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PIX.WHIZ Documentation
copyright 1995 by Geraldine Wright
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to extend a special thanks to Abbey Birk, who did a mighty fine
job of beta testing version 1.0 of PIX.WHIZ. Without her help, I would never
have been able to find all the nasty little buglets hiding inside the
program.
Gerry (the Applesoft-aholic)
g.wright12@genie.geis.com
g.wright@tcs.wap.org
INTRODUCTION
Broderbund's New Print Shop program can print color graphics in your signs,
banners, calenders and greeting cards. Unfortunately, Broderbund never
provided a way for Apple IIe and IIc owners to create their own color
graphics. The graphics editor within the New Print Shop only creates
monochrome graphics. IIgs owners could create color graphics for the New
Print Shop using Print Shop GS Companion, and export them to New Print Shop
format. Unfortunately, the color graphics created this way did not look as
good when printed out in medium and large sizes as did the graphics on the
discs Broderbund sold.
I wrote PIX.WHIZ to correct this problem. Version 2.0 will allow you to make
both monochrome and color graphics for the New Print Shop that look good
whether printed in small, medium or large sizes, and do it on the same
computer you use to make New Print Shop projects. The system requirements
are:
Enhanced IIe w/80 column card or IIc or IIgs
Color monitor
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON NPS GRAPHICS
Here is some background on the New Print Shop graphics files which you will
need to understand the discussion of PIX.WHIZ's which follows.
The movable NPS graphics (as opposed to the full panels, which can't be
moved) come in 4 types. All the graphics on the NPS program disc, as well as
the ones sold by Broderbund on the graphics libraries discs, are what I call
"high resolution" graphics, and they can be monochrome or in color. When
these graphics are printed out in the small size, they are composed of 52
rows of pixels, with 88 pixels in each row. When they are printed out in the
medium of large size, they have 104 rows of pixels with 176 pixels in each
row. In other words, you get an increase in the detail as you go from the
small to the medium size. New Print Shop will tell you whether a picture is
color or monochrome before you load it for a project. When you are browsing a
library to choose a graphic, and press <SPACE> to preview it, NPS also prints
a label under the preview if the graphics is in color. If there is no label,
you know it is monochrome. The Graphics Editor in NPS allows you to make the
high resolution monochrome graphics. Until now, there was no way to make the
high resolution color graphics.
If you use the "Convert" feature of New Print Shop to import old Print Shop
graphics, you create what I call "low resolution" monochrome graphics. These
behave exactly like the old Print Shop graphics. They are composed of the
same amount of pixels whether they are printed in small, medium or large
sizes. You do not get an increase of detail going from small to medium size.
Plus, they can only be black and white. Most of the freeware libraries of NPS
graphics you can get are of this type, and there are thousands of them. When
you preview these graphics while browsing a graphics library, NPS will print
a label below the picture that says "Lo Res".
If you (or a friend with a IIgs) use Print Shop GS Companion to make color
pictures and then export them to the New Print Shop format, you get "low
resolution" color graphics. Like the lo-res monochrome graphics, they have
the same number of pixels no matter what size you print them in. They have
the advantage of printing out in color. In the last 2 or 3 years, people have
begun to make these types of graphics, and there are a few hundred of them on
the A2 library on GEnie. When you preview one of these graphics while
browsing a graphics library, NPS prints two labels below the picture. One
says "Color" and one says "Lo Res".
Each of these 4 types of graphics can contain from 1 to 4 complete and
separate pictures. All 4 types of graphics contain a low resolution
monochrome representation of the graphic. This lo-res mono picture is used to
make the picture seen when you preview a graphic while browsing a disc. It is
also what gets printed out when you print a hi-res mono graphic in the small
size, or a lo-res mono graphic in any size. In addition, if you print out a
hi-res color graphic in the small size, but only have a monochrome printer,
you will get this picture. A lo-res color graphic printed out in any size on
a monochrome printer will give you this picture.
In addition to the lo-res mono picture, the lo-res color graphics also
contain a lo-res color picture, as does the hi-res color graphics. This gets
printed when you print a hi-res color graphic in the small size, or a lo-res
color graphic in any size.
There is also a hi-res mono picture, and both the hi-res mono and the hi-res
color graphics have one of these. If you print a hi-res mono graphic in the
medium or large size, this is the picture that gets printed. If you print a
hi-res color graphic with a monochrome printer, you will also get this
picture.
