TrueSpectra (R) Photo>Graphics Sampler (TM) README
============================================


Contents
-------

1.0  About TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics Sampler Version 1.02
        1.1  INSTALLATION
        1.2  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
        1.3  RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL HARDWARE
        1.4  TUTORIAL GUIDE
        1.5  BUGS & SUGGESTIONS
        1.6  Q & A
2.0  Reporting Bugs
3.0  Product & Company Overview



1.0  About TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics Sampler Version 1.02    August 1996
===========================================================

We thank you for viewing our Photo>Graphics Sampler!  For the
latest information on TrueSpectra products and services as well as news
about our library of ColorWave Clipart and images, please check out
http://www.truespectra.com.



1.1  INSTALLATION
----------------

1. Optionally uninstall any previous betas of TrueSpectra Light or
   TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics.
2. Read and agree to the Software License Agreement, then put the CD-ROM
   in your CD-ROM drive.
3. Double click on OS/2 System, then on Drives, and then on the CD-ROM
   drive icon.  To start installation, double click on the PHOTOGFX folder and
   then on the INSTALL icon.  Follow the prompts.

NOTE THAT PHOTO>GRAPHICS CAN BE RUN FROM THE CD-ROM AND DOES
NOT HAVE TO BE INSTALLED FIRST.  SIMPLY DOUBLE CLICK ON THE
PROGRAM ICON FROM THE PHOTOGFX DIRECTORY ON YOUR CD-ROM.



1.2  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
------------------------

- OS/2 Warp
- 8 MB RAM
- 4-8 MB Hard Disk free space for application, if not run directly from CD
- Sufficient free Hard Disk space for swapping with many images
- Mouse or other pointing Device
- CD-ROM drive
- 486DX or better PC



1.3  RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL HARDWARE
-----------------------------------

- SVGA Color Display Adapter supporting 800x600 or better resolution with 64K
  or 24-bit color capability
- 40 MB of free hard disk space after installation for swap space when working
  with large images
- Pentium processor with minimum 256K L2 Cache
- 16MB or more RAM, depending on total size of images concurrently manipulated
  and other OS/2 overheads (installed network support, in particular) as well as
  hard disk performance (slower drives make swapping tiresome)



1.4  TUTORIAL GUIDE
------------------

TrueSpectra hopes to be able to offer an online version of the Tutorial Guide
on its web site during 4Q 96.  Check www.truespectra.com for details.  Printed
full color versions of the Tutorial Guide are included in all retail packages of
Photo>Graphics.



1.5  BUGS & SUGGESTIONS
----------------------

Do not edit a path created with freehand or line draw with the paint roller.  You
may get unpredictable results.  Also, editing with the roller may appear strange
if you are in stroke mode.

The title-bar of dialogs that usually appears when they have been pulled from the
Access bar may be obscured.  This will not cause other problems.

Press F1 for help at any time, it is context sensitive!

Note that if you tear-off a dialog from the Access Bar, it may be minimized
by double clicking on its title bar and will automatically restore when the object
that it refers to is reselected.  This is handy when you have many dialogs
active.  Note that you may also restore any minimized dialog by double
clicking the title bar.

When you have deselected all objects in the Workspace, the Access Bar color
will change and the name 'Default Object' will appear in the Object Name field.
You can change certain defaults here, such as the Tool or Region types and
these defaults will be used if you select 'Create Object' from the Context
Menu after dragging a rectangle in Edit action mode.  The object created
will be based on the default setting.  Note that it is often very convenient
to create objects this way while in Edit action mode, even if you then have
to immediately change the tool or region.

To effectively use the Paint Roller to crop an image you should first load the
bitmap into a Rectangle Region and size and position the bitmap in your
WorkSpace.  Then convert the Region to User Draw by using the
Power Panel/Access Bar.  Otherwise, the bitmap may tile since it does
not know the scale of your work.  When in doubt, read the User Draw
section in the on-line help or User Guide and if you can get access to
the web-based Tutorial Guide mentioned above, follow the steps in
Tutorial #16.  Remember to hold down the Shift key when adding or
subtracting from an existing Draw Region with the Roller.

