Copyright: © 1999 B. Beyeler. All Rights Reserved.


Contents
Table of Contents

• About TruView

• The Main Window

• The Viewing Window

• Converting Files

• Image Operations

• Color Operations

• Brightness and Contrast Operations

• Main Window Options

• Viewing Window Options

• General Options

• JPEG Options

• Registering TruView


About TruView

TruView version 1.8. Copyright © Brent Beyeler 1997-1999. All rights reserved.

This version of TruView has been released as shareware allowing you to evaluate the software prior to purchase.

You are entitled to use TruView for evaluation purposes only. After 30 days, you must either register the product or remove it from your computer.

TruView displays BMP, GIF (including animated GIF's), PCX, TGA and JPG (JFIF type and CMYK) files. Note that CMYK color space JPG's are converted to an RGB color space using a simple conversion. Because the conversion is approximate, most CMYK images will be displayed with the colors slightly skewed (some images more than others).

Images can be flipped, rotated, rescaled, cropped, smoothed, sharpened, inverted and equalized. Image brightness, contrast and color depth can also be changed. TruView can also convert (single or batch) images to any of the supported file types.

TruView requires a 32-bit MS-Windows environment to run. This means either Win95, Win98, WinNT or Win 3.1 with Win32s (ver 1.30c or later) installed. A hi-color display is recommended.

Jpeg decompression courtesy of The Independent JPEG Group's JPEG software.

Please send questions or comments to:

beyeler@home.com

Visit TruView's web page at:

http://members.home.net/beyeler/truview.html

Disclaimer and Agreement.

This software is supplied subject to the following conditions. By using the software, you agree to these conditions.

This software is provided 'as is', with no warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

In no event shall the author be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of use or inability to use this software, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

If you cannot agree to the above conditions please remove the software from your computer immediately.


The Main Window

Navigating the list of files
Use the scroll bars or the ARROW, HOME, END, PAGE-UP and PAGE-DOWN keys to move the cursor (the dashed box around a file name) in the list of files.

Typing a character will move the cursor to the first file name that begins with that character.

How to

Select Files , View Files , Convert Files , Copy Files , Delete Files

Displaying file information
Double or single click the file information box or press CONTROL-I to display a window that contains more detailed information about the current image and the preview window. The information box is only displayed if previewing is enabled. Also, if the filename is too long to fit in the file information box, move the mouse over the filename and a popup window will display the entire filename.

Showing the next animated GIF image
Press CONTROL-G to display the next image of an animated GIF file. This will stop any animated GIF delay (automatic or manual) and display the next image in the animated GIF file immediately.

Animated GIF images are usually timed so that the images are displayed without waiting for any user input. By default TruView uses the timer values in the GIF file, but this can changed by using the "Use slideshow timer for animation" and "Slideshow Timer" options.

Enabling the "Use slideshow timer for animation" option allows you to set the delay time, with the "Slideshow timer" option, that is used between the display of each animated GIF image.

Note that you can turn the Slideshow timer off which tells TruView to wait for a CONTROL-G before displaying the next image of an animated GIF. This is useful for single-stepping through an animated GIF.

This key can be used for both the preview window and the viewing window.

Ignoring transparent color in GIF images
Press CONTROL-T to toggle whether TruView uses the transparent color specified in a GIF image. If a GIF image does not specify a transparent color this option has no affect on the image.

Most GIF images display correctly using the transparent color specified in the GIF image. There are some GIF images that specify a transparent color such that the image is displayed incorrectly. For instance, some GIF images specify black as the background color and then in the middle of something white in the image the transparent color is used. This causes the black background to show through, usually as black dots, in the middle of the white area.

Use this key to have TruView ignore the transparent color specified in a GIF image if needed. If used, it will stay in effect until it is toggled off again. Each time TruView is started it will default so the transparent color is used.

This key can be used for both the preview window and the viewing window.

Exiting TruView
Press ALT-X or click the EXIT button to exit TruView.


Select Files

Use one of the following methods to select files.

Note: You do not need to select files to view, convert, copy or delete them.