Finally, there is a hi-res color picture. Only the hi-res color graphics have
one of these. You get this picture by printing a hi-res color graphic in
medium or large size.
PIX.WHIZ can make any of these 4 types of graphics. It is important to note
that PIX.WHIZ edits the various pictures contained within a graphic
completely independently. If you create a graphic which is supposed to have 2
or 4 pictures, but only put pixels in one picture, you will get a blank
picture when NPS needs to use the picture that you neglected to put pixels
in.
Note: If you have any color NPS graphics that you know were made with Print
Shop GS companion, you might want to go back and edit the monochrome picture
in these files. PSGS Companion doesn't let you edit the monochrome picture,
it just makes a guess what it should look like for you. What it guesses isn't
always very representative of the color picture, and you may want to touch it
up a little.
INSTALLATION
All the files you need to run PIX.WHIZ, with the exception of ProDOS, are on
the disc or in the shrunk file this document was obtained from. Make sure not
to change the name of any of them. All the files must be in the same
directory for PIX.WHIZ to run. You can make the PIX.WHIZ startup disc self
booting by putting ProDOS on it. If you choose to run PIX.WHIZ from a program
launcher, run the file MICOL.SYSTEM.
IIgs users should boot their computers directly into ProDOS 8 to run
PIX.WHIZ, since PIX.WHIZ doesn't get along with GSOS. IIe and IIc users, if
you have an aux type extra memory card in slot 3, be sure you are not running
a RAM drive on it, because it will conflict with PIX.WHIZ. Some IIe and IIc
clocks also seem to conflict PIX.WHIZ. If you have problems getting it to
run, try turning off the clock driver.
DRAWING SCREEN
The drawing screen is where you will actually do editing on your NPS
graphics. PIX.WHIZ will automatically bring you here after the program loads
and the initial splash screen displays. The large white square at the right
will display the picture as you edit it. The graphic has been initialized to
all white, so for a new picture, it is not necessary to insert white pixels.
At startup, the program is set to edit a lo-res color graphic, and will
display the lo-res color picture.
There is an arrow shaped cursor which points to the pixel to be changed. The
cursor is moved by the arrow keys. The arrow keys by themselves move single
pixels. If you need to move the cursor a long way, there is a "fast cursor"
move. Use the Open Apple key in concert with an arrow key, and the cursor
will move 10 pixels in the direction of the arrow. The cursor will wrap
around at both sides, and at the top and bottom.
At the left of the screen are a list of 1-key commands for activating
PIX.WHIZ functions. There are prompt lines at the bottom with instructions
requiring more text. Messages to the user also will appear here, and commands
which require further user input also will print prompts here.
Finally, there are a few lines of status information at the left. The current
position of the arrow shaped cursor is displayed, along with the current
drawing color.
In the drawing area, the hi-res and lo-res pictures are displayed
differently. When you edit a lo-res picture within a graphic, it can be
displayed in its entirety. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make the
pixels small enough to view the hi-res pictures in their entirety and still
have a true representation of the colors. Therefore, the hi-res pictures are
displayed in quarters. You scroll around between the quarters of the hi-res
picture using the Solid Apple key in concert with one of the arrow keys. The
operation of the <SOLID APPLE-ARROW> scrolling is as follows:
HR:4 LR
^ ^
| |
------------------- HR:3
| | | ^
| |-> | |
LR <- | HR:1 | HR:2 | -> HR:3 -----------
| ^ <-| ^ | | |
| | | | | | |
------------------- HR:4 <- | LR | -> HR:1
| | | | | | |
| v |-> v | | |
HR:2 <- | HR:3 | HR:4 | -> LR -----------
| <-| | |
| | | v
------------------- HR:2
| |
v v
LR HR:1
As you can see, <SOLID APPLE-ARROW> not only lets you scroll around in the
hi-res picture, it also lets you move between the lo-res and hi-res picture.
By pressing the appropriate arrow key while editing the lo-res picture, you
can get to any of the 4 hi-res quarters you want. You can also get from any
of the hi-res quarters to the lo-res picture. <SOLID APPLE-ARROW> only lets
you move between lo and hi-res pictures which are both monochrome or both
color. If you want to switch from a color picture to a monochrome, or vice
versa, use the "M" key, as described below in the section on commands.
