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                             GRAFX 2.00 94.666%

                              - USER'S MANUAL -


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                                 CONTENTS                 
                                                  
                                                          
                  - Presentation                          
                  - Required equipment                    
                  - Available options                     
                  - Let's talk about $$$, baby            
                  - Trouble-shooting/General hints/FAQ    
                                                          
                 




Presentation:


    This program is designed for drawing 256-color pictures in a huge range of
  resolutions (actually, there are 60 with some coming from the Amiga world).
    No one can contest that most of the beautiful GFX of the scene were drawn
  on Amiga. But these GFX are in video resolutions that aren't the common PC
  modes. So we wanted to make the first paint program on PC that could
  visualize those pictures and that could allow you, of course, to draw yours
  in the video mode you want.

    This program was first shown at the Wired'96 where it met a big success
  (bigger than all our expects) so we hope you'll like it too.

    It's made up of many drawing tools, effects and menus. All the effects
  will work with any drawing tool.




Required equipment:


  To run GrafX2, you'll need:

  - a PC (386DX or higher)
  - DOS 5 or higher (maybe it works with DOS 3.1 but we can't remember which
    functions of the INT 21h we use)
  - a VGA compatible video card (a VLB or PCI card is strongly recommended)
  - a mouse (and its driver)
  - 8 Megabytes of RAM (can work with less if you use the DOS4GW disk-cache)

  But if you want to use it more efficiently, you'll need:

  - at least a 486DX66 (to improve global speed)
  - a VESA 1.2 compatible video card (to access more video modes)




Available options:


    The different options available in GrafX2 will be listed and detailed
  below. They will be described as follows:

            ͻ                                ͻ
              1   4              triangular buttons will 1 / 
                                 be detailed like this:   / 2
            ͹                                ͼ
              2   5      
                         
            ͹
              3   6      
                         
            ͼ



    When you will use any drawing tools, left-clicking will draw with the Fore
  color while right-clicking will draw with the Back-color.

    When dialog boxes or windows will come on the screen, Cancel (or No) will
  always be emulated by the <Escape> key, and OK (or Yes) by the <Return> key.

    In the different menus, the titles of the buttons that contain an under-
  lined letter can be emulated by pressing this letter on the keyboard.

    In some menus, you can select a color range in the palette. This means
  that you can click on a color and move the mouse to another by maintaining
  the button pressed to select a color range.



  1 - Pencil button:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Displays a menu where you can choose the shape of your paintbrush.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Transforms your current user-defined brush into a paintbrush. This is
      actually a "monochromisation" of your user-defined brush. This means
      that every color of the brush that aren't the Back-color will be set to
      the Fore-color. But this option doesn't alter the brush: you'll just
      have to right-click on the "Get brush" buttons to get your brush back.



  2 - Hand-drawing button:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the current hand-drawing mode as the active drawing tool.
      There are 3 hand-drawing modes:

        - Continuous hand-drawing: as you move the mouse, the paintbrush is
          regularily pasted on the picture.

        - Discontinuous hand-drawing: as you move the mouse, the paintbrush is
          pasted on the picture every time a delay is passed (actually, the
          delay is 1 VBL (vertical blanking)).

        - Dot by dot hand-drawing: the paintbrush is only pasted at the
          position where you first clicked.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Toggles the different hand-drawing modes and activates, at the same
      time, the hand-drawing tool.



  3 - Lines:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the current line-drawing mode as the active drawing tool.
      There are 2 line-drawing modes:

        - Classical lines: when first clicking on the picture, you'll define
          the start of the line. Maintain your click to choose the end of the
          line and release the mouse button to set it.

        - Knotted lines: works like classical lines, but the end of your line
          will automatically become the start of the next one. When you want
          to stop chaining lines, use the opposite mouse button. "The opposite
          button" means that if you started to draw lignes with the left
          button (Fore-color), you'll have to stop the procedure with the
          right button; and conversely.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Toggles the different line-drawing modes and activates, at the same
      time, the line-drawing tool.



  4 - Spray:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the spray as the active drawing tool.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Displays a menu where you can configure the spray:

        - Size: Defines the diameter of the circle in which will effectively
          fit the spray.

