DROPVIEW\IP 2.0 QUICK START Drag & Drop Image Processing (and then some...) ©1994, SJHDesign For those of you who want to get going quickly, this file has the basic information you need to work with Dropview\IP. By taking 15 minutes to read this document and check out a few suggested topics in the help file(Dropvwip.Hlp), you'll be able to take advantage of the program's speed, power and simplicity right away. FILES IN THIS ARCHIVE: ---------------------- Program Files: DROPVWIP.EXE - DROPVIEW\IP executable DROPVWIP.HLP - DROPVIEW\IP Help file DROPVW.DLL - library routines PAPRM14k.EXE - bonus 'Registration Key' version of PAPERMAN PAPERMAN.HLP - PAPERMAN Help file Documentation: QUIKSTRT.TXT - this information file ORDERFRM.TXT - ASCII file for registering this program PMQUIKST.TXT - PAPERMAN quick start information NOTE : The file PAPRM14k.EXE is a special 'registration key' version of PAPERMAN, our Drag and Drop wallpaper and image compression utility. This version of PAPERMAN will load but will only display a Registration Reminder if you try to use it. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE PROGRAM-those who register DROPVIEW\IP will be furnished with a number to input into PAPERMAN, after which it will be fully functional. This special version of PAPERMAN is included as a bonus for users who register DROPVIEW\IP. For a detailed description of PAPERMAN, see the file PMQUIKST.TXT included in this archive. INSTALLATION ------------- All you have to do is copy ALL the files in the archive to the same directory. Be sure that there aren't any older versions of DROPVIEW or PAPERMAN in the directory or any directory on you path. If there are, be sure to either delete them or move them to a directory off of your path. RUNNING DROPVIEW\IP ------------------- DROPVIEW\IP requires the Windows 3.1 File Manager (or any other Windows File Manager that supports Drag & Drop) to run. You can start DROPVIEW\IP from the Program Manager, your favorite menu program, or by double-clicking on DROPVWIP.EXE in File Manager. When the DROPVIEW\IP icon (a little target) appears on your desktop, you are ready to start loading images one at a time or in groups by dragging them from the File Manager down to the icon. If you want DROPVIEW\IP to load automatically whenever you start Windows, open the File Manager and drag the file DROPVWIP.EXE to the STARTUP group in Program Manager. Actually, you can add DROPVIEW\IP to any Program Manager group in this manner. SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS ----------------------- DROPVIEW allows you to drag any number of images from the File Manager and loads each one in it's own Editing Window. Dropview\IP reads and writes the following file formats: .BMP - Windows 3x bitmap(all color and compression types including OS/2) .TIF - Aldus Tiff(all color and compression types including Group III and Group IV fax) .PCX - PC Paintbrush PCX .GIF - Compuserve GIF .TGA - Truevision TARGA .WMF - Windows Metafile .WPG - Wordperfect Graphics(Dropview will load only the bitmapped data portion of .wpg files) .PCT - MacPaint PICT .JPG - Joint Photographic Experts Group compressed format(JPEG) .EPS - Adobe Encapsulated PostScript(Dropview will load the screen preview portion of .eps files) .DCX - Multi page PCX format used by MS Mail, MS Fax EDITING AND RETOUCHING IMAGES WITH DROPVIEW\IP ----------------------------------------------- When you drag a file(or group of files) from File Manager and drop them on the Dropview\IP icon, each one is loaded in an editing window. In this window, dozens of menu commands are available for image processing operations. The choices as they appear on the menu are in CAPS: DITHER - 2,16 and 256 color dithers GREYSCALE - choice of two contrast levels HALFTONE - choice of two dot pitches ADJUST PALETTE - using RGB, HSV or HLS color systems ENLARGE PIXELS - graining effects SOFTEN - blur effects supported CONTRAST enhancement BRIGHTNESS - light\dark adjustment SHARPEN - increase edge contrast SMOOTH - decrease edge contrast RESIZE - proportionally shrink or expand image CROP - use the mouse to crop off part of the image PAD - overlays the image on a larger background ZOOM IN - for pixel level editing ZOOM OUT - for a better view of large images COPY - part or all of the image to the clipboard COPY TO - part or all of the image to a user determined file PASTE - overlay a clipboard bitmap over the image. Dropview\IP will seamlessly merge the two images, preserving the colors in both of them PASTE FROM - overlays an image loaded from a disk file over the current image FLIP HORIZONTAL, FLIP VERTICAL, ROTATE and INVERT are also supported. All of These menu commands are described in