To select or deselect files using normal file selection:

• left click on a file, dragging to select multiple files

• left click with the SHIFT key to select a range of files

• left click with the CONTROL key to add/subtract file from selected files

• press CONTROL-A to select all files

• press CONTROL-N to deselect all files

To select or deselect files using alternate file selection:

• left click on a file

• press SPACE

• press CONTROL-A to select all files

• press CONTROL-N to deselect all files


View Files

Use one of the following methods to view files.

With the "Use shift for selected files" option off:

To view the selected files:

• press ENTER or ALT-S

• click the SHOW button

To view the file at the cursor:

• left double-click on a file

• left click or double-click on the preview image

• press SHIFT-ENTER or SHIFT-ALT-S

• click the SHOW button with the SHIFT key

With the "Use shift for selected files" option on:

To view the selected files:

• press SHIFT-ENTER or SHIFT-ALT-S

• click the SHOW button with the SHIFT key

To view the file at the cursor:

• left double-click on a file

• left click or double-click on the preview image

• press ENTER or ALT-S

• click the SHOW button


Convert Files

Use one of the following methods to start the conversion process.

With the "Use shift for selected files" option off:

To convert the selected files:

• press ALT-V

• click the CONVERT button

To convert the file at the cursor:

• press SHIFT-ALT-V

• click the CONVERT button with the SHIFT key

With the "Use shift for selected files" option on:

To convert the selected files:

• press SHIFT-ALT-V

• click the CONVERT button with the SHIFT key

To convert the file at the cursor:

• press ALT-V

• click the CONVERT button

When one of the above is done, the Converting Files dialog will be displayed. That is where conversions are started and conversion options and operations are specified.


Copy Files

Use one of the following methods to copy files.

With the "Use shift for selected files" option off:

To copy the selected files to another folder:

• press INSERT

• click the COPY button

To copy the file at the cursor:

• press SHIFT-INSERT

• click the COPY button with the SHIFT key

With the "Use shift for selected files" option on:

To copy the selected files to another folder:

• press SHIFT-INSERT

• click the COPY button with the SHIFT key

To copy the file at the cursor:

• press INSERT

• click the COPY button

When one of the above is done you will be prompted for a destination folder. The destination folder must be different than the current folder. If a destination folder is chosen, the files will then be copied to that folder. If a file being copied already exists in the destination folder, the action specified by the "Default action if file exists" option on the General Options page will be done.


Delete Files

Use one of the following methods to delete files.

With the "Use shift for selected files" option off:

To delete the selected files:

• press DELETE

• click the DELETE button

To delete the file at the cursor:

• press SHIFT-DELETE

• click the DELETE button with the SHIFT key

With the "Use shift for selected files" option on:

To delete the selected files:

• press SHIFT-DELETE

• click the DELETE button with the SHIFT key

To delete the file at the cursor:

• press DELETE

• click the DELETE button

Note: Deleted files are sent to the recycle bin when applicable.


The Viewing Window

Use the following keys or the popup menu to perform these actions while viewing an image.

Note that the left, middle and right mouse buttons can be programmed to do any of the first six actions (M - BACKSPACE). The default settings are:

left button 	Show the next (or next selected) image
middle button 	Show the previous (or previous selected) image
right button 	Display the popup menu

Use the popup menu or the Viewing Window Options to change the button settings.

M - Display the popup menu.

CONTROL-U - Toggle mouse scrolling. When enabled, the cursor becomes a 4-way arrow cursor and mouse movement inside the viewing window will scroll the image. Use the "Scroll sensitivity" setting on the Viewing Window Options page to control the sensitivity of the scrolling when the mouse is moved.

ESCAPE - Close the viewing window.

ALT-X - Exit TruView.

Keys for changing which image is viewed.

ENTER - Show the next (or next selected) image.

BACKSPACE - Show the previous (or previous selected) image.

SPACE - Toggle the selection state of the current image and show the next (or next selected) image.

L - Reload the current image.

CONTROL-G - Show the next animated GIF image. For more information see the description of "Showing the next animated GIF image" on the Main Window help page.

