Copyright: Copyright 1995-2000, Polybytes®
Citation: Copyright 1995-2000, Polybytes®


Introduction to PolyView

Welcome to PolyView®, the high performance image viewer, printing utility, and format conversion tool for Windows 95/98/NT from Polybytes®. PolyView’s major features are:

•	Supports most of the popular graphics image formats, including BMP, FlashPix (read-only), GIF, JPEG, PCX, Photo-CD (read-only), PNG, SGI, TARGA, TIFF, and many others.

•	Provides outstanding printing support for registered users, including the Print Composer and several other methods for printing multiple images on a page.

•	Automated creation of Web pages for converting a thumbnail album or folder into a set of pages for sharing on the web.

•	Powerful batch format conversion to save multiple images in one of many available formats, with optional image resizing.

•	Sophisticated support for animated GIF creation and playback.

•	Extracts digital camera information from JPEG and FlashPix files (APP12, CIFF, EXIF and FlashPix standards), including playing embedded sound information.

•	Distortion free JPEG image rotation.

•	TWAIN support for acquiring blocks of images from scanners and digital cameras.

•	Multi-threaded design enhances usability and allows time consuming operations to be performed without the dreaded hourglass cursor.

•	Both full screen and windowed slide shows, using specified or random ordering, sound files, and transition effects.

•	Numerous image appearance manipulation and filtering operations.

•	Highly effective interpolated zooming.

•	Sophisticated color resolution and image size manipulation algorithms.

•	Thumbnail and directory browsers and Albums for image file management.

•	OLE drag-and-drop methods for enhanced compatibility with the Windows desktop and applications.

•	Contact sheets (see the Print Thumbnails to Window command on File menu).


PolyView Registration

PolyView is distributed as shareware. This allows you to try it out to determine if it fits your needs. If you decide you like PolyView and intend to keep it and use it, you are obligated to purchase a PolyView registration license. The current registration fee for PolyView is:

Single User License:	$25.00 US Each

A single user license is a license to use PolyView on one machine at a time. If PolyView is to be installed and used on multiple machines simultaneously, then multiple single user licenses should be purchased.

If you would like PolyView shipped to you on 3.5” disks please add an additional $5.00 US for shipping and handling.

See the license information section of this help file for further information.

How to Register

Registering Directly With Polybytes

Registering Through Albert’s Ambry

Registering Through Kagi Shareware

Registering Through Register Now!

Registering Through UK ShareReg

Registering In Australia/New Zealand

Registration Benefits

Registered users receive a license key number from Polybytes that enables several features of the program not accessible to non-registered users. These features include:

•	Printing images

•	Export of images to formats beyond simple BMP, GIF, and JPEG

•	Multiple image file select from the file open dialog

•	Storing of user supplied text in certain exported or saved image files

When the registration key is received, execute the Licensing Information by clicking on the License! item on the PolyView menu bar. This dialog prompts you to enter the key information. It is important to enter the information exactly as received from Polybytes.

A user registration and the associated key does not expire and will work with all future versions of PolyView. The user registration information is stored in the Windows Registry. If for some reason this information is lost from the registry, simply run the Licensing Information dialog and re-enter the key information.

Registration Restrictions

Registered users are required to abide by the PolyView license agreement and the provisions of the licensing agreement with Unisys Corporation concerning the usage of LZW-GIF/TIFF compression and decompression technology.

Quantity Purchase Discounts

The following quantity purchase discounts are available when registering directly with Polybytes:

Quantity 10-19 at –5%	($23.75 US each)

Quantity 20-50 at –10%	($22.50 US each)

Quantity 50-99 at –15%	($21.25 US each)

Quantity 100+ at –20% ($20.00 US each)

Quantity discounts are available only when payment is made directly to Polybytes.

Please include your electronic mail address with your registration. Registration key information is sent to registered users via electronic mail if your address is available. Otherwise the information will be sent via the US Postal Service.


Support and Availability

Support

All PolyView support is handled by Polybytes through electronic mail. Our support address is:

support@polybytes.com

We encourage you to write to us if you have bugs to report or suggestions for additional features. (Whether or not you are a registered user.) Every effort will be made by Polybytes to provide satisfaction. If you have image files in formats supported by PolyView which are not reading correctly, please tell us about them. We can provide the best service in this regard if the problem images are made available to us. You can either attach them to an email message, tell us the address of the FTP or Web site where they can be accessed, or mail them to us on a disk. Our mailing address is:

Polybytes

3427 Bever Avenue SE

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403-3161

USA

Availability

To see the latest information about PolyView, or to download the most current version, visit our Web page at:

http://www.polybytes.com


Release Notes

3.40 Beta 7

The Format Conversions operation now provides a setting for the method to be used for reducing an image’s size during a conversion.

The Printing tab of the Properties dialog now provides the Minimize transfer blocks option to control the interpolated printing method. Further testing of this method has revealed that some printer drivers cannot handle certain combinations of printing methods.

Added a method to handle a variant of type 6 (obsolete JPEG compression) TIFF images.

3.40 Beta 6

PNG, NEF, and TIFF images containing 16 bit/sample image data are now eligible for conversion to 16 bit/sample output images PNG and TIFF images. Previously 16 bit/sample images were always converted to 8 bit/sample on input.

Slide shows now support the playing of MP3 files on systems with the Windows Media Player from Microsoft.

The interpolation method of printing was changed to work around printer driver problems encountered with some high resolution color printers.

Corrected a problem with the selection window size display.

Corrected a problem that caused the loss information at the extreme right edge of some TIFF images.

3.40 Beta 5

Added support for reading Nikon D1 NEF images.

Added detection for TIFF images containing invalid directory information.

Corrected a problem that prevented the Random transition effect from being selected by the Browse tab of the Properties dialog.

3.40 Beta 4

The Print Composer now uses the Rotate to best print frame item on the Printing tab of Properties to control individual image rotation.

The Print Composer now provides "tool tips" to show the full path to the file chosen for a frame.

The image preview display on the file open dialog and various windows has been improved by using a color averaging algorithm for creating the reduced image.

Corrected a problem with reading PCX files.

Corrected a problem with image size labeling on enhanced thumbnail prints.

Corrected a problem that zoomed an image after a resize operation.

3.40 Beta 3

The thumbnail and album printing functions now include an enhanced mechanism that significantly increases the quality of printing. Use the Enhanced Thumbnail Printing option on the Thumbnails tab of Properties to enable this printing mode.

Added a method for dealing with out-of-spec TIFF images containing truncated color map information.

Corrected a problem with retaining the Speed parameter on the Browsing tab of Properties when set to a value higher than 13.

3.40 Beta 2

The Resize to fit main window command on the View menu now enlarges small images.

Ctrl-F8 added as hotkey to the One-for-One Mapping on the View menu.

Ctrl-F9 added as hotkey to Resize to fit main window on the View menu.

Corrected a problem with reading PSP images that contain a transparency channel.

Corrected a problem with retaining image dimensions in the case where PolyView is closed while maximized.

Corrected a problem with zooming in on very narrow images.

Corrected a problem with writing WBMP files.

The area selection box size indicator now correctly indicates the size of the rectangle when it is stretched outside the boundaries of the image.

Corrected a problem with interpolated zooming.

3.40 Beta 1

Added protection against exceeding the maximum thumbnail database size (2GB) and thus corrupting the database.

Corrected a crash problem caused by zero length image files.

Corrected a problem with reducing image sizes with some combinations of New Image Dimensions dialog options.

3.40 Beta 0

Printing enhancements

Physical image dimensional information can now be used for making “Original Size” prints.

A printing interpolation algorithm is now available to enhance output when printing with some older printer drivers.

Image format enhancements:

Added Casio Digital Camera Format support.

Added Paint Shop Pro Format support.

Added Wireless Application Protocol WBMP support.

Added support for writing Portable Bitmap Utilities formats.

Added support for writing compressed Targa images.

Physical image dimension information in image files and in images acquired through TWAIN is now saved to supported image formats.

Changing image dimensions (Change Image Size command on the Operations menu) now supports the specification of the method used to reduce an image’s size.

The Folder Browser status line now provides individual file status information.

Many filters and special effects can now be applied to 8 bit/pixel images. Where necessary the images will automatically be promoted to 24 bit/pixel as a result of the operation.

Several new slide show transition effects are now available, including a dissolve effect for removing an image from the screen.

The Zoom-In command on the View menu will now position to the upper-left corner of the image if the Shift key is down when the command is invoked.

Corrected a problem that resulted in excessive CPU usage while browsing folders containing large numbers of images.

Corrected a problem with reducing grayscaled images to 4 bit/pixel.

Corrected a problem that resulted in a failure to print the last thumbnail of a multi-page thumbnail printout.

Corrected a problem that resulted in the disappearance of the “+”  next to the Desktop icon in the Folder Browser and Thumbnail Explorer.

Corrected the “display transparencies” algorithm which was using the general background color instead of the image background color.

3.33.2

Corrected a problem with the interpretation of certain JPEG image headers.

3.33.1

The RGB Adjust operation was not changing a gray scale image’s status to full color, causing subsequent export problems.

3.33

Added image viewing support for FlashPix format, as well as the extraction of digital camera information.

Added support for extracting digital camera information in “APP12” format. This format was previously supported only for Olympus cameras.

Corrected a “Capture Date” translation problem in digital camera information stored in CIFF format.

Corrected a crash problem in the resize dialog if width/height were set to 0.

Fixed a problem which caused inverted colors on some 1 bit/pixel GIF images.

3.32

Portable Network Graphics images can now be exported in 1 and 4 bit/pixel formats.

The new /TWAIN command line option will start PolyView in the TWAIN acquire operation mode.

Added the Shift-Esc key sequence to cancel a slide show without also closing PolyView.

Added support for an obscure BMP format containing a variant of JPEG compression.

Added support for extracting digital camera information in CIFF format.

Added the display of an image’s dimensions on the status bar.

Fixed a problem with creating web pages from image file names containing spaces. The previous method was incompatible with some browsers.

Corrected a problem where the Print To Window command was printing the file size in bytes instead of kilobytes.

Fixed a problem with reading rotated Kodak Photo CD images in 1536x1024 resolution.

3.31

A multipage DCX or TIFF file is now converted to multiple single page files during the Format Conversion operation if the destination format is not a multipage format.

International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) information is now extracted from JPEG and TIFF files. Use the IPTC Info command on the File menu to view this information when it is available for an image.

The F2 key now pauses or continues a slide show.

The PolyView registration key information is now stored at the machine level instead of the user level. With this change all account on a single machine will have access to the registered form of PolyView when the machine has a valid registration for any account.

PolyView will now ignore incorrect strip byte counts in TIFF files. There appear to be quite a few of these incorrectly written files around.

TIFF bilevel images (1 bit/pixel) are now always written with zero bits indicating white and one bits indicating black (photometric tag 0). Some TIFF viewers incorrectly display bilevel images that use zero bits for black and one bits for white (photometric tag 1).

JPEG format added to the Save as type selection list when saving 1 and 4 bit(s)/pixel images.

Fixed a problem that mangled the final name when the destination name of a file Rename operation contained a period.

Fixed a problem with hidden thumbnails becoming unhidden after a change to their folder was detected.

Fixed a problem that caused hidden thumbnails to be added to the slideshow invoked by the “S” key.

Fixed a problem that caused a PolyView crash if the Properties command on the Options menu was invoked on a system with no default printer.

3.30

Image printing enhancements

Added the Print Composer to support the printing of multiple images per page with various standard and custom sizes.

The number of images that can be printed on each page, as specified by the Batch print images per page item on the Printing tab of the Properties dialog, can now be selected to be 12, 16, and 32 images (in addition to the 1, 2, 4, and 8 images previously selectable).

Thumbnail database enhancements

Added the ability to store Relative Thumbnail Databases with the Save Relative Database command on the File menu. This type of database uses an internal file naming mechanism that assumes all the image files are at or below the folder level of the database itself. This eliminates the naming difficulties associated with the use of different drive letters for CD and network drives on different computers.

Added the ability to use read-only thumbnail databases from Albums , the Thumbnail Explorer , and the Thumbnail Database Browser . This capability is useful with CD based image collections, or when a collection is to be shared from a common network location.

Format support enhancements

Added SGI Image Format (RGB) write capability (registered users only).

Digital camera information found in JPEG images (EXIF and Olympus) is now transferred to a JPEG image that is exported or saved from the original image.

Added MMX optimization in the reading of interlaced PNG images.

Property/options changes

Added a Fonts tab to the Properties dialog to view and modify the fonts used for the slide show name display and the various fonts used when displaying and printing thumbnails.

The Favor absolute timing option has been added to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to provide a slide show timing mechanism with a predictable elapsed time.

The Fully erase background between slides option has been added to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to start each image in a slide show against a clean background.

Added the Always maximize images option to the General tab of the Properties dialog to always open images in a maximized child window.

Web page generation enhancements

Images can be resized for display to fit a standardized width or height.

Start page and image page text colors can now be specified.

The locations for storing the main HTML, image HTML, thumbnail files and image files can now be separately specified.

Command/operation enhancements

Added an image preview display to the File Open dialog.

Added the Create Multipage Image command to the File menu of the Browse and Explore windows to create a multipage DCX or TIFF image from a selected set of images.

The Open this image (set) command in a browser now opens all selected images.

Added the Enlarge small images option to the General tab of Properties. When this option is selected small images will be expanded to fit the display space when opened.

Thumbnails in albums and Explore windows can now be sorted by image width and height.

The current state of file sorting (name, date, size) in a browser is now maintained when different folders are selected for display.

The Paste into image command will now allow the source image to be the same size as the destination image. Previously the source image had to be smaller than the destination.

Added the Select Marked Images command to the Edit menu of the folder browser and Explore windows.

Added the Browse Image’s Folder command to the Browse menu of an open image to open a folder browser on the folder containing the image.

Added image resizing to the batch format conversion operations.

Added the New Album Containing Marked command to the File menu to create a new thumbnail album from the currently marked images.

Other changes

The behavior when viewing a double-clicked image from the Windows Explorer in full-screen mode has been changed. Under these conditions, and when the Open to Full Screen mode behavior has been selected on the Files tab of the Properties dialog, PolyView will now automatically close when full-screen viewing mode is terminated.

Redesigned the presentation of the menu pages in the help documentation to make it easier to find specific command information.

Bug fixes

Fixed a decoding problem with yet another variant of SFW image files.

Fixed a problem with animated GIF scripts and folder paths containing space characters.

Fixed a problem with rotating 16 color images.

Fixed a problem with handling screen resolution or dimension changes while PolyView is active.

Fixed a problem with correctly parsing EXIF information from certain digital camera models.

Fixed a problem with the View Next/Previous in Directory commands on the View menu after an in-place image resizing operation.

Fixed a problem with a disappearing expansion icon next to the My Computer icon in the folder browser .

Fixed a problem with soliciting the name of a new untitled album.

The Empty Marked List command on the Browse menu now correctly updates the visual marking on thumbnails and file lists.

Using the transparent color picker tool now returns the correct image color when the screen display setting is 16 bits per pixel or lower.

Folders in the Windows Briefcase are now expanded properly in the browse and Explore windows.

Fixed a problem that resulted in printing color images with too light an intensity when the Universal Printing Method was in effect.

Fixed a startup positioning problem with certain configurations of the Windows taskbar.

Fixed a problem with the Change Color Depth command that shifted images up by one pixel when reducing the color resolution.

Fixed a problem with TWAIN image acquisition that could save 1 bit/pixel images as negative images with some scanners.

3.20.2

Added Always On Top options to the Files tab of the Properties dialog, and to the Windows menu.

Fixed a problem that caused the contents of a folder in the Explore window to not be properly updated after files were moved to the folder from another application.

Fixed a problem with the display of Kodak DC120 camera specific information.

3.20.1

Added the Allow Multiple Instances option to the General tab of the Properties dialog to provide for cases where it is necessary to have multiple copies of the PolyView application window open at the same time.

The images in a folder are now displayed in alphabetical order when the folder is added to a slide show.

Added the Favor WMF option to the General tab of the Properties dialog to force the use of a metafile found on the Windows clipboard.

Fixed a problem that resulted in GIFs not animating if a certain combination of Properties options had been selected.

Fixed a problem where a single file could not be added to the current slide show from the Explore window. Instead the folder was added.

Corrected the file size indication when browsing marked images .

3.20

Slide shows can now contain folders, and the folders can optionally be searched to include the contents of their subfolders. Use the Add Folder option on the opening slide show dialog to populate a show with one or more folders.

The S accelerator key now starts a slide show on the current folder if no images are selected in a browse or Explore window.

GIF animation has been added to Slide Shows and the folder Browse window.

GIF animation in open image windows has been significantly improved to better approximate the display effect that will be seen when the GIF is displayed in a web browser.

Added support for viewing SGI Image File Format RGB, RGBA, and grayscale images.

The web page publishing operation has been enhanced in several ways:

Added Previous and Next navigation items on each image page to make it convenient to browse through the created image pages.

The output of the file type and size on the thumbnail captions is now optional.

The border width on each individual image thumbnail can be specified.

Images can now be automatically rotated to best fit the printed area when multiple images or multiple copies of a single image are being printed. This option is controlled by the Rotate to best fit frame option on the Printing tab of the Properties dialog.

Camera specific information can now be extracted and viewed through the Camera Specific Info command on the File menu. Currently supported formats include information in JPEG image files that conforms to the EXIF standard, Olympus camera information in JPEG image files, and Kodak DC40, DC50, and DC120 information stored in KDC files.

The TIFF image reader has been significantly improved to increase the number of TIFF variants that can be viewed, and to fix some long-standing problems with certain images.

Improved the rendering speed for CIE L*a*b* color space TIFF images.

Grayscale TIFF images with 16 bit samples are now displayed as 8 bit/sample images by fitting the actual range of the image to the 8 bit/sample range required for display. (Previous versions used only the most significant byte value of each sample.)

The TIFF writer now transfers user-defined comments (the Embedded Comments field of the Image Properties dialog) to the ImageDescription tag of the output TIFF file.

Changed the method of writing JPEG compressed TIFF files (compression type 7) to conform to the de facto standard defined by TIFF Technical Note #2 (ftp://ftp.sgi.com/graphics/tiff/TTN2.draft.txt.gz). Previous versions of PolyView emitted compression type 6, a version of TIFF/JPEG compression that is being deprecated in favor of type 7. PolyView can still read the JPEG compression type 6 files emitted by earlier versions, however.

Monochrome (1 bit per pixel) images can now be exported as uncompressed TIFF files.

Added  lossless (distortion-free) rotation, flipping, and mirroring operations on JPEG format images. See the File Transforms command on the Operations menu for further information.

Added distortion-free rotation, flipping, and mirroring operations on image files selected in the Explore window and in thumbnail Albums . See the File Transforms command on the Operations menu for further information.

The Enlarge command on an image’s Edit menu now provides a mechanism for tiling an image into the enlarged display space. This is useful for seeing the effect of using an image as the background for a web page.

PolyView’s toolbar can now be customized using the Customize Toolbar command on the Options menu.

Added Shift key modified operations to many toolbar buttons. For example, if the Shift key is held down while the “Brighter” button is pressed, the Brightness Adjustment dialog will be invoked. (The status line prompt that appears when the mouse is over a button indicates any Shift enhanced operations that will be performed.)

The specification and application of image gamma compensation has been updated to distinguish between images opened for editing and images that are being displayed in browsers and slide shows . See the new Gamma tab of the Properties dialog for further information. Along with this change is the addition of the Apply Global Gamma command to the Operations menu for quickly applying a specific gamma compensation to a displayed image.

Using the right mouse button to drag-and-drop a group of files on PolyView now offers the choice of creating a new Album for the files.

Added the New Album Containing Selected command to the File menu for creating a new album with the files currently selected in a Browser or Explore window.

Added the Keep extension on rename option to the Files tab of the Properties dialog to simplify the renaming of files while retaining their previous file type.

The Save as wallpaper command function (File menu) is now performed by the Set as wallpaper command. Save as wallpaper now provides a file save dialog to specify the name of the wallpaper file.

Added an option to close an image window after a file move operation (Close window after image move on Files tab of Properties dialog).

Added source and destination image dimensions to the overwrite confirmation dialog invoked during some move and copy operations.

Added Size and Type columns on the file name list pane of the browsers .

Added thumbnail database renaming (Rename Thumbnail Database on Thumbnails menu).

Improved the color and position reporting at extreme zoom settings.

Open images can be now be marked by choosing the Mark Image command from the image’s Edit menu.

Added the Ignore delete key on image open option to the Files tab of the Properties dialog to prevent the Delete key from deleting an open image file.

Added the Disable “Paused” indicator when paused option to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to turn off the indicator when a full-screen slide show is paused.

PolyView now always runs only a single instance at one time. Opening additional PolyView image files from the Windows Explorer or other applications will open a new image window within the currently running PolyView instance.

Added the selection of the mapping mode to be used with WMF images that do not contain sufficient information for rendering.

Added the Auto-create Album Thumbnails option to the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. When this option is checked the images in thumbnail albums (but not in the Explore window) will automatically have their thumbnails created when the album is opened (if they do not already exist), or when images are added to an album.

Added the Keyword List Maintenance command to the Edit menu to purge non-existent files and unused keywords from the keyword database.

Corrected a problem that caused link failures with some browsers when images published to the Web contained spaces in their names.

Corrected a problem with reading WinFax FXM images that caused the images to be displayed with an incorrect aspect ratio.

Corrected a problem that caused thumbnail loss when a name filter had been applied to a folder.

Corrected a problem with viewing Windows Metafiles that do not contain a suggested display size.

Corrected a problem with drag-and-drop from MS Outlook to PolyView.

Corrected a problem with sorting Album images by image size.

Corrected a problem with the Zoom In command on the View menu that occurred if the view was zoomed out to the maximum level.

Corrected a problem with truncating the last line of 1 and 4 bit/pixel images when changing pixel resolution.

Corrected a problem with a few image types failing to open when their path name exceeded 127 characters in length.

3.10

Added Thumbnail Albums for viewing and managing thumbnails of images stored in multiple locations on a system. With Thumbnail Albums you can:

•	Use Add [image] Find Files ( Edit menu) to fill an album with images found by searching multiple folders.

•	Move and copy images from place to place on your system (via drag-and-drop to Browse windows, Explore windows, and the Windows Explorer) without removing them from the album you are working with.

•	Populate new albums by dragging images from one album to another.

•	Rearrange the display order of image thumbnails in an album via drag-and-drop.

Added the Publish Web Pages command ( File menu of the Thumbnail Album and Explore windows) to create the HTML and thumbnail files necessary to display a set of images on a web site.

For creating your own HTML documents, and for other purposes, you can now export image thumbnails as individual image files. See the Export Thumbnails command on the File menu for further information.

Printing enhancements (registered users only):

•	Added the Print [image] Multiple Copies command to an image’s File menu to print the image through the multiple image per page mechanisms .

•	All the pages of a multi-page image are now printed when the image is selected for batch printing.

•	Added the Print [image] All Pages command to an image’s File menu to print all pages of a multi-page image .

Added the Slide Show from Selected Images command to the Browse menu (Browse , Album , and Explore windows) to immediately start a slide show from the currently selected images (shortcut key S).

If PolyView is invoked by passing the name of a slide show script on its command line, or by double-clicking on a script from the Windows Explorer, PolyView will automatically close when the slide show is terminated.

Resizing an image via the Change Pixel Resolution command on the Operations menu can now be executed in-place (avoiding the creation of a new window). See the New Window option on the New Image Dimensions dialog for further information.

When an image area is being selected with the Area Selection Tool (see the Tools menu) an on-screen indicator is provided that shows the pixel dimensions of the area.

Copy and Crop operations (Edit menu) now include the pixels under the right and bottom edges of the selection.

Added regular expression string matching to the Explore window’s View by Name filter (View menu).

The Open command on the File menu of the Thumbnail Database Explorer is now available to open the currently selected image.

Audio annotations in Kodak DC220 and DC260 camera files can be extracted and played with the Play Attached Sound command on the Operations menu.

The Preview box setting on the slide show dialog is now retained between sessions.

Improved the performance during multiple file deletion operations from the Explore window.

Corrected a problem with zooming into small images that caused the bottom row and right column of pixels to appear lost.

Fixed a problem that caused an occasional image display failure in the confirmation dialog that appears when an image overwrite condition is detected during a file move or copy operation.

Corrected an error in the loop count specification for animated GIFs which caused GIFs to loop once too often when displayed in a web browser.

3.03

New viewing formats added:

Seattle FilmWorks SFW format.

Sony Digital Camera PMP format.

A framing option has been added to the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. When enabled, thumbnails displayed in the Explore and Thumbnail Database Browser windows will be displayed in a frame that includes the name of the image file.

Acquiring a TWAIN image no longer causes PolyView to be raised above the TWAIN data source window. This caused a problem with some data source implementations.

Fixed a problem with the Send To popup menu on the Windows context menu when displayed on a PolyView image.

3.02

Added MMX processor specific optimizations to PNG decompression operations.

The Shift key now modifies the Export Image command on the File menu to suppress the automatic read of the saved image when the source window is Untitled.

The performance of the various adjustment dialogs (Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, RGB, etc.) has been improved when the Show changes immediately option is selected.

Changes to the PCD image processing routines have been made to remove extraneous artifacts that were introduced in certain sized images.

Fixed a problem with JPEG image decompression on MMX capable machines that caused intermittent crashes and hangs on certain sized images.

3.01

Added MMX processor specific optimizations to JPEG decompression operations.

Added the Process Photo-JPEG File command to the File menu to provide automatic decompression and assembly of Photo-JPEG image slices.

Fixed a problem with collage creation that resulted in gray scale JPEG images being saved.

3.00.1

Removed the automatic save of the thumbnails database after a file move operation. This action caused performance problems on some systems. The database is still saved at the completion of a thumbnail creation operation, but intermediate saves of the database must be done manually through the Save operation on the File menu. (This is not required, but may be desirable on some problem prone systems.)

Corrected the behavior after a drag-and-drop move of files from a folder to insure that subsequent folder change operations correctly update the thumbnails or file list.

Corrected the thumbnail database update that occurs after a file move operation is modified with a rename of the destination file.

Corrected a memory allocation problem when dealing with Kodak Digital Camera (KDC) files. This fix requires a new download of the PolyView KDC Support Library from our web site at http://www.polybytes.com/download.htm.

Corrected a problem with file operations in the Browse window caused when intermediate operations were performed in the Explore window.

3.00

Drag-and-drop operations now use OLE methods to provide better support for moving and copying objects. In addition to supporting drag-and-drop between the Browse and Explore windows, PolyView now supports drag-and-drop object transfers with other Windows programs. This change has many benefits, including the ability to drag images from PolyView windows to create desktop shortcuts, drop files on other graphics viewers/editors, etc.

Added the Paste Into Image operation to the Edit menu to support merging images or portions of images into existing images.  The method used to merge/blend into the current image is controlled by the Paste Feathering and Paste Transparency options on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

The selected area of an image can now be drag-and-drop copied to a location within the same or a different image, to the PolyView main window for opening as a separate window, or onto an external application such as a word processor. Like the Paste Into Image command, the merging of the area into another PolyView image is controlled by the Paste Feathering and Paste Transparency options on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

Added the New Image command to the File menu to create a new empty image window suitable for use as the target of bitmap paste and drag-and-drop operations (collage creation).

Added the Enlarge command to the Edit menu to enlarge the size of an image window without stretching the image it contains.

Added multiple images per page printing capability. Up to 8 images can now be printed on each page when multiple images are selected for printing in one batch. See Printing Multiple Images for additional information.

The Register File Types operation now programs file associations to include Print and PrintTo capabilities from the Windows Explorer. PolyView file types selected from the Windows Explorer will now have a Print option on their context menu to send the image to PolyView for printing. In addition, PolyView file types can be dropped on a desktop printer icon to direct printing to a specific printer.

Added a folder tree to the Browse Folder window to simplify navigation while browsing through images.

Slide shows have been enhanced in several respects:

Transition effects can be specified to alter the method used to initially draw an image during slide show playback.

The Slide Show Creation Window provides an image preview capability to aid in the selection of images for a show.

The Slide Show Creation Window provides sound file specification mechanisms, including a sound preview capability.

New image formats added:

Symantec WinFax fax images.

Kodak Digital Camera (KDC) file formats (DC120/50/40/25/20).

The Portable Bitmap Utilities image formats: PBM , PGM , and PPM.

Right mouse button drag-and-drop operations from the Windows Explorer to PolyView’s main window now result in a popup menu that allows the selected files to be printed, added to a slide show, opened, or browsed.

The context menus available when right clicking on image files in PolyView now include a Context item that pops up the Windows context menu for the file, with its full functionality.

The file copy/move mechanism now provides a confirmation dialog that previews the image about to be replaced.

The keyword database can now be used in a read-only mode to facilitate the use of a single database by multiple users across a network. This specification is set using the Locations tab of the Properties dialog.

The Locations tab of the Properties dialog can now specify the name to be used for the thumbnail database the next (or first) time the Explore window is invoked.

Added Undo for file move and copy operations.

The metafile dimensions dialog is now invoked on paste operations involving metafiles (subject to the current setting of the Use default WMF size option on the General tab of the Properties dialog).

Added an option to open images directly to full screen mode. See the Files tab of the Properties dialog.

A middle mouse button click on a 3-button mouse will now terminate a full screen slide show or image browse operation.

Changed the image marking mechanism in the Browse and Explore windows to enable selecting folders and images in the folder trees and file lists by entering the first letter of their names. In the Explore window the space bar is now a valid shortcut for marking and unmarking selected images only when the input focus is on the thumbnail pane of the window. In the Browse window the ‘M’ key is a valid shortcut for marking only when the input focus is on the preview window. When the file list has the focus, selected files can be marked and unmarked by pressing the space bar.

Added the Enable directory browse in full screen mode option to the Browse tab of the Properties dialog to turn on the capability of browsing through the enclosing directory when an image is expanded to full screen. Previously the behavior was to only browse through the currently open images in full screen mode.

Added the Previous in Directory and Next in Directory commands to the View menu to allow quickly browsing through the directory containing an open image.

Separated the specification of the background color for areas of a new image and the color used as the background in the Browse and Explore windows.

Added the Enter full screen on double-clicked image option to the Browse tab of the Properties dialog to define the action taken when an image is double-clicked with the left mouse button (raise to full screen or close).

Improved the behavior after a failed rename to allow the failed name to be edited rather than completely retyped.

Improved the specification method for transparent color. The Choose Transparent Color dialog now includes a Pick button for choosing the color by point-and-click from the image. In addition, a tolerance scheme has been implemented for choosing all colors that are “close to” the selected transparent color. See Transparent Color Specification for further information.

The TWAIN acquisition routines now leave the camera or scanner window open after image transfer has completed for those devices that support this mode of operation.

Replaced the All Images filter from the File Open dialog boxes with the Most Images filter to deal with an operating system limitation on the number of file types that can be filtered at one time.

Read-only files are now eligible for deletion.

Added visible evidence of the marked state of images in the Browse and Explore windows. The Browse window dims the icons on marked files. The Explore window adds a small rectangle in the corner of the thumbnail of a marked file.

The area selection (crop) box can now be moved and resized.

The Format Conversions operation now creates a multipage DCX or TIFF file if the source file for the conversion is a multipage DCX or TIFF file.

Added the JPEG quality factor specification to the Format Conversions window.

Image files are now opened in a non-shared mode for reading to insure that errors do not occur as a result of interference from another application.

Deleting files from the Explore window now also deletes the associated thumbnails from the database.

The slide show, batch format conversion, and animated GIF windows now initialize with scroll bars on systems configured for 800x600 or smaller.

Fixed a problem with reading RLE bitmaps that are incorrectly compressed.

Fixed problems with viewing pages of multipage image files when the image window is maximized.

Fixed a problem with loading 32 bit/pixel bitmap images.

An option has been added to the General tab of the Properties dialog to deal with a video driver problem that has appeared recently on some new Windows 95 systems.

An option has been added to the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog to deal with a printer driver problem that causes thumbnails to be printed with incorrect colors if the thumbnail had been compressed during the creation process.

An option has been added to the TWAIN operations to deal with problems that occur with some TWAIN data source windows.

Fixed a problem with Windows 95 GDI resource consumption while processing Windows Metafile (WMF) images.

Fixed an interpolation problem that caused distortion to be generated when reducing the size of 1 and 4 bit/pixel images.

Fixed a problem that required the insertion of a removable disk or CD if the Explore window was started with the drive empty, and the previous session had been viewing the device.

2.90.4

Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, and RGB adjustment operations from the Operations menu now provide an instant update feature to continuously update the image appearance as the slider position is changed.

The keyword selection logic now supports an AND NOT operation to exclude keywords from a search.

Mouse wheel support in the Explore window now scrolls the pane the mouse cursor is currently positioned on rather than only the pane that has the input focus.

Added 1 bit/pixel uncompressed bitmaps to Format Conversions choices.

Corrected a problem with reading X-window dump (XWD) images.

2.90.3

Added support for reading FlashPix images.

Added image rotation to the Browse window.

Added support for playing sound files during a slide show. (This first version has no interactive support. Manual editing of the slide show script files is required.)

Added support for displaying transparencies in GIF images, and full support for displaying transparencies and alpha channel information in PNG images. See the Display Image Transparencies option on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

The number keys 1-4 have been added as shortcuts for sending images to the first through fourth “Open With” applications.

Changed the TWAIN operation shortcut keys to F3 to avoid a conflict with the Rename operation on F2.

Corrected the default copy/move mode when using the left mouse button to drag/drop images and folders in the Explore window.

Fixed a problem with displaying incorrect file dates in the Browse window.

Fixed a problem with creating new folders beneath unexpanded folders in the Explore window.

Fixed a problem with rotating large 1 bit/pixel images.

2.90.2

Added the Windows Desktop as the root node in the Explore window tree and the directory picker dialog used by various functions.

Improved the startup speed for the Explore window when dealing with large thumbnail databases.

Enhanced the Explore window to keep open folders open after refresh and other operations.

Added the standard Alt+Enter mechanism for soliciting an image’s properties in the Explore and Browse windows.

Fixed a problem with matching thumbnails for files created on the opposite side of a daylight savings time change boundary. (This problem only shows up on Windows NT NTFS drives when NT’s “Automatically adjust clock for daylight savings changes” option has been enabled from the Control Panel Date/Time Properties applet.)

Fixed a problem with the interpretation of monochrome GEM IMG files.

Fixed various problems with PNG file reading.

Fixed initial display update problems when performing automatic gamma adjustments on file open.

Fixed a problem with reading certain color mapped IFF images.

2.90.1

Improved the display of images with greater than 256 colors (greater than 8 bits/pixel) on systems configured for 256 colors. This also improves the quality of images written to GIF and 8 bit/pixel BMP files under some circumstances.

Fixed a problem with the display and manipulation of certain monochrome images that resulted in a negative image being rendered.

2.90.0

PolyView’s help system has been significantly rewritten with this release. In addition, “What’s This?” help has been added to all property pages and dialogs. With this feature you can click on the “?” button on a window’s title bar and then click any control in the window to get additional help information.

Added image browsing and thumbnail filtering by keyword. See the Browsing by Keyword topic for an overview.

Added thumbnail printing from the Explore window.

Added methods of building an image window containing the print format of all or selected images in the thumbnail pane of the Explore window and the Thumbnail Database Explorer. The resulting window can subsequently be saved to any supported file format. See the notes accompanying the Print Thumbnails To Window command on the File menu for further information.

Added drive independent mapping of thumbnails to the Explore Window. This option, which is enabled via the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog, causes the name matching algorithms to consider a thumbnail as matching an image if its path, size and date match the image, but regardless of which drive letter that path is assigned to. Note: turning this option on may cause unexpected behavior when image files are stored on more than one drive. See the notes accompanying the Thumbnails tab for further information.

Added the Thumbnail Database Explorer for off-line thumbnail database manipulations. In conjunction with this addition, the thumbnail database format has been modified to hold the volume name and image dimensions of each image. The image dimensions are now shown on the status line and tool tip display of the image file name. The volume name is used by the Thumbnail Database Explorer for thumbnail database organization. Note that thumbnail databases manipulated by this version of PolyView are not readable by previous versions of PolyView.

