Arctangent's Web, Volume #2 (December 11, 1995) Table Of Contents: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Overview of the contents of this archive II. Technical Information III. Applying Color Palletes IV. IFF-->GIF Conversion Guidelines ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Indexes ------- Yes, I know the plural form of "index" is "indecies", but I use the word "Indexes" to avoid any confusion.. The icons you see in this drawer are Index Sheets---a full-screen image which gives you an overview of what is contained in all the other drawers. The Indexes are your starting point for choosing which graphics you'de like to use in your web page. Each object is referenced by using the grid along the top and down the left edge of the screen--If you find a button you like, you can find that paticular button (eg. A4, C9, B12) listed as one of the files contained in either Square Buttons, or Round Buttons. Every single one of these buttons (all 181 of them!) have been clipped out and individually saved for your convienience. Keep in mind however, that the Dividers & Welcome-graphics are not indexed due to the fact there are only 3 to 5 of them. :) The dividers are listed top to bottom, so that the one at the very top is #1, and the one at the very bottom is 5. Works out nicely, doesn't it. :) All the buttons, and dividers and welcome-graphics you see here are in black and white. Why, you ask? Simple--Rather than include half a dozen versions of the same button over and over again, just with different colors, all the buttons are presented in grey so that you may apply the color pallete of your liking to these buttons. Over 16 different pallete maps are included here, covering virtually all the colors in the rainbow. Applying the color of your liking to the buttons/dividers is simple, and can be done with any paint program or image processing utility. For more information on applying color maps, see Section 3. (Applying Color Palletes) II. Technical Information --------------------- All of the artwork contained in this archive was created with Brilliance 2.0, quite possibly THE best native-chipset paint program available for the Amiga. How were they painted? Well, if I were to tell you that, there wouldn't be much point in trying to get a JOB then, would there? :) So, I wont go into any details here regarding my production methods, outside of saying that every pixel you see in this archive originated from my mouse, and/or my graphics tablet. The graphics were created on my 40 Mhz A2500HD/030, in 4-bitplane 16 color mode. They weren't created in 256 and then downshifted to preserve quality. Thats cheating, in my book. :) For the technically minded, the square buttons are 44 x 40 pixels in dimension, 4 bitplanes deep. Round buttons are slightly larger, weighing in at 46 x 42, also 4 bits deep. The sizes of the mini-buttons are exactly half that of their respective -large- sizes. For each button/divider, the pallete layout is as follows: --Register # 0--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--A--B--C--D--E--F------ Red: 0 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Green: 0 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Blue: 0 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 So, as you can see, the first color register is black, the second is 15,15,15 white, and the 3rd--->16th color register gets darker and darker, all the way down to 1,1,1. All the alternative pallete styles are also mapped according to this same, general layout--Dark-->White--> Descending Intensity. III. Applying Color Palletes ----------------------- Its easy--This explanation assumes you're using ADPro. 1) It's simple. First, load in the button, logo, nameplate, title, or divider you wish to add color to. 2) Now, go up to the "Display" menu in the titlebar, and select "Pallete". (Right-Amiga T does the same thing.) ... 3) Next, click the "Load Pallete.." button near the bottom of the window that just popped up, and select one of the 176-byte Pallete files contained in the Palletes drawer of this archive. Use the "Clockwork Orange" pallete, for example, to give the button an orange tint. 4) Now, click OK on the Pallete menu and it should go away. 5) From here, just go ahead and save the image as GIF. You don't even have to click Execute. :) Follow this procedure for ALL of the graphics you wish to use in your web page. Load 'em up, give it a pallete, save it out as GIF. Its a cinch. In-Out-In-Out-In! IV. IFF-->GIF Conversion Guide -------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THE GRAPHICS YOU CHOOSE TO USE IN YOUR HOMEPAGE MUST BE CONVERTED FROM THEIR PRESENT FORM (.IFF) INTO .GIF FORMAT IN ORDER FOR ALL USERS TO SEE THEM. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hey, I hate .GIF just as much as the next guy----But, I didn't design the World Wide Web. I had absolutely no say in the matter, when it comes down to how GIF became the "standard" graphics format for Web graphics. :) In order for all users, on all systems, wether it be Amiga, Unix, PC, Mac, or Sun, to be able to view the graphics on your Web page, the graphics MUST be in a format which is universally understood and used--GIF. Some Web Browsers (a good percentage of them, actually) do NOT support .IFF graphics, and would therefore view your homepage as completely void of any graphics whatsoever, if you chose to use .IFF ... IFF-->GIF Conversion can often be a tricky matter for those without proper knowledge of image processing. Here are some common questions you may encounter, and answers for each: ---- How should I go about converting them to .GIF? ---- Within ADPro, IFF to GIF conversion should be done WITHOUT clicking the "Execute" button. Simply load the IFF image in, and click the GIF saver. No operations on the existing image data should be performed under any circumstances, else considerable image degradation may occur. This is due to the fact that applying a secondary degree of dither-processing would significantly decay the image quality of the graphic you're converting. Leave it alone--Its already dithered to the greatest degree possible. If you *must* perform any operations on the graphics within this archive, perform them WITH DITHERING TURNED COMPLETELY OFF. ---- What happens if I dither these graphics? ---- Additional dithering, when applied to these graphics, will create widespread "artifacts" ..scattered, unwanted pixels which result from optimization routines in several dithering algorithms. Dither-processing ANY one of the objects in this archive will result in that object appearing to be "salted" .. like if someone had come along and sprinkled salt all over your graphics. :) When converting to .GIF, the objects should ALWAYS be Generated at 16 colors (4 bitplanes), never 256. Using 256 colors is overkill, and adds an unnecessary bulk to otherwise small, and pretty graphics. a 2K graphic will look just as good at 16 colors as it will at 256 colors, exept the 256 color file will be 15x as large, and therefore take 15x as long to transmit! ------------------------- Any questions? My email address is (currently) bjp@interaccess.com .. Usually you'll recieve a detailed reply within 24 hours. I do often have alot of mail usually, so be patient. :) Good luck, and happy web-decorating! Bowie J. Poag (Arctangent!)