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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Release id #122077 : Pixcen
Hi all!
I'm opening this forum for Pixcen. Please post your feature requests and bug reports here if possible to keep the comment section clean(er).
As of this weekend (2013/10/12) I have hopefully fixed a crash (as reported by Dr.Science & Bamse), changed some menu items and implemented mirror/flip, shift and rotate on selected areas. To be uploaded. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Requests:
- Shift clicking a pixel on screen = select that color
- Native OS X version. :) |
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FATFrost
Account closed
Registered: Sep 2003
Posts: 211 |
Yes an osx version would be great... |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
New version up. If you have internet connection you should get a popup and a download option.
-Fixed a crash when missing internet connection.
-Added source code download link under help menu.
-New selection menu with options to rotate, flip and shift pixels within selected area.
-New Auto-selection mode available under Edit menu. Great for char/block mode.
Also, forgot to add to the log. SHIFT+left click will pick the color as grasstust wished for. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Excellent! Thank you for including my request! I have now started using Pixcen. (Through Virtualbox).
A couple of things:
1. I would like to have something else than the arrow when I paint - being able to choose the form of the mouse-pointer would be great! Can you make a crosshair? And a simple point? And a pencil?
2. When introducing a (illegal) 4th colour by clicking on the 3 others, the colour clicked will be replaced with new one in that 4 x 8 square. This is annoying. You should simply not be allowed to use the 4th color, imho.
3. Flip vertically now flips horisontally and flip horisontally flips vertically.
4. Can I turn off the "CELL"-window? I find it disturbing and distracting. I would actually also like to turn off the color-window. I know which colour I selected (with shift-clicking), and never need to check.
5. Can you tell me exactly why I should save something in Pixcen file format and not koala? Is there a practical difference?
6. It's irritating that the preview window does not update before releasing the mousebutton. I often watch the preview window when painting in the edit window and sometimes when I'm doing a fill it's irritating that I can't see the result before letting go of the mouse pointer.
7. Clicking in the preview window should move the edit window to that position.
+ GREAT to have the flip option!
+ Great that you can copy something pixel by pixel, and not just every square.
Thank you for what is really becoming a great tool! |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Quoting grasstust
2. When introducing a (illegal) 4th colour by clicking on the 3 others, the colour clicked will be replaced with new one in that 4 x 8 square. This is annoying. You should simply not be allowed to use the 4th color, imho.
I would like to see that this might be choosable in options, if a color need to replaced or not. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
8: An autosave feature would be very nice!
9. How about being able to open more than one pic at a time? Would be nice to be able to copy something from one pic to another. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
As is wrote in my pm to you:
1. Shortcut to 100% view
2. Exchange one color with another color in whole picture (or selected areas) (color1[x,y]:=color2[x,y])
3. Show amount of used uniqe chars |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Thanks for the comments and inputs!
@grasstust & @Shine:
Different options on how to handle color overflow are planned (overwrite, ignore, fill, etc). Actually there are already some code for it but it's not enabled.
@grasstust & @FATFrost:
A native OS-X version or Linux version is currently far off. I would have to rewrite all the GUI from scratch. Perhaps as a version 2 in the future.
@grasstust:
Different arrows/cursors are planned.
I will have to check the horizontal alignment with the vertical direction :-)
I can make the cell window optional with a toggle under view.
The GPX format is already saving a few extra settings as well as some undo history. It can also save odd sized images, chars, sprites or hires. But if you exclusively work in multicolor bitmap/koala you are of course free to load and save in koala format.
The preview window will get an overhaul soon (Creeper have been asking for it too): Scroll, zoom, PAL and NTSC emulation. The slow update was made with performance in mind. Internally Pixcen stores the graphics in more or less VIC2 format. Fefreshing the views are a bit expensive on slower systems but I do have some ideas how to solve it.
Autosave is a good idea!
Multiple pictures: You can already open a second Pixcen and copy/paste between. But perhaps an MDI view mode would be better. I will consider it some more.
@Shine:
100% view and even some overhaul of the view scrolling will be implemented.
A color/mask remapping is planned.
Number of unique chars used is available in char mode (look at the bottom status bar). You can convert a bitmap/hires to chars by switching mode under the "Mode" menu. Don't forget to save first as a mode switch will kill undo history and destructive color conversions can happen. Multi-color char mode is currently limited to 3 color + background but I have plans for color RAM / mixed single color mode as well.
----
Last night I got single color sprite mode working. Multi-color sprites will follow. This, a lot of other fixes and features should be ready by the next weekend. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Sounds good to me! Keep it up!
Oh, one more feature request: When marking an area and pressing BACK SPACE, I would like to fill that area with the background color. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
<REQ>
Copy & Paste:
What about a "background" color which is "transparent"?
If i copy a rectangle area the background color is replaced too. But it would be better if i could choose a transparent background color during copy & paste. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
@Shine:
Yes a good idea. What about a "Masked Paste" as CTRL+Shift+V or some other key combo where the currently selected background color is masked.
Simple to implement. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
<REQ>
Copy & Paste:
What about a "freehand" copy?
If i need to copy areas which are not square or rectangle.
(maybe select pixel by pixel mode; selectable sub areas). |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
why dont you just do all this fancy stuff in an appropriate pc editor, then convert and final touchup in the c64 crosstool?
it's not like a hobby coder has all the time in the world to duplicate every PS function and what not. :) |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
First and foremost because non of the other paint programs has a 3-colour limiter, and at least I am kind of lost without it. It's also nice to have an all-in-one package and a program that is focused on doing the thing you want and nothing else.
What in the world are you talking about "all the time in the world". Being responsible for some of my favourite C64-productions, you of all people must know how much you're willing to sacrifice for a project powered by passion. Ofcourse you know this, but some of the productions on this board have been in development for ridiculous amounts of time.