        - Delay: Defines the number of VBLs that will be waited for between
          two flows of spray.

        - Mode: Defines whether you want to use a monochrome spray or a multi-
          colored one.

        - Mono-flow: Defines the number of paintbrushes that will be pasted in
          the circle of the spray at each cycle.

        - Palette: Left-click on a color of the palette to see how much it
          will be used in the multicolored flow, and modify it by using the
          gauge on the right. If the flow of this color was equal to 0, then
          the "Init" value will be applied. Or set the flow of a color to 0 by
          clicking on it with the right mouse button.

        - Clear: Removes all the colors from the multicolored flow.
          Actually, this puts a 0 value in the use of each color.

        - Init: Allows you to define a value that will be set to the color you
          click on in the palette if its value is equal to 0. This permits to
          tag a set of colors more quickly.

        - +1,-1,x2,2: Modify the values of all the tagged colors (and only
          them).


        Tip: If you often use the Shade mode, and are bored to click many
             times on a color to reach the color you want, you can define a
             spray with "Size"=1, "Mono-flow"=1, and "Delay"=2 (or more,
             according to your reflexes). And then, you'll just have to click
             a few hundredths of second to modify a color.



  5 - Floodfill:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Selects the filler as the active drawing tool. The filler, as any
      drawing tool, will be affected by all the effects!

        Note that only the visible part of the picture will be filled (as
      every other drawing tools, the floodfill only alters the visible part of
      the picture; this avoids unwanted effects that wouldn't be controlled by
      the user).



  6 - Splines:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the current curve-drawing mode as the active drawing tool.
      There are 2 different curve-drawing modes:

        - 4 control points curves: define the basic line like a classical
          line, then move, with the left mouse button, the inner control
          points to choose the shape of your curve. When the curve has the
          shape you want, click with the right mouse button to draw it
          definitively.

        - 3 control points curves: the same as above, but you'll have only one
          inner control point to place. Moreover, the spline will be traced
          just after placing this point.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Toggles the different curve-drawing modes and activates, at the same
      time, the curve-drawing tool.



  7 - Empty rectangles:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Selects the empty rectangles as the active drawing tool.

        Set a corner of a rectangle. Maintain the click to move the opposite
      corner and release the mouse button to set it definitively.



  8 - Filled rectangles:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Selects the filled rectangles as the active drawing tool.

        Works like an empty rectangle.



  9 - Empty circles/ellipses:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the empty circles as the active drawing tool.

        Position the center of the cercle and maintain the mouse button to
      select its radius.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Selects the empty ellipses as the active drawing tool.

        Position the center of the cercle and maintain the mouse button to
      select its dimensions.



  10 - Filled circles/ellipses:
  

    Work like empty circles and ellipses.



  11 - Polygons / Polyforms:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the polygons as the active drawing tool.

        This works just like knotted-lines but loops the extremities when
      you're finished.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Selects the polyforms as the active drawing tool.

        *** The current version of this tool isn't the right one; ***
        ***  so we'll explain how to use it when it will be done  ***



  12 - Polyfills / Filled polyforms:
  

    *** Not implemented yet ***



  13 - Rectangles with gradation:
  

    *** Not implemented yet ***



  14 - Gradation menu:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Opens a window where you can define the way gradations are processed.
      The different sections of this menu are:

        - Direction (arrow): Switches the direction of the gradation.

        - Dithering method: Toggles the 3 following methods:
            - No dithering
            - Basical dithering
            - Enhanced dithering

        - Mix: Mixes the gradation with a more or less random factor.

        - Palette: Select a color range to build a gradation.

        - Index scroller: Defines the current gradation among a set of 16 that
          will be memorised.



  15 - Spheres / Ellipses with gradation:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Selects the spheres as the active drawing tool.

        Position the center of the sphere and maintain the mouse button to
      select its radius. Then place the spot-light.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Selects the ellipses with gradation as the active drawing tool.

        *** The current version of this tool isn't the right one; ***
        ***  so we'll explain how to use it when it will be done  ***


      If you trace a sphere or an ellipse with gradation with the right mouse
    button, the result will be the same figure filled with the Back-color.