Added file size and page count (for multiple page files and animated GIFs) to the information status line for open images and thumbnails.

The thumbnail database is now written to disk after each thumbnail creation operation has been completed.

Added middle/wheel button support for panning operations when viewing images.

Added mouse wheel support for scrolling within images, scrolling the thumbnail panes, moving around in slide shows, and zooming in and out of images.

Added a command line option to rotate argument images after decompression.

Added a method of associating an arbitrary list of file types with PolyView in the Register File Types dialog.

The directory browser now supports viewing only image types (View menu).

The files displayed in the Explore window can now be filtered to a set that contains a specific string in the file name (View menu).

Added the capability of sorting the thumbnail display by image size, where image size is the total number of pixels in an image.

Added enhanced metafile objects as a supported clipboard object type for pasting. This allows PolyView to retrieve picture items copied to the clipboard from popular word and drawing processor applications.

Added an option to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to start a slide show from the last image displayed in a slide show, from the image selected in the slide show dialog, or from the last image selected in a Browse or Explore window.

Slide show script files can now use relative addressing for file paths, with the base for a file name the folder containing the script.

The last directory used to open or save a slide show script file is now used as the starting point for a subsequent open or save script file operation.

Added a command to the Windows menu to raise all image windows above other PolyView windows. This command is useful to raise images above the Explore and browser windows.

Added the specification of JPEG quality to the Export Image dialog box.

PolyView’s setup program is now built with a different tool set than previous versions. All the “DelsL*.isu” files in the PolyView installation directory can be deleted, as they are remnants of the previously used system.

Windows 95 and Windows NT shortcuts to images are now resolved when opening or browsing files, or when viewing thumbnails in the Explore window.

The Open With selection on various context menus now detects when the application to be executed is a “legacy” 16 bit application. In this case a DOS compatible version of an image’s long file name is passed to the application.

Enhanced the path selection algorithms to correctly establish the previously used folder when it was found under the “Network Neighborhood” folder.

Updated Portable Network Graphics (PNG) support code to improve gamma handling for 16 bit sample sizes, and to cure some low-probability compression problems.

Added sort columns and file icons to the Browse window.

Added a “flat” toolbar button option to General tab of Properties dialog.

Added the TWAIN acquire to multi-page format option to the Files tab of the Properties dialog to create multi-page TIFF and DCX files during TWAIN acquire operations.

Added the Area Color Average command to the Operations menu. This command is active only when the Area Selection Tool has been used to outline an image area for subsequent area operations.

Added a command to the Browse menu to empty the marked file list.

Files on the marked file list are now automatically removed when they are deleted by various PolyView operations.

Minor speed improvements have been made to the JPEG decompression algorithm.

Enhanced the GIF file read/write capabilities to include 1 bit/pixel images.

Pressing the Tab key now changes the keyboard input focus between the folder tree and the thumbnail panes in the Explore window.

The keyboard arrow keys now move the current selection in the thumbnail pane of the Explore window.

The Enter key now opens the currently selected thumbnail when the keyboard input focus is in the thumbnail pane of the Explore window.

The source and destination paths for the Format Conversions window are now saved separately from  the paths for opening and saving (exporting) image files.

The Show Hidden File property now also controls the display of hidden folders in the Explore window and folder selection dialogs.

Added the Default Comment for Saved or Converted Files field to the Files tab of the Properties dialog.

The directory path used in the last Open Database command in the Explore window is now saved for use as the starting point for the next Open Database command.

Moved all image manipulation commands from an image’s Options menu to the new Operations menu.

Changed the name of the Zoom Out command on the View menu to be Undo Zoom and added Zoom Out as a command that reduces image magnification.

Added a property on the Files tab of the Properties dialog to control the viewing of hidden files in the Explore and Browse windows.

The Rename dialog now defaults the new name to the original name, reducing the typing for the common case where only a simple change is desired to the original name.

Successful entry of license information now automatically disables the splash screen.

Fixed a problem which sometimes led to the wrong folder being selected in a drag operation in the Explore window.

Fixed some problems in the thumbnail printing algorithms that caused pagination differences between the print preview screens and the printed output.

Fixed a problem which caused the image name to be wrong for the current image after an aborted file Move operation.

Fixed a problem with incorrect color mapping on 2 bit/pixel grayscale PNG format images.

Fixed a problem with incorrect handling of masked Commodore-Amiga IFF images.

Fixed a problem with incorrect handling of uncompressed type 1 MSP images.

Fixed a problem with reading/writing certain 1 bit/pixel Adobe Photoshop (PSD) images. (A new snbd6w9s.dll version is supplied with this update.)

Fixed some problems that occurred in various file list collection dialogs when the Windows Explorer is directed to “Hide file extensions for known file types”.

Fixed a problem that caused negative image displays and printing when certain inverted colormap monochrome images were processed.

Fixed a problem with the Open With operation that left process handles open.

Fixed various problems with Animated GIF creation.

Fixed a problem which prevented the Add All button on the Slide Show dialog from functioning when the Desktop folder was selected.

Fixed a problem with converting 1 and 4 bit/pixel files to JPEG format.

Fixed a problem that caused a crash when defining a selection region with boundaries outside the edges of an image.

Fixed problems with animated GIF playback.

Fixed a problem with thumbnails created from 4 bit/pixel images.

Fixed a problem with crashes caused by certain types of corruption in PCX file headers.

Fixed a problem with thumbnail updating after modified images were saved as a result of a prompted file close operation.

Fixed a problem which caused a PolyView crash if the color table in an image was larger than the number of colors indicated by the images bits per pixel ratio.

Fixed a problem with displaying YCCK encoded JPEG files.

Fixed a problem that caused incorrect updates to the thumbnail pane when the Explore window was horizontally resized.

2.80

Added an animated GIF creation command to the File menu. Automatic playback of animated GIFs will occur based on a setting in the General tab of the Properties dialog.

Added support for acquiring images from scanners, digital cameras, and other devices supporting the TWAIN interface. See the TWAIN topic of the File menu.

Added an Open With command to the image context menus. The Open With tab of the Properties dialog can be updated with the names of up to 4 applications to open PolyView images with for further processing.

Added recursive (include subfolders) thumbnail creation operations to the Thumbnails menu.

Added new/move/copy/rename/delete operations on folders to the Explore window.

Added the Next Page, Previous Page, and Go To Page commands to the View menu for moving around in multi-page DCX, GIF, and TIFF files.  With this change we also disabled the automatic assembly of tiled TIFF files to better deal with very large images (the primary purpose for tiled TIFFs). Tiled TIFF files are now handled like multipage TIFF files. (If requested, an option to assemble a tiled TIFF into a complete bitmap image can be added to a future version of PolyView.)

Added the option to append additional pages to DCX and TIFF files if export of these formats is specified to go to an existing file.

Added  X,Y position of the mouse cursor on the current image to the status line.

Added window arrangement commands to the Window menu.

Added a command to the Window menu to close all image windows.

Added a global Gamma adjustment factor capability to the Gamma Adjustment dialog.

Added the RGB Adjust command to the Appearance popup of the Options menu to implement precise control of the red-green-blue components of an image.

Added new image Brightness and Contrast Adjustment menus to the Options menu.

Changed the Register File Types operation to use a separate File Description for each file type.

The Register File Types dialog now programs .PVX and .PVD thumbnail database files to directly invoke the Explore window.

Added a choice of icons to the Register File Types dialog for use in the Windows Explorer.

Added the F2 key as a shortcut to the rename operation in the Explore and Browse windows.

Added an option to the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog to add TWAIN files to the current slide show list as they are acquired.

Added a command to Browse Selected Folder to the Browse menu of the Explore window.

Added Delete and Browse options to the tree context menu in the Explore window.

Added Move and Rename operations to those available with an open image.

Added a command to the Options menu of the Explore window to set the font used to display file names for files which do not have thumbnails.

The title used for windowed slide shows is now the name of the script file which defines the slide show.

Added an option to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to disable screen savers while a full screen display is in progress.

Added an option to the Files tab of the Properties dialog to enable the stripping of the path and extension from the image file name as displayed in the window title for the image.

Fixed a problem which caused thumbnail information to be inaccurate after a File Save or Export operation.

Fixed a problem which caused hidden thumbnails to become unhidden after a thumbnail database Maintain operation.

The Directory Browser no longer resets the selected file position when a file is deleted.

The Move and Rename operations of the Browser window now also rename and move the associated image thumbnails if the Explore window is open.

Fixed a problem which caused an access violation if the last file in the list presented by the Directory Browser was deleted.

Fixed a problem with Delete key handling during in-line editing of folder names in the Explore window and in various edit boxes.

Added additional exception handlers to better deal with low memory situations.

Fixed a problem with pasting clipboard device independent bitmaps which are 24 bits-per-pixel and contain a non-empty color map.

Fixed a problem with the decompression of 4 bits-per-pixel gray scale images.

Fixed a problem with the decompression of 24 bits-per-pixel PNG images which also contain an alpha channel.

2.70.2

Improved the way the thumbnail pane positioning is managed when the Explore window is resized. This also corrects anomalous behavior when the Explore window is maximized.

2.70.1

Fixed a problem which caused an access violation GPF to be generated if a corrupted thumbnail database file was encountered.

Fixed a problem which caused the thumbnail for a renamed file to disappear until the containing folder was refreshed.

Added some additional robustness for dealing with errors encountered while creating thumbnails.

2.70

Created a new Browse menu which has some of the commands that were previously in the File menu, and several new ones (see below).

Added an Open Script choice to the Browse menu for the direct opening of slide show script files.

Added commands to the Browse menu to invoke a browser for directories and files marked during slide shows.

Added the capability to display slide shows (or multiple slide shows) in on-screen windows. (See the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog.)

Added the capability to mark files during slide shows, as well as pause and continue functionality.

Added an option to the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to expand slide show images to fill the available viewing area.

Added an option to the Files tab of the Properties dialog to force PolyView to interpret multiple command line arguments as a single file name containing spaces.

Added a command to the File menu save a file as wallpaper.

Added the Display Reduction Method option to the General tab of the Properties dialog to control the method used to reduce a large image to a small window.

Added the Background Color command to the Options menu to set the background color used for images.

Added a Tools menu to facilitate selection of the area selection, zooming, and panning tools.

Added an area selection tool to the Tools menu and the associated Crop and Copy Selected Area commands to the Edit menu.

Added a panning tool to the Tools menu to simplify moving the visible window around in a large or zoomed image.

Added a Photo-CD tab to the Properties dialog with options to control the size image to decompress from a photo-CD image pack file.

Added a splash screen to display the PolyView logo during program startup and initialization, and added an option to the General tab of the Properties dialog to disable it.

Added appearance adjustment commands to the context menu for an image.

The thumbnail position now stays constant after Deleting an open image while the Explore window is open.

Fixed a bug which caused misbehavior if full screen state was interrupted by a pop-up window or screen saver activation.

Corrected the actions of the Tool Bar and Status Bar options in the View menu for the Explore window.

Improved the screen update algorithms to reduce flickering when resizing image windows.

Corrected the consistency of the actions on the thumbnail context menu of the Explore window. The Add to slide show and Delete options now affect all selected images.

Clicking the right mouse button on the thumbnail pane of the Explore window no longer deselects selected images.

Fixed a problem which caused a maximized window to be incorrectly displayed after a full screen slide show or image view operation had taken place.

Fixed a bug in the Soften routine invoked through the Options menu.

Fixed a bug in the Export Image command of the File menu which caused the last save/export directory to not be used.

The splitter bar position in the Explore window is now restored between sessions.

The thumbnail position now stays constant after Delete or Move operations in the Explore window.

Fixed a problem which prevented purging the slide show list if the slide show dialog was closed with an empty list.

2.60.3

Fixed a bug which could leave the last few rows unreachable in the Explore window.

2.60.2

The slide show dialog now uses a device dependent bitmap for display if the corresponding option is checked in the General tab of the Properties dialog, resulting is a faster screen update on displays configured for more than 256 colors.

Fixed a bug which corrupted the output file name during batch file format conversions if the destination directory was the root directory of a drive.

Fixed a bug which caused excessive system resources to be used, and a potential for a stack failure, during the opening of some folders in the Explore window.

2.60

Added Undo operations.

Added variable thumbnail sizes.

Added palette optimization techniques to improve display of thumbnails in 256 color systems.

Added ReCreate Selected and Recreate All options from the Thumbnail menu of the Explore window to simplify recreation of thumbnails after a size change.

Added a progress bar for the thumbnail creation process.

Added a command to stop thumbnail creation.

Added a Sort option on the View menu for the Explore window to sort thumbnails by Name, Type, Size, and Date, with either ascending or descending sort order.

Improved the behavior when moving files in the Explore window so that the thumbnail for the image is retained.

Improved the handling of large folders in the Explore window for better responsiveness.

Added /E:Startup_Folder to the command line options to specify that the Explore window is to start with a specific folder opened. Example: polyview /E:c:\picture\my vacation

Dragging thumbnails to the Recycle Bin icon in the Explore window tree is now supported.

Added display of hidden folders in the Explore window

Added standard length and width options on the dialog presented from the Options:Change Pixel Resolution command.

Added the Gamma Adjustment operation to the Options menu.

Added the Change Color Depth operation to the Options menu.

Changed the layout of the slide show dialog when the screen resolution is 640x480 or 800x600 to achieve a better fit when large fonts have been selected.

Deleting a displayed image from the File menu sends the file to the Recycle Bin on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 system.

Corrected a problem with the decompression of PNG files which are grayscaled and contain 16 bit channel information.

Corrected a scrollbar thumb positioning problem after delete operations in the Explore window.

Corrected the View:Refresh option of the Explore window to correctly update when folder configurations have changed.

Fixed a problem with color map manipulations which caused printing and other difficulties when the number of colors in an image is less than the maximum.

2.53

Fixed problem with interpolating 24 bit per pixel images when the display mode is 8 bit.

2.52

Fixed problem with interpolation algorithm. This change makes minor improvements when interpolating 24 bit images, and major improvements when interpolating 8 bit images.

2.51

Added an option to the General Tab of the Properties dialog to turn off the generation of the device dependent bitmap used to optimize panning images.

Added an option to the General Tab of the Properties dialog to create a new window when some filtering operations are performed.

Added the Neon filter to the Special Effects available for 24 and 8 bit (grayscale) images.

Fixed a problem with the Format Conversions window which incorrectly interpreted the output image type for non-registered users.

2.50

Added the Format Conversions window.

Added edge detection image filters.

Added image appearance commands to sharpen and soften an image.

Added emboss and engrave special effects.

Added the Duplicate Image command.

Added an image appearance command to make the photographic negative of an image.

Restored the behavior of keeping child windows maximized when new images are opened.

Enhanced the internal handling of 1 and 4 bit per pixel images to improve speed and efficiency.

Added numerous export format options for 1 and 4 bit per pixel images.

Further optimized the steps taken during decompression and display of most graphics images to improve overall speed and efficiency.

Removed the Explore window restriction on the number of thumbnails that can be displayed in a single folder.

Added a Refresh option under the View menu of the Explore window. It is mapped to the F5 key for compatibility with Windows 95 and Windows NT. The previous mapping of the F5 key, to the thumbnail create function, is now mapped to F4.

Added a sort button to the slide show dialog.

Corrected a problem with the Add All button of the slide show dialog.

Added a more sophisticated printing algorithm.

Corrected the Print and Print Preview operations which erroneously determined the printed image borders when only the visible regions of an image were printed.

Added several options for specifying a progress bar to be used in lieue of or in addition to the normal progress image display during decompression.

Corrected the behavior of the Slide Show dialog when a file name was double-clicked in the file list box.

2.40

Added support for numerous additional image formats.

Enhanced the operation of the Slide Show dialog under Windows 95.

Added the Flip and Mirror manipulations.

Corrected an error which prevented image appearance adjustments from being written back to 8 bit image formats under some conditions.

2.30

Added the Explore Window.

2.21

Added Transparent Color dialog for specification of GIF transparency.

File type used for the last file exported is now remembered as the starting type for a new export.

Fixed incompatibilities with Windows 95 taskbar during full screen modes.

Fixed a problem where errors occurring during manual slide shows were not ignored.

Fixed a problem with recovering from certain varieties of GIF file corruption.

Fixed several problems with image sizing and full screen behavior when the PolyView toolbar is floating instead of docked on a window edge.

2.20

Changed method of opening a file in one-for-one mapping to eliminate resolution change at end of read.

Added interpolated zoom.

Added the Change Resolution and Smooth to New Window commands.

Added option to the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog to ignore errors during slide shows.

Corrected behavior when Prompt for file save on exit is in effect and a close on a created window is attempted.

2.19

Added printing.

Corrected the behavior which occurs when the display resolution is changed under Windows 95 while images are being displayed.

2.18

Added individual image timing during slide shows.

PNG files are now written as 8 bit gray scale even if the source is 24 bits if it is found that the source is really gray scale in disguise.

Added exporting to GIF files.

Added exporting to progressive JPEG files.

Added separate storage of open and save directory paths.

Added Most Recently Used file list manipulation functions.

Removed support for LZW compressed TIFF files due to patent licensing restrictions.

Fixed a bug which caused incorrect operation of the Browsing Properties dialog.

2.17

Added support for reading progressive JPEG files.

Restored the ability to convert 8 bit images to JPEG format.

Added saving (exporting) to PNG format files.

Added slide show randomization.

2.16

Fixed a bug which caused image size problems when the toolbar was positioned at the right or left edge of the viewing area.

Fixed a bug which caused name recognition problems for folders with names which ended in .GIF, .JPG, etc.

Enhanced the image context menu.

Added .JPEG and .TIFF as recognized file types.

Added support for viewing PNG files.

Enhanced Register File Types dialog to show current PolyView registrations.

2.15	Fixed a bug which prevented the file-open dialog from working correctly.

2.14	Added saving to 8 bit RLE bitmap format.

Added saving to 16 bit bitmap format.

Added multiple file selection from Explorer file open dialog.

Added editing and saving of comments to JPEG files.

Added user registration for feature set enabling.

2.13	Corrected processing of multiple files dragged to a PolyView shortcut.

Corrected processing of dragged files containing slide show scripts.

2.12	Added the optional display of the image file name during full screen mode.

2.11	Fixed a bug which caused JPEG file handle ownership to be retained.

Added File:Image Properties command.

Added image context menu from right mouse button.

2.10	Added scripted slide shows.

Added copy and paste operations.

Added support for reading 1, 4, 16, and 32 bit BMP files, and 4 and 8 bit RLE BMP files.

Added background operation of color manipulation, rotation, and image exporting operations.

2.00	Removed image configuration file usage.

Changed image appearance algorithms to work on all systems.

Added gray scale operation.

Added image save operations.

Improved capabilities for reading damaged files.

1.92	Added Register File Types dialog box.

1.91	Added context sensitive help.

1.90	Added TIFF file support.

Added 24 bit BMP support in 256 color modes.

Added File:Delete option.

1.80	Added photo-cd upsizing option.

1.70	Added photo-cd file support.

Added system registry use for file association.

1.60	Added slide show viewing mode.

Added properties dialog and additional JPEG decompression options.

1.50	Added full screen viewing mode.

1.40	Added "on-the-fly" image painting during file reading.

Remember last screen position and state.

Remember last directory used to open a file.

1.30	Added support for 8 bit color modes.

1.20	Added JPEG DCT method choice.

Changed bitmap algorithms for better Win95 compatibility.

1.10	Added default saving for application and image configuration defaults.

Added “View:Resize to fit” command.

1.00	Initial release.


Credits and Acknowledgments

PolyView Icon and Logo Design by George Edward Purdy (email: slogan@i-link.net)

Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 95, Internet Explorer and Office 97 are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

OS/2 is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation.

WinFax and WinFax Pro are registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation.

The Graphics Interchange Format(c) is the Copyright property of CompuServe Incorporated. GIF(sm) is a Service Mark property of CompuServe Incorporated.

Kodak, FlashPix and Photo CD are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.

The KDC support library (dc120v15_32.dll) is a Copyright property of Eastman Kodak Company.

The LZW compression/decompression technology in GIF/TIFF files is licensed under U.S. Patent No. 4,558,302 and foreign counterparts.

Portions of the imaging technology in PolyView are copyrighted by Snowbound Software.

Portions of the JPEG imaging technology in PolyView are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) compression technology is based on the Zlib compression software. The following statement applies to its use:

 (C) 1995-1998 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler

The PNG imaging technology used in PolyView is copyrighted by:

Copyright (c) 1995 Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42, Inc.

Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 Andreas Dilger

Copyright (c) 1998 Glenn Randers-Pehrson

Portions of the TIFF imaging technology in PolyView are based on LIBTIFF by Sam Leffler and are protected under the following copyrights:

Copyright (c) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 Sam Leffler

Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and

its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided

that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in

all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of

Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or

publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written

permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Lastly, Polybytes would like to acknowledge the many comments and suggestions received from the users of PolyView. Also, a special thanks goes to Albert Collver III for his untiring critiques of the operation of PolyView under Windows 95.


The PolyView License Agreement and Warranty

License Agreement

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software. Unless you have a different license agreement signed by Polybytes your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty.

Registered Version

One registered copy of PolyView may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more computers, or installed on a single workstation used non-simultaneously by multiple people.

You may access the registered version of PolyView through a network, provided that you have obtained individual licenses for the software covering all users that will access the software through the network. If, for instance, 5 different users will access PolyView on the network,

a separate PolyView license must be purchased for each user.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Iowa.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THE POLYVIEW SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL LARRY C. REEVE OR POLYBYTES BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Evaluation Version

Evaluation and Registration

This is not free software.  Subject to the terms below, you are hereby licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 30 days.  If you use this software after the 30 day evaluation period a registration fee of $25 is required.  Payments must be in US dollars drawn on a US bank, and should be sent to

Polybytes

3427 Bever Avenue SE

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403-3161

USA.

Credit card ordering is available as described in the registration section of this help file. When payment notification is received you will be sent the registration key information to unlock additional features of PolyView.

Unregistered use of PolyView after the 30-day evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws.

Distribution

You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the evaluation version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original evaluation version to anyone; and distribute the evaluation version of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via

electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission.


Shareware-Australia Order Form

PolyView is available in Australia/New Zealand from our local distributor Shareware-Australia.

The price is Australian $ 40.00

You can order by phone, fax, email, or postal mail.

Fax your order to 	(02) 9565-2362

Phone your order to 	(02) 9565-2339

Email your order to	sales@shareware-australia.com

Visit our web site	http://www.shareware-australia.com

Mail your order to	Shareware-Australia

PO Box 1075

Maroubra NSW 2035

Payment can be made by Cheque, Money Order, Bankcard, Mastercard, Visacard, or American Express.

Name:_____________________________________________________

Email: ______________

(Registration (unlock) codes will be sent directly to your specified email address)

Address: _________________________________________________

Address2: ________________________________________________

Phone: ____________Fax: ____________

Paid by Cheque/Money Order [ ]  Credit Card [ ]

Credit Card No. ___________________________________________

Expiry Date: __________  Signature: _______________________

Please supply

__ PolyView licenses @ AU$ 40   each	$______

Total	$______


Registering Directly With Polybytes

You can register PolyView by sending an order form along with a check or money order for the registration amount to:

Polybytes

3427 Bever Avenue S.E.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403-3161

USA

Registration checks sent directly to Polybytes should be made payable to Polybytes.

Customers outside the USA: please send a check for your payment in US dollars on a US bank, or in your country’s currency drawn on a bank in your country. In the latter case please apply the current exchange rates to calculate the amount necessary to equal the purchase price in US dollars.

Please be sure to include your electronic mail address with your registration. Registration key information is sent to registered users via electronic mail if your electronic mail address is available. Otherwise the information will be sent via the US Postal Service.


Registering Through Kagi

Registrations for PolyView can be purchased through Kagi services. Kagi can process payments in many forms, including personal checks, foreign currency, and a variety of credit cards. In addition, online WWW, electronic mail, and FAX registration services are available from Kagi. To register while online simply point your browser to

http://order.kagi.com/?LR

For email or FAX registration the companion Register program provides access to Kagi registration services. To run Register, choose the Purchase Now (Offline) option from the Help menu.

To contact Kagi for information about their service point your Web browser to http://www.kagi.com.

Please be sure to include your electronic mail address with your registration. Registration key information is sent to registered users via electronic mail if your electronic mail address is available. Otherwise the information will be sent via the US Postal Service.


Registering In Australia and New Zealand

PolyView is available in Australia/New Zealand from our local distributor Shareware-Australia. The price is Australian $40.00. Shareware-Australia accepts orders by phone, fax, email, or postal mail. See the Shareware-Australia order form for further information.

Please be sure to include your electronic mail address with your registration. Registration key information is sent to registered users via electronic mail if your electronic mail address is available. Otherwise the information will be sent via the US Postal Service.


Registering Through Albert's Ambry

You can purchase PolyView on the Internet from Albert's Ambry. Transactions are via Credit Card with the option of making the purchase over a secure server. Registration at Albert’s Ambry also eliminates shipping and handling costs.

Please go to:

http://www.alberts.com

Click on the "Buy It" Hotlink to register PolyView.


Registering Through Register Now!

Register Now! features fast online secure purchases using a variety of credit cards. Please point your browser at the following location to register PolyView:

https://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1385-1


Registering Through UK ShareReg

UK ShareReg is a UK based Shareware Registration service that prices their products in UK Pounds. PolyView can be registered through UK ShareReg’s secure web server by pointing your browser at the following location:

http://www.uksharereg.com/polyview.html

The price of a PolyView registration through UK ShareReg is UK £17.00.


LZW GIF/TIFF Licensing Information

The Unisys Corporation owns U.S. Patent 4,558,302, and foreign counterparts, and has the right to grant licenses for the use of this technology. Polybytes has licensed this technology for use in PolyView, subject to the following restrictions for registered users:

A single user PolyView license is restricted to being used on a single computer at a time. If a registered version of PolyView is to be used on multiple computers simultaneously, then the agreement requires that an additional registration be purchased for each computer.


PolyView Registration Form

Name:	____________________________________________________________

Address:	____________________________________________________________

Address:	____________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip:	____________________________________________________________

Email:	____________________________________________________________

(Registration (unlock) codes will be sent directly to your specified email address)

___  PolyView Licenses at $25.00 US each	_________

Disk shipment required (add $5.00 US)	_________

Total	_________

Comments:

Print this form, fill it out, and mail along with a check or money order to:

Polybytes

3427 Bever Avenue SE

Cedar Rapids, IA 52403-3161

USA

Please make registration checks payable to Polybytes.


The Thumbnail Database

The Thumbnail Database is used by PolyView to store the thumbnail sketches for the images on a computer system, and the indexing information needed to rapidly access the thumbnails while navigating through the system with the Explore window. The Thumbnail Database consists of two files: the index file, which has a file type of PVX, and the database file, which has a type of PVD.

When the Explore window is invoked for the first time, a Thumbnail Database named PolyView is automatically created. The two files for this default database are:

PolyView.PVX

PolyView.PVD

Windows 95/98: These files are created in the same directory as PolyView.exe. Warning: If PolyView.exe resides in a read-only directory, then the Explore operation will fail when executed for the first time. To get things started successfully, move PolyView.exe to a writeable directory before invoking the Explore window.

Windows NT: These files are created in a PolyView directory under the directory designated as the current user’s application data directory, normally WinNT\Profiles\username\Application Data\PolyView.

With either operating system, the database location can be specified by entering a location on the Locations tab of the Properties dialog.

Once the Explore window is active, the Open Database command under the Thumbnails menu can be used to open or create an alternate database. It will be useful to use an alternate database if thumbnail sketches of images on a removable device such as a CD are to be created. This is particularly useful if a Relative Thumbnail Database is to be created.

There is no hard limit to the number of thumbnails that can be managed by a single Thumbnail Database. Since the database can become quite large, however, the available disk space for its storage is usually the limiting factor its size.


About Gamma

The appearance of an image displayed on a computer screen, or any other media, is dependent on a complicated interaction between the way humans perceive colors and intensities and the way the particular media translates its input signals into light. Although a host of other factors contribute, these two factors dominate.

Human visual perception is sensitive to the ratios between light intensities. Consider a gray light intensity scale where 0 indicates a black image and 100 represents a white image. The three intensities 25, 50, and 75 will not be seen by the eye as linearly increasing in intensity, as you might expect. Instead, the intensity of 50 is twice as bright as 25, while 75 is only 1.5 times as bright as 50.

The rendering of an image on a computer display is a highly non-linear problem which is potentially different for every system. The intensity of a pixel depends on the characteristics of the screen phosphor and the characteristics of the electron beam that is exciting the phosphor to radiate light. Add to this the intensity response of human vision and the problem of correctly displaying the colors and brightness of an image becomes quite a challenge.

Gamma attempts to compensate for these effects by pre-adjusting the intensities of the pixels in an image according to the equation:

NewIntensity = Intensity**(1/Gamma)

where ** represents the exponentiation operation. The overall effect of this operation is that for Gamma settings greater than 1.0 there is a brightness boost in an image which tends to decrease as the intensity of a pixel increases. That is, the dark areas of an image increase more in brightness than do the light areas. Choosing the right gamma factor can result in the realistic display of an image.

The wide variety of image storage formats available treat gamma compensation with an equivalently wide variety of methods. Some formats, like Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format, offer the capability of storing the gamma compensation for an image along with the bits of the image. Others, like JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF), simply specify that the images be stored with a gamma factor of 1.0 - leaving it up to the image viewers to appropriately compensate the image for display. In both cases, the specification and compensation of gamma is widely ignored. Many PNG images have no or incorrect gamma compensation, and many JPEG, GIF, and other formats are corrected to something other than 1.0.

Faced with these disparities in handling gamma, PolyView assumes that unless it is specified differently in the input file, an input image has been stored with a gamma factor of 1.0. For images where this assumption is invalid, the Gamma Adjustment dialog provides interactive adjustment of the gamma factor for an image. The dialog also allows the specification of a global gamma to be used to compensate all images as they are opened and displayed.


Metafile Mapping Modes

Windows-format metafiles are rarely found in their most basic form because of the limitations of the original definition. Among these limitations is that their appearance can be drastically altered if the method of mapping metafile dimensions to screen window dimensions is altered. This mapping mode is not specified in the metafile so it is difficult for an application displaying a metafile to reproduce the original picture. PolyView attempts to deal with this problem by presenting a mapping mode choice to the user when such a file is opened. Experimenting with this mapping mode can usually result in the correct display.

The following mapping modes can be chosen:

Text

Each metafile unit is mapped to one screen pixel. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the down direction.

LoMetric

Each metafile unit occupies 0.1 millimeters on the screen. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the up direction.

HiMetric

Each metafile unit occupies 0.01 millimeters on the screen. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the up direction.

LoEnglish

Each metafile unit occupies 0.01 inches on the screen. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the up direction.

HiEnglish

Each metafile unit occupies 0.001 inches on the screen. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the up direction.

Twips

Each metafile unit occupies 1/1440 inches on the screen. Dimensions in the vertical direction increase in the up direction.


Relative Thumbnail Databases

PolyView’s thumbnail database format associates the reduced size bitmaps of a set of images with the path name of each of the images. In some cases it is useful, however, to defer the specification of the path of an image until it is determine where on the computer system the image actually resides. An example of this situation is with an image collection stored on a CD. Since the drive letter of the CD drive varies from machine to machine, a thumbnail database that specifies the name of an image file as d:\photos\vacation\mountains.jpg is difficult to use on a computer system that designates its CD drive as E: (or some other letter). An additional problem occurs with the authoring phase of a CD collection. Since the database to be stored with its images on a CD must be prepared using a hard-disk drive on the system, it is not possible to have the CD drive letter stored with the images in the database. PolyView supports a Relative Thumbnail Database to help solve these difficulties.

When the Save Relative Database command on the File menu is used while in an Album , the Thumbnail Explorer , or the Thumbnail Database Browser , all thumbnails that reside in folders at the same level or below the level of the thumbnail database itself will be stored as location relative path names . As an example, consider the following list of files:

d:\photos\family.jpg

d:\photos\cousins.jpg

d:\photos\vacation\mountains.jpg

d:\photos\vacation\ocean.jpg

d:\photos\vacation\cities\seattle.jpg

If a thumbnail database is stored in the d:\photos folder and is saved as a Relative Thumbnail Database, then the file names will be internally stored as:

family.jpg

cousins.jpg

vacation\mountains.jpg

vacation\ocean.jpg

vacation\cities\seattle.jpg

When the thumbnail database is later loaded from the d:\photos location by opening an Album, the Thumbnail Explorer, or the Thumbnail Database Browser, the file names will be fully resolved to the correct absolute locations and their thumbnails will be viewable. This will also be true if this entire folder structure is copied to a CD or to a shared network location. As long as the thumbnail database and the files it describes are stored with the same relative location relationship, all image file names will be resolved correctly and all thumbnails will be viewable. (Further information on preparing images for CD publication can be found in the How Do I section of the PolyView FAQ list.)


The path name of a file is the name of the file itself along with the names of all folders required to fully specify the location of a file. For example, if a file named mountains.jpg is stored in the \photos\vacation folder on drive C:, then the path name for the file is:

C:\photos\vacation\mountains.jpg


A location relative path name is one that only partially specifies the name of a file, and requires the a current location context to be resolved to an absolute path. An example of a location relative path name is vacation\mountains.jpg. This example specifies that the file mountains.jpg exists in a folder named vacation that is located as a sub-folder of the current folder. If the current folder is c:\photos, then the absolute path name for the file is c:\photos\vacation\mountains.jpg. If, on the other hand, the current folder is the root folder of drive D:, then the absolute path name of the file is d:\vacation\mountains.jpg.


Starting PolyView

PolyView.exe is the executable file that contains the implementation of the PolyView application. PolyView can be started from the Windows Explorer by double-clicking on the PolyView.exe file or through the many varieties of Windows shortcuts that can be created.


Opening Images
Opening and Displaying Images

PolyView can be directed to open and display images in a variety of ways, including dragging an image from the Windows Explorer and dropping it on a PolyView window or shortcut, using a standard file Open dialog box, or opening directly from a PolyView Browse or Explore window. In addition, if a graphics file type has been associated with PolyView through the Windows Explorer or by using PolyView’s Register File Types command on the Options menu, then double-clicking on an image of that type will directly execute PolyView to open and display the image.


Drag-and-Drop

PolyView supports drag-and-drop operations for dragging and dropping files and folders, and for dragging selected image areas within and between PolyView images, as well as to external applications that support these operations.

Dropping Files On The Main Window (Left Mouse Button)

Drag-and-drop a file on PolyView’s main window, on a PolyView shortcut, or on a minimized PolyView icon, to send the file or files to PolyView. Depending upon the setting of the Drag and Drop File Actions property of the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog, PolyView will:

•	Create a new window for each dragged file

•	Create a new slide show from the dragged files

•	Add the new files to an existing slide show

•	Start a slide show if the file is a Slide Show Script file

See the information about Slide Shows for an explanation of slide show mode characteristics.

Dropping Files On The Main Window (Right Mouse Button)

When one or more files are dropped on PolyView’s main window using a right mouse button operation, PolyView pops up a menu that allows you to:

•	Open the files into separate windows

•	Print the files to the printer currently selected in PolyView (see Printing Multiple Images )

•	Create a new slide show list from the files (the show does not automatically start)

•	Create a new Album containing the dragged files

•	Add the files to the current slide show list files (the show does not automatically start)

•	Open a Browse window in PolyView to display the files

Drag-and-Drop Image Selections

PolyView supports dragging the selected area in an image and dropping it on a location in the same image, onto a different PolyView image window, or onto the PolyView main window (opening a new image window for the bitmap). If the selection being dragged is from an image with a transparent color specified then the transparency will be used to merge the selection into the destination area. The destination merging operation is controlled by the Paste Feathering, Paste Transparency and Transparency Tolerance options on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

Start a bitmap drag operation by placing the mouse cursor within the boundaries of the selection and using the right mouse button to drag it to the destination location. Alternately pressing and holding the Ctrl key can be used to initiate a drag operation using the left mouse button.

