COLLAGE VERSION 2.01 SHAREWARE


1. OVERVIEW

Collage is a LOW cost QUICK and EASY to use image viewer. It includes a
number of useful image ENHANCEMENT and EDITING features and a powerful
COLLAGE creation capability. The fact that it is a MDI (Multiple Doc-
ument Interface) application allows you to view and manipulate a number
of images in one main window. Furthermore it is capable of playing back
MOVIES and has the ability to EXPORT frames as images. For a quick look
at some of the features of Collage see section 3.

For registration details (US$10) see Section 10. For developers the Delphi
source code(US$15) is also available. (See section 10)

2. INSTALLATION

Make sure you UNinstall any previous versions of Collage first. To install
simply unzip the Collg201.ZIP file and double click on the setup.exe file.
The install wizard does most of the hard work and will guide you through the
installation. Some example images and collages are also installed.

To uninstall simply go to the windows Settings | Control Panel and activate
the Add/Remove Programs application. Proceed with the removal of Collage.

3. FEATURES

Some of the features of Collage ver 2.01 are briefly summarized here:

       * MDI application - can load single or multiple images
       * Collage creation - assemble a number of individual
         images and save the collage as a single image. This
         is quick and easy and allows for different backgrounds
         or colors, frames and borders. See the examples.
       * Clipboard aware
       * Can view a variety of image formats
       * Can playback video clips (avi, mpg - depending on windows
         configuration) and freeze and export frames as images.
       * Image processing routines such as AutoBalance,
         Histogram equalization, Linear Contrast Stretch, Smooth
         and Sharpen can be used to enhance images.
       * Standard set of controls with hot keys - Next, Previous',
         Delete, Close, Close All, Save, Save As, Open and plent'y
         more!
       * Auto fit to screen (Automatically sizes image to fit
         screen maintaining aspect ratio)
       * Magnify / Reduce capability (Zoom in and out using a variety
         of algorithms - choice of 9)
       * Resize image capability (Enter width and height values)
       * Crop and Paste functionality
       * Slide show - adjustable timer allows auto display of a
         directory of images
       * Windows association of supported image extensions
         (Associate the Collage application with the image
         extension(s) of your choice in the Explorer and then
         just double click on the file name to activate)
       * Right click menu of popular commands
       * Region of Interest (ROI) aware - using the left mouse
         button demarcate a Region of Interest on the image, any
         further manipulation of the image with Zoom, Copy or
         other image processing function will now effect only
         the demarcated area.
       * All user settings from the last working session are
         recalled i.e. Directory, Zoom Factor, JPG quality
         factor etc. Most of these can be set from the 'Options'
         menu item.
       * Text insertion.
       * Border and Frame insertion.
       * Move files capability.
       * Colour to GreyScale conversion.

4. KEYBOARD COMMANDS

Besides the main menu and the Right Mouse Click PopUp Menu the
following hot keys are available:

        * F1 - Show About Information
        * F2 - Save Image
        * F3 - Load Image(s)
        * F4 - Save Image As
        * F5 - Fit Image to Screen (maintaining aspect ratio)
        * F6 - Crop demarcated area
        * F7 - Restore original Image
        * F8 - Move Image to Home position
        * F9 - Activate Slideshow
        * F10 - Full screen i.e. display only the image
        * F11 - Zoom In (Magnify Image)
        * F12 - Zoom Out (Reduce Image)
        * Space bar - Displays next image
        * BackSpace - Displays previous image
        * Down, up, right, left cursor key - Moves image down,
          up, right and left respectively
        * PG Down, PG up - Moves image down/up respectively
        * Cntrl + Tab - Toggle between images (VERY USEFUL!!)
        * Cntrl + Ins - Copy to Clipboard
        * Shift + Ins - Paste from Clipboard
        * Del - Delete Image (NB deletes image does not post to
          Recycle Bin)
        * Ins - Display next image without closing current image
        * Alt + F3 - Close Image
        * Alt + F4 - Exit Application
        * Alt + F5 - Close All Images
        * Alt + R  - Rename a file
        * Alt + C  - Create Collage Canvas (see section 6)
        * Cntrl + P - Paste to Collage Canvas (see section 6)
        * Cntrl + I - Invert Image
        * Cntrl + R - Rotate Image 90 degrees
        * Cntrl + B - Insert a border
        * Cntrl + C - Insert an oval\circle border
        * Cntrl + D - Duplicates image
        * Cntrl + T - Insert Text

5. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Collage has been tested on both Windows 95,98 and Windows NT 4. Although not
necessary Collage works best in a 800x600 graphics resolution. The Color
Palette however must be set at 24 bit True Color or higher.


6. TIPS

Collage is very easy to use. When in doubt consult this Readme file and
remember all the speed buttons on the toolbar have hints which are activated
by holding the mouse cursor over the button and waiting a few seconds (do
not click).

When using Collage one can either load a batch of images at once and then
toggle through the selection using the Cntrl + Tab keys or select the first
image in the directory and hit the space bar to display the next image. Note
pressing the space bar first closes the active image and then displays the
next image. If you wish to retain the active image press the INS key - this
displays the next image with out closing the current image.

