Copyright: ©1999 Sunshine Software


PixShow
	Sunshine Software http://web.triton.net/fasttrax/sunshine/sshome.html

PixShow by Sunshine Software is a unique graphics program that allows you to instantly view JPG, GIF, Animated GIF, TIF, PNG, PCX, TGA, BMP, ICO, WMF, and AVI animation files with a single click of the mouse! The built-in PixEditor allows you to easily adjust color, brightness, contrast, add special effects, change color resolution, image size, and more. TWAIN devices are supported to acquire images directly into PixShow's editor. Using PixShow you can quickly turn your favorite graphic image into your desktop wallpaper plus instantly capture an image of your entire computer screen. The graphic file manager allows you to move, copy, rename, and delete files, add/delete folders, set file attributes, and link each file type to a graphics editor of your choice. You can instantly turn any number of your graphic images into a PixAlbum, a photo album style printout of your selected images with corresponding captions or filenames with adjustable page layout. You can also run a PixShow, a slide show type presentation of all selected file types in a specified directory. Resizable screens allow you to instantly zoom an image from a thumb nail to full screen. It also offers bookmarks to instantly browse your favorite directories plus a powerful new search engine to quickly search a drive or your entire computer for a file.

PixShow runs under Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.

Important Topics

Registering PixShow

Setting PixShow to be your default image viewer

Contacting Sunshine Software

Shortcut Keys

Graphic File Manager

Finding A File

Bookmarks

PixAlbum Maker

Graphics Editing

System Requirements


Autoplay (Running a PixShow)

You can activate the autoplay feature to create a slide show presentation (a PixShow) of all the graphic files in a directory simply by clicking the PixShow button in the upper left hand corner of the main screen.

To change the speed of the show, change the Seconds by clicking the up/down arrows. You can change the speed even when the slide show is running.

Once autoplay is activated, the PixShow button changes to STOP. Click the STOP button to stop the PixShow.


Registering PixShow

Pixshow is not free. You can try the demo for 30 days or until it expires. Then if you wish to continue using it, you must send $25 per computer that will have PixShow installed in check or money order to:

Sunshine Software

2737 Baldwin Street

Jenison, MI  49428

USA

Please print the order form and enclose with payment.

Include your email and we will email you your registration number. Be sure to include your email address so we can email your registration number to you. If you prefer, we can send your registration number via first class postal mail if you don't have a private email address.

You can now register on-line using major credit cards. For more information, go to our web page at http://web.triton.net/fasttrax/sunshine/sshome.html


Displaying Pictures

Pixshow will display JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TIF, ICO, TGA, WMF and AVI files. To display a single picture, from the main screen simply select the drive and directory containing your graphics files. Then click on the desired file with your mouse. PixShow also supports Animated GIFs and will instantly display and animate those as well.

Depending on the speed of your computer and the size of the graphics file, the file will quickly open and fill the screen. Small files of around 30K-80K on a Pentium open almost instantly. Larger files over 1 meg will take a few seconds to load (as they do in any graphics program).


File List Box

The file select box will only show files with a with graphic extensions (jpg, gif, bmp, and ico). This makes it easier to find your graphics files when they are in a directory with other file types. The files displayed will match the file types you have selected under File/Preferences.


Conacting Sunshine Software
Contacting Sunshine Software

You can contact us 24 hours a day via email at sunsoft@triton.net

Plus you can visit us anytime at our web site

http://web.triton.net/fasttrax/sunshine/sshome.html


Main Menu Items

Move Files...  - this opens a second screen that lets you copy, move, and delete multiple files instantly. For further help go to Moving and Copying Files.

Edit Files... - this opens the selected file in the graphic editor you have specified under the File/Set Preferences dialog.

Rename File - this allows you to rename a file.

Delete Files... - this will delete the currently selected file. You will receive a confirmation request before the file is deleted. If you select yes, the file will be permanently deleted.

File Attributes... - this allows you to edit the file attributes of the selected graphic file. For further help go to File Attributes.

Print File Info... - this menu item will preview a report listing all the file names and file sizes (in Kilobytes) of graphic files in the target directory (the directory the main form is displaying). If you only want to show a specific graphic type (ie jpg) files, then set preferences to select only jpg file types before printing the report.

