Welcome to ImageStudio News! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents ~~~~~~~~ o Welcome to ImageStudio-2.2.x o Obtaining a Printed Manual o The PNG File Format o 'Uncrash' Utility Program o Keyfiles and Piracy o The Authors Would Like to Thank... o How to Contact the Authors o What the Reviewers Think of ImageStudio Welcome to ImageStudio-2.2.x ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to ImageStudio v2.2.x! This release sees the following additions to the program: i) Many more loaders and savers. ImageStudio now supports the TIFF file format, datatypes plus many other well used formats. ii) Colour preview. This was probably the most requested improvement by users after a font sensitive interface. iii) The internal viewer is now an external module. This allows us to add extra viewers easily, including hopefully support for the CyberGraphX standard when we get a CyberGraphX compatible card. iv) The unregistered version now crops images to 512x512 rather than the meagre 250x250. v) A printed and illustrated manual is now available from LH Publishing (details below). We suggest that users completely replace their v2.1.x IO modules with the v2.2.x versions, as the module format has changed slightly. Don't also forget to change the value of INTERNALVIEWER preference if you have either an AGA Amiga or Amiga with a graphics card to take advantage of the best viewer module for your Amiga. We hope that you like the improvements to the made to the program and will continue to support ImageStudio. Andy and Graham Dean. Obtaining a Printed Manual ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although we provide the documentation on disk in many different formats, we have had many requests to provide the documentation in printed form. We've got together with LH Publishing (address below) to produce a 70+ page manual containing most of the online text with illustrations and diagrams. The manual is ideal for beginners to image processing as well as those who prefer the convenience of printed matter. The manual is clearly and expertly laid out by Larry Hickmott of LH Publishing, an Amiga writer and someone with much expertise in Amiga DTP. The manual is available from LH Publishing for 5.99UK pounds (check for current price and availability) from: LH Publishing 13 Gairloch Avenue Bletchley MK2 3DH ENGLAND The manual also includes two disks containing the very latest (unregistered) version of the program, allowing an introduction to ImageStudio for beginners as well as an easy way to upgrade for registered users. The PNG File Format ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the release of v2.1.0 of ImageStudio we wrote an IO module for the new PNG image file format. As the format is new, the code was based on beta versions of the PNG library routines and incomplete specifications. We were hoping that by the time we came to releasing v2.2.0 of ImageStudio the PNG file format would have been finished, but this is unfortunately not the case. The current documentation therefore contains references to the capabilities of the PNG IO module, but no actual PNG module is contained in the package as we still consider it "work in progress". The PNG module will officially be included with the ImageStudio package when the PNG library is finished; until then we keep our pre-release PNG module available separately in the public domain. 'Uncrash' Utility Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Provided with this release is a CLI utility called 'UnCrash' which aims to recover ImageStudio virtual memory swap files after a system crash. It should be made clear that is should be impossible to crash the machine with ImageStudio, we are assuming that some other program has caused the crash or there has been a power failure. The UnCrash program takes the raw data virtual memory swap file left on the disk after the crash and tries to convert it into a file which can be read by ImageStudio's VMEM IO module. This operation is usually successful, but may fail if it was a really good crash(!). It also should be worth mentioning that our virtual memory scheme is not in any way "dangerous" or likely to cause disk problems. We only use standard system routines for the disk access and so the chance of our virtual memory routines causing disk errors is the same as any program that loads or saves files. Keyfiles and Piracy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It became obvious from version 1.x.x, that our method of upgrading the software was becoming impractical for a large number of orders. We could therefore either (i) charge for upgrades or (ii) change the upgrade method. As we aim to provide the best value for money image processor on the Amiga, option (i) was decided against. We have therefore opted for the popular "keyfile" concept of upgrades. This works as follows: o New registered users will receive the latest version of ImageStudio along with a personalised keyfile. When ImageStudio is started, if it finds a valid keyfile