 1. Double click on your Main icon. 2. Double click on the Control Panel icon. 3. Double click on the Desktop icon. 4. Once you are in the Desktop dialog box open the list in the Screen Saver area by clicking the button at the right of the box titled "Name:" (or by pressing TAB several times to go to the box, followed by ALT+DOWN ARROW). 5. Scroll on the slide bar until you find the screen saver titled "Neoplastic Share". Click once on the title to select it. You may also select the "Delay" time (of inactivity) in minutes which will precede the initiation of any screen saver selected. Password protection is also available and is described in the next section. 6. After selecting the screen saver choose OK in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box and exit back to the opening screen. The Neoplastic Shareware Screen Saver will now appear after the initial chosen period of inactivity passes. *** ACCESS IN WINDOWS 95 *** 1. Press or click your mouse on the Task Bar's Start button. 2. Highlight or click on Settings, from the first menu. 3. Click on Control Panel, from the second menu. 4. When the Control Panel window opens, double click on the Display icon. 5. Click on the tab titled Screen Saver. 6. Scroll down the list of screen savers and click on the name "Neoplastic Share". At this point you can also set the screen saver's "Wait" time or enter a password. Password details are available in the next section. Here are descriptions of the ten designs included in this Shareware Edtion. The selections have been ordered historically here and in the screen saver to show the development of the Neoplastic style. To better understand this growth you may want to skip ahead and read Section 10 of this readme file, Piet Mondrian and the Origins of Neoplastic Design. 1. Filename MONDRN65.BMP The greatest of the abstract artists of the early 1900's generally came from traditional schools of represent- ational art. This classical tradition was rooted in the figurative forms of the human body and other natural objects. The early break- throughs toward pure abstraction usually carried along some of these past memories. 2. Filename MONDRN31.BMP The second image shows again the ties to a 3-dimensional world. Mondrian participated in this artistic movement known as Cubism. As Cubism reached its height in 1912 Paris, Mondrian was 40 years old. 3. Filename MONDRN26.BMP In 1917 at age 45, Mondrian left Cubism behind, removing the last vestiges of curves and what he considered to be their confining enclosure of space and ideas. The right angle and resultant rectangles expressed most cleanly for Mondrian the dualism of the individual in relation to a social organization. 4. Filename MONDRN51.BMP A giant square reminiscent of early 1920's vintage. During this period the spaces and their interrelationships overpowered the lines that defined their edges. 5. Filename MONDRN50.BMP Classic Neoplasticism: squares, rectangles, lines and color fields all in equilibrium. Society codified and optimized. Mondrian reached this stage in the early 1920's at the age of 52. 6. Filename MONDRN66.BMP In 1928 Mondrian varied his compositions to engage in a contrapuntal balancing of squares and rectangles. Later concepts of linear resonance (interrelationships of parallel lines) are also present in this design. 7. Filename MONDRN64.BMP Mondrian made a point of defending the Neo- plastic style as a form suitable for an entire panoply of derivative art mediums. Though the decorative arts broke many of his strict visual rules, Mondrian generally welcomed works such as this one as offspring of his social paradigm. 8. Filename MONDRN62.BMP This design is a 90 degree reposition of a 1930's Mondrian. This classic piece looks equally well in any orient- ation. The fact that some do not is a result of our life's learning of basic visual cues; life is up, earth and death are horizontal. The balancing force is gravity. 9. Filename MONDRN69.BMP Mondrian did not use varying line thickness in Neoplasticism until 1929. This derivative design does violate one prime rule of the style, however. It utilizes repetitive line spacing to establish visual rhythms. This was avoided by Mondrian throughout his career. 10. Filename MONDRN98.BMP Although this decorative derivative work does not overtly name objects, the constructions permit the imagination to create worlds of familiarity and depth. Object words such as "float", "steps", "dais", "roof", and "windows" immediately stimulate visions that could have been used in conjunction with period advertising text. Setting up your favorite Neoplastic Design for use as wallpaper: To use Damsel's bitmap images as wallpaper for Windows the picture files must be located in the WINDOWS directory. They must be "COPY"ed to the WINDOWS directory in order that the original screen saver previewer will still function. This screen saver has been programmed to look for the files in the NPD1SHAR directory. If you "MOVE" the image files to the WINDOWS directory in order to save disk space, the program will no longer be able to find them in their new home. After watching the screen saver for a time, you may find favorites that you may wish to copy one at a time, rather than duplicating all files in the NPD1SHAR directory. You can use the COPY function of Windows' File Manager to accomplish this operation. In Windows 95 you can use My Computer or Explorer to do a COPY/PASTE operation. Your alternative is to uninstall and reinstall this program, choosing the WINDOWS directory as your choice when prompted by the program. Before choosing this route, please check your current WINDOWS directory for any resident readme.txt files as the installation will overwrite any earlier versions of readme.txt. Though offered as an alternative Damsel does not recommend this technique as it clutters the Windows directory and makes the manual uninstall routine more time-consuming for the user. To access your new wallpaper choices return to your Program Manager\Control Panel\Desktop dialog box. The