The cursor position status line shows you the position from the top left
corner of the entire picture being edited, NOT from the top left corner of
the view you are currently working on. For the lo-res pictures, this is just
like it was in version 1.0. But for the hi-res pictures, the cursor only
shows position from the top left of the particular view you are editing when
you are in the first quarter of the picture. I did it this way to accommodate
those who wish to design their pictures ahead of time by plotting out the
pixels on a grid. In that case, it is more intuitive to count the pixels from
the top left of the entire picture.
It is important to note the if you move the cursor off one edge while editing
one of the hi-res quarters, the picture DOES NOT scroll to the next quarter.
The cursor just wraps around to the opposite edge of the same quarter.
COMMANDS
All of the commands and user responses are activated by a single keypress. It
is not necessary to press <RTN>. Illegal key presses will cause a beep. The
commands are listed here.
<SPACE> - draws a pixel in the current color at the current cursor location
C - change the current color. A prompt line at the bottom will ask what color
you want. Press the 1-key response required to choose the desired color.
M - toggle between color picture and monochrome picture. The behavior of the
space bar changes slightly when you are editing the mono picture. It
toggles pixels between black and white, rather than painting them in the
current color. The list of 1-key commands also changes. You no longer
see the C command, since you can't choose a new color. The M command now
will take you back to the color picture.
H - toggle between the lo-res and hi-res pictures. It will take you from any
one of the hi-res quarters to the lo-res picture. It will also take you
from the lo-res picture to the first quarter of the hi-res picture.
N - new picture. The entire graphic, both the color and mono pictures, are
erased to white so you can start over. If you made changes to the
currently displayed picture but have not yet saved them, you will be
warned and asked if you want to abort the N command. This gives you a
chance to save the changes you made. The new graphic will initially be
set to a lo-res color graphic, and you will be editing the lo-res color
picture.
L - load an NPS graphic from disc. As with the N command, if you have made
changes to a picture that were not saved, you will be given a chance to
abort. If you choose to continue, you will taken to the file operations
screen to choose the graphic you want to load. PIX.WHIZ load the graphic
as the same type it was on the disc you got it from. If you have loaded
a color graphic, you will initially be viewing the lo-res color picture.
If you loaded a monochrome graphic, you will initially view the lo-res
mono picture.
S - save the file. This is used to save modifications to a pre-existing
graphic when you want the changed file to be stored under the same name
on the same disc as you loaded it from. If you accidentally press S to
save a new file you had just created, you will be diverted to the Save
As command, which is described below.
Open Apple-S - save the file using a different pathname than it was loaded
from, or save a new file. You will taken to the file operations module
to choose the disc on which to store the graphic and give it a name.
V - convert a graphic to another type of graphic. When you press it, the
prompt line changes to ask you what the new type should be. You are
reminded what it is now, and asked to press a number designating which
of the types you want it changed to. The prompt line has abbreviations
next to the numbers, and they mean:
LRM - Lo-res mono
LRC - Lo-res color
HRM - Hi-res mono
HRC - Hi-res color
Some of the conversions take a while, so be patient. In particular, it
takes 6 minutes to convert a lo-res color graphic to a hi-res color
graphic. If you convert either of the 2 hi-res types to a lo-res type,
the hi-res pictures within the graphic are thrown out. If you convert a
color graphic to a monochrome, any color pictures in the file are thrown
out. If you convert a mono graphic to a color graphic, PIX.WHIZ creates
color pictures whose pixels are initially all black and white. When a
lo-res graphic is converted to a hi-res graphic, hi-res pictures are
created where each lo-res pixel is replaced by a 2X2 square of smaller
pixels.
Q - quit. As with the N command, if you have made changes to a picture that
were not saved, you will be given a chance to abort the N command.
The type of graphic being edited will effect the commands that available to
you. While editing a monochrome graphic, the "M" and "C" commands are not
available. While editing a lo-res graphic, the "H" command is not available.
Obviously, using the "V" command to change the type of graphic will change
the commands you can use on the graphic.
FILE OPERATIONS SCREEN
When you press L or Open Apple-S while editing a graphic, you will be brought
to the file operations screen to choose a path from which to load a file or
to which to save a file. The S command does not bring up the file operations
screen, because it assumes you want to save to the original path, and do not
need to choose one. All three commands need to read the file operations
module from the PIX.WHIZ startup disc, so you should not remove the disc
while you are editing a graphic. If you have removed the disc, you will be
nagged to put it back in. If you are saving a file, there will be a delay
while the file is being compressed. A friendly message box will appear to let
you know that the file is compressing, and you have not been sent to
never-never land.