detail in the EDIT WINDOW COMMANDS section of the help file. In addition to image processing, the Editing Window also has a toolbar of advanced drawing tools for lines, circles, rectangles, ellipses, filled forms, and color fills. Foreground and background colors are chosen from a palette containing every color in the image, a real plus when working with 24 bit and 256 color images. There's even a 'dropper' tool that allows the user to grab a color directly from the image to draw with. Images can be zoomed up to 5X for incredibly fast pixel level editing, and you can even type text DIRECTLY ON THE IMAGE in your choice of True Type fonts, in any size and color. See THE EDIT WINDOW TOOLBAR section of the help file for details on Dropview\IP's powerful package of drawing tools. BATCH IMAGE FILE CONVERSION AND PRINTING ---------------------------------------- This is one of Dropview\IP's biggest timesavers. Click on the Dropview\IP icon and and you'll see the menu choices FAST CONVERT, FAST PRINT and FAST COPY. These options bring the speed of Drag and Drop processing to everyday operations that used to take a long time. Here's how: FAST CONVERT: For example, you have 12 .gif files in c:\gif that you need to convert to .tif format and place in directory d:\tif. Load Dropview\IP, type Alt v or click on the Fast Convert menu choice(to enable Fast Convert Mode), type Alt o to bring up the Program Options dialog, check .TIF (in the Convert To box), type d:\tif(in the Output Directory box),hit Enter(to close the dialog) and drag the 12 files to the Dropview\IP icon-and thats's it! 12 files are written to d:\tif with the same names and a .tif extension. The Options Dialog also includes advanced conversion options like deleting the original file after the new one is written or having a dialog box prompt you before each conversion. You can also use this dialog to choose any of the supported formats to convert your images to. For more information on batch conversion options, see PROGRAM OPTIONS DIALOG in the help file. FAST PRINT: let's face it, there's no such thing as fast printing of large images in Windows. However, drag and drop batch printing allows you to instantly spool multiple images to the printer so you can get on with your work while your images print. To do this, just click Fast Print(or use the Alt p hotkey) and drag all the files you would like to print down to the Dropview\IP icon. A Print Options dialog appears, allowing you to choose the print size and number of copies for each image, and you're finished! Your images are sent to print manager as a group and you can move on to other things. FAST COPY: this feature was added at the request of DROPVIEW users who wanted a fast way to copy images to the clipboard. Click the Fast Copy menu choice or use the Alt c hotkey to enable Fast Copy. While this is enabled, any image dragged from File Manager and dropped on the Dropview\\IP icon will be instantly copied to the clipboard (in DIB, Bitmap and Palette formats). It's a lot faster than opening an image program, loading an image and then copying it to the clipboard. IMPORTANT NOTE - IF YOU ENABLE THE FAST COPY, FAST PRINT OR FAST CONVERT MENU CHOICES, BE SURE TO CLICK THE MENU CHOICE AGAIN WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED TO RESTORE DROPVIEW\IP TO IT'S NORMAL MODE OF LOADING IMAGES IN EDITING WINDOWS. You can tell if one of these modes is enabled by clicking the Dropview\IP icon and looking at the menu-if either Fast Copy, Fast Print or Fast Convert is active, a check will appear next to it on the menu. FAST IMAGE BROWSING ------------------- To browse all the files in a directory quickly, drag the directory folder from (the right hand pane of) a File Manager drive window to the Dropview\\IP icon. The program will identify each supported image in the directory and load 24 thumbnail images at a time in a Browse Window. By clicking on a thumbnail and then choosing one of the Browse Window buttons you can perform the following operations on it: Choose this button.. and Dropview\\IP will.. ____________________ _______________________ Edit Image Load the file in an edit window` View Image Quick Load the image in a view-only window` Print Image Send the image to the printer` Copy Image Copy the image to the clipboard` Convert Image Convert the image to the file format specified in the Program Options dialog` The Browse window acts as a 'control center' for Dropview\IP, enabling you to quickly browse whole directories at a time and choose images to perform further operations on. All of Dropview\\IP's powerful editing, conversion and printing features are available to use on the images in this window. If the directory contains more than 24 images, you can scroll the window to view the additional images(up to 120 images can be loaded at once). 