Convector Professional Demo Version Program Copyright (c) 1992, Shift GmbH Exclusive North American Distribution, Gribnif Software Imagine this scenario: You're trying to finish a user group newsletter so you can rush it off to the printer. Just one last piece of clip art to add and it's all done. But, wait! The clip art image is too small! Allright, what happens if you try to enlarge it in the DTP program. Ugh. That's awful, all those jagged edges. Now what? The obvious solution is to go to a vector image instead of a bitmapped one. Because a vector is a mathematical description of a shape, rather than a group of distinct dots, when the size changes the detail stays, and you don't get all those jaggies when it's enlarged. One way of converting a bitmap to a vector image is to take a drawing program (like Arabesque, for instance) and trace a series of curves around the outlines of the image. But, even if you have a program capable of doing this, you haven't got the time, have you? What you need is Convector Professional. Two Types of Vectors -------------------- First came polygons. These are good, but because they are really just a series of connected straight lines, they can become very noticeable when enlarged. Then came Bezier curves. They were invented by a French dude who knew a lot about math. Later, somebody actually found a way to determine the best Bezier curve to wrap around a particular shape. Of course, this takes lots of really intensive and repetitive calculations. Fortunately, that's what computers are best at (but, you knew that, didn't you?) Using Convector --------------- The basic interface of Convector is very simple to use. Each bitmap or vector graphic image gets its own icon on the desktop. Up to 16 graphic images (vector or bitmap) can be held im memory at once. This makes it easy to compare several vectorizations of the same file and choose the best one to save. What you will probably want to do first is turn the Automatic Help option (in the Options menu) on. This way, any time you select a dropdown menu entry, an informative help message will appear. Next, select the Open dropdown menu entry to load a bitmap graphic. There should be several IMG files included with this demo, so select the IMG option and then the "OK" button. A file selector will appear, with which you can specify which file to load. Now, you should have a window containing the image. You will notice four black squares in the window, one at each corner of the image. These denote the segment of the image which will be operated upon. If you would like to only vectorize a portion of the image, the appropriate area can be chosen by dragging a new rectangle with the mouse. There are several operations which can be performed on a bitmap image. These can be found in the Bitmap menu. The most important, of course, is the Vectorize option, at the bottom. The Vectorization Parameters dialog contains a number of settings which relate to the mathematical calculations that take place during the vectorization process. There are really three distinct "levels" that can be used to describe the options: o Auto mode. The simplest to use, this option tries to guess at the best values for the other options. o Coarse/Middle/Fine/etc. modes. When one of these is selected, fine tuning can be performed by using the Polygons and Beziers sliders. o Advanced Options. Only a real dweeb (and one who actually had a Convector manual in front of him, at that) would bother trying to mess with all these options! Gentlemen Prefer Beziers ------------------------ You should know that even with a computer's help, vectorization of a complex image can take a long time, especially if you use Bezier curves. For this reason, there are many changes you can make to speed up the vectorization process by lessening the number of calculations needed. Vectorizing a bitmap graphic can take several tries before something acceptable is produced. Usually the best thing to do is to start with a Medium or Coarse setting on the first run. You can also use the Auto setting, if you prefer. Then, take a look at the resulting vector image; the Magnify and Zoom options are very helpful for this. If there are straight lines where there should be curves, try moving the Polygons slider more toward Coarse. If the curves do not fit the contours as well as you would like, then try moving the Beziers slider more toward Fine. Other Nifty Stuff ----------------- Of course, you can also do things like grouping and deleting vector objects, too. Convector even lets you create a series of separate Calamus CVG files with letters of the alphabet in them. For this, the Editor options are used. You should also know that Convector works as a desk accessory. This makes it possible to vectorize portions of the screen, within any GEM program which allows you to access desk accessories. This feature works especially well with Arabesque Professional, because with it Convector can vectorize the bitmaps that are being edited by Arabesque, and write the resulting vector graphics directly into Arabesque's drawing pages. Output ------ What good is this thing if you can't save files? None, really, but this is a demo, so you can't. If you want to be able to save in AOB, CVR, GEM, GEM/3, CVG, VEK, EPS, or as Calamus font folder, then I'm afraid you'll have to buy the full program. The full version of Convector can also print, using a GDOS printer driver. But Wait! There's More! ----------------------- Convector comes with a special TT-specific version, which takes advantage of the capabilities of the 68030 CPU, for faster vectorizations. Of course, there's also a detailed 70-page manual to describe it all. Ordering Information -------------------- Convector Professional retails for $149.95. To order, call 1-800-284-4742 (orders only, please.) If you would like more information, please call (413) 584-7887. Gribnif Software P.O. Box 350 Hadley, MA 01035