The funny thing is... I'm making the transition from your Project One to this (because Project One is unstable and lacks a few features I'd like). I won't ask why you've stopped developing it, but be grateful for you having done so much for it in the first place, resulting in me making graphics again. So thanx! :) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I accept all feature requests. Many things requested I have already thought of but requests helps me prioritize. Some requests are really simple to implement, others are heavier and postponed and some I will just ignore :-)
My design idea with Pixcen is to keep it fairly low level (Koala paint / Ultrafont) but with many modern conveniences. I do encourage people to make the first draft in a higher level app like GIMP/Photoshop and then import (don't forget about pixel aspect ratio). |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
grasstust, thanks for the nice words :) I've said what I did, because, I feel really bad for losing interest in p1 and through that not supporting the ppl using it. I'd like if ppl could hop to pixcen from p1, and if CRT wouldnt loose interest developing it, before he gets the tool to the sweet spot. So I think he should focus on things that are important for the c64 part of the tool.
Also I think It's not like the greatest pics of the world are made up of copy-pasted areas selected by magic wand tools. :) But if you really need that then make a sketch in your fave high end editor, and do the rest in pixcen, which should rather have fancy helping in cramming 3 colors into 1 char instead of magic wand selection tools. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11089 |
Quote:First and foremost because non of the other paint programs has a 3-colour limiter
its 4 colors btw =) however: try promotion, it can do that (and is by far the best PC pixeling tool, IMHO)
p1 not being closed source would've helped - i certainly would have (tried to) fix one or two things that were annoying me :) |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Yeah you're right. I usually leave out the background color. Anyway, guys, I'm sticking to Pixcen! Love the program and I've already gotten some much needed features made and I think this is an opportunity for all graphic artists to get some features they really want! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Status report. I was planning to upload a Pixcen with sprite mode support this weekend but I'm holding it back a bit. I got sprites working but I'm not happy with the overall code design, too much duplicated and hacked code. I found some bugs so I have started some restructuring. Also implemented back buffers (animation frames if you like). With this feature it's easy to step frames and paint in any mode (bitmap, char, sprite). |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
I would really love it if there was a replace color-function, so one could try out different color combinations even after something was painted. Maybe even make it selectable, mark a certain area and the color changes would only affect the selected area. |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
Quote: I would really love it if there was a replace color-function, so one could try out different color combinations even after something was painted. Maybe even make it selectable, mark a certain area and the color changes would only affect the selected area.
copy your picture to PS (or any other modern painprog), set selection, replace colors, when done use your fav. converter to go back to c64 format. done.
supporting animations, or variable picture sizes is more important imho. these two were never done afaik correctly.
another important feature would be allowing the user to swap around the multicolor bitpairs used inside a char, or even let him force bitmask to be used, fix colors to bitmask if needed. these are often needed for gfx optimized for effects, fex. if you want to draw gfx on 4x4x16 mode, or whatever.
finally, a function to optimize the picture for packing, keep color nibbles in color / screen ram consistently used in lo/hi nibbles for better RLE runs. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Thanks for your requests and support!
There is already a lacking lock feature in the cell window. The cell windows represents the masks used. It's possible to select an area (or the whole picture) and change the color for a specific mask. However this is useless for an existing bitmap if you have no control of what masks are used for what color, it will just ruin the image. I intend to add some re-mask tools for this, perhaps something simple like moving the colors in the cell window. Also a recolor tool as grasstust asks for.
As a first step I'm extending the cell window with separate locks for each mask so it will be possible to paint with fixed colors in chosen masks.
Current char mode (found bugs in it btw) and unreleased sprite mode is 3+1 color only. I'm adding color RAM support for all modes that can support it. Classic 3+1 color char mode will be available by simply filling color RAM and locking the mask or as a preset from the New window. This also opens up for a future mixed single/multi-color char mode.
Optimizing bitmaps, I've been thinking of exactly the same things. There is (of course :-) already an Optimize option under tools. It's a simple export to RGB and import back -hack. In the process, invisible masks or colors are cleaned up, usually it shortens the crunched data. But, I think it can do more by sorting the colors better an an RLE friendly manner as you suggested. I just have to improve on the RGB import code.
This is what I have done since last release:
-Fixed memory leak
-Fixed refresh bug after copy ROM font.
-First draft of sprite mode.
-64 bit build is now possible after cleaning up integers.
-Masked paste and better window drawing of paste.
-Back buffers (animation).
-Added backspace-key to delete area (was only delete-key before).
This is what I want to finish before next release.
-Unify a lot of duplicated code (already started).
-Color RAM for char and sprite mode (individual sprite color).
-Individual mask locking.
-Replace/Ignore option on color overflow.
There will probably be some more requests thrown in. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I realize the next update is growing too much so I decided to give you a link to the current development version. Perhaps you can spot stuff I broke.
This is an unofficial update for now. Your current Pixcen will not ask to update to this version. You have to replace the executable by hand.
http://censordesign.com/pixcen/Pixcen_unstable20131103.zip
I have done a lot of work on the file formats, the GPX format is updated but Pixcen should import older GPX files without problems. Keep a backup of your current artwork just in case this new Pixcen would corrupt any file at load or save.
Sprite mode:
This is highly experimental, I wouldn't trust it but feel free to play with it.
Back buffers:
When creating a new image, font, sprite you can select the number of back buffers. In the editor you can switch between images with period and comma ( . , ). Note that if you save a koala image, only the currently visible image will be saved. Save as GPX to save all your back buffers. If you want to load multiple images into back buffers, the only ways are either GPX or copy and paste.
Masked paste:
Masked paste is invoked from the Edit menu or by pressing CTRL+Shift+V. The currently selected secondary color (right click on the palette) will work as a mask.
Backspace:
-as well as delete will fill selected area with currently selected secondary color.
File formats:
More native C64 file formats added: Advanced Art Studio, Cenimate, Doodle, Doodle compressed and Koala compressed.
Other changes:
There are loads of invisible changes, code cleanup, 64 bit compatibility, new zLib, code restructuring and other work in progress included in this version. Stay alert of bugs. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
What about chooseable background color while saving as prg? |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine:
Background is saved but I assume you mean border color?
The border color is going to get its own icon in the cell window. I will also change the pseudo light blue border in the editor window to use the selected border color.