  16 - Adjust picture / Effects on the picture:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Allows you to scroll the picture to re-center your graph for example.

        Any part of the picture that goes out of the image by a side comes
      back by the opposite one.

        It is assimilated to the drawing tools family.


    Right click:
    ============>

        *** Not implemented yet ***



  17 - Shade mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Shade mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define one table of shades within a range
      of 8 memorised by the program.
      The different sections of this menu are:

        - Palette: You can define in it the color blocks that will be inserted
        into the table of shades.

        - Scroller: Used to change flick through the tables of shades.

        - table of shades definition area: The 512 squares should be widely
        sufficient to define the different shades since every 256 colors of
        the palette cannot be present more than once in each table.

        - A window (on the top-right side) permits to visualize the different
        shades defined in he current table.

        - Copy: Copy the contents of the table in a buffer.
        (Each time you open this menu, the current table is automatically
        transfered into this buffer).

        - Paste: Copy the contents of the buffer above in the current table.

        - Undo: Cancel the last modification of the table of shades.

        - Insert: Used to insert the block selected in the palette at the
        cursor's position in the table of shades.
        IF you click with the left mouse button on this button THEN
          IF a block of more than one color is selected in the table THEN
            It is deleted and the block defined in the palette is inserted.
          ELSE
            The block defined in the palette is inserted at the postion just
            before the selected square.
          END IF
        ELSE
          The block defined in the palette is inserted by erasing the colors
          following the beginning of the bloc selected in the table.
        END IF

        - Delete: Delete the block selected in the table.

        - Blank: Follows this algorithm:
        IF you click with the left mouse button on this button THEN
          Replace the block selected in the table by blank squares.
        ELSE
          IF a block of more than one color is selected in the table THEN
            Insert blank squares to the left and to the right of the block.
            (this is useful for isolating a shade quickly)
          ELSE
            Insert blank squares to the left of the selected square.
          END IF
        END IF

        - Invert: Invert the order of the block selected in the table.

        - Swap: Allows you you move a block (this exchanges it with what is
        where you want to move it).

        - The number displayed on the right of the 5 buttons above when only
        one square is selected is number of the color contained in this
        square.

        - Set/Disable: If you want to define several shades in the same table
        but you'd like these shades not to be effective at the same time, you
        can mask (disable) some parts of the table so that they will be
        interpreted a blank squares.
        To do that, select a block in the table of shades and click on "Set".
        The block will be underlined with a white line; this means that it is
        disabled.

        - Clear/Enable: This does exactly the opposite as the button above.

        - Step: Defines the sted of incrementation of the shade. The bigger,
        the faster you run through the colors of the shade.
        For example: if the step is 2 and that you have defined a shade with
        the colors 0,1,4,5,9 and that you click on a pixel of color 1, it will
        take the value 5 which is 2 positions next in the la table.

        (We are sorry for these technical considerations quite far from a
      purely artistic point of view; but know that this effect is really very
      useful and it is preferable that you understand its whole functionment
      if you want to fully take advantage of it).



  18 - Stencil mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Stencil mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define a stencil.
      The different sections of this menu are:

        - Clear: No color is protected.

        - Invert: Colors that were protected are unprotected and vice versa.

        - Palette: Select colors that should be protected with the left mouse
          button or unprotect colors with the right mouse button.



  19 - Grid mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Grid mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define the grid parameters.
      These parameters are:

        - X,Y: Steps of the grid.

        - dX,dY: Offsets of the grid.



  20 - Sieve mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Sieve mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define the Sieve parameters.
      This menu consists in:

        - 16x16 drawing area: You can define a pattern in it (left click =>
          white pixel / right click => black pixel).
          All the white pixels indicate that, when you'll draw, pixels will be
          applied on the picture at the corresponding positions whereas black
          pixels won't modify the picture: whites pixels are the "holes of the
          sieve".

        - 12 default patterns: They can be copied to the drawing area.

        - "Transfer to brush": Copies the pattern to the brush (white pixels
          => Fore-color / black pixels => Back-color).