Set Preferences... - this dialog lets you select which file formats you want to display. The file list box will display only files of the selected types to help you quickly locate a file.

Set Color... - this opens up the Color dialog to set the color of the canvas. For further info go to Setting Background Color.


Running a PixShow

A PixShow is like a slide presentation of all the graphic files in the current (target) directory. When you have any files showing in the file list box on the left hand side of the main screen, simply click the PixShow button.

A PixShow will instantly start. You can control the number of seconds between each "slide" by setting the Seconds control. You can change the speed whenever you like, even when a PixShow is running! The timer interval setting is saved for you automatically, so the last setting used will be set when you run PixShow the next time.


Moving and Copying Files

Managing graphic files is easy with PixShow. You can move, copy, and delete jpg and gif files from the Move Files main menu item.

From the main screen, select File/Move Files. A second screen will open. This file manager screen allows you to multi-select files for moving, copying, and deleting.

The main screen directory is the target directory. The file manager screen lets you select the source directory. You can change the source directory by clicking on the drive and path controls. Once you have the source directory set, click on the Set Path button to save it if you wish.

If you are unable to move or delete a file, check the file's attributes as it may be

a Read Only file. See File Attributes.

For detailed information on using the built in file manager functions, go to Graphic File Manager.


System Requirements

Pixshow should run on any system running Windows 95, 98, or Windows NT 4.0. The speed of Pixshow is determed by CPU speed, disk access speed, and how you have your disk caching set up. Because graphic files can be large, disk throughput is essential especially when running an automated PixShow with larger files.

Pixshow may not display JPG or GIF images correctly when using less than 16 bit (High Color) color depth. Be sure you have a video card capable of 16/24/32 bit color.

For best results, use True Color 24 bit or True Color 32 bit video settings if your card allows it.


Graphic File Manager

After selecting Files/Move Files... from the main menu, a Graphic File Manager screen will open to allow you to manage your graphic files.

The following buttons are available:

ALL	Selects all files in the file list.
NONE	Unselects all files in the file list.
MOVE	Moves the selected files from the Source Directory (as set from the Graphic File Manager screen) to the Target Directory (as set from the main PixShow screen).
COPY	Copies the selected files from the Source Directory (as set from the Graphic File Manager screen) to the Target Directory (as set from the main PixShow screen).
DELETE	Deletes the selected files in the Source Directory. (irreversible - does NOT put them in the recycle bin)
RENAME	Rename a selected file to a new name (must only have one file selected)
PREVIEW	only used when Auto Preview is OFF. This will preview the selected graphic file.
UPDATE	refreshes the file list to show new files that have been added to the Source File List.
SET PATH	saves the Source Directory as the default the next time you open the Graphic File Manager screen.
HELP	opens this help screen.
CLOSE	Closes the Graphic File Manager screen.

You can also access most of these functions by clicking on the right mouse button when the cursor is over the file list. A pop-up menu will appear.

Auto Update Checkbox - when checked, the file list box automatically refreshes. This is useful when downloading multiple graphic images into a specified directory. Simply set the Move Files directory to the download directory and you will be able to monitor each image file as it is created on your hard drive.

Auto Preview Checkbox - when checked, everytime you click on a file in the file list, a preview image is displayed. This helpful feature is usually left on. However, you may find it faster to turn Auto Preview off if you are working with very large graphic files and don't want to wait for a preview to load when selecting different files.


Selecting File Types

To select a certain graphic type that is supported by PixShow, from the main screen select File/Set Preferences. This opens a screen that allows you to select which graphic file types you wish to view.

Check the boxes of those files you wish to view and then select OK. Your File List Boxes will now display those files with the appropriate file extensions. This also will affect which files are included in your Directory Report which you can print.

These settings are automatically saved when you click on the OK button.

You can also select a Graphics Editor program for each file type from this page. For more information go to Selecting a Graphics Editor.

You may also set a File Type Association for each selected File Type. This allows you to double click that File Type from Windows Explorer or an open folder, and PixShow will automatically open with the image file. If PixShow is already running, it will go to that image file. For more information click on File Type Associations.