Using the Windows95 explorer one can associate most image extensions (jpg,
pcx,bmp etc.) with the Collage application. [In the explorer go to the View|
Option| menu item and open the File Types dialog box. Click on a file type
i.e. 'jpg image' and edit the OPEN command to execute Collage.exe.] This
allows one to double click on an image file name in the Explorer and very
quickly view the image using the Collage application.

ROI - Region Of Interest:

Demarcating a region of interest on an image is undertaken simply by holding
down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse accordingly.Once you have
demarcated an area you can apply one of the available image processing
operations to it for example Zoom In, Invert , Rotate etc. This will take
effect on the demarcated region. Try the Copy and Paste functions - only the
ROI will be pasted to the New Image.

Collage Creation:

I often come across the situation that I have a number of smaller images
that I would like to arrrange on one canvas and save as a single  image. For
this I have implemented a utility that enables one to create a collage from
a number of individual images. To do this follow the following basic steps:

   - Open the images that you wish to use in your collage compilation.
   - Edit these images as you wish i.e. add borders,text etc.
   - Now press the Collage Canvas speed button (CC on the ToolBar) in
     order to create a background canvas on which to paste your individual
     images.(Note if you right click the CC button you can set the back-
     ground options of the Collage canvas to your preference.)
   - Use the Cntrl+Tab key or the mouse to switch to the image of your
     choice and then press the Collage Paste button (CP on the ToolBar or
     use the PopUp menu).
   - This action transfers the selected image to the Collage Canvas and you
     can position your image anywhere on this canvas by moving the mouse.
   - At the desired location left click the mouse button and the image will
     be anchored at that location.
   - Continue this process until all the single images have been placed upon
     the Collage Canvas. Text, borders and frames can now also be inserted
     on the Collage Image if desired.
   - Once your Collage is completed save it as a BMP or JPG.

Viewing Movies:

Collage can also playback AVI movies (or even mpeg/mpg if your windows
configuration allows for this). Note movies and images can exist in the same
workspace. In fact you can even playback multiple movies at the same time.An
exceptional feature of the movie utility is that you can easily freeze a
and extract it as an image (use the export frame button - right most button
on the movie controller).You can then save the image as a JPG or BMP. Note
when extracting frames make sure that the movie display area is not covered
by any other images or partially hidden offscreen.

7. FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

A number of enhancements are to be made to this version of Collage namely :

        * The collage creation utility will be further refined
        * Thumbnail creation
        * Enhancement of Border and Text insertion utilities
        * The playback of video clips will be enhanced - better controller
        * Help menu
        * Mosaic utility
        * Bug fixes will continue.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

8. CREDITS

Thanks go to K. Nishita for writing the excellent NviewLib.dll and to Anders
Melander for the interpolated bitmap resampling routines(freeware code).

9. WHATS NEW

Version 1.5 (from previous version 1.20)

Several bugs have been fixed and the following features added or
enhanced:

       * The following Image processing functions have been adde'd
          - RGB Balance and brightness levels
          - Autobalance
          - Histogram Equalization
          - Adjustable Linear Contrast Stretch
          (Note these algorithms can be used to enhance images. The
           degree of enhancement depends on the image content).
       * Color to Greyscale conversion.
       * Full screen display i.e. View only images and nothing else
       * Move image capability i.e. Transfer images from one directory to
         another.
       * Enhanced slide show capability.
       * Enhanced Collage Canvas options.
       * Insert Text capability.
       * Insert Borders capability

Version 2.0 (from previous version 1.50)

       * Several bug fixes
       * Sharpen filter added
       * Smooth flter added
       * Zoom algorithms extended (selection of 9 available)
       * Insert Frames capability
       * Added Rotate text and vertical text improvements.
       * Move/Copy active Image utility added
       * Utility to export frames from movies as images.

Version 2.01 (from previous version 2.00)

       * Minor bugfixes
       
10. DEVELOPERS DETAILS

Author of Collage   - 	 George Vrahimis
Email address      - 	 vrahimis@netactive.co.za

To register this version of Collage please mail US$10 (UK&5) to the following
address. This will entitle you to a registered version of Collage (via
email).


Mail Address:       - 	 George Vrahimis
                         26 Harry De Stadler Close
                         Fish Hoek
                         7975
                         South Africa

SOURCE CODE

For those of you who are working in Delphi 3 or 4 and  wish to adapt this
version of Collage according to your own requirements the complete source
code is available at a cost of US$15 (UK&10). Note the decoding of the image
formats is done by the NviewLib.dll. There is no warranty or other guarantee
of fitness for this software, it is provided solely "as is".  Bug reports or
fixes may be sent to the author,who may or may not act on them as he
desires.

The source code will in particular help developers in the following areas of
application development:

            - How to handle a Multiple Document Interface (MDI)
            - Windows file extension association interface.
            - Clipboard aware interface.
            - Menu and pop-up menu utilisation.
            - How to manipulate BMP's/DIB's.
            - How to handle text on an image surface.
            - How to write image processing algorithms. (The code for
              all the algorithms in the Collage application. i.e. Rotate,
              Invert, Sharpen, Smooth, Histogram Equalization etc.)
            - And a whole lot more!


If there is a demand for a customized version of Collage please email me.