Xaos Tools' Terrazzo™ is an Adobe Photoshop™ compatible plug-in module that allows you to create beautiful, regular patterns inside of Adobe Photoshop™, Adobe Premier™, Macromedia Director™ 5.0, Macromedia xRes™ 2.0, Macromedia FreeHand™ 5.5 or any other product that support Photoshop™ plug-ins.
Where to Buy Terrazzo:
To order Terrazzo, contact the local dealer who provided you with this demo.
You can also order Terrazzo directly from Xaos Tools at 800-BUY-XAOS(289-9267).
Resellers and VARs can reference product #298409 when ordering Terrazzo
from Ingram Micro. Resellers and VARs can obtain more information by sending
an e-mail message to: macinfo@xaostools.com
System Requirements:
Terrazzo works with any application that accepts Adobe Photoshop plug-ins.
Such applications are known as "host applications."
Following are the minimum system requirements for using Terrazzo:
Any color Apple Macintosh® computer; at least 1 MB more than the host
application's suggested size of RAM; Apple system software version 7.0 or
later; 32-bit QuickDraw software version 1.2; and Adobe Photoshop version
2.0.1 or later, Fractal Design Painter version 2.0 or later, or any other
application that supports the Adobe Photoshop plug-in standard.
Before you start using Terrazzo, you should have a strong working knowledge
of the host application you'll be using. Terrazzo has been successfully
tested with the following host applications:
Macromedia Director™ 5.0
Macromedia xRes™ 2.0
Macromedia Freehand™ 5.5
Adobe Photoshop 2.5, 3.0
Adobe Premiere 3.0, 4.0
Fractal Design Painter 3.0, 4.0
MicroFrontier Color It! 3.0
Equilibrium DeBabelizer 1.6.5
Ray Dream Designer 3.0.3, 4.0
Photoshop Installation Issues:
• If you are using Photoshop 2.5 or later, locate your Plug-ins folder,
which is in your Adobe Photoshop folder, and click Install.
• If you are using a release of Adobe Photoshop prior to 2.5, but no earlier than 2.0.1,
locate the folder containing the PS Prefs file (this is generally the Preferences folder
within the Adobe Photoshop folder), and click Install.
Installing the Terrazzo Demo in Director™ 5:
Install the Terrazzo Demo into the Xtras folder located in your Macromedia Director™ 5.0 folder. Launch Director. Once inside of Director, select a Cast member you would like to apply Terrazzo to. Then from your Xtras menu, select Filter Bitmap. Then from the Filter Bitmap dialog select Terrazzo.
If the host application is currently running, be sure to restart it so
Terrazzo will be available.
Using Terrazzo:
The patterns you can create with Terrazzo are based on 17 symmetries, which
are named after American patchwork quilt patterns. Four symmetries are
active on the Terrazzo demo disk: Gold Brick, Pinwheel, Primrose Path, and
Turnstile.
Each Terrazzo-generated pattern is made from a motif, which is the shape
that builds a tile when a symmetry is applied to it; the tile, in turn,
repeats to build a regular pattern. It may be helpful for you to think of
a motif as a kind of selection marquee. The area that is enclosed by the
motif is the foundation of the tile.
Starting Terrazzo:
Start your host application, then open an existing image, or create a new
image so that the host application's Filter menu becomes active. The image
you open cannot be smaller than 50 x 50 pixels.
Make sure that your image is displayed in Grayscale, RGB Color, or CMYK
Color mode (you can only use CMYK Color files if you are using Adobe
Photoshop 2.5.1 or later).
Choose Xaos Tools -> Terrazzo Demo from the Filter menu. The Terrazzo
dialog box appears.
The Terrazzo Dialog Box:
The large image swatch on the left side of the Terrazzo dialog box displays
the selected area of your source image, or the entire source image if you
haven't made a selection.
To the right of the source image is the Symmetry pop-up menu (the default
symmetry, Pinwheel, is displayed here) and the current tile. The current
tile is the result of applying the current symmetry to the selected area of
the source image.
The large image swatch on the right side of the dialog box displays the
pattern created by the repeating tile. This image is your destination
image.