        - "Get from brush": Puts the brush into the drawing area (back-color
          => black pixels / others => white pixels).

        - Scrolling 4-arrows pad: Scrolls the pattern in the drawing area.

        - Resizing 4-arrows pad: Defines the dimensions of the pattern.

        - Default-value (black or white square): Indicates which value must be
          inserted when you increase the dimensions of the pattern.

        - "Clear": Sets the whole pattern with the default value (see above).

        - "Invert": It... inverts :) ... black and white pixels.



  21 - Colorize mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Colorize mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define the Colorize parameters.
      These parameters are:

        - Interpolation rate: Indicates the percentage of the applied color
          that will be considered upon the replaced color.

        - Interpolation method: Uses an interpolation algorithm to compute the
          color, according to the interpolation rate.

        - Additive method: Uses the lightest colors to choose the color to
          apply.
          For example: if you want to apply a color RGB:30,20,40 on a color
          RGB:10,50,20, the color applied will be the one, in the palette,
          that is the closest to the theoretic color RGB:30,50,40.

        - Substractive method: uses the darkest colors to choose the color to
          apply.
          For example: if you want to apply a color RGB:30,20,40 on a color
          RGB:10,50,20, the color applied will be the one, in the palette,
          that is the closest to the theoretic color RGB:10,20,20.



  22 - Smooth mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Switches the Smooth mode.



  23 - Tiling mode / Menu:
  

    See the Effects section of the internal help of GrafX2 to know what this
    effect does.

    Left click:
    ============>

        Switches the Tiling mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Opens a menu where you can define the Tiling parameters.
      These parameters are the offsets of the tiling.



  24 - Brush grabbing / restore:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Engages a brush grabbing.

        Click on a corner of the rectangle containing the brush then maintain
      the click to define the opposite corner of the rectangle. Release the
      mouse button to grab the brush. Performing this operation with the right
      mouse button will erase the area where the brush was grabbed with the
      Back-color.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Restores the old brush.



  25 - Polyformed brush grabbing / restore:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        *** Not implemented yet ***


    Right click:
    ============>

        Restores the old brush (same as above).



  26 - Pipette / Invert colors:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Engages a color grabbing.

        Click on the picture to get the color of the pixel you're on. You can
      either get a new Fore-color or Back-color with respectively left or
      right mouse button.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Swap Fore-color and Back-color.



  27 - Magnifier mode / Menu:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Engages/Disengages the choice of the zoomed window. If you're already
      in magnifier mode, you'll return to normal mode.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Displays a menu where you can choose the magnifying factor.



  28 - Brush effects:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Displays a menu where the following options are available:

        - X: Flip-X.

        - Y: Flip-Y.

        - Rotate by 90: Rotates the brush by an angle of 90 degrees.

        - Rotate by 180: Rotates the brush by an angle of 180 degrees.

        - Rotate by any angle: *** Not implemented yet ***

        - Stretch: *** Not implemented yet ***

        - Distort: *** Not implemented yet ***

        - Recolorize: Remaps the brush so that it looks like it would in the
          spare page, using the current palette.

        - Get brush colors: Transfers the spare page's colors used by the
          brush to the current palette.

        - Brush handle: Allows you to choose where to place the handle of the
          brush.



  29 - Text:
  

    *** Not implemented yet ***



  30 - Screen size / Safety resolution:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Displays a menu where you can define the size of your picture (up to
      1024x768) by clicking in the boxes named "Width" and "Height"; and the
      resolution in which you want to draw (in the list).

        Clicking on a resolution button with the right mouse button will not
      only set the resolution of the screen, but also set the picture
      dimensions to the screen ones.

        Resolutions written in dark gray are VESA modes that aren't supported
      by your video card. If you have some modes like that, you should try to
      run a VESA driver such as Univesa or Univbe before running the program.
      If these modes still aren't available, then this means that your video
      card really doesn't support them.

        The small buttons on left-hand side of the lines in the list of modes
      were designed to allow you to disable some modes that are not supported
      by your card. So, the modes that you will disable won't be used when
      loading pictures with "Auto-set resolution" ON.

