Rufus Developments presents 
HPChrome
version 1.5  (unregistered version)

*	Prints most picture file types
*	Any size, anywhere on the page
*	Cropped as you wish
*	Supports colour and monochrome printers
*	Works in any ST resolution
*	Simple TV-like colour adjustment
*	Desktop aware
*	WHATIS and GEM-View aware 

Copyright (c) 1992-94, Rufus Developments. 
All rights reserved. 
Rufus Developments, 21 Rowlands Hill, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 2QQ, U.K.

Disclaimer
Rufus Developments believes that HPChrome operates as described 
herein.  But it disclaims responsibility for any direct, 
indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any 
defect, error or failure to perform.  The user assumes all 
liability. 

Manifest 
The HPChrome package includes the following files:
*	HPCHROME.PRG (the program)
*	HPCHROME.TXT (this file)
*	README.TXT 

Optional files which also may be included with your HPChrome 
package:
CHANGES		Chronological list of program updates 
README		Additions and changes to the manual
\WHATIS\	The WHATIS package by Bill Aycock (see later) 
\PICTURES\	Sample pictures in supported formats 

With this version you do NOT need the file CONVERT.BIN which was 
included with previous versions and other programs.

1 Getting started 

Thanks for obtaining HPChrome. Because we would like you to 
register as a user (see the file README.TXT), we are providing 
only the minimum of documentation in this file. Upon registering 
you will be sent a 24-page printed manual.

Picture Files
HPChrome can print many different types of colour picture files 
... but not all of them. (See the Appendix and/or the README.TXT 
file on the HPChrome disk for the latest list of formats, caveats 
and warnings.)

Printer
HPChrome works with an H-P DeskJet printer -- either a colour 
Deskjet, or a mono DeskJet with Colour Kit (cyan, magenta and 
yellow ink cartridges).

HPChrome has options which allow you to make the most of the 
features of each model of DeskJet. Colour Kits are available from 
ink refill suppliers. They can produce good quality colour 
printing on mono DeskJets, by printing on four passes of the 
paper through the printer: yellow, cyan, magenta, black.

Running HPChrome 
You can run HPChrome from the Desktop by double-clicking on the 
program icon, as normal.

You can, if you wish, use the Install Application facility to 
install HPChrome as the application for the file type(s) you wish 
to use. Then, by double-clicking a file of that type, HPChrome 
will automatically load the file ready for printing. See your 
Atari User Manual for more info.

If you are using an enhanced Desktop, then you can use the 
features of your Desktop to pass HPChrome a filename parameter. 
For example, with NeoDesk, you can place HPChrome's icon on the 
Desktop, and drag a picture file on to it. HPChrome will 
automatically load the file ready for printing.
 
2 The Main Menu 

After displaying its title screen and awaiting your click of OK, 
HPChrome displays the main menu in the centre of your screen. 
With no file loaded, most of the buttons are greyed out and 
cannot be used. We'd better click on the File button 
straightaway!

Loading a File 
Click to load a file. A File Selector will appear, for you to 
select the file you wish to print. By default, the File Selector 
will display files of whichever type is selected via the Options 
menu, in the same folder as the program. (If WHATIS is installed 
then all files in the folder will be displayed, regardless of 
type.) 
You are not forced to select a file of the default type. You can 
choose a file of any supported type, and/or navigate to another 
folder before choosing a file. HPChrome will remember the file 
type and folder for next time. By saving your set-up, you can set 
the same file type and folder for each session.

Draft/Normal/Best 
These radio buttons select the quality of print-out. There is a 
direct relationship between quality, time taken, and amount of 
ink used. The three settings allow you to select both the 
resolution at which HPChrome creates its output, and the 
printer's internal quality setting, as follows.
	Setting	Resolution	Printer mode
	Draft	150 x 150	Draft 
	Normal	300 x 300	Draft 
	Best	300 x 300	Final
 
3  Size and Position 

These two buttons both have the same function. The only 
difference is in the measurements displayed next to each button. 
Clicking on either one of them produces a menu which allows you 
to adjust the size of the printed picture, and its position on 
the page. You can adjust the layout either visually, using the 
mouse in a WYSIWYG-style scenario, or with reference to 
measurements displayed in inches or millimetres.

The main feature of this menu is a white rectangle, representing 
the page on which your picture will be printed. Inside this, a 
shaded rectangle represents the picture. At its bottom right-hand 
corner is a white square, the `handle'.

To adjust the position of your picture on the page, move the 
mouse pointer to within the shaded box, and press and hold down 
the left mouse button. The mouse pointer changes into a flat 
hand, and the shaded box follows it around the page as you move 
it.

To adjust the size of your picture, move the mouse pointer to 
within the handle, and press and hold down the left mouse button. 
The mouse pointer changes into a pointing hand, and the shaded 
box changes in size as you move it.

