Copyright: Copyright ©1995 ACD Systems, Ltd.


Contents
ACDSee version 1.3

©1994-1995 ACD Systems, Ltd.

Using ACDSee

Introduction

Installation

Running ACDSee

Image Browser

Image Viewer

ACDSee Registration and Licensing

Registration

License and Distribution

About ACDSee

Version History (What's new)

Program Updates

Possible Future Enhancements

Credits

Frequently Asked Questions

About ACD Systems

Contacting ACD Systems


Introduction

Congratulations on obtaining ACDSee, the fastest, easiest-to-use Windows image viewer available!

ACDsee is the only image viewer that gives you all these great features:

*	attractive, effective and easy-to-use interface, including toolbars, status bars and on-line help

*	support for most BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, Photo-CD, PNG, TGA and TIFF files

*	rapid JPEG decoding

*	fast, full-colour image previews

*	file system browser front end lets you quickly browse through your images and other files

*	image display during decoding process

*	selectable dithering modes for high quality output

*	fast scrolling and zooming, even during decoding process

*	innovative system for deleting, renaming, copying and moving files

*	support for document launching, editing and printing via file associations

*	powerful file association editor

*	facility for viewing & editing 4DOS descriptions

*	drag-and-drop support for single and multiple files

*	automatic or manual slideshow with optional read-ahead decompression

*	always-on-top and full-screen viewing window options

*	shrink image to fit  window or screen option

*	print capability

*	optional single-instance mode makes ACDSee the perfect viewer for use as a helper application

*	set the desktop wallpaper


Show File Date/Time

When this option is selected, the date and time stamp of each file and directory in the file list is shown.


Image Browser

Toolbar

Current Directory

File List Box

Split Bar

Preview Area

Status Bar

Pop-up Menu

Options

Drag & Drop Feature


Image Viewer

Overview

Toolbar and Pop-up Menu Commands

Status Bar

Options

Drag & Drop Feature

Slidshow Feature


Registration

ACDSee is ShareWare

ACDSee is "ShareWare".  This entitles you, the customer, to try out the software for up to 30 days without obligation to pay for it.

Shareware (non-registered) ACDSee is a "full" version.  This means that the same capabilities available in the registered software are present in the non-registered software.  In fact, the non-registered software includes a bonus feature - the shareware nag box

If you use ACDSee beyond the 30 days, you should register it.  Registration entitles you to free upgrades to the software, which is nice.

How Much Does It Cost To Register?

Registering ACDSee costs you only $15.00 US.  If you are part of a business and wish to use several copies of ACDSee within your company, greatly reduced site licensing rates are also available.

How To Register

Credit card over the phone or FAX,

Compuserve

Cheque or money order.

Before you register, please take a look at the Licensing section of this help file.

Unlocking the Software

You will receive a notification of registration from ACD Systems which contains your personal registration name and number.

First, bring up the Reigistration Dialog by first invoking About dialog box, then clicking on the Register button.

Enter your name in the registration dialog.  Be sure to type your name exactly as it appears in your notification, as capitalization, spaces and punctuation are all taken into account when computing your registration number.

Now enter your personal registration number, and select Register  If all is well, ACDSee will respond with a message thanking you for your registration.  Otherwise ACDSee will complain that your name and number don't match, and you will have to correct the information.


Installation

System Requirements

*	386sx or higher processor

*	256 colour or higher graphics card

*	4 Megs of RAM

*	Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.1, Windows NT 3.1, or Windows '95

*	~500k of disk space

Installation Procedure

If you obtained your copy of ACDSee on disk, then just run the setup.exe program to install.  Otherwise, you need to follow the following steps:

1)	Copy the ACDSEE files anywhere you like

2)	Create an icon for ACDSEE.EXE in Program Manager

3)	If you do not already have CTL3DV2.DLL in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, then install the copy included in the ACDSee distribution with the DOS prompt command,

pkunzip ctl3dv2.zip c:\windows\system\

***Delete the CTL3DV2.ZIP file from your ACDSee directory***

4)	You will probably want Associations for image files with ACDSEE.EXE  This will allow you to view pictures from File Manager by simply double-clicking on them.


Viewer Window Attributes Options

Always On Top

This option is available from the Viewer Options dialog, or from the System Menu of the View Window. When checked, the View Window will appear as the topmost window, even when other windows are activated.  Otherwise, the window behaves normally.

Full-Screen

Selecting this item will cause the viewer to enter Full-Screen mode, where the window is maximized, and the titlebar and menu are hidden.  To get back to normal mode, hit ALT+F or double click with the left mouse button.

Shortcuts: 	ALT+F or double-click with left mouse button.

Toolbar

Turns the image viewer  tool bar on or off.  (The toolbar is always turned off in Full-Screen mode)

Status bar

Turns the image viewer status bar on or off.  (The status bar is always turned off in Full-Screen mode)


File Associations/Actions
File Associations

A File Association lets you launch applications to view files quickly and easily by acting on document files that the application can open.

For each file type (filename extension) you can define three separate actions: open, edit and print.  The open action is the default action taken when you double click on a document file in ACDSee or File Manager.  The edit and print actions are additional actions that you can configure.  The print action is used by File Manager to print document files, and the edit action is not used by File Manager.

See Extensions/Command Associations Dialog Box


Running ACDSee

Starting in Browser Mode

You can start ACDSee from the Program Manager by double-clicking on its icon. You will immediately be presented with the Image Browser dialog where you can browse your directories for images to look at.

Starting in View Mode

If you have made a File association between image files and ACDSee, you can also start ACDSee from the File Manager by just double clicking on an image file.

Note:	When ACDSee is run in this manner, pressing Escape will exit the program, rather than take you to the Image Browser.

Command-Line Arguments

You can supply one or more image files as the command-line arguments to ACDSee.  You can even use wildcards.  e.g., acdsee.exe *.jpg would start ACDSee and have it slideshow all the .JPG files in the current directory.