        Light gray buttons mean that their corresponding modes are enabled.
      To disable a mode, click on the corresponding small button until it
      becomes black. We added the "dark gray" color to allow you to indicate
      which modes are not really perfect (flickering, not centered, etc...)
      but that can be used even so. The program interprets the "dark gray"
      state just as the "light gray". The only difference is for you.
      The "white" color works the same way as light and dark gray. It allows
      you to tag your favourite modes. Indeed, the huge number of video modes
      makes it more difficult to find the mode your want in the list; so you
      can tag your favoutite ones in white, so that it will be easier to
      locate them. You cannot disable the standard 320x200 VGA/MCGA mode!


    Right click:
    ============>

      Automaticaly switches to the 320x200 MCGA mode.



  31 - Help / Statistics:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Displays an info window where you'll find some credits, help about the
      credits, different effects, greetings, registering...


    Right click:
    ============>

        Displays a window where you'll find miscellaneous informations about
      the system.

      Note: you should take care to keep more than 128 Kb in order to let the
            program run in a proper way.



  32 - Spare page / Copy current to spare:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Jumps to spare page. The current page is then considered as the new
      spare page, and the spare page considered as the new current page.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Copy current page to spare page.



  33 - Save picture / Autosave:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Displays a fileselector where the following options are available:

        - Drives: Allow you to change the current drive. You can use <Alt>+
          <Letter> to change drives too.

        - Format: Allows you to choose the file format you want. (PAL and KCF
          file formats are "palette" files).

        - Filename: Allows you to give a new name to the picture. If no
          extension is given, the default (according to the format) will be
          used.

        - File-list: Allows you to flick through the disk tree or to overwrite
          an existing file.

        - Delete: Allows you to delete the item under the selection bar.
          If the item is a directory, it must be empty to be removed.

        - Save: Saves the picture with the current filename, with the chosen
          format and with the current comment (for PKM files). If the current
          filename represents a directory, you'll enter it.

        - Comment (Txt): If you're using the PKM format, you can type in a
          comment on your picture.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Save the current picture with its current filename, format and
      comment.

        If the file already exists, a confirmation box will appear.



  34 - Load picture / Reload:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        This works the same way as Save.

        You'll have access in the format selector to a "*.*" filter. And of
      course, you won't be able to type in any comment.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Reloads the picture.

        If you want to load a picture and that you haven't saved the last
      modifications of the current picture, a confirmation box will appear.



  35 - Settings:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Displays a menu where you can configure some miscellaneous elements of
      the program:

        - Gauge scrolling speed: Changes the delay the program waits for
          between two scrolls of a gauge (scroll-bar).

        - Preview delay: Changes the number of 18.2ths of second waited
          before a fileselector displays you the preview of the picture under
          the selection bar.

        - Mouse sensibility: Changes the speed of the mouse.

        - Show/Hide in file list: Defines whether some particular files or
          directories must be displayed by the fileselectors or not.

        - Show/Hide picture limits: Indicates if the picture boundaries must
          be displayed when you are in a resolution bigger than the picture.

        - Cursor: allows you to choose whether you prefer a solid cursor or a
          transparent cursor.

        - Maximize preview: maximizes the preview of the pictures so that it
          is as big as possible. If you're not in the same resolution as the
          picture's one, it can try to correct the aspect ratio, but if the
          picture does not fill the whole screen, it can be worse.

        - Auto-set resolution: sets the best resolution for the loaded
          picture. If you load a picture in a format that indicates the
          original screen size, it will use this value.

        - Coordinates: Choose if you want to display relative or absolute
          coordinates when using tools such as circles, rectangles, etc...
          for example, if you draw a circle: if coords are relative, the
          radius of the circle will be displayed, while in absolute coords,
          the coordinates of the cursor will be displayed.

        - Backup: when you'll save a picture over an existing file, the
          program will rename this file to "*.BAK" where * is the name of the
          picture without its extension. If the backup file already exists in
          the directory, it will be replaced. If you save a picture with the
          name of the backup file, no backup file will be created (of course!)
          ;).