Wallpaper scroll box is located directly beneath the Screen Saver box. Choosing wallpaper is exactly like choosing your screen saver except that the options are different. When selecting any of the Neoplastic images from the wallpaper list you should also click on the Center option located directly under the Wallpaper scroll box. In Windows 95 the sequence is Start\Settings\Control Panel\Display\ Background. The Wallpaper scroll box is to the lower right of the dialog box. 6. SCREEN SAVER FUNCTION AND FEATURES Damsel's Neoplastic Designs Screen Saver, Shareware Edition, is a collection of 10 640 x 480 pixel graphics which can also be used as Windows wallpaper. All of Damsel's screen savers have preset display times and transition effects (the methods used to transition between one image and the next). Once loaded, the image files are stored in uncompressed BMP format. The length of time required to load each image and perform transition effects will depend directly on the size and speed of your microprocessor (386, 486, or Pentium class) and the power of your video graphics card. Some of the transition times have been extended deliberately as they are interesting to watch in and of themselves. Damsel has set the post-transition display times to be approximately 20 seconds for each image using a 486-type machine running at 33 Megahertz. Faster 486 and Pentium machines will exhibit slightly shorter display times. Users with 386-type machines may notice an initial blank screen lasting several seconds as the microprocessor loads the first image. Some blank screen time may also appear between certain transition effects on slower machines. Your screen saver has been installed in the "Mouse Aware" mode, meaning that any movement of the mouse will disengage the screen saver. Disengagement may take several seconds if the program is interrupted during one of the image transitions. The screen saver may be put into a "Mouse Ignore" mode where only a depressed key on the keyboard will deactivate the screen saver. The program will recommence using the next image in its sequence when the selected delay time reactivates the screen saver. To access the Mouse Aware \ Mouse Ignore setup choices click on the Setup button of the Screen Saver section of the Desktop (Win95's Display) dialog box (accessed by the Program Manager\Main\Control Panel\Desktop command sequence in Windows 3.x, or by Windows 95's Start\Settings\Control Panel\ Display\Screen Saver command sequence). Once there, the choices are found on the left side of the upper tool bar. The Mouse icon on the upper horizontal tool bar is a toggle switch. A box at the lower left of the screen will tell you which mode you have chosen. Click on the exit icon or the Windows' "X" at the upper right-hand corner to leave this box. Before leaving you may wish to set a password. Damsel screen savers have incorporated the same Password protection scheme offered by the original Windows screen savers. This feature is also found in the Setup (Settings) dialog box of the Screen Saver section of the Desktop (Display) dialog box. A click on the Password button brings up a screen with the "Enter New Password" entry line. As you type in your selected password, asterisks will appear for each letter. Clicking on the OK button will bring up a confirmation screen where you will be asked to reenter the same password. Clicking the OK button here will return you to the original Setup (Settings) screen. Note that if you have several Damsel products, they will all use the same password. A change to a password for one screen saver will affect them all. Exiting will activate your password protection. With the screen saver activated, any motion of the mouse in the Mouse Aware mode or keyboard entry in the Mouse Ignore mode will bring up an Enter Password dialog box. The password must be correctly entered in order to gain access back to the active Windows environment. If you forget your password your best option is to copy PGX.INI from your original Disk #1 directly to your WINDOWS directory and then enter a new password, if desired. If you wish to change or remove the password you must return to the Setup (Settings) screen of the Screen Saver section of the Desktop (Display) dialog box. To enter a new password follow the same procedure as described above. To remove the password simply click on the OK button of both the Enter New Password input screen and the Reenter New Password screen without filling in the input line. 7. IMAGE COMPRESSION The images from the Neoplastic Designs Screen Saver, Shareware Edition, are loaded into their directory uncompressed in the BMP graphics format. While this uses up more hard disk space than a compressed format such as JPEG, it does guarantee that each image will retain perfect fidelity to the original Damsel design. And, it permits all images to be used as wallpaper. 8. UNINSTALLING YOUR SCREEN SAVER Your screen saver has been loaded to a directory named NPD1SHAR unless you chose otherwise during the installation procedure. In order to enable you to access the screen saver Damsel has loaded two additional files into your WINDOWS directory, NPD1xxxx.INI and NPD1xxxx.SCR, where 'x' is any number. If you have chosen a password, the program has also copied PGX.INI to the WINDOWS directory. To remove the screen saver from your hard disk simply delete all files in the NPD1SHAR directory (or your own directory name chosen during install- ation)and the NPD1xxxx.INI and NPD1xxxx.SCR files located in your WINDOWS directory. This can be done quickly from your Windows 3.x File Manager, found in your Program Manager's Main menu, or from your Windows 95 My Computer or Explorer. Though not required for the continued functioning of Windows, popular uninstall application programs may be used to seek out and remove small lines of code that Windows adds to its own system files. Also, remove PGX.INI if present. If PGX.INI contains an active password. If you do not remove the file, the next time you load any Damsel screen saver you will find that the old password has immediately been attached to it. If you have forgotten that old password, you will have to manually copy the new PGX.INI file into your WINDOWS directory in order to overwrite the old password. You can find this screen saver PGX.INI file either in the NPD1SHAR directory or on your original installation Disk #1. If you have other Damsel products on your hard disk you can leave this file intact. 