You cannot delete the Power Panel by pressing the Del key.  Use the
Context Menu options instead.



1.6  Q & A
---------

Q - My system is running slowly, how do I speed things up?

A - Regardless of your chosen display resolution, ensure that you are
running with 65,000 displayable colors.  The automatic dithering for low
color displays (ie: 256 or 16 color) consumes many, many processor cycles
and 16 million color modes are very demanding on the memory bus.  Also,
run the Workspace at less than full screen size so that ColorWave does not
have to render as many pixels each time you move or change an object, or
set your display resolution to 800x600 pixels.  Do not use high amplitude
Wave tools as the "look-around" is extremely compute intensive.  Likewise,
avoid Blur and Sharpen until necessary.  If you are still experiencing
unsatisfactory performance, check that your machine really does have its
numeric co-processor enabled and do not turn on bitmap smoothing in the
Bitmap Tool until necessary.


Q - I want to look at the sample graphics projects but don't have enough
disk space to load all the sample images onto my hard disk - can I load
them directly into Photo>Graphics from the CD?

A - Yes!  Just include a path to your CD-ROM drive with the images
directory in the User Preferences Bitmap Path entry field.  Then, open
the projects in the samples directory on the CD ROM from Photo>Graphics.
For even faster viewing, drag the sample .GDO files from your CD-ROM
samples directory and drop them on the open Photo>Graphics Workspace.
You can use this fast drag/drop technique to directly view images from
the CD-ROM as well.


Q - I saved a rendered high-resolution .TIF file but cannot load it back
into Photo>Graphics - is this normal?

A - Yes, because ColorWave renders very efficiently, it is easy to render
an image far larger than available RAM or swap space.  This creates
difficulties if you want to load the rendered result to check your work.
Currently, you cannot view extremely large images with Photo>Graphics even
though you can create them.  The maximum loadable image size is approximately
80MB.  The maximum renderable image size is approximately 300-600MB.


Q - It seems that bitmaps sometimes vanish from the bitmap list.  Is this so?

A - Yes, to dynamically reduce memory requirements, Photo>Graphics drops
unused bitmaps from the list of active bitmaps.  So, if you change an object
with a Bitmap Tool to some other Tool, and no other Bitmap Tools refer to
the bitmap you were previously using, the bitmap will have to be reloaded
from disk if you want to restore the object to its original configuration.


Q - I can't see the help bubbles (context sensitive hints).

A - We are looking into a situation where help bubbles do not appear that
seems related to another third-party bubble help system.  Check our Web
site for future developments.


Q - My system seems to hang when I load any of the images whose names
begin with the letters HRES.  Why?

A - HRES images are compressed JPG files which expand at about a twenty
to one ratio.  Since they are all about one meg on disk, they will expand to
about twenty megs in RAM.  Unless you have a 24MB machine, there will be
a very significant amount of swapping as OS/2 attempts to create virtual
storage on your hard disk.  Be patient, or do not work with these images
in this version of Photo>Graphics with a small machine.


Q - When drawing, by default Photo>Graphics creates many small, independent
objects.  Why?

A - It is far quicker for ColorWave to deal with a multitude of smaller
draw objects than with one large, complex object.  However, if you are
running a Pentium Pro, or running at only 640x480 screen resolution
with an earlier processor, you can confidently build large draw objects.
Of course, after creating your drawing, grouping objects ensures that the
individual pieces stay together and regardless of your screen resolution,
all draw objects are resolution independent.  Please note that after a very
long or very intricate Freehand draw there will be a significant pause
as Photo>Graphics converts your draw shape to ColorWave format.  This
conversion only happens once, so later editing will not be delayed with
such a pause unless you are holding down Shift or Ctrl to add to the
line path.