Keys for saving an image.

CONTROL-S - Save the current image.

S - Save the current image as another image type or to another filename.

Keys for image operations. See Image Operations for descriptions of these operations.

H - Flip image horizontally.

V - Flip image vertically.

9 - Rotate the image 90 degrees clockwise.

0 - Rotate the image 180 degrees clockwise.

7 - Rotate the image 270 degrees clockwise.

CONTROL-C - Crop the image using the window as a bounding rectangle. Cropping is not available when the "Shrink image to fit window" option is on.

R - Rescale the image to a fixed size or a percentage of the current size.

CONTROL-P - Sharpen the image.

CONTROL-M - Smooth the image.

Keys for color operations. See Color Operations or Brightness and Contrast operations for descriptions of these operations.

B - Change image brightness.

C - Change image contrast.

CONTROL-I - Invert the colors of an image.

CONTROL-E - Equalize the colors of an image.

CONTROL-W - Equalize the colors of an image using weighting.

1 - Change the image to a 1 bit per pixel image.

4 - Change the image to a 4 bit per pixel image.

8 - Change the image to a 8 bit per pixel image.

6 - Change the image to a 16 bit per pixel image.

2 - Change the image to a 24 bit per pixel image.

3 - Change the image to a 32 bit per pixel image.

G - Change the image to a greyscale image.

Keys for viewing options, see Viewing Window Options or General Options for descriptions of these options.

F - Toggle full screen mode.

CONTROL-A - Toggle show status while loading.

Z - Toggle auto size window.

W - Toggle image warnings on and off.

E - Toggle center window in screen or image in window.

Q - Toggle use quick DIB display.

K - Toggle shrink image to fit window.

T - Change slideshow timer.

Y - Change intensity offset.

O - Change the scroller sensitivity.

U - Change the mouse wheel sensitivity.

N - Toggle single mouse click.

CONTROL-O - Toggle confirmations on/off.

GIF options.

I - Toggle show animated GIF's.

D - Toggle use slideshow timer for animation.

P - Toggle use preview background color.

CONTROL-T - Toggle use GIF transparency.

Other keys.

A - Show the about screen.

F1 - Show this help file.

CONTROL-F - Return control to the main window when not viewing full screen.

If the picture is larger than the window or screen, the ARROW, HOME, END, PAGE-UP, PAGE-DOWN and scrollbars can be used to scroll the picture.

Mouse scrolling can also be used to scroll the image. When enabled, the cursor becomes a 4-way arrow cursor and mouse movement inside the viewing window will scroll the image.

The mouse thumbwheel can also be used to scroll the image vertically.

If the picture is being displayed full screen it can be scrolled by moving the mouse cursor close to the edge of the screen in addition to the methods mentioned above.


Main Window Options

Enable preview
This option enables the preview and image information windows.

Background color
Use this option to select a background color for the preview window. If TruView is running on a 256 color display, this option is ignored most of the time.

Use long filenames
This option enables the use of long filenames. Previous versions of TruView did not support long filenames, so this option is provided if long filenames are not desired.

Save current drive and folder when exiting
This option enables saving the current drive and folder when exiting TruView.

Show hidden files and folders
This option includes hidden files and folders in the main window.

Use alternate file selection mode
This option sets the selection style of the file window, see Select Files for key definitions.

Use shift to perform action on selected files
This option enables using the shift key to view, convert, copy or delete selected files. The default for this option is off meaning the shift key is used to view, convert, copy or delete a single file.

Auto size window based on screen resolution
This option enables auto-sizing the main window based on the current resolution.

Main window sizes
One of four main window sizes can be selected if the Auto size window option is off.

If these options are not saved, any changes made will be used by this session only. The next time you run TruView, the saved options will be used.

These options are stored in the file TRUVIEW.INI in the folder TruView is run from. To have TruView use and save the options in the WIN.INI file instead, add the line UseWinINI=1 to the TRUVIEW.INI file. TruView looks for that line before any options are read. If it is not present or set to zero TruView will use the TRUVIEW.INI file.