Currently when saving a prg, a border color is guessed (the most common color of the edges). It might not work out for every situation. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Yes, i ment border color :) sry |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
The unstable version I posted yesterday. -It's really unstable! Do not try to use it for anything serious. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Two things:
- When loading a pic and immediately loading another pic it still wants to save changes.
- It would be great if the program window would display the filename of the pic open.
Great work! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
New official version (still pre-beta) is uploaded.
Revision 4458
-4th color overflow options: Ignore, Replace or Closest. (Ctrl+W works like in P1)
-Fixed memory leak
-Fixed refresh bug after copy ROM font.
-Sprite mode.
-Char mode bug fixes.
-64 bit build is now possible after cleaning up integers.
-Masked paste and better window drawing of paste (Ctrl+Shift+V).
-Back buffers (animation) added, change buffers with comma and period.
-Added backspace-key to delete area (was only delete-key before).
-GPX format updated with meta-data tags and more space for future extensions.
-Aligned buffers for better SSE performance and future optimizations.
-Bitmap import reworked.
-Automatic native C64 file format identification. File extensions are not needed.
-Support for Advanced Art Studio, Doodle, Doodle compressed, Koala compressed, Cenimate, Paint Magic (crippled $d800).
-Cell window reworked: Individual colors can be locked or crippled. Example: It's possible to paint with $d800 crippled to one color.
-Screen + char generation will try to put the empty char at index $20 for convenience.
-Horizontal and Vertical flips are flipped..after some complaints ;-).
-Support for border color when exporting C64 executable (Check in Cell window).
-Thread issue in char mode fixed.
-Color RAM for char and sprite mode added (color RAM for sprite is individual sprite color).
And loads of more changes. This was a large update for me personally as I changed and cleaned up a lot of core code. Hopefully these changes are transparent or just make Pixcen a bit better for you. The next update will not be as heavy, it will come sooner and focus more on the features you have been requesting.
How do you guys feel the drawing/bitmap refresh performance is? On my laptop and desktop Pixcen is lighting fast. At my work where I have a fast monster PC it's surprisingly sluggish. I think it has to do with graphics cards/drivers. I suspect some video drivers don't bother accelerating windows GDI. I'm considering changing the main view to DirectX. Let me know.. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
This update is so great! Thanks!!! :) |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
what a monstre update, ammazing you have support for even chars / sprites.
the drawing performance is horrible here (v0.5), cant update the exe, because of company firewall. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Thanks for the input Oswald.
Multicolor character mode is a pixel-editor-programmers nightmare due to the color restrictions on mask 11. When placing a pixel its sometimes reverting to a bitmap wide scan for possible remapping of masks. However, with the new lock per mask feature (right click on color in cell window and select the no parking sign :-) this is avoided. I imagine one would like to lock the two global colors ($d022, $d023) pretty early on in a painting session anyway.
I already found and fixed a crash affecting all single color modes so there will be a minor update for that in some hours.
Regarding the window refresh performance. Im going to try back buffering GDI with a memory device context and blitting before reverting to DirectX. I suspect that with some video cards, the driver lets GDI paint directly over the bus with the CPU and thats horribly slow if the resolution is high. |
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user
Registered: Mar 2011
Posts: 8 |
Wow, what a huge update. Thanks for this fine tool CRT! I used it primary to convert images (with correct restrictions)i made with ProMotion. Could you make it possible to set the locked $D021/2/3 values for Multicolor Charset before importing an image? Another nice thing would be mixed mode support of HiRes/MC Charset in one picture.
And how can i save the coloram from char images? My solution so far is ripping it from the viewer prg. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
USER: I completely forgot saving color RAM. I will add that overnight. Also soon, there will be new load options to make it possible to load bitmaps, color, etc. to the current project without wiping it. At that point you will be able to pre-set and lock individual colors before importing. If you convert from true-color I recommend Project One, it got some more advanced formulas for converting. Mixed single/multi-color char mode is planned. I will most likely also throw in the pretty useless ECM mode but Im sure someone will want it sooner or later. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
I updated today 28.11, and pixcen now refuses to load anything, or rather the loaded content is just a blur. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
grasstust: Sorry about that, I made a few fixes and then panic fixes to fix the fixes :-) Very active development. Just uploaded a version that can load again. |
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Magnar
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 60 |
CRT, why not just add a better true color convert formula to your pixcen, and we can all forget about Project One for good? I would love it as the only thing I actually use Project One for right now is converts :)
And - there are even quite buggy converts in Project One. For example, I saved a bitmap file once and wanted to convert it back to koala, and the colors just got so wrong... It should have been able to identify it 100% match, since it was a koala from start off before saved as bitmap...
Not fun sit redraw things with "Paint" in one window and Pixcen in the other. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
CRT: I updated twice today, and have the latest, the imports are still garbage. |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
yeah, I can help in how the p1 converter works, its not rocket science, tho I tweaked the hell out of it back then.
Magner - when converting from screenshot with p1 you should use the RGB/YUV color recognition mode. "Color sensitive" just tries to pick from predefined gradients based on SRC hue - I just copyed what Mirage did in Timanthes. (to give credit) It will never get the original color back. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
grasstust: It's possible I screwed up the versioning of the last update so it didn't refresh. I just added a cache reload on the version checking. I did experience problems with Pixcen receiving a cached old version number when checking. Now everything should be good after the 5th panic update of the day :-)
Magnar/Oswald: I'm happy to inherit some RGB conversion routines. Though for me personally, converting graphics with Pixcen have not been a priority and it's going to stay low on my TODO list for some time to come.
Oswald: I just made a hack on my work computer using a memory back buffer and then blitting. The rendering is now A LOT faster. Though this could potentially cause an extra unnecessary memcopy on computers whos drivers didn't have the sluggish refresh problem earlier. I will put the rendering back buffer as default but there will be an option to disable it in the next update. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Ah! It works again! Great! Hey, how about a sprite single-colour over multicolour overlay function, I would love that! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Just one more update, some interesting stuff. The changelog is culmnative for some of the panic updates during the day.