        - Number of UNDO pages: indicates the total number of pages that
          GrafX2 will memorize. Each time you modify the picture, its current
          state is memorized in one of these pages. To flick through these
          pages, use the Oops button. The lowest value is 1 and the highest is
          32, but unless you have a rather good quantity of RAM, you should
          put a low value (e.g. with 8 Megs and without disk-caching, the
          maximum value is about 3 or 4).

        - Remap: when you modify the colors of the menu, it is necessary to
          find the new colors that could fit better for the menu to stay
          readable. This option permits to define, each time you modify a
          color in the palette, whether you want to look if this new color
          wouldn't fit better to the menu than the current colors; or, to the
          opposite, you'd like to do this remapping only when a color of the
          menu would have been modified.
          The second method is faster (since it is not always executed) but it
          doesn't permit to find the optimal colors for the menu.
          Therefore, it is preferable to set this option to "Always" except if
          your machine is very slow.

        - Font: determines if you want to use GrafX2 with a classical font, or
          another one a bit funnier.

        - Reload: loads the previously saved configuration.

        - Auto-save: means that the configuration will be automatically saved
          when you'll quit the program.

        - Save: saves the configuration at once.

      All modifications will be effective just after closing the menu.



  36 - Oops (Undo/Redo):
  

    Left click:
    ============> Allows you to undo the last modification on the picture.

    Right click:
    ============> Allows you to redo the last modification undone on the
                  picture.

    The maximum number of UNDO that you can perform can be defined in the
    settings menu.

    Undo/Redo aren't effective after page switching, picture loading and
    picture size modifications.



  37 - Clear picture:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Clears the picture with the color number 0.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Clears the picture with the Back-color.



  38 - Quit program:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Allows you to leave GrafX2. If there are unsaved modifications in the
      current or spare page, a confirmation box will ask you if you really
      want to quit GrafX2, if you want to save (Auto-save, no fileselector) or
      if you want to stay in GrafX2.



  39 - Palette menu:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Displays a menu where the following options are available:

        - Palette: Allows you to choose a color-block to edit. If you click
          with the right mouse button, you'll choose a new Back-color.

        - RGB gauges: Allow you to modify the current selection.

        - "+" and "-": Allow you to lighten or darken the current selection.

        - Default: Restores the predifined GrafX2 palette.

        - Gray: Transforms the current selection into its gray-scaled
          equivalent.

        - Negative: Transforms the current selection into its reverse video
          equivalent.

        - Invert: Swaps the colors of the current selection so that the first
          colors become the last ones.

        - X-Invert: Works as above but modifies the picture so that it looks
          the same.

        - Swap: Swaps the current selection with another color-block. Click on
          the beginning of the new color-block.

        - X-Swap: Works as above but modifies the picture so that it looks the
          same. This may be useful if you want to sort your palette.

        - Copy: Copies the current selection to another color-block. Click on
          the beginning of the new color-block.

        - Spread: Computes a gradation between two colors. If your selection
          is only made up of one color, select the second color in the
          palette. Otherwise, the two colors used will be its extremities.

        - Used: Indicates the number of colors used in the picture.

        - Zap unused: Erases the unused colors with copies of the current
          selection. (The keyboard shortcut for this button is <Del>).

        - Reduce: Allows you to reduce the palette to the number of colors you
          want (and modifies the picture).

        - Undo: Allows you to recover the last modifications made on the
          palette. If the last operation modified the picture, it won't
          recover them: you'll have to click on Cancel to do so.


        If you press <Backspace>, the program will replace, as well as
      possible, some unused colors by the four default colors of the menu.
      The image won't look altered because the modified colors (in the case
      they were used on a few points) will be replaced by the closest colors
      in the rest of the palette.
      This option is really useful when you modify the palette so that there
      are no colors that fit for the menu (eg: "Zap unused" while very little
      colors are used in the picture; or "Reduce" with a very small number of
      colors).

        If only one color is selected (not a block), the <[> and <]> keys can
      be used to select the previous or next Forecolor (Backcolor if you press
      <Shift> at the same time).



