ImageFS - Image conversion software

by Alternative Publishing Ltd

ImageFS is an extremely useful commercial application that enables easy loading of foreign graphics file formats into RISC OS applications. It functions as a filing system, allowing you to 'open' graphics files as though they were directories, and treat the contents as a native RISC OS sprite which can then be loaded and manipulated in just the same way as any other sprite. Also, you can simply double-click foreign graphics files to load them just as though they were native RISC OS sprites.

Version 1 of ImageFS is supplied on this disc with the kind permission of Alternative Publishing. As a special offer to subscribers, AP is offering the chance to upgrade to version 2 for 29.95 ex. VAT instead of the normal price of 39.95 ex. VAT. See the end of this text for further details.

Running this item from the RISC User disc menu opens an archive containing the complete ImageFS application. You should copy this from the archive to the desired location on your hard disc.

Brief usage summary
ImageFS is a true filing system which allows you to access ZSoft PCX, Windows/OS2 BMP, Clear, PBMPlus, Truevision Targa, TIFF, GIF, Apple MacPaint, Atari/Gem IMG, Amiga IFF and HAM, ColoRIX, and Apple PICT2 files as if they were native Acorn sprites.

To run the program, double-click on its icon in the filer window in the usual way. This will install the ImageFS icon on the icon bar. ImageFS can work in one of three modes of operation for each filetype, which can be set by choosing the Type control option from the icon bar menu (or by just clicking Select on the icon). This opens a dialogue box in which you can choose each filetype from a pop-up menu. For each of these types you can set one of the following choices: Off, On or Auto.

If Off is selected, ImageFS will have no effect on that filetype, and the default action for files of that type will be the same as it would have been if ImageFS had not been installed. Choosing On makes that filetype act as if it were a directory with a sprite inside. So, double-clicking on a file will open a directory viewer showing a sprite file, which can then be used just as if it were a native sprite. The Auto option goes one stage further, by converting the image into a sprite and then performing the required action on it. Thus, double-clicking on a file whose type is set to Auto will cause it to be loaded into the default sprite viewer, e.g. Paint. Dragging the file to another application will cause it to be loaded into that application as if it were a sprite.

Clicking Adjust on the ImageFS icon, or choosing Global options from the icon bar menu, will open a window in which various useful choices can be set. The most important of these is the first: Sprite format. If this is set to Old, then all images which contain more than 256 colours will be converted into 256-colour old-style Archimedes sprites. (This option makes the next two, related options, Diffusion and 256-colour palettes, become available.) Setting the sprite format to New causes such images to be converted into new-format sprites, which can contain up to 32 thousand or 16 million colours. This is generally the most useful option if you have a Risc PC or a more recent Acorn machine (with RISC OS 3.5 or later).

ImageFS is incredibly easy to use, and you will need no more information than the brief summary above in order to get going. However, a plain-text version of the entire original manual is provided as the !Help file within the application, and contains some very useful information which you should read if you plan to make significant use of the application.

If you would like a printed copy of the manual, though, Beebug has a number of original ImageFS version 1 manuals which are available for a limited period, on receipt of a stamped, addressed envelope, from:

David Bradforth
Beebug Limited
117 Hatfield Road
St Albans
Herts
AL1 4JS

Special upgrade offer
Excellent though ImageFS is, version 2 is even better! Its main advantage over version 1 is that its conversion is two-way: it allows you to save RISC OS sprites as foreign graphics as well as loading foreign types. In addition, it also offers various further options on top of the features provided by version 1. In particular, there's a TinyView preview feature, whereby you can double-click on a file with Ctrl held down to pop up a preview window which displays a thumbnail image, along with other useful information. This is very quick, and removes the need for you to load an image to find out what it contains. ImageFS version 2 also handles more bitmap image types and sub-types than version 1, as well as supporting some vector image formats such as Windows Metafiles (DOS filetype = .WMF).

To upgrade to version 2, please contact Alternative Publishing directly (note: Beebug cannot handle these upgrades), quoting your RISC User membership number and the reference RU1106AP1. Their address is as follows:

Alternative Publishing Ltd
30 Clyde Place
Glasgow
Scotland
G5 8AQ

Tel. 0141 418 0881
Fax 0141 418 0889
Email sales@apsoft.co.uk


Copyright  Alternative Publishing 1998