You may alternatively specify a startup directory on the command line.  The directory name must end in a "\", or be one of ".", "..", or "<drive>:".  ACDSee will start the Image Browser in the specified directory.


Image Panning
Image Panning/Scrolling

When the mouse cursor appears as a hand, the image is larger than the size of the Image Viewer window.  To pan (scroll) the image being viewed, click anywhere on the image and drag it.  Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the image within the window.

This can be quite fun, especially on an accelerated video card.  For those of you that don't like to wait, the scrolling feature can be used even while the image is being decompressed!


Image Browser Current Directory
Image Browser - Current Directory

This box contains the current directory the image browser is looking into.

You can change the current directory by

1) double-clicking on one of the directories or drives in the File List,

or	2) selecting a directory in the file list and pressing <Enter>

or	3) typing in the name of the desired directory and pressing <Enter>

It is also possible to specify a wildcard file filter in the directory.  For example, entering "C:\Windows\a*.bmp" and hitting <Enter> would list all files in the C:\Windows directory starting with "a" and having an extension of "bmp".


Image Browser File List
Image Browser - File List

This is a list box that contains a number of entries.  There are several different kinds of entries in the file list:

Parent directory

This entry refers to the directory above the current directory.  You can move up a directory by selecting this entry and clicking on the OK button.

If the current directory is a root directory, this entry will not be present.

Files

There is one entry in the file list for each file in the current directory.

There are three types of files:

Image Files	Opening one or more image files will cause ACDSee to change to View Mode and view the image(s).

Associated Files	Opening one of these files will cause the associated application to be started to view the file.

Other Files	These may not be opened.

Subdirectories

You can cause the image browser to move into a subdirectory by selecting it and clicking on Open.

Drives

ACDSee includes one item in the file list for each logical drive on your system.  Use these entries to switch the current directory to the root of a drive.

Selecting item from the file list

You can change the currently selected entry by:

*	clicking on another entry with the mouse button

*	moving the selection bar with the cursor keys

*	pressing a lowercase letter, which will take you to the next entry starting with that letter

*	pressing an uppercase letter, which will take you to the previous entry starting with that letter

You can select several entries by:

*	clicking on one entry with the mouse and dragging down or up the list

*	holding down shift and moving the selection bar with the cursor keys or by clicking on another entry with the the mouse

*	pressing Shift-F8 to enter Multiple Selection Mode.


Image Browser - Toolbar

Up dir.	<Alt-U>	Changes into the parent directory

Refresh	<Alt-R>	Re-loads the directory information from the drive.  Use this option when the contents of the directory have been changed by another program.

Preview	<Alt-P>	Shows a preview of the currently selected image.

View	<Enter>	Switches into Viewer mode and shows the currently selected images

Copy	<Alt-C>	Copies the selected file(s) to a different directory

Move	<Alt-M>	Moves the selected file(s) to a different directory

Delete	<Alt-D>	Deletes the selected file(s)

Rename	<Alt-R>	Renames the selected file(s)

Describe	<Alt-E>	Edits the 4DOS description for the selected file(s)

Options	<Alt-O>	Displays the Browser Options Dialog to let you configure the Browser options.

About	<Alt-B>	Displays version and registration information about the program

Help	<F1>	Displays ACDSee's on-line help

Exit	<Alt-X>	Quits the program


Image Browser Preview Area
Image Browser - Preview Area

A preview of the currently selected image in the file list can be made to appear in the Preview Area of the Image Browser by clicking on the Preview Button.

If the preview image is larger than the available area, you can scroll the preview image by clicking in the preview area with the left mouse button and dragging.

See also:	Auto-Preview Checkbox

Image Browser - Preview Options

Adjusting The Amount Of Space Available For The Preview Area

You can control how much room is available for displaying the Image Preview as follows:

Horizontal	adjust the horizontal size of the Image Browser window.

Vertical	adjust the vertical SplitBar


Image Browser Status Bar

The status bar is normally divided into two parts:

Current Directory Information

Displays the number and total size of the files in the current directory (including hidden files)

Selected Files Information

When a single file is selected, its size and time stamp are shown.  If the file is an image, its dimensions are also shown.

When a fixed drive is selected, its volume label, space remaining and total size is shown.

When more than one file is selected, the total number and size of selected files is shown.

The status bar is also used to show the progress of reading the image headers in the current directory and help hints for the toolbar.


Multiple Selection Mode

Once in Multiple Selection Mode, the focus bar will begin to blink.  You may now move the focus bar with the cursor keys, and toggle the selection status of each entry with the space bar.  To return to normal selection mode, press shift-F8 again.


Viewer Auto-Size Options

Shrink Image To Fit Window Option

When on, causes images larger than the window to be shrunk to fit completely within the window.  However, when the Change Window Size To Fit Image option is also on, the image will only shrink when the image is larger than the screen.  When off, the image is opened in its original size.  An image larger than can fit in the window may be panned.

Change Window Size to Fit Image Option

By checking this option, the Image Viewer window will automatically change its size to match the currently loaded image.  The window will continue to resize itself as you view images.  If an image is larger than the screen resolution, then the window will be made as large as possible.  If the Shrink Image To Fit Window Option is on as well, then the image will be shrunk if necessary to fit the screen imensions.  Otherwise you can scroll (pan) the image within the window. By unchecking this option, you can go back to your preferred window size and position again.


SlideShow

When more than one image is opened for viewing, ACDSee can enter SlideShow mode.  When SlideShow mode is on, Images will be flipped automatically every few seconds.

To start a slideshow, first open several images, either via the image browser, drag and drop, or from the command line.  Then invoke the Start Slideshow command.

See also: Slideshow Options


4DOS Descriptions

4DOS is a replacement DOS shell for COMMAND.COM.  It adds many useful features that makes DOS much nicer to use.  One of the features that 4DOS supports is file descriptions.

You do not need actually need 4DOS to use file descriptions in ACDSee, but it is still a useful tool to have.