Revision 4478
-Fix/workaround for MC Char RGB import issue.
-Color RAM save.
-MC char mode color RAM fix.
-Cache reload when looking for updated version over HTTP.
-Improved windows rendering with back buffer.
-Single color bit count bug fix.
-Preview window can now be zoomed and moved with the mouse.
The window rendering should be a lot faster on some computers and hopefully unchanged on computers that already ran Pixcen well before.
The bitmap in the preview window can be zoomed and moved with the mouse. Some old news is that you can have multiple preview windows open, that feature makes more sense now.
The source is lagging behind a bit but it will be updated during the weekend. |
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wacek
Registered: Nov 2007
Posts: 501 |
Great tool!
Awesome for quick works. Tested it a lot with my latest release and anim screens, worked flawlessly (which means in my case generating proper, ordered hires b/w bitmap).
One small thing I miss is the load-address option. Fe, when saving to .bit, I would still like to have $00 $20 as the first 2 bytes so it is loadable properly via D64 (it is set up properly on Art Studio format, for example).
Not a huge thing of course, I can add that with some hex editor, but becomes a pain in the ass when you have to fix lots of files (animation frames :D). |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
wackee: Thanks for the input! The current buffer dump formats are binary. You want a PRG buffer dump. I didn't bother with PRG earlier since most cross assemblers can include binary.. But, clearly, PRG format can come in handy so I will add it to the next update.
grasstust: That would be cool but at this point it's a bit too specialized. At some point I will most likely deal with sprite overlay features and your wish will be granted. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
New update.
Revision 4491
-GPL3 license
-Restore view added in menu and with Home key
-Pixel Aspect Ratio added for preview window (PC, PAL and NTSC)
-Save selection added to file menu. It's now possible to save individual sprites or images from a larger bitmap.
-Status information for marker.
-Renamed .bit extension to .map.
-Fixed a bug in preview where the initial image was not centered.
-PRG save with address dialog for all binary dump formats.
-Fix for lock/cripple status not being set to default of individual back buffers.
-Fixed some inconsistencies in file loading.
-Snap to cell feature added. Easier to select with marker.
-Escape key will properly reset any marker.
-Revision number in About dialog
Hopefully nothing too broken. |
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wacek
Registered: Nov 2007
Posts: 501 |
.pmap! \o/
You, sir, kick serious ass. Thank you! :) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Bug fix update and some improvements.
Revision 4530
-Another adjustment for escape key and selection cleanup.
-Snap selection also applies to paste.
-Undo over mode change.
-Renamed compact char to indexed char.
-PRG save for indexed char.
-Fixed GUI issue with PRG save for addressed below $1000
-Fixed stack corruption bug when checking for new version online.
-Fix for GetCellInfo when snap was enabled (in debug mode). |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Very experimental but I decided to go for something reliable and really old school: https://code.google.com/p/pixcen/
The latest source is there but not much else. First thing, I'm going to outline a basic manual with keyboard shortcuts, modes and common operations.
If this works out I will point the help pages to this wiki. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Finalized the transition to Google code.
Mainly a maintenance build, one pesky undo/redo bug fixed.
Also, there is something that looks like a wiki manual now. Check the help section under About.
The revision numbers have been reset with the new repository but the update check have been adjusted to work on the full version number.
r27
-Upped version to 0.6.0.x to compensate for the lower revision number of the new repository.
-New version script/tool for Google code.
-Help section and download source code pointed to Google pages.
-Check for update is only active with a "releaseversion" build. Other builds are considered custom.
-Download of updated version can now handle 64 bit builds.
-Added a tool project (versioner) to generate version string for update checks.
-Fixed undo/redo bug on very large images. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
How exactly do I use the save selection tool? I'm marking with M but after marking, the save selection is still greyed out. It doesn't help if I copy it to clipboard either.... |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
grasstust:
That feature is still not in the manual but here is how to: The selection must be cell-aligned. If you enable Edit->Snap cellection Cell, it will be easier. The status bar in the bottom will display the currently selected size.
Once you have an aligned selection, "Save selection" should be available.
If you want to save a Koala out of a multi-pic, make sure you select the correct size (160x200) or Koala wont show as an option in the save dialog. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Thanks for the new (current) update!
I don't know if it is on your todo list, but it would be very nice, if you could implement a "draw line" routine. ;) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine:
I'm going to utilize the Google page and add my TODO as tickets. Line, splines, other shapes, fill, brushes/pens are planned. I think it's time I start with those soon.
You are all welcome to participate on https://code.google.com/p/pixcen/
Add tickets, improve on the manual or even fix some stupid code I did.
I think a Google enabled account is required and I might have to manually add you to the project. Just message me your email and I will add you. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
If i use Pixcen in Hires mode (disabled Multicolor) i have following problem (if this is one?):
I set a pixel with a color in one cell all is fine.
BUT if i set another pixel with a different color in the same cell, the cell filled up with this last color.
I thought in Hires you can have in one cell (char) 2 different colors without filling something. |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5017 |
what you want is really 3 colors.
the color originally present in the cel.
and 2 more.
in c64 hires this is not possible. |
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Nith
Registered: Jan 2013
Posts: 15 |
I just came across this thread accidentially, really nice tool, CRT! I'll use this one in the future, especially flipping is something I've been waiting for |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine:
Oswald already pointed out the 2 color restriction per cell in hires and there is no global background color. If your name is Mermaid or Leon, that doesn't seem to be an issue though. Pixcen behaves a bit different when painting in hires compared to mc bitmap but its settings you can change. In the cell window, there is no global and by default locked background color. When trying to introduce a 3rd color into a cell, Pixcen will replace the clicked color. The replace or ignore behavior can be changed under Mode -> Color overflow. If you switch over to single color character mode you do get the global (and by default locked) background color back but now the entire image must share that color. In other words even more restrictions.