You may use the X/Y up/down arrow buttons to adjust the position, 
and the W/H up/down arrow buttons to adjust the size, if you 
prefer. This method can give more precise adjustments, to within 
1/300in. To do so, just press (and, if you wish, hold down) the 
left mouse button while pointing at the appropriate XYWH up/down 
button. If you attempt to move the picture outside the printable 
area of the page then the ST's bell will ring.

For fine adjustment, hold Control. This gives the most accurate 
adjustment. With Control held down, the change made by each click 
is the printer's minimum dot size: 1/300in. (This is too small 
for each click to show up in the number field. The number will 
not be updated on every click.)

Port/Land 
This pair of radio buttons allows you to choose whether your page 
layout is Portrait (short edge at the top) or Landscape (short 
edge at the side). 

1:1
This button controls Aspect Ratio Lock. When it is selected 
(which it is by default), HPChrome will maintain your picture's 
original form factor or aspect ratio (height to width). In 
technical terms, the picture stays `in pro'.  With Aspect Ratio 
Lock de-selected, you are free to adjust width and height 
independently, to stretch or distort your picture, or make it 
fill a given space.
 
4  Crop 

The Crop feature allows you to choose the rectangular section of 
the picture you wish to print. As well as choosing the important 
area of the picture, you can discard the ink-wasting and 
distracting black border and/or commercial message found on many 
picture files.

When you click on the Crop button, HPChrome displays a `preview' 
version of the picture on screen, along with a pair of cross 
hairs, which can be moved around within the picture area using 
the mouse. This feature works just like the Select Block feature 
in DEGAS Elite. 

Place the cross hairs at one corner of the rectangle you want to 
print, and click the left mouse button. The cross hairs now 
change into a box, with one corner anchored at your chosen 
location. Move the mouse until the box encloses your chosen 
rectangle, and click the left mouse button again.
 
5  Colour 

This button leads to a control panel where you can adjust the 
colour rendering of the printed picture. You can optimise the 
appearance of a given picture, compensate your individual optical 
sensory system (screen/printer/eyes/brain), or create special 
effects.

The control panel has been designed to be simple to use, similar 
to a TV.

Just as with a TV, there is some interaction between the 
controls. It is probably a good idea to make at least one print 
with all sliders at 50 before starting to make adjustments.
 
6  View 

HPChrome's View feature provides a quick check that the file you 
are about to print is indeed the one you wanted to print, and 
that the Crop area is set as you wish. It is not intended as a 
true or high-quality representation of the picture, but uses a 
quick-and-dirty method to give a reasonable representation 
quickly.

Unlike in previous versions, the View feature works in all ST 
screen resolutions, and needs no external files.

To use View, place the mouse pointer over the View button, and 
hold down the left mouse button. Assuming you are not using 
GEM-View (see below), your picture is displayed as long as you 
hold down the button. If your picture has been cropped then a box 
showing the area that will be printed is displayed with the 
picture. When you release the mouse button, the menu is 
re-displayed.

Using GEM-View
If you have the GEM-View program by Dieter Fiebelkorn then you 
already have powerful and flexible file viewing, cropping and 
conversion features. It is thanks to the existence (and wide 
availability) of such excellent programs that HPChrome does not 
provide these facilities at more than the most basic level. We 
cannot equal or surpass the performance of GEM-View (and other 
programs in this line such as PhotoChrome, ImageCopy and 
ViewGIF). Our aim in HPChrome is to give you a convenient way to 
benefit from these programs while also enjoying HPChrome's unique 
printing facilities.

GEM-View can be used instead of HPChrome's View feature. In this 
case, clicking the View button will freeze HPChrome and run 
GEM-View, which will then load and display your picture file. 
With GEM-View running, you can view your file in a far superior 
way, also view, convert, and crop files in numerous supported 
formats. When you quit GEM-View, HPChrome is re-activated.

As well as viewing, you may find GEM-View particularly useful for 
converting files from formats that HPChrome doesn't support. See 
the GEM-View documentation for more details. You also can use any 
available desk accessories, which is not possible in the present 
version of HPChrome.

See under Options on how to install GEM-View with HPChrome.
 
7  Print

When you're ready to print the picture, click on this button. A 
`thermometer' will appear while HPChrome performs the 
calculations necessary to scale and colour the picture the way 
you requested. Then, if you are using a DeskJet 500C or 550C, 
printing will begin.

With other printers, a menu will appear which requests you to 
insert the correct ink cartridge for the forthcoming printer 
pass. It also offers various options:

OK!	Go ahead and print this pass
Skip	Skip this pass and go on to the next
Again	Go back and repeat the previous pass
Cancel	Forget about printing and return to the main menu
Test	Test the ink cartridge

The `Test' option is recommended for where an ink cartridge has 
not been used for some time, to ensure ink is flowing well before 
beginning to print. This is specially useful with refilled ink 
carts.