ACDSee stores your file descriptions in a hidden file in the current directory called DESCRIPT.ION  It can also cache image information there so that ACDSee can bring up directories with lots of images much quicker.  You can alter this behavior with the Cache Image Dimensions Option.

It is also possible to configure ACDSee to not make descript.ion files hidden.  See the Set hidden attribute on descript.ion option

IMPORTANT NOTE:	Norton Desktop and some other applications do not handle application-specific data stored in the descript.ion files.  If you use Norton Desktop's file manager, you will have to uncheck the Cache Image Dimensions Option.


Shareware Nag Box

As an encouragement to register, ACDSee will occasionally bring up its About box when you quit the application.  This is supposed to be very annoying, and will of course cease and desist the moment that you register.


MasterCard/VISA Registration
VISA/MasterCard Registration

For your convenience, we have a toll-free number for credit card customers:

1-800-414-ACDS

(1-800-414-2237)

The number is available 24 hours, so even if you don't call during normal business hours (8:30 AM - 9:00 PM PST M-F), an operator will take your name and number so that we can contact you.

Where 800 service is unavailable, please call (604) 475-6701

You may also FAX your order to (604) 475-6651


Compuserve Registration

If you are a member of the Compuserve Information Service, you may register via the Shareware Registration Database

To register, log onto CompuServe, enter GO SWREG. and follow the on-line instructions.  Request ID #4057, or use "ACDSee" for the program title.  Your registration information will be electronically mailed to your compuserve ID within a few days.


Money Order Registration

Send your US funds cheque or money order to:

USA

ACD Systems - Van Texas

2201 North Collins

Suite 230

Arlington, TX 76011

Canada

ACD Systems, Ltd.

P.O. Box 730

Victoria, BC

Canada V8W 2P9

Please use the included Order Form to complete your order infromation.


Auto Preview Option

When checked, previews of the images in the file list are brought up automatically as they are selected.

You can also set the Auto Preview Delay option so that ACDSee waits the specified time interval before showing the automatic preview.


Show Image Dimensions Option

By setting this option, you can get the Image Browser file list to show the width, height and number of colours for each image.

This information can take a while to extract out of the images, however, so you may not always want it turned on.


Show Image Files Only Options
Show Image Files Only Option

When checked, only files with extensions that correspond to image types that ACDSee can view are displayed.   Otherwise, all files types are shown.


File List Sorting Options

The file list sorting options affect the order in which files appear in the file list.  (Directories are always sorted by forward name)

By Name	Sort files by their 11-character file name

By Extension	Sort files first by their 3-character extension, then by their 8-character base name

By Size	Sort files first by their length in bytes, then by their name

By Date	Soft files by their date and time, then by their name.

Foward	Files lower in the selected collating sequence above appear first.

Reverse	Files higher in the collating sequence appear first.


Confirm file deletion

When checked, ACDSee will ask for confirmation whenever files are deleted.


Drag-and-Drop Feature

ACDSee allows you to select one or more files from the File Manager, drag them over to ACDSee's window, and drop them there.  This will cause ACDSee to view the images in slideshow mode.

Any files dropped that are not image files will be ignored.


Viewer Options

Slideshow Options

Dithering Options

Window Attributes

Auto-size Options

Starting Up With Files Options

Options Dialog Buttons


Viewer Starting Up With Files Options

These options let you change the behaviour of ACDSee when it is invoked more than once to view multiple images.

Start new viewer instance

This is the normal mode of operation.  This causes a separate copy of ACDSee to run for each image launched.

Replace image in current instance

This causes the launched image(s) to be passed to the already running copy of ACDSee.  The new images replace any images that were previously open.

Add images to current instance

This causes the launched image(s) to be passed to the already running copy of ACDSee.  The new images are appended to the working sequence of images that were previously open.  The viewer automatically advances to show the first new image.


Slideshow Options

Auto-start

Causes ACDSee to automatically start a slideshow when more than one image is opened.

Wrap around at last image

When checked, ACDSee will start over from the first image after the last image in the sequence has been displayed.   Otherwise, ACDSee will halt the automatic flipping process.  This option

has no effect when manually flipping images.

Page flip delay

This slider lets you set the time delay between images.  After the current image has been completely decompressed, ACDSee will pause for the requested number of seconds before displaying the next image.

Enable read-ahead

When checked, ACDSee will immediately start decompressing the next image in the sequence after the currently viewed image has been completely decompressed.  This means that when you flip to the next image, it will already be partially or completely decompressed.  The disadvantage of this feature is that scrolling tends to be more chunky when ACDSee is decompressing.


Full-Screen Window Option

Selecting this item will cause the viewer to enter Full-Screen mode, where the window is maximized, and the titlebar and menu are hidden.  To get back to normal mode, hit CTRL+F or double click with the left mouse button.

Shortcuts: 	ALT+F, or double-click with left mouse button.


Viewer Dithering Options

When running Windows with a hicolour or 256-colour graphics driver, truecolor images are quantized down to match the available number of colours of your video card.  To improve the appearance of the quantized image, a dithering algorithm should be applied.

256-Colour Dithering Options

Ordered:	Default.  Fast and good quality.

Floyd-Steinberg:	Slower but slightly better quality.

HiColour Dithering Options

None:	Fastest and good quality.

Ordered:	Slightly slower but better quality, especially for computer generated images.


Site License Rates

All prices in US Funds.

1 	to 	2 	computers	$15.00 each

3 	to  	9 	computers 	$12.00 each

10 	to 	29 	computers 	 $ 9.00 each

30 	to 	99 	computers 	 $ 7.00 each

100 or more	computers	 $ 6.00 each


Order Form

               ACDSee/PicaView Image Viewer Order Form

Send to: ACD Systems               ACD Systems - Van Texas

         PO Box 730, Victoria  or  2201 North Collins  Suite 230

         B.C. Canada V8W 2P9       Arlington, TX, USA  76011

         FAX (604) 475-6651

Name___________________________________________ Date____________

Company________________________________________ Phone___________

Street_________________________________________ FAX_____________

City__________________ Country_________ ZIP/Postal code_________

Email___________________________________________________________

Product: (check one)   __ACDSee     __PicaView

                ALL AMOUNTS ARE UNITED STATES DOLLARS

SINGLE USER LICENSE:

 	License Only - NO Disk - NO shipping          =	$15.00

OR 	We ship one 3.5" registered disk (+ shipping) =	$30.00

SITE LICENSE:   Must supply a proper business name.