9. WARRANTY INFORMATION Damsel Software Group specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose or application. In no event shall Damsel Software Group, its owner or employees be liable for any loss of profit, loss of savings, commercial damage, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use any Volume or Sampler of Damsel Screen Savers or Bitmaps, even if Damsel Software Group has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. 10. PIET MONDRIAN AND THE ORIGINS OF NEOPLASTIC DESIGN IN WESTERN ART Neoplasticism was one of several non-figurative artistic movements of the early 1900's. Begun in the Netherlands in 1917, it's focus on pure abstraction was accompanied by a philosophical rationalism expressed through its own periodical, a cultural review magazine called "De Stijl"(The Style). In Neoplasticism, visual forms were meant to symbolize the underlying structure of reality. Writings for "De Stijl" made it clear that the artists of the movement considered references to social structure as important as the physical structures of their paintings. 'The Style' which gave the magazine its name represented a distillation of the concept of a society based on a technological and scientific basis. The idea dated back to the Renaissance, but was beginning to take on a greater meaning as mechanized industry grew rapidly in the 1900's. The principles of "De Stijl" were given both visual and verbal form by the Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian. His visual work combines a formal structural- ism with plastic spacial and tonal interrelationships capable of eliciting feelings of harmony and tension in the viewer without reference to trad- itional organic lifeforms. In the works of Piet Mondrian, the individual elements take the form of varied lines, spaces and colors which are organ- ized into a complex yet balanced whole bounded by the edges of the canvas. Verbally, Mondrian spoke through articles published in "De Stijl". Mondrian defined Neoplasticism as an artistic style less concerned with the individual's place in society than with the dynamics of society itself. It became one of the prime constructs of "De Stijl" that art should be a vehicle to resolve social conflict by extoling an interactive harmony which would permit individual choice within a cohesive collective organization. Thus, the individual elements of Mondrians paintings had no greatness of their own, but only struck a chord through their relationships with all of the other elements in the canvas. The works of Piet Mondrian strike such a vibrant formal balance between harmony and tension, that they could be described as utopian dreams rather than representations of realistic social interaction. However, both individuals and societies look to such dreams for visions of hope and future possibilities. The paintings and the writings of Mondrian survive due to their ability to speak to this greater human desire. Born in 1872 near Utrecht, close to the German border, Mondrian was the son of a small town school director. In his early 20's he obtained a teaching certificate and then studied an additional five years at the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts. The birth of "De Stijl" in 1917 came only four years after he had progressed artistically through realism and cubism to his own abstract style. Mondrian's own writings became central themes of the artistic movement. In "De Stijl"'s second issue, he wrote that the raging First World War was effectively destroying the old world of individual power and agression. He believed throughout World War II to his death in New York in 1944 that science and technology would eventually lift mankind beyond the pale of our barbaric past and present. The images contained in this screen saver are meant to reflect the develop- ment of Mondrian's style. The images begin with works that represent younger efforts, combining organic and quasi-abstract shapes, gradually progressing to images of pure abstraction typical of Mondrian's fully developed style. None of these images are direct copies of any of Mondrian's work, nor are they ever to be considered as such. 11. REGISTRATION FORM - - Cut - - here - - for - - registration - - form - - - - - - - - - - - - DAMSEL SOFTWARE GROUP REGISTRATION FORM P.O. Box 713 Concord, NH 03302-0713 phone/fax 603 485-2677 NEOPLASTIC DESIGNS SCREEN SAVER SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER Yes, I want to receive a registered version of Damsel's Neoplastic Designs Screen Saver and take advantage of the 10 extra images, lifetime technical support, a free catalog with updates, an additional screen saver, and free shipping, all for only $14.95 in U.S. currency either drawn from a U.S. bank or ordered by MasterCard or Visa. I understand that both screen savers will be shipped only on 3.5" diskettes. Additional screen savers may also be ordered following the guidelines presented in Section 1. I have enclosed $ _________________ in U.S. funds as a check or money order. or, I have elected to order with ____ MasterCard or ____ Visa (check one). MasterCard/Visa orders require: Card Expiration Date: __________ Card Number: __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Cardholder Signature: __________________________________________ Please ship my 3.5" diskettes and other documentation to: Name ___________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City, State, ZIP _______________________________________________ DAMSEL SOFTWARE GROUP DAMSEL SOFTWARE GROUP ***************************** End of File ***************************