MULTI-FADE GENERATOR V1.0
by Andreas Haas

Contents

1. About
2. Layout
3. Usage
4. Fade-Types
5. Tips & Tricks
6. Copyright


1. ABOUT

Multi-Fade Generator is a multi purpose graphic tool.

You can easy create a concept of colors and color-effects.
By creating a simple, user-friendly layout, you can define
your concept, then render a wonderful color Image.

Then you can save your Image into a BMP-File.

2. LAYOUT

The progam's Interface is simple:

In die left side is the graphic areal, what allows Images up to 500x500
Pixels!

On the right side is the control-interface.

There are the following controls:
- The ComboBox (the topmost Box with the downward-Arrow on the side)
	refers to all existing Rects (see later)
- Below are the Buttons "New" and "Remove"
	With them you can create or delete a Rect
	To delete a rect, first select the target in the ComboBox!
- In upper-middle is the Rect-Control
	There are the information about the selected (by the ComboBox)
	Rect. You can modify a Rect, by editing it's Information here.
	X and Y are the Position-Fields. "W" is the width and "H" the height.
	With the Butten "Render This", you can perform a test rendering
	of ONLY THIS Rect, you selected.
- Below of the Box, is the Background-Color-Selector.
	Click on the Label's Text to open a Dialog to change the
	backgrounds color.
- At the bottom are 5 Buttons left. See "USAGE" for their function!

NOTICE: If you want to change the 2 Color-Parameters of a Rect, click on
the Labels "From" or "To", like the "Back Color" Label.



3. USAGE

Multi-Fade Generator's Usage is simple, too:

To start, you need a Rect.
Every Part of your Image-concept consits of theese Parts.

What is a Rect?
Well, it's nothing more then a Rectangle, standig for your imagined
concept-part.
You can "order" theese Rects varous behaviour.
Like the Color between to fade, or the way HOW to fade.
All Rects will display you their settings inside the graphics areal.
Rects are named continously by their ID. "Rect#1","Rect#2",...

To create a Rect, click "New".
Good, now you got one!
Note the ComboBox: There's the Rect's Name "Rect#1" inside, and
it's staus is shown in the Rect-Control-Box.
Each Rect starts in the upperleft corner (Point 0/0),
has 50x50 Pixel size, fades from black to white in a horzontal line.

It's up to you, to force your "tiny, sweety" Rect to do something else.
In the graphics areal, you see a Rectangle and a super-long text-line.
Ignore the text for now.

Try to move the Rect!
Move it rightwards, by increasing it's X-Value in the Box.
It moved? No? Did you selected the Rect, and changed the correct value?
The other 3 Values are changed in the same way.

Next: Try to order the Rect a other color-behaviour!
Swtich from "Horizontal" to "Vertical".
Well for now you won't see anything happening, but you'll see!

We skip, playing with the color-values, as they so also "quiet" changes.

Now, it's time! Click "Reder This".

What's happening? Well, if your computer doesn't break down, the Rect does
that, what you orded it to do.

You'll see the Rect, what was a clear line rectangle, filled by a vertically
faded color-wave from black to white.

Here you go! That's the way!
Now, let's get colored!
changed the 2 color-values, by clicking on "From" or "To".
There are no rules! Just be creative!
Click "Render This" again!
Nice, huh?

It's getting worse!
Add another Rect to your concept.
It'll appear, as your first, in the upperleft corner.
Now do ANYTHING with it: Move, change size, modify fade-style or color.

....? But "Render This", renders only ONE Rect....!
Too bad....but this Button is not the real render button!

If you want, that all Rect's to be rendered, click "Render Test".
BOOOOOMMMM!

I don't know what you now see, but it can be cool, or not(?).

However: Your Image stay with you, until you order another "Render Test".
So you can adjust your Rect's finer.

Finally, when everything is perfect, click on "Render to Memory".

This is a important Button!
You can hold one Image in your Memory, that stays, and can be re-called.
It'll be deleted only if you want to overwrite it.
It's the same Image, you will receive, when you save.

You can continue your work, after you rendered this Image, but can always
take a look back to it, by clicking on "Show Memory Image".

The final step is: SAVE!
You can save your Memory-Image,
if you truly rendered one by "Render Memory Image".
Remember: It should be currently shown.