   3 to  9 computers 	@ $12.00 each X ____units     = _______

  10 to 29 computers 	@ $ 9.00 each X ____units     = _______

  30 to 99 computers 	@ $ 7.00 each X ____units     = _______

 100 &  up computers	@ $ 6.00 each X ____units     = _______

Site license disks 	@ $ 7.00 each X ____units     = _______

        Subtotal                                        _______

        Disk shipping (U.S. and Canada) $4.95           _______

        Disk shipping (Other Areas)     $11.00          _______

        Texas residents add state tax:                  _______

        Total (US funds only)                           _______

Method of payment: Cheque__  Money order__  Mastercard__  VISA__

Name exactly as on credit card _________________________________

Card Number________________________________  Exp.Date___________

Signature_______________________________________________________


Always On Top Option

This option is available from the Viewer Options dialog, or from the System Menu of the View Window. When checked, the View Window will appear as the topmost window, even when other windows are activated.  Otherwise, the window behaves normally.


Possible Future Enhancements

In approximate decreasing order of priority:

o	delete images from the viewer

o	copy image to clipboard function

o	response file support

o	image info - display image format information

o	faster GIF and PNG decoding

o	support for more file formats

o	2-pass quantization support for 256 colour users

If you have any ideas that you would like to see implemented in ACDSee, please tell us about them.  We believe ACDSee is already the best image viewer available for Windows, but it never hurts to make it better!


Credits

The colour quantization/dithering features of ACDSee were made possible through the use of code produced by the Independent JPEG Group.

The TIFF features of ACDSee were made possible through the use of code in Sam Leffler's TIFF library, version 3.4 beta.


Distribution and Licensing Information
Software Distribution and Licensing Information

Distribution

This shareware software may be freely distributed, provided that:

(1)	Such distribution includes only the original archive supplied by ACD Systems, Ltd.  You may not alter, delete or add any files in the distribution archive.

(2)	The distrubution does not include a registration number.  In particular, you may not distrubute a registered version of ACDSee.

(3)	 No money is charged to the person receiving the software, beyond reasonable cost of packaging and other overhead.

License

By receiving and/or using ACD Systems software, you accept the following Evaluation and Registered User Agreement.  This agreement is a binding legal agreement between ACD Systems Ltd. and the purchasers, users or evaluators of ACD Systems' software and products.  If you do not intend to honor this agreement, remove all installed  ACD Systems software from your computer now.

Evaluation (Unregistered) and Registered User Agreement

You may evaluate the Shareware program for maximum of thirty calendar days, after which you must register the program with ACD Systems Ltd. or remove the software from your computer.

You may allow other users to evaluate copies of the unregistered Shareware. All evaluation users are subject to the terms of this agreement.

The evaluator/user/buyer/owner is not allowed to attempt to reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile ACD Systems Software and products.

ACD Systems name and any logo or graphics file that represents our software may not be used in any way to promote products developed with our software.  All parts of ACD Systems software and products are copyright protected.  No program, code, part, image, video clip, audio sample, text or computer generated sequence of images may be copied or used in any way by the user except as intended within the bounds of the single user program.

The evaluator/user/buyer/owner of ACD Systems software will indemnify, hold harmless, and defend ACD Systems against lawsuits, claims, costs associated with defense or accusations that result from the use of ACD Systems software.

ACD Systems is not responsible for any damages whatsoever, including loss of information, interruption of business, personal injury and/or any damage or consequential damage without limitation, incurred before, during or after the use of our products.  Our entire liability, without exception, is limited to the customers' reimbursement of the purchase price of the software (maximum being the suggested retail price as listed by ACD Systems) in exchange for the return of the product, all copies, registration papers and manuals, and all materials that constitute a transfer of ownership from the customer back to ACD Systems.

Each registered copy of the ACD Systems software may be used in only one single location by one user.  Use of the software means that you have loaded the program and run it or have installed the program onto a computer.  If you install the software onto a multi-user platform or network, each and every individual user of the software must be registered separately.

You may make one copy of the registered software for backup purposes, providing you only have one copy installed on one computer being used by one person. If any person other than yourself uses ACD Systems' software registered in your name, regardless of whether it is at the same time or different times, then this agreement is being violated!

The sale of and or distribution of registered copies of this software is strictly forbidden.  It is a violation of this agreement to loan, rent, lease, borrow, or transfer the use of registered copies of ACD Systems Software products.


Multiple Columns Option

Normally, the Image Browser displays the entries in its file list in a single column with a vertical scroll bar.  When this option is checked, entries are displayed in multiple columns with a horizontal scroll bar.  You might find that this mode is useful when you aren't displaying very much information about the files.


Frequently Asked Questions

1)	ACDSee says, "ACDSee will not run in less that 256 colours".  What do I do to make it run?

This message indicates ACDSee has determined that Windows is running in fewer than 256 colours.  If you know your video card is capable of  displaying 640x480x256 or better (most 512k + cards can do this) then you can change your video driver with Windows Setup (in the Main program group in Program Manager).

2)	When I run ACDSee, I get a nasty message saying "Cannot find CTL3DV2.DLL" and it won't run.

See the note about CTL3DV2.DLL in Installation procedure

3)	When I run ACDSee, I get a message saying "This program uses CTL3DV2.DLL, which is not correctly installed."

The file CTL3DV2.DLL exists in the same directory as ACDSee.  This file must be moved into the WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory for ACDSee to work properly.

See the note about CTL3DV2.DLL in Installation procedure

4)	ACDSee is generating hidden files in all my directories.  What are they for?