Note that only 24 bits per pixel (16777216 colors) images are valid drop targets for dragged image selections.

Additional Drag/Drop Operations

See the Explore , Album , and Browse window sections for information about additional drag-and-drop operations.

Caution: If PolyView is configured to create a new window for each dragged file and a large number of files are "dropped", then PolyView can fairly quickly use up large amounts of the real and virtual memory resources in your system. If this occurs accidentally, the multithreaded nature of PolyView will allow you to correct your mistake by choosing the Exit command from the File menu to terminate image decompression and release all resources.

Limitation: When multiple files are dragged from the Explorer to a PolyView shortcut, the method used by the Explorer is to pass the file names on the internal command line used to execute PolyView. Since there is a limit to the number of characters allowed on an application command line, there is a significant limitation to the number of files that can be dragged at once using this method. If the line length limit is exceeded, one of two things will happen. Under Windows 95 a notification will be issued that there is a problem, and PolyView will not be executed. Under Windows NT the file name at the end of the command line may be truncated, resulting in an error message from PolyView. The work-around to this problem is to execute PolyView first and then drag and drop files on it.


Command Line Arguments

The command line used to run PolyView can contain 0 or more file names separated by spaces. The action taken when multiple files are passed depends upon the setting of the Drag and Drop File Actions property of the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog, and is the same as those action taken when multiple files are dragged and dropped on PolyView. Warning: file paths containing spaces must be enclosed in double quote characters to be interpreted correctly.

Invoking the Explore window

PolyView’s Explore Window can be started by including the /E option on PolyView’s command line:

polyview /E

Optionally, the path name of a folder can be added to the /E option to start the Explore Window with the named folder opened:

polyview /E:FolderPathName

Note: the entire /E:FolderPathName option must be the last entry on the PolyView command line. Do not enclose the folder name in quotes, even if it contains spaces.

Automatic Thumbnail Creation (Albums)

Images displayed in thumbnail albums will have their thumbnails automatically created if the /A option is included on PolyView’s command line:

Polyview /A

Specifying the /A option will set the Auto-create Album Thumbnails option on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. This setting will be retained between PolyView sessions.

Rotating images

Image files passed on the command line are automatically rotated after decompression if the command line includes the /R option:

polyview filename /Rn

where n is a number from 1 to 3 that indicates the number of 90 degree clockwise rotations to perform. For example:

polyview x.jpg /R2

will rotate x.jpg by 180 degrees.

Note: the inclusion of a /R option causes all images passed on the command line to be rotated.

Invoking TWAIN

The /TWAIN command line option will start PolyView in the TWAIN acquire mode:

polyview /TWAIN


The Tool Bar

The PolyView toolbar provides shortcuts to many of the operations in PolyView. Use the Customize Toolbar command on the Options menu to add or remove toolbar buttons.

The following buttons are found on the default toolbar:

 Start the Explore Window

 Start the Browse Folder Window

 Open an image file

 Save the current image

 Editing or Playing slide shows

 Copy and Paste

 Print

 Invoke full screen display mode

 Undo the previous operation (See: Undo Properties )

 Manipulate an image’s appearance

 Smooth a zoomed image

 Navigate through the images in a directory

 Play the sound attached to the selected or current image

 View PolyView’s About dialog box

Tool Tips

The function of a toolbar button can be determined while PolyView is active by placing the mouse cursor over the button. After a few moments a small caption will be drawn near the cursor indicating the function of the button.

Toolbar Positioning

The PolyView toolbar is a docking toolbar. This means that it can be grabbed with the left mouse button and dragged to a new position within the PolyView window. If positioned against an edge of the window it will be docked there. The toolbar can also be left floating anywhere in the window, or made invisible through the Toolbar option on the View menu.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are available for many of the operations available in PolyView’s menus. The function of a shortcut key varies, however, depending on the window that is currently open. The following summarizes the available keyboard shortcuts:

When an image window is active

Function	Key

File Close	Ctrl + F4

File Delete	Del

File Open	Ctrl + O

File Rename	F2 and Ctrl-R

File Save	Ctrl + S

File TWAIN Acquire	F3

File TWAIN Acquire to File	Shift + F3

Edit Copy Visible	Ctrl + C

Edit Mark (Unmark)	Space

Edit Paste	Ctrl + V

Edit Paste Into Image	Ctrl + Shift + V

Edit Paste Into Image w/Transparency 	Alt + V

Edit Undo	Ctrl + Z

Help	F1

View Multipage Next Page	Ctrl + Page Down

View Multipage Previous Page	Ctrl + Page Up

View Next in Directory	Shift + Page Down

View One-for-One Mapping	Ctrl-F8

View Previous in Directory	Shift + Page Up

View Refresh	F5

View Resize to fit main window	Ctrl-F9

View Zoom In	F9 and +

View Zoom In (Upper Left Origin)	Shift + F9

View Zoom Out	F8 and -

View Undo Zoom	F10

1st Open With Application	1

2nd Open With Application	2

3rd Open With Application	3

4th Open With Application	4

When the Explore or an Album window is open

Function	Key

File Close	Ctrl + F4

File Delete	Del

File Open	Ctrl + O

File Rename	F2 and Ctrl-R

File TWAIN Acquire	F3

File TWAIN Acquire to File	Shift + F3

Edit Mark Selected Images	Space

Edit Select All	Ctrl + A

Edit Undo Move/Copy	Ctrl + Z

View Refresh	F5

Browse Slide Show From Selected Images	S

Thumbnails Create All	F4

Thumbnails Create All Recursive	Shift + F4

Thumbnails Create Selected	Ctrl + Shift + F4

1st Open With Application	1

2nd Open With Application	2

3rd Open With Application	3

4th Open With Application	4

When the Browse window is open

Function	Key

File Close	Ctrl + F4

File Delete	Del

File Open	Ctrl + O

File Rename	F2 and Ctrl-R

File TWAIN Acquire	F3

File TWAIN Acquire to File	Shift + F3

Edit Mark Selected Images	Space

Edit Select All	Ctrl + A

Edit Undo Move/Copy	Ctrl + Z

View Refresh	F5

Browse Slide Show From Selected Images	S

1st Open With Application	1

2nd Open With Application	2

3rd Open With Application	3

4th Open With Application	4

When other windows are open

Function	Key

File Close	Ctrl + F4

File Open	Ctrl + O

File TWAIN Acquire	F3

File TWAIN Acquire to File	Shift + F3

Edit Undo Move/Copy	Ctrl + Z


The Status Bar

The Status Bar contains:

•	an indicator which displays the action a highlighted menu option will perform

•	a working indicator which is displayed when a PolyView background thread is working on reading or saving a file, creating thumbnail sketches, or adjusting the appearance of an image

•	the coordinates of the mouse cursor when it is positioned within an open image window, the color of the pixel the cursor is over, and additional image information

The status bar can be made invisible through the Status Bar command on the View menu.


Windows Registry Usage

PolyView uses the Windows registry for the storage of all information pertaining to individual user settings from the Properties menu, most recently used file list, and the most recently used directory. The polyview.ini file created by PolyView versions prior to 1.70 is no longer needed and may be discarded.

PolyView automatically registers itself upon startup, but only for the purpose of storing user preferences under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Polybytes\PolyView key. The association of file types with PolyView is done only by user direction from the Register File Types command that can be selected from the Options menu.


The Properties Dialog

The PolyView Properties dialog box, accessed through the Properties selection of the Options menu, is used to control the user preferences for the operations performed by PolyView during its operations.

Browsing Properties

File Properties

Font Properties

Gamma Properties

General Properties

JPEG Properties

Location Properties

MRU File List Properties

Open With Properties

Photo-CD Properties

Printing Properties

Thumbnail Properties

Undo Properties


File Properties

The file properties are available from the Files tab of the Properties dialog. These include:

Drag and Drop File Actions

Options to control whether files dragged from the File Manager and dropped on PolyView create new image windows, or are used to create or augment a slide show. Two options are presented:

Create a window for each file

Create a slide show from files

Add to existing list

Image File Open Actions

Options to control whether a file opened by PolyView creates a new image window or replaces the current image window. Two options are presented:

Create New Window

Replace Current Window

Open to Full Screen

Prompt for file save on exit

If this option is checked then PolyView will remember if the appearance of the image is altered and will allow a last chance to save the image when the image is closed.

Write PolyView Signature to GIF/JPEG

If this option is checked then PolyView will write an information string to all exported GIF and JPEG files that designates PolyView as the creator of the file.

Assume single command line argument

This option controls the way PolyView interprets its command line arguments. If checked, then multiple arguments separated by spaces are assumed to be a single image file name containing spaces. If unchecked, then multiple arguments are assumed to be the names of multiple files, and names containing spaces must be enclosed in double quote characters.

For example, the command line

polyview my picture

will be interpreted as a request to open the files “my” and “picture” if this option is unchecked, but as a request to open the file “my picture” if checked. The command line

polyview “my first picture” “my second picture”

will be interpreted as a request to open the two files “my first picture” and “my second picture” regardless of whether this option is checked or unchecked.

Show full path in window title

This option controls the format of the image name placed in an open image window’s title. If checked the full path name of the original file will be displayed.  If unchecked the name without the directory and file extension portions of the name will be displayed.

Prompt for all names in TWAIN acquire

If checked then all file saves in a direct-to-file TWAIN acquisition will be preceded by a prompt for the name and type of the file.

TWAIN acquire to multi-page format

If checked then a TWAIN acquire to file operation will create multi-page files if DCX or TIFF is selected as the output file type. A new file will be created to contain the first image acquired. Subsequently acquired images will be appended to the file as additional pages.

Add TWAIN files to slide show

If checked then TWAIN files will be added to the current slide show list as they are acquired from the TWAIN data source.

Create backup during file transforms

File transforms (rotate, flip, etc.) that are performed either on JPEG files, or as operations on groups of files associated with thumbnails, are potentially dangerous because there is a remote possibility that operation failures can result in the loss of the original image. For that reason PolyView provides for a backup operation to be performed during the transform. If this option is checked then the original file’s contents will be saved in a backup file before it is replaced with its transformed counterpart. The name of the backup file is the original file name with the string “.$$$.type” appended to it, where type is the file type of the original file. For example, if the file mountains.jpg is transformed, then after the operation the original file’s contents can be found in the file mountains.jpg.$$$.jpg.

Show hidden files

If checked then hidden files will be available for viewing from the Explore and Browse windows.

Default Comment for Saved or Converted Files

This field is used to program a string that will be written as a comment to all files saved as GIF , JPEG , or PNG formats. This field might be used, for example, to specify a copyright string to place in all output images.

Ignore delete key for open images

Check this item to cause the Delete key to be ignored for an open image. If unchecked then pressing the Delete key will delete the image file.

Keep extension on rename

Check this item to always retain the current file extension when a file is renamed. With this option checked, for example, specifying NewName for a file named OldName.jpg will result in OldName.jpg being renamed to NewName.jpg.

Close window after image move

Check this item to close the current image window after a Move operation (File menu).

Startup “Always On Top”

Check this item to start PolyView in a mode where its windows always lie on top of other application’s windows.


Create a window for each file

If this option is chosen, then each file dragged and dropped on PolyView will create a separate image window. Caution: if a large number of files are dropped, then correspondingly large quantities of memory resources will be consumed.


Create a slide show from files

If this option is chosen, then a group of files dragged and dropped on PolyView will be used as the file list for a slide show and the slide show will be automatically entered.


Add to existing list

If Create a slide show from files has been selected, then this option controls whether the dropped group of files replaces an existing slide show list or is added to it. Note: this option will be disabled unless Create a slide show from files has been selected.


Create New Window

If this option is chosen, then each file opened by PolyView will be displayed in a separate, newly created window.


Replace Current Window

If this option is chosen, then each file opened by PolyView will be displayed in the current window, replacing any existing image. If no images are currently being displayed then PolyView will create a new window for the image. Note: If multiple files are dropped on PolyView when this option has been selected, then only the first file will be opened.


General Properties

The general properties are available from the General tab of the Properties dialog. These include:

Image Adjustment Percentages

These controls set the percentage change that will occur when the Image Manipulation commands from the Operations menu are used to adjust brightness, contrast, color saturation, red/green tint, and sharpness. Setting the Brightness Adjustment Percentage value to 10, for example, will cause the Options:Brighter+ command to increase the overall brightness of the image by 10 percent. The allowable range for each item is 1 to 20.

Default One-For-One Mapping

This option controls the way PolyView deals with images that are larger than the maximum size image that can be displayed in the current viewing area. If Default One-For-One Mapping is selected, then PolyView will prepare the largest size window possible and equip it with scroll-bars to enable panning around in the image. If Default One-For-One Mapping is not selected, then PolyView will scale the image to fit within the viewing space. In this case the View:One-for-One Mapping command can be used to achieve the same view of the image.

Enable interpolated zoom

This option controls the way PolyView zooms an image. If interpolated zoom is enabled then a new window will be created from the contents of the defined area. The size of the new window will be the maximum size that can be created within the confines of the current viewing area within PolyView. An interpolation algorithm will be used to present as realistic an image as is possible based on the original resolution of the image.

If interpolated zoom is disabled, then a quick zoom will be executed which simply rescales the current window to display an enlarged version of the area of interest.

Use default WMF size

This option controls the action taken when PolyView opens a Windows metafile. If unchecked, then the WMF Dimensions dialog will be invoked whenever a metafile is opened to allow the specification of the window size for the metafile image. If checked, then the dimensional information contained in the metafile will be used to determine the window size, or 300x200 for metafiles that contain no dimensional information.

Favor WMF

the Windows clipboard frequently contains images in several different formats. When a Paste operation is chosen from the Edit menu, a choice must be made of which format will best render the image. If both a metafile and a device independent bitmap are found in the clipboard, PolyView will select the metafile if this option is checked, and the device independent bitmap otherwise. The unchecked case usually results in the best rendering of the image, but sometimes images copied from applications like Microsoft Office can be handled better in their metafile configuration.

Filter to new window

If checked, then filtering operations that drastically change the appearance of an image will be written to a new window, leaving the current image unchanged. The operations altered by this option include some edge filters and the special effects filters.

Disable Splash Screen

Turns off the display of the opening splash screen.

Animate GIFs on Open

Controls whether an animated GIF will be animated when the file is opened, or whether it will be treated as a multipage image. This option applies to opened images, the folder Browse window, and slide shows .

Use “new” flat toolbars

Use MS Internet Explorer style "flat" toolbars. This option does not take effect until PolyView is closed and restarted. Also note that it may be ineffectual or cause anomalous behavior on systems which do not have the current MS Internet Explorer or MS Office 97 products installed.

Display image transparencies

Controls the display of transparency information in GIF images, and transparency and alpha channel information in PNG images. When enabled, this information will be used to blend the image with the current background color (see the Options menu) to allow the images to be viewed as they will be in a WWW browser. Note: enabling this option changes the basic bitmap information retained internally for the image. If the image is subsequently resaved then the saved image will retain this altered appearance.

Allow Multiple Instances

This option controls whether or not multiple instances of PolyView are allowed to run. If checked then several different PolyView application windows can be opened at the same time. If unchecked then running polyview.exe with an image file name on its command line will simply open an additional image window within a currently running PolyView application.

Progress Bar

These options specify the behavior of the Progress Bar that PolyView can optionally display while decompressing an image.

Display Method

This property controls the method used to draw images that must be reduced in size to fit the available viewing area.

Color photo mode - pixels eliminated during reduction are simply deleted. This is the fastest method and generally does a very good job with complex color images like photographs.

Favor black pixels - black pixels are favored over white in monochrome images. This method works well for line drawings when black lines are drawn on a white background.

Favor white pixels - white pixels are favored over black in monochrome images. This method works well for line drawings when white lines are drawn on a black background.

Limit Transfer Size – some video display card drivers have problems with the large memory images that PolyView sends them when fitting to an on-screen window (visible as distortion in the displayed image). Check this option to adopt a pessimistic approach to window painting that will work around this problem.

Paste Feathering

This value controls the way the edges of a pasted bitmap are blended, or feathered, into the original image. The value is the width of the feathered transition edge, in pixels. The blending into the original image will transition from fully transparent to fully opaque across this pixel boundary. This value can vary from 0, for a sharp edge, to 250, for an edge that is gradually feathered to fully opaque across a 250 pixel boundary. Note: it is entirely possible to cause an invisible paste operation if the feathering value is set too high when pasting a small bitmap.

Paste Transparency

This value controls the overall transparency of a pasted bitmap as it is blended into the original image. The value is the percentage transparency and can vary from 0, for no transparency (fully opaque), to 100, for full transparency (fully transparent).

Transparency Tolerance

The tolerance to use for choosing colors “close to” the transparent color in subsequent operations. During operations that support transparency, such as saving an image to a GIF file, all colors "close to" the specified transparent color will be designated as transparent. The tolerance is specified as a number between 0 and 1000, inclusive. A zero (0) value indicates that only the specified transparent color for the image is to be transparent. A value of 1000 indicates that all colors are transparent. Values between 0 and 1000 specify varying degrees of tolerance. See the section on Transparent Color Specification for further information.

Always maximize images

Check this option to always open images in a window that occupies all the display space in PolyView, i.e., maximize the image's window.

Enlarge small images

Check this option to cause small images to be visually enlarged to fit the available display space when opened. When unchecked the behavior is to display images in their “actual” size if they are smaller than the available space.


Browsing Properties

The browsing properties are available from the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog. These properties include:

Browsed Image Display Time

The number of seconds an image is to be displayed in auto-browse or slide show modes. This is the minimum time for the display of the image in slide show mode. The next image load is started when an image is displayed, so long image load times may increase the image display time.

Transition Effects

Transition effects refer to the method used to display individual images during a slide show presentation. The Name property is the specification for the transition to be used.

The Speed property indicates the speed at which a transition effect will occur, where 1 is the fastest and 100 is the slowest. The effect of this property on a transition varies with the transition selected. Experimentation may be necessary to determine the transition speed that works best for a set of images.

A Dissolve effect can also be. The Dissolve effect takes place when an image is removed from the screen prior to displaying the next image.

Note: the Name and Speed properties apply only to images in slide shows where the transition effects have not been individually specified.

Timed Browsing Mode

These properties control the method used to terminate auto-browse or slide show mode. Three alternatives are provided:

Cycle Images Once

Cycle Images Continuously

Cycle Images Manually

Randomize Slide Shows

This property controls the order in which images are displayed during slide shows. If selected then the image display order will be randomized. If not selected, then the image display order will be the same as the order shown in the slide show open dialog, or the order of the files listed in a slide show script file.

Ignore read errors during slide shows

This property controls the behavior when image file decode errors occur during slide shows. If checked then any errors that occur will be ignored and the offending file will just be skipped over. If unchecked then any error will abort the slide show with a message indicating the file that caused the problem. Note: if an error occurs while reading the first file to be displayed in a slide show then the show will always be aborted.

Display Filenames with Full Screen Image

This property controls whether or not the name of the displayed image is displayed along with the image when in full screen mode.

Zoom images to fill window or screen

This property controls the behavior when a slide show or full screen image is smaller than the available screen display area. If checked then the image will be expanded to fit the available space, preserving the aspect ratio of the original image.

Select multiple names in dialog

On Windows NT systems prior to version 4.0, this property controls whether or not the slideshow selection dialog is configured to allow the selection of multiple names. If checked, then multiple names can be selected from the file name list box, but names containing spaces in this box and in the directory box will have their DOS compatible short names substituted.

Disable Screen Saver

If checked, then screen saver activation will be disabled during a full screen slide show.

Start slide show from last/selected image

If checked, then a slide show will be started from the image last displayed in a slide show during the current PolyView session. A slide show will also start on the image selected when the Play button is pressed on the slide show dialog. (See the Slide Show command on the Browse menu.)

Enable directory browse in full screen mode

If checked then when an image is raised to full screen mode the resulting display behaves as a manual slide show of the image’s enclosing directory. In this mode the normal slide show navigation controls can be used to manually browse through the images in the directory. If unchecked then the behavior when an image is raised to full screen is to browse through PolyView’s currently open images.

Enter full screen on double-clicked image

This option defines the action that takes place when an open image is double-clicked with the left mouse button. If the option is checked then the image will be raised to full screen. If unchecked then the image will be closed on a double-click event.

Disable “Paused” indicator when paused

Disable the Paused indicator that appears when a full-screen slide show is paused.

Favor absolute timing

Two methods are available for timing the individual images in a slide show. Images can be displayed for the period of time specified in the Browsed Image Display Time property (or individual image timing specification), or the time between image changes can be set to the timing specification, thus favoring the absolute timing of the slides. This latter method, available when the Favor Absolute Timing property is checked, eliminates the timing drift caused by transition effects, sound playing, etc.

Fully erase background between slides

Check this option to fully erase the screen background prior to displaying a new image during a slide show. If unchecked the previous image will be left on the screen as the new image is transitioned in over it.


Cycle Images Once

The images are cycled once from the beginning to the end of the list. When the end of the image list is reached the full screen mode will be terminated.


Cycle Images Continuously

The images are cycled continuously. When the end of the image list is reached the list is restarted from the beginning. User intervention via the mouse or the keyboard is required to interrupt the display cycling.


Cycle Images Manually

Image cycling is controlled by the user via the mouse or the keyboard. The right mouse button advances to the next image in the list. The left mouse button advances to the previous image in the list. In a like manner the keyboard cursor control keys cycle through the image list.


JPEG Properties

The JPEG properties are available from the JPEG tab of the Properties dialog.

DCT Arithmetic Method

The PolyView JPEG algorithms provide several methods for performing the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) used during JPEG file reading and writing. The methods available are:

Accurate Integers

Fast Integers

More Accurate Floating Point

Chroma Component Upsampling Method

The Chroma component upsampling method controls the speed and accuracy of certain color manipulations performed during JPEG file reading. The methods available are:

Slow, careful, and accurate

Fast, but less accurate

Output Quality Factor

Controls the relative quality of the image resulting from saving to a JPEG format file, and is proportional to the resulting size of the file. (Higher quality images result in larger files.) The PolyView default value of 50 is a reasonable compromise between output quality and file size.

Disable MMX Optimizations

On systems equipped with MMX enabled processors, this option will turn off the MMX optimizations used during JPEG operations.


Accurate Integers

Slow but accurate integers - this method is slower than the fast integer method, but achieves high quality results.


More Accurate Floating Point

Fast or slow but accurate floating point - this highly accurate method may be the fastest on some machines, but on machines without floating point capability will be VERY slow.


Fast Integers

Fast but inaccurate integers - this is the fastest method on most machines, but may suffer from degraded image quality. For many images there will be insignificant visible degradation.


Accurate Chroma Upsampling

Chroma (color) upsampling is performed very carefully and accurately. This is the slowest method.


Less Accurate Chroma Upsampling

Chroma (color) upsampling is performed with a sloppier method that leads to some image degradation. This method is much faster, however, and the degradation is frequently not detectable.


MRU List Properties

The Most Recently Used (MRU) File List Properties are available under the MRU Files tab of the Properties dialog. The following options are available for manipulating the properties of the MRU file list:

# of files in MRU file list

Controls the maximum number of files in the MRU file list. This can be any number between 0 and 16 inclusive, where 0 indicates that the MRU file list should always be empty. Note that changes in this option will not take effect until PolyView is restarted.

Purge MRU file list on exit

When this option is checked the MRU file list will behave normally while PolyView is executing, but will be emptied when PolyView is closed. PolyView will then always start with an empty MRU file list.


Photo-CD Upsizing

The algorithm that PolyView uses to select the display image size of a photo-cd file depends on the Enable Photo-CD Upsizing option of the Photo-CD Tab of the Properties dialog.

If upsizing is not enabled, then PolyView chooses an image size which fits within the dimensions of the full screen viewing area, yielding the most accurate display of the image. For example, if a horizontal image is to be displayed on an 800x600 resolution display, then the 768x512 image size will be chosen. On the same display, however, a vertical image will be displayed in a 256x384 format, since the next available size of 512x768 will overfill the screen in the vertical direction.

If upsizing is enabled, then PolyView chooses an image that fills the screen to the Screen Fill Percentage in at least one direction. For example, consider the case where a 75% Screen Fill Percentage has been chosen. On an 800x600 display, a horizontal image will be displayed in the 768x512 image size because this fills the screen to 96% in the horizontal direction, and 85% in the vertical direction. For a vertical image a 512x768 image will be chosen, because the next smaller size of 256x384 will fill the screen to only 32% in the horizontal direction, and 64% in the vertical direction. In this case, the 512x768 image will be "shrunk" to exactly fill the available display area.

Caution: upsizing can cause PolyView to use a significantly larger amount of memory during photo-cd image decompression and display. Specifying a 90% Screen Fill Percentage on an 800x600 display will result in PolyView choosing a 1536x1024 image. During decompression this size image requires a 4.6 Mbyte memory structure to be allocated for the storage of a device independent bitmap. On a 24 bit display the resulting device dependent bitmap is also 4.6 Mbytes in size, so the peak memory requirement to display this image is more than 9.2 Mbytes. This may lead to excessive disk activity and performance degradation on memory challenged systems.


Photo-CD Properties

The Photo-CD properties are available from the Photo-CD tab of the Properties dialog.

Photo-CD Sizing Options

These options control the size of the image loaded when a Photo-CD file is opened. The choices include the available sizes, and:

Automatic - PolyView will choose an image size based upon the options selected from the Photo-CD Upsizing properties.

Ask on each PCD - each time a Photo-CD file is opened a dialog box will be invoked from which the image size to be loaded can be chosen.

Photo-CD Upsizing

The Photo-CD Upsizing options control the way PolyView selects the image size to use from a Photo-CD image file. Note: the Photo-CD Upsizing properties are used only when a Photo-CD file is opened with the Sizing Options set to Automatic.


Progress Bar Options

The progress bar is an indicator on the PolyView status bar that graphically displays the progress being made towards the completion of the various activities associated with decompressing image files. These activities include:

Initial image decompression

Image color reduction (two passes) on 256 color displays

Final bitmap production

Thumbnail creation

Depending on the progress bar settings, one or more of these activity states will be reflected in the progress bar. Note: if multiple images are being decompressed simultaneously, only the activity associated with the first image started will be reflected in the progress bar.

The following options control the behavior of the progress bar indicator:

Never

The progress bar is never displayed during file decompression operations.

On Intermediate Ops

The progress bar is displayed while decompression activity is ongoing, but the image data is not yet available for display in the image window. This will occur, for example, when an interlaced image is being decompressed. In this case the entire image is read into memory before the creation of the final display bitmap and the subsequent display of the completed image.

Always

The progress bar is displayed for all activities and the progressive display of the image during decompression is not performed.


Open With Properties

The manipulation of the list of applications defined for alternate processing of PolyView images is available through the Open With tab of the Properties dialog. The controls on this page include:

Helper Applications for the “Open With” menu

A list box containing up to 4 applications to use for alternate PolyView image processing. The defined applications will appear on the context menu for an image under the Open With popup. Selecting an Open With application from the context menu will send the associated image to the application.

Title for current selection

A field for entering the title to be used for the current Open With application selection. Any title entered here will be used in the Open With menu list in an image context menu.

Use quotes with current selection

If checked, then the image file name argument sent to the selected Open With application will be enclosed in double quotes. This is necessary for some applications if the selected image contains space characters. If you have trouble getting an application to correctly process an image file, try changing this option.

Add Application

This button invokes a standard file selection dialog for navigating to and selecting an EXE file to be defined as an alternate processing application for PolyView images.

Remove

This button removes selected applications from the application list box.


Context Menu

A context menu is the popup menu that appears when objects are clicked with the second mouse button. Context menus in PolyView are available on open images, Explore window thumbnails, and Directory/Marked File browser entries.


Thumbnail Properties

The thumbnail properties are available from the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. These properties control the methods by which thumbnail sketches of images are created and stored.

Thumbnail Creation and Storage

Two types of thumbnail bitmaps are created by PolyView: a 256 color bitmap which provides excellent color reproduction when the system display is configured for a mode which provides greater than 256 colors (16, 24, or more bits per pixel), and a 216 color bitmap which uses an error diffusion technique to accurately reproduce colors on 256 color (palette based) systems. The Thumbnail Creation and Storage options control which of these bitmaps will be created and stored in the thumbnail database:

Optimize for 256 color displays - thumbnails will be stored as a 216 color bitmap using error diffusion to most accurately reproduce colors on 256 color (8 bit) display configurations. On systems that will view thumbnails in 8 bit and higher color resolutions, this option is the best compromise between thumbnail database size and color reproduction.

Optimize for greater than 256 color displays - thumbnails will be stored as a 256 color bitmap to most accurately reproduce colors on systems which are configured for more than 256 colors. Color reproduction on 256 color systems is compromised because each image in the thumbnail pane potentially uses a different 256 color set, and at most 256 colors can be displayed at one time on these systems.

Optimize for all displays - both types of bitmaps will be stored in the thumbnail database. The bitmap used for display will be the correct one to best reproduce colors for the display configuration selected. This option results in the largest thumbnail database, but gives the best color reproduction on systems which frequently switch between color resolutions.

Thumbnail dimensions

PolyView creates and displays thumbnails to fit square regions which are 100, 150, or 200 pixels on each edge. This option controls the size used for the initial creation of a thumbnail database. Note: this option is also updated when the Thumbnail Size dialog is used to change the display size.

Drive Independent Mapping

This property controls the mapping of thumbnails to images. When checked, the strict matching criteria is relaxed to allow thumbnails to be matched to images where the image was on a different drive when the thumbnail was created. This is useful where drive letter assignments have changed due to hardware changes, or in dual-boot situations where drive letter assignments differ between two operating systems. Note: Enabling drive independent mapping may result in unexpected behavior when identical images (identical path, size, and creation/modification time) exist on more than one drive. Consider, for example, the situation where a file named X.GIF is stored in both a c:\images directory, and a d:\images directory. If a thumbnail has been created for the file in the c:\images directory and the file in the d:\images directory is then moved via drag and drop in PolyView’s Explore Window, the result will be that the thumbnail information will be assigned to the new location for the moved file, and the file in the c:\images directory will appear to no longer have thumbnail information.

Number of thumbnails per row when printing

This property controls the number of thumbnails that are placed on each row of printed output. Between 4 and 7 thumbnails can be specified.

Enhanced Thumbnail Printing

Enhanced thumbnail printing uses the original images as the printing source rather than the previously created thumbnails. This method of printing yields superior results at the cost of decreased printing speed and increased memory/disk usage.

Include image dimensions with name

If checked then the actual image dimensions of each thumbnail will be printed along with the thumbnail names.

Disable Compression

Some printer drivers have problems with the compressed bitmaps that PolyView uses when printing thumbnails. Check this option to turn off the compression of bitmaps during thumbnail creation if you are experiencing problems with incorrect colors in printed thumbnails. Note that you will need to recreate thumbnails with compression disabled before printing.

Auto-create Album Thumbnails

When this option is checked then images in thumbnail albums will automatically have their thumbnails created when the album is opened (if they do not already exist), or when images are added to an album.


Undo Properties

The Undo properties are available from the Undo tab of the Properties dialog. These properties control the way PolyView saves information about an image so that a requested operation can be undone and the image restored to its previous appearance.

Undo Policy

The Policy PolyView uses for managing the memory space allocated for saving undo information can be specified to be one of the following:

Disable undo operations - Choosing this operation turns off undo saving entirely. The only recourse for undoing operations is to start over by closing and reopening the image file.

Replace oldest undo block for another image when buffer is full - When the undo buffer is full and another undo block needs to be stored, delete the oldest undo block in the buffer which belongs to an image other than the current image. If the undo buffer contains only blocks for the current image, then delete the oldest block found.

Replace oldest undo block for the current image when buffer is full - When the undo buffer is full and another undo block needs to be stored, delete the oldest undo block in the buffer for the current image. If the undo buffer contains no blocks for the current image, then delete the oldest block found for any image.

Do not save current undo block when buffer is full - When the undo buffer is full then no further undo blocks will be stored.

Undo buffer size

The size to use for the Undo buffer, in megabytes.


Open to Full Screen

When an image is opened it will immediately be raised to full screen mode. Until the mode is exited the mouse and keyboard navigation controls can be used to move through the other files contained in the same folder as the opened image.

Note: If the Shift key is held down while opening an image then the full screen option is cancelled and the image opened into a new window.


Location Properties

The Location properties are available from the Locations tab of the Properties dialog. These include:

Keyword File

Specifies the location and characteristics of the keyword database file. If the keyword file is marked to be Read-only then operations which would update the database will be disabled. This feature is intended to enable the implementation of a networked system where the database is updated by a single user, but multiple users can access the database for locating images.

Note: changes to the keyword file specification will not become effective until the next time PolyView starts execution.

Thumbnail Database

Specifies the location and name of the thumbnail database files. Two files will be created from the name entered here by adding the PVD and PVX file types. If the thumbnail database is marked to be Read-only then you can browse thumbnails, but operations that modify the database, such as thumbnail creation, will be disabled. This is a useful mode of operation if a thumbnail database is to be shared from a common network location.

Note: this specification indicates the thumbnail database that is to be used the next time the Explore window is invoked.

Print Template File

The Print Composer command on the File menu has a number of built-in page templates that define combinations of print frames to be used during printing. The Print Template File property specifies the name of an optional template file that contains additional page templates. This file will be processed each time the Print Composer command on the File menu is chosen. See Print Composer Template File Format for further information.


Slide Show Transition Effects

A slide show transition effect is the method used to initially display an image. The following effects are available (the number in parentheses behind each effect name is the index for the effect to be used in a slide show script ):

None (0) – no transition effect is to be used. The image will simply be flashed to the screen.

Wipe From Top (1), Wipe From Bottom (2), Wipe From Left (3), Wipe From Right (4) – the Wipe effects slowly scan the image to the screen from the direction specified.

Blinds (5) – the image is transitioned to the screen as if horizontal slats were being opened.

Blocks (6) – the image is transitioned to the screen as a series of rectangular blocks that appear in a checkerboard fashion.

Center (7) – the image is transitioned to the screen as a series of rectangular blocks that spiral out from the center of the image.

Louvers (8) – the image is transitioned to the screen as if vertical slats were being opened.

Squares Out (9) – the image is smoothly painted out from the center.

Zigzag (10) – the image is painted using rectangular blocks in a zigzag fashion.

Random Blocks (11) – the image is transitioned to the screen as a series of rectangular blocks that appear in a random checkerboard fashion.

Sprinkle (12) – the image is transitioned to the screen as a if small chips of the image were being sprinkled onto the display area.

Random (All other values) – the transition effect for the image is chosen randomly from the above list.


Printing Properties

The Printing properties are available from the Locations tab of the Properties dialog. These include:

Batch Print Images Per Page

Specifies the number of images to print on each page when Printing Multiple Images .

Rotate to best fit frame

This option enables the automatic rotation of an image to best fit the margins it will be printed within. A taller than wide image, for example, will be rotated 90 degrees if printed to a wider than tall print area.

Note: this option is only applicable when printing multiple images or multiple copies of a single image.

Interpolate During Printing

PolyView has two printing techniques available - sending images directly to the printer, or a method that internally expands the image to fit the specified printing size. Some printer drivers do not perform well using the former technique. With this option selected PolyView will perform an in-memory expansion (if required) of an image prior to sending it to the printer by using an interpolation algorithm. In many cases this operation will significantly improve the quality of the printed image.

This option may also be necessary with some printers to work around printer driver bugs that fail to print images with large pixel dimensions.

Note: selecting this option may use an unacceptable amount of memory when large image expansion ratios are required, resulting in long printing times.

Minimize transfer blocks

Some printer drivers cannot correctly process the large image sizes that result from interpolating an image to match the printer’s resolution. Select this option to use a transfer method that minimizes the amount of data sent to the printer in one operation without reducing the printing quality.


Gamma Properties

The Gamma properties are available from the Gamma tab of the Properties dialog. These properties control the way PolyView handles gamma adjustments during its viewing operations. The following properties are available:

Global Gamma Value

The gamma value that will be applied to images according to the Global Gamma Handling selection.