Supported File Types

PixShow currently supports the following Windows file formats:

JPG	graphic file format that allows variable compression storage
GIF	graphic file format used mostly for Compuserve graphic files
Animated GIF	popular for Web Pages. PixShow automatically detects if the GIF selected is animated, and if it is, runs the animation
BMP	bitmap graphic format
ICO	Icon graphic format
TIF	Tagged Image Format
PNG	Portable Network Graphics - created to replace GIF
PCX	Paintbrush bitmap files
TGA	Targa graphic format
WMF	Windows Meta Files
AVI	Audio/Video file for "movie" animation

Note - TIF files have a lot of different formats. PixShow does not support certain compressed versions of TIF due to licensing restrictions which includes LZW compressed TIF images.


Images Not Displaying Correctly

To display JPG or GIF images, PixShow requires you to set your video card to 16 bit High Color or 24/32 bit True Color. Otherwise, your images will be "posterized" with colors being reduced. PixShow may not display JPG or GIF images correctly with a 256 color setting.

To check which setting you are using, click on the Windows 95 desktop, then click the right mouse button and select Properties.

For best results, use True Color 24 bit or True Color 32 bit video settings if your card allows it.

Note - some video drivers include other features and modify the properties dialog of Windows 95.


Uninstalling Pix Show

Pix Show comes with complete uninstall capabilities. This is very useful when testing new software. To uninstall Pix Show, go to Control Panel and click on Add/Remove Programs.

Be sure you have selected the first tab titled "Install/Uninstall". There is a list box of software you have installed on your system. Click on "Pix Show" and then click the Add/Remove button.

That's all there is to it! Thank you for trying Pix Show.


Selecting A Graphics Editor

From the main menu choose File/Set Preferences. From this dialog you can specify a graphics editing program for each supported file type. If you don't know the path of the graphics editing program, you can simply click on the LOCATE button for a Dialog screen to quickly find the program. The program name must include the full path to the program, the program name, and the extension (usually .exe). as in

C:/Program Files/Adobe/Photoshop.exe

The selected program also must support the file open command which allows a program to open with a specified filename passed as a parameter. This is available in most graphics editing programs today. If the selected program opens but the selected graphics file is not opened, it's an indication that the graphics editing program does not support this feature.


Editing an image
Editing a Graphics File

You can edit your images in the PixShow editor, or use an external editor of your choice.

To edit your images from the built in editing of PixShow, double click on the filename from the main screen. Your image will open in the PixShow editor. For more information on editing in PixShow, see PixShow Editor.

To edit your images from an external editor you need to select a Graphics Editor.

To edit the selected image from the main PixShow screen, position the cursor over the file list box and click the RIGHT mouse button. A pop-up menu will appear. Select Edit File in External Editor. Assuming you have set a graphics editing program for the selected file type (for more information on selecting a graphics editor go to Selecting A Graphics Editor) the selected file will be opened for editing in your selected graphics editing program.

You can also open your selected file in the specified Graphics Editing Program by selecting File/Edit File in External Editor... from the Main Menu.


Resizing the File Selector

Today's 32 bit path names and file names can become quite long. Therefore, you can resize the File Selector panel of the main screen. Simply place the mouse pointer over the splitter bar just to the right of the file selector box, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the splitter bar to the left or right to decrease or increase the width of the file selector.


Order Form

Please print and complete the following order form for registering all

Sunshine Software products. Then mail this form to:

Sunshine Software

2737 Baldwin Street

Jenison, MI  49428

USA

I would like to register the following products:

_____ copies of FontFinder @ $25 each	__________

_____ copies of PixShow @ $25 each	__________

_____ copies of Combo-Pac @ $40 each	__________

(the Combo-Pac includes one registration each of FontFinder AND PixShow)

TOTAL ENCLOSED	__________

(all payments must be in US funds only)

Company Name	_______________________________

Your Name	_______________________________

Address	_______________________________

_______________________________

City, State, Zip	_______________________________

Country	_______________________________

Email 	_______________________________

Phone	_______________________________

We NEED your email to send the email registration code!

One registration is required for each computer that will run the program.

Upon receipt of this order form and the appropriate funds, your registration

code will be immediately sent to you via email.