Viewing Window Options

View full screen
This option turns on full screen viewing.

Show status while loading
This option displays a status line while loading an image (only used when viewing full screen).

Auto size window
This option adjusts the size of the viewing window to best fit the image (not used when viewing full screen).

Show image warnings
This option displays any image decoding warnings.

Center image or window
This option centers the image in the viewing window if Auto size window option is off or the full screen option is turned on, or it centers the viewing window in the screen if the Auto size window option is on and the full screen option is turned off.

Use quick DIB display
The default for this option is off, try turning it on. If the display gets messed up when scrolling an image, turn this option back off. Some video card drivers support this and some do not.

Shrink image to fit window
This option adjusts the size of the image to best fit the viewing window. It will not enlarge an image.

Slideshow timer
This option sets the delay time (in seconds) between images for slideshow display. Set to zero for no delay between images (zero is to the left of off).

Intensity offset
This option is a value that is added or subtracted from each pixel so the image appears lighter or darker. This is exactly like the brightness operation except it is applied to all images as they are loaded and it only has a range of -127 to 127.

Scroll sensitivity
This options defines the amount of scrolling (in pixels) that occurs when scrolling by one unit.

Use left button to
Select an action to perform when the left mouse button is clicked. Actions can be one of the following:

Show the next (or next selected) image
Show the previous (or previous selected) image
Display the popup menu
Toggle mouse scrolling
Close the viewing window
Exit TruView

Use middle button to
Select an action to perform when the middle mouse button is clicked.

Use right button to
Select an action to perform when the right mouse button is clicked.

Use single click for actions (clear for double-click)
Select this option to use single clicks to perform the actions defined above. If this option is cleared a double-click is used. Note that when 'Show popup menu' is selected for one of the mouse buttons, the menu will always popup with a single click regardless of the setting of this option.

If these options are not saved, any changes made will be used by this session only. The next time you run TruView, the saved options will be used.

These options are stored in the file TRUVIEW.INI in the folder TruView is run from. To have TruView use and save the options in the WIN.INI file instead, add the line UseWinINI=1 to the TRUVIEW.INI file. TruView looks for that line before any options are read. If it is not present or set to zero TruView will use the TRUVIEW.INI file.


General Options

Confirmations on
This option enables the 'Are you sure?' boxes when copying, deleting and changing images (cropping, etc.).

Continue on errors
Select this option to continue copying, converting or deleting remaining files if an error occurs.

Default action if file exists
Select one of the following actions to take when a file exists while copying or converting:

Prompt with preview - preview both images side by side and prompt for action to take, either automatic renaming, user rename, overwrite, cancel all or cancel single.

Prompt without preview - same as above but without the previews.

Automatically rename - automatically chose a new name to save file to. For automatic renaming, TruView appends a 1 to a filename and checks if that file exists, if so, it appends a 2 and so on until an unused filename is found. Note that if long filenames are not enabled a maximum of eight characters are available for the filename so if the original filename is already eight characters long, the last character will be replaced by the 1.

Automatically overwrite - automatically overwrite the destination file without asking.

GIF Options.

Show animated GIF's
This option enables the display of animated GIF files. If this option is off only the first image of an animated GIF file is displayed.

Use slideshow timer for animation
Enable this option to have TruView use the slideshow timer value as the number of seconds to wait between animated GIF images. If this option is off, TruView uses the timer values specified in the animated GIF file. If this option is on, TruView uses the slideshow timer as the amount of time to wait between the animated images. If the slideshow timer is turned off, TruView will wait until CONTROL-G is pressed before displaying the next animated image.

Use preview background color
This option has TruView use the preview background color as the background color for all GIF files. This options is ignored if a GIF file does not specify a background color.

Quantization and Dithering Options. These options are used when changing an image from hi-color (greater than 256 colors) to 256 or less colors. In addition to explicit color conversion done in the viewing window, these options are also used to convert hi-color images when a 256 color display is being used.

Quantization
Select 1 pass or 2 pass quantization. 1 pass is faster, but the quality suffers. 2 passes are slower but yield better image quality.