Global Gamma Handling

The Global Gamma Handling options group controls the way the Global Gamma Value is applied to images viewed and opened with PolyView. The choices are:

Apply gamma only on command

Gamma correction is never automatically applied. Use the Apply Global Gamma or Adjust Gamma commands on the Operations menu to change the gamma of a displayed image.

Apply to all but opened images

The Global Gamma Value is automatically applied to all images viewed in browsers and slide shows . Images opened for editing into individual image windows are not modified.

Always apply gamma

The Global Gamma Value is automatically be applied to all displayed images, including images opened for editing into individual image windows.

Caution: The gamma compensation performed by this operation modifies the in-memory bitmap for each image opened. If the image is subsequently saved, the modified bitmap is stored to the file. Unless the image file is saved to a format that also saves the gamma factor, such as PNG , an additional viewing of the file will again apply the gamma compensation, causing undesirable color distortion. We recommend that the global gamma handling always be set to Apply to all but opened images prior to opening images which are to modified and saved back to disk.


Font Properties

The Font properties are available from the Fonts tab of the Properties dialog. These properties control the fonts used during various PolyView operations. Properties for the following fonts can be adjusted:

Slide Show Label Font

This is the font used for the file name presentation that appears on the bottom of the screen during a full screen slide show. See the Display Filenames with Full Screen Image item on the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog for further information.

Thumbnail Name Font for Screen

This is the font used for displaying thumbnail file names in the Explore window.

Thumbnail Name Font for Printing

This is the font used for displaying thumbnail file names when printing thumbnails and when creating contact sheets. See the Print Thumbnails to Window command on the File menu for further information.

Thumbnail Page Header Font for Printing

This is the font used for printing the page label on a thumbnail printout. The page label contains the name of the folder containing the thumbnails, and the current page number.


Create Animated GIFs

Animated GIF files are GIF89a compliant files containing two or more images and the necessary information for performing simple animation using the images. The Create Animated GIFs command under the File menu provides a mechanism for creating and viewing animated GIFs from within PolyView.

The Create Animated GIFs window contains the following controls:

Input GIF Names

The list of GIF files containing the images to be placed in the output file, in the order they are to be displayed. The file names can be reordered by sorting (click the sort bar at the top of the list) or by dragging images around using the mouse.

Add Files…

Invokes a file selection dialog to choose GIF files, or a PolyView GIF animation script , to add to the list of files.

Remove Selected

Removes any selected files from the list of GIF names.

Save Script…

Saves all specified information for the animated GIF to a PolyView GIF animation script file.

Unpack existing GIF…

Unpacks an existing GIF into its constituent files and an animation script . The individual files from the original file will have an index number appended to their names, indicating the order of placement within the original file. The script file will be the original name with the “.GIF” extension replaced with “.PVA”. If the Replace during unpack option is checked then existing files will be silently overwritten, otherwise the unpack operation will fail if file name conflicts are found. At the conclusion of the unpack operation the Create Animated GIFs window will be updated to reflect the operations necessary to recreate the original file.

Delay Time

The amount of time an individual image is to be displayed during animation, in hundredths of seconds. Entering a new value into this field changes the delay time for all selected (highlighted) image names.

Disposal Method

Controls the action to be taken by a web browser at the conclusion of the delay time for an image and just before advancing to the next image. Selecting a new value for this field changes the disposal method for all selected (highlighted) image names. The available options are:

Not specified - perform no action.

Do not dispose - leave the image on the screen. This should be the same as the first option.

Restore background - replace with the background color.

Restore previous - replace with the previous image.

Note: not all web browsers perform the same actions when presented with these options.

Color Map

Controls the way the color map for each image is handled as images are added to the output animated GIF. Selecting a new value for this field changes the color map option for all selected (highlighted) image names. The available options are:

Use this image - the color map for this image will be transferred to the output file as the local color map for this image.

Use first image - the color map used for this image during playback of the animated GIF will be the color map from the first image place in the output file.

Note: the color map from the first image in the list is always used as the global color map for the output file.

Left and Top Offsets

The Left and Top offsets control the position for the selected image within the image space defined for playback of the animated GIF (defined by the Width and Height fields). Entering values into these fields changes the corresponding option value for all the selected (highlighted) image names.

Loop Count

The iteration loop count to apply to the animation. Entering 0 in this field implies continuous looping. Any other value is the number of times the GIF images should be cycled each time the animation is displayed. Note: PolyView does not honor this count during playback but instead always loops continuously. You will have to open the GIF with your web browser to see the effect.

Width and Height Fields

These fields define the width and height of the display rectangle for the animated GIF file. If both fields contain non-zero integers then they will be written to the output GIF file. Otherwise, the width and height of the first image in the list will define the display rectangle size.

Output GIF Name Selection

The Output GIF field must be filled in with the name of the animated GIF file to be created. Use the Browse button to select the folder and file name.

View

Opens the Output GIF file in a normal PolyView window. If the file is an animated GIF then it will automatically be animated. This button is useful for evaluating the result of building a file.

Build

Builds the animated GIF file.


Viewing Animated GIFs

PolyView can view an animated GIF either with automated animation, or by paging through the file one image at a time using the multipage image commands under the View menu. This capability is a not an exact duplication of the behavior of modern web browsers, however, so it is recommended that animations being prepared for web pages be previewed using an actual browser before final publication.


Animation Script Files

An animation script file contains all the commands necessary to create an animated GIF file. The script is normally created by unpacking an existing animated GIF or by saving the script from the Create Animated GIFs window. PolyView uses ".PVA" as the extension for an animation script file.)


File Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the File menu.

Camera Specific Info…

Close

Copy

Create Animated GIFs…

Create Multipage Image

Delete

Exit

Export Image…

Export Thumbnails…

Format Conversions…

Image Properties…

IPTC Info…

Move

New

Album

Album Containing Selected

Folder…

Image…

Open…

Open Database…

Page Setup…

Print

Print Composer

Print Preview

Print Setup…

Print Thumbnails

Print Thumbnails To Window (Contact Sheets)

Process Photo-JPEG File

Publish Web Pages

Purge recent file list

Recently Open File List

Rename

Save Database

Save Relative Database

Save

Save As…

Save as wallpaper…

Set as wallpaper

TWAIN


Windows Directory

The Windows directory has various names and locations on various computers. It might be c:\windows, c:\winnt35, c:\winnt351, etc. PolyView will find the correct directory for your system.


TWAIN Interface Support Menu

The TWAIN menu accesses the TWAIN interface options for acquiring images directly from compatible scanners, digital cameras, and other instruments providing standard TWAIN interfaces. See TWAIN for further information.

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the TWAIN menu.

Acquire…

Acquire to File…

Select Source

Normal Message Handling


Edit Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Edit menu.

Add Images

Copy Full Image

Copy Selected Area

Copy Visible Image

Crop

Enlarge

Flush Clipboard

Flush Undo Buffer

Keywords

Keyword List Maintenance

Mark Image(s)

Paste

Paste Into Image

Paste Into Image w/Transparency

Remove From Album

Select All

Select Marked Images

Undo

Undo File Copy

Undo File Move

Unselect


View Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the View menu.

Album Description

Auto-browse Images

Change Keyword Filter

Change Name Filter

Filter by Keyword

Filter by Name

Full Screen View

Multi-page Images

Next in Directory

One-for-One Mapping

Only Image Types

Name Tips

Previous in Directory

Refresh

Resize to fit main window

Selection as Transparency

Sort

Start/Stop GIF Animation

Status Bar

Toolbar

Zoom Options


Browse Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Browse menu.

Add to Slide Show

Change Keyword

Browse by Keyword

Browse Folder

Browse Image's Folder

Browse Marked Files

Browse Selected Folder

Empty Marked List

Empty Slide Show

New Folder Browser

Open Script…

Play slide Show

Save Slide Show

Slide Show…


Operations Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Operations menu.

Adjust Contrast and Brightness

Adjust Gamma

Adjust RGB

Apply Global Gamma

Area Color Average

Change Color Depth…

Change Image Size…

Duplicate Image

File Transforms

Image Appearance Adjustments

Play Attached Sound

Save Palette

Smooth to New Window

Transparent Color


Options Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Options menu.

Customize Toolbar…

Background Colors…

Font…

Properties…

Register File Types…

Text Color…


Thumbnails Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Thumbnails menu.

Browse Thumbnail Database

Create All

Create Selected

Delete Selected Thumbnails

Delete Thumbnails in Tree

Explore

Hide Selected

Maintain Database…

New Thumbnail Album

Open Database…

Open Thumbnail Album…

ReCreate All

ReCreate Selected

Rename Thumbnail Database

Show Hidden

Thumbnail Size…

UnDelete Selected Thumbnails

UnDelete Thumbnails in Tree

UnHide Selected


Tool Menu
Tools Menu

The Tools menu is displayed when an image window is the currently active window. Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Tools menu.

Area Selection Tool

Panning Tool

Zoom Selection Tool


Windows Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Windows menu.

Always On Top

Arrange Icons

Cascade windows

Close all image windows

Current Window List

New Window

Raise Images

Tile Horizontal

Tile Vertical


Help Menu

Click on an item below to read information about a specific command on the Help menu.

About PolyView

Contents and Index

Purchase Now

Registering

Note: Context sensitive help is also available by pressing the F1 key. Context sensitive help directs the user to the help topic appropriate to the action currently being performed.


Image Size

For the purposes of sorting, image size is defined as the number of pixels in an image.


Camera Specific Information

Extracts and displays the camera specific information found in the current image, or in a selected image of a Browse window.


Close

Closes the currently displayed image.


Copy

Copy the current image to a different folder.


Create Animated GIFs...

Invokes the Animated GIF creation window.


Delete

Deletes the file associated with the currently displayed image and closes the image window. Deleted images will be sent to the Windows Recycle Bin. Use the properties of the Recycle Bin to control aspects of deletion like delete confirmation messages, bypassing the Recycle Bin, etc.


Exit

Closes all windows and exits PolyView.


Export Image

Exports the current file in a format supported by PolyView for file saving.


Export Thumbnails

Invokes the Export Thumbnails dialog to export the currently selected thumbnails as individual image files.


Format Conversions

Invokes the Format Conversions window to convert groups of files to a common size and format.


Image Properties

Displays the Image Properties dialog box that provides information about the specific properties of the currently displayed image and, for registered users, the opportunity to add or modify the comments for subsequent saving to any supported file format which can contain embedded comment text, such as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.


Move

Move the current image to a different folder.


New Folder

Creates a new folder as a sub-folder of the currently selected folder in the Explore Window or browse window.


New Image

Creates a new empty image window. The resulting window can be used as a target for subsequent bitmap paste or drag-and-drop operations for creating image collages.


New Album

Creates a new thumbnail album. The new album initially contains no images.


New Album Containing Selected Images

Creates a new thumbnail album. The new album contains the images currently selected in the browse or Explore windows.


Open...

Presents a standard file-open dialog box from which an image file can be selected for display. Newly opened files will be created in a new window or in an existing window, depending on the settings of the Image File Open Actions property of the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog. Multiple files can be selected at once using the standard technique of combining the control and shift keys with mouse button selections (Registered users only).


Open Database

Opens or creates a thumbnail database. This option is available only when an Explore or Album window is open.


Page Setup...

Invokes the Page Setup dialog for the specification of print margins and centering options.


Print

Brings up a choice of printing the current image in its entirety, printing just the currently visible portion of the current image, printing all the pages of a multi-page image, or printing multiple copies of an image on each printed page. Choosing a print command leads to a dialog box that offers an opportunity to change printer characteristics before printing commences.

When a Browse or Explore window is active the Print command can be used to initiate the printing of one or more selected files.


Print Composer

Opens the Print Composer to facilitate printing images in combinations of standard sizes.


Print Preview

Brings up a choice of previewing the printing of the current image in its entirety, or previewing just the currently visible portion of the current image. The print preview window shows the general relationship of the image to the page it will be printed on. In most cases the colors seen in the print preview will not reflect the actual color to be printed, but the preview display can be useful to view the proportions and positioning of the image with respect to the printed page.


Print Setup...

Invokes a standard printer setup dialog for the specification of the printer to use, properties for the printer, page orientation, and other print related items.


Print Thumbnails

When either the Explore Window or Thumbnail Database Explorer is active, one or more pages of thumbnails will be printed.


Print Thumbnails To Window (Contact Sheets)

When a thumbnail album, the Explore Window, or Thumbnail Database Explorer is active, the current contents of the thumbnail pane will be used to build an image window containing the print formatted image of all or selected thumbnails. The resulting image window can subsequently be exported to any supported file format. Note: printing a large number of thumbnails to an image window can create a very large image requiring large amounts of system memory resources. When the command to print to a window is invoked, PolyView will provide you with information regarding the size of the resulting image prior to commencing the build operation.

The image window created by this command uses the current PolyView background and text colors for background and titling colors. Use the appropriate commands on the Options menu to select the best combination for your purposes.


Process Photo-JPEG File

Processes the individual slices of a Photo-JPEG image and assembles them into the original complete image. The entire image is then displayed in an “Untitled” window. Use the Export Image command on this menu to save the complete image.


Publish Web Pages

Invokes the Web Pages Creation Setup Dialog to publish the selected thumbnails and their associated images as a set of web pages. See: Publishing Thumbnail Pages for the Web.


Purge recent file list

Immediately clears the most recently opened image file list from the file menu.


Recently Open File List

A list of the most recently opened image files. Selecting one of these file names is equivalent to selecting it again through the Open... command. The characteristics of this list can be manipulated through the MRU tab of the Properties dialog.


Rename

Invokes a renaming procedure for  the currently selected file, image, or folder.


Save Thumbnail Database

Saves the currently open thumbnail database if it has been modified.


Save Relative Database

Saves the currently open thumbnail database using relative image file naming. This is useful when preparing a database for inclusion on a CD of images, or for publishing an image catalog with thumbnails on a shared network location. See Relative Thumbnail Databases for further information.


Save

Saves the current file in the original format, subject to the default settings for that format as specified by the Properties dialog. This menu option is enabled only for images that are in a format supported by PolyView for file saving .

In the Explore window this operation saves the current state of the thumbnail database.

In a Thumbnail Album window this operation saves the current changes to the album.


Save As...

Saves the current Thumbnail Album to a new file.

See the Export Image command on this menu for information on saving an open image in a different format.


Save as wallpaper...

Saves the current image as the current wallpaper. A file save dialog will be invoked to allow the selection of the file name for the new wallpaper.


Set as wallpaper

Saves the current image as the current wallpaper. The image is saved into the Windows directory as a file named “PolyView Wallpaper.bmp”, replacing any file by that name that previously existed.


TWAIN Operations

Invokes the TWAIN menu for acquiring images from scanners, digital cameras, and other devices compatible with the standard TWAIN interface.


Create Multipage Image

Creates a multipage DCX or TIFF image from a selected set of images in an Album, a browse window, or a thumbnail Explore window.

Note: DCX storage is available only to Registered users.


TWAIN Acquire

Opens the default TWAIN data source and accepts any image bitmaps transmitted from it. Bitmaps received are displayed in standard PolyView “Untitled” image windows from which they can be saved to image files via the Export Image command of the File menu.


TWAIN Acquire to File

Opens the default TWAIN data source and accepts any image bitmaps transmitted from it. Bitmaps are saved to image files as they are received.

When the first bitmap is received from the TWAIN data source a file save dialog box will be invoked to get the choice of a base name for the image save files. (If the Prompt for all names in TWAIN acquire option of the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog is checked, each individual file name will be prompted for.) The base name will be used to generate the save file name according to the following formula:

Save_Name = Base_Name + “_” + N + “.” + <ext>

where

Save_Name is the name of the file to be saved

Base_Name is the name entered in the file save dialog box

N is the index of the saved file, where 1 is the first file saved in a sequence

<ext> is the extension for the file type chosen from the file save dialog box

For example, if “xyz” is chosen as the save name, and JPEG is chosen as the file type, then the first two bitmaps transmitted from the TWAIN data source will be saved to:

xyz_1.jpg

xyz_2.jpg

Note: If a file with a generated name already exists, the index number for the name generation will be automatically advanced until an unused index is found. For example, if a directory contains the files

xyz_1.jpg

xyz_2.jpg

and another acquisition is made with “xyz” chosen as the save name, then the first file saved for the new acquisition will be “xyz_3.jpg”.


TWAIN Select Source

Presents a dialog of the available TWAIN data sources on the computer system. The source selected will be used for all TWAIN acquisition operations.


TWAIN Normal Message Handling

If this item is checked then the behavior of PolyView when a TWAIN data source is open will proceed according to the TWAIN standards. Some data sources, however, do not conform well to this standard. A symptom you may observe in this case is that PolyView's menus and operations become non-operational while the data source is open as if the TWAIN data source window were a normal dialog box. If this behavior occurs then turning off the Normal Message Handling option by clicking on it (prior to starting the TWAIN acquire operation) may restore normal behavior.


Add Images

Adds images to the current Thumbnail Album. Images can be added by Keyword, by searching (Find Images), or all currently Marked Images can be added.


Copy Full Image

Copies the current image to the Windows clipboard. The entire image is copied, not just the currently displayed portion.


Copy Selected Area

Copies the currently selected portion of the current image to the Windows clipboard.


Copy Visible Image

Copies the currently displayed portion of the current image to the Windows clipboard.


Crop

Crops the current image to the image to the boundaries of the currently selected area.


Enlarge

Enlarge the outer dimensions of an image without stretching or altering the resolution of the image.

Note: the Enlarge feature is only available if the current image has a color resolution of 8 or more bits per pixel. Use the Change Color Depth command on the Operations menu to increase the color resolution of an image to at least 8 bits per pixel.


Flush Clipboard

Removes all information from the Windows clipboard.


Flush Undo Buffer

Discard all information in the undo buffer.


Keywords

Invokes the Keyword Entry Dialog for the current image, or for the selected images in the browser or Explore windows.


Keyword List Maintenance

Purges all unused keys from the keyword database. Unused keys are those that are no longer referenced by any existing image file. (An existing image file is one that is currently accessible on the computer system. Note that this command will purge references to images on removable devices.)


Mark Image(s)

The current or selected image(s) are added to the marked image list.


Paste

Creates a new image window from a bitmap or metafile currently stored in the Windows clipboard. See the Favor WMF property on the General tab of the Properties dialog for further information about pasting information from the clipboard.


Paste Into Image

Pastes a bitmap from the Windows clipboard into an open image. The method used to merge/blend into the current image is controlled by the Paste Feathering and Paste Transparency options on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

Note: the Paste Into Image feature is only available if the current image has a color resolution of 24 bits per pixel (16777216 colors).


Paste Into Image with Transparency

Pastes a bitmap from the Windows clipboard into an open image and processes any transparency information found. The method used to merge/blend into the current image is controlled by the Paste Feathering, Paste Transparency and Transparency Tolerance options on the General tab of the Properties dialog.

Note: the Paste Into Image w/Transparency feature is only available if the current image has a color resolution of 24 bits per pixel (16777216 colors).


Remove From Album

Removes the currently selected images from a Thumbnail Album. Note that this operation does not delete the image file or the image’s thumbnail.


Select All

Selects all the images in the current folder displayed by a browser, Album, or Explore Window.


Select Marked Images

Selects all the marked images images in the current folder displayed by a browser, Album, or Explore Window.


Undo

Undo the most recent operation on the current image.

See also: Undo Properties


Undo File Copy

Undo the most recent file copy operation.


Undo File Move

Undo the most recent file move operation.


Unselect

Removes the current area selection.


Album Description

Invokes the Album Description dialog to view and edit the description for the current Thumbnail Album.


Auto-browse Images

Presents a full screen slide show of the currently open images. The behavior in the full screen display mode is controlled by the settings of the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog.


Change Keyword Filter

When the Explore Window is active this option invokes the Keyword Search dialog to specify a new keyword filter.


Change Name Filter

When the Explore Window is active this option invokes the Filename Filter dialog to specify a new name filter.


Filter by Keyword

When the Explore Window is active this option enables or disables filtering the thumbnail view by keyword. When enabling, the Keyword Search dialog is invoked to select the keyword filter.


Filter by Name

When the Explore Window is active this option enables or disables filtering the thumbnail view by file name. When enabling, the Filename Filter dialog is invoked to specify the name filter.


Full Screen View

Displays the current image in full screen mode.


Multi-page Images

Navigation commands for moving from page to page in a multi-page image (DCX, GIF, or TIFF), including Next Page, Previous Page, and Go To Page commands.


Next in Directory

Display the next image in the current directory, replacing the current image’s window. The order of traversal is in the browser display order if the image was opened from the Browse or Explore windows – otherwise it is in alphabetical order.


Previous in Directory

Display the previous image in the current directory, replacing the current image’s window. The order of traversal is in the browser display order if the image was opened from the Browse or Explore windows – otherwise it is in alphabetical order.


One-for-One Mapping

Changes the display of the current image to be actual size. The default behavior when opening large images is controlled by the Default One-For-One Mapping property of the General Properties Tab of the Properties dialog.


Only Image Types

When the browser or Explore windows are active this option controls the files that will be displayed. If Only Image Types is checked, then only files with extensions that match a PolyView supported image file will be shown.


Name Tips

When the Explore Window is active this option controls the display of tool tips style name prompts which can be output when the mouse pointer is positioned over the rectangle for an image file.


Refresh

When the Browse or  Explore Window is active this option refreshes the current folder view to reflect any file movement or disk change activity that might have occurred.

When Refresh is commanded on an open image the image is reread from disk and redisplayed.


Resize to fit main window

Scales the current image to better fit the display area in the PolyView main window. A large image will be shrunk to fit the display, and small images will be expanded.


Selection as Transparency

Creates a new image window containing the contents of the current selection area with transparency applied. All colors in the created image that are “close to” the current transparency color will be displayed as the current background color. See Transparent Color Specification for further information.


Sort

Sorting options for controlling the order of the files displayed in the thumbnail pane of the Explore Window include sorting by file name, by file type, by file size, by file date, and by image size . An option on the menu provides for selecting ascending or descending sort order.


Start/Stop GIF Animation

Starts or stops GIF animation. Note: GIF animation will be started automatically when a file is opened if the Animate GIFs on Open property of the General Properties Tab of the Properties dialog select is checked.


Status Bar Toggle

Enables or disables the display of the status bar.


Toolbar Toggle

Enables or disables the display of the toolbar.


Zoom Options

Commands to change the magnification level of a displayed image. See Panning and Zooming  for further information.


Add to Slide Show

When the active window is the Explore Window or a browse window this command is available to add selected images to the current slide show.


Slide Show...

Opens the Slide Show Creation Window for creating or modifying a slide show presentation.


Open Script...

Open and play a slide show script file.


Play Slide Show

Starts the execution of the current slide show.


Save Slide Show

Saves the current slide show in a slide show script file.


Empty Slide Show

Sets the current slide show back to empty.


Browse Folder

Invokes a new browser window that is useful for perusing the images in a folder.


New Folder Browser

Invokes a new browser window that is useful for perusing the images in a folder.


Browse Image's Folder

Invokes a new browser window to browse the images in the folder containing the current image.


Browse Marked Files

Invokes a new browser window to browse the images marked during previous operations.


Browse Selected Folder

Invokes a new browser window on the folder currently open in the Explore Window.


Browse by Keyword

Invokes the Keyword Search dialog to select images by keyword for browsing.


Change Keyword

Invokes the Keyword Search dialog to select images by keyword for browsing . Unlike the Browse by Keyword command, the Change Keyword command will reuse the current browse window rather than create a new one.


Empty Marked List

Removes all entries from the current list of marked files.


Adjust Contrast and Brightness

Invokes the Adjustment Dialog to change the contrast or brightness of the current image.


Adjust Gamma

Invokes the Gamma Adjustment dialog to change the display gamma for the current image.


Adjust RGB

Invokes the RGB Adjustment dialog to implement precise control over the individual red-green-blue components of an image.


Apply Global Gamma

Applies the Global Gamma Value specified on the Gamma tab of the Properties dialog to the currently displayed image.


Area Color Average

Computes and reports the average color in an image area outlined by an area selection box. The color is reported as the byte values of the Red, Green, and Blue components of the color.


Change Color Depth...

Invokes the Color Depth Wizard to guide the process of reducing or increasing the color depth of the current image.


Change Image Size...

Invokes the New Image Dimensions dialog to specify the dimensions of a new image that is to be created from the current image. This command is useful for creating wallpaper bitmaps from images that are not large enough to fill the entire screen.


Duplicate Image

Create a new window which contains a duplicate of the current image. This command is useful when image appearance adjustments are to be made which might drastically alter the appearance of the original image. Such is the case, for example, when Edge or Special Effect Filters are used on an image.


File Transforms

This menu provides methods to rotate, flip, and mirror image files when the current image is a JPEG format file, or when several images have been selected in the Explore window or in a thumbnail Album .

Note: JPEG format images are manipulated in a distortion-free fashion by the file transform mechanisms. No image degradation will occur as a result of these operations.

Note: The Create backup during file transforms option on the Files tab of the Properties dialog controls the creation of a backup file to protect the original image against errors that might occur during transformations.

Restriction: the file transform operations are not available on an image that contains more than a single page.


Image Appearance Adjustments

See Image Appearance Manipulation.


Play Attached Sound

The Kodak DC220 and DC260 digital cameras offer the option of recording audio annotations with their video information. The Play Attached Sound command extracts and plays back the audio annotation associated with an image.


Save Palette

Saves the current image's color map to a Windows palette format file.


Smooth to New Window

Creates a new window from the currently visible area of the current image. The new window is the same size as the current window but is created using an interpolation algorithm which eliminates many of the pixelation effects which occur when an image is magnified.


Transparent Color

Invokes the Choose Transparent Color dialog to specify the color to represent transparency if the current image is exported as a GIF file.


Customize Toolbar...

Invokes the Customize Toolbar dialog to perform customizations to the makeup and order of the toolbar.


Background Colors...

Invokes the Background Color Selection dialog to select the colors to be displayed outside the actual image boundaries in the directory browser, slide shows, and image windows.


Font...

When the Explore Window is active this option invokes the Fonts tab of the Properties dialog for selecting the font used to display names for files that do not have thumbnails.


Properties...

See Properties.


Register File Types...

See Register File Types.


Text Color...

Invokes a color selection dialog box to specify the text color used in images created by the File menu Print Thumbnails To Window command.


Browse Thumbnail Database

Invokes the Thumbnail Database Explorer.


Create All

Starts the operations to create thumbnail sketches for all images and add them to the current thumbnail database. Options are offered to create thumbnails for images in the current folder only (the Create All In This Folder command), or for the current folder and all subdirectories beneath the current folder (the Create All Recurse Folders command).


Create Selected

Starts the operations to create thumbnail sketches for the selected images and add them to the current thumbnail database.


Delete Selected Thumbnails

Deletes the thumbnails for the selected images in the Explore Window , or marks thumbnails for deletion in the Thumbnail Database Explorer.

Note: the sizes of the thumbnail database files are not reduced until the Thumbnail Database Maintenance dialog is used to removed unused space.

Note: in the Thumbnail Database Explorer the marking of thumbnails for deletion is only made permanent when a Maintain Database operation is performed, or the window is closed.


Delete Thumbnails in Tree

This option is available in the Thumbnail Database Explorer to mark for deletion all the thumbnails in the current folder and subfolders of the current folder.

Note the marking of thumbnails for deletion is only made permanent when a Maintain Database operation is performed, or the window is closed.


Explore

Invokes the Explore Window.


Hide Selected

Hides the selected images from viewing via the Explore window by marking them as hidden in the current thumbnail database . Note: in the Thumbnail Database Explorer the marking of thumbnails for deletion is only made permanent when a Maintain Database operation is performed, or the window is closed.


Maintain Database...

Invokes the Thumbnail Database Maintenance dialog to view status and perform maintenance on the current thumbnail database.


New Thumbnail Album

Creates a new (empty) Thumbnail Album.


Open Database...

Opens an existing or creates a new thumbnail database.


Open Thumbnail Album...

Opens an existing Thumbnail Album.


ReCreate All

Like its Create All counterpart, this command creates thumbnails for all images in a folder. The difference is that the Create All command creates thumbnails only for images which do not currently have a thumbnail, while the ReCreate All command will replace existing thumbnails. This is a recommended operation to perform after the size of the displayed thumbnails has been changed through the Thumbnail Size dialog. Like the Create All command, the ReCreate All command offers options to create thumbnails for images in the current folder only, or for the current folder and all subdirectories beneath the current folder.


ReCreate Selected

Like its Create Selected counterpart, this command creates thumbnails for selected images in a folder. The difference is that the Create Selected command creates thumbnails only for images which do not currently have a thumbnail, while the ReCreate Selected command will replace existing thumbnails.


Rename Thumbnail Database

Renames the current thumbnail database.


Show Hidden

Shows both hidden and unhidden images in the Explore window. This command is useful to temporarily display hidden images so that the hidden attribute can be removed.


Thumbnail Size...

Invokes the Thumbnail Size dialog to view or change the dimensions used for creation, storage, and display of thumbnails.


UnDelete Selected Thumbnails

This option is available in the Thumbnail Database Explorer to remove the deleted status from all the thumbnails in the current folder and subfolders of the current folder.


UnDelete Thumbnails in Tree

This option is available in the Thumbnail Database Explorer to mark for deletion all the thumbnails in the current folder and subfolders of the current folder. Note the marking of thumbnails for deletion is only made permanent when a Maintain Database operation is performed, or the window is closed.


UnHide Selected

Removes the hidden attribute associated with the selected images. Note: After this operation is performed in the Explore Window the thumbnails for the images must be recreated.


Area Selection Tool

Choose the Area Selection Tool when you want to select an area of the displayed image for cropping or copying to the Windows clipboard.


Panning Tool

Choose the Panning Tool when you want to reposition the currently displayed image by dragging a point on the image to a new location.


Zoom Selection Tool

Choose the Zoom Selection Tool when you want to zoom in on an area of the currently displayed image.


Always On Top

Forces PolyView's windows to always stay on top of other application's windows.


Arrange Icons

Arranges the current image icons in an orderly fashion within the PolyView main window.


Cascade windows

Cascade all open windows.


Close all image windows

Close all open image windows.


Current Window List

The list of currently open windows. Select a window from this list to make it the current window.


New Window

Creates a new view of the current image. This might be useful for viewing separate portions of the same image at the same time.


Raise Images

Raise image windows above all other PolyView windows. This command is useful when several images are opened by the browser or Explore windows and a comparison between them is to be made.


Tile Horizontal

Tile all open windows horizontally (top to bottom).


Tile Vertical

Tile all open windows vertically (left to right).


About PolyView

Displays a dialog box with information about the current version of PolyView.


Contents and Index

Displays the PolyView help system topics and index pages.


Purchase Now

Provides links to both on-line and off-line PolyView purchasing options.


Registering

Displays information about registering PolyView.


IPTC Info

The International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) information standard is a method of including press information within a JPEG or TIFF image file. Use this command to view that information if an image contains it.


File Format Conversions

The Format Conversions window is entered by choosing Format Conversions from the File menu. This window provides a method of converting a group of files in various formats to a different output format. All file reading and writing is done by a background thread to insure that these potentially lengthy operations do not prevent the continuation of other image processing in PolyView.

The Format Conversions window contains the following controls:

Source Files List

The list of files which are to be converted. Note: the files in this list will be considered to be read-only during the conversion process. The converted form of the image in each file will always be written to a different file.

Select Files…

Press this button to bring back the file open dialog to change the files in the source file list.

Destination Folder

Presents a tree of the available devices and folders accessible from your computer system. Select the folder where all the output image files should be written.

Destination Format

A drop down list of all the formats available for conversion. Note that not all input formats can be written to all output formats. Refer to the list of supported formats for further information.

Note 1: when multipage DCX or TIFF files are converted to DCX or TIFF format, all the pages of the source file will be converted to the multipage destination file, i.e., a two page TIFF will be converted to a two page DCX or TIFF.

Note 2: when multipage DCX or TIFF files are converted to a non-multipage format, each page of the each source file will be written to a separate file. For example, if the three page TIFF image xyz.tif is converted to JPEG format, the following files will be created:

xyz.jpg

xyz_1.jpg

xyz_2.jpg

Resize Images

Images can be resized during conversion operations by selecting the appropriate items from the Resize Images control group:

No resizing

Select this option when images are not to be resized during conversion. The image files output during the conversions will then have the identical pixel dimensions as the input images.

Fit to width

Select this option to resize images to have a common width, as specified by the Fit size parameter. The height of each image output will be adjusted so that the image has the same aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) as the original image.

Fit to height

Select this option to resize images to have a common height, as specified by the Fit size parameter. The width of each image output will be adjusted so that the image has the same aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) as the original image.

Fit size

This parameter is the width or height of the output image if either Fit to width or Fit to height has been selected.

Interpolate

If selected then an interpolation algorithm will be used to generate the final image when either Fit to width or Fit to height has been selected. This algorithm can significantly enhance the appearance of the resulting image when the final image is larger than the source image. It may or may not improve the appearance of an image whose size is being reduced.

Note: interpolated images are always generated with 24 bits per pixel. This limits the available output formats under some circumstances. For example, resizing a 1 bit per pixel image with interpolation prevents it from being output to a 1 bit per pixel format.

Reduction Method

The method to be used when reducing the size of an image:

Eliminate Pixels – choose a representative color for each pixel in the final image. This is a very fast method that works well for most color images.

Favor Black – black pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with black features on a white background.

Favor White – white pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with white features on a black background.

Average Colors – each pixel in the final image is the average color of the area in the original image that it represents. This method takes longer than Eliminate Pixels but results in the best color in the final image.

Start

Push this button to start the conversion operation.

Stop

Push this button to terminate the conversion process. The process will terminate when the current file read or write has completed.

Replace Existing Files

If checked then files in the destination folder with names that match the name of a converted output file will be replaced by the converted output file. If left unchecked then a warning message will be written to the Conversion Results window and the converted output file will not be written.

Conversion Results

A scrolling window which displays text messages indicating the current progress of the conversion process and informative messages about any errors that might occur.

Scroll Messages

If checked then the Conversion Results window will automatically scroll down as the conversion progresses. Check this box to stop the scrolling so that messages higher up in the list can be viewed during the conversion.

Close

Closes the Format Conversions window. Any conversion in progress will be terminated at the completion of the current file being read or written.

JPEG Quality

Controls the relative quality of the image resulting from saving to a JPEG format file, and is proportional to the resulting size of the file. (Higher quality images result in larger files.) The PolyView default value of 50 is a reasonable compromise between output quality and file size.


Page Setup

The Page Setup dialog is used to specify the margins around an image during printing. The specification for the top, bottom, left, and right margins defines the area within a print frame where an image will be placed. The size and position of a print frame on the page depends on the mechanism being used for printing:

•	If an open image is printed using the Print Full Image or Print Visible Image commands on the File menu then the print frame is the entire printing area on a page.

•	If a group of images is printed from the browser, Album , or Explore windows using the Print Selected Images command on the File menu the size and location of print frame for each image is determined according to the number of images to be printed on each page. (See Printing Multiple Images for further information.)

•	If a group of images is printed from the Print Composer then the print frame for each image is defined by the selected page template and the print frame an image is assigned to from that template.

Note: the aspect ratio (ratio of height to width) of an image or the visible portion of an image is always preserved during printing. Within that restriction an image will be expanded in all directions to fit inside the print frame and within the specified margins.

The following information is specified with Page Setup dialog box :

Units

This drop down list sets the dimensional units used to interpret the margin settings for printing. The available units are inches, centimeters (CM) and millimeters (MM).

Top Margin

The distance from the top of the print frame to the top of the printed image. The actual distance used may be different if Center Vertically is selected.

Bottom Margin

The distance from the bottom of the print frame to the bottom of the printed page. The actual distance used may be different if Center Vertically is selected.

Left Margin

The distance from the left edge of the print frame to the left edge of the printed image. The actual distance used may be different if Center Horizontally is selected.

Right Margin

The distance from the right edge of the printed image to the right edge of the print frame. The actual distance used may be different if Center Horizontally is selected.

Center Horizontally

If selected then an image that does not fill the area defined by the right and left margins will be centered between those margins.