Setting Background Color

You can quickly set the background color of the display canvas by clicking on the Color Select button above the File List Box or by selecting File/Select Color.

A Windows Color Dialog will open allowing you to select any color. Click OK to set the color, or cancel if you don't want to keep it.

If you select OK, the selected color will be automatically saved and will appear the next time you open PixShow.


Zooming In and Out

You can quickly zoom in and out of a graphic that does not fill the entire canvas by positioning the mouse cursor over the File List Box, right clicking the mouse, (a pop-up menu will appear), and selecting either zoom in or zoom out.

PixShow will always auto-zoom an image when adjusting the window size. However, this useful zoom feature allows you to quickly enlarge smaller graphic images that do no fill the entire canvas and then restore them to their original display size.


File Attributes

File attributes may be edited for any graphic file. To do this, from the main screen click on a file name. Then select File/File Attributes. You can also click the right mouse button while the cursor is over the file list box or the image area and a pop-up menu will appear. Then click on File Attributes from the pop-up menu. The four attributes are:

Read Only

Archive

System

Hidden

This is especially useful if you have copied CD-ROM images onto your hard drive since they will sometimes be copied as a Read Only file. After removing the Read Only attribute you will be able to edit, move, or delete the file.

You may also edit File Attributes from the Move Files screen. Simply click the desired file name and then click the right mouse button. Select File Attributes from the pop-up menu.


Auto Update

Auto Update and Auto Preview are choices available from the Move Files screen. You can activate these features by clicking on the appropriate check boxes labeled A Preview and A Update in the lower left hand corner of the Move Files screen.

Auto Update refreshes the file list box automatically. This is useful when downloading multiple graphic images into a specified directory. Simply set the Move Files directory to the download directory and you will be able to monitor each image file as it is created on your hard drive. This setting will not be saved after you close the Move Files screen

Note - the name of the image file will first appear when the file is created. You won't be able to preview it, move it, delete it, etc. until the entire image has been downloaded and the file is closed.

Auto Preview will preview every image whenever you click on a name. This is very useful for smaller images as the preview works almost instantly. However, for large graphic files (larger than one megabyte) you may want to turn this function off so you don't have to wait for the image to scale and display in the image preview area. You can always click the Preview button after you click on a file name when you want to preview an image. This setting is automatically saved when you close the Move Files screen.


Adding Folders

You can add and remove folders from within Pixshow. Simply place the mouse cursor over the Directory Select Box on either the Main Screen or the Moving Files screen and click the right mouse button. A pop-up menu will appear allowing you to Add or Remove a Folder (subdirectory).

When Adding a new folder, it will be added below the currently selected folder. When removing a folder, it will remove the currently selected folder.

To remove a folder it must be empty (no files). Remember that Pixshow filters the File Select Box view to show only files with the selected graphic types. Therefore, it is possible that no files are showing in the File Select Box yet you can not remove the directory. If this occures, check un unfiltered view from Explorer to see if other files exist in the selected folder.


Finding A File

You can quickly and easily search a specific drive or your entire computer system for a specific file or file type. From the main menu select File/Search Files. A dialog box will open that allows you to select the desired criteria.

At the top select either All Drives or Selected Drive. If choosing Selected Drive, use the drop down box to choose the Drive you wish to search.

Next, enter the file name you want to find. You can use wildcards, so if you were searching for johnboy.jpg, you could enter john*.jpg. It would then find all files that start with john with a file extension of jpg.

You can also easily search for all files of a specific type by using the * wildcard for the name with a specific file extension. For example, you could enter *.bmp to find all the bitmap files on your drive.

After typing in your name criteria, click the FIND button and the search will begin. Your mouse pointer will turn into an hourglass until the search is finished.

When the search is done, the number of files that were found using your criteria will be displayed at the bottom of the dialog in the status bar. All the file names (including their paths on the disk) are displayed as well. You can now double click on a desired file name to view it in the main screen.

You must have the specific file type enabled in order to view it by double clicking on the file name. In order to enable a specific file type, see Selecting File Types.

While this search engine was designed to work within Pix Show to let you quickly and easily find any image file, you can also use it to find ANY file. It doesn't have to be an image file. You can type in any file name and it will search for it and report the results.


