Silhouette/Graphics/commercial
From: Doug Wokoun (aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 10/30/91-07:09:14 PM Z
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From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun) Subject: Silhouette/Graphics/commercial Date: Wed Oct 30 19:09:14 1991 Taken from: Z*Net online magazine, issue #9131 (July 26, 1991): ======================================================================= SILHOUETTE VERSION 1.0 ---------------------- Press Release ======================================================================= A Bit-Image and Vector Graphics Program with Auto-Tracing Feature Requirements: ST/TT system with at least 1 megabyte (2M recommended) of RAM. ST high resolution on the ST or TT supported. Please read the accompanying text file. Atari Users, Its ready but let me be the first to say (before Ralph or Ron, etc.) that its quite late in arriving. My apologies and especially to a few that have patiently waited (your copies will be arriving in the mail). I wish Silhouette had been completed a year earlier. I would have treated myself to a nice vacation. As things stand now I look forward to catching up with some bills. Silhouette began as a project to create an auto-tracing program for the Atari ST. In the course of developing the tracing algorithms I realized that there would not be a perfect solution, i.e. perfect auto-tracer, at least not within a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, it was necessary to develop the auto-tracing routines around a drawing program that would allow the user to load bit images and prepare them for auto- tracing. Also the ability to auto-trace and then spruce up the auto- trace would be of great value. The result is a drawing program with some unique drawing features for creating bit image and vector graphics. The auto-tracing feature links the two graphic types together. The auto-tracing of Silhouette works best with line art. It will not attempt to determine the type of fill patterns existing and then replace them with a vector graphics fill pattern. Silhouette will auto-trace graphics and offer several degrees of variability in how it is processed. One can output a raw trace which might be of value for very small objects or for objects with many horizontal and vertical lines. Or one can output an auto-trace with GEM 2.0 bezier curves which are loadable by the high-end desktop publishing programs. Maxwell was approached by several sign-makers interested in a auto-tracer and with the bezier output, the auto-tracing function will be of great value. When spline auto-tracing is selected Silhouette will seek out the important points in the trace, points at corners or points that help define the curvatures of the image. Output of the auto-trace is sent directly into the vector graphics window along with a gray shaded bit-image of the trace area. One can adjust the control points of the polylines or splines while referencing the bit-image in the background. The polyline editing function was developed to speed up editing. One can move from control point to point by simply hitting the keys 'Q' or 'E' and add or delete points with the keys 'A' or 'D'. You might find some of the operations in Silhouette unorthodox but in the short term you will find out why they work as they do. Most every function begins with a single left mouse button click. No need to maintain the mouse button down while drawing or editing. This frees up the hand motion and allows for smoother motion of the mouse. Operations are terminated with right mouse button click or by hitting the ESCAPE or UNDO key to cancel. Objects in the raster or vector windows can be deleted with the ESCAPE or UNDO key too. Movement of whole objects, while being drawn, is accomplished by depressing the left mouse button during the move. Let me describe the main features in version 1.0. Auto-tracing Raw or splined auto-tracing with adjustable parameters. Background bit- image display. Drawing tools clipper, freehand, line, polyline, circle, ellipse, elliptical arc, circular arc, polygons, stars, parabolas, spray can, text (supports FSM GDOS), pixel editor tool. Smoothing B-splines, Bezier curves. Convert polylines into either splines and visa -versa. Convert Circles or Ellipses into bezier curves (GEM 2.0 format). Multi-point or 4 point (GEM 2.0) beziers supported. Magnification Magnify the vector window image up to 16 times. Drawing resolution achieves up to 3200 DPI. Graphics Input: Bit image formats IMG, DEGAS, TINY, MACPAINT. Vector graphics GEM format. Graphics Output: Bit images as IMG files. Vector graphics as GEM meta files or DXF universal CAD format. Clipboard Two clip buffers for the raster (bit-image) graphics. Separate cut and copy buffers for vector graphics. Will accumulate copied or cut objects. Clip buffers save to disk and can be re-loaded during future sessions. Duplicate, Reshape Duplicate vector objects in three ways (freehand, radial or cartesian). Reshape objects in several ways: size, stretch, free corner warp, skew (parallogram), skew (trapezoid). Rotate Rotate polyline objects to a 1/10th of a degree. Splice and Cut polylines. Data Object information is continuously updated on the information line while an object is being created. The bit-image and vector window are size adjustable. Manual 100 page manual in a three ring binder and slip cover. Hardware Support Operates on the ST, STacy and TT. 1 megabyte required but 2 megabytes recommended. ST high resolution supported on the ST and TT. GDOS Supports the old GDOS and new FSM GDOS. We are accepting orders now Silhouette is available directly from Maxwell CPU for $109.95 plus $5.00 shipping (U.S. Post in U.S. and Canada). Shipping by UPS overseas is available upon request. We accept VISA and MASTERCARD or will ship COD or accept personal check. CALL: (303)666-7754 between 8AM and 6PM(MST), Mondays-Saturdays. Special Offers Buy version 1.0 now for 109.95 before August 15th and upgrade to version 1.5 (expected release date September 15, 1991) for $20.00. The new features of version 1.5 will include: Object grouping, snapping to grid or guides, snapping to object(s) symmetry points, ruler system, additional auto-tracing features, iso- contouring of bit-images, output to Calamus file format. Enhanced DXF file output. Conversion of all complex curves (elliptical arcs, parabolas, etc.) to bezier curves. Duochrome (two color) video graphics support. Owners of Silhouette will be able to purchase direct the MicroSoft Windows version of Silhouette for 45% off the retail price. Expected release date of December 1, 1991.
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