Q - Rendering never finishes on my machine and all I see is a white or
black screen.  What's wrong?

A - Typically, the user interface may be successfully prioritized from the
Preferences Dialog giving Photo>Graphics a smooth feel.  However, some
DOS applications and certain print spooling and communication programs
may prevent processor cycles from reaching the ColorWave thread.  In this
case, you must deselect the User Interface Priority check box in the
Preferences Dialog.  Then restart the program.  Occasionally, if the ColorWave
engine seems to pause for a long time or the User Interface appears to
freeze, pressing Ctrl+Esc or Alt+Esc will free a resource contention
situation and normal operation will resume.


Q - I can open the controls, even load a bitmap, but all I see in the main
window is a black hole!

A - Photo>Graphics requires complete video drivers as it makes calls
designed to optimize screen updates.  Contact your video card supplier for
the latest drivers or check the Team OS/2 web site for links to Warp
drivers.  (www.teamos2.org)  Note that the recently revised IBM PC700
desktops models require new video drivers that should be available Fall
1996 from IBM.  The original 700 series with S3 Vision 864/868
video perform flawlessly with or without the optional 1 MB upgrade
provided you download the current drivers from IBM.


Q - I am not getting correct colors on screen.  Why?

A - We have seen certain drivers indicate to the user through the
System settings that they are displaying 65,000 colors yet are only
indicating to Warp that they are displaying 256 colors.  Photo>Graphics
then enters a dithering mode, tries to set a palette, and often displays
incorrect colors.  Check our Web site for future developments.


Q - Pasting from the clipboard doesn't seem to work.  Why not?

A - This one's tricked us a few times too!  After you cut an object or
grouped set of objects to the clipboard, drag a rectangle in the target
Workspace, Custom Tool or Custom Region.  From the Automatic Menu
that appears, choose Paste from Clipboard.  The object will appear
in the new location, scaled to fit into your rectangle but rotated,
skewed, flipped etc. to match the original.  What happens if you
want an exact duplicate?  You could just use the object duplicate
option from the Context Menu - but if you wanted a copy in another
Custom Tool or Region EXACTLY aligned with the original copy, you
must use the Clipboard without dragging a rectangle.  Make the target
window active, then bring up the Context Menu and choose Paste.
This can be confusing because the object may appear far from the center
of your attention, depending upon its co-ordinates when it was put on
the clipboard.  Possibly more confusing, the Window may automatically
zoom, or if you are pasting into the window you copied from, the
pasted copy will be exactly on top of the original - often making it
impossible to see.  Even though this all seems very complex at first,
this is a very powerful feature, especially when used with Custom
Regions.  For example, copy an object containing text to the
clipboard, create an object with a Custom Region (and Solid Color
or even Contrast Tool) and place it behind the original text.  Then,
in the Custom Region, paste the copy of the text using the Context
menu (ie. do not drag a rectangle first), make the text black and
put a blur object over it.  Now, in your main Workspace, you will
have a blurred shadow and everything will be precisely aligned!


Q - Sometimes text disappears from the Workspace.  What can I do?

A - ColorWave currently uses the extensive array of Warp font calls to get
the initial mask for text fonts.  Should the call fail, an invalid mask will
be returned by your video driver.  See if there is a more recent video
driver available from your video card supplier or try rotating or skewing
the text a bit.  We have found that most cards made after the release of
Warp with the latest chipsets have acceptable drivers, but many of the
earlier video chipsets do not fully support Warp's font calls.


Q - I saved a GDO file and gave it to a business associate.  When he
loaded it, all the bitmaps were missing.  What should I do?

A - You must include bitmaps with any GDO files saved in Photo>Graphics
since bitmaps are not replicated in GDO's to save you hard disk space.
Check our Web site for the release of a "packager" which can scan a GDO
file and package it with related bitmaps.


Q - Blur and Sharpen don't seem to be very adjustable for subtle effects
and seem to vanish in Custom Regions and Tools.  Why?