AutoZoom

The AutoZoom feature will stretch graphic images to fill the entire available area. This AutoZoom feature is intelligent in that it will keep the image proportionally correct, so the aspect ratio remains the same.

To activate this feature, click on the AutoZoom button on the Tool Bar.


Copy To Clipboard

You can copy images to the clipboard by clicking on the Copy To Clipboard button on the tool bar. This works well for bmp, ico, gif, and jpg file types. If you copy an animated gif to the clipboard, only the first frame will be copied. This feature does not work for AVI moving images.


Hints

Fly-over hints telling what each button on the toolbar does is activated by letting your mouse pointer rest over a particular button for a few seconds. Do this when you are

not sure what a particular button does.


Bookmarks

You can save a directory setting as a bookmark and instantly return to it at any time. To set a bookmark for the current directory, click on Bookmarks/Add Bookmark.

This will store the bookmark as a menu item under Bookmarks on the main menu. You can then simpy click on the menu item with the directory path where you wish to go and you will be instantly taken there!

You can also delete bookmarks and their position on the Bookmarks menu. To do this select Bookmark/Edit bookmarks... from the menu. A dialog box will open showing the current menu items in their respective order.

To delete a bookmark click on the bookmark you wish to delete and then click on the delete key. It will be immediately deleted.

To move a bookmark to a different position in the bookmark list, click on the bookmark you want to move and then use the up/down arrows to position it where you want it.

To save changes made click the OK button. To cancel changes click the Cancel button.


Deleting Files

You can delete a file permanently or move it to the ReCycle Bin. You select which method of deletion under File/Set Preferences. In the Preferences folder, click on the Deletions tab and select which deletion method you want PixShow to use. When deleting a file you have two choices:

(1) Move the deleted file to the ReCycle Bin (which can be restored later)

(2) Permanently delete the file from your drive (can not be restored)

After choosing which method you want, click the ok button to save.

To delete a file, click on the file you want to delete and then either:

(1) press the Delete button on the keyboard

(2) right click the mouse and select Delete File... from the pop-up menu

(3) click on File/Delete File

Remember, if you have selected to permanently delete the file from your drive, you will not be able to restore it.


Restoring a deleted file

To restore a deleted file you must have selected the ReCycle Bin option for Deleting a file. (see Deleting files).

To restore a deleted file, double click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and select Edit/Undo Delete.


PixAlbum Maker

The PixAlbum Maker allows you to quickly create photo album style printouts of your favorite graphics. These albums can be saved and recalled at a later date. To open the Pixalbum Maker, click the PixAlbum button on the toolbar, or select PixAlbums/Open Pixalbum Maker from the main menu.

If you hold your mouse cursor over the speed buttons, a hint will appear telling you what each button does. From left to right, you will find

Page Setup - setup page dimensions, select printer and page orientation, set header and footer captions.

Frame Setup - how each page is divided up. You can select the number of rows and column for each page.

Clear Picture List - clears all entries in the Album list

Import Directory - Imports all image files from the currently choosen directory into the Album list. You can also add images one at a time by dragging the desired image from the main PixShow file list.

Preview PixAlbum - previews the album to screen. You can then print it out to your selected printer.

After building a list of graphic images, you can save the PixAlbum by selecing File/Save as. You will be presented with a standard Windows File Save dialog.

Likewise, you can load a previously saved PixAlbum by selecting File/Open.

The frame setup for each page is saved in the album file. However, the page setup is not. Therefore, you must still setup the page, paper orientation, printer, etc when loading previously saved PixAlbums.

There is a known problem with pages designed with large image files that create a page made up of more than 1 megabytes of graphic information. To read more about it, click here.


PixAlbum Entries

To add a single image file to a PixAlbum, open the PixAlbum screen. Then drag the filename from the main PixShow File List and drop it into the PixAlbum list. It will be instantly added.

To delete an image, click on the image in the PixAlbum list so it is highlighted, and then right click your mouse and select delete, or hit the delete key.

If you want to add a caption for a graphic image, double click the item. An entry frame will appear in the caption column into which you can type your caption. You can also select an image in the list and hit the insert key. This will also open an entry frame for entering the caption. This is useful when entering a lot of captions. You can you the up/down arrow keys to select the image, and hit the insert key to enter the caption.