Otherwise the computer doesn't know which Image you are talking about:
Your Memory Image, or the whatever-it-is-Image what you currently see inside
the graphic areal.
Then the computer will ask you.
Click "Yes" to save your Memory Image.
"No" to save the current Image.
"Cancel" to do nothing.


Now, it's time for a test! [You got 10 Mins!]
Try to render a "Blazing Fire"-Image.

STEP #1: Create 2 Rects
STEP #2: Set Rect#1 to Pos (0,0) with Size (500x100),
	Style: Vertical, Color: From: clear BLACK, To: clear RED
	(Your Rect Text must look like: "Rect#1 O:- >=0x000000 <=0000FF")
STEP #3: Set Rect#2 to Pos (0,100) with Size (500x150)
	Style: Vertical, Color: From: clear RED, To: clear YELLOW
	(Your Rect Text must look like: "Rect#2 O:- >=0x0000FF <=00FFFF")
STEP #4: Render!

If you see a blazing wall of fire, then you done it right!
But how did you do that?
Well, it's quite easy:
Rect#1 is the Top-Fire, that fades the Red out to the black background.
Rect#2 is the Lower-Fire, that fades the yellow into red, where Rect#1 is
next to.


One word to the Rect-Setting-Text's, I refered in the Test.
As you may already found out, theese Texts display the status of all
Rects, even if you not selected them.
So you can quickly determine, what what Rect is about to do, if you
click render.

Here's the Guide:
The first part, is the Name of the Rect. e.g. "Rect#1"
Then the Fade-Style: "|" = Horizontal, "-" = Vertical, and the 2 Diagonals.
Last the Colors.
If you ever used a better graphic program, or know more about color-handling
in Windows, you'll recognize theese values.
To the other ones:
Theese are so-called "RGB-Color-Values" in "Hex-Format".
Windows mixes colors by using the 3 basic colors: red, blue, and green.
But the Intel-storing-style swappes red with blue, so the value is truly a
"BGR-Value".
"Hex-Values" a nothing more, then normal digits.
We count in a number-system to the base 10 (0-9 Digits)
Computer are working with base 2 (only 0 and 1) and 16 (Digit 0-9,A,B,C,D,E,F)
Simply said: clear red means in RGB "FF 00 00", green "00 FF 00" and
blue "00 00 FF" (I said in RGB, not in Windows!)

Back to the Text of the Rects:
The first color-value, with the ">" is the "From", while the
second value, with the "<" is the "To"-color.

4. FADE-TYPES

Horizontal:
Fades "From"-Color to "To"-Color from left to right.

Vertical:
Exact the same as Horzonatal, but for 90 Degrees turned.

Diamond (/ or \):
This is a cool Fading.
To explain, it's quite difficult.
Think of this: A horzontal (up to down) line, the upper part turns to 45,
then goes the lower part to the rightside, too.
Like so:
|
|
|
then:
  /
 /
/
last:
  |
  |
  |

(The (\) Version, does the same, only mirrored!)

Diagonal (/ or \):
A Diagonal Fading.
"/" begins left upper to the right lower.
"\" is the same, only mirrored.


PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
"Diamond" works ONLY if width = height!
"Diagonal" works best if height > width!

5. TIPS & TRICKS

- Avoid to click always "Render Test"! First check your Rects, and render
	them seperately.
	It'll cost CPU-time, that will go to wase, rendering Rects,
	that haven't changed since last time!
- Avoid to leave blanks in the 4 Edit-Fields (X,Y,W,H)
	You'll receive a Error-Message, if you do so.
	Evenmore aviod it to enter NON-Numerals there!
	Simply let a digit there! e.g. a "0"!
- Rects can overlap. You can create multi-color effects, by using this
	feature!
- Diagonal-Rects may work, together, into a nice pattern.
- All Images, you save, are saved as the large 500x500 Bitmap, as you see
	them.
	I'm sorry about that! But you have to, size down the Images by
	yourself!


A last Tip:
BE CREATIVE! Nothing, but nothing, from the program will critizise you!


6. COPYRIGHT

(C) 2004 Andreas Haas

This Program is private property of Andreas Haas.

Munich, Germany
23.9.2004 Andreas Haas.