Lord of Nith:
Thanks and Im glad you enjoy it! Work is still in progress. |
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TheRyk
Registered: Mar 2009
Posts: 2047 |
It's a great tool, some things are a little weird initially (esp mouse/keyboard controls), but once I got used to it, I quickly began to find PixCen already superior to P1 which I used before (also great tool but kept making trouble here on Win7). |
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Nith
Registered: Jan 2013
Posts: 15 |
Is there actually a "fill" function hidden somewhere? If not this would be my no. 1 feature request ;) |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Not in this available release. WE are all waiting :)
EDIT: Is in the TODO list imho. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I'm going to accelerate fill just to give you something for the next release.
Currently working on palettes. The main trunk version got all the ones VICE use. If you think some other palette should be in there, let me know.
Here is the issue/request list at the moment. Feel free to add.
https://code.google.com/p/pixcen/issues/list |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
R39
-Delete undo history added under tools.
-Color comparison is now using a more perceptual algorithm.
-Seven new palettes are added and available under mode. Palette setting is saved with GPX.
-Known palettes are searched for the best match when importing RGB images.
-Flood fill is available under tools.
You might be tempted to use fill to change the background color of a newly created image. I suggest using the cell window for that when possible. However, for hires, there is no global $D021 color so fill is fine for that.
Enjoy! |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Tested! Great update!!! :) |
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Mace
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 1799 |
Actually, each release should have its own entry in CSDb. |
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1576 |
Wow, missed this release till now. Seems rather cool. I have only one issue with it after playing around with it for a few minutes: is it possible to remove the pixelgrid?
Oh, and what I also miss a lot: change color under cursor (ctrl+click in P1), chessboard dithering mode with the two selected colors (alt+click+mouse movement in P1). |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Mace:
I sort-of agree with you but since it's a PC tool under active development with sometimes weekly revisions, I think it would do more harm to CSDb to create a new release every time. I don't think the database was meant/designed for that. I have seen moderators here say just that too.
Jailbird:
Sure CTRL+G. Skim through the manual page on the Google code page. You find a link under About. There might be more features you want to explore. |
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1576 |
Checked the docs, but that also removes the character grid. I actually need that :) But the char grid doesn't have any purpose to me, it's just distracting. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Alright, I will make that a feature request then :-) |
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1576 |
Quoting JailbirdBut the char grid doesn't have any purpose to me, it's just distracting.
Damn, I mean the pixel grid not the char grid :P
Thanx CRT!
And if you include two of my most used features from P1 (change color in the char under cursor and dither paint), I'll convert to Pixcen immediately :) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
r44
-Saving auto-select cell and snap selection as meta data in GPX format.
-File name in title. Reworked the default save target and dirty flags.
-Left click and/or holding left mouse button in preview window while moving will reposition/move the main view. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Last update caused an error during saving.
Not reproducable. But the last 2 files (gpx) contained 0 bytes after saving. :(
Better to save as Koala too as backup. ;) |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
r49
-Fixed severe bug ( Issue 21 ) in save where files ended up with 0 size.
-Fixed refresh bug after using fill with secondary color. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Thanks Shine! :-) |
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Gadget MCS
Registered: Aug 2010
Posts: 12 |
Thanks too, I'm in love with Pixcen, so easy and powerful ;)
Glad you solved the 0byte save issue. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Hmm, i am not sure how necessary this should be, but ...
sometimes i wished there would be a feature which could show how many colors are used in one cell (char).
I know the cell thing which shows that, but i mean without going over each cell with mouse. Instead i mean to mark (however) ALL the cells with 0, 1, 2 or 3 colors (in Multicolor).
I hope you know what i suggest. ;)
EDIT: Same thing in hires (ofCoz with 2 colors). |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine: I've had a similar idea that by holding some key the color distribution in the screen and color RAM is displayed instead of the image. Another variant would be to show the color density (number of used colors) per cell as you want.
For color distribution each cell could show a grid with the colors in RAM. For color density each cell could show a number or a shade from black to white, no color used or all colors used. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Maybe following is a bug.
If i copy & paste an (source) area to an other (target) area, which is (randomly) filled with colors then some target colors disappear (filled with black).
This is reproducable.
To avoid this, i use an new instance from Pixcen with a clear background as buffer.
Is there a chance to change this?
EDIT: It would be very nice, if it doesn't matter, if the target area is "used" by other pixels. |
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Ksubi
Account closed
Registered: Nov 2007
Posts: 87 |
Thanks for this wonderful tool CRT, simply awesome!
I'm unsure if the following is possible, but something that I haven't seen in many editors (are there any?) is the ability to draw sprites in expanded (X/Y) mode in hires or M/C.
(What I have been doing is the obvious, painting a sprite logo in unexpanded mode, then expanding them and fixing size issues.)
cheers,
Ksubi |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine: It's somewhat a bug. I think it was easy to fix but I will let you decide if this version helps.
http://censordesign.com/pixcen/Pixcen_r51.zip
Ksubi: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it. I will add the X/Y expanded mode to the TODO/tickets. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
@ CRT:
Yes, the copy & paste bug is eliminated! :)
Thanks for fast debugging! ;) |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
I would like to have a new feature:
If i switch to "Unrestricted Mode", the "Cell" window gets disabled.
But it would be better (imho), the "Cell" window gets expanded to all 16 colors.
Then i can see, if i browse over the cells with the mouse which and how many colors are used. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
And something more is very important for me:
I need a "Line Function". It's very hard (imho) to make lines with copy and paste 'little lines'.
The line function must be adjustable before setting it to the picture. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine:
The color density option you want can most likely be achieved by issue 22, once implemented.
The drawing tools (issue 16) is long overdue: Fill exist but lines, arc/circles and other shapes should be good. Also, different forms of pens, brushes for dithering, etc. The editor should have a new tool window and some cursors. This would lift Pixcen to a slightly higher level editor.
https://code.google.com/p/pixcen/issues/list |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I added a new download link, pixcen64.zip. It's no more C64 than the other but it's 64 a bit executable. All fairly recent Windows computers are 64 bit. 64 bit executables run a bit faster for some operations.
If you are unsure, conservative or happy with the normal version, no need to change.