Known Problems

PixShow should work well under Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0 with the latest service packs installed.

When creating a PixAlbum, blank pages may appear if a size limit is surpassed for an individual page. This seems to be a problem with the amount of information a Windows Meta File can hold. If this happens, either reduce the number of images per page, or remove a large image from the PixAlbum item list to see if that helps.


Acquiring Images

You can acquire images right within PixShow with a standard Twain device.

To acquire an image, open the PixShow Editor/Twain Acquire screen by clicking on the Scanner button on the Toolbar.

Choose File/Select... to choose which Twain device from which you want to Acquire an Image.

(Be sure that you have your device turned on before trying to acquire an image!

Some devices require they be active when your system is first booted so they are recognized. If you have problems acquiring an image, make sure your scanner device is turned on, then reboot your computer.)

Then click on File/Acquire and you will be able to acquire your image which will be put in the PixShow Editor.

Then choose Save As... to save the file.


PixShow Editor

You can edit your graphic images in the PixShow editor.

To open an image file in the PixShow Editor, you can double click the filename from the main PixShow screen. This will work even if you have the PixShow editor open. It will replace whatever image file is already open.

You can also, from the PixShow editor screen, choose File/Open to open a file of your choice.

You can also acquire an image from a Twain device. See Acquiring Images.

For an explaination of editing choices, go to Image Editing.

If you prefer, you can link any supported file type to an external editor program of your choice.

Note - this version will NOT edit/save AVI animation files and it will not save images as GIF. You can load and edit a GIF image, but it has to be saved in another format. If you open a GIF animation image, it will only display and save the first frame.


Image Editing

You have many tools and filters available for editing images within PixShow. You can also keep your link to external image editing programs as well if you have certain tools you want to use from them.

From the PixShow Editor, you can

            •  Rotate Images

•	Flip Horizontally

•	Flip Vertically

•	Crop - use the selection tool, then choose Image/Crop

•	Resize - bitmap interpolation to resample image

•	Add a blended Border of any color - requires 24 bit true color image

If your image is not 24 bit True Color, use the Adjust Color Resolution feature first, then add the border

•	Adjust the Color Resolution. Many special effects can be created here!

•	Adjust the Color, including Red, Green, Blue; Hue, Tint, and Saturation

•	Adjust the brightness, contrast, and Gamma

•	Convert to Greyscale

•	Negative - convert color or black and white to it's negative image

•	Adjust sharpness

•	Adjust Detail

•  Smooth and Blur

•  Contour - many cool effects can be done here - play with different values

•	Emboss

•	Fisheye

•	Swirl

•	Spray Paint

•	Add Black and White noise

•	Add Color noise

•	Create a mosaic

•	Pencil Drawing

•	Posterize


Screen Shot
Screen Capture

You can instantly capture your entire screen contents with PixShow. Open the PixShow editor, then click on the Camera icon.

Your Editor Image is now a full screen capture! You can then edit, crop the portion you desire, and save.


Wallpaper
Setting Your Wallpaper

PixShow allows you to quickly set your desktop wallpaper. While Windows prefers your wallpaper image file to be a bitmap (bmp) file, PixShow can quickly create the necessary file from a different file format.

This allows you to select GIF, TIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, PCX, and TGA file types. PixShow will then create the needed BMP file automatically and make it the wallpaper for your desktop. You can not use AVI animation files or WMF files as your wallpaper.

To set your wallpaper, choose the file you would like to use in the main PixShow screen. Then right click your mouse for the pop-up menu and click on Set As Wallpaper. You will then have a submenu from which you choose Centered, Tiled, or Stretched.

To remove your wallpaper, right click your mouse and choose Remove Wallpaper.


Ordering with Credit Card

You can now register on-line with a major credit card using a secured server. For more information, visit us at our web site at

http://web.triton.net/fasttrax/sunshine/sshome.html

You can also order by phone or by fax using your credit card if you prefer.

There is a slight additional surcharge when ordering with a credit card.


Associating File Types

You can associate File Types with PixShow quickly and easily. This permits you to use PixShow as an image viewer when you double click any supported file type in Windows Explorer or any open folder.

