

            Imagetool_basics                               February 1988




            CONTENTS


            Start Imagetool
            Inputs To Imagetool
            Error Messages
            Basic Operations
                 Changing Current Directory
                 Basic Editing On Canvas
                 Panel Button Usage
                 Picking Positions And Quick Load
                 Text Item Accelerators



            START IMAGETOOL

            To start up Imagetool, simply type imagetool  (or  the  full
            path  name  of Imagetool) at the command line. Better if you
            include  the  path  name  of  the  directory  that  contains
            Imagetool  executable  in your .login file.  Since Imagetool
            is base  on  the  Sunview  Window  System,  you  must  first
            activate suntools environment by typing suntools.

            When Imagetool windows come up  on  your  screen,   you  may
            start loading and editing images and palettes, or go to menu
            HELP to read a help file if you have no idea where to start.

            Imagetool allows a user to set up some default  paths  in  a
            default  file.  See  details in the following section on the
            menu options.  If you do not know how to set up the defaults
            the first time, answer "No" to the prompt.



            INPUTS TO IMAGETOOL

            The Imagetool window consists of four separate areas:  a tty
            subwindow  running  a  csh,  a control panel that holds text
            items and buttons to take user  input,  a  menu  panel  that
            contains  eight main menus, and a canvas on which images are
            displayed.

            The tty subwindow runs a csh. The user can use all kinds  of
            C-shell commands in it.

            On the control panel, the user may enter the  current  image
            directory  path,  the image file name, the dimensions (x and
            y) of the image, and the palette file name. To enter a  name
            string  on  a  certain text item, first move the cursor into
            the control panel area, click the left mouse button  on  the
            text  item  (such  as the item labelled Image) --- make sure
            you see the caret blinking on that item, then  type  in  the
            name  string.  The  return  key brings the caret to the next
            text item in a circular fashion.

            The panel below the control panel is the  menu  panel  which
            holds  eight  main  menus To select an option from the menus
            (IMAGE, EDIT, PALETTE, ZOOM, GRAPH, FTP, HELP, and OPTIONS),
            hold  down  the right mouse button on a particular menu item
            (for instance, IMAGE), slide down the cursor to  choose  the
            desired operation. The user may also slide to the right of a
            selection to get a sub-menu which are indicated by a  right-
            pointing  arrow  adjacent to the item name.  Note: hold down
            the mouse button all the way through, and  release  it  when
            you  make  a  selection.  If  you  do not want to select any
            option, simply move the cursor out  of  the  menu  and  then
            release  the button. A detailed description of functionality
            and usage of the main menu items is given in the  Main  Menu
            help file.



            ERROR MESSAGES

            All error messages will appear in  the  tty  subwindow.  The
            meaning  of each error message is explained in the help file
            imagetool_errors.



            BASIC OPERATIONS

            This section introduces the basic operations  without  using
            menus.   It  describes  how  to  change  the current working
            directory within Imagetool,  how  to  load  an  image  at  a
            specified  location,  how to move or copy a part of an image
            on the canvas, and so on.  The more sophisticated operations
            would be selected from the main menus.


            Changing Current Directory

            Enter the path name of the directory you want to  change  to
            at  the  item  labelled Directory, type Ctrl-C at the end of
            the name string, or click on the  Directory  item  with  the
            right  mouse button to select Change directory.  The current
            directory path is displayed on the Imagetool  window  frame.
            Note  that  this  directory,  which is the working directory
            from which images are loaded, is not the same as the current
            directory  of  the  tty subwindow.  In this way, one can use
            the tty subwindow to "look around"  without  disturbing  the
            working directory.


            Basic Editing On Canvas

            Imagetool provides you with basic  editing  capabilities  on
            the  canvas  without using any menus. Once you have an image
            displayed on the canvas, you may  cut  (copy)  a  particular
            region of the image and move it to other part of the canvas.
            First, select a region by  holding  down  the  middle  mouse
            button and drag toward the lower right corner (a box will be
            "dragged out" on the image). To move this region, place  the
            cursor  inside  the  box,  hold down the middle mouse button
            again, and drag the cutout image  to  wherever  you  choose,
            then  release  the  mouse button. To copy the region, do the
            same operations described above except pressing the  control
            key while moving.


            Panel Button Usage

            There are four permanent buttons on the control panel:

            CLEAR  Clear the previously loaded/selected image/region  on
                   the  first  click, and clear the entire canvas on the
                   second click.

            PRINT  Hard copy of color images. Not supported with version
                   1.0.

            CANCEL Cancel animation and stack operations, if any.  Clear
                   the canvas.


            Picking Positions And Quick Load

            When assembling a composite image, you may need  to  specify
            precise  positions to load images. To pick a position on the
            canvas, press the left mouse button at where  you  want  the
            upper left-hand corner of the image to be. Imagetool reports
            the coordinates of the location you just picked in  the  tty
            subwindow.  Use  the right mouse button to undo this effect.
            Double clicking with the left  mouse  button  will  load  an
            image to the specified location.


            Text Item Accelerators

            Each  text  item  on  the  Imagetool  control  panel  (i.e.,
            Directory,  Image,  Palette,  Xdim,  Ydim) has a pop-up menu
            associated with  it  containing  text  item  "accelerators".
            These  accelerators for the most part constitute a subset of
            the  operations  contained  in  the  main  menus,  and   are
            duplicated  here for ease of operation.  There are two modes
            of usage. The first is to simply choose the accelerator with
            the  mouse  in  the  usual  way.  The  second is to type the
            control key equivalent of each accelerator, as indicated  in
            the  menus,  after  entering  the  text  item  string.   For
            example, the item labelled "Image" holds  the  name  of  the
            current  image.  After entering the image name to be loaded,
            the user can type Ctrl-L to load image, Ctrl-A  to  animate,
            Ctrl-C  to clear image,  or Ctrl-S to scale a floating-point
            format image file.  Such items as Directory and Palette also
            have menus containing accelerators.

            NOTE:  Using  accelerators   only   performs   the   default
            operations  (for instance, loading a raw format raster file,
            and animate on  regular  sized  image).  If  you  want  more
            complicated operations, you must select from the main menus.