While printing, the screen tells you the amounts done and left to 
do, with a `guesstimate' of the remaining time. This is 
completely accurate when it indicates zero.

To stop printing, press the ST's UNDO key. The program will stop 
processing your picture, and return to the main menu. Your 
printer may continue to print, though, if there is data still in 
its buffer or in the ST's spooler.
 
8  Options 

Clicking on the Options button displays the Options menu. You 
almost certainly will want to set up some or all of the options 
before loading and/or printing a picture. In the registered 
version, when they are set to your satisfaction, you can save 
them for future use. As an incentive to register, this feature is 
disabled in the freely distributable version.

File type 
This may be set to whichever type of file you wish to print. It 
determines which file types are shown in the File Selector when 
you click on File. If WHATIS is installed (see Appendix 1) then 
this option is irrelevant as the File Selector then shows all 
file types.

AutoPrint 
This feature has been designed for the benefit of those who want 
a simple one-step solution for picture printing (such as 
children). It also is useful in any situation where you wish to 
automate the printing process.

With AutoPrint selected (shown by a tick), after loading a pictu- 
re, HPChrome will immediately print it and exit. If passed a pic- 
ture file parameter, it will print the picture (using the default 
settings) and then exit.

By saving your defaults with AutoPrint selected, when you run the 
program again, passing a picture file parameter (either by drag- 
ging it on to the program icon, or by using the Install Applica- 
tion facility), HPChrome will, without further ado, load your 
picture file, print it using your saved settings, and exit.

As well as saving you the time and effort of manually selecting 
all the settings and then clicking on Print, this option also 
saves the time taken to convert the image for screen display, as 
the image is not displayed.

The two useful benefits of this approach:

If you wish your children to be able to print their pictures 
easily, then use the Install Application facility to install 
HPChrome as the application for the file type they are creating. 
They then will be able to print any picture (using the settings 
stored in your HPCHROME.INK file) simply by double-clicking on 
the icon of the file they want to print.

Advanced scenario: by running HPChrome from a CLI (command line 
interpreter) with batch file facility, you can program multiple 
runs of HPChrome, to carry out a series of tasks automatically. 
For example, sheets of sticky labels where an image must be 
printed several times per sheet, with accurate positioning. With 
a batch command file which suitably copies and renames 
HPCHROME.INK files, possibly with pauses for the operator to load 
paper, you can set up complex print-jobs requiring a minimum of 
human intervention.

Printer 
Here you tell HPChrome what type of printer you are using.  Click 
the up-arrow button to cycle through the available options. If 
the printer is a monochrome printer then HPChrome expects you to 
use a Colour Kit, consisting of ink cartridges in Yellow, Cyan, 
Magenta, and Black. Several neat features maximise the 
convenience and productivity of this method of colour printing.

If, on the other hand, you are fortunate and own one of H-P's 
colour ink-jet printers such as the 500C and 550C, then HPChrome 
will make the most of it.

A special mode is provided for 500C owners, printing the picture 
in two passes: first three-colour, then (after changing the ink 
cartridge) Black. Printing with `true black' rather than the 
500C's normal `composite black' can give much better results, and 
save a good deal on expensive coloured ink carts.
Unit
The Size/Layout menu can display measurements in units of either 
inches or mm. Click to select whichever you prefer.

GEM-View On/Off/Locate
As discussed under View, you can use GEM-View from within 
HPChrome for superior picture file viewing, processing and 
conversion. Click on the small square box to turn this facility 
on and off. The box is `ticked' if GEM-View is available and 
selected. If it is available, but you do not wish to use it on 
this occasion (you may wish to check on the Crop of the picture), 
then you can turn it off. Clicking on View will then give the 
normal built-in View feature.

To make GEM-View available from within HPChrome, simply copy the 
program file into the same folder as HPChrome. If your copy of 
GEM-View exists in a different folder, you just need to tell 
HPChrome where to find it.  Click on the GEM-View Locate button, 
and use the File Selector to navigate to, and select, the 
GEM-View program file (GEMVIEW.APP).

Media 
The three radio buttons allow you to select the type of media you 
will be printing on to: Plain, Glossy, or Transparency.

Number of copies
You may print from 1 to 99 copies of your picture.
 
Appendix 1: External Programs 

GEM-View 
GEM-View is shareware, and is widely available from Atari ST 
oriented BBSs, archive servers, and PD libraries. The 
registration fee for UK users is  payable in sterling through a 
local registration scheme.  If you have difficulty in obtaining a 
copy of GEM-View, please contact us. We are (of course) a 
registered user and can therefore always supply you with the very 
latest version.