These are 4DOS description files.  They hold file descriptions and information about the images in the directory.  You can get rid of them, if you wish, by selecting View Hidden Files from the Image Browser options and then deleting them.  To prevent ACDSee from generating these files, turn off the Cache Image Dimensions option.  To prevent ACDSee from making descript.ion files hidden, see Set hidden attribute on descript.ion option

5)	Norton Desktop deletes my file descriptions and/or crashes the system after using ACDSee.

Norton Desktop does not support the new 4DOS 5.0 and later descript.ion file format.

See the Cache Image Dimensions option.


Version History

+ = new feature

o = performance enhancment or minor change

!! = bug fix

Version 1.3 - August 1995

+	Added image browser toolbar

+	Added image browser status bar

+	Added image viewer toolbar

+	Added image viewer status bar

+	The currently viewed image can now be zoomed in and out

+	The dimensions of images in the current directory are now gathered asynchronously

+	Image browser options dialog re-worked

+	Added association editor

+	Added move, copy, rename, parent dir and refresh commands to browser

+	The current directory is now displayed in an editable field

+	Information about the current directory and currently selected files/drives is now displayed in the image browser status bar

+	It is now possible to sort the file list by file description

+	Added option to not flip images in slideshow mode until the read-ahead image has been completely decoded

+	Added "Starting up with files" viewer options

+	Added optional hicolor dithering

o	The drive entries now change into the root directory of the corresponding drive

o	PCD decoding is about 80% faster

o	The nag box is easier to get rid of and appears less often in unregistered copies of ACDSee

!!	Fixed conflict with Windows '95 task bar

!!	Several other bug fixes

Version 1.25 - June 1995

+	Added support for PNG images

+	Added support for Kodak Photo-CD images

+	Added support for TIFF images

+	Added print command

+	Added "Auto-Preview Delay" advanced browser option

+	Added "Confirm Delete" advanced browser option

o	JPEG colour previews are much faster now (up to 3x as fast)

o	JPEG now uses the same ordered dithering routines as other image formats

o	Ordered dithering completely rewritten in assembler -> much faster, plus better looking!

o	Floyd Steinburg dithering is about 40% faster

!!	ACDSee can now read files that have been locked as read-only via the share facility

o	The retrieval of image dimensions from the images on the disk for the file list now begins after the file list is displayed, and can be aborted by pressing any key or mouse button.  In addition, it no longer brings to a halt the operation of other programs.

o	Multiple selections in the file list are now retained when switching between the Browser and Viewer modes

!!	Decoding routines are now more robust when dealing with truncated image files

!!	Fixed "no icon" problem that occurred on some systems

!!	Fixed several memory leaks

!!	Eliminated random crashes under NT

!!	Fixed crashes after images are deleted

!!	Fixed bug that prevented some JPEG files from being read

!!	Fixed bug that caused ACDSee to read some BMP files incorrectly

!!	Fixed reading of RLE-comrpessed 32k/64k Targa images

!!	Fixed delay which occurred when switching into Viewer mode with "Pass all images to Viewer" option turned on

!!	Fixed another bug that caused ACDSee to delete descriptions for hidden files, and non-image files when the "Show Image Files Only" option was on

!!	Worked around bug in Windows '95 that prevents the task bar from updating itself properly when a captionless window is hidden (e.g., quitting ACDSee or switching to the Browser from the full-screen image viewer window)

o	CTL3DV2.DLL version 2.26 is now included in a ZIP archive

o	Removed the image count report in the About box for registered users

Version 1.24 - April 1995

+	Added file date/time stamp to file list

+	The file list can now be sorted on Name, Extension, Size or Date/Time in either forward or reverse

+	Added option to show hidden files in the file list

+	Added support for RLE and OS/2 BMP formats

+	Added "Pass all images to Viewer" option

+	Image viewer now shows [image number/number of images current being viewed] in the title bar when viewing multiple images

+	Pressing ESC while the Image Browser is extracting the image dimensions for a directory of images will cancel the process (useful if you log to directory with a tonne of images and you don't want to wait for the image dimensions to be loaded in)

+	Added Edit... and Print... commands to Image Browser's pop-up menu

+	You can now specify a directory as an argument to ACDSee, and ACDSee will bring up the Image Browser in the specified directory

+	The respective colours of the directories, images and associated files can now be set by modifying acdsee.ini

+	Added option to not set the hidden attribute on descript.ion files

o	Caching image dimensions in descript.ion is no longer enabled by default

!!	The Image Browser  no longer fails to work on systems with certain networking software

o	BMP and TGA decoding are up to 3 times faster than in version 1.23

!!	Fixed bug that caused ACDSee to delete descriptions for hidden files, and non-image files when the "Show Image Files Only" option was on

!!	Fixed bug that caused ACDSee to start with a hidden window the first time it was run on a system

!!	Fixed bug that caused TGA images with id fields not to be interpreted properly

!!	Fixed bug that allowed the nag box to appear partially or totally off-screen

Version 1.23 - April 1995

+	Added "Shrink image to fit window" option

+	Image previews are now in full colour, with optional JPEG grayscale preview for speed

+	JPEG decompression is between 20% (486) and 40% faster (Pentium)

+	Added "Reload image" command to Image Viewer

+	Image preview mode option: Full Image, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or auto size preview

+	You can now switch into the Image Browser after starting ACDSee from the File Manager

+	The slide show can not be stopped/resumed on command.  The slide show is now automatically stopped when the the view window is minimized.

o	Replaced Viewing Window menu bar with a pop-up menu (use right mouse button)

o	With Auto-Size Window on, the Viewing Window is now maximized if the image is larger than the screen.

o	The split bar now preserves the height of the list box when the height of the Image Browser window is changed, rather than moving proportionally

o	The Image Browser buttons will align into a single column when there is enough vertical space

o	Executable is smaller and loads faster

o	Moved all Viewing Window options into a single dialog box

o	Retired the Chunk Decompression option - the decompression rate (lines per tick) is now inversly proportional to the image width