PIX.WHIZ will then do a search for on-line volumes and present them in a
"point and shoot" list so you can pick which one you want. Move through the
list of volumes using the up and down arrow keys. When the one you want is
highlighted, press <RTN> to select it. Open Apple-B can be used to redo the
on-line volumes search. This is especially helpful if you only have one disc
drive. Take out the PIX.WHIZ startup disc and replace it with the disc that
has the graphic you want. Then press Open Apple-B to redo the on-line volumes
search, and you will be able to choose your graphics disc. MAKE SURE YOU
REPLACE THE DISC FIRST, THEN PRESS OPEN APPLE-B. DON'T SWAP THESE STEPS!
OTHERWISE, PIX.WHIZ MAY BE POLLING THE DRIVE AS YOU PUT IN A DISC, AND YOU
COULD TRASH THE DISC. Open Apple-B is also useful if you realize you forgot
to put your graphics disc in a drive, or you put in the wrong one. In either
case, put in the disc you want and then press Open Apple-B. If you decide you
want to abort the entire operation and return to the drawing screen, press
<ESC>.
Once a disc has been chosen, its volume name will be displayed on the top
line and it will be cataloged. NPS library discs have "PSL." appended to the
front of their volume names. PIX.WHIZ will recognize these as NPS library
discs and automatically append "/GRAPHICS" to the path before displaying the
path and doing the catalog. This is the subdirectory on all NPS library discs
where your graphics will be found. PIX.WHIZ saves you a little time in
automatically taking you there. When the catalog is done, it will be
displayed in a "point and shoot" list, much as for the on-line volumes list.
You highlight file names and choose them for action in the same way. <ESC>
will abort the operation. Open Apple-B will back you up to the previous
directory. You can press Open Apple-B repeatedly to back up to ever more
previous levels, and if you press it while the root directory is displayed at
the top, PIX.WHIZ will redo the on-line volumes search.
Constructing the catalog list can take a few minutes, especially for 3.5"
discs that have loads of files on them. This is because PIX.WHIZ will only
list the files you can load and the directory entry of each file must be
individually examined to determine if it is a file you can load. Also,
because PIX.WHIZ has to do a lot of disc access at this point, it sounds like
the disc is being formatted. Don't panic. The disc is not being formatted,
and your data will survive this operation.
The files that PIX.WHIZ will list for you to choose during a load operation
are:
Low resolution monochrome NPS graphics
Low resolution color NPS graphics
High resolution monochrome NPS graphics
High resolution color NPS graphics
Subdirectories within the subdirectory you have cataloged
You cannot load full panel graphics or letterheads, so you will not see
these.
The files that PIX.WHIZ will list for you to choose during a load operation
are:
Subdirectories within the subdirectory you have cataloged
If you choose a subdirectory, that subdirectory will be appended to the path,
and the new path will be cataloged. You may choose a graphics file if you are
loading, and that file will be loaded. While saving a graphic you may only
choose subdirectories. When the full path down to the subdirectory in which
you want to save a file is shown on the top line, press Open Apple-A to
select that path. You will then be prompted to supply a name for the graphic.
You will not be allowed to enter an illegal name. If there is already a file
with the name you typed, you will be asked if you want to overwrite it.
The desired file operation will now take place, and PIX.WHIZ will return to
the drawing screen. This requires reading a module from the PIX.WHIZ startup
disc, If you have removed the disc, you will be prompted to put it back in.
If you were loading a file, there will be an additional brief delay while the
loaded file is decompressed.
ADDITIONAL INFO
Because of the peculiarities of the Apple 2 color graphics, the picture you
see when viewing a graphic with PIX.WHIZ may differ in subtle ways from what
it will look like when printed. Pixels of some colors appear narrower on the
screen than when printed. Some colors, when painted next to each other on the
screen, can seem to give rise to unexpected effects. For instance, a black
pixel painted directly to the right of a red pixel displays on the screen as
red. PIX.WHIZ has recorded the pixel correctly, however. If you are unsure of
exactly what is in the graphic, fire up the New Print Shop and print it out.
PIX.WHIZ is a "work in progress". I myself use it to make NPS graphics, and
so am committed to improving it as time goes by. If you find a bug in the
program, please don't hesitate to contact me about it.
PIX.WHIZ is freeware. You may give it to anyone who wants it without charge.
AN EXHORTATION
Make lots of pretty NPS graphics and share them with all the rest of us!! ;-)