I have been insanely busy at work the last month and I do have to code some demo too.. But, the Pixcen source already got couple of accumulated fixes/improvements and I will throw in line-draw next. Perhaps tonight. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
For you who don't build from source (probably most of you :-). I decided to push the couple of changes that have been sitting around for some time. Shines copy/paste bug and Jailbirds grid request changes are official.
r54
-Fixed for color overflow issues with paste.
-Turn pixel grid or cell grid on and off individually (issue 19).
-Re-worked grid drawing (optimized) and prepared for shapes. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
Quoting CRT
... and prepared for shapes.
That's really good news! :) |
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1576 |
Sounds awesome!! :D As soon as I sober up, I'll check it out and comment my findings :) |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
A little request: When coopying/cutting something by marking, can we please have an option to LOCK the picture to the right 4x8 squares.
For example, I want to move a large part of my image down, but it's difficult from a zoom out view to hit the right pixels since I need to be zoomed out, and ofcourse if I miss the exact 4x8 grid, the pixels get messed up. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
grasstust: There is an option under edit "Snap selection to Cell" that does just this. While enabled it will also align/snap paste to even cell boundaries. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Aha! It was right in front of me, no wonder I couldn't find it! Thanx! Still loving your program! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
One issue that Lavazza brought to my attention today. It's not really a bug but it's frustrating enough.
If you try to paste a full image into an empty Pixcen image (multi-color in this case) you might get unnecessary color overflows or color truncation if the source image have a different background color.
Fix this by first unlocking the background color in the cell window before pasting. This will allow Pixcen to change the background color as needed. It got some smart algorithms to change the global image colors as needed but it will only do so if it's allowed to.
Once done, it's good practice to lock the background color again to avoid surprises when pixeling.
Check the cell window section in the manual pages for more info. I should probably add more descriptive info about this there. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
A late update, there was a bug fix revision uploaded a few days ago. Pixcen should have nagged you about it by now or next time you start it.
r57
* Fixed for issue 29, format identification issue for non standard Koala.
* Fix for issue 28, wrong mask with multi-color sprites.
Sprite multi-color bit masks are now correct but if you have some old gpx files with sprite projects, they might look funny. I hope no-one gets these issues. |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Thanx!
A bug that occurs on my XP-install is when using fill, Pixcen won't update the fill in the preview window before using the fill again or another tool. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
grasstust: Confirmed and fixed! Unofficial update available below.
http://censordesign.com/pixcen/pixcen_r59.zip |
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bugjam
Registered: Apr 2003
Posts: 2476 |
Guess you haven't seen my comment on the entry, therefore here it is again:
"It would then be cool if there would be a predefined 160x200 (or 320x200) pixel selection window, which you can move over the larger converted image to choose which part to save as Koala. Great tool btw, but I think you have heard this before. :-)"
Or did I just miss this option? |
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grasstust
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 43 |
Thanx! But one more thing - it irritates me that the the fill (now) only works once and you go back to normal painting mode straight after. If I want to fill several areas, I should be allowed to without pressing G all the time.
Also, I would really like a total colour-replace fill! Plleeeeeaaaaase! :) |
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aNdy
Registered: Jan 2004
Posts: 41 |
^ +1 |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
bugjam: Saw you comment/request some time ago but forgot to reply. This is planned at some point together with improved import features.
grasstust: The current fill is a hack since it was a very popular request. The plan is to have a tool window with pen, brushes, fill, shapes and proper cursor icons for the tool selected.
At some point after X2014 I hope to give Pixcen my full attention again.
Edit: Meanwhile, I hope to meet and chat with some of you at X2014. I'd love to get more input first hand. |
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Joe
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 224 |
I actually found this tool just recently to be very helpful,
from doing a rather big scrolling image, visible on X this year
(Despite all the fantastic features of the still awkward Timanthes (atleast for me)
which handles it all perfectly safe).
However, what might annoy me is that there are no tools, such as lines,
circles, arches, dither fill or the most simplest,
to let one actually change color of the char-/pixel- grid?
If one would to implement such an easy task, it would be the latter.
One cannot say when drawing with dark gray, where one char stops and the other begins. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Hi Joe,
All fair requests!
The next big update will target higher level drawing tools among other things.
The grid needs some customization options or I can probably make it adjust the grid brightness automatically.
I'm going to have to spend some month of my life after X bringing Pixcen up a level. I call it a low level pixel editor but in time I hope it will have all the higher level drawing features you would expect.
See you at X? |
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Joe
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 224 |
Great!
No unfortunately not, but youll see my artwork. |
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Lead
Registered: Dec 2004
Posts: 20 |
Any chance on an update anywhere in the future with a color replace feature ? (Using R59 atm)
Really having a hard time getting the background color to the color it needs to be. For some reason I cannot make it choose the color I want.
Tried numourous ways of saving it as PNG or GIF but no luck.
Pixcen is one of the best I've used for converting images to C64 formats, but the background always seem to be some other color than it needs to be. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Hi Lead!
Those features are planned. Both color replacement/remask and a more thorough import where you can lock colors before conversion.
The current import is only using simple color reduction (Project One got more advanced formulas). The background color selected is the one causing least destruction based on the 4th color present in the most cells.
One goal was to be able to export a complex mc bitmap (koala) to PNG and then re-import it without any loss and that is achieved this way.
Locking certain colors before conversion might cause some more destruction but if it is a draft image from Photoshop or similar, it might be a non issue.
I will prioritize this request. Others are asking for it too and I have run into it myself.
Thanks for the feedback! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Lead and others..
Wast just looking at the color mapping/mask during imports. There is a workaround in the current version if a PNG/BMP gets a less desired background color.
1. Import your image as usual.
2. Select the entire image with CTRL+A.
3. Cut out the entire image with CTRL+X.
4. In the cell window, change the global background color (0) but leave it locked (red line).
5. Paste in your image again with CTRL+V, move it into position and click mouse to confirm position.
This will work for other global colors as well if you are converting into character or sprite mode.