A Brief Introduction to Terrazzo:
Follow these steps to get a quick overview of Terrazzo:
Position the pointer over the Symmetry pop-up menu and hold down the mouse
button. The Symmetry menu appears.
Move the pointer over the Primrose Path symmetry, then release the mouse
button. The Primrose Path symmetry is now the current symmetry.
The pattern shown on the right side of the Terrazzo dialog box changes when
you select a different symmetry.
The motif is positioned in the center of the source image. Position the
pointer inside the motif's boundaries (not over the handle), press the
mouse button, drag the motif to a new position on the source image, and
release the mouse button. You can change the size of the motif by dragging
its handle.
Congratulations - you've just created your first Terrazzo pattern!
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Using the Feather Option
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The Feather option allows you to "feather" the edge of a motif so that the
visible edge, or seams, between tiles fade away. You use the Feather option
to set the width of the feather edge around the motif. The Feather option
is not available for the Turnstile symmetry because this symmetry always
creates seamless patterns.
To adjust a motif's feather edge:
Drag the Feather slider to increase or decrease the feather edge around a
motif, or enter a value between 0 and 100 in the text box next to the
Feather slider.
When you set the Feather value above zero, a second border appears around
the motif in the source image. This border represents the area included in
the feather edge of the motif. If you don't want to see the feather
boundary, click the Show Feather Boundary check box to turn off the visible
border.
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Opening a New Source Image
--------------------------
From within Terrazzo, you can select a different RGB or Grayscale PICT file
as the source image for a pattern while retaining the original image as
your destination image. (If your destination image is in CMYK mode, you
cannot open a different source image.)
The new source image cannot be smaller than 50 x 50 pixels. If you have a
Grayscale destination image and you load an RGB image as the new source
image, the RGB image will be converted to Grayscale when it is loaded.
To open a new source image:
Choose New Image from the Source pop-up menu, or press Command-O.
In the Open File dialog box, select a PICT file you want to use as a source
image, and click Open. The new source image appears.
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Changing the Mode
-----------------
The Mode pop-up menu lets you control the way a pattern is applied to a
selection. Following is a brief description of each of the Terrazzo Mode
choices:
Normal: Applies the pattern uniformly to all the pixels in the destination
image.
Darken: Applies only those pixels in the pattern that are darker than those
in the destination image.
Lighten: Applies only those pixels in the pattern that are lighter than
those in the destination image.
Hue: Applies the pattern by changing only the hues of the destination
image. This mode is not available if you are in Grayscale mode.
Saturation: Applies the pattern by changing only the saturation values of
the destination image. This mode is not available if you are in Grayscale
mode.
Color: Applies the pattern by changing both the hue and saturation values
of the destination image. This mode is not available if you are in
Grayscale mode.
Luminosity: Applies the pattern by changing only the luminosity values of
the destination image. This mode is not available if you are in Grayscale
mode.
Multiply: Causes the colors in the pattern to combine with the colors in
the destination image, creating colors that are darker than those in either
the pattern or the destination image.
Screen: Causes the colors in the pattern to combine with the colors in the
destination image, creating colors that are lighter than those in either
the pattern or the destination image.
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Changing a Pattern's Opacity
----------------------------
The Opacity slider lets you adjust the opacity of a pattern. You may want
the effect of an almost invisible pattern (low opacity), or you may want
a bold application of a pattern, covering the destination image entirely
(high opacity).
To adjust a pattern's opacity:
Drag the Opacity slider to increase or decrease the opacity of the pattern,
or enter a value from 0 to 100 percent in the text box next to the Opacity
slider.
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Saving a Tile
-------------
The Save Tile option allows you to save a tile as a PICT file, give it a
name, and use it later from within any program that lets you fill objects
with patterns. This option is disabled in the Terrazzo demo disk.
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Applying a Pattern
------------------
After you have created a pattern, you apply the pattern to your destination
image by clicking the Apply button. This option is disabled in the Terrazzo
demo disk.
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Ending a Terrazzo Session
-------------------------
When you are finished using Terrazzo, return to the host application by