  40 - Scroll palette left / right:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Scrolls the palette window in the right of the menu.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Same as above, but faster.



  41 - Palette window:
  

    Left click:
    ============>

        Defines the Fore-color.


    Right click:
    ============>

        Defines the Back-color.



  42 - Hide menu:
  

    Any click:
    ==========>

        Allows you to hide the menu. If you do this, take care to watch before
      the key to press to show the menu back (the default key is <F10>).




Let's talk about $$$, baby:


    Please refer to the "Register?" section in the internal help of GrafX2.

    To sum up this section, let's just say that GrafX2 is freeware. But you
  can anyway send us money, graphics, or just a postcard to show us that we
  made a useful program.

    You must note that the version you have is already the "complete" version
  (the same as the registered version) so we won't send you any other copy of
  GrafX2. But if you register for one version, we'll consider that you won't
  have to register for the next ones.




Trouble-shooting / General hints / FAQ:


  * Video card problems:

    - If your video card is not VESA compatible in hardware, you should try to
      run a VESA driver such as Univesa or Univbe.

    - If your card is VESA compatible but doesn't display the screen correctly
    in VESA resolutions, that's probably because they don't fulfil all the
    criteria that we expect. The explanation is that, for a better efficiency,
    we have had to neglect some specificities on some video cards. However,
    we always try to improve the compatibility with any kind of the VESA
    standard in each new version.
    For example, most of the video cards that are VESA 2.0 compatible but that
    aren't yet supported by the program should work really better when we'll
    use the Linear Frame Buffer which will eliminate several too selective
    criteria such as the size of the windows for accessing the video memory
    that we fixed at 64Kb (experienced programmers must see what it is).


  * Memory problems:

    - Since the 94.666% version, we use the EOS dos-extender Copyright (c)1996
      Eclipse instead of the usual DOS4GW. The reason is that it is much
      smaller in disk space (a smaller zip should please your phone bills) and
      in memory (so you'll be able to run GrafX2 with more device handlers
      using conventionnal memory). In addition, this dos-extender is inside
      the main file, which reduces the number of files (your FAT will be happy
      for that).

      The backdraw is that this dos-extender doesn't manage disk-cache. So, if
      you haven't at least 8 Megabytes of RAM, you'll have to use the batch
      file GFX2_MEM.BAT .

      Notice that:
        - you'll have to configure this file according to the location of some
          files in the tree of your hard-disk(s).
        - you'll have to have the file DOS4GW.EXE somewhere in the tree of
          your hard-disk(s).
        - you'll need at least 16 Megabytes of free space on your current
          hard-disk.

      If you ever encounter problems using GrafX2 (with at least 8 Megabytes
      of RAM) that would vanish using GFX2_MEM, we would thank you to let us
      know.

      EOS is a shareware dos-extender, with very interesting libraries for
      music, graphism, ... for Watcom, Tasm or Masm applications. If you want
      more informations on its features or its libraries, don't hesitate to
      contact us in order to be put in relationship with its authors.

    - The above command can allow you to access a greater number of UNDO
      pages in the Settings menu.

      You'll discover that this is generally more annoying than interesting
      because at the beginning of any modification on the picture, your hard
      drive will be accessed to swap memory. So why do we speak about this
      here ? Well... it's a hint to use more features of GrafX2. Of course,
      the best way to use this feature would be to have a lot of memory, but
      not everybody has got 32 Megabytes of EDO-RAM ;).


  * Sound card problems:

    Q: No sound comes out from my Ultra-maxi-sound-blaster-galaxy-64-3D-pnp,
       so what can I do?
    A: Well... You must understand that this program is not a soundtracker nor
       a music-player :) ... So if you want some music, you'll have either to
       play modules with a good player that can run background (with a DOS
       shell), or to switch your Hi-Fi on.


  * Miscellaneous:

    - If you fucked up the GFX2.CFG file and that GrafX2 use it as is, with an
      incorrect behavior, don't hesitate to erase GFX2.CFG and to re-run
      GFXCFG to create a new correct one.