The next update on this matter will give the option to pre-configure the cell window at import. This could also be an option in the Tool->Optimize action as it's basically a re-import of the current bitmap. I would rename it to Optimize/Re-mask then. |
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Jok
Registered: Apr 2009
Posts: 11 |
Hi
And what about os X version? |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Jok:
My vague long term plans are to finish a version 1.0 in the existing Microsoft MFC framework. Then do a complete rewrite for a version 2.0 in Qt for cross platform.
Unless I wake up one morning, feeling weirdly preppy, ambitious and start the rewrite earlier than planned :-) |
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Jok
Registered: Apr 2009
Posts: 11 |
I will wait then :) - its really nice program, and on mac there is no serious tool for c64 pixelling |
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Carrion
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 317 |
@CRT
Nice tool - thanks for your job! I started to use it for small ad-hoc works.
And hence the question:
I import png (4 color) and it imports nicely but when I change mode to multicolor sprites one of the color gets black. Why is that? How to avoid it? |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
You could copy and paste the picture.
IMPORT -> (CTRL-A)SELECT, (CTRL-C)COPY -> Mode->Sprite -> (CTRL-V)INSERT and adjust before set.
EDIT: You can of course use "m" for selecting areas too. |
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Carrion
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 317 |
@shine
thx. it works this way.
I guess I'll have more questions/issues as I use this tool now. some things dont look to obvious for at the first sight, especially when you used tool like Timanthes before. But I need char and sprite modes so started to use it anyway. Expect more questions :) |
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Carrion
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 317 |
ok. so here's the first issue i encountered:
- I have selected first 8 sprites (M key) in sprite mode at the top of the screen
- saved the selection. loaded it into my code (showing 8 sprites, one after another.
the result seams to be messed. I mean the pixels of the sprites are not correnct and I cant see the patter to describe it, but the sprites are messed.
but
when I save whole pic as bitmap in sprite mode (btw: please call it save sprites because "save bitmap" is confusing in file menu when I'm in the sprites mode) and load whole "bitmap" into memory (in my case $2000) and show the sprites - they are correct.
CRT I think it's a bug of saving the selection. I can help if you have more questions and maybe we can reproduce the bug. |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
also, it would be nice to have remember(+reset)last main/prv window size and position feature. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
There could very well be bugs in sprite mode. It's the least tested mode.
I will make some tests and if there is an easy fix I will push a quick update.
Meanwhile I'm also working on a larger update in a separate branch but that one will take a bit longer still. |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
<BUFFERS>
Maybe following could be useful:
1)
I would like to have some kind of naming or counting for the buffers.
Now it's that i can switch between buffers with "." and "," but i can't see which buffer is in current use, except the pixels itself.
2)
It would be nice to add or delete a specific buffer for some reasons.
Overview:
It would be very nice to have a cell window like "VIC-II" or "Cell". Named "Buffer(s)", where i can "manipulate" like adding, deleting buffers or even changing the order. (and selecting one of them) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Shine:
If the bottom status-bar is enabled you see the buffer number as Z.
But yes, the back-buffer functionality is still primitive. Adding and removing back buffers after the initial image creation is clearly a lacking feature. |
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Carrion
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 317 |
@CRT
I think I've found another problem. exporting char map seams to have some buggy bytes in it. in other words the exported chars are not the same as pieled.
I created 40x3 chars (160x24 pixels) screen and tried to export it but it had the problems described above. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
cArrion: Did you resolve the issues? I have not been able to reproduce them. Did you confuse prg (.pmap) and binary (.map)? If you are using a cross assembler you probably have the options to import either type of file, incbin and incprg or similar. |
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xIII
Registered: Nov 2008
Posts: 210 |
If I download and run the latest version from the website: https://code.google.com/p/pixcen/ I get a pop-up saying "There's an updated version, would you like to download".
So I download, replace and run... same pop-up appears.
Infinite loop :)
I have the 'official 0.6.0.54 / 32 bit build'
Is there another updated version that I can download somewhere ?
thx |
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Shine
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 327 |
0.6.0.57 is my latest version. (32 bit build)
EDIT: xIII got the latest stable version from me. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I have been inactive for almost a year by now.
The source home for Pixcen, Google Code is shutting down so I'm forced to take action and the logical choice is to move to GitHub.
There will be a small update soon reflecting these changes, manual wiki page URL and Shine found a nice bug I fixed. I might also cherry pick some updates from the dev branch that deserves to go live. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
0.6.1.2
-Moved source code from Google Code to GitHub.
-Merged Miss Pixcen as example art from unstable branch.
-Hires viewer fix (requested by Shine).
-Added support shortcuts to Lemon64 and CSDB forums. |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
I've found another bug. When I try to load a previously saved Adv Art Studio 2 image I'm getting message like:
"Invalid Advanced Art Studio file size" |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Thanks Isildur.
Confirmed and fix applied for next build. |
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Joe
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 224 |
Working with images larger than the usual 160(320)x200 can when rotated horizontally/vertically create scattered colorplots (background color) in unwanted and sometimes unoticed places. These artifacts keeps on appearing, regardless repair or not... |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Joe, thanks to the example you sent, I have it reproduced. A fix should not be too far off. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
0.6.1.11
* Changed default compiler to Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition.
* Replaced zLib with miniz.
* Fix for Advanced Art Studio save.
* Removed the useless toolbar.
* Fix for a color corruption that could happen when flipping or rotating selected areas. |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
CTR, Thank you :) |
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Scarzix
Registered: Aug 2010
Posts: 143 |
Yay! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
The new compilation tool chain made Pixcen incompatible with Windows XP. I should have suspected that and the fact that we are a bunch of guys thriving on obsolete operating systems.
Edit:
The official pre-built ZIP's should now be XP compatible too. |
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Dr.j
Registered: Feb 2003
Posts: 276 |
First of All its a great tool CRT ! , i would to see if there
improve for this "nice to have" features mate:
1. when i Choose "M" for selection cells , and i disable from the menu or with "Ctrl"+D its bring me to Draw mode instead keeping me in the same Selection mode. a bit drive me crazy hehe i always forget that and need to make CTRL+Z to get back to selection mode.