To associate a file type, from the main menu choose File/Set Preferences. You will be presented with a screen showing all supported file types. Select the checkboxes you want to associate with PixShow as your default Windows image viewer and click the button Associate.

That's all there is too it.


Setting PixShow to be your default image viewer

You can set PixShow to be your default image viewer. To do this you set file associations for the support graphic file formats. It've very easy, because you can to this right within PixShow with a single click of the mouse.

By setting PixShow to be your default Windows image viewer, when you double click on any supported image file name within Explorer or any open folder, PixShow will automatically open (if not already opened) and instantly display that image.

To learn how to set PixShow to be your default image viewer, click Associating File Types.


Shortcut Keys

From the main form, you can use the following shortcut keys

F1	Help
F2	Rename file
F3	Find (search for a file)
F5	Refresh File List
F8	Open File in PixEditor
F10	Select Main Menu File
+	Zoom to fit
-	Shrink to original size (if larger than screen, will auto shrink to fit)
Delete	Delete File


PixConverter

The PixConverter (tm) allows you quickly convert any supported file format into a different format.  When saving you can preserve the original picture dimension, or save it in a new size. By using PixConverter for Resizing your images, you can actually preview the image at the actual screen size at which it will be saved.

The built-in auto resizer gives incredibly high quality Resizing results. It uses a highly sophisticated algorithm to allow you to reduce or enlarge the orignal with astonishing detail. You can also have PixConverter auto-sharpen the image when saving.

PixConverter displays the original image on the left, and the newly created image on the right so you can instantly preview your results. This is especially useful when trying to shrink and compress images. You can quickly achieve the right balance between the amount of compression (for file size) and the amount of detail you want to retain in your image.

When over the left image (original image), right click your mouse to check the original image properties and the current on-screen image size. Wnen over the right image (resulting image), you can view the new image properties, or delete the newly saved file if you don't want to keep it.

To open the PixConverter, click on the picture you want to convert. Then Click the PixConverter button [image] on the Main Toolbar, or right click the mouse when over the file list and select Convert with PixConverter.

PixConverter will open displaying the chosen image. To save it init's original size, simply choose the file format you  want to save it in using the drop down box. Then hit the Convert button.

You have many options depending on what  file format you are saving. To learn more about your options, click here.


PixConverter options

When converting an image file to another format, you can either maintain the original size or have it automatically resize to the displayed size.

The unique feature lets you preview the actual size on-screen, and save it that way! To resize, simply use your mouse and grab the form's border and stretch or shrink it as you desire.

To have PixConverter save the image at the displayed size, you must UNSELECT the option "Maintain Original Size". Click it so it is NOT checked.

You can also have PixConverter add a sharpening algorithm to help sharpen detail when shrinking large images down to very small images.

PixConverter can fit images within the area, or show (part of) them at normal size. You must  have the Option "Size To Fit" selected to have PixConverter save an image under a new display size.

There are additional options available when converting to jpg and Gif formats.


PixConverter options for jpg and gif

JPG Options

When saving to  jpg format, you can set the amount of quality or compression you desire. When selecting a JPG file type from the drop down combo box, an additional tool bar appears with a slider control.

The far left give the most compression, with little quality. By moving the slider all the way to the right, you will get the highest quality but with less compression.

Most will find an intermediate setting most useful.

After adjusting the slider, click the Convert button [image] and you can see the resulting image file in the right hand image display box. You can readjust for a different level of jpg compression and hit the Convert button until you get just the right amount of compression and quality that you want.

GIF Options

When saving as a GIF, you can choose whether you want it interlaced and if you want it transparent. If you choose a transparent GIF, after you hit the Convert button, you will be presented with the GIF Transparency Selector. This form has a palleted copy of the image. As you move your mouse cursor over the picture you will see the Red, Green, and Blue values. Place the mouse cursor over an area with the color you want to be transparent, and click.

The transparent color will be set to that color.

The PixConverter does not display the GIF image transparently. To view your transparent GIF, click the newly created file in the main PixShow screen.


Glossary

G

graphic type


graphic type

Supported graphic types are TIF, JPG, GIF, Animated GIF, BMP, PNG, ICO, TGA, WMF, and AVI.