Center Vertically

If selected then an image that does not fill the area defined by the top and bottom margins will be centered between those margins.


Gamma Adjustment

The Adjustment dialog offers an interactive method of adjusting the gamma factor, contrast, and brightness of an image.

The gamma value shown on the Adjustment dialog represents the current gamma setting for the image.

The action taken for the buttons on the Adjustment dialog are:

Apply

Apply the current value to the image. The image intensity is changed and the image is redisplayed.

Accept

Accept the current value for the image. The stored image information is updated to reflect the current settings.

Cancel

Cancels the dialog box and leaves the image unchanged.

Use for all images

When this box is checked on the Gamma Adjustment dialog, then the selected gamma factor will be applied to all images when they are opened and displayed. Caution: The gamma compensation performed by this operation modifies the in-memory bitmap for each image opened. If the image is subsequently saved, the modified bitmap is stored to the file. Unless the image file is saved to a format that also saves the gamma factor, such as PNG, an additional viewing of the file will again apply the global gamma compensation, causing undesirable color distortion. We recommend that the global gamma compensation always be turned OFF prior to opening images which are to modified and saved back to disk.

Note: The changes made to an image by the Adjustment dialog cannot be completely undone by running the dialog again and changing back to the original settings. Certain distortions are inevitable due to the flattening or expansion of the intensity curves for an image. Use the Undo command on the Edit menu to cancel the effects of an adjustment operation.


RGB Adjustment

The RGB Adjustment dialog implements precise control over the red-green-blue (RGB) components of an image. Use the individual color slide controls to adjust the percentage change you want for an individual component.

The action taken for the buttons on the RGB Adjustment dialog are:

Apply

Apply the current RGB adjustment values to the image. The image colors are changed and the image is redisplayed.

Accept

Accept the current appearance for the image. The stored image information is updated to reflect the current settings.

Cancel

Cancels the dialog box and leaves the image unchanged.

Note: The changes made to an image by the RGB Adjustment dialog usually cannot be completely undone by running the dialog again and readjusting the color components in the reverse of the original changes. Use the Undo command on the Edit menu to cancel the effects of an adjustment operation.


Change Image Dimensions

The New Image Dimensions dialog is used to specify the new dimensions of an image that is to be resized.

Standard Size

Custom Size

The Standard Size and Custom Size buttons specify whether the new size of an image is to fit a standard display resolution (Standard Size) or an arbitrarily specified size (Custom Size).

Standard Size Selections

When Standard Size is selected the choice of image size is from a drop-down list selection box.

Height and Width

When Custom Size is selected the Height and Width fields are used to specify the new image dimensions, in pixels, of the new image

Interpolate

If selected then an interpolation algorithm will be used if the image size is being increased. This algorithm can significantly enhance the appearance of the resulting image.

Size Reduction Method

This drop-down list selection box specifies the method to use when reducing the size of an image. The following methods are available:

Eliminate Pixels – choose a representative color for each pixel in the final image. This is a very fast method that works well for most color images.

Favor Black – black pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with black features on a white background.

Favor White – white pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with white features on a black background.

Average Colors – each pixel in the final image is the average color of the area in the original image that it represents. This method takes longer than Eliminate Pixels but results in the best color in the final image.

Retain Aspect Ratio

If selected then the original aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) of the source image will be taken into account whenever the height or width values are changed, and the corresponding dimension will be automatically updated. For example, if the height is changed then the width value required to maintain the source aspect ratio will be calculated and inserted into the width field.

New Window

If checked then a new “Untitled” window will be created as a result of the command. If unchecked then the existing image will be modified.


Color Depth Wizard

Images in PolyView can be represented and displayed in 24 bits/pixel (16 million colors), 8 bits/pixel (256 colors), 4 bits/pixel (16 colors), and 1 bit/pixel (2 colors) formats. The Color Depth Wizard provides a guided method of converting the color depth (bits/pixel ratio) to a higher or lower value. The resulting image is stored and displayed in a new window, leaving the original image unchanged. The Color Depth Wizard is invoked by choosing Change Color Depth from the Operations menu.

The Color Depth Wizard converts images to the following depths:

1 bit/pixel (monochrome) - 24, 8, and 4 bit/pixel images can be converted to monochrome (black and white) images. Either an error diffusion or a patterned dither method can be chosen to perform the conversion.

4 bits/pixel (2-16 colors) - 24, 8, and 1 bit/pixel images can be converted to 4 bits/pixel images.

8 bits/pixel(17-256 colors) - 24, 8, 4, and 1 bit/pixel images can be converted to 8 bits/pixel.

24 bits/pixel - 8, 4, and 1 bit/pixel images can be promoted to 24 bit/pixel images.

Choosing Fewer Colors

When the number of colors in an image is to be reduced, the Color Depth Wizard offers several choices for determining the colors that will be present in the converted image.

If a 4 bits/pixel image is to be produced, the optimum color set can be produced by analyzing the current image, the standard 16 color VGA color set can be used, or a palette file stored on disk can be chosen. (See Palette Files below.)

If an 8 bits/pixel image is to be produced, the optimum color set can be generated by analyzing the current image, a 216 color palette which matches that used by most web browsers can be used, or a palette file stored on disk can be chosen. (See Palette Files below.) Choosing the 216 color palette is useful for creating an image that will be included in a web page and viewed on 256 color displays, guaranteeing that the browser does not create additional image distortions due to the use of its own color approximation algorithms. A further discussion of browser palettes and their limitations can be found at http://www.connect.hawaii.com/hc/webmasters/Netscape.colors.html.

Palette Files

Changing the colors in an image to match those of another image is best accomplished by saving the palette for an image to a palette file (see the Save Palette File command on the Operations menu), and then choosing the palette file when the Color Depth Wizard offers the choice of methods to determine the output colors for a reduced image. PolyView saves palette files in the Windows standard palette file format, and can read palette files in Windows format and in the format produced by some other popular image manipulation programs.

Reduction Methods

When an image is to be reproduced using a different color palette than originally, PolyView can use either an error diffusion or closest color algorithm. While error diffusion almost always creates an image that more closely approximates the appearance of the original image, the closest color algorithm is faster.

Increasing Color Depth (Promotion)

When the color depth of an 8, 4, or 1 bit/pixel image is increased, the appearance of the image will be unchanged in the resulting image. Only the storage format for the image is changed by this operation.


Choose Transparent Color

The Choose Transparent Color dialog is used to specify the color to be used as the transparent color for operations such as saving to a GIF file and transparent pasting.

The following controls are available:

Palette

The current color palette for the image. Clicking on a color will select it as the transparent color, and will update the display of the Red, Green, and Blue intensities for the chosen color.

Transparent Color Enabled

A check box to designate that transparency is in effect for this image. If this box is not checked, then transparency information for the image will be ignored.

Red, Green, Blue

The intensities for the Red, Green, and Blue components of the current transparent color.

Pick

Click the Pick button to activate an eyedropper for selecting a sample of the color to use for transparency. Click on an area of the image to capture a sample, or press the Esc key to cancel the operation.

Transparency Tolerance

The tolerance to use for choosing colors “close to” the transparent color in subsequent operations. During operations that support transparency, such as saving an image to a GIF file, all colors "close to" the specified transparent color will be designated as transparent. The tolerance is specified as a number between 0 and 1000, inclusive. A zero (0) value indicates that only the specified transparent color for the image is to be transparent. A value of 1000 indicates that all colors are transparent. Values between 0 and 1000 specify varying degrees of tolerance. See the section on Transparent Color Specification for further information.

Note: the tolerance specified by this dialog is applied to all subsequent transparency operations. It is not specific to the current image.


Register (Associate) File Types

The Register File Types dialog is accessed through the Register File Types selection of the Options menu. This dialog provides direct control over the file extensions that the Windows Explorer associates with PolyView. Once this association is made, running the image file or slide show script file will result in the launching of PolyView and the display of the image or slide show. In addition, a Print option will be available on the Windows Explorer’s context menu for PolyView associated image files.

The dialog box offers file types with their most common extensions:

Bitmap image files (.bmp)

GIF image files (.gif)

JPEG image files (.jpg and .jpeg)

Photo-CD image files (.pcd)

PNG image files (.png)

TIFF image files (.tif and .tiff)

Slide show script files (.pvs)

User defined (an arbitrary list of extensions separated by spaces, i.e., “.iff .dcx .xpm”)

When the dialog OK button is pressed, the Registry file associations for the checked extensions will be updated, replacing any previous association for those extensions. Press the Cancel button to close the dialog without making any changes.

Caution: PolyView provides no method of undoing an association. If PolyView is instructed to change an existing association it will do so. Restoring the original association is usually accomplished by reinstalling the originally associated application, although this varies from application to application.


Thumbnail Size

The size used to create and display thumbnails is initially controlled by the Default thumbnail dimensions option of the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. Once a thumbnail database is created and thumbnails are being displayed, the Thumbnail Size Dialog can be used to change the creation and display size.

PolyView creates and displays thumbnails to fit square regions that are 100, 150, or 200 pixels on each edge. When the display size is changed then the new size is programmed into the current thumbnail database and the display dimensions for thumbnails will be immediately changed. Previously existing thumbnails must be deleted and recreated to make optimal use of the new display size.


Maintain Thumbnail Database

The Thumbnail Database Maintenance dialog displays the following information about the current thumbnail database :

The name of the current database

The number of thumbnail sketches in the current database

The space occupied by the thumbnail sketches

The unused space in the database

Unused space in the database is the space occurs when:

Thumbnails are deleted

Images are deleted

Thumbnails are hidden

The Thumbnail Database Maintenance dialog provides two methods of maintenance on the database:

Reclaim unused space

The current thumbnail database is packed to remove all unused space and reduce the size of the database file.

Purge thumbnails for non-existent files

The computer system is scanned to determine the accessibility of all file reference in the current thumbnail database . Inaccessible files are removed from the database index file. By itself this operation does not reclaim the associated space in the database file. Check both the Reclaim unused space and Purge thumbnails for non-existent files to perform complete maintenance on the database.


A context menu
A context menu is a popup menu that is invoked by clicking the right mouse button on an object. In PolyView, context menus are available for thumbnails in the Explore window, or for any open image file.


License Information Dialog

The License Information dialog displays the current user name and license number, or allows entry of the current user name and license number.

Note: When entering licensing information it is imperative that the information be entered exactly as provided on the registration message from Polybytes.


Color Component Intensity

The intensity of a color component varies from 0 to 255. The color 0,0,0 is black and the color 255,255,255 is white.


Metafile Dimensions

Windows metafiles contain a series of graphics commands that draw an image when played back into a window. The size of the window to be used is arbitrary, although some metafiles contain information about the intended size of the viewing window. Whether or not a suggested size is available, PolyView offers the Metafile Dimensions dialog to allow the dimensions to be entered, or altered.

The Metafile Dimensions dialog contains:

Original Width

The width specified for the metafile. (0 if the metafile contained no dimensional information.)

Original Height

The height specified for the metafile. (0 if the metafile contained no dimensional information.)

Bitmap Width

Edit this field to change the width of the window for the metafile.

Bitmap Height

Edit this field to change the height of the window for the metafile.

Keep Aspect Ratio

If checked, then changes to the width or height fields will be reflected in the opposite field to keep the window size at the same aspect ratio as the originally specified width and height.

Mapping Mode

Windows-format metafiles appearance can be changed by specifying the mode used to map file dimensions to screen dimensions. The mapping mode choice is offered for files that need to have their mode specified in order to display correctly.


Choose the new color depth

The first step in changing the color depth of an image is to choose the new depth. This screen offers the following choices for color depth:

1 bit/pixel (monochrome) - 24, 8, and 4 bit/pixel images can be converted to monochrome (black and white) images.

4 bits/pixel (2-16 colors) - 24, 8, and 1 bit/pixel images can be converted to 4 bits/pixel images.

8 bits/pixel(17-256 colors) - 24, 8, 4, and 1 bit/pixel images can be converted to 8 bits/pixel.

24 bits/pixel - 8, 4, and 1 bit/pixel images can be promoted to 24 bit/pixel images.

Press the Next button after choosing the depth that best suits your needs and the wizard will take you to the next step in the process.

See Color Depth Wizard


Choose the color palette

Since you have chosen to change to an 8 or 4 bits/pixel image, you must now choose the method that PolyView should use to create the color palette for the new image. The available choices depend on whether an 8 or 4 bits/pixel image has been chosen.

Optimize colors for this image

PolyView will analyze the image and choose the best colors it can for the colors in the new image.

Use the browser standard 216 color palette (8 bit target)

The 216 color palette used for this choice is the same as that used by most popular web browsers when they are displaying images on 256 color systems. Choosing this palette is useful if you are creating images for web pages and want to be certain that they display the same on all systems regardless of their display settings.

Use the VGA standard 16 color palette (4 bit target)

The standard VGA palette can be used as the palette for 16 color images.

Use a palette stored in a file

Choosing this option will match the color of the image to the colors in a previously saved palette. PolyView can read palette files in Windows format and in the format produced by some other popular image manipulation programs.

Press the Next button to go to the next step in the specification process, or press the Back button to change the bit/pixel ratio desired for the output format.

See Color Depth Wizard


Choose the depth reduction method

Several methods are available when an image is to be reproduced using a color palette different from the original:

Use the error diffusion method

The error diffusion method usually creates the best image appearance. It is the slowest method.

Choose the nearest color for each pixel (4 and 8 bit targets)

The nearest or closest color method often creates an acceptable image appearance, and is relatively fast.

Choose an ordered dither pattern (1 bit target)

The patterned dither method is the fastest way to create monochrome images.

Press the Finish button to begin the color reduction operation, or the Back button to change the way the operation has been specified.

See Color Depth Wizard


Choose the number of colors

When you have chosen to let PolyView optimize the color palette for the new image then you must also specify the number of colors you want to be included in the new image.

Press the Next button to choose the reduction method to use, or the Back button to change the method of selecting colors.

See Color Depth Wizard


Choose the palette file

When you have chosen to match an image to the colors saved in a palette file you must specify the name of the file to use. PolyView can read palette files in Windows format and in the format produced by some other popular image manipulation programs. Specify the name of such a file, or press the Browse button and use a standard file open dialog to browse your system for a palette file.

Press the Next button to choose the reduction method to use, or the Back button to change the method of selecting colors.

See Color Depth Wizard


Begin promotion operation

When an image is to be promoted to an increased bit/pixel ratio, its appearance will be unchanged, but its storage size will increase. The current step displays the uncompressed size for the new image.

Press the Finish button to begin the promotion operation, or the Back button to change the specification of the destination bit/pixel ratio.

See Color Depth Wizard


Error Diffusion

Error diffusion is a method of reducing the color depth of an image that blends the available palette colors to approximate the appearance of the original image. As an image is scanned, the difference between the desired color and the closest available palette color is calculated for each pixel. This error value is then distributed, or diffused, amongst the pixels that border the pixel being worked on. Error diffusion can achieve outstanding results on many images, but it is the most time consuming of the color matching methods used by PolyView.


Patterned Dither

Patterned dither is a method of reducing the color depth of an image that blends the available colors to approximate the appearance of the original image through the use of a dither matrix. The net effect of patterned dithering is that local regions of an image have the correct color intensity, but a pronounced and regular pattern can be seen in the colors of the individual pixels. Patterned dither is quite fast and achieves acceptable results for many images.


Closest Color

The closest color algorithm chooses the color for a pixel in an image by finding the color in the palette that most closely matches the original color of the pixel. This method often produces acceptable images and is faster than error diffusion.


Choose Photo-CD Size

Choose Automatic to load an image size from the Photo-CD file based upon the Photo-CD Upsizing options selected from the Photo-CD Properties tab of the Properties dialog

or

choose from one of the 5 image sizes available from a Photo-CD file.


Choose Directory

The Choose Directory dialog presents an Explorer-like directory tree. Select the directory to use for the chosen operation from the tree presentation, or directly edit the edit box provided for the directory name.


Go To Page

The Go To Page dialog is available when a multi-page image is open. Select the page of the image you wish to view.


Keyword Entry Dialog

The Keyword Entry Dialog displays the list of keywords associated with a file or a group of files, and allows this list to be manipulated. The following controls are present:

File(s)

The list of files for which the keywords are to be viewed and manipulated.

Associated Keywords

The list of keywords associated with the file(s).

Existing Keywords

The list of keywords currently available in the database.

New Keywords

Enter new keywords for the file(s) here. One or more keywords can be entered, separated by spaces. Press the associated Add button to add them to the list for the file(s).

Add

Moves selected or entered keywords from the existing or new list to the list of those associated with the file(s).

Remove

Removes selected keywords from the list of those associated with the file(s).

Apply

Update the keyword database with the changes and exit the dialog.

Cancel

Exit the dialog with no changes to the keyword database.

See also: Browsing by Keyword


Keyword Search Dialog

Use the Keyword Search dialog to initiate an image search by keyword. The following controls are present:

Keyword List

This is the list of keywords to search on. Enter a new list or select a previous to modify by dropping down the selection list for this box.

Keywords can be separated by "or", "and", and “and not” to achieve logical combinations of keywords. Note: Evaluation is always in left to right order with no implied precedence.

An "and" operation is assumed if a list of keywords is not separated by a logical operator.

Available Keywords

The list of keywords currently associated with images. Choose one or more of them and press the And or Or buttons on the right to add them to the list of keywords to search on.

And

Press the And button to add the selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical AND operation.

The AND operation indicates that the search should find only images containing ALL of the keywords.

And Not

Press the And Not button to add the selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical AND NOT operation.

The AND NOT operation indicates that the search should find only images containing none of the keywords.

Or

Press the Or button to add the selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical OR operation.

The OR operation indicates that the search should find images containing ANY of the keywords.

See also: Browsing by Keyword


Filename Filter Dialog

The Filename Filter Dialog is the entry mechanism for specifying a name filter to be applied to the image file names in the Explore window. The name filter can be a regular expression and thus can be used to match a complex set of file names. Only image names that match the name filter will be displayed in the Explore window.


Choose Transparent Color

The Choose Transparent Color dialog is used to specify the color to be used as the transparent color for operations such as saving to a GIF file and transparent pasting.

The following controls are available:

Transparent Color Enabled

A check box to designate that transparency is in effect for this image. If this box is not checked, then transparency information for the image will be ignored.

Red, Green, Blue

The intensities for the Red, Green, and Blue components of the current transparent color.

Pick

Click the Pick button to activate an eyedropper for selecting a sample of the color to use for transparency. Click on an area of the image to capture a sample, or press the Esc key to cancel the operation.

Transparency Tolerance

The tolerance to use for choosing colors “close to” the transparent color in subsequent operations. During operations that support transparency, such as saving an image to a GIF file, all colors "close to" the specified transparent color will be designated as transparent. The tolerance is specified as a number between 0 and 1000, inclusive. A zero (0) value indicates that only the specified transparent color for the image is to be transparent. A value of 1000 indicates that all colors are transparent. Values between 0 and 1000 specify varying degrees of tolerance. See the section on Transparent Color Specification for further information.

Note: the tolerance specified by this dialog is applied to all subsequent transparency operations. It is not specific to the current image.


Choose Image Dimensions

The Choose Image Dimensions dialog is used to specify the characteristics of a new blank image, or to enlarge the dimensions of an existing image without changing the resolution of the image. The following information can be specified:

Width

The new width for the image.

Height

The new height for the image.

Background Color

The background area to use on a new image, or for the areas added to an existing image.

Original Image Position In New Image

When an existing image is being enlarged these options control the position of the original image within the boundaries of the enlarge image.

Upper Left

The original image is positioned in the upper left corner of the enlarged image.

Centered

The original image is centered in the enlarged image.

Tiled

The original image is tiled into the enlarged image. This is useful for seeing the effect of using an image as the background for a web page.


Background Color Selection

The Background Color Selection dialog provides the specification mechanism for the colors used in window and image backgrounds within PolyView. The following controls are available:

General Background

This button invokes a color selection dialog for the color to use outside the actual image boundaries in the directory browser and slide shows windows.

Image Background

This button invokes a color selection dialog for the color to use when enlarging images, and for the area outside an image’s boundaries (if Use grid beyond image edges is not selected).

Use grid beyond image edges

If selected then a black on white grid will be used to indicate the area of an image window that lies beyond the actual boundaries of the image. If not selected then the Image Background color will be used.


Confirm File Replace

The destination file (the image on the right) will be replaced by the current file copy or move operation. You have the following choices:

Yes

The operation should continue, replacing the destination file.

Yes To All

The operation should continue, replacing the destination file. If there are more files to copy or move after this one, just replace the destination files without asking any more questions.

No

The destination file should not be replaced.

No To All

The destination file should not be replaced. If there are more files to copy or move after this one, those destination files should not be replaced either.

Rename

The file move or copy should use a different name for the destination file. This button invokes a dialog box to solicit the new name.


Slide Show Creation Window

The Slide Show Creation Window is invoked from the Slide Show command on the Browse menu and is used to create or modify a PolyView slide show.  This window provides the following control features:

Image List Manipulation

The image list contains the list of image files currently specified for the slide show. The list can be sorted by clicking the bar at the top of the list, or rearranged using drag-and-drop. Buttons below the list support adding new files to the list and removing all or selected items.

Image Rotation

The image rotation control allows selected images to be rotated to a different orientation during the playing of the slide show. Rotation can be specified in 90 degree increments:

Clockwise 1 – rotates the selected image(s) clockwise by 90 degrees.

Clockwise 2 – rotates the selected image(s) by 180 degrees (to the upside down position).

Clockwise 3 – rotates the selected image(s) counter-clockwise by 90 degrees (clockwise 270 degrees).

Note: specifying an image rotation does not modify the original image file in any way.

Image Display Timing

The timing of each image can be specified separately by entering the number of seconds to display the image in the Display Time field. If the field value for an image is left unspecified then the image will be displayed according to the setting of the Browsed Image Display Time property of the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog.

Image Preview

If the Preview check box is checked then a small preview of a selected image will be displayed.

Include subfolders

When the selected item is a folder, this option controls whether or not the images in folder’s subfolders (and their subfolders) are included in the slide show.

Playing Sound Files

Sound file scripting for the slide show is accomplished by using the Sound Options fields of the window. These fields allow the naming of a sound file to be started when the selected image is displayed, along with the following options:

None – if a sound file name is specified for the selected image, then a sound file currently being played will be stopped and the named file started when the image is displayed.

Stop Play – when the selected image is displayed any sound file currently being played will be stopped.

Loop Forever – if a sound file name is specified with this option then it will be played repeatedly until the slide show ends, or until another sound file specification causes it to terminate. This option is ignored if specified for an image when there is no corresponding sound file named.

Wait Until Done – If a sound file name is specified along with this option then the selected image will be displayed until the playing of the sound file has completed. If no sound file name is specified then the image will be displayed until the completion of any previously specified sound.

Transition Effects

Transition effects for individual images or groups of images can be specified using the Name and Speed controls in the Transition Effects group. See the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog for further information about transition effects.

A Dissolve effect can also be specified for individual images or groups of images. The Dissolve effect takes place when an image is removed from the screen prior to displaying the next image.


Album Description

The Album Description dialog is used to view and/or edit the description for an album. Description text can be entered by typing, or by using the standard Ctrl-V keyboard key combination to paste text from the Windows clipboard.

Note: on Windows 95/98 the size of an album description is limited to 32K bytes.


Publishing HTML Locations Tab
Publishing Web Pages Files and Locations Tab

The Files and Locations tab of the Web Pages Creation Setup dialog is used to specify various file creation related parameters for the operations involved in the publishing of Web Pages . This tab contains the following settings:

Destination for HTML Files

Use the folder tree presented in this window to select the directory where the main HTML file created by the WWW publishing operation should be stored. The selected folder will also be used as the root directory for the graphics directory specified by the Graphics directory field of this dialog box tab.

HTML base document name

The HTML base document name is the name for the HTML file that defines the starting page for the thumbnail and image presentation pages to be created. This page contains the table of thumbnails that are linked to the full sized graphics images. PolyView will add the file extension “.html” to the name specified.

Graphics directory (relative name)

The graphics directory is the name of the folder where the original or resized image files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “graphics” is specified for the graphics directory relative name, then all image files will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\graphics”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want image files and the main HTML file to coexist in the same folder.

Thumbnails directory (relative name)

The thumbnails directory is the name of the folder where the created thumbnail files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “thumbnails” is specified for the thumbnails directory relative name, then all created thumbnail files will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\thumbnails”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want thumbnail files and the main HTML file to coexist in the same folder.

Image HTML directory (relative name)

The image HTML directory is the name of the folder where the individual image HTML files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “docs” is specified for the image HTML directory relative name, then all created HTML files (except the main index file) will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\docs”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want the individual image HTML files and the main HTML file to coexist in the same folder.

Save thumbnails as file type

Use this drop-down list to specify the type of image files to be created for the individual thumbnail image files. The following image types are available:

GIF

JPEG

PNG

Note: not all browsers support the display of PNG images.

Reference names in lower case

Check this item to create all HTML files using lower case names, regardless of the case of the image files that serve as the source for the web pages. Some FTP programs automatically convert uploaded files to all lower case. If you have one that does be sure to check this item.

Copy or resize images

Check this option to have the original or resized image files copied to the Graphics directory at the time of the publishing operation. This will allow all files to be available for display when your browser is used to open the HTML base document for testing. It will also result in a directory structure on your system that can be later transferred in its entirety to its final location on your web site.

Resizing Images

Images can be resized during the copy operation by selecting the appropriate items from the Resizing Images control group:

No resizing

Select this option when images are not to be resized during copying. The image files output during the copy operation will then have the identical pixel dimensions as the input images.

Fit to width

Select this option to resize images to have a common width, as specified by the Fit size parameter. The height of each image output will be adjusted so that the image has the same aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) as the original image.

Fit to height

Select this option to resize images to have a common height, as specified by the Fit size parameter. The width of each image output will be adjusted so that the image has the same aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) as the original image.

Interpolate

If selected then an interpolation algorithm will be used to generate the final image when either Fit to width or Fit to height has been selected. This algorithm can significantly enhance the appearance of the resulting image when the final image is larger than the source image. It may or may not improve the appearance of an image whose size is being reduced.

Fit size

This parameter is the width or height of the output image if either Fit to width or Fit to height has been selected.

Save resized images as type

Selects the output format to use when images are resized for viewing from an HTML document.


WWW Pages Creation Setup Dialog
Web Pages Creation Setup Dialog

The Web Pages Creation Setup Dialog is invoked by choosing the Publish Web Pages command on the File menu. This tabbed dialog allows the specification of all the items pertinent to the creation of the HTML pages needed to display a table of thumbnails and their full size images. The following tabs are available on this dialog:

Files and Locations

Appearance and Content


Publishing WWW Appearance and Content Tab
Publishing Web Pages Appearance and Content Tab

The Appearance and Content tab of the Web Pages Creation Setup dialog is used to specify information about the composition for the HTML pages created during the publishing of Web Pages . This tab contains the following settings:

HTML Document Title

The title for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. This title will be used in the document’s <TITLE> block, as well as appearing centered at the top of the page when it is displayed in a web browser.

Include file type and size in thumbnail caption

Check this option to display the full name and size of each image as the caption for its associated thumbnail. If left unchecked then only the name of the image will be displayed. For example, an image named "Mountains in the Summer.jpg” will be displayed as “Mountains in the Summer” if this option is not checked.

Start page background image

The name of the image file to be used as the background for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. Leave this field blank if you do not want an image tiled into the background.

Image page background image

The name of the image file to be used as the background for each HTML document that contains an original full size image. Leave this field blank if you do not want an image tiled into the background.

Thumbnail table width

The width of the thumbnail table, in pixels. This width, along with the size of the thumbnails that have been selected, determines the number of thumbnails in each row of the thumbnail table in the HTML document. For example, if the thumbnail size is set to 200 and the table width to 600, then three thumbnails will be displayed in each row of the final table.

Thumbnail border thickness

Each thumbnail in the thumbnail table can have a border placed around the edges of the image. Use a value of 0 to 10 for this field to specify the border width in pixels. Specifying 0 disables the display of a border.

Main backgnd

The background color to be used for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table.

Image backgnd

The background color to be used for each HTML document that contains an original full size image.

Main text

The text color to be used on the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table.

Image text

The text color to be used for each HTML document that contains an original full size image.

Description

The introductory description for the thumbnails and images to be published. The text entered into this field will be displayed as an introductory paragraph on the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. If the thumbnails selected for publication are part of an Album then the description will be saved as the description for the album.


Export Thumbnails Dialog

The Export Thumbnails Dialog is invoked by the Export Thumbnails command of the File menu to provide for the specification of the destination for the files created by the command, and the types of those files.

Destination Folder

Use the folder tree presented in this window to select the directory where the individual thumbnail image files should be stored.

Save as File Type

Use this drop-down list to specify the image format for the individual thumbnail image files. The following image types are available:

GIF

JPEG

PNG


Regular Expressions

A PolyView regular expression is a method of specifying a complex filter to be applied against a series of file names for the purpose of selecting one or more of them. A regular expression can contain any, all, or none of the following special symbols:

?	Matches any character

*	Matches any zero or more characters

[abc]	Matches any character between the brackets

[a-z]	Matches a range of characters

;	Separates multiple expressions

Examples:

The expression “*wolves*.jpg;*wolves*.png” matches the names

5wolves.jpg

wolves on rock.png

but does not match

wolves and sheep.gif

The expression “[ap]*000*[1-9]*”, which can be read “starts with a or p, followed by 0 or more characters of any kind, followed by “000”, followed by 0 or more characters of any kind, followed by a non-zero digit, followed by 0 or more characters of any kind” matches the names

ax000ab9.jpg

p0001.png

but does not match

y0006.gif


Find Images for Album

The Find Images for Album dialog is a fast and powerful means of adding images to an Album by searching for files on the system that match a particular set of naming characteristics. The following controls are available on this dialog:

Starting Folder

Use the folder tree presented in this window to select the top level directory that should be searched for images.

Search all subdirectories

If this item is checked then the selected top level directory and all its subdirectories will be searched for images. If unchecked then only the top level directory will be searched.

Find all images

If this item is checked then the search will find all files that have a file type recognized by PolyView as an image type (.gif, .jpg, .png, etc.). If unchecked then the Find names like control field will be used to match file names.

Find names like

A regular expression that defines the names to be added to the Album . This field is only used if the Find all images option is not checked.

Start

Starts the search operation. All files that match the search criteria will be added to the Album .

Stop

Stops the search operation to allow the search criteria to be changed. After stopping the Start button will restart the operation from the Starting Folder.


Cutsomize Toolbar Dialog
Customize Toolbar Dialog

The Customize Toolbar dialog is invoked by the Customize Toolbar command on the Options menu to allow the customization of the toolbar for individual users of PolyView. This dialog has the following fields:

Available Buttons

The Available Buttons list contains the list of buttons that are available to be added to the toolbar. To add a button to the toolbar, select it from this list and click the Add button.

Current Toolbar Configuration

The Current Toolbar Configuration list contains the list of buttons and separators that are currently found on the toolbar (or will be when the OK button is clicked).

Add a button to this list by selecting it on the Available Buttons list and clicking the Add button.

Remove a button from this list by selecting it and clicking the Remove button. (The button will be moved to the Available Buttons list.)

Change the position of a button in this list with the mouse by dragging it from its current position to a new position in the list. A button moved up in the list will be added before the button highlighted during dragging. A button moved down in the list will be added after the button highlighted during dragging.

Add Button

Click this button to add the button selected in the Available Buttons list to the Current Toolbar Configuration list. If a button is currently selected in the Current Toolbar Configuration list the new button will be added before the selected button. Otherwise it will be added to the end of the list.

Remove Button

Click this button to remove the currently selected button from the Current Toolbar Configuration list.


Image File Information

The Image File Information window displays various types of information found in an image, including IPTC and digital camera specific information.


Print Composer

The Print Composer window provides a way to print one or more images in standard sizes on the printed page. This allows you to make best use of the area on the page and thus minimize the waste of expensive print paper.

When Print Composer window is invoked by the same named command on the File menu it displays a representation of the printed page and provides controls to select the images to print.

Image print frames within the Print Composer’s page template can be assigned to specific images either by using the Choose Image Name button on the Print Composer window, or by using drag-and-drop from the Windows Explorer or from another PolyView window.

The following controls are available on the Print Composer window:

Template

The Template selection list is a drop-down list that contains the list of available page templates. Each template defines a combination of one or more print frames. When a template is selected its defined print frames will be displayed on the representation of the printed page. Click on a print frame to select it as the target for the Choose Image Name button’s operation. See the Locations tab of the Properties dialog for information on naming a custom template file for use with the Print Composer.

Move Selection

Moves the currently selected print frame to the next frame in sequence, or to the first frame if no frame is currently selected.

Print Now

The Print Now button invokes a printer selection dialog and subsequently prints the page as it is currently defined. Only print frames with assigned images will be printed by this operation.

Page Setup…

The Page Setup button invokes the Page Setup dialog for setting print frame margins. If Use Page Setup is checked then the margins specified in the Page Setup dialog will be used to define the borders around an image within its assigned print frame.

Use Page Setup

Check the Use Page Setup item to use the margin information from the Page Setup dialog. Each margin (Left, Top, Right, Bottom) will be applied inside the print frame specified for each image. If this item is left unchecked then each image will be expanded to fill its corresponding frame (preserving the image aspect ratio, of course).

Print Shear Marks

If the Print Shear Marks item is checked then a thin black border will be printed around each image frame as a guide for shearing the individual images from the printed page.

Choose Image Name

The Choose Image Name button invokes a File Open dialog to choose the image to assign (or reassign) to the currently selected print frame. (Select a print frame by clicking on it or using the Move Selection button.) If multiple images are selected from the File Open dialog then the images will be assigned to consecutive print frames (starting at the currently selected frame).

Clear Image Name

The Clear Image Name button removes the image assignment of the currently selected print frame.

Preview

If the Preview item is checked then a thumbnail preview of the currently selected image frame will be displayed.


Print Composer Template File Format

The Print Template File option on the Locations tab of the Properties dialog supports the specification of the template file to be used by the Print Composer . This optional file contains one or more additional page templates to be added to the built-in templates provided by the Print Composer . The Print Template File is an ASCII formatted text file that can be prepared with any ASCII text editor such as Notepad.

Each page template in the template file consists of a name followed by one or more print frame definitions.

The name part of a page template appears in the template selection box on the Print Composer window. It is the name you choose to select the associated print frames. The name part of a page template must always be enclosed in quotes.

The print frame definitions part of a page template must be placed on the lines immediately following the name. Each line of the print frame definitions describes a single print frame on the page in the format:

<left> <top> <width> <height>

where <left>, <top>, <width>, and <height> are in units of 0.01 inches. One or more space characters can be used to separate the individual numbers. For example,

0 0 400 600

defines a 4x6 inch frame located at the upper left corner of the page.

The page surface defined by the Print Composer is 8 inches wide by 10.5 inches high. This corresponds to the printing area used by the majority of printers on an 8.5x11 inch page. If the printing surface on a printed page is smaller than this then the rightmost and lower print frames will be adjusted accordingly during printing.

Example Template File

The following listing describes the built-in templates used by the Print Composer . It can serve as both as an example and as the basis for a custom template file that you can create.

"1-8*10 Inch"

0 25 800 1000

"3-4*6 Inch"

0 0 400 600

800-400 0 400 600

100 625 600 400

"2-5*7 Inch"

50 0 700 500

50 550 700 500

"4-3.5*5 Inch"

25 0 350 500

425 0 350 500

25 550 350 500

425 550 350 500

"9-2*3 Inch"

0 0 200 300

0 375 200 300

0 750 200 300

300 0 200 300

300 375 200 300

300 750 200 300

600 0 200 300

600 375 200 300

600 750 200 300

"2-4*6 3-2*3 Inch"

0 0 400 600

800-400 0 400 600

0 750 200 300

300 750 200 300

600 750 200 300

"1-5*7 2-3.5*5 Inch"

50 0 700 500

25 550 350 500

425 550 350 500

"1-5*7 5-2*3 Inch"

50 0 700 500

0 525 300 200

500 525 300 200

0 750 200 300

300 750 200 300

600 750 200 300


Panning and Zooming Images

Panning

Images that do not fit within a displayed window can be panned (positioned) by using the scroll-bars that appear on the window or by using the Panning Tool available on the Tools menu. On systems with a wheel mouse or three-button mouse, the middle or wheel button can be used for panning by pressing and holding the button and dragging the resulting anchor point to a different location.