Dithering
Select None (fastest, low quality), Ordered (faster, medium quality) or Floyd-Steinberg (slowest, high quality) dithering.

Mouse wheel sensitivity
Specify a sensitivity value to use for mouse thumbwheel scrolling. Use this to increase or decrease the wheel sensitivity without affecting scrolling sensitivity.

If these options are not saved, any changes made will be used by this session only. The next time you run TruView, the saved options will be used.

These options are stored in the file TRUVIEW.INI in the folder TruView is run from. To have TruView use and save the options in the WIN.INI file instead, add the line UseWinINI=1 to the TRUVIEW.INI file. TruView looks for that line before any options are read. If it is not present or set to zero TruView will use the TRUVIEW.INI file.


Converting Files

See Convert files for information on selecting which files to convert.

Destination folder
Use the Destination folder button to select a destination folder for all converted files (can be the same folder as the current folder).

Convert to format
Select a file format for converted images.

Format options
Click this button for format options. Currently only the JPEG file format has any options.

Messages
This window displays any messages and the progress of the conversions. It also displays the selected operations and format options.

Incremental progress
This progress bar displays the progress of the current file and/or operation on a file.

Overall progress
This progress bar displays the progress of the entire conversion.

Start button
Click to start conversions.

Destination button
Click to specify a destination folder.

Operations button
Click to specify operations to be performed on each image while being converted. See Image Operations , Color Operations or Brightness and Contrast Operations for descriptions of these operations.

If a file being converted already exists in the destination folder, the action specified by the "Default action if file exists" option on the General Options page will be done.


Image Operations

Any of the following image operations can be applied when converting files.

Rotate operations

90 degrees
Select this option to rotate an image 90 degrees clockwise.

180 degrees
Select this option to rotate an image 180 degrees clockwise.

270 degrees
Select this options to rotate an image 270 degrees clockwise.

Flip operations

Horizontal
Select this option to flip an image horizontally.

Vertical
Select this option to flip an image vertically.

Resize operations

to a fixed width and height
Select this option and enter a width and height. This will rescale an image to this new width and height.

to a fixed width
Select this option and enter a width. This will rescale an image to this new width and proportionally calculated height.

to a fixed height
Select this option and enter a height. This will rescale an image to this new height and proportionally calculated width.

to percent of original size
Select this option and enter a percentage value. This will rescale an image to the specified percentage of the original size.

Sharpen
Specify a value (1=least .. 32=most) used to sharpen an image. Large values will introduce more noise in an image than do small values repeated several times.

Smooth
Specify a value (1=least .. 32=most) used to smooth an image.

The Resize, Sharpen and Smooth operations work on 24 bit images. If they are performed on an image that is not 24 bit, it is converted to 24 bit, the operation is performed and then it is converted back to its original color depth. To avoid repeated color conversions when operating on 1, 4 or 8 bit images, convert them to 24 bit first, perform all desired operations and then convert them back to their original color depth.


Color Operations

Any of the following color operations can be applied when converting files.

Equalize colors operation

Non weighted
Select this option to reduces spot noise in an image. This results in some smoothing, but not as much as with the smoothing operation. Repeated equalization will result in an oil-paint texture appearing on the image.

Weighted
Select this option to apply a weighted equalization to an image. This is the same as the above but not as drastic.

Invert color operation

Red plane
Select this option to invert the red portion of all pixels in an image.

Green plane
Select this option to invert the green portion of all pixels in an image.

Blue plane
Select this option to invert the blue portion of all pixels in an image.

Color depth operations

to 1 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 1 bit per pixel, or black and white.

to 4 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 4 bits per pixel, or 16 colors.

to 8 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 8 bits per pixel, or 256 colors.

to 16 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 16 bits per pixel. Actually 15 bits per pixel, 5 for red, 5 for blue and 5 for green, or 32768 colors.

to 24 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 24 bits per pixel, or 16+ million colors.

to 32 bit
Select this option to convert an image to 32 bits per pixel, still 16+ million colors. An alpha channel byte is added to each pixel and is set to zero. TruView ignores the alpha channel of 32 bit images.

to greyscale
Select this option to convert images to 256 shades of grey.