A - To maintain reasonable performance on lower-end machines, we decided
to target the Photo>Graphics Blur and Sharpen primarily at the cool text
effects and shadows end of the scale rather than providing our more compute
intensive, yet far more adjustable Blur and Sharpen code library.  This library
is required for extremely precise high-end image clean-up, as are a number
of other ColorWave compatible libraries which we have developed.  Check
our Web site for news of future product announcements targeted at Pentium
Pro class processors.  Note that even though you may not notice a blur in
a Custom Region or Tool whose window is scaled down relative to the
main Workspace, all objects will render at their required output resolution
so that such blurs will show their result in the final output of the Custom
Region or Tool in the main Workspace as expected.


Q - With the multitude of possible object combinations in Photo>Graphics,
I refuse to accept the answer to the question above.  There must be another
way to subtly sharpen an image!

A - OK, but this is an advanced technique, not for the faint of heart.  First,
load a bitmap into the Workspace.  Copy it to the Clipboard.  Then duplicate
the original bitmap object and change the duplicate's Region to a Custom Region
and its Tool to a Contrast Tool.  Open the Custom Region and, without dragging
a rectangle, choose Paste from Clipboard to paste a copy of the image exactly
aligned with the original in the main WorkSpace.  Put a Sharpen object over it
and set the sharpness fairly high.  Now, in the main Workspace, adjust the
Contrast Tool's brightness control to reduce the brightness.  The image will
appear to sharpen in a unique, and very powerful fashion.  What's happening?
Well, the dark areas of the sharpened copy of the image in the Custom Region
will apply the full effect of your Contrast Tool, while the lighter areas do not
receive the same adjustment and the whites stay white.  Since the image in
the Custom Region is sharp (over sharp, in fact), the transitions between those
parts of the original image which are darkened and those which stay the same
is more abrupt.  This makes the image appear sharper and may also be used to
adjust colors in the darker areas of the original image by also adjusting the
color sliders in the Contrast Tool.  This technique requires an image with some
detail to begin with, but often produces fantastic results.  Try loading
HIBCUS.TGA from the Tutorial directory and experimenting!  Note that it is
also possible to have multiple Contrast Tools operating on one image in this
way without any image degradation.  (Hint, you may want to invert the image
in the Custom Tool with a contrast adjustment to also isolate light areas
for adjustment.)


Q - Printing is not giving me satisfactory results.  Is there a solution?

A - Although the full color bitmap is typically rendered in well under one
minute with ColorWave, the Warp print drivers take considerable time (with
much swapping) to dither the image for print purposes.  Try adjusting the
resolution in the Photo>Graphics output settings to be one half of your final
print resolution to reduce the demand on the Warp drivers.  Bo not be
surprised by jagged text on black & white printers - text is anti-aliased
in the 24-bit ColorWave output stream which does not equate to sharp
edges on black and white output.  Also, check out the Warp fixpak for
updated printer support!



2.0  Reporting Bugs
================

Photo>Graphics is an extremely complex program, carefully tuned to run
in a small RAM footprint while providing an unmatched, high quality,
seamless combination of image processing, text and vector draw artistic
capabilities.  In some cases the program is performing floating point
calculations at the limit of Pentium power, in others, it is doing
64 bit and in many cases, 128 bit integer arithmetic with your every
mouse move.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to test all possible
combinations of objects on all possible combinations of hardware with
the various versions and drivers available for Warp.  Consequently, you
may encounter problems - but at TrueSpectra we pride ourselves in our
unstoppable quest for uncompromised quality in every aspect of our
products and will seek feasible solutions to your concerns.

Please report any bugs that you feel should be addressed -- but keep in mind
that we are often facing a number of driver issues which may be beyond our
control.