Zooming the Image

PolyView can change the magnification of a displayed image in several ways.

The Zoom In command on the View menu increases the magnification of a displayed image by about 50%. If the image displayed at the resulting magnification level will fit entirely within the dimensions of the PolyView viewing area, then the image window size is increased. Otherwise the original window size is maintained. The center of the newly magnified image the same as that at the previous magnification. If the Shift key is held down when the Zoom In command is chosen the new image view will show the upper left portion of the image. On systems with a wheel mouse, rotate the wheel one step forward (away from you) with the keyboard Control (Ctrl) key held down to zoom in by about 50%.

The Zoom Out command on the View menu decreases the magnification of a displayed image to about 75% of its previous value. On systems with a wheel mouse, rotate the wheel one step back (towards you) with the keyboard Control (Ctrl) key held down to zoom out by about 75%.

The Undo Zoom command on the View menu changes the magnification and image display position to the conditions which existed prior to the previous Zoom In or Zoom Out command.

A more interactive zoom is available by selecting the Zoom Selection Tool from the Tools menu and then using the left mouse button to draw a rectangle around the area to be displayed in the magnified image. When the button is released the image will be rescaled. The Undo Zoom command can be used to go back to the previous magnification. (This action is only available if the Enable interpolated zoom option of the General Properties Tab of the Properties dialog is not selected.)


Interpolated Zoom

If the Enable interpolated zoom option of the General Properties Tab of the Properties dialog is selected then a zoom operation invoked by drawing a rectangle around an area of an image causes a new window to be created which contains an interpolated version of the area of interest. The interpolation method of zooming typically results in much better looking images than non-interpolated zooming. As usual, the tradeoff is speed and memory usage versus image quality. The interpolated image takes significantly longer to produce (especially on 386 systems without math coprocessors) and causes a new internal memory structure to be allocated to hold all the data associated with the new image.

Recommendation: Leave the Enable interpolated zoom option disabled so you can quickly zoom in on an area of interest in an image. Once the area is displayed at the appropriate scale use the Smooth to New Window command from the Operations menu to create a smoothed version of the image view you are looking at.


Full Screen Display Modes

The Full Screen View and Auto-browse Images commands on the View menu display the current image using the entire display screen. Images displayed in full screen mode will be downscaled to fit within the screen boundaries if the raw image size exceeds the screen pixel dimensions.

Automatic Image Cycling

In auto-browse mode images will be changed at the rate indicated by the Browsed Image Display Time property of the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog.

Manual Image Cycling

While browsing images in full screen mode, the left and right mouse buttons and cursor control keys can be used to manually cycle through the selected images, pausing any timed image cycling that is in progress. The left mouse button causes the display of the previously displayed image, and the right mouse button causes the display of the next image. Press the ‘P’ key to resume timed image cycling.

Note: Under Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 a right mouse button click near the top of the screen will invoke the standard context menu, interfering with the full screen mechanisms used by PolyView. There is currently no workaround for this problem except to avoid this area of the screen with the mouse cursor while using the right button to cycle through images.

Canceling Full Screen Mode

Full screen mode is canceled by entering any non-controlling key from the keyboard such as the Esc key.


General Slide Show Information

A slide show is a collection of images (or folders containing images) displayed by a sequential fashion similar to a traditional slide show using photographic slides. A slide show can be displayed in a fully automatic mode with a fixed or variable display time for the images, and the order the images are displayed can be randomized. In addition, the individual images in a slide show can be rotated from their default configuration. Slide shows are displayed in a window or using the computer’s entire screen. Images that are larger then the display area will be downscaled to fit within the display area boundaries. Many of the characteristics of slide shows can be customized through the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog.

Automatic Image Cycling

If an individual image’s display time has not been specified the images in a slide show are changed at the rate indicated by the Browsed Image Display Time property of the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog. If Browsed Image Display Time indicates that images are to be cycled manually, then images are changed only under keyboard and mouse control.

Note 1: When a slide show is manually browsed there will be periods of time after a new image is displayed when the next image will not be available for display. While the next image is being prepared the system displays an hourglass cursor. PolyView attempts to load the next image to be displayed by assuming that it is the next file in the slide show list in the direction that was directed by the last mouse click.

Note 2: Under Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 a right mouse button click near the top of the screen will invoke the standard context menu, interfering with the full screen mechanisms used by PolyView. There is currently no workaround for this problem except to avoid this area of the screen with the mouse cursor while using the right button to cycle images.

Randomized Slide Shows

If Randomize Slide Shows has been selected from the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog then the ordering of images displayed in a slide show will be randomized.

Starting a Slide Show on a Specific Image

If Start slide show from last/selected image has been selected from the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog then slide show will start with the image that was last displayed in a slide show during the current PolyView session. With Start slide show from last/selected image selected a slide show can also be directed to start on a specific image. To start the slide show on a specific image, view the current slide show list from the Slide Show command of the Browse menu, select the desired image from the lower image list, and press the Play button.


Keyboard Control During Slide Shows

The following keyboard and mouse commands are effective during a slide show:

‘p’, ‘P’, or F2 pauses or resumes a timed slide show.

‘m’ or ‘M’ marks the image that is currently displayed. Marked images can be reviewed and manipulated through the use of the Browse Marked Images command on the Browse menu.

Cursor Keys and Mouse Buttons move the display forward or backward through the image list. Up or Left keys (left arrow, left button, up arrow, Page Up) move the display to the previous image in the list. Down or Right keys (right arrow, right button, down arrow, Page Down) move to the next image in the list. Also the left and right mouse buttons will move the display to the previous and next images respectively.

Mouse Wheel rotation also moves the display forward or backward through the image list. Rotating the wheel towards you moves the display to the next image in the list. Moving the wheel away from you moves to the previous image in the list.

Shift-AnyKey cancels the display of a slide show without also closing PolyView.

All other keys cancel the slide show. If the slide show was started by running a slide show script from the Windows Explorer then PolyView will terminate when the slide show is cancelled. Note: a full screen slide show is also canceled by spurious Windows operations that occur, such as another applications window popping up, or the termination of the PolyView splash screen. If a PolyView slide show script is used to start PolyView from the Windows Explorer or File Manager you should first disable PolyView’s splash screen through the General tab of the Properties dialog.


Slide Show Scripts

Slide show script files contain a list of image file names to be included in a slide show. The ordering of the file names in the script determines the order the images will be displayed during the slide show.

Slide show script files should be stored in a text file with the file type PVS. When a file with the type PVS is opened by PolyView, the contents are read and the slide show is started. If the PVS file type has been registered for PolyView through the Register File Types dialog, then Windows 95 Shortcuts or Program Manager Program Items can be created for the script file.

Folder Options

If an entry in a slide show script is the name of a folder (not an image file) then it must be followed by an “/f” or “/fs” option:

c:\images\MyVacation /f

c:\images\Vacations /fs

The “/f” option indicates that the accompanying path name is to be treated as a folder of images, and that all images found are to be included in the slide show.

The “/fs” option is the same as the “/f” option except that any subfolders found in the indicated folder path are also to be included in the show (and any subfolders found in each of them).

Rotation Options

In some cases, particularly with Photo-CD images, the default orientation of an image is incorrect. Script files can therefore contain rotation options for each individual file. A rotation option is a character string of the form "/rn" attached to the end of a line in the script file for a specific image, where "n" is in the range from 1 to 3 and indicates the number of 90 degree clockwise rotations to be applied to the image prior to display. For example, if the following lines are stored in a file named "slideshow.pvs"

c:\images\image1.jpg

d:\images\image2.pcd /r1

c:\images\image3.bmp

then the images "image1.jpg", "image2.pcd", and "image3.bmp" will be displayed in the order shown, with "image2.pcd" rotated clockwise 90 degrees from its "normal" orientation.

Sound Options

Slide show images can optionally be associated with sound files by including the “/s” option on an image description line:

c:\images\image1.jpg /s mysound.wav

c:\images\image2.jpg /l mysound.wav

When the image specified with a sound file is displayed, the playing of the sound file will be started. If a previously specified sound file is still playing it will be terminated.

If the “/s” option is included on an image line without a sound file specification, any currently playing sound file will be terminated.

Like the option to play a sound, the “/l” (letter L, as in Loop Forever) option starts playing a sound file. At the conclusion of the playing, however, the same wave file will be automatically restarted.

The “/w” option on an image description line specifies that the image is to be displayed until its display time has elapsed and any playing sound file has finished.

c:\images\image1.jpg /s mysound.wav

c:\images\image2.jpg /w

The above sequences starts the wave file playing on image1.jpg and displays image2.jpg until it has finished. Both options can be included on the same description line:

c:\images\image1.jpg /w /s mysound.wav

Timing Option

A timing option is a character string of the form “/ts” attached to the end of a line in the script file for a specific image, where “s” is in a non-zero number specifying the display time for the image named on that line. For example, if the following lines are stored in a file named “slideshow.pvs”

c:\images\image1.jpg

d:\images\image2.pcd /t100

c:\images\image3.bmp

then the images “image1.jpg” and “image3.bmp” will be displayed for the time which is specified by the Browsed Image Display Time property of the Browsing Properties Tab of the Properties dialog, and “image2.pcd” will be displayed for 100 seconds.

Transition Effects

The transition effect on an individual image is controlled through a character string of the form “/xn” attached to the end of an image line in a script file, where “n” is the index for the transition effect desired. The speed at which the effect displays can be adjusted with the “/ps” string, where “s” is a speed factor that varies from 1 to 100, with 1 being the fastest transition.

A dissolve effect is also available for an image by using a “/d” option on the image line.

Saving Script Files

Each time a slide show is displayed by PolyView, the list of files and their rotation options are maintained in memory. When the Slide Show option of the Browse menu is invoked, the current slide show list is displayed in the dialog box. At this point the files in the show can be removed or have their rotation options changed, or new files can be added. After the slide show is started and then stopped, the Save Slide Show option of the Browse menu can be invoked to create or change a script file. By using this mechanism, script file creation and editing can be accomplished entirely within PolyView, minimizing the chances for creating script files with incorrect formats.


Image Properties

The Image Properties dialog is invoked when by choosing the Image Properties command from the File menu, or by choosing Properties from the context menu for an image or its thumbnail. The Image Properties dialog provides:

Format Specific Description

A read-only text box that lists the format of the image, and various pieces of informat about its internals.

Embedded Comments

A text box that lists any comment records found in the image. On open images, and for registered users of PolyView, this text box can be updated with additional information. If the image is later saved to a GIF, JPEG, or PNG file, the updated comment records will also be output to the file.

Width and Height

Lists the Width and Height of the image, in pixels.

Bits per Pixel

Lists the number of bits per pixel for the image. This is a indicator of the maximum number of colors that can be present in the image.

File Size

The size of the image file, in bytes.


Selecting the Image Window Background Color

The background color is used for filling in the areas outside the image when an image window is expanded past the dimensions of an image, and for full screen displays when the image is smaller than the screen. Choosing the Background Color command from the Options menu will invoke a Windows color selection dialog to select the background color of choice.


Multi-page Images

Several standard image formats have a structure that supports storing multiple images in a single file. PolyView supports multi-page images in GIF , DCX , and TIFF formats.

When a multi-page image is initially opened, the first image in the file is displayed in the normal manner. At the same time, however, the Next page (Ctrl-Page Down), Previous page (Ctrl-Page Up) and Go to page choices on the View menu (cascaded under the Multipage Images item) are enabled. These menu choices enable navigation through the images contained in the file. Note: the Next page and Previous page commands treat the images in a file as if they were arranged circularly. That is, choosing Previous page while you are viewing the first image in a file will cause the last image in the file to be displayed, and choosing Next page while viewing the last image in the file will cause the first image to be displayed.


Saving Images
Saving and Exporting Images

The save format for an image is determined according to the user operations performed and the original format of the image to be saved.

Save Command

If the Save selection from the File Menu is made, then the image is saved in the same format as the original format of the current image, and replaces the original input file. The Save selection is only enabled if the original image format is one of the formats supported by PolyView for file saving.

Export Image Command

If the Export Image... command from the File Menu is selected, the Export Image dialog box is invoked.  The save format is then specified by selecting the format from the Files of Type: drop down list in the Export Image dialog box.

Closing a Modified Image

If the Yes response is chosen from the Save changes to <filename> dialog invoked when closing a modified image, and the original format is one of the formats supported by PolyView for file saving, then the modified image will replace the original image in the input file. If the format of the current image is not supported for saving, then the Yes response will invoke the Export Image dialog box where the new name and format for the file can be specified.

See also:

JPEG Properties

Supported Formats


Batch Format Conversions

The Export Image command on the File menu stores an image to any format supported by PolyView for saving. When multiple files are to be converted to the same format, however, it is faster and more convenient to use PolyView’s Format Conversion window to perform the conversions in an automated fashion.

The Format Conversions command on the File menu invokes the Format Conversion window. When the command is initially chosen, PolyView activates a modified file open dialog to solicit the list of files to be converted.  Drag and drop files from the list of files in each chosen folder to the Input files for conversion list and/or use the supplied buttons to add or remove files from the list. Press the Continue button when the selection of files to convert is complete and the Format Conversion window will be activated to allow further specification of the characteristics of the conversion operations.


Saving Images as Wallpaper

The image or pattern that is displayed on your computer screen behind all windows and icons is known as wallpaper. PolyView can save an open image as your computer’s wallpaper by invoking either the Set as wallpaper or Save as wallpaper command from the File menu while the image is the currently active image. If the image to be made into wallpaper is smaller than the screen then you may want to use the Change Pixel Resolution command from the Operations menu to resize it appropriately. The Change Pixel Resolution command invokes the New Image Dimensions dialog to interactively specify new dimensions for the image.

Note: the Set as wallpaper command saves the image into the Windows directory as a file named “PolyView Wallpaper.bmp”, replacing any file by that name that previously existed. Use the Save as wallpaper command to save to a file name that you specify.


Saving to Multi-page Images

Several standard image formats have a structure that supports saving multiple images in a single file. PolyView supports multi-page images in DCX and TIFF formats. (See the discussion of animated GIF files for a discussion of storing multiple images in GIF files.)

When the Export Image command on the File menu is used to specify output to a multi-page format file, and the name of an existing file is chosen, you have a choice of whether to replace the existing file, or append the current image to it. Refer to the discussion on multi-page file viewing for information on viewing files created or modified in this fashion.


Saving an Image's Palette

The palette for an image contains the set of colors used in the image. PolyView’s palette support is limited by Window’s palette support, however, so a palette can contain at most 256 colors. PolyView can save the palette for an image to a Windows standard palette file (.PAL extension) through the Save Palette command on the Operations menu. Note: this command will create a reduced color palette if it is run on an image with more than 256 colors.

Why would you want to save an image’s palette? One of the uses of the Color Depth Wizard, selected by choosing Change Color Depth from the Operations menu, is to force the palette for an image to contain use the same palette as another image. This can be accomplished by first saving the palette for the image whose colors are to be used in the second image, then providing the name of the saved palette file to the wizard at the appropriate point.


Setting the Print Positioning Information
Specifying the Print Positioning Information

The Page Setup command on the File invokes the Page Setup dialog. Use this dialog to specify print margins and centering characteristics for subsequent image and thumbnail printing operations.


Specifying the Printer

The Print Setup command on the File menu invokes a standard printer selection dialog. Use this dialog to specify the printer to use for image and thumbnail printing, the page orientation (portrait or landscape), and any printer specific properties that are needed to get the desired printed output.


Previewing Printed Output

The Print Preview commands on the File menu allow you to see a representation of printed output on the screen. This is useful to see the relationships between the dimensions of the printed page and the size of the image or thumbnails that are being printed. Although the size and position representation shown in the Print Preview window is accurate, please note that the representation of colors will typically not be.


Printing Images

The Print commands on an image’s File menu, and the Print button on the Print Preview window, are used to print all or a portion of an image on a printer connected to your computer system. Note: image printing is restricted to registered users of PolyView.

When printing a single image, the following variants of printing are available:

Full Image – the entire image is printed.

Visible Image – only the visible image is printed.

Original Size – the entire image is printed using the print density information found in the image (typically put there by a scanner). Note: many images contain print density information that is invalid.

Actual Size – the image is printed using a one-for-one mapping between image pixels and printer pixels. For many images the result is a postage stamp sized print.

All Pages – all the images in a multi-page image are printed.

Multiple Copies – multiple copies of the image are printed. The Batch Print Images Per Page option on the Printing tab of the Properties dialog is used to determine the representation(s) of the image on each printed page.

When printing is requested through one of the above mechanisms, a standard print dialog is invoked to allow specification of the printer to use, the page orientation (portrait or landscape), and any printer specific properties that are needed to get the desired printed output. If you have run the dialog previously in the current PolyView session, or used a printer setup dialog through the Print Setup command, then pressing the OK button on the dialog will start printing using all the previous settings.

Image printing uses the specifications set by the last invocation of the Page Setup dialog to control margins and centering. The settings specified in the Page Setup dialog are saved between PolyView sessions.


Printing Thumbnails

The Print Thumbnails command on an Explore or Album window’s File menu is used to print one or more pages of thumbnails.

When thumbnail printing is requested, a standard print dialog is invoked to allow specification of the printer to use, the page orientation (portrait or landscape), the thumbnail pages to print, and any printer specific properties that are needed to get the desired printed output. If you have run the dialog previously in the current PolyView session, or used a printer setup dialog through the Print Setup command, then pressing the OK button on the dialog will start printing using all the previous settings.

Thumbnail printing uses the specifications set by the last invocation of the Page Setup dialog to control margins. The settings specified in the Page Setup dialog are saved between PolyView sessions.

The number of thumbnails printed on each page is controlled by the setting of Number of thumbnails per row when printing specification on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties menu.


Printing Multiple Images

General

PolyView’s printing capabilities include the ability to print multiple images in a single operation and multiple copies of the same image on a single page. This eliminates the necessity to open each individual image prior to printing. Multiple image printing is initiated by:

•	Choosing the Print Composer command from the File menu to select images and print them using a variety of standard sizes.

•	Selecting images in the Browse or Explore windows and choosing the Print command.

•	Selecting multiple images in the Windows Explorer and choosing Print from the context (right-click) menu.

•	Dragging multiple images from the Windows Explorer to a printer icon on the desktop.

•	Right mouse button dragging multiple images from the Windows Explorer to PolyView and choosing  Print from the release menu that is presented.

•	Choosing the Multiple Copies command from an image’s File menu and using the Number of copies field on the ensuing printer setup dialog to indicate the number of image copies to print. (Note that this capability is also available through the Print Composer .)

Note: methods utilizing the Windows Explorer require that the Register File Types dialog be run at least once to program the necessary file associations.

Note: multi-page images always have all their pages printed when printed through this mechanism.

Multiple image printing uses the current default printer and page margins as specified by the Print Setup and Page Setup dialogs.

During multiple image printing PolyView remains fully functional and can be used normally. A status window shows the progress of the background printing activity.

Printing Multiple Images On Each Page

The Batch Print Images Per Page option on the Printing tab of the Properties dialog is the specification for the number of images to print on each page when printing batches of images or multiple copies of a single image. PolyView will print 1, 2, 4, 6,  8, 12, 16, or 32 images per page. Note: the Print Composer does not use the Batch Print Images Per Page option.

When more than 1 image is printed on a page, PolyView divides the printable area of the page into the appropriate number of equal sized sections. The current Page Setup margin settings are then used to place each image into its section. For example, assume that the current page margins are all set to 0.100 inches, and 4 images per page have been specified. During printing the printed page is divided into 4 equal sized quadrants and the 4 images are placed in the quadrants with a 0.100 inch margin maintained around the borders of each image.


The Explore Window

The PolyView Explore window provides methods of exploring the contents of the folders accessible to an Explorer compatible computer system. These methods include creating, viewing, and manipulating the thumbnail sketches of the image files contained in the system’s folders. The Explore window is started by selecting the Thumbnail Explorer command from the Thumbnails menu.

The appearance and operation of the Explore window is the same in most ways as the appearance and operation of the Windows Explorer. The Explore window presents a hierarchical tree view of the folders accessible to your computer in the left pane of the window, and a representation of the image files in the currently selected folder in the right pane of the window.

When the Explore window opens a folder it reserves a rectangular area for each image file found in the folder. If a thumbnail is available for an image then it is displayed, otherwise the name of the file is displayed against a gray background. Since the display rectangle for files is frequently too small for the long file names commonly used, PolyView displays the name of a file on the Explore window status bar whenever the mouse cursor is positioned over the file. Also, if the mouse cursor is left stationary for a few moments then a small window containing the name of the file under the cursor will be displayed.

An alternative display form for the Explore window is available by selecting the Frame thumbnails option on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog. In this form each thumbnail is displayed in a frame that includes the name of the image file.


Explore Window Compatibility Requirement

The Explore window requires Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or later.


Thumbnail Creation and Management

The following are the thumbnail creation and management operations available within the Explore window :

Creating or Recreating Thumbnails

Thumbnail sketches of images are created by choosing Create All, Create Selected, Recreate All, or Recreate Selected from the Thumbnails menu, or by choosing Create, Create All, or Create Selected from the context menu for an image. The context menu Create command creates a thumbnail only for the image that was clicked. The All and Selected variants of the Create and Recreate commands create thumbnails for all the images in a folder or the selected images in a folder respectively.

PolyView creates thumbnails using a background thread to insure that user operations can occur responsively at the same time. While thumbnail creation is taking place, a progress indicator on the status bar will be active. If the Explore window is closed while thumbnail creation is ongoing, then the operation will be aborted. Any thumbnails created before closing will be preserved.

Deleting Thumbnails

The thumbnail sketch of an image that is not currently selected can be deleted from the thumbnail database by choosing Delete Thumbnail from the context menu for an image. The thumbnails of all the selected images in a folder can be deleted by choosing Delete Selected Thumbnails from the File menu, or by choosing Delete Thumbnail from the context menu for one of the selected images.

Hiding and Unhiding Images

An image can be hidden from display in the Explore window by choosing Hide from the context menu for an image, or the selected images can be hidden by choosing Hide Selected from the Thumbnails menu. Hidden images can be seen again by choosing Show Hidden from the Thumbnails menu at which point they can be unhidden using the unhide commands in the menus. Note: when an image is hidden its thumbnail sketch is lost and must be recreated when it is unhidden.


Image and Folder Management

The following are the image and folder management operations available within the Explore window :

Drag and Drop

The Explore window can both initiate and accept Windows drag-and-drop operations. You can drag files from the Explore window to a PolyView folder Browse window, to the Windows Explorer, to the desktop, or to any other application supporting drag-and-drop. Files can be dropped on the Explore window’s folder tree to move and copy files from other locations.

Printing Images

Commands are available on the File and context (right click) menus to print the currently selected image(s) to the currently selected printer. Use the Print Setup command on the File menu to change the current printer. See Printing Multiple Images for additional information.

Printing Thumbnails

When the Explore window is active the Print and Print Preview commands on the File menu print or preview the thumbnails in the currently selected folder. Options concerning thumbnail printing can be found on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog.

Printing Thumbnails to a Window

When the Explore Window is active the Print Thumbnails To Window command on the File menu uses the current contents of the thumbnail pane to build an image window containing the print formatted image of all or selected thumbnails. The resulting image window can subsequently be exported to any supported file format. Note: printing a large number of thumbnails to an image window can create a very large image requiring large amounts of system memory resources. When the command to print to a window is invoked, PolyView will provide you with information regarding the size of the resulting image prior to commencing the build operation.

The image window created uses the current PolyView background and text colors for background and titling colors. Use the appropriate commands on the Options menu to select the best combination for your purposes.

Selecting Image Thumbnails

Image thumbnails are selected by clicking the left mouse button on the rectangle for the image. If the Control key is held down while a selection is made, then any previously selected images will remain selected. If the Shift key is held down while a selection is made, then all images will be selected between and including the current image and the previously selected image.

A selected image is indicated by a colored outline on the image rectangle.

Opening and Viewing Images

An image can be opened for viewing by double-clicking the image rectangle, by selecting Open from the context menu for an image, or by selecting the image and choosing Open from the File menu. Note: the Open command will open all selected images if the Create New Window property from the File Properties tab is selected. If the Replace Current Window property is active, then only the first selected image will be opened.

Creating New Folders

Choose the New Folder command from the File menu to name a new folder to be created as a sub-folder on the currently selected folder.

Moving and Copying Images and Folders

Folders and mage files can be moved and copied by using drag and drop. Drag an item by pressing and holding the left or right mouse button on the item and moving the mouse cursor to the folder that is to be the destination of the move or copy. The operation will be completed when the mouse button is released while the destination folder is highlighted.

If the left mouse button is used for the drag and drop operation, then the default operation performed is to move the item to the destination folder. To copy an item using the left mouse button, hold down the Control key on the keyboard before releasing the mouse button.

If the right mouse button is used for the drag and drop operation, then a popup menu will appear when the button is released over a destination folder. This menu offers the choices of moving, copying, or canceling.

See also: Album Operations

Renaming Images and Folders

An image or a folder can be renamed by choosing Rename from the context menu for an image, or by selecting the image or folder and choosing Rename from the File menu. Either method will invoke a dialog box into which the new name for the item can be entered. Note: you cannot rename a file into a different folder using this method.

Deleting Images and Folders

An image that is not currently selected can be deleted by choosing Delete File from the context menu for the image. All the selected images in a folder, or a selected folder, can be deleted by choosing Delete from the File menu, or by choosing Delete File from the context menu for one of the selected images. Note: Deleted files and folders are actually sent to the Recycle Bin. The properties set in the Recycle Bin control whether or not a confirmation message is displayed when items are deleted from the Explore window.

Adding Images to a Slide Show

An image can be added to the current slide show by choosing Add to slide show from the context menu for an image, or the selected images can be added by choosing Add to slide show from the Browse menu. Images added to the slide show are added to the end of the existing list.

Accessing Image Properties

The properties for an image can be viewed by choosing Image Properties from the context menu for the image.


Thumbnail Albums

The Explore window provides methods for navigating the volumes and folders on a computer system and viewing/managing thumbnails of the images found in the various folders. Sometimes it is also useful to collect groups of images into albums, where the individual images are not all stored in the same folder. Typical uses for albums include:

Viewing the thumbnails of all images on the system that have a common set of keywords .

Searching for and displaying all the images on a disk drive, regardless of their storage folder, thus providing further image management functions.

Displaying the thumbnails for all the images that have been marked during previous operations.

For these and other purposes PolyView supports the concept of a Thumbnail Album.

The appearance and operations available for a Thumbnail Album are the same in many ways as the appearance and operations of the Explore window. Thumbnail Albums use the current thumbnail display form as specified by the Frame thumbnails option on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog.

See: Album Operations


Album Operations

Creating a new album

A new empty album is created with the New Thumbnail Album command on the Thumbnails menu. The empty album can be populated with images using the methods described below.

Saving an album

The Save and Save As commands on the File menu for an album save the album with the same or a new name. Albums are saved with a default file type of “.pvalb”.

Opening an existing album

An existing album can be opened with the Open Thumbnail Album command on the Thumbnails menu, or by opening a file with the file type “.pvalb” from the Open command on the File menu. In either case the named album will be opened and its image’s thumbnails will be displayed.

Viewing or Changing the album’s Description

Descriptive text about an album can be viewed and edited by selecting the Album Description command from the View menu.

Adding Images by Keywords

Images can be added to an album by specifying keywords that identify the set of images to be added. Use the Add Images [image] by Keywords command on an album’s Edit menu to specify the desired keyword expression.

Adding Images by searching

Images can be added to an album by searching for them on your computer system and its connected network. Use the Add Images [image] Find Images command on an album’s Edit menu to search for images.

Adding marked images

Images that have been marked during a slide show or while browsing in the Explore or Browse windows can be added to an album by choosing the Add Images [image] Marked Images command on an album’s Edit menu.

Adding images via Drag-and-Drop

Drag-and-drop can be used to add images to an album. Drag-and-drop files from an Explore or Browse window, from the Windows Explorer, or from any other drag-and-drop enabled application.

Changing the order of displayed image thumbnails

In addition to various sorting options on the View menu, the order of the image thumbnails can be changed by dragging images from one location in the album to another.

Removing images

The Remove From Album command on an album’s Edit menu removes the selected image(s) from the album. Note that this operation does not delete the image file or the image’s thumbnail.

Moving and Copying Images

Drag-and-drop can be used to move or copy images that are displayed in an album by dragging them to a folder displayed in an Explore or Browse window, or by dragging them to a location in the Windows Explorer.


Publishing Thumbnail Pages for the Web

Selected thumbnails from Explore window folders or Thumbnail Albums can be used as the basis for creating a series of web pages that display the thumbnails of the images as hyperlinks to the full sized images. This operation is invoked by the Publish Web Pages command on the File menu.

The thumbnail publishing operation is controlled by the Web Pages Creation Setup Dialog. This tabbed dialog provides for the specification of all pertinent parameters for the creation of the HTML pages needed to display a set of thumbnails and their associated images. The following subjects provide further information:

Files Created

The publishing operations creates HTML page files for the startup page (the page containing the thumbnails table) and for each individual image page. The name for the startup page file is specified by the HTML base document name field on the Files and Locations tab of the Web Pages Creation Dialog . Each individual image’s thumbnail file and page name is derived from the image name. For example, if a base document name of “index” is specified for a folder or album containing the files “image1.jpg” and “image2.jpg”, then the publishing operation will create the following files (assuming that JPEG was selected as the file type for the thumbnails):

index.html	(startup page)

image1.jpg.html	(image1.jpg document)

image2.jpg.html	(image2.jpg document)

image1.jpg.thmb.jpg	(image1.jpg thumbnail)

image2.jpg.thmb.jpg	(image2.jpg thumbnail)

Image Page Comments

Each individual image page is designed so that your comments and image description can be easily added by editing the file with a text editor such as Notepad . Open the image page file with Notepad (the “image1.jpg” page file in the above example is named image1.jpg.html) and add your own commentary between the two lines marked:

<!-- Put your own image description between these markers -->

PolyView normally writes the file name of the image file on the line between these markers. You can add to or replace this default line.

Viewing the Results

The easiest way to view your published WWW pages is to run the startup page HTML file from the Windows Explorer by double-clicking it. (The startup page is the file index.html in the above example.) This will display the file in your installed web browser. Note that you need to check the Copy images to graphics directory option on the Files and Locations tab of the Web Pages Creation Dialog to position the actual image files so that they can be viewed on their individual HTML pages.

Transferring the Pages to Your Web Site

The HTML, thumbnail, and image files need to be transferred to your web site using the same storage structure as was created on your local drive. All the files with a “.html” extension should be stored together in the same directory on your web site. (index.html, image1.jpg.html, and image2.jpg.html in the above example.) All the graphics files  should be stored a directory that is addressed by the Graphics directory (Relative name) field on the Files and Locations tab of the Web Pages Creation Dialog . For example, if you have entered the name “graphics” in this field, then transfer all your image files to a directory on your web site named “graphics” that is a subdirectory of the storage location for the HTML files.


The Thumbnail Database Explorer

The Thumbnail Database Explorer provides a mechanism for exploring and manipulating the contents of PolyView’s thumbnail databases independent of the image files represented by the thumbnails. The following operations are available within the Thumbnail Database Explorer:

Opening Images

The image associated with the currently selected thumbnail can be opened for viewing by double-clicking it with the left mouse button, or by choosing the Open command on the File menu. If the volume containing the image is not available then a prompting loop will be entered to allow the insertion of the correct volume (disk) or canceling the open operation.

Viewing Thumbnails

Thumbnails for active images, deleted images, and images not on a currently mounted removable drive can be viewed in the Thumbnail Database Explorer.

Printing Thumbnails

When the Thumbnail Database Explorer is active the Print and Print Preview commands on the File menu print or preview the thumbnails in the currently selected folder. Options concerning thumbnail printing can be found on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog.

Printing Thumbnails to a Window

When the Thumbnail Database Explorer is active the Print Thumbnails To Window command on the File menu uses the current contents of the thumbnail pane to build an image window containing the print formatted image of all or selected thumbnails. The resulting image window can subsequently be exported to any supported file format. Note: printing a large number of thumbnails to an image window can create a very large image requiring large amounts of system memory resources. When the command to print to a window is invoked, PolyView will provide you with information regarding the size of the resulting image prior to commencing the build operation.

The image window created uses the current PolyView background and text colors for background and titling colors. Use the appropriate commands on the Options menu to select the best combination for your purposes.

Deleting Thumbnails

Commands are available on the Thumbnails menu to Delete and UnDelete individual or entire trees of thumbnails. Thumbnails marked for deletion in the Thumbnail Database Explorer are not actually deleted until a Maintain operation is performed, or the Thumbnail Database Explorer is closed.

Hiding Thumbnails

Commands are available on the Thumbnails menu to Hide and UnHide thumbnails. The data associated with thumbnails marked as hidden in the Thumbnail Database Explorer is not discarded until a Maintain operation is performed, or the Thumbnail Database Explorer is closed.


The Browse Window

The PolyView Browse window is an image preview window that displays a list of file names in the left pane and a view of the currently selected image file in the right pane. The file name list is either the contents of a browsed folder, or the list of currently marked files.

See also:	Browsing Folders

Browsing Marked Files

Browse by Keyword

The following image management operations are supported from the Browse window:

Copying and Moving Files

Selected files can be copied or moved to a different location by choosing Copy or Move from the File menu. A directory selection dialog will be invoked to solicit the destination for the operation.

Drag and Drop

The Browse window can both initiate and accept Windows drag-and-drop operations. You can drag files from a Browse window to a PolyView Explore window, to the Windows Explorer, to the desktop, or to any other application supporting drag-and-drop. If the Browse window is currently browsing a folder then files can be dropped on the tree and list windows to move and copy files from other locations.

Printing Images

Commands are available on the File and context (right click) menus to print the currently selected image(s) to the currently selected printer. Use the Print Setup command on the File menu to change the current printer. See Printing Multiple Images for additional information.

Renaming Files

A single selected file can be renamed by choosing Rename from the File menu. A rename dialog will be invoked to solicit the new name for the file.

Deleting Files

Selected files can be deleted by choosing Delete from the File menu.

Adding Images to a Slide Show

Selected images can be added to the current slide show by choosing Add to slide show from the Browse menu.

Accessing Image Properties

The properties for a selected image can be viewed by choosing Image Properties from the File menu.


Selecting Images

A single image is selected by clicking on its name in the left pane of the Browse window. Select multiple images by holding down the Control key while additional images are clicked, or use the Shift key to select ranges of images.


Browsing Folders

The Browse window can be used to browse a file folder by selecting Browse Directory from the Browse menu, or by selecting Browse Selected Folder from the Browse menu when a folder is selected in the Explore window’s folder tree.


Browsing Marked Files

The Browse window can be used to browse the current list of marked files by selecting Browse Marked Files from the Browse menu. See the discussion on keyboard control during slide shows for further information on marking files.


Browsing by Keyword

The Browse window can be used to browse images selected via keywords by selecting Browse by Keyword from the Browse menu.

Assigning keywords to images

Use the Keywords command on the Edit menu to assign keywords to an open image, or to a group of images selected in the Browse or Explore windows. One or more keywords can be assigned to each image or group of images.

Selecting images by keyword

The Browse by Keyword command on the Browse menu invokes the Keyword Search dialog to enter a set of keywords for image selection.


General Appearance Manipulation

When an image file is initially opened and displayed, PolyView displays it using the specifications found in the file. In some cases it is desirable to change that default appearance, either to apply some special effects, or just to enhance its appearance on the display screen. PolyView offers a number of operations for altering an image’s appearance, ranging from the subtle to the bizarre. These operations fall into the following general categories:

Color and Intensity

Methods that adjust the color balance, contrast, and brightness of an image.