    - It may happen that you get a version already configured by one of your
      friends who could have used some "Windows 95" keys while you haven't got
      such keyboard yourself. In this case, you'll have to reconfigure these
      combinations using GFXCFG.


  * Frequently asked questions:

    Q: How can I set the dimensions of the picture?
    A: We thought it was obvious that you had to click in the areas were the
       dimensions are written in the resolution menu (Width & Height) but many
       people asked this question (?!). So, to sum up, everywhere you'll see a
       value or text written in black in a sort of encrusted area, this means
       that if you click on it, you'll be able to modify its value.

    Q: Where can I get the latest version of GrafX2?
    A: Read the SNSTDSGN.NFO file (hoping that you're one of those who delete
       all the files that don't seem interesting, or at least that you kept
       the ZIP on a disk). :)

    Q: How can I do the same thing that I do with the keys F1 & F2 in Deluxe
       Paint (copyright Electronic Arts)? In other words, how can I make the
       brush to become monochrome, and how can I get it back to its normal
       state?
    A: You can do it (assuming that you haven't modified the default keys)
       with the keys <Shift>+<F4> to make the brush become monochrome, and
       <Shift>+<B> to get the multi-coloured brush back.

    Q: Why is the tool bar at the bottom of the screen instead of at the right
       side such as Deluxe Paint?
    A: Well... GrafX2 IS NOT Deluxe Paint! We know that you are used to Deluxe
       Paint but you'll have to get used to GrafX2! ;) If you really can't
       stand using GrafX2 like this, then you'll have to wait for GrafX3 but
       we probably won't release it before year 2000! Actually, the main
       reason why we put the tool bar with such a basical aspect is that it
       was easier (therefore faster) to redraw the whole screen just by
       telling the routine where to stop (where starts the tool bar).
       Moreover, one of the best Amiga paint programs (Brilliance) has got the
       tool bar at the bottom of the screen too.

    Q: Why is GrafX2 that slow in the menus (Help, Resolutions, etc...) ?
    A: Ah! Great question... Well... You must have noticed that menus are
       always displayed with a size big enough (and correcting weird aspect
       ratios) for you to read their contents easily; and this in any graphic
       resolution. Well, this is because we stretch them... And you can say
       what you want, it is much slower to draw pixels as blocks than
       displaying only one pixel onto the screen. (But we'll try, maybe, to
       accelerate that in a later version)

    Q: Why aren't the hidden parts of the picture filled when I use the "Flood
       fill" tool ?
    A: For the simple and "quite" good reason that it is preferable that the
       user controls perfectly what he is drawing. Thus, he won't see too late
       that he has fucked up a part of his picture. The other tools work the
       same way.

    Q: Is it possible to lauch the program in a different resolution than
       320x200 ?
    A: Yes, you just have to type GFX2 <mode_number> at the DOS prompt. Type
       GFX2 /? to get the liste of all the video modes.

    Q: Is it normal that some buttons don't work (e.g.: the Text button) ?
    A: Yes, this is because we haven't had the time to make them (I remind you
       that GrafX2 is still at a Beta version state).
       However, here is the list of the buttons that don't respond in GrafX2:
        - Filled polygons
        - Grad. rectangles
        - Polyform brush grabbing
        - Text
        - and the 3 following buttons in the "Brush effects" menu:
           - Rotate by any angle
           - Stretch
           - Distort

    Q: How can I contact you?
    A: Actually, this is not really this question since those people managed
       to contact us ;) but...

       * Snail mail:
           GUILLAUME DORME (Robinson)          KARL MARITAUD (X-Man)
           15, rue de l'observatoire           10, rue de la Brasserie
           87000 LIMOGES (FRANCE)              87000 LIMOGES (FRANCE)

       * E-mail: (Should work at least until July 1997)
           dorme@alphainfo.unilim.fr           maritaud@alphainfo.unilim.fr

       * IRC: often on #demofr and #coders
              (and #gfx when I'll manage to bring some people there ;))

       Do not hesitate to contact us; we love that! :)
       We'll reply to EVERY e-mails, and also to certain normal letters (Yes
       of course! We won't ruin ourselves for stamps just to say "Thank you
       for writing!" :)).