it will "unlock" the program to become fully functional. o Existing registered users will have to generate a new keyfile for use with ImageStudio-2.0.0 and above. This is done by running the new version of the program, selecting `Create keyfile' in the `Project' menu and selecting their registered copy of v1.x.x of ImageStudio. Once this version of ImageStudio is deemed to be a valid registered copy, a keyfile will be generated which will cause version 2 and above of ImageStudio to work fully. Please note: YOUR KEYFILE IS FOR YOUR PRIVATE USE AND SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO ANYONE ELSE. Each keyfile is individual and can be traced back to the registered user. Do not try and alter the keyfile, it won't work. The only reason we can continue to sell ImageStudio so cheaply and provide free updates is because we have had a healthy response with people registering. If the number of registrations drops because people abuse the keyfile system and distribute pirate copies of the program, we will be forced to do one or several of the following: i) Stop providing free upgrades. All programs will be individually stamped and all upgrades must be paid for. ii) Remove online help and provide printed manuals instead. This will naturally raise the price substantially. iii) Sell the software to a software publisher for commercial distribution. This is likely to lead to a large price increase. iv) Stop developing ImageStudio and related products. We see no reason why we should have to resort to any of these measures, but if you're using a pirated copy of ImageStudio now and you refuse to register, you WILL force this upon us. If you are using a pirate copy of ImageStudio, so will hundreds of others. A hundred orders to us is the difference between us writing the next version of the program, and us abandoning it. It really is your choice. The Authors Would Like to Thank... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andy and Graham would like to thank: o All those who voted for ImageStudio in the Amiga Shopper awards. o Larry Hickmott of LH Publishing for his time in producing the ImageStudio printed manual and his support and suggestions. o All those who've registered the program and made suggestions for improvements. Many thanks to you all! How to Contact the Authors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Graham is available at: 14 Fielding Avenue Poynton Stockport Cheshire SK12 1YX ENGLAND for orders and queries. Andy is available via Email at: adean@eleceng.ucl.ac.uk for queries only (this Email address may change after September 1995). What the Reviewers Think of ImageStudio ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Included below are some reviews of ImageStudio in the press: ================================================================ Winner of the 1995 Amiga Shopper reader award for "Best PD / Shareware Utility" ================================================================ "...we use ImageStudio at C.U. Amiga magazine to process brushes quickly when doing the same in one of the bigger packages would take much longer. Highly recommended. 93%." C.U. Amiga, September '95 "Those that can't afford the big boys like AdPro will find all the necessary features replicated, at a stunningly low price... 97%" Amiga User International, September '95 "...it doesn't take a great deal of brain power to realise just what a good bargain ImageStudio is... 92%" Amiga Shopper (coverdisk), September '95 "This is a fantastic product... 92%" C.U. Amiga, August '95 "...for just 10UK pounds ImageStudio2 is an absolute bargain and comes strongly recommended." Amiga Computing, June '95 "Am I impressed with this package? In short, yes. For half the price of Transition, ImageStudio delivers much more." Amiga Report 3.07 '95 "This program is superb." Amiga Pro, Larry Hickmott, December '94 "This is a real prize program. ... Registration is only 10UK pounds, a sound investment if you ask me... 96%" Amiga User International, December '94 "Perhaps the most impressive feature is the option to use a hard disk as virtual memory ... a feature that would be welcome in many commercial offerings." Amiga Computing, December '94 "It's a promising package... 88%" Amiga Format, November '94 "ImageStudio is an impressive program - all the more considering this is the first revision... 90%" Amiga Shopper, December '94 "It is impossible to choose between ImageStudio and Blackboard, [Blackboard] has better effects, but [ImageStudio] has better overall handling... 89%" C.U.Amiga, December '94 "This is a very stable and useful program with features which are worth a lot more that the asking price. ... I urge you to contribute your shareware fee as soon as possible to get the most from this excellent program." Amiga Pro, Phil South, December '94 "Probably the most incredible thing about ImageStudio is that it is as solid as a rock." JAM, December '94 "It's been a long time since I've seen a shareware program as good as ImageStudio." EM, December '94