!!	Fixed bug which sometimes caused ACDSee to crash after changing Image Browser options

!!	Fixed bug that arose in version 1.22 where ACDSee didn't close itself properly when lauched in Image Viewer mode

!!	Popup Image Browser menu now works properly in a multiple column file list

Version 1.22 - Mar. 1995

+	Created the nifty on-line help file (using ForeFront's ForeHelp software)

+	You can now independently turn on/off the display of associations, file sizes, image dimensions and descriptions, as well as control whether the file list is multi-column or single-column

+	Added option to start up in the directory that ACDSee was in when it last exited

+	Added option to show image dimensions only on fixed drives, which should bring some relief to CD-ROM owners

+	Added option to *not* cache image dimensions in descript.ion, which seemed to annoy some people

+	Added pop-up menu to Image Browser file list

+	Image Browser options moved into a separate dialog box

+	The location of the split between the Image Browser file list and the buttons/preview area may now be changed

+	Added button to save Image Browser options

+	Added menu items to save Image Viewer options and Image Viewer window position

+	ACDSee now accepts wildcards (eg, '*.jpg') on its command line

+	The unregistered ACDSee nag box appears less frequently while ACDSee is viewing images, (although you shouldn't notice any difference, right?   ;-)

o	The font in the Image Browser's file list may now be set by editing ACDSEE.INI (FontName=fontName)

o	ACDSee now recongizes JPEG files with the extension ".JPE"

!!	ACDSee now runs properly under Windows NT and Windows '95 as a 16-bit Windows application (tested under version 3.5 of NT and Windows '95 final beta)

!!	ACDSee no longer "looses your place" in the file list after deleting a file

!!	Files can now be selected/deselected with the space bar (using the Shift-F8 selection mode)

!!	Fixed bug in v1.21 that caused ACDSee to complain that "Dropped file could not be read" when a single image was dragged and dropped into the View Window.

!!	It turns out that the smaller executable of version 1.21 was the result of accidentally excluding a resource from the EXE.  (ACDSee generated the missing resource automatically at run-time, however this increased the application startup time.)  The resource has been re-included so that the EXE is larger, but loads faster.

o	Reading in large directories is much faster now

!!	Fixed a bug that caused ACDSee to show blank images and/or crash when another application deleted files that ACDSee was attempting to slideshow

!!	Fixed a bug that sometimes caused ACDSee to delete file descriptions created by another program while ACDSee was running in the same directory

!!	Fixed a bug that prevented ACDSee from recongizing descript.ion files with upper case file names

!!	When you switched from ACDSee to another application and deleted the descript.ion file, and then switched back to ACDSee, it would not realize that the descript.ion file was deleted and not update its file list accordingly

!!	Fixed bug that potentially caused ACDSee to report the wrong associated application for certain file types

o	ACDSee now displays only one delete confirmation box for a multiple file deletion

!!	With image information turned off, ACDSee was still trying to write the image information into the descript.ion files, which caused a rather long wait when changing directories or quitting the program.  My apologies particularly to owners of CD-ROM drives!

o	CTL3DV2.DLL now distributed in compressed format, to avoid the warning message if the user forgot to delete it.

Version 1.21 - Jan. 1995

o	Uses CTL3DV2.DLL instead of CTL3D.DLL

o	Executable is a lot smaller

!!	Fixed bug that caused images in the root directory of a drive to not be recognized properly

!!	Fixed bug that caused ACDSee to crash if the root directory of a drive contained no files or subdirectories

o	Having two top-level windows was the source of some grief for the Windows window manager.  Now the Image Browser and View Window are both child windows of an invisible main window.

!!	Targa (TGA) images which are RLE-compressed are now read properly

!!	Thumbnails are now generated properly for Grayscale Targa (TGA) images

!!	Fixed bug that caused thumbnails to sometimes be displayed in full size and colour

!!	ACDSee will now spawn itself to view an image even if no association has been made to ACDSee for that file type

Version 1.2 - Jan. 1995

+	Replaced the Open Image dialog with the Image Browser window, providing

+	optional quick image preview

+	coloured filenames

+	optional 4DOS descriptions and image information

+	4DOS descriptions may be edited

+	window may be resized

+	option to spawn a new copy of ACDSee for each image opened

+	allows launching of other application via file associations

+	Added slideshow support

+	Added option to automatically resize the viewing window or not

+	Added Always-On-Top option

+	Added Full-Screen option

+	Added Drag-and-Drop support

+	The view window may now be scrolled using the cursor keys

+	Added GIF interlaced support, and GIF preview

+	Added PCX support

+	Added TGA support

+	Added BMP support (no OS/2 or RLE right now)

+	Added new quantization/dithering routines:  No dithering, Ordered Dithering and Floyd-Steinburg dithering (except for JPEG Ordered, which is hard-coded into the decoder)

+	Added Floyd Steinberg dithering process to the thumbnails when the source image is highcolor or truecolor (except to JPEG, which is Ordered and hard coded into the decoder)  No dithering for paletted images right now.

o	Removed support for scroll bars in the view window

!!	Fixed a bug in the registration dialog box that prevented people with long names from registering

Version 1.1 - Dec. 1994

+	Added support for non-interlaced, single-image GIFs

+	Added JPEG quick preview feature

+	Added the #colours in the image to the title bar display

o	Improved the registration system

o	ACDSee uses less memory now

o	Changed the halftone palette system

Version 1.01 - Dec. 1994

!!	Fixed bug that caused ACDSee to crash when multiple copies were running simultaneously (the problem was that I was grabbing a device context  and holding it during compression, which is a no-no -- windows only supports five concurrent device contexts)

o	Vast improvement in image quality when displaying grayscale JPEG's in 256-color mode.

o	Reorganized code to make it easier to add other image formats, such as GIF (yes, it's coming...).

Version 1.0 - Nov. 1994

o	Initial release.