'Contact Sheets' of thumbnails can also be printed or saved to disk in any of the supported file formats. We recommend that you see THE BROWSE WINDOW section of the help file for more details about this powerful feature. INSTANT SCREEN CAPTURES ----------------------- If you click on the Dropview\IP icon and choose Capture from the menu, the mouse pointer will turn into a crosshair. By pressing and holding the left button and moving the mouse, you can capture any area of the screen. When you have the area you want, release the left button and your screen capture pops up in an Edit Window, where all of Dropview\IP's editing features are available. The capture can be saved to any of the supported file formats.` REGISTERING DROPVIEW\IP ----------------------- A single user license for Dropview\IP costs $29.95. All you have to do is look at other shareware image programs and compare their features and cost to Dropview\IP. This program is absolutely the best value in shareware Imaging (forget about commercial programs-Dropview\IP has more features than commercial programs that cost ten times as much). For your $29.95, you receive the following: -a number to input into Dropview\IP to eliminate the 'nag' screen -a number to input into the 'registration key' copy of PAPERMAN to make it fully functional -The '$5.00 upgrade'. Have the next version of DROPVIEW\IP(3.0) shipped to you for a $5.00 handling fee when it is ready in the second half of 1995. For a list of features to be included in the upgrade, see the file ORDERFRM.TXT in this archive (you must order and pay for this option at the time you register Dropview\IP 2.0). -40% discounts on any of these other Windows programs From SJHDesign: SJHEdit - industrial strength text search and edit utility for very large ASCII files SJHConvert - view and convert BMP, GIF, TGA, WPG, PCX , WMF,JPEG and TIFF(Standard,Compressed and fax)files. DBview - fast drag and drop editor for Paradox and DBase tables. Compusreve users can register the program thru the CIS Shareware Registration Database and have the $29.95 billed to their CIS account. Type GO SWREG, and search the database for Registration ID #4242. When CIS notifies us of your registration, you will be contacted with your registration number. NOTE: this service is only available for the standard Dropview\IP registration-if you are purchasing the$5.00 upgrade (or any other program), it must be purchased directly from us. For more information, please see the file ORDERFRM.TXT or call SJHDesign at (212)683-2264. IF YOU GET THE ANSWERING MACHINE, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND DAYTIME PHONE(OR FAX). About SJHDesign --------------- We specialize in creating Windows 3.x, Windows NT and OS/2 programs. Our clients include photo studios, graphic design firms, law firms and a few software manufacturers you might have heard of. If you are looking for an unusual or highly specialized graphics or database program, please contact us. If your company is running Paradox or DBase for Windows, we have the most advanced custom applications available for integrating bitmapped data into XBase databases. Version History --------------- Dropview\IP 1.3(9/6/94) 1)Complete rewrite and update of Dropview distributed to all registered Dropview users. Dropview\IP 1.4(10/21/94) 1)Faster print engine with more user options added 2)User interface for padding and cropping images improved 3)Support for .DCX and greyscale .MAC formats added 4)GP fault after multiple pastes of 256 color bitmaps was corrected 5)GP fault after loading a corrupt image file with the File Open dialog was corrected 6)Bug which caused incorrect cropping of images sent to the clipboard or printer was corrected Dropview\IP 2.0(12/11/94) 1)Browsing window added for displaying thumbnails 2)Drag and Drop batch printing added 3)Drag and Drop clipboard access added My sincere thanks to the users who have aided in the development of of this program with their comments, bug reports, and many helpful suggestions. Special thanks go to Dave Baldwin for his superb RTFGEN help authoring tool, which was used to create the help files. Disclaimer ---------- Please direct any comments, criticism, praise, bug reports, etc. to Scott Hanrahan, CIS I.D. 70144,3033. This software is offered for use as is, and no warranty of any kind is offered or implied. We are not responsible for any loss of data, damage to hardware nor any resulting loss of time or revenue allegedly resulting from the use of this program. Like all commercial software, this program is utilized entirely at the user's risk.