Copyright: Copyright (c) 1997, Firehand Technologies Corporation, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


File Menu: "Open"
File Menu: “Open”

The “Preview in Ember” menu item is displayed on the File menu only when the GIF Player is opened as a stand-alone viewer (after GIF files have been “associated” with Ember and an animated GIF has been opened from the Windows shell) – not when the GIF Player is launched from, and bound to, an Ember thumbnail preview.  Invoke the “Open” command to display the standard Windows file selection dialog.  You can then select and open a file of any type supported by Ember.


File Menu: "Browse"
File Menu: “Browse”

The “Browse” menu item is displayed on the File menu only when the GIF Player is opened as a stand-alone viewer (after GIF files have been “associated” with Ember and an animated GIF has been opened from the Windows shell) – not when the GIF Player is launched from, and bound to, an Ember thumbnail preview.  Invoke the Browse command to open Ember (if it is not already open) and display a thumbnail window containing thumbnails for all supported files in the folder where the displayed GIF resides, including the displayed GIF itself (which is selected in the thumbnail window).


File Menu: "Delete"
File Menu: “Delete”

The “Delete” command is accessible from the File menu, the animated GIF Player context menu, and can also be invoked by striking the Delete key on the keyboard.  When invoked, this command deletes the currently-displayed GIF and close the GIF Player.

Note: If the GIF Player was launched from Ember (and is bound to a thumbnail preview), a delete confirmation prompt will be displayed when the Delete command is invoked only if Ember’s Confirm deletions option is enabled.  If the Imager was launched directly from the Windows shell on an animated GIF, a delete confirmation prompt will always be displayed when the Delete command is invoked.


File Menu: "Properties"
File Menu: “Properties”

The “Properties” command is accessible from the File menu, the animated GIF Player context menu, and can also be invoked by holding down the Alt key on the keyboard and striking Enter.  When invoked, this command displays a properties dialog for the current animated GIF.


File Menu: "Exit"
File Menu: “Exit”

The “Exit” command closes the GIF Player. The GIF Player can also be closed by striking the Enter key, the Escape key, or holding down the Alt key and striking F4.


View Menu: Full-Screen sub-menu

The “Full-Screen” sub-menu is accessible via the View menu, as well as the context menu.  It features four associated commands: “Default Size,” “Descale to Fit,” “Best Stretch,” and “Unconstrained Stretch.”

Selecting the “Default Size” command from the Full-Screen sub-menu open’s a full-screen browsing window and invokes “Default Size” display mode.  The image is displayed in the full-screen browsing window in its native dimensions.

Selecting the “Descale to Fit” command from the Full-Screen sub-menu open’s a full-screen browsing window and invokes “Descale to Fit” display mode.  The image is displayed in the full-screen browsing window in its native dimensions if its actual dimensions are small enough to fit entirely within your computer monitor’s display area.  Otherwise, the image is shrunk so that it will fit entirely within your monitor’s display area.

Selecting the “Best Stretch” command from the Full-Screen sub-menu open’s a full-screen browsing window and invokes “Best Stretch” display mode.  The image is displayed in the full-screen browsing window stretched to best fit your computer monitor’s display area while preserving its relative dimensions.

Selecting the “Unconstrained Stretch” command from the Full-Screen sub-menu open’s a full-screen browsing window and invokes “Unconstrained Stretch” display mode.  The image is displayed in the full-screen browsing window stretched to entirely fit your computer monitor’s display area (without, necessarily, preserving the file’s relative dimensions).


View Menu: Zoom sub-menu

You can zoom into or out of the displayed animated GIF using the various commands on the Zoom sub-menu found on the View menu.  There are seven pre-set scale factors you can select from: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 300%.  You can also select a “custom” zoom factor.

The GIF Player’s Zoom sub-menu also features the “Auto-Fit” command (which can also be invoked by striking the F9 key). This command provides a quick means of zooming into or out of the display GIF such that it precisely fits in your screen’s display area without clipping.


View Menu: "Zoom In"
View Menu: “Zoom In”

The “Zoom In” command is accessible from the GIF Player’s View menu.  It can also be invoked by tapping the spacebar on the keyboard.  When invoked, the Zoom In command increases the GIF’s zoom display factor to the next larger pre-set – 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, 200%, or 300% – thus making it appear larger on your computer monitor.  Note that zooming in on an animated GIF does not actually alter the source data in any way.  It simply stretches the GIF on-screen.


View Menu: "Zoom Out"
View Menu: “Zoom Out”

The “Zoom Out” command is accessible from the GIF’s Player’s View menu.  It can also be invoked by tapping the spacebar on the keyboard while holding down the Ctrl key.  When invoked, the Zoom Out command decreases the animated GIF’s zoom display factor to the next smaller pre-set – 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, 200%, or 300% – thus making it appear smaller on your computer monitor.  Note that zooming out on an animated GIF does not actually alter the source data in any way.  It simply shrinks the GIF on-screen.


View Menu: "Previous"
View Menu: “Previous”

The “Previous” command is displayed on the GIF Player’s View menu only when the Player is opened from Ember’s thumbnail window (not when it is opened from Windows Explorer as a stand-alone viewer for an image of a type associated with Ember).  When invoked, the Previous command causes the GIF Player window to close; the previous file in Ember’s thumbnail window is then opened in its own pop-up window.


View Menu: "Next"
View Menu: “Next”

The “Next” command is displayed on the GIF Player’s View menu only when the Player is opened from Ember’s thumbnail window (not when it is opened from Windows Explorer as a stand-alone viewer for an image of a type associated with Ember).  When invoked, the Next command causes the GIF Player window to close; the next file in Ember’s thumbnail window is then opened in its own pop-up window.


View Menu: "Options"
View Menu: “Options”

Selecting “Options” from the GIF Player’s View menu opens the Options dialog.  The settings displayed on this dialog are shared among all GIF Player instances.

Initial/default view scaling

This control permits you to specify the default view scaling factor from a number of presets.  The default view scaling factor is applied to the GIF Player whenever an animation is first opened in the Player and when you invoke the Full-Screen Default Size viewing mode.  Specifying a value other than 100% for this control value enables you to make animations initially open in the GIF Player in a larger or smaller size than the natural file display size.

Window Color

The color button found in the Window Color section of the Options dialog indicates, on its face, the current background color used within the GIF Player window.  When the color button is clicked, the standard Windows Color dialog is displayed by means of which you can select an alternate background color for the Player window.  Note that the Player window background color is configurable only when your system is in a non-paletted display mode; when in a paletted display mode, the Window Color button is disabled and the Player window background color is always black.