        E-mail:   support@truespectra.com
        Fax:      (416) 224-0309

Describe the difficulty, and if possible how to recreate the situation.
Please include the product version number, serial number and for crashes
also include the SYS number and the crash address in the form:

        TSPECTRA.EXE at 0001:0006f341

all other information on the crash screen is unnecessary for reporting
purposes.  Also, please include a description of your system including the
type of computer, video display, display driver, printer, printer driver,
and version of OS/2 as well as providing us with a way to contact you by
Internet e-mail, fax or telephone.

Note that the Autosave function is designed to periodically save your
work so that should Photo>Graphics encounter difficulty, your work may
be recoverable the next time you start the program.  Check that the
Autosave directory in the Preferences Dialog is set correctly and that
you do not run out of hard disk space while running Photo>Graphics.
Autosave will not be able to recover a file until you have saved a
copy of the GDO at least once to your hard disk.



3.0  Product & Company Overview
===========================

TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics... Photo, Text and Graphics Creativity - Made Easy!

Unleash your creative power with TrueSpectra Photo>Graphics.  Photo>Graphics
is the easiest high-quality graphics package to use, enabling anyone to
achieve stunning artistic results with little or no experience.
Photo>Graphics is not just for the novice.  Photo>Graphics provides the
power and flexibility required to create custom tools and effects to
produce even the most intricate business or Internet graphics.  Objects
are created with drag and drop ease using intuitive controls that simplify
image editing for any level user.

Ease of Use
----------
Drag-and-Drop user interface.
Cut and Paste clipboard support.
Context Sensitive dialogs and commands.

Wide Array of Creative Special Effects
-------------------------------
Quickly create Ellipse Fades, Ramps and Custom Masks.
Incorporate Bitmap Images, Color Fades, Blurs, Emboss, Custom Tools
designed by you, and many more special effects.
All objects (image, text & draw) may be manipulated in a consistent
manner including Rotate, Mirror, Skew, and Stretch options.

Architecture and Bitmap File Support
------------------------------
The TrueSpectra ColorWave render engine is the heart and sole of
Photo>Graphics.  ColorWave provides the never-before-possible ability to
work with draw, images and effects at different resolutions at the same
time.  ColorWave creates and reads TrueSpectra's GDO file format for
efficient use of computer memory and disk storage resources.

ColorWave 2.0 handles multiple 24-bit images with ease and supports
popular bitmap formats including JPG, GIF, BMP, TGA, TIF and PhotoCD.
It also supports vector draw with a number of innovative additions including
softness control and the ability to mix draw with image processing
techniques such as pixelate and wave.  ColorWave also provides a full
range of text manipulation techniques.

With Photo>Graphics, it is easy to get professional effects by combining
specialized regions and design tools.  These effects objects are truly
interactive as they are layered on draw and image objects which maintain
their properties, even when appearing to have been radically transformed.

Beginning at its outset in 1992, Photo>Graphics (known on the Internet
during an extensive beta program as TrueSpectra Light) has been engineered
without compromise, fully capitalizing on 32 bit, multi-threaded
object-oriented technologies.  Many programs use the term "object", but
in Photo>Graphics, it does not simply refer to a static blob on the screen!

About TrueSpectra Inc.
------------------
TrueSpectra Inc. designs, develops and markets digital image editing and
graphics software products for home and professional use.  The powerful
ColorWave render engine, found in all TrueSpectra products, manages image,
text and draw objects producing high quality finished artwork in far less
time than traditional packages.  TrueSpectra is the Image of Imagination.

To order additional copies of Photo>Graphics, contact TrueSpectra for the
name of an OS/2 software distributor near you:

        E-mail:         sales@truespectra.com
        Phone:          (416) 224-2787
        Fax:            (416) 224-0309
        Web Site:       http://www.truespectra.com


TrueSpectra Inc.
4950 Yonge Street
Suite 802
North York, Ontario
Canada   M2N 6K1


TrueSpectra and Photo Graphic are registered trademarks and
Photo>Graphics, ColorWave and The Image of Imagination
are trademarks of TrueSpectra Inc.


Program copyright 1993-96 TrueSpectra Inc.  All rights reserved.


