Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaUtilCD1.iso/Ascii-Ansi/AnsiImage1,1.LHA/ANSImage.DOC

Text File | 1994-06-05 | 6.9 KB | 186 lines

            ANSImage v1.1 USER DOCUMENTATION
            ================================
               (C) 1994 Daniele Paccaloni


            This is PUBLIC DOMAIN ! Enjoy !



* WHAT IS ANSImage ?

ANSImage is a nice utility that converts a color picture into a 8 colors ANSI
file using dithering to render more than 8 colors on screen.
Of course the resolution is much lower (the ANSI file is 80x25) but in most
cases you can recognize the original picture very well.
ANSImage stretches the entire original image to fit in the 80x25 characters
grid.
This release works with any IFF file (GIF will be supported soon), any size,
up to 1280x1024.  Maximum number of BitPlanes supported is 8 (eight!), this
means images with up to 256 colors can be converted !
Of course HAM images are supported but their x-size must not exceed 640
pixels. (Most HAM images have x-size = 320).
ANSImage works in 8 colors, so you should set your terminal with 8 colors.
Don't worry because most BBS's run with 8 colors (If you have an ECS Amiga,
using 8 colors instead of 16 will speed up text output !).
You can use also 16 colors in your terminal but the picture colors will look
half bright (not recommended).
You must use STANDARD ANSI colors (do not customize them !).
To dither the images, ANSImage uses the standard IBM fonts. This is because
the Amiga font has not special grid-characters to make dithers.
Don't worry, because in the ANSImage package you find the "IBMfont.font" file
and "IBMfont" directory.  Copy both in your "FONTS:" directory.
To use this font you can:

1) If your terminal allows you to change the font it uses, then tell it to use
   "IBMfont.font".
2) If your terminal supports only the default font you should use programs
   like "FF" or "SetFont". Try writing in the CLI: "FF IBMfont.font".
   Do this before running your terminal.
   "FF" is a very good program that not only allows you to use a different
   font but speeds up text output too !



* SO WHAT ? WHY SHOULD I CONVERT PICTURES TO ANSI ?

ANSImage is very useful if:

1) You want to download some images from a BBS.
   Many times it happens you download crap images losing your credits for
   nothing.  Remember that some images can be up to 1 Mb in size !
   Well, with ANSImage the sysop can make a little BBS-door to let the user
   take a look at the images and choose which to download.
   With a 14400 bps modem and a BBS running on 68030, the user can see an
   image on his terminal screen in less than 8 seconds !

2) You are an ANSI maker.
   If you paint colourful ANSI files for BBS's then ANSImage can be very
   helpful.  Just imagine you must paint a logon ANSI for a BBS called, say,
   "Dragon BBS".  You can digitize a dragon photo and save a HAM file. Then
   with ANSImage you can directly port it to ANSI. All you must do now is
   retouching the ANSI file with any ANSI editor !

3) There are many many many other reasons but i cant remember  :-)  !




* UHM, IT'S NICE ! HOW DO I USE IT ?

ANSImage is used from the CLI.  Type in the CLI for example:

  ANSImage dh1:images/Fashion.HAM ram:Fashion.ANS

This will load the file Fashion.HAM, convert it to ANSI, and then write the
result to the file Fashion.ANS.
If you have a slow CPU the conversion may take some seconds.

There are some options that can be used:

-h : Help on ANSImage.
 ? : Help on ANSImage.
-nd: Do not write the image description in the output file. Whithout this
     option the first line of the ANSI file will report info on the converted
     image.
-nn: Do not insert a NewLine after each line of the ANSI file. Files converted
     using this option work only on terminal screens with 80 columns.
     This option is useful if you have an 80-columns terminal and you see an
     empty line between each converted ANSI line.
-nt: Quiet convert (do not output any text in the CLI).
-e : Use ESC+[ instead of CSI for control sequence. You must use this if your
     ANSI editor or your term does not support the quick control sequence
     (i.e. you see only some numbers and strange character when you show the
     file you have converted).
     Remember that this options adds 2000 bytes to your ANSI file, so it is
     recommended only if you have a LAME ANSI EDITOR or a LAME TERM.


Options are specified before file names. Example:

  ANSImage -nd -nn dh1:images/Fashion.HAM ram:Fashion.ANS

This will convert the previous file without adding image infos nor newlines.




* HOW CAN I SEE THE ANSI FILES I HAVE CONVERTED ?

You can simply use any ANSI editor. Remember that most ANSI editor are LAME
because they do not support the quick ANSI control sequence ($9b), so you
will have to use option -e to convert your files.
If you have none you can load your terminal and try "Send ASCII" with your
ANSI file. If you are lucky (i.e. your terminal proggy does not filter ANSI
codes) you should see it on your terminal screen. If you see only numbers
and strange characters it means that your terminal is filtering the codes.
If you see only some numbers and strange characters when showing your file
(i.e. it is not what you have converted !) then try using option -e.





* SOMETIMES THE ANSI FILE IS TOO CONFUSED: WHAT CAN I DO TO SEE IT BETTER ?

Sometimes (expecially when converting images with similar color shades) you
couldn't be able to recognize what's the image about.
This is due to the intrinsic complexity of some images and not much can be
done.  I use a nice trick that works with all converted files, here it is:

Step_1) Place your eyes far 1.5 meters from the monitor.
Step_2) Close your eyes.
Step_3) Very slowly open your eyes a little bit just to see the image foggy
    enough to smooth the contours of any ANSI character.

This helps a lot to improve image understanding.




* TECHNICAL INFO AND FEATURES

- 100 % machine code.
- Coded in 2 days.
- Ca. 1 KDSI (1000 source instructions).  Productivity: 15 KDSI/month.
- Executable size: 3820 bytes (compressed with Imploder).
- Run time memory consumption: 28 KBytes + input_image_file_lenght.
- Oputput ANSI file is about 16 KBytes or 18 KBytes if option -e is used.
  The file is highly compressable so that sending it via modems supporting
  compression it's sent in a few seconds.
- Supports any IFF file up to 1280x1024 x 8 planes.
- Supports HAM files up to 640x1024 (6 planes only).
- Does not support EHB (EHB images are converted like normal 64 colors imgs).
- Conversion is done averaging 64 images pixels per any ANSI text character.




* NEXT RELEASES

Next ANSImage releases will:

1) Support GIF files.
2) Show text info (if any) in the Image file.
3) Support for EHB (Extra Half Brite) images.
4) Speed up conversion.
5) Output ANSI files of more than 80x25 characters.
6) Improve dithering method.




* CONTACT THE AUTHOR:

Bug reports, suggestions, money, congratulations, food, girls are welcome:
please contact me:


E-Mail:        [e-mail]

Ordinary mail:    Daniele Paccaloni
        Via Agadir 10/A, San Donato Milanese (MI), ITALY.

BBS:        [phone] --- BBS name:"BBK", 4 nodes RD 16800 DUAL.
        Leave messages to DDT (Cosysop).