Image Browser Options
Image Browser - Options

File List Options

Show associated application

Show file size

Show file date/time

Show description

Show image dimensions

Sort Method

Multiple columns

Show Image Files Only

Show Hidden Files

Set Font

Set Colour

Preview Options

Automatic preview

Preview size

Miscellaneous Options

Confirm file deletion

Cache image dim. in descript.ion

Set hidden attribute on descript.ion

Remember last directory

Pass all images to Viewer

Read Image Headers

Buttons

Set File Associations	Brings up the file association editor

Save Options As Defaults	Causes the options to be loaded by default when ACDSee is started.

Use	Puts the options into effect, but does not make them the defaults.

Cancel	Cancels all option changes.

Help	Brings up this help topic.


Show Associated Application Option

Displays the associated application for each file in the image browser's file list.


Show File Size Option

When checked, the image browser shows the size of each file (in bytes) in its file list.


Cache Image Dimensions Option

ACDSee can save the dimensions of each image in a directory in a hidden file called "descript.ion".  This allows ACDSee to determine the format and dimensions of each image and display them in the file list much more quickly.  The storage of this information in descript.ion is facilitated in the new 4DOS 5.0+ descript.ion file format specification.

Checking this option enables the storage of this information in descript.ion

Note:  Certain other programs, such as Norton Desktop, can't handle the new description file format.  If you use such a program, you should not check this option.

See also:	Read Image Headers Option


Show Description Option

This option determines whether or not 4DOS Descriptions are shown in the Image Browser's file list.


Stop Slideshow

Suspends automatic page flipping.  You can later restart the automatic page flipping again with Start Slideshow.

Shortcut:	CTRL+S

See also: Slideshow


Image Browser Pop-up Menu

Preview	<Alt-P>	Shows a preview of the currently selected image.

View	<Enter>	Switches into Viewer mode and shows the currently selected images

Launch

Open	<Alt-L>	Opens the selected file with the associated program

Edit	<Alt-T>	Edits the selected file with the associated edit program

Print	Prints the selected file with the associated print program

Associate	<Alt-A>	Allows you to change the programs associated with files of the selected type

Copy	<Alt-C>	Copies the selected file(s) to a different directory

Move	<Alt-M>	Moves the selected file(s) to a different directory

Delete	<Alt-D>	Deletes the selected file(s)

Rename	<Alt-R>	Renames the selected file(s)

Describe	<Alt-E>	Edits the 4DOS description for the selected file(s)


Remember Last Directory Option

Normally, ACDSee starts up in the default current directory.

When this option is checked, ACDSee will remember the directory it was in when it exited.  The next time ACDSee is started, it will automatically change to that directory.

If ACDSee is started with a directory name as an argument, this directory will overide the last directory.


Image Browser Split Bar
Image Browser - Split Bar

The split bar is an long, thin horizontal control located in the space just below the File List and above the Preview Area.

You can adjust the relative amount of vertical space alotted to the File List and Preview Area by clicking on this control and dragging it up and down.  The File List, and Preview Area will automatically resize themselves accordingly.


Preview Size Option

Full Size	the preview image is shown at full size

1/2 Size	the preview image is shown at 50% of its original size

1/4 Size	the preview image is shown at 25% of its original size

1/8 Size	the preview image is shown at 13% of its original size

Auto-Size	the preview image is shown in the largest size that will fit within the available preview area

Smaller previews tend to load faster, esepcially with JPEG images.

If the preview image is larger than the available area, it may be scrolled by clicking on the preview area with the left mouse button, and dragging.


Set hidden attribute on descript.ion

When checked, ACDSee sets the hidden attribute on the descript.ion files when it writes them.  Otherwise, it removes the hidden attribute when it writes them.


Image Viewer Status Bar

The status bar displays information about the images being viewed.  The leftmost part provides feedback on the decoding progress.  When decoding is complete, the blue bar is replaced by a message stating the amount of time it took to decompress the currently displayed image.

When multiple images are being viewed, the middle part displays the index of the current image and the number of images in the working sequence.

The rightmost part displays the file name of the currently displayed image, and its dimensions.


Read Image Headers Option

ACDSee can look at each file in the current directory and determine whether or not it is an image file, and, if it is, extract its dimensions.  Alternatively, ACDSee can decide what files are images based upon their extension.

You may select one of the following options:

Never	Never read image headers.  Files ending in appropriate extensions are assumed to be images, and those not ending in appropriate extensions are assumed not to be images.

Always	Always read image headers.  Reading the image headers allows ACDSee to recognize images with unconventional file extensions.  Reading the image headers also allows ACDSee to extract the image dimensions and display them in the file list.

Only on fixed disks	Read the image headers when the current directory resides on a fixed (hard) disk.  When the current directory is on a floppy, CD-ROM or network drive, no attempt is made to read the files in the directory.  This is useful if you generally like to have the image headers read, but find the operation is too slow on CD-ROM volumes.

See also:	 Cache Image Dimensions Option.


Browser Options - Set Colour
Set Colour

You can modify the colours used to display directories, image files and associated files by selecting the corresponding item from the list and clicking the Set colour... button.


Viewer Options Dialog Buttons

Save Window Position

Saves the current size and position of the View window to the ACDSEE.INI file.  Whenever ACDSee enters View Mode, it will position the View Window accordingly (unless Change Window Size to Fit Image is enabled)  This command also saves the Always On Top and Full-Screen window attributes.

Save Options

Dismisses the View Options dialog box, saving and using the new options settings.  This command also saves the Always On Top and Full-Screen window attributes.

OK

Dismisses the View Options dialog box, using the new option settings (but does not save them)

Cancel

Dimisses the View Options dialog box and restores original option settings

Help

Brings up this help reference.


Start/Stop Slideshow

Starts or restarts a stopped slide show, starting with the currently viewed image.  The automatic page flipping is stopped whenever the window is minized, or whenever a dialog box is brought up, or when the Stop Slideshow command is invoked.

