                          ******* pputil *******
                        PowerPaint image utilities
                                Version 1.0
                                     
                    Copyright (C) 1997  Marcel de Kogel

Hardware and Software Requirements
==================================
MS-DOS:     A 386SX with 1MB RAM and a DPMI server. If you don't have a DPMI
            server installed, download CWSDPMI from the author's home page.
All others: A 32-bit system, a C compiler and some knowledge how to use it.
            The source distribution comes with a Unix/GCC compatible makefile.

The latest version of this project can always be found on the author's
homepage at http://www.komkon.org/~dekogel/

Instructions
============
Just run the programs without any parameters to get a list of available
options.

PowerPaint file formats supported
=================================
These programs support the following file formats:
- 10k binary
- 40k workspace image
- 80k workspace image
PowerPaint files should have attribute $10 (user file) and file type 2
(Z80 binary).
The file format is as follows:
- 10k binary:
  $0000-$13ff - Pattern table of 256x160 image
  $1400-$27ff - Colour table of 256x160 image
- 40k and 80k workspace images:
  $0000-$13ff - Colour table of first cell (256x160 image)
  $1400-$27ff - Pattern table of first cell
  $2800-$3bff - Colour table of second cell
  $3c00-$4fff - Pattern table of second cell
  ...
  The cell layout is:
  ________ ________
  |cell 1| |cell 2|
  -------- --------
  ________ ________
  |cell 3| |cell 4|
  -------- --------
  ...
The first 16 columns of every cell are unused.
Please refer to a TMS9918 manual for a detailed description of the pattern
and colour tables.

Hints for getting the most out of bmp2pp
========================================
- If you are converting pictures with few colours, like screenshots from
  older home computers and game consoles, try using -dither 0. You may
  want to use an external program to match all colours in the file to the
  ADAM palette first. The default palette is:
  nr   colour         R,G,B
  -------------------------------
   0 - Transparent  - unused
   1 - Black        -   0,  0,  0
   2 - Medium green -  71,183, 59
   3 - Light green  - 124,207,111
   4 - Dark blue    -  93, 78,255
   5 - Light blue   - 128,114,255
   6 - Dark red     - 182, 98, 71
   7 - Cyan         -  93,200,237
   8 - Medium red   - 215,107, 72
   9 - Light red    - 251,143,108
  10 - Dark yellow  - 195,205, 65
  11 - Light yellow - 211,218,118
  12 - Dark green   -  62,159, 47
  13 - Magenta      - 182,100,199
  14 - Grey         - 204,204,204
  15 - White        - 255,255,255
- Since the ADAM colours are extraordinary bright, when converting darker
  pictures, you may get better results when brightening the image a bit.
  To do this, you can either use gamma adjustment (by using -gamma <some
  value greater than 1.0, try somewhere around 2.0), or adjust the image's
  brightness (by using -brightness <some value between 50 and 100>).
- When converting pictures like photographs and ray-traced images, the
  converted image may not be sharp enough. To correct this, try using the
  detail, edge enhance or edge enhance+ filters.
- If the PowerPaint picture is for display on black & white television sets
  or if you plan to use the ADAM in black & white mode, best results will
  be achieved by converting the image to greyscale and using the b&w
  palette (-grey -palette 2).
- When using older television sets, you may want to try adjusting the dither
  parameters to prevent too many isolated pixels. Try decreasing the weight
  of the first error, -weight 3,5,7,1 and -weight 1,7,5,3 are among the many
  usable alternatives.

Legal issues
============
This software may be used free of charge and may be distributed freely, as
long as the archive isn't modified in any way and no profit is made from
distributing it. Also, this software comes without any warranty, neither
express nor implied: Use at your own risk.

History
=======
1.0   09-04-1997   Initial release

The MS-DOS version was compiled using DJ Delorie's DJGPP v2.01. DJGPP is a 32
bit C compiler for MS-DOS. Source code and binaries of DJGPP are available at
http://www.delorie.com

Please send your comments to Marcel at
m.dekogel@student.utwente.nl