The features described were developed using version 3.02 of 
GEM-View. 

Alternative viewing programs

You may wish to install a different program in place of GEM-View. 
This can be done using the Locate feature, just choose another 
program instead of GEM-View. HPChrome calls the installed program  
with a command line containing the full pathname of the currently 
loaded picture file. This should work with any program that 
accepts a filename parameter, but if you have difficulties with a 
particular program, please contact us.

WHATiS 

The WHATIS program/accessory by Bill Aycock can identify more 
than 125 different types of file, and diagnose corrupted files. 
HPChrome also needs to do this, to identify unambiguously several 
different type of files, possibly from different sources, freely 
selected by the user. It would be futile for HPChrome to try to 
duplicate the functionality of the well developed and bug free 
WHATIS. Fortunately Bill Aycock has provided a `WHATIS Server' 
mode whereby other programs can use it to identify files. 
HPChrome has been designed to take advantage of this facility to 
provide better and more robust file type identification.

If you have WHATIS installed as a desk accessory, then HPChrome 
will automatically use it, to check that any file you select is a 
genuine file of the chosen type, before allowing it to be loaded. 
This security check before loading gives HPChrome the benefit 
that attempting to load a corrupted or wrongly typed file will 
not crash the program.

Also, you may load any type of supported picture file, even if it 
is not selected as the current file type in the Options menu. 
When you click on File, the File Selector shows all files in the 
selected folder. While loading and converting the file, its 
description (as determined by WHATIS) is shown in small letters 
in the `thermometer' display.

If the file is not of a type supported by HPChrome then the alert 
box that tells you this will include the file description 
provided by the `WHATIS Server'.

If you do not have WHATIS installed as a desk accessory, then 
HPChrome will identify files by their filename extension. For 
example, .PC1 will be assumed to represent a compressed low 
resolution DEGAS pic, .GIF a GIF pic, and so on.

Passing a Filename to HPChrome 

With some Desktop versions and extensions (such as TOS 2.X and 
NeoDesk) you can pass a parameter to a program by dragging a file 
icon on to the program icon. HPChrome accepts a parameter from 
the calling program, and interprets it as a command to load the 
file whose name was passed.

HPChrome doesn't act on this command until after it has loaded 
the HPCHROME.INK file (if any). Therefore, if you had AutoPrint 
switched on in the Options menu when saving the .INK file, then 
HPChrome will load and immediately print the passed file (using 
all the settings, such as Size, Position and Crop, stored in the 
.INK file), and then exit to the Desktop or shell.
 
Appendix 2: File Types

The information in this Appendix is subject to change. Please 
consult the README.TXT file supplied with the program, for 
possible updates.

Large picture files require a correspondingly large amount of 
memory to load into your ST. HPChrome will complain if a picture 
requires more memory than is available. You may like to re-boot 
your ST with fewer desk accessories, RAMdisks etc, or upgrade its 
memory.

DEGAS  
The classic low-res 320 x 200 x 16 colour screen dump. HPChrome 
knows both Normal (.PI1) and Compressed (.PC1) files, from both 
DEGAS and DEGAS Elite, and the many other programs that save 
compatible files. Knows about the STE's 4096-colour palette even 
though your ST may not.

NEOchrome
These files are similar to DEGAS picture files, though not 
compressed.

GIF 
Graphics Interchange Format files with up to 256 colours or grey 
scales. HPChrome understands both the GIF87a and GIF89a 
specifications, including interlaced GIFs. It extracts only the 
first image block from the file, and silently ignores any GIF 
extension blocks. We have successfully printed a wide range of 
GIFs from many different sources, including those tricky 
skin-tones.

TIFF
The TIFF specification is so wide ranging that no program can 
implement more than a sub-set. HPChrome has printed all the TIFFs 
we've tried it on: Intel or Motorola format, 8- or 24-bit, plain 
or compressed. But we can't guarantee that it will print yours. 
HPChrome doesn't support LZW compression for TIFF files.

Tiny
Compressed DEGAS-type pictures produced by David Mumper's 
TinyStuff program -- statistically one of the best available 
picture compression methods, giving very small files that still 
unpack quickly. (Please note that WHATIS has a problem 
distinguishing these files from other files with the same 
`signature' and it is best to ignore the displayed file 
description.)

RAW
These are the output files from ray tracing programs such as QRT 
-- full 24-bit colour bit-maps, using three bytes per pixel.

Spectrum 512/4096
These 320 x 200 picture files can have up to 512 or 4,096 
colours, but only 48 different colours in each scan-line.

(X)IMG
These are GEM bit-image files as produced by many applications on 
the ST. HPChrome only works with IMG files with 8-bit colour 
palettes.

// ENDS //