Shortcut:	Alt+S

See also: Slideshow


Contacting ACD Systems

E-Mail	acdshare@pinc.com

WEB	http://vvv.com/acd

FTP	ftp://dataflux.bc.ca/pub/acd

Compuserve	74404,2711

Telephone	(604) 475-6722 (8:30 AM - 4:30 PM PST, Monday to Friday)

FAX	(604) 475-6651

Post (USA)	ACD Systems - Van Texas

2201 North Collins

Suite 230

Arlington, TX 76011

Post (Canada)	ACD Systems, Ltd.

P.O. Box 730

Victoria, BC

Canada V8W 2P9


Show Hidden Files
Show Hidden Files Option

When checked, files with the hidden attribute set are shown in the file list.

Normally, these files are not visible.


Pass All Images To Viewer Option

Normally, when a single image is selected in the file list and the View command is invoked, the Browser will pass that single image to the Viewer.  You must return to the Browser to view other images in the current directory.

When this option is checked, the Browser will pass every image in the current directory to the Viewer, which then allows you to view the directory of images by stepping forward and back.  If multiple files are selected in the Image Browser, only those files will be shown, however.


Browser Options - Set Font
Set Font

Click on this button to change the font used in the file list.


Move/Copy Files Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to efficiently copy and move files from the current directory to a different directory.

Source Directory

This is the current directory.  This field is not editable, but you may select the text in it and copy it with CTRL+C.

Destination Directory

This is the directory that the file(s) will be copied or moved to.  You can specify a directory in three ways:

1)	Type the name of the directory in the text edit box

2)	Select a directory from the list box

3)	Hit the Browse... button to browse through the directory tree

ACDSee automatically remembers the last 10 destination directories accessed with this dialog box.  This feature enables you to rapidly copy or move files to frequently access directories.

Overwrite

This option affects how ACDSee reacts when the files being copied or moved are already present in the destination directory.

Yes	Always overwrite a file in the destination directory with the souce file.

No	Do not copy or move a source file if it already exists in the destination directory.

Ask	Each time a source file exists in the destination directory, ask whether or not it should be overwritten.


Extension/Command Associations Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to change the actions taken to open, edit and print document files.  These actions are used not only by ACDSee, but by File Manager and other Windows programs.  Associations are "registered", or stored, in the Windows Registration Database.  Take care when modifying the associations because they may be used by other Windows applications for correct operation.

Extension

Select or enter the extension you wish to change the associations for.

You may type in an extension that does not appear in the list.  The extension will be added to the registration database when you select the "Set" button.

To remove an extension from the registration database, select the Delete button beside the Extension Combo Box.

Class

File types may be grouped into classes.  Each class may contain several different extensions.  This lets you set up a bunch of similar extensions (e.g., .JPG, .GIF, .BMP) to operate similarly.  Every extension must belong to a class.  The default class is the name of the extension (e.g., the default class for the extension "DIZ" would be ".DIZ").

To remove an unused class from the registration database, select the Delete button beside the Class Combo Box.

When you select an extension from the Extension Combo Box, the class it belongs to appears here automatically.  You may switch to a different class by selecting a different class from the list, or by typing in the name of a new class.  This new class will be added to the registration database when you select the "Set" button.  If you leave the class blank, the default class (formed from the name of the extension) will be assigned.

Open (default) association

Edit association

Print association

In each of the edit boxes, you may enter a comand line to be used to open the associated documents of the selected class.  You should enter the full path name to an executable file, followed by any command line switches required, followed "%1".  The "%1" is a place holder for the document file name.  It will be automatically appended to the command line if you omit it.  You may select the correponding Browse button to help you find the path to the desired executable.

For example, to associate a class of image files to be opened with ACDSee, click on the Browse button, locate ACDSEE.EXE and hit OK.  The path to ACDSEE.EXE will be entered in the command line edit box for you.  Click on "Set".  The "%1" will be appended to the command line.  Now, whenever you double click on a file belonging to the class (e.g., cat.jpg), the command-line you entered will be expanded to "<path>\acdsee.exe cat.jpg" and the document will be launched.

Note: Remember to select the "Set" button after you have modified the command boxes so that your changes will be saved in the registration database.

Select the Close button when you are finished setting the desired associations.


Image Viewer Overview

This is where the images are displayed.  If ACDSee is viewing more than one image, they may also be shown in slideshow mode.

If the image is larger than the size of the ACDSee window, you can pan (scroll) the image

The View Window (and the ACDSee icon, when ACDSee is minimized) is Drag-and-Drop aware, which lets you view images by dragging them from File Manager onto ACDSee.


Viewer Commands
Image Viewer Commands

The following commands may be selected from the Tool Bar, or from a pop-up menu available by clicking with the right mouse button.

Browser	<Enter>	Switches ACDSee into image browser mode.

Prev. Image	<PageUp>	Shows the previous image in the working sequence.

Next Image	<PageDown>	Shows the next image in the working sequence.

Start/Stop SlideShow	<Alt-S>	Starts or stops automatic slideshow mode.

Reload Image	<Alt-R>	Decodes the currently shown image again.

Zoom In	<+>	Magnifies the currently shown image by 50%

Zoom Out	<->	Shrinks the currently shown image by 50%

Print Image	<Alt-P>	Prints the currently shown image.

Desktop Wallpaper	<Alt-W>	Sets current BMP image as the desktop wallpaper

Options	<Alt-O>	Allows to to change the Image Viewer Options

About	<Alt-A>	Displays version and license information about ACDSee

Help	<F1>	Brings up on-line help on the View Window.

Exit	<Alt-X>	Quits ACDSee

Note:	Some video drivers handle the zoom function better than others.  An accelerated video driver is recommended for best performance.


Program Updates
How To Get Program Updates

You may download the most recent version of ACDSee from the following sources:

Internet WWW

http://vvv.com/acd/acdsee.html

Internet FTP

ftp://dataflux.bc.ca/pub/acd/acdsee

ftp://oak.oakland.edu/simtel/win3/graphics

ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/pc/win3/desktop

Direct Modem Connection

(604)479-6253, N81, 9600-14.4k, login as acdsys