Quantization and Dithering options

These options are used when changing images from hi-color (greater than 256 colors) to 256 or less colors.

Quantization options

1 pass
Select this option to use 1 pass quantization. 1 pass is faster, but the quality is not as good as 2 passes.

2 pass
Select this option to use 2 pass quantization. 2 passes are slower but yield better image quality.

Dithering options

None
Select this option for no dithering (fastest, low quality).

Ordered
Select this option for ordered dithering (faster, medium quality).

Floyd-Steinberg
Select this option for Floyd-Steinberg dithering (slowest, high quality).

The Equalize operation works on 24 bit images. If it is performed on an image that is not 24 bit, the image is converted to 24 bit, the equalization is done and then the image is converted back to its original color depth. To avoid repeated color conversions when operating on 1, 4 or 8 bit images, convert them to 24 bit first, perform all desired operations and then convert them back to their original color depth.


Brightness and Contrast Operations

Any of the following color operations can be applied when converting files.

Brightness

Brightness values can range from -255 to 255. A value of -255 for each color will result in a completely black image. A value of 255 for each color will result in a completely white image. A value of 0 for each color will not change the image at all.

Change all
Select a brightness value for all color portions of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is disabled.

Change red
Select a brightness value for the red portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change green
Select a brightness value for the green portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change blue
Select a brightness value for the blue portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change red, green and blue colors separately
When disabled, the brightness value selected applies to all color portions of the image. When enabled, each color portion of a pixel can be brightened by a different amount.

Contrast

Contrast values can range from -127 to 127. Negative values decrease the contrast of an image while positive values increase the contrast of an image.

Change all
Select a contrast value for all color portions of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is disabled.

Change red
Select a contrast value for the red portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change green
Select a contrast value for the green portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change blue
Select a contrast value for the blue portion of a pixel. This will only be available if the "Change red, green and blue colors separately" option is enabled.

Change red, green and blue colors separately
When disabled, the contrast value selected applies to all color portions of the image. When enabled, each color portion of a pixel can have the contrast adjusted by a different amount.


JPEG Options

Quality
Specify a quality percent (0 .. 100%) for JPEG compression. 80% is the default setting and provides very good quality with decent file sizes for photographic type images (real world scenes). 100% quality drastically increases the file sizes without increasing the quality very much. Note that even when using 100% quality there is still compression being done on the image.

Smoothing
If non-zero, the image is smoothed. A value of 1 should be used for minimal smoothing and a value of 100 should be used for maximum smoothing.

Encode in progressive format
If checked the image is encoded in a progressive format, sometimes called an interlaced format. Progressive format is the type of JPEG that displays a rough representation of the entire image first and then refines the image with each successive pass.


The Shareware concept.

What is Shareware

Shareware is a distribution method used to allow pre-purchase evaluation of a software product.

Shareware is not free and after the initial evaluation period the software must be registered to obtain a software license or removed from the evaluation machine. Shareware simply represents an opportunity to "try before you buy".


How to register TruView

Pricing: 1 computer: 20$ US, 2 - 10 computers: 15$, 11 - 49 computers: 10$, 50+ computers: 5$.

When you register TruView, you will receive a registration key to enter into the reminder screen to keep it from re-appearing.

For Web and Phone orders, the registration key will be given to you by PsL. For all other types of orders, the key will be sent to you by mail or email.

To register TruView, please send check or money order along with your mail or e-mail address to:

Brent Beyeler
P.O. Box 42071
Phoenix AZ, 85080-2071

CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY -

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library in the following ways:

On the Web: Go to TruView's web site at http://members.home.net/beyeler/register.html

FAX your order to 713-524-6398, ask for product #15300 and please type or block print very plainly.

Email your order to PsL at "15300@pslweb.com""

Call your order to PsL's operators from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday at 800-242-4775 Ext.15300 or at 713-524-6394 Ext.15300

Mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705. Ask for product #15300.

THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY. THE AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM CANNOT BE REACHED AT THESE NUMBERS.