Gamma Adjustment

An adjustment which compensates for the intensity distortion imposed by color display systems.

Filters and Special Effects

Various operations which can subtly or drastically alter an image’s appearance.

Rotation

Methods which change an images orientation.

Cropping

Trimming off unwanted areas of an image.

Color Resolution

Changing the number of colors that can be contained in an image.

Resizing

Changing the size and the number of pixels in an image.

Transparent Color Specification

Specifying a color to use to denote transparency when displaying images on web pages.


Adjusting Color and Intensity

The operations to adjust the color and intensity of an image are found on the Appearance submenu of the Operations menu, and most are on the tool bar . They include:

Brighter+

Brighter-

Adjusts the brightness level of the current image. The Brightness Adjustment Percentage on the General tab of the Properties dialog controls the percentage change for each click.

Contrast+

Contrast-

Adjusts the contrast of the current image. The Contrast Adjustment Percentage on the General tab of the Properties dialog controls the percentage change for each click.

Color+

Color-

Adjusts the relative color saturation level of the current image. (Disabled for gray scale images.) . The Color Adjustment Percentage on the General tab of the Properties dialog controls the percentage change for each click.

Red+

Green+

Adjusts the red/green tint of the current image. (Disabled for gray scale images.) The Red/Green Adjustment Percentage on the General tab of the Properties dialog controls the percentage change for each click.

Gray Scale

Converts the current image to gray scale. (Disabled for images which are already gray scale.)

Negative

Converts the current image to its photographic negative.

RGB Adjust

The RGB Adjustment dialog is available to interactively adjust the individual red-green-blue components of an image.

Brightness Adjust

Contrast Adjust

The Adjustment Dialog is available to interactively adjust the brightness or contrast of an current image.


Gamma Adjustment

The Gamma Adjust option on the Appearance submenu of the Operations menu invokes the Gamma Adjustment dialog to interactively specify the gamma factor for an image.

The Gamma Adjustment dialog also allows the update of the global gamma value. See the Gamma tab of the Properties dialog for further information.


Filters and Special Effects

The Filters and Special Effects available for modifying an image’s appearance include:

Sharpen

Soften

Sharpen or soften the focus of the image. These options are available for all 8 and 24 bit images. The Sharp/Soft Adjustment Percentage on the General tab of the Properties dialog controls the percentage change for each click. The Sharpen and Soften commands are on the Appearance submenu of the Operations menu.

Edge Filters

Several filters which find or enhance the edges of the image. These options are available for all in-place operations on 8 and 24 bit images. The edge filters are all found on the Edge Filters submenu of the Operations menu.

Special Effects

Several filters which perform various special effects on the image. These options are available for all in-place operations on 8 and 24 bit images. These filters are all found on the Special Effects submenu of the Operations menu.


Rotating and Flipping Images

The rotation and flipping operations are found on the Operations menu and include:

Flip

Flips the current image upside down by rotating it 180 degrees.

Mirror

Converts the current image to a mirror image of itself.

Rotate Clockwise

Rotates the current image clockwise by 90 degrees.

Rotate Counter Clockwise

Rotates the displayed image counter clockwise by 90 degrees.


Cropping Images

Cropping an image is an operation that removes unwanted parts of the image and retains the rest. PolyView’s cropping capability allows you to define the rectangular area on the image that you want to retain.

To crop an image:

1.	Choose the Area Selection Tool from the Tools menu.

2.	Use the primary mouse button to drag out a rectangle that defines the area of the image you wish to retain. (If you get this wrong just draw a new rectangle and the first will disappear.)

3.	Choose the Crop command from the Edit menu and the image will be cropped down to the selected rectangle.


Changing Color Resolution

Color resolution changes in PolyView are performed by the Color Depth Wizard that is available by choosing Change Color Depth from the Operations menu.

Color resolution refers to the number of colors that are found in an image. The size of an image is proportional to the maximum number of colors allowed for an image. A two color image requires 1 bit per pixel for storage, a 4 color image requires 2 bits per pixel, etc. PolyView can reduce the number of colors in an image and increase the maximum number of colors in an image.

The operation to increase the maximum number of colors in an image does not change an image’s appearance, only its storage requirements. It is a necessary operation to perform prior to saving to certain file types or performing certain filtering operations, however. For example, a GIF file usually contains an image that uses 8 bits per pixel and contains up to 256 colors. To perform an edge filtering operation on a colored GIF image requires first increasing its resolution to 24 bits per pixel – a requirement of PolyView’s edge filtering algorithms.

Decreasing the number of colors in an image is commonly required to store images into certain file formats. A JPEG image, for example, usually contains an image that requires 24 bits to store each pixel. Storing a 24 bit image in an 8 bit TARGA format requires first decreasing the color resolution of the image to 8 bits per pixel.


Changing Image Size

The size of an image can be changed by choosing the Change Pixel Resolution command on the Operations menu. This command invokes the New Image Dimensions dialog to specify the new height and width of the image. Choices can be made in the dialog to preserve the original image aspect ratio and to use an interpolation algorithm to do the best job of creating new pixels when an image’s size is being increased.


Transparent Color Specification

A transparent color in an image provides a means for defining image areas that can be replaced with an alternate color or pattern when the image is displayed. This is typically used to overlay portions of images onto an existing background, as when an Internet browser displays transparent GIF images. PolyView uses transparency in several ways:

•	The export of images to transparent GIF files.

•	Pasting image sections into existing images. (See the Paste Into Image w/Transparency command on the Edit menu, and the section on Drag-and-Drop operations.)

•	Displaying images with the transparent color replaced by the current background color. (See the Selection as Transparency command on the View menu and the  Display image transparencies option on the General tab of the Properties dialog.)

Specify a transparent color for an image by choosing the Transparent Color command on the Operations menu.

“Close To” Colors

In many images, and particular with photographs, a background area to be specified as transparent is composed of not one, but many differently colored pixels. For these situations the Transparency Tolerance option on the General tab of the Properties dialog can be used to specify how much leeway is allowed in choosing colors that are considered “close to” the specified transparent color. The Transparency Tolerance value is a number that ranges from zero (0), for specifying only a single color as transparent, to 1000, for specifying that all colors are transparent. Values between 0 and 1000 specify a varying degree of tolerance. In practice it may take several tries to find a suitable tolerance for a specific image. For this purpose PolyView provides the Selection as Transparency command on the View menu to quickly preview the effect of the tolerance specification.


Aspect Ratio

The ratio between the height and width of an image.


Creating Animated GIF Files

The GIF89a specification for Graphics Information Format files included the capability of a single GIF file containing multiple images, along with the specification of a display time and display method for each image. Support for an application specific construct in  GIF files was later added to the Netscape Navigator browser, and later to the Microsoft Internet Explorer. These specifications have resulted in the Animated GIF files, and image format which provides many of the animation and moving images that are seen on web sites today.

PolyView supports the creation of animated GIFs through the Create Animated GIFs window. Choose the Create Animated GIFs command from the File menu to invoke this window.


Viewing/Playback of Animated GIFs

In its default configuration PolyView treats animated GIF files as multi-page files and supports navigation through these files in the standard fashion. The Start/Stop GIF Animation command on the View menu will start the animation sequence on a file, or stop the sequence if the animation is currently running. Keep in mind, however, that PolyView’s playback capability is a simplistic imitation of that available within modern World Wide Web browsers. It is recommended that animations being prepared for web pages be previewed using an actual browser before final publication.

PolyView can also be configured to automatically start an animated GIF when it is opened. This capability is controlled through the Animate GIFs on Open item on the General tab of the Properties dialog.


TWAIN Basics

TWAIN is an interface mechanism that has been developed by the TWAIN Working Group as a standard method of transferring information between data sources and applications. PolyView can be used with TWAIN compliant scanners and digital cameras to acquire images for display or saving to disk files.

PolyView requires the 32 bit version of the TWAIN software for its operation. If it finds the file TWAIN_32.DLL in your Windows directory , then the TWAIN operations on the File menu will be enabled. If you have a TWAIN compatible scanner or digital camera but do not have the TWAIN_32.DLL file, then please check with the manufacturer of your device for an update.


Acquiring Images

Images are acquired from a TWAIN data source by choosing the Acquire command from the TWAIN submenu on the File menu. As images are received from the data source they are displayed in open image windows within PolyView. Use the Export Image command on the File menu to save each image.


Direct to File TWAIN Acquisitions

Images are acquired from a TWAIN data source and sent directly to image files by choosing the Acquire to file command from the TWAIN submenu on the File menu. The Prompt for all names in TWAIN acquire option of the File Properties Tab of the Properties dialog is used during this operation to name the individual files acquired. The Add TWAIN files to slide show option on the same tab can also be selected. Please refer to the information on the TWAIN submenu for further details.


TWAIN

According to the TWAIN Working Group, TWAIN is not an acronym. TWAIN stands for TWAIN.


TWAIN Data Source

A TWAIN data source is a set of software drivers provided by scanner and digital camera manufacturers to implement a standard mechanism of transferring image data and other information to applications.


The TWAIN Working Group

The TWAIN working group is a consortium of major manufacturers who developed and control the TWAIN standard. Further information on the working group is available at http://www.twain.org.


File Names in Slide Show Scripts

File names in slide show scripts can be either absolute path names (containing complete drive and directory information) or can be relative names. The “root” directory for a relative name is the directory where the script file is located, and the “root” drive is the drive where the script file is located. For example, if the script “c:\vacations\slides.pvs” contains the entries:

mountains\hood.jpg

lakes\michigan.jpg

\scenery\thebeach.jpg

then PolyView will look for the following files when the slide show is played:

c:\vacations\mountains\hood.jpg

c:\vacations\lakes\michigan.jpg

c:\scenery\thebeach.jpg


Keywords

Tagging images with keywords provides a mechanism for image selection by subject or category when the images are physically stored in different locations on the computer system. Keywords for an image or a group of selected images can be entered by choosing the Keywords command on the Edit menu.

Viewing the images associated with a set of Keywords is available for the Explore window, the Browse window, and for Thumbnail Albums. Keywords can be combined in logical combinations to select images. For example:

mountains or lakes

selects images containing either the keywords “mountains” or “lakes”. The keyword expression:

mountains and lakes

selects images containing both the keywords “mountains” and “lakes”, but not images containing only one or the other.

PolyView’s logical combination of keywords progresses from left to right through the keyword expression without regard to precedence. The expression:

mountains and lakes or valleys

creates a list of images containing both the “mountains” and “lakes” keywords. This list is then combined with all images containing the keyword “valleys”. The expression:

mountains or lakes and valleys

creates a list of images containing either “mountains” or “lakes”. This list is then pruned of images which do not contain the “valleys” keyword.


PolyView Format Dictionary

PolyView supports the following standard graphics formats for image viewing:

Adobe Photoshop (PSD)

Apple PICT

Bitmap (BMP)

Casio Digital Camera

Commodore-Amiga IFF

Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS)

DCX

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)

FAX

FlashPix

GEM IMG

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)

Halo CUT

Joint Photographics Experts Group (JPEG)

Kodak Digital Camera (KDC)

LaserData LaserView

MacPaint (MAC)

Microsoft Paint (MSP)

Nikon D1 NEF Image Format

Paint Shop Pro Image

Photo-CD

Pixmap (XPM)

Portable Bitmap

Portable Greymap

Portable Pixelmap

Portable Network Graphics (PNG)

Seattle FilmWorks SFW

SGI Image File

Sony PMP

Sun Raster

Tagged Interchange File Format (TIFF)

Truevision TARGA

WAP WBMP

Windows Icon

Windows Metafile

WinFax

WordPerfect Metafile (WPG)

X Bitmap

X Windows Dump

ZSoft PCX


Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop format images in 1, 4, 8, and 24 bit format with a variety of compression and color space types can be read and displayed by PolyView.

All but 4 bits per pixel images can be saved to Adobe Photoshop files.

Note: Adobe Photoshop storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Apple PICT

Apple PICT is a common format for the Apple Macintosh. PolyView can read and display the raster form of PICT files.

All images can be saved to Apple PICT files.

Note: Apple PICT storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.

Photo-JPEG

Photo-JPEG format is a variant of Apple PICT that is usually characterized as a series of individual JPEG images that describe horizontal slices of the total image. If you open a PICT image and it displays only the top “piece” of the file, then it is likely a Photo-JPEG image. Use the Process Photo-JPEG File command on the File menu to see the entire image and possibly save it to a different format.


Bitmaps

BMP format files in both Windows and OS/2 formats are read and displayed by PolyView.

All images can be saved to some form of BMP format file.

1 bit Windows BMP files are bit-packed monochrome images stored as 8 bits per pixel.

4 bit Windows BMP files contain up to a 16 element color table and the uncompressed bits which make up the image - two pixels per byte.

4 bit Windows RLE BMP files contain up to a 16 element color table and the run length encoded bits which make up the image. The storage size for this format may be smaller than an uncompressed 4 bit Windows BMP file, particularly when an image has large areas of constant color. In some cases, however, an RLE file will be larger than an uncompressed image.

8 bit Windows BMP files contain up to a 256 element color table and the uncompressed bits which make up the image - one byte per pixel. The pixel data from 24 bit images will be color reduced for storage in this format.

8 bit Windows RLE BMP files contain up to a 256 element color table and the run length encoded bits which make up the image. The pixel data from 24 bit images will be color reduced for storage in this format. The storage size for this format may be smaller than an uncompressed 8 bit Windows BMP file, particularly when an image has large areas of constant color. In some cases, however, an RLE file will be larger than an uncompressed image.

16 bit Windows BMP files contain the uncompressed bits which make up the image - two bytes per pixel. Up to 65536 colors can be represented by this format, using 5 bits for red, 6 bits for green, and 5 bits for blue. This format is only available for storing 24 bit images.

24 bit Windows BMP files contain the uncompressed bits which make up the image - three bytes per pixel. Up to 16 million colors can be represented by this format. Note that this format is only available for storing 24 bit images.


Commodore-Amiga IFF

Commodore-Amiga IFF image files in all forms can be read and displayed by PolyView.

All images can be saved to IFF files.

Note: IFF storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS)

Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS) images can be read and displayed by PolyView.

1 bit per pixel monochrome files can be saved to CALS format.

Note: CALS file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


DCX

DCX files contain multiple PCX formatted images in a single file. Navigation commands under the View menu can be used to view all the images within a DCX file.

All images can be saved to DCX files. If the DCX file named for export already exists, then the file will either be replaced or appended to, according to user response to a prompting dialog box.

Multipage DCX images can also be created with the Create Multipage Image command on the File menu.

Note: DCX file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Encapsulated PostScript

Encapsulated PostScript files can contain vector, bitmap, and screen preview image data. PolyView can extract and display the screen preview data from EPS files.

PolyView cannot write files in EPS format.


FAX

PolyView can read and display a variety of FAX formats, including AT&T G4, Brooktrout, KOFAX, etc.

PolyView cannot write files in FAX formats.


GEM IMG

GEM IMG contain 16 color or grayscale bitmaps.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write files in IMG format.


Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)

GIF file images in 1, 4 and 8 bit formats are read, written,  and displayed by PolyView. PolyView ignores non-image related information found in GIF 89a files.

All images can be saved to non-interlaced and interlaced GIF formats. Interlaced GIF files use a scheme that is useful when the file is to be displayed while it is being received over a relatively slow medium like a serial network link. In these situations the GIF interlacing scheme allows a partial view of the image to be displayed when only a small portion of the entire image has been received.

GIF files can contain at most 256 colors. The pixel data from 24 bit images will be color reduced for storage in this format.

If the embedded comments for a file have been updated from the Image Properties dialog box accessible from the File menu then these comments will be written to the GIF files as comment records.

Animated GIF files are a method of performing simple animation on World Wide Web pages. PolyView creates animated GIF files through the Create Animated GIFs command on the File menu.

Note that saving to interlaced GIF format and output of embedded comments are available only to registered users of PolyView.


Halo CUT

Halo CUT files are 8 bit image files generated by various DOS paint programs.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write CUT files.


Joint Photographics Experts Group (JPEG)

JPEG format files containing 8 and 24 bit images in both progressive and non-progressive form are read and displayed by PolyView. Progressive format JPEG files use a storage scheme that allows images to be displayed while they are being received, useful when the file is to be displayed while it is being received over a relatively slow medium like a serial network link.

All images with a storage format greater than or equal to 8 bits per pixel can be saved to JPEG format files, both progressive and non-progressive. 256 color images such as those produced from GIF files, however, may create JPEG files which, although much smaller than the original GIF file, have considerable visual distortion as compared to the original. You should compare the exported JPEG file against the original image and experiment with the JPEG Output Quality Factor to achieve the best results. (JPEG files can be rotated, flipped, and mirrored without distortion by PolyView See the File Transforms command on the Operations menu for further information.)

If the embedded comments for a file have been updated from the Image Properties dialog box accessible from the File menu then these comments will be written to the JPEG file as marker text.

Note that saving to progressive JPEG format and output of embedded comments are available only to registered users of PolyView.


LaserData LaserView

LaserData LaserView files are 1 bit per pixel files which contain data in CCITT Group 4 format.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write LaserView files.


MacPaint

MacPaint files are 1 bit per pixel files that are always in a 720x576 size.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write MacPaint files.


Microsoft Paint

Microsoft Paint files are 1 bit per pixel files.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write Microsoft Paint files.


Eastman Kodak Photo-CD

Photo-CD is the Eastman Kodak Photo CD format. PolyView can extract any of the image sizes stored within these files. The Photo-CD tab of the Properties dialog controls the way PolyView opens Photo-CD format files.

PolyView cannot write files in Photo-CD format.


Pixmap

Pixmap is a 256 color format developed for X Windows by MIT. Polyview can read and display Pixmap files.

PolyView can write 8 bit images to Pixmap files.

Note: Pixmap storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Portable Network Graphics

PNG, or Portable Network Graphics Format (pronounced ping) is a new format that may eventually become the standard for lossless image storage. PNG was initially designed to replace GIF, but offers many features that were lacking in GIF, including higher resolution color, potentially better compression, and patent free implementation.

All images can be saved to non-interlaced and interlaced PNG formats. Interlaced PNG files use a complex two-dimensional interlacing scheme that is useful when the file is to be displayed while it is being received over a relatively slow medium like a serial network link. In these situations the PNG interlacing scheme allows a highly intelligible view of the image to be displayed when only a small portion of the entire image has been received. If PNG files are only to be displayed by viewers like PolyView, then the non-interlaced format will display faster and will be slightly smaller.

PNG images can contain image data with 16 bit/sample information. When 16 bit/sample PNG images are converted to PNG or TIFF the 16 bit/sample information will be written to the output file.

If the embedded comments for a file have been updated from the Image Properties dialog box accessible from the File menu then these comments will be written to the PNG files as comments identified by the Comment keyword.

Note: PNG file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Sun Raster

Sun Raster is a 1, 8, 24, or 32 bit raster image format from Sun Microsystems. PolyView can read and display all variants of Sun Raster files.

All images can be saved to Sun Raster files.

Note: Sun Raster file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Tagged Interchange File Format

TIFF files come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Because of this it is difficult to guarantee that all possible combinations of TIFF storage techniques will be interpreted and rendered correctly. PolyView does, however, support 1-4-8-16 bit grayscale images, 4 and 8 bit color mapped images, and 24 bit RGB, CIE L*a*b*, CMYK, and YCbCr color images. These formats are supported with a variety of compression methods and planar configurations.

TIFF files can contain multiple images. Navigation commands under the View menu can be used to view all the images within a TIFF file.

PolyView saves or exports images to TIFF files in 1 bit monochrome, 8 bit grayscale, 4 and 8 bit color mapped, and 24 bit RGB color formats. TIFF images can be saved in uncompressed or LZW compressed form, CCITT Group 3 and 4 FAX (1 bit monochrome images), and JPEG compression (type 7). If the TIFF file named for export already exists, then the file will either be replaced or appended to (creating a multi-page image), according to user response to a prompting dialog box.

Multipage TIFF images can also be created with the Create Multipage Image command on the File menu.

TIFF images can contain image data with 16 bit/sample information. When 16 bit/sample TIFF images are converted to PNG or TIFF the 16 bit/sample information will be written to the output file.

Note 1: exporting to TIFF files is only available to registered users.

Note 2: TIFF bilevel images (1 bit/pixel) are always written with zero bits indicating white and one bits indicating black (photometric tag 0). Some TIFF viewers incorrectly display bilevel images that use zero bits for black and one bits for white (photometric tag 1).


Truevision TARGA

Truevision TARGA files are 8, 16, or 24 bit format images. PolyView can read and display all variants of TARGA files.

All images can be saved to TARGA files, in either compressed or uncompressed format. Either 8 or 24 bit storage will be used, depending on the format of the image being saved.

Note: TARGA file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


Windows Icon

Windows ICON files can be read and displayed by PolyView.

PolyView cannot write Windows ICON files.


Windows Metafile

Windows metafiles are Windows standard image formats that contain series of graphics commands which describe images. Metafiles are found in three formats:

•	Windows Metafile Format - the original standard format

•	Aldus Placeable Metafile - a Windows Metafile with a header containing dimensional information.

•	Windows Enhanced Metafile - a new metafile format.

PolyView can read and display but cannot write metafile images.

Note: the original Windows Metafile Format is rarely used because of some serious limitations inherent to the format. PolyView provides some relief to these limitations by allowing the specification of the mapping mode to be used for their display.


WordPerfect Metafile

WordPerfect metafiles contain both vector and bitmap information. PolyView can display only the first bitmap record from a WordPerfect metafile.

PolyView cannot write WordPerfect metafiles.


X Bitmap

X Bitmaps are monochrome bitmaps. PolyView can read and display X Bitmaps.

PolyView can write 1 bit per pixel monochrome files to X Bitmaps.

Note: X Bitmap file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


X Windows Dump

X Windows Dump files are 1, 4, 8, and 24 bit image files. PolyView can read and display all variants of X Windows Dump files.

All images can be saved to X Windows Dump files.

Note: X Windows Dump file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


ZSoft PCX

XSoft PCX files are 1, 4, 8, and 24 bit image files. PolyView can read and display all variants of PCX files.

All images can be saved to PCX files.

Note: PCX file storage is available only to registered users of PolyView.


FlashPix

FlashPix is a format for digital image storage developed by Eastman Kodak Company in collaboration with Hewlett-Packard Company, Live Picture, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation. FlashPix image files contain multiple resolution images along with transformation information to insure the best display on the viewing hardware.

FlashPix reading is fully supported by PolyView. Images containing multiple resolutions are represented as multipage images.

FlashPix writing and image transformation operations are not supported.


Portable Bitmap

Portable Bitmap is one of the formats produced by Jeff Poskanzer’s Portable Bitmap Utilities programs. Portable Bitmap is a 1 bit per pixel black and white format.

PolyView can read, write, and display variants of the Portable Bitmap format.


Portable Greymap

Portable Greymap is one of the formats produced by Jeff Poskanzer’s Portable Bitmap Utilities programs. Portable Greymap is an 8 bit per pixel gray scale format.

PolyView can read, write, and display variants of the Portable Greymap format.


Portable Pixelmap

Portable Pixelmap is one of the formats produced by Jeff Poskanzer’s Portable Bitmap Utilities programs. Portable Pixelmap is a 24 bit per pixel color format.

PolyView can read, write, and display variants of the Portable Pixelmap format.


Kodak Digital Camera (KDC)

The KDC format is the native format for several of the Kodak digital cameras. KDC format supports the reproduction of 24 bit per pixel color images.

PolyView can read and display the Kodak Digital Camera format for the Kodak DC20, DC25, DC40, DC50, and DC120 cameras.

Note: KDC support is automatically enabled when the KDC Support Library is installed. The library can be downloaded from our web site at http://www.polybytes.com/beta.htm.


WinFax

WinFax is the format produced by the WinFax application of the Symantec Corporation. WinFax is a 1 bit per pixel monochrome format.

PolyView can read and display WinFax format files.


Seattle FilmWorks

Seattle FilmWorks SFW format is a variant of the standard JPEG/JFIF format that was apparently “invented” to force users of their digitized photo service to use only the Seattle FilmWorks supplied viewer. It differs from the standard format in very minor ways – the encoding and compression data format is identical. SFW image files contain 24 bit per pixel images.

PolyView can read and display Seattle FilmWorks SFW format.


Sony Digital Camera Format (PMP)

PMP format is produced by a family of Sony digital cameras, including the DSC-F1. PMP format image files contain a Sony specific header followed by standard JPEG encoded data. PMP image files contain 24 bit per pixel images.

PolyView can read and display Sony’s PMP format images.


SGI Image File Format

SGI Image File Format is a graphics file format produced by Silicon Graphics Incorporated workstations.

PolyView can read and display SGI images produced in grayscale, RGB 24 bit per pixel color, and RGBA 32 bit per pixel color images.

All images can be saved to SGI image format (registered users only). The RGB files produced will be grayscale or 24 bit per pixel images, depending on the characteristics of the source image.


Casio Digital Camera Format

Casio’s “QV” series of cameras produce images in Casio Digital Camera Format.

PolyView can read and display all images stored in Casio Digital Camera Format.


WAP WBMP Format

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an emerging set of standards for developing applications that operate over wireless communication networks. The Wireless BitMaP format (WBMP) is a specification for a simple image format that can be efficiently transferred over these networks.

Currently the WAP standards define Type 0 WMBP format. This is a monochrome 1 bit/pixel format.

PolyView can read, write, and display images in Type 0 WBMP format.


Paint Shop Pro Format

Paint Shop Pro Format is an image file format used with Paint Shop Pro, the full featured image processing program from JASC Software. Paint Shop Pro Format image files can contain images stored with various bit depths and lossless compression methods.

PolyView can read and display Paint Shop Pro Format images that are in single layer raster format. Both versions 5 and 6 of Paint Shop Pro format are supported.


Nikon D1 NEF Image Format

The Nikon D1 digital camera can produce raw CCD images in Nikon Electronic Image Format (NEF). NEF images have 12 bits/pixel resolution and are therefore potentially superior to the standard image formats also produced by this camera. Achieving that potential, however, requires sophisticated image processing techniques. Some images may require hand manipulation to produce the best results.

PolyView supports the reading of NEF images, but presently has no compensation for the color bias that may be present in the camera’s output. The best results can be achieved by using PolyView to convert a NEF image to TIFF and use a sophisticated photo processing program like Adobe Photoshop or JASC Paint Shop Pro for enhancing the image. NEF images written to TIFF and PNG formats will be output as 16 bit/sample images, thus preserving the original color resolution of the camera’s sensor.


The name of the person registering PolyView. This item is case sensitive and must be entered exactly as shown on the message from Polybytes.


The license number for the registration. Enter the number that was received in the registration letter from Polybytes.


Each file dragged and dropped on PolyView will create a separate image window.


A group of files dragged and dropped on PolyView will be used as the file list for a slide show and the slide show will be automatically entered.


If checked then a group of files dragged and dropped will be added to the existing slide show list instead of replacing it.


Each file opened by PolyView will be displayed in a separate, newly created window.


Each file opened by PolyView will be displayed in the current window, replacing any existing image.


A default internal comment to be written to all saved GIF, JPEG, and PNG files.


Always ask about saving images that have been altered while viewing.


Write PolyView's version signature to all saved GIF and JPEG images as an internal comment.


If checked, then assume that a command line argument containing spaces is really a single long file name. Otherwise file names containing spaces must be enclosed in quotes.


Display the full path for an image in the window title instead of just the name of the image.


Show file names in the Explore and Browse windows even if they have been marked as hidden by the operating system.


Prompt for each name in a TWAIN multiple file acquire operation instead of  auto-generating the names based upon the first name entered.


Create multi-page DCX and TIFF files during TWAIN acquire to file operations.


Add the name of each file acquired during a TWAIN operation to the current slide show list.


The percentage change to be made each time a Brightness change operation is performed.


The percentage change to be made each time a Contrast change operation is performed.


The percentage change to be made each time a Red/Green adjustment operation is performed.


The percentage change to be made each time a Colorfulness adjustment operation is performed.


The percentage change to be made each time a Sharpness adjustment operation is performed.


Never display a progress bar during image decompression.


Always show a progress bar during image decompression.


Display a progress bar only on intermediate file decompression operations.


Do not automatically shrink large images to fit the available  display space.


Create a new window from an area to be zoomed by interpolating “between” the existing pixels.


Some printer drivers do not perform well when printing images that require image pixels to be expanded into multiple printer pixels. With this option selected PolyView will perform an in-memory expansion (if required) of an image prior to sending it to the printer by using an interpolation algorithm. In many cases this operation will significantly improve the quality of the printed image.

This option may also be necessary with some printers to work around printer driver bugs that fail to print images with large pixel dimensions.

Note: selecting this option may use an unacceptable amount of memory when large image expansion ratios are required, resulting in long printing times.


If a metafile contains dimension information then use it to define the size of the window for displaying the metafile contents. If unchecked, then metafile dimensions will always be solicited.


Filtering operations that drastically change the appearance of an image should be used to create a new window, leaving the current image unchanged.


Turn off the display of the PolyView splash screen during startup.


Automatically start playing the animation frames of an animated GIF when it is initially opened.


Reduce large images to smaller windows using a method that works best for color images.


Reduce large images to smaller windows using a method that works best for line drawings made using black lines on a white background.


Reduce large images to smaller windows using a method that works best for line drawings made using white lines on a black background.


The number of seconds an image is to be displayed in auto-browse or slide show modes.


The images in the slide show list are each to be displayed once.  The slide show will then be terminated.


The images in the slide show list are to be continuously cycled. The slide show must be manually terminated.


The images in the slide show list are cycled only by keyboard or mouse input.


The images in the slide show list are displayed in a random order during the slide show presentation.


Ignore errors that occur while processing slide show images. If this option is not checked then errors will terminate the slide show.


Show the image file name in the lower right hand corner of full screen image displays.


Display a slide show in a window instead of full-screen.


Images that are smaller than the display area for a slide show should be expanded to fill the available space.


Allow multiple name selection in the slide show creation dialog. (This option should be checked to display long filenames correctly in an NT 3.51 system.)


Prevent a screen saver from activating during a full-screen slide show presentation.


The mode of arithmetic to be used for JPEG operations - slow but accurate integers, slow but very accurate floating point, or fast but slightly inaccurate integer.


JPEG chroma upsampling method – carefully and accurately, or less carefully but faster.


JPEG compression quality factor. The higher the number the better the resulting JPEG image will match the original, and the larger the size of the JPEG image file.


Automatically select the image size for a photo-CD image display based upon the available screen size of your machine.


Ask for the display size for each photo-CD image file opened.


The photo-CD image should be displayed in a 192W x 128H format.


The photo-CD image should be displayed in a 384W x 256H format.


The photo-CD image should be displayed in a 768W x 512H format.


The photo-CD image should be displayed in a 1536W x 1024H format.


The photo-CD image should be displayed in a 3072W x 2048H format.


Enable the photo-CD upsizing algorithm to determine the size of a photo-CD image to display based upon screen size and the specified “Screen Fill Percentage”.


The percentage of the screen to be filled in at least one direction when photo-CD upsizing is enabled.


The maximum number of image file names to be shown in the Most Recently Used image file list on the File menu.


Use the MRU list only during a single PolyView session. Always purge it on exit, erasing the history of the files most recently opened.


The list of applications that PolyView will include in the "Open With" list on an image's context menu. Click on an application to select it for further processing.


Add an application to the list of helper applications.


Remove the selected application from the list of helper applications.


The name that should appear on the "Open With" list for the selected application. If left blank, then the name of the application will appear on the list.


Enclose the file name in quotes when an image file name is sent to the selected application. This is required for some applications if an image file name contains spaces.


Save a thumbnail image that is optimized for display on a computer system configured to display 256 colors. This option usually results in the smallest thumbnail database size.


Save a thumbnail image that is optimized for display on a computer system configured to display more than 256 colors. This option does not display well on 256 color systems.


Save thumbnail image's for both 256 color and higher color display systems. This option results in the largest thumbnail database size, but the resulting thumbnails will display optimally on all display color configurations.


The number of thumbnails in each row of a printed thumbnail page.


Include the dimensions of the image with the image file name on the status line for a thumbnail, and when printing thumbnail pages.


The size of a created thumbnail, in pixels, as measured along one edge of the thumbnail.


Relax the strict drive matching criteria to allow thumbnails to be matched to images where the image was on a different drive when the thumbnail was created. This is useful where drive letter assignments have changed due to hardware changes, or in dual-boot situations where drive letter assignments differ between two operating systems. Note: Enabling drive independent mapping may result in unexpected behavior when identical images (identical path, size, and creation/modification time) exist on more than one drive.


Turns off all Undo operations. Changes made to an image cannot be reversed.


When the undo buffer is full and another undo block needs to be stored, delete the oldest undo block in the buffer which belongs to an image other than the current image. If the undo buffer contains only blocks for the current image, then delete the oldest block found.


When the undo buffer is full and another undo block needs to be stored, delete the oldest undo block in the buffer for the current image. If the undo buffer contains no blocks for the current image, then delete the oldest block found for any image.


When the undo buffer is full then no further undo blocks will be stored.


The size of the Undo buffer, in megabytes. An internal memory block will be allocated using this size.


The list of image files to be converted. Manipulate the files in this list by pressing the Select Files button.


Invoke the file list dialog for adding files to or removing files from the list of image files.


Start the image conversion process.


Stop the image conversion process.


Close this window and continue.


When this box is checked the Conversion Results window will automatically scroll up as conversion information is written. Uncheck this box if you want to stop the scrolling operation to study messages in the window while the conversion process is ongoing.


Progress and error information relating to the conversion process is written here.


Select the destination folder for converted files. All files created during the conversion process will be written to the selected folder.


The currently selected destination folder for converted files. All files created by the conversion process will be written to this folder.


The destination image format for the conversion process. All files created by the process will be written in this format.


A check in this box indicates that the conversion process should replace files in the destination folder if a file is to be created with the name of an existing file in that folder. Note that the source file for the conversion is never replaced.


The image files list.


Invokes a file selection dialog to add files to or remove files from the list of image files.


Remove the selected file(s) from the image list.


Saves all specified information to a script file.


Unpacks an existing GIF into its constituent files and an animation script. The individual files from the original file will have an index number appended to their names, indicating the order of placement within the original file. The script file will be the original name with the “.GIF” extension replaced with “.PVA”. If the Replace during unpack option is checked then existing files will be silently overwritten, otherwise the unpack operation will fail if file name conflicts are found. At the conclusion of the unpack operation the Create Animated GIFs window will be updated to reflect the operations necessary to recreate the original file.


If this box is checked then existing files will be silently overwritten during an unpack operation, otherwise the unpack operation will fail if file name conflicts are found.


The name of the animated GIF file to be created. Use the Browse button to select the destination name and folder.


Choose a name and folder for the destination file.


Opens the Output GIF file in a normal PolyView window. If the file is an animated GIF then it will automatically be animated. This button is useful for evaluating the result of building a file.


Start the build process for the animated GIF.


The amount of time an individual image is to be displayed during animation, in hundredths of seconds. Entering a new value into this field changes the delay time for all selected (highlighted) image names.


Controls the action to be taken by a web browser at the conclusion of the delay time for an image and just before advancing to the next image. Selecting a new value for this field changes the disposal method for all selected (highlighted) image names. The available options are:

Not specified - perform no action.

Do not dispose - leave the image on the screen. This should be the same as the first option.

Restore background - replace with the background color.

Restore previous - replace with the previous image.


Controls the way the color map for each image is handled as images are added to the output animated GIF. Selecting a new value for this field changes the color map option for all selected (highlighted) image names. The available options are:

Use this image - the color map for this image will be transferred to the output file as the local color map for this image.

Use first image - the color map used for this image during playback of the animated GIF will be the color map from the first image place in the output file.

Note: the color map from the first image in the list is always used as the global color map for the output file.


Controls the left position for the selected image within the image space defined for playback of the animated GIF (defined by the Width and Height fields). Entering values into these fields changes the corresponding option value for all the selected (highlighted) image names. Note that PolyView does not honor these offsets during playback. You will have to open the GIF with your web browser to see the effect.


