Graphic Interpretation

I realize, of course, that there are other types of programs out there that people are using every day, and there are plenty of decent Commodore programs to create graphics. Programs like RUN Paint and Koala Painter actually use a different graphics mode to allow for very rich multi-color graphics. For shear ease of use, the Print Shop program, along with Print Shop clones like The Flintstones Print Kit, offer quick and easy desktop publishing as well. Computer bulletin boards hold lots of graphics in Print Shop mode, available for the price of the download.

A lot of folks are also using computers like the Amiga, the Macintosh, or the IBM-clone. There are plenty of wonderful graphics programs for those machines too, programs with immense power. They use graphics in many forms, and those graphics are also available for downloading.

I still use GEOS, though--both on my Commodore and on my IBM clone. One of the reasons that GEOS can serve my needs so well is that, if I want to, I can tap into a lot of those graphics out there that are intended for all those other programs and machines. That is a power that keeps GEOS going in this era of 32-bit machines and multimedia. This capability to import so many other graphic formats didn't come built into GEOS, however. You have to pay a little extra here and there. But it sure is worth it.

Over the next two columns, I'll talk about some of these graphic modes and formats. Then I'll talk about some of the conversion programs you'll need to import those images into your GEOS environment. This issue I'll cover graphics created for and by other Commodore programs; next issue I'll take a look at some of the other graphic formats you're likely to encounter, and tell you what you'll need to bring them into GEOS.

I used to say that there were essentially three graphics modes for the Commodore, but with the advent of BASIC 8 and I-Paint, that statement is a bit out of date. For starters, though, let's go back to the basic three modes. The first is text mode, which is the way your Commodore boots up. What you see on the screen is essentially pre-defined characters in the shape of letters, numbers and symbols. Each shape comes out of the computer's permanent memory and is therefore drawn very quickly. It's possible to divert the computer's attention to a set of shapes you define yourself, but the basic dimensions of each shape are always the same. Things look pretty blocky in this mode, but since it's most often used for text or simple lines, that's okay. Text mode is often referred to as "low resolution" mode.

The second graphics mode, referred to as "medium resolution" or "multi-color" mode, offers a little bit more in the way of color. Its screen resolution suffers a little, but this limitation is offset by its more powerful color capabilities. Some of the finest artwork ever done on a Commodore computer were done in multi-color mode. The KoalaPad graphics tablet used this mode for its excellent paint program, KoalaPaint. Multi-color images are commonly stored in KoalaPaint format, sometimes compressed. If the filename begins with an inverted spade symbol, the image is in Koala format; if it begins with "GG" the image is in compressed Koala format.

The third graphics mode is called "high resolution" and it allows the finest detail of all but at the cost of some limits on colors. Many programs operate in high-res mode, including GEOS, Print Shop, and Doodle. Doodle format is something of a standard for high-res images. A file with a name beginning with "DD" is a Doodle file, while one with a filename beginning with "JJ" is in compressed Doodle format. Print Shop, Print Master, and Newsroom each have their own formats for storing high-resolution clip art images.

The graphics you might want to use in GEOS, then, have to be in a high-resolution format to be used directly by geoPaint. If they aren't already in high-resolution format they'll have to be converted. Here's a list of the programs that will do the work for you:

Graphics Grabber (on the Deskpack Plus disk from Creative Micro Designs)
This is the "official" graphics conversion program for GEOS. It will import graphics in the formats used by Print Shop, Print Master, and Newsroom. The interface is very easy to use; it even allows you to select from a dialog box with a double click instead of having to select and then go find an "open" button. If you have Print Shop graphics that you would love to use, this is the easiest way to import them into GEOS. Graphics Grabber works fine in 40- or 80-column modes, too.

Import Runner by Joe Buckley (on the RUN Power Pack II disk distributed by Creative Micro Designs)
Import Runner will capture the following types of Commodore images: standard bitmaps, standard and compressed Doodle images, and standard and compressed Koala multi-color images. Since the color information in multi-color images is incompatible with GEOS format, Import Runner substitutes GEOS patterns for the colors to create a monochrome version of the picture. Each conversion can be done into a photo scrap or into a geoPaint file.

Graphic Storm by Joe Buckley (available as shareware: $3.00)
Graphic Storm is similar to Import Runner, probably since it was written by the same guy. It works pretty much the same, although it handles a somewhat different list of graphics formats. Along with standard bitmaps and uncompressed Doodles, Graphic Storm will import Print Shop, Print Master, and Newsroom graphics.

Handy Import by Joe Buckley (available as shareware: $5.00)
The Handyscanner creates images in high-res but saves them in its own format. This import program, also written by Joe Buckley, pulls the scanned images into GEOS. This program will also convert graphics from the Video Digitizer distributed by Creative Micro Designs.

GetGraphic by Nicholas Vrtis (available as shareware: $5.00)
If you have a lot of Print Shop graphics you'd like to import into GEOS, this program will make your day. GetGraphic will convert entire disks of graphics into scraps in photo albums, all automatically. You can even specify which graphics on a disk the program will take.

Scrap It! by Michael Schell (shareware: donation to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Maryland Chapter)
This program converts between various formats, including both multi-color and high-res types. The conversions include color, even when the beginning image is a multi-color. Conversions from Koala images into color geoPaint images are sometimes quite spectacular; results really depend on how well the colors of the original happen to match up to the requirements of a high-res image.

The above programs let you, the GEOS user, take advantage of the large collections of graphics available for the Commodore. There's no need to limit yourself only to Commodore graphics, however. Next issue we'll expand our horizons to cover the whole wide world of computer graphics!