2. could be nice to see a floating tool window like: Fill , etc' functions . could be much easier to switch draw/fill modes than to go to the menu and change . (yes i know there is short-cuts ;) but still more intuitive to my eyes |
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Trap
Registered: Jul 2010
Posts: 222 |
Some things that I would love to see:
- native support for FLI.
- export to char/charmem
- export to sprites
Thanks otherwise for a great tool. I know Fox is quite happy with it :) |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
And one more request if possible.
Dithering switch like in Multipaint or Project1 - it saves A LOT OF TIME. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
I have been lazy: life, divorce, new apartment, new job, new girlfriend. I also have to program stuff that matters like demos ;-)
I think I have promised all of the requested features before. They are all valid requests and should be done.
I do have some good news for Trap:
Characters and sprites are supported (also hires), probably the lesser known/used features of Pixcen.
Under File->New you can create an empty image for Bitmap, Sprite, Char or Unrestricted. Each mode is also affected by the multi-color checkbox.
Or, you can simply switch mode for an existing image under the Mode menu (color destruction might happen, undo works to go back to the previous mode).
Once in char or sprite mode, you can save as a .map or .pmap (PRG header) for a raw font or sprite set.
In char mode, if you are drawing a character logo of tiles, you see the actual unique char count in the lower status bar and as long as it is below 256 you can also export as indexed screen and indexed map. You can also export color ram if you are doing more than 3 col.
The next Pixcen build got support for 1x2, 2x1 and 2x2 character sets. You can build the latest from source or ask me for a binary.
Some more info
Help under About |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
divorce..&$&^#*&@^#&#....new girlfriend + new job = everything all right!
But new GF = less C64... |
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Dr.j
Registered: Feb 2003
Posts: 276 |
Hey CRT , i am sorry you divorced and had issues in your life, anyway real life is always (!) before C64 mate so all is really Ok!. i have some more "nice 2 have" features and some more "friendly" implemention f.e: "Imap" (what about char/screen suffix? more readable i think) anyway without all the improvements, your tool today is a killer ! good luck !! |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
So I got a report Pixcen misbehaves under Windows 10 but a non XP compatible build with Pixcen do behave well.
I'm planning to push a small update, not lots of requested features but with bug fixes, stability and performance improvements mainly.
At the same time I was thinking of leaving the 32 bit version XP compatible but the 64 bit version not, instead of having to add more binaries.
Objections? |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
Leave the XP at all :) |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
Ilsidur: I heard there are plenty of weirdos here still hanging on to obsolete computers and operating systems :-|
XP users will have to run the 32 bit version. Performs well and the next update will be even faster. Windows10 users are most likely running a 64 bit OS and should use a 64 bit Pixcen.
The oddballs are the Windows10 32 bit OS users (might actually be worse than still holding on to Windows ME). |
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soci
Registered: Sep 2003
Posts: 473 |
Slightly off topic, but why not just release 32 bit versions only?
As I remember 64 bit windows has gigabytes of compatibility stuff installed for 32 bit programs by default, and I don't think you need the address space or the possibly minor performance difference for this sort of program.
But I don't do much windows programming (beyond cross-compiling sometimes), so there might be other pressing reasons for needing a 64 bit version. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
soci, you are right about the performance, 32 is good enough in this case.
It was just my principles that generated the 64 bit version. I think new software should be 64 bit.
There is a performance advantage with 64 bit apps. The AMD64 instruction set contains more registers for the optimizer to play with. In this case, a GUI app, the majority of the time is spent waiting for user input.
But with the latest Visual Studio tool chain the XP compatibility have to be explicitly set but this seems to cause issues in Windows 10. And the two versions actually comes in handy. |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
So it's time for some brave souls to test out the new Pixcen before I dare to trigger the push update. I might have broken stuff.
Even though there are not a lot of new features. A lot have been done for bug fixing, stability and performance.
XP users must download the 32 bit version or it wont run.
http://censordesign.com/pixcen/pixcen-0.7-preview.zip
http://censordesign.com/pixcen/pixcen64-0.7-preview.zip
-Support for 1x2, 2x1 and 2x2-fonts in Character Mode (under view).
-Bug fix loading unrestricted.
-Crash fix for flipping selection in unrestricted mode.
-Bug fix saving selection with unrestricted.
-Bug fix importing to sprites.
-Much faster rendering.
-Bug fix switching mode to char.
-Prevent tool windows from closing when pressing ESC (bug introduced with new MFC version last year).
-Much faster loading/import and saving/export. Especially if you work on large images.
-Faster flip/shift/rotate (again especially for large selections).
-Cell- and pixel grid-lines color picker (under view). |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
It is live..
0.7.0.9
* Support for 1x2, 2x1 and 2x2-fonts in Character Mode (under view).
* Cell- and pixel grid-lines color picker (under view).
* Bug fix loading unrestricted.
* Crash fix for flipping selection in unrestricted mode.
* Bug fix saving selection with unrestricted.
* Bug fix importing to sprites.
* Much faster rendering.
* Bug fix switching mode to char.
* Prevent tool windows from closing when pressing ESC.
* Much faster loading/import.
* Faster flip/shift/rotate. |
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Isildur
Registered: Sep 2006
Posts: 274 |
Working great! Thank you.
All my pictures since 2013 were made in your tool... partially. Partially because I have to use also P1 for speed dithering and now Multipaint for some unique features , modern look and its user friendliness (but it lacks prv window, file requester doesn't remember last path and some other things).
I have a dream... a dream where all these features are implemented in one badass application ;)
Please, consider adding these feats in the future :):
- dithering like P1 or Multipaint eventually(less flexible)
- remember/set default color palette (globally)
- remember zoom/position of all windows
- remember zoom, grid states on/off |
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CRT
Registered: Oct 2012
Posts: 87 |
From this point on, there will be no official Pixcen news or support from me going on in this thread.
This thread is bound to Pixcen legacy version 0.6
For up to date news I recommend the Pixcen group on Facebook. There is also a sleepy Lemon thread (see Pixcen help menu).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pixcen |