Controls the top position for the selected image within the image space defined for playback of the animated GIF (defined by the Width and Height fields). Entering values into these fields changes the corresponding option value for all the selected (highlighted) image names. Note that PolyView does not honor these offsets during playback. You will have to open the GIF with your web browser to see the effect.


The iteration loop count to apply to the animation. Entering 0 in this field implies continuous looping. Any other value is the number of times the GIF images should be cycled each time the animation is displayed. Note that PolyView does not honor this count during playback but instead always loops continuously. You will have to open the GIF with your web browser to see the effect.


The Width and Height fields define the width and height of the display rectangle for the animated GIF file. If both fields contain non-zero integers then they will be written to the output GIF file. Otherwise, the width and height of the first image in the list will define the display rectangle size.


The Width and Height fields define the width and height of the display rectangle for the animated GIF file. If both fields contain non-zero integers then they will be written to the output GIF file. Otherwise, the width and height of the first image in the list will define the display rectangle size.


Play the slide show image list as it is currently specified.


Add the selected image file(s) to the image list.


Add all the files in the current folder to the image list.


Remove all the files from the image list.


Specify the rotation to be used when displaying the selected images(s). The choices are:

None – no rotation.

Clockwise 1 – rotate the image clockwise by 90 degrees.

Clockwise 2 – rotate the image clockwise by 180 degrees (flip it upside down).

Clockwise 3 – rotate the image clockwise by 270 degrees (counterclockwise by 90 degrees).


The number of seconds to display the selected image(s). If left blank then the display time specified on the Browse tab of the Properties dialog will be used for the selected image(s).


Enter a value between -100 and 100 indicating the percentage change to make in the red component of each pixel.


Enter a value between -100 and 100 indicating the percentage change to make in the blue component of each pixel.


Enter a value between -100 and 100 indicating the percentage change to make in the green component of each pixel.


Adjust the slider to modify the percentage change to make in the red component of each pixel.


Adjust the slider to modify the percentage change to make in the blue component of each pixel.


Adjust the slider to modify the percentage change to make in the green component of each pixel.


Apply the current adjustment settings to the image. This operation can be undone by pressing the Cancel button or made permanent by pressing the Accept button.


Accept the current changes to the image's appearance and close this dialog box.


Apply the current adjustment settings to the image. This operation can be undone by pressing the Cancel button or made permanent by pressing the Accept button.


The selected gamma factor will be saved as the global gamma to potentially be applied to all images when they are opened and displayed.


The new gamma factor to be applied to the image, or the percentage change to be made in brightness or contrast.


Move this slider to adjust the gamma factor value or the percentage change in brightness or contrast to be applied to the image.


The new width for the image to be created.


The new height for the image.


Use interpolation to generate the final image if the image size is being increased. This algorithm can significantly enhance the appearance of the resulting image.


If selected then the original aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) of the source image will be taken into account whenever the height or width values are changed, and the opposite dimension will be automatically updated. For example, if the height is changed then the width value required to maintain the source aspect ratio will be calculated and inserted into the width field.


Base the final image on the entire source image, not just the visible portion.


Base the final image on only the visible portions of the current image.


Navigate the tree and click on the target folder to select it.


Contains the path name of the currently selected folder.  Select a new folder by navigating the tree, or type in a path here.


Choose the page number to display from this multi-page image by choosing from the list of available pages.


A description of the internal format of the image as determined by PolyView during the decompression operation.


Information found in comment records embedded in the image file. Changes made to these comments will be written to the output image file if this image is exported or saved to a GIF, JPEG, or PNG format file.


The width of the image, in pixels.


The height of the image, in pixels.


The number of bits representing a single pixel of the image.


The size of the file containing the image.


The base name of the current thumbnail database. The database is comprised of two files - <basename>.pvx and <basename>.pvd.


The number of non-deleted thumbnails in the database.


The number of bytes utilized by thumbnail information in the thumbnail database .pvd file.


The number of bytes in the .pvd file that are occupied by deleted thumbnails. These bytes can be reclaimed and the database size reduced by this amount by choosing the Reclaim unused space option.


If this option is chosen then a database pack operation will take place when the OK button is pressed. All deleted thumbnail blocks from the database .pvd file will be removed and the size of the file will be reduced accordingly.


If this option is chosen then the database will be scanned for non-existent image files when the OK button is pressed. All thumbnail information for image files which cannot be found on the system in their original locations will be removed and the size of the thumbnail database files will be reduced accordingly.


The distance from the top of the printed page to the top of the printed image. The actual distance used may be different if Center Vertically is selected.


The distance from the bottom of the printed image to the bottom of the printed page. The actual distance used may be different if Center Vertically is selected.


The distance from the left edge of the printed page to the left edge of the printed image. The actual distance used may be different if Center Horizontally is selected.


The distance from the right edge of the printed image to the right edge of the printed page. The actual distance used may be different if Center Horizontally is selected.


The dimensional units used to interpret the margin settings for printing. The available units are inches, centimeters (CM) and millimeters (MM).


If selected then an image that does not fill the area defined by the right and left margins will be centered between those margins.


If selected then an image that does not fill the area defined by the top and bottom margins will be centered between those margins.


Choose the icon to the left as the icon to display on PolyView registered file types in the Windows Explorer.


Choose the icon to the left as the icon to display on PolyView registered file types in the Windows Explorer.


Choose the icon to the left as the icon to display on PolyView registered file types in the Windows Explorer.


"Griffin", a Polybytes mascot, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and an intrepid explorer.


A stick-figure Macaw, familiar to many as PolyView's original icon.


PolyView's program icon, designed and contributed by George Edward Purdy (email: slogan@i-link.net).


Associate Windows Bitmap files (type BMP) with PolyView.


Associate Graphics Information Format files (type GIF) with PolyView.


Associate Joint Photographic Expert Group files (type JPG and JPEG) with PolyView.


Associate Kodak photo-CD files (type PCD) with PolyView.


Associate Portable Network Graphics files (type PNG) with PolyView.


Associate Tagged Interchange File Format files (type TIF and TIFF) with PolyView.


Associate slide show script files (type PVS) with PolyView.


The current name for the file to be renamed.


The new name for the file. Please note that this is a rename in place operation, so do not include any path specification in the new name, i.e., no backslash directory separator characters.


The current display and create size for thumbnails.


Choose a new size for thumbnails. This size will be used for subsequent thumbnail display and create operations.


This is the color palette for the current image. Click on a color to choose it as the transparent color for this image.


Check this box to make the currently specified color the transparent color for this image.


The value of the green component of the transparent color.


The value of the blue component of the transparent color.


The value of the red component of the transparent color.


The actual width specified in the metafile.


The actual height specified in the metafile.


The width to use for the bitmap to be created by "playing" the metafile.


The height to use for the bitmap to be created by "playing" the metafile.


If checked then the aspect ratio (height to width ratio) of the original metafile will be preserved. Changes made in the width or height fields of this dialog will cause the value of the corresponding field to be automatically recalculated.


Use MS Internet Explorer style "flat" toolbars. This option does not take effect until PolyView is closed and restarted. Also note that it may be ineffectual or cause anomalous behavior on systems which do not have the current MS Internet Explorer or MS Office 97 products installed.


If checked then a slide show will start with the image that was last displayed in a slide show in this session of PolyView, or from the image that is selected in the slide show dialog when the "Play" button is pressed.


JPEG compression quality factor. The higher the number the better the resulting JPEG image will match the original, and the larger the size of the JPEG image file.

Enter a number between 1 and 100 inclusive.


This is the list of keywords currently associated with, or to be associated with the file(s).


The names of the files to have their keyword lists updated.


Click this button to move the selected keywords from the existing keyword list into the list of keywords to be associated with the file(s).


Click this button to add the list of new keywords to the list of keywords for the file(s).


This is a list of all the keywords that have been associated with files. Select one or more and press the Add button to associate them with the current file list.


Type new keywords into this list, separated by spaces. To add them to the list for the current file(s), click the Add New button.


Remove the selected keywords from the list of those associated with the current file list.


This is the list of keywords to search on. Enter a new list or select a previous to modify by dropping down the selection list for this box.

Keywords can be separated by "or" and "and" to achieve logical combinations of keywords. "and" means that a selection of images which have both keywords is to be made. "or" means that a selection of images which have either keyword is to be made. Evaluation is always in left to right order with no implied precedence.

An "and" operation is assumed if a list of keywords is not separated by a logical operator.


This is the list of available keywords. Choose one or more of them and press the "And" or "Or" buttons on the right to add them to the list of keywords to search on.


Press this button to add the selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical AND operation.

The AND operation indicates that the search should find only images containing ALL of the keywords.


Press this button to add selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical OR operation.

The OR operation indicates that the search should find images containing ANY of the keywords.


The date of the file's last modification.


A list of file extensions to register as PolyView images. Enter the list with spaces separating individual items. For example:

    .dcx .iff .xpm


Enter a name filter here. As the Explore window scans through the image files, only image file names matching this regular expression will be made visible.


This field indicates the number of files that had conversion errors in the most recent set of operations.


Check this option to display the transparency and alpha channel information in GIF and PNG files. Note: enabling this option changes the basic bitmap information retained by PolyView after an image is read by merging the file information with the image background color specified under the Options menu.


Check this option to have slider position changes reflected immediately in the picture being manipulated. Note: direct editing of value entries will cause picture updates only when the value entry field is left via the Tab key or by mouse clicking on a different control.


Press this button to add selected keyword(s) to the search list as a logical AND NOT operation.

The AND NOT operation indicates that the search should find images containing NONE of the keywords.


Specify the number of images to print on each page when printing multiple images. See Printing Multiple Images for more information.


This value controls the way the edges of a pasted bitmap are blended, or feathered, into the original image. The value is the width of the feathered transition edge, in pixels. The blending into the original image will transition from fully transparent to fully opaque across this pixel boundary. This value can vary from 0, for a sharp edge, to 250, for an edge that is gradually feathered to fully opaque across a 250 pixel boundary. Note that it is entirely possible to cause an invisible paste operation if the feathering value is set too high when pasting a small bitmap.


This value controls the way the edges of a pasted bitmap are blended, or feathered, into the original image. The value is the width of the feathered transition edge, in pixels. The blending into the original image will transition from fully transparent to fully opaque across this pixel boundary. This value can vary from 0, for a sharp edge, to 250, for an edge that is gradually feathered to fully opaque across a 250 pixel boundary. Note that it is entirely possible to cause an invisible paste operation if the feathering value is set too high when pasting a small bitmap.


This value controls the overall transparency of a pasted bitmap as it is blended into the original image. The value is the percentage transparency and can vary from 0, for no transparency (fully opaque), to 100, for full transparency (fully transparent).


This value controls the overall transparency of a pasted bitmap as it is blended into the original image. The value is the percentage transparency and can vary from 0, for no transparency (fully opaque), to 100, for full transparency (fully transparent).


The tolerance to use for choosing colors that are "close to" a selected transparent color. During operations that support transparency, such as saving an image to a GIF file, all colors "close to" the specified transparent color will be designated as transparent. The tolerance is specified as a number between 0 and 1000, inclusive. A zero (0) value indicates that only the specified transparent color for the image is to be transparent. A value of 1000 indicates that all colors are transparent. Values between 0 and 1000 specify varying degrees of tolerance. See the section on Transparent Color Specification for further information.


Click this button to activate an eyedropper for selecting a sample of the color to use for transparency. Click on an area of the image to capture a sample, or press the Esc key to cancel the operation.


The width for the image frame.


The height for the image frame.


The color to use for a new image, or for the newly added areas of an existing image.


Centers the existing image within the frame of the new enlarged image.


If checked then an image raised to full screen mode behaves as a manual slide show of the image's enclosing folder. In this mode the normal slide show navigation controls can be used to manually browse through the images in the folder. If unchecked then the behavior when an image is raised to full screen is to browse through PolyView's currently open images.


This button invokes a color selection dialog to choose the color to use for the background in Browse and slide show windows.


If checked then a black on white grid will be used for the areas outside an image's actual boundaries. Unchecking this option causes the image background color to be used.


If checked then double-clicking the left mouse button on an image window will raise the image to full screen.

If left unchecked then double-clicking the left mouse button on an image window will close it.


When an image is opened it will immediately be raised to full screen mode. Until the mode is exited the mouse and keyboard navigation controls can be used to move through the other files contained in the same folder as the opened image.


Invokes the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog to allow examining or changing many of the default characteristics of slide shows.


If this option is checked then a preview of the currently selected image will be shown in the preview box above.


Invokes a file open dialog to search for and specify the name of a sound file to use with the currently selected image(s).


The name of the sound file that is to be started when the currently selected image is displayed. Type in the name of the file here, or use the Browse button to the right to choose the file.


Options to be applied to the playing of sound files during the slide show:

None – if a sound file name is specified for the selected image, then a sound file currently being played will be stopped and the named file started when the image is displayed.

Stop Play – when the selected image is displayed any sound file currently being played will be stopped.

Loop Forever – if a sound file name is specified with this option then it will be played repeatedly until the slide show ends, or until another sound file specification causes it to terminate. This option is ignored if specified for an image when there is no corresponding sound file named.

Wait Until Done – If a sound file name is specified along with this option then the selected image will be displayed until the playing of the sound file has completed. If no sound file name is specified then the image will be displayed until the completion of any previously specified sound.


Read the selected slide show script file and add its contents to the end of the image list. If the operation succeeds then the script file name is removed from the list.


Invokes the media player to listen to the specified sound file.


The name of the keyword database file.


Press this button to invoke a File Open dialog box to browse for and select a keyword database file.


Check this item to open the keyword database in a read-only (shared) mode. In this mode you can use the keyword operations to select files, but operations that modify the database will be disabled.


The base name for the thumbnail database files. The name entered here will have the PVD and PVX types added to it to form the two file names needed.

This specification names the database file that will be used the next time the Explore window is invoked.


Press this button to invoke a File Open dialog box to browse for and select the thumbnail database to be used.


Choose the transition effect by clicking the arrow button on the right of the control and selecting from the list presented. See the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog for further information.


Specify the speed at which a transition effect will occur. The speed is a number between 1 and 100 inclusive, where 1 is the fastest.

Note: the influence of the speed factor on a transition varies depending on the particular transition selected. You may need to experiment to find the best rate for a particular image and transition combination.


Some video drivers have problems with the large memory images that PolyView sends them when fitting to an on-screen window (visible as distortion in the displayed image). Check this option to adopt a pessimistic approach to window painting that will work around this problem.


Move or copy the source file to a different name in the destination folder. This button invokes a dialog to specify the destination file name.


Some printer drivers have problems with the compressed bitmaps that PolyView uses when printing thumbnails. Check this option to turn off the compression of bitmaps during thumbnail creation if you are experiencing problems with incorrect colors in printed thumbnails. Note that you will need to recreate thumbnails with compression disabled before printing.


On systems equipped with MMX enabled processors, this option will turn off the MMX optimizations normally  used during JPEG operations.


Check this option to display a frame and the image file's name when displaying thumbnails in the Explore and Thumbnail Database Browser windows.


Check this option to create a new "untitled" window for the newly resized image. Leave unchecked to modify the existing image.


HyperText Markup Language - the native language for web pages.


Select a folder from this tree to specify where the individual thumbnail image files should be stored.


The currently specified storage folder for the thumbnail images that will be created by this command.


Select the image format for the individual thumbnail image files to be created by this command.


Select a folder from this tree to specify the base destination folder for the HTML and image files to be created or copied by this command.


The currently specified base destination folder for the files to be created or copied by this command.


The name for the HTML file that defines the starting page for the thumbnail and image presentation pages to be created. This page contains the table of thumbnails that are linked to the full sized graphics images. PolyView will add the file extension “.html” to the name specified.


The name of the folder where the original or resized image files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “graphics” is specified for the graphics directory relative name, then all image files will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\graphics”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want all graphics files and HTML files to coexist in the same folder.


Use this drop-down list to specify the type of image files to be created for the individual thumbnail image files.


Check this option to have the original or resized image files copied to the Graphics directory at the time of the publishing operation. This will allow all files to be available for display when your browser is used to open the HTML base document for testing. It will also result in a directory structure on your system that can be later transferred in its entirety to its final location on your web site.


The title for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. This title will be used in the document’s <TITLE> block, as well as appearing centered at the top of the page when it is displayed in a web browser.


The name of the image file to be used as the background for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. Leave this field blank if you do not want an image tiled into the background.


The name of the image file to be used as the background for each HTML document that contains an original full size image. Leave this field blank if you do not want an image tiled into the background.


Invoke a file open dialog to search for the image file to be used for the background for each image page.


Invoke a file open dialog to search for the image file to be used for the background of the starting page.


The width of the thumbnail table, in pixels. This width, along with the size of the thumbnails that have been selected, determines the number of thumbnails in each row of the thumbnail table in the HTML document. For example, if the thumbnail size is set to 200 and the table width to 600, then three thumbnails will be displayed in each row of the final table.


The background color to be used for the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table.


The background color to be used for each HTML document that contains an original full size image.


The introductory description for the thumbnails and images to be published. The text entered into this field will be displayed as an introductory paragraph on the HTML document that contains the thumbnail table. If the thumbnails selected for publication are part of an Album then the description will be saved as the description for the album.


Notepad is a text editor application that is included with all versions of Windows 95/98/NT. It is normally found on the Start/Programs/Accessories menu.


Use the folder tree presented in this window to select the top level folder that should be searched for images.


If this item is checked then the selected top level folder and all its subfolders will be searched for images. If unchecked then only the top level folder will be searched.


The currently selected folder for the find operation.


If this item is checked then the search will find all files that have a file type recognized by PolyView as an image type (.gif, .jpg, .png, etc.). If unchecked then the Find names like control field will be used to match file names.


 A regular expression that defines the names to be added to the Album. This field is only used if the Find all images option is not checked.


Starts the search operation. All files that match the search criteria will be added to the Album.


Stops the search operation to allow the search criteria to be changed. After stopping the Start button will restart the operation from the Starting Folder.


During a search operation this field will be updated with the name of the folder currently being searched.


This is the list of buttons that can be added to the toolbar. Use the Add button to move a button from this list to the current toolbar button list.


This is the list of buttons that are currently contained on the toolbar. Use the Remove button to remove a button from the toolbar, or use drag-and-drop to rearrange the buttons.


Click this button to add the selected button to the toolbar. If a button on the toolbar list is currently selected then the new button will be added just ahead of it. Otherwise, the new button will be added to the end.


Click this button to remove the currently selected button from the toolbar.


When this option is checked then images in thumbnail albums will automatically have their thumbnails created when the album is opened (if they do not already exist), or when images are added to an album.


Check this option to always create a backup file of the original image when file transformations are performed such as JPEG transforms, or group rotate operations on images from a thumbnail view. Backup files are created by appending .$$$.type to the original image name, where type is the file type of the original file (GIF, JPG, TIF, etc.).


The mapping mode to use when rendering Windows 3.1 style metafiles.


The border thickness for the thumbnails on the opening page. Set this value to 0 to turn off the border. A value of up to 10 can be specified.


Check this option to display both the file type and size in the caption for each thumbnail.


Check this option to enable the automatic rotation of an image to best fit the margins it will be printed within. A taller than wide image, for example, will be rotated 90 degrees if printed to a wider than tall print area. Note: automatic rotation is only applicable when printing multiple images or multiple copies of a single image.


Check this item to cause the Delete key to be ignored for an open image. If unchecked then pressing the Delete key will delete the image file.


Check this option to disable the Paused indicator that appears when a full-screen slideshow is paused.


The original image is positioned in the upper left corner of the enlarged image.


The original image is tiled into the enlarged image. This is useful for seeing the effect of using an image as the background for a web page.


Gamma correction will automatically be applied to all displayed images. Caution: The gamma compensation performed by this operation modifies the in-memory bitmap for each image opened. If the image is subsequently saved, the modified bitmap is stored to the file. Unless the image file is saved to a format that also saves the gamma factor, such as PNG, an additional viewing of the file will again apply the global gamma compensation, causing undesirable color distortion. We recommend that the global gamma handling always be set to Apply to all but opened images prior to opening images which are to modified and saved back to disk.


The global gamma value that will be applied to displayed images according to the handling specified below.


Gamma correction is never automatically applied.


Gamma correction is applied to all but images opened for editing. This applies to images displayed in slide shows and in the folder browser.


Check this item to always retain the current file extension when a file is renamed. With this option checked, for example, specifying NewName for a file named OldName.jpg will result in OldName.jpg being renamed to NewName.jpg.


Add the current folder to the list.


If checked then all the images in the selected folder AND its subfolders will be used in the slide show. Otherwise only the images in the selected folder will be used.


If this item is checked then an image window will be closed after the completion of a Move operation on the image file (File menu).


Check this item to close the image window after the associated file has been moved.


Check this option to allow multiple instances of PolyView to run simultaneously.


The Windows clipboard frequently contains images in several different formats. When a Paste operation is chosen from the Edit menu, a choice must be made of which format will best render the image. If both a metafile and a device independent bitmap are found in the clipboard, PolyView will select the metafile if this option is checked, and the device independent bitmap otherwise. The unchecked case usually results in the best rendering of the image, but sometimes images copied from applications like Microsoft Office can be handled better in their metafile configuration.


Check this item to start PolyView in a mode where its windows will always lie on top of all other windows.


Check this item to display a thumbnail preview of the selected image file.


If Preview is checked then this window will show a thumbnail of the currently selected image file.


Information about the currently selected image file is displayed here.


Check this item to use the margin information from the Page Setup dialog. Each margin (Left, Top, Right, Bottom) will be applied inside the frame specified for each printed image. If this item is left unchecked then each image will be expanded to fill its corresponding frame (preserving the image aspect ratio, of course).


Choose the image to print in the selected frame. If multiple images are selected from the selection dialog then the images will be assigned to consecutive image frames (starting at the currently selected frame).


Clears the name assigned to the selected frame. A frame without an image name assigned will not be printed.


This window displays the image frames as they will be positioned on the printed page. Note that all images printed will automatically be rotated to best fit the particular image frame they are assigned to.


Check this item to display a thumbnail preview of the image assigned to the selected frame.


If Preview is checked then this window will show a thumbnail of the currently selected image file.


Click this button to print the page as it is currently composed. A printer selection dialog will be presented to allow the selection or verification of the printer to be used.


Click this button to invoke the Page Setup dialog. If Use Page Setup is checked (below) then the margins specified in the Page Setup dialog will be used to define the borders around an image within its assigned printing frame.


Check this item to print a thin black border around each image frame.


Choose from a list of available page templates representing combinations of different sized image frames.


The name of a template file containing custom templates for use with the Print Composer command on the File menu.


Press this button to invoke a File Open dialog to choose the template file to use with the Print Composer command on the File menu.


Check this item to create all HTML files using lower case names, regardless of the case of the image files that serve as the source for the web pages. Some FTP programs automatically convert uploaded files to all lower case. If you have one that does be sure to check this item.


Check this item to open the thumbnail database in a read-only (shared) mode. In this mode you can browse thumbnails, but operations that modify the database, such as thumbnail creation, will be disabled.


Select this option to convert images without changing their overall pixel dimensions.


Select this option to resize images as they are being converted. The Fit Size option selected below will be used as the new width for the converted image. The new height will be adjusted to keep the resulting image's aspect ratio the same as the original image.


Select this option to resize images as they are being converted. The Fit Size option selected below will be used as the new height for the converted image. The new width will be adjusted to keep the resulting image's aspect ratio the same as the original image.


Check this item to use an interpolation (smoothing) algorithm during the image resizing operation. When images are increased in size this operation will usually result in a better looking result. Note that all images resized with interpolation will result in 24 bits per pixel images.


The number of pixels to use in the width or height dimension of an image resized during conversion. If Fit to width is selected then this will be the width of the resulting image. If Fit to height is selected then this will be the height of the resulting image.


Check this option to always open images in a window that occupies all the display space in PolyView, i.e., maximize the image's window.


The image HTML directory is the name of the folder where the individual image HTML files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “docs” is specified for the image HTML directory relative name, then all created HTML files (except the main index file) will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\docs”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want the individual image HTML files and the main HTML file to coexist in the same folder.


The name of the folder where the created thumbnail files are to be stored. Note that this is a relative name, with the Destination for HTML Files folder considered to be the root folder. For example, if “c:\web” is specified as the Destination for HTML Files and the name “thumbnails” is specified for the thumbnails directory relative name, then all created thumbnail files will be placed into a folder named “c:\web\graphics”.

Note: leave this field blank if you want created thumbnail files and HTML files to coexist in the same folder.


Select this option if you do not want images resized as they are copied to the graphics directory.


Select this option to resize images as they are being copied. The Fit Size option selected below will be used as the new height for the converted image. The new width will be adjusted to keep the resulting image's aspect ratio the same as the original image.


Select this option to resize images as they are being copied. The Fit Size option selected below will be used as the new height for the converted image. The new height will be adjusted to keep the resulting image's aspect ratio the same as the original image.


The number of pixels to use in the width or height dimension of an image resized during copying. If Fit to width is selected then this will be the width of the resulting image. If Fit to height is selected then this will be the height of the resulting image.


Check this item to use an interpolation (smoothing) algorithm during the image resizing operation. When images are increased in size this operation will usually result in a better looking result. Note that all images resized with interpolation will result in 24 bits per pixel images.


Selects the output format to use when images are resized for viewing from an HTML document.


Moves the currently selected print frame to the next frame in sequence, or to the first frame if no frame is currently selected.


Click this button to choose a font to use for the file name presentation that appears on the bottom of the screen during a full screen slide show. See the Display Filenames with Full Screen Image item on the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog for further information.


The description of the font used for the file name presentation that appears on the bottom of the screen during a full screen slide show. See the Display Filenames with Full Screen Image item on the Browsing tab of the Properties dialog for further information.


Click this button to choose a font to use for displaying thumbnail file names in the Explore window.


The description of the font used for displaying thumbnail file names in the Explore window.


Click this button to choose a font to use for displaying thumbnail file names when printing thumbnails and when creating contact sheets. See the Print Thumbnails to Window command on the File menu for further information.


The description of the font used for displaying thumbnail file names when printing thumbnails and when creating contact sheets. See the Print Thumbnails to Window command on the File menu for further information.


The description of the font to use for printing the page label on a thumbnail printout. The page label contains the name of the folder containing the thumbnails, and the current page number.


Click this button to choose a font used for printing the page label on a thumbnail printout. The page label contains the name of the folder containing the thumbnails, and the current page number.


Check this option to cause small images to be visually enlarged to fit the available display space when opened. When unchecked the behavior is to display images in their “actual” size if they are smaller than the available space.


Two methods are available for timing the individual images in a slide show. Images can be displayed for the period of time specified in the Browsed Image Display Time property (or individual image timing specification), or the time between image changes can be set to the timing specification, thus favoring the absolute timing of the slides. This latter method, available when the Favor Absolute Timing property is checked, eliminates the timing drift caused by transition effects, sound playing, etc.


Check this option to fully erase the screen background prior to displaying a new image during a slide show. If unchecked the previous image will be left on the screen as the new image is transitioned in over it.


The color to be used for the text on the opening HTML page (the page containing the thumbnails).


The color to be used for the text on each image HTML page.


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This is the method to be used when reducing the size of an image:

Eliminate Pixels – choose a representative color for each pixel in the final image. This is a very fast method that works well for most color images.

Favor Black – black pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with black features on a white background.

Favor White – white pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with white features on a black background.

Average Colors – each pixel in the final image is the average color of the area in the original image that it represents. This method takes longer than Eliminate Pixels but results in the best color in the final image.


A selection of standard sizes for the new image size. If Retain Aspect Ratio is checked then the chosen size will define the maximum dimensions for the new image. Otherwise the final image will exactly match the chosen size (possibly distorting the image).


Click this button to choose from among the list of standard sizes in the selection box below.


Click this button to specify a custom size for the new image.


Check this item to use a dissolve effect when removing an image from the screen.


Enhance the printing of thumbnails by using the original image as the image source instead of the reduced thumbnail. Although this method is significantly slower than the unenhanced method it gives far superior results.


Some printer drivers cannot correctly process the large image sizes that result from interpolating an image to match the printer’s resolution. Select this option to use a transfer method that minimizes the amount of data sent to the printer in one operation without reducing the printing quality.


The method to be used when reducing the size of an image:

Eliminate Pixels – choose a representative color for each pixel in the final image. This is a very fast method that works well for most color images.

Favor Black – black pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with black features on a white background.

Favor White – white pixels are favored during image reduction. Use this method for reducing line drawings with white features on a black background.

Average Colors – each pixel in the final image is the average color of the area in the original image that it represents. This method takes longer than Eliminate Pixels but results in the best color in the final image.


Frequently Asked Questions About Registering

What are the advantages of registering PolyView?

What version(s) of PolyView do my registration codes unlock?

I ordered PolyView online. When do I receive my registration codes?

I have lost my registration codes. How do I find them?

I am having trouble entering my registration codes. How do I do it?


What are the advantages of registering PolyView?

Registered users receive a license key number from Polybytes that enables several features of the program not accessible to non-registered users. These features include:

•	Printing images

•	Export of images to formats beyond simple BMP, GIF, and JPEG

•	Multiple image file select from the file open dialog

•	Storing of user supplied text in certain exported or saved image files


What version(s) of PolyView do my registration codes unlock?

A user registration and the associated key does not expire and will work with all future versions of PolyView. The user registration information is stored in the Windows Registry. If for some reason this information is lost from the registry, simply run the Licensing Information dialog and re-enter the key information.


I ordered PolyView online. When do I receive my registration codes?

The online resellers of PolyView have varying amounts of processing delay during which they verify credit card purchase information and prepare the notification message to Polybytes about a user registration. Once Polybytes receives notification of a registration purchase the response time varies from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the time of day that the notification arrives. If you do not receive registration notification within two days of your purchase, please contact both the reseller where you ordered PolyView and support@polybytes.com about the problem.

Note: be very careful about entering the correct email address on your order. We get many registrations with invalid addresses and must then resort to sending registration codes via the postal mail system, a much slower process.


I have lost my registration codes. How do I find them?

Polybytes will quickly supply registration codes if you email your request to codes@polybytes.com. To help us verify that you have registered PolyView in the past please supply the name you registered under, your original email address, and your original street address.


I am having trouble entering my registration codes. How do I do it?

Enter your registration codes by performing the following steps:

1.	Run PolyView.

2.	Click on License! item on the menu bar to invoke the License Information dialog. It is the next to last menu from the right on the menu bar.

3.	Enter Licensee information from your registration letter into the Licensee box provided. Be sure to use the same capitalization and punctuation (if any) shown in the letter.

4.	Enter the License Number information from your registration letter into the License Number box provided.

5.	Click the OK button or press Enter.


Frequently Asked Questions About Common Problems

Why do images with names containing spaces not open from the Windows Explorer?

Why do some images appear distorted when I view them?

Why do some thumbnails not print?

Why do the JPEG files I downloaded from the AOL browser not open in PolyView?

Why do I get an error about a missing DLL when I try to run PolyView?


Why do images with names containing spaces not open from the Windows Explorer?

PolyView accepts multiple file names on its command line. If you invoke PolyView from a DOS prompt with the line:

polyview a.jpg b.jpg c.jpg

it will start running and open all three files. Because of this, however, the command line

polyview c:\program files\pics\a.jpg

will attempt to open the files

c:\program

files\pics\a.jpg

To deal with names like this, PolyView expects that they be enclosed in quote characters, as in:

polyview "c:\program files\pics\a.jpg"

In the first example, the following would also be acceptable:

polyview "a.jpg" "b.jpg" "c.jpg"

Many users of PolyView install it and then program the Windows Explorer to associate file extensions with it, like GIF, JPG, etc. Unfortunately, the Explorer executes PolyView without the quote characters that are required to distinguish single names containing spaces from multiple names. The result is the error you have seen. There are two fixes to this problem:

1.	Go to the Files tab of the Properties dialog (Options menu) and check the Assume single command line argument. This will make double clicking the file c:\program files\pics\a.jpg work like you want, but will cause an error if you drag more than one file at a time and drop it on a shortcut to PolyView.

2.	Use PolyView's Register File Types dialog (Options menu) to make your file associations. When you do this PolyView informs the Explorer (through the Registry) of the DDE characteristics necessary to invoke PolyView.


Why do some images appear distorted when I view them.
Why do some images appear distorted when I view them?

There are a number of graphics cards whose drivers have problems with some of the high performance bit block transfer routines that PolyView uses to display images. The visible symptom of this problem can be seen as image areas that are painted with random colors. This is a particular problem when large images are being “shrunk” to fit within the available display space. PolyView supports a lower performance technique that solves this problem in many instances. The Limit Transfer Size option on the General tab of the Properties dialog (Options menu) forces PolyView to use this lower performance technique. You may notice some degradation in panning and scrolling speed with this option selected.

Note: STB has recently released updated drivers that fix this problem on their graphics cards. More information is available from their web site at http://www.stb.com/drivers/.


Why do some thumbnails not print?

The default format for storing image thumbnails in PolyView’s thumbnail database is to use Windows’ compressed bitmap format. This reduces the size of the thumbnail information in many cases. At the time a thumbnail is created a determination is made whether or not the compressed for of the image is indeed smaller. In cases where it is not the uncompressed form is used. Some time back it came to our attention that the thumbnail printing operation on HP printers was not printing the thumbnails that had been compressed during storage. The printing operation does not indicate that an error has occurred when this happens, but erroneous output is generated nonetheless.

The solution to this problem is to prevent the compressed bitmaps from being generated in the first place. This can be done with the Disable Compression option on the Thumbnails tab of the Properties dialog (Options menu). Note that thumbnails will need to be recreated after selection this option in order for them to print correctly.


Why do the JPEG files I downloaded from the AOL browser not open in PolyView?

America OnLine uses a proprietary compression scheme when it downloads images from the Internet. When this compression is turned on it renders the image unreadable by nearly all image viewers. If you turn it off through the WWW preferences in the Member Preferences area of the AOL program then images will be downloaded in industry standard formats.


Why do I get an error about a missing DLL when I try to run PolyView?

The snbd7w9s.dll file is normally put into the "c:\program files\polybytes\polyview\system" directory by the PolyView installation program. If PolyView is complaining that it cannot be found then try copying it to the same directory as polyview.exe and PolyView should run without error. Note that you may need to use the Windows Explorer's View:Options menu to set the Show all files options to make it visible, as the Windows default is to hide all DLL files.


How Do I...

Frequently asked questions about some of PolyView’s more advanced operations:

How do I publish images and their thumbnail database to a CD?


How do I publish images and their thumbnail database to a CD?

A Relative Thumbnail Database (RTD) is the key to distributing images and their thumbnails on a CD. By using an RTD the database can be used regardless of the drive letter assigned to the CD drive on a specific computer system. The technique discussed here is also useful when preparing images and their thumbnails for viewing on a shared network directory.

Use the following steps to prepare images and thumbnails for writing to a CD. The same steps should be followed when preparing images for shared network distribution.

1.	The first step is to place the image files in the folder tree structure that will be used for the CD. The folder tree structure that you design should organize the images according to the way you want those viewing your images to see them.

2.	Once you have the images in their final storage structure, run PolyView’s Thumbnail Explorer and use the Open Database command on the Thumbnails menu to create a new database in the base folder of the image folder tree you have created.

3.	In the Thumbnail Explorer select the base folder by clicking on its representation in the left pane’s folder tree.

4.	Choose the Create All > Recurse Folders command on the Thumbnails menu to create thumbnails for all the images in your folder tree.

5.	Wait for the thumbnail creation operation to complete.

6.	Choose the Save Relative Database command on the File menu to save the database as a Relative Thumbnail Database .

7.	Close PolyView and create your CD, or copy the entire folder tree to a shared network location.

When PolyView is used to open the database created in the above steps, all the thumbnails in the folder tree will be viewable from the Thumbnail Explorer .


The base folder of a folder tree is the ultimate parent folder for all the other folders. For example, if you have created the following folder tree:

c:\photos

c:\photos\vacation

c:\photos\mountains

c:\photos\mountains\europe

c:\photos\oceans

then c:\photos is the base folder.