|
UserManual
Grafx2 user's manual
IntroductionSo, you want to learn all about the hidden features of this wonderful program ? No worries, it's quite easy to use and straight-forward... well, most of the time :). People used to other pixelart programs may not want to read the first chapters, wich talks only about the basic stuff, but may find some useful tricks in the more advanced sections. If you already know how to use the DOS version of Grafx2, you don't need to read this whole manual, as not that many things have changed. You should read the DifferencesWithDOSVersion page to see what changed. We are working on Grafx2 and there are some changes every week, so check the History from time to time to get a quick overview of the new things. PresentationThis program is designed for drawing 256-color pictures in a huge range of resolutions (actually, there are 60 with some coming from the Amiga world). No one can object that most of the beautiful GFX of the Scene were drawn on Amiga. But these GFX are in video resolutions that aren't the common PC modes. So we wanted to make the first paint program on PC that could visualize those pictures, and that could allow you, of course, to draw yours in the video mode that you want. This program was first shown at the Wired'96 where it met a big success (bigger than all our expects) so we hope you'll like it too. It's made up of many drawing tools, effects and menus. All the effects will work with any drawing tool. This software has been created for YOU, PC users who envy Amiga owner for their fantastic paint programs. This software doesn't pretend to replace the best programs on Amiga, but it modestly tries to fill the gap between PC and Amiga in the field of bitmap drawing. If you dream about a very useful option we haven't thought of yet, do not hesitate to tell us. If we also think it can be useful, and above all if it is possible to include it in the program :), then we'll implement it as soon as possible. Contacting usIf you have some comments about the program, just post a comment here in the wiki or fill in an issue report in the bugtracker. If you just want to chat with us, send pictures you made for us to add in the gallery, just send out an email to grafx2(at)googlegroups(dot)com. You can join the group at http://groups.google.com/group/grafx2 if you want to get involved. Configuration filesGrafX2 uses two files to store its configuration: 'GFX2.INI' and 'GFX2.CFG'. Where ?On Linux and similar, they are stored in the hidden directory $(HOME)/.Grafx2 On Windows, starting from Windows NT/2000, open an explorer and type in its address bar %APPDATA%\Grafx2 to reach the directory where they are stored. The actual directory depends on your version of Windows, it can be for example C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application data\GrafX2 (Windows XP), and C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\GrafX2 (Windows Vista). On Mac OsX, the files are in ~/Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.grafx2 . On GP2X, Windows 98, and Amiga-like systems, the settings are always kept in the same directory as the program. Note that the standard locations above are for a normal, "user" installation of grafx2. The behavior of the program is to first search the file in its own directory, and use them there (read and write) if it finds them. This allows several cases:
GFX2.INIThis file contains the parameters defined in the settings menu and some others. You may edit this file with any standard ASCII editor. When you click on Reload in the settings menu, all the data contained in this file are restored. When you click on Save or when you quit the program with the Auto-save option on, all the current parameters are written into (updated in) this file. If you corrupted this file and don't manage to fix the problem, then delete it and run grafx2 again. It will automatically create a default initialization file when it is absent. GFX2.CFGThis file contains the keyboard configuration plus the state of the following variables in the program:
All these variables are saved when clicking on the Save button in the settings menu or when exiting the program with the Auto-save option on. However, when you click on Reload in the settings menu, only the state of each video mode is restored. Note: the GFX2_FRA.CFG file is a default configuration file for AZERTY keyboards. If you have got an AZERTY keyboard, you may replace the GFX2.CFG file by GFX2_FRA.CFG. Important: from version 2.00 ß95.5% to 96.5%, .CFG files will have ascending compatibility. This means that you'll be able to retrieve most of their contents from a release to another by copying your old .CFG file into your new GrafX2 directory and running grafx2. Indeed, the program will convert your old file for it is usable by the new version of GrafX2. But copying a .CFG file from an earlier version than version 95.5% won't work. Moreover, (I don't see why you would do that, but...) copying a recent .CFG file to an older version shouldn't work neither. From version 97.0%, the compatibility is handled directly in the main program, you don't have to run an external utility called GFXCFG to get your files converted. However, this was tested only with files coming from the 96.5% version. If you have a configuration file from an older version, it is recommended that you open it with 96.5% GFXCFG.EXE, before using it with newer versions. Basic usageAdvanced features
|
Sign in to add a comment
Adding that gfx2.ini and gfx.cfg are in ~/Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.grafx2 for Mac OS X here would be much appreciated.