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Intro Mary Garden
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Computerized Mary Garden Design
Painter 5.0
- Painter 5.0, produced by:
Fractal Design Corporation
P.O. Box 66959
Scotts Valley, CA 95067-9965
Phone: (408) 430-4000
email: cs@fractal.com
Internet: http://www.fractal.com
- Description
- Step-by-step Procedures
Description
Painter
Painter 5.0, a full-featured graphics program for Macintosh and
Windows, includes provisions for the introduction in screen garden
layouts of individual plant "floaters" which can be positioned,
relocated or deleted in computer-drawn garden bed plans, as in
FLOWERscape, ClarisWorks and Photoshop. At present this requires
the custom creation of plant floater libraries, since only a few
Painter graphics of commonly cultivated plants are as yet
commercially available.
Painter plant floaters may also be grouped in graphics "nozzles" for
multiple "hose" introduction into screen layouts (but these can
only be "undone" or erased and repositioned individually as
generated, but not later, since each hosed floater is "dropped" to
the layout layer). "Garden Hose" CD ROM - a sophisticated
collection of plant "nozzles", available for Painter from Digarts
(version 1.5) and Fractal Design (version 2.0) for the "hose"
creation of entire landscapes - includes nozzles for four Flowers of
Our Lady (clover, daisy, forget-me-not and jasamine). A
demonstration nozzle for poppy is included with the basic Painter
5.0 program.
Advanced Instructions
PAINTER 5.0 Step-by-Step
Tasks
To make the rectangular background of a custom flower or sculpture
image file transparent, so that when the image is pasted as an
addition to an existing graphic garden layout opened in Painter,
such as one imported from FLOWERscape, the portions of the layout
immediately around the pasted image will continue to be visible
after the pasting.
To save the floater to a floater library folder; to convert it to
and save it as a Nozzle flle; and to save the Nozzle in a Nozzle
Library.
Steps
(Particular applications of Painter commands listed in user's manual
and in screen "Help" instructions)
- Open Tools, Brushes, Controls and Objects palettes
- Open graphics file of flower or sculpture (Usually in PICT,
GIF or JPEG format)
- Select flower or sculpture object to separate it from its
background using Auto Select/Image Luminescence, from Select
Menu; or Magic Wand or Lasso, from Tools Palette.
- If image has a uniform white or black backround, try
Auto Select/Image Luminescence first.
- If unable to obtain a full selection, try Magic Wand,
using the maximum tolerance possible in the Controls
Window without the tolerance being extended to
include the background as well as the object
(selecting the entire file).
- If still unable to obtain a full selection, use the
Lasso Tool Press-trace-outline the flower or
sculpture image to separate-select it from its
background (or outline-enclose and delete-clear
successive background areas, until only the graphic
flower or sculpture image remains in a white
background, and then outline-select). Make any final
clean-up of selected image, using both + and - lassos
so edges and cleared internal background areas will be
accurately outline-selected.
Note: Painter lasso must be accurately drawn
where wanted (using 4x or 8x magnification
of image). It does not automatically
contract to edges of an image in a white
background, as does ClarisWorks lasso.
- Copy selected object (accompanied by its now transparent
background) to clipboard.
- Open New blank file, paste image to it from clipboard, and
save as RIFF Floater file, in Floater library folder.
- Open RIFF garden layout file and paste copied object to it
from clipboard as Floater(s).
- Save RIFF garden layout file with new image Floaters added.
Place file in a Floater folder
After this, or if new Floater file is not to be pasted to a layout
file at this time, proceed to make and save a Hose Nozzle, saved in
turn in a Nozzle Library.
- Open NEW 5"x5" (360 pixel x 360 pixel) file and paste
selected object and its transparent background to it from
the clipboard as transparent Floater, with orange rectangle
outline
- Save Transparent Floater file in re-openable RIFF format
- Make paste of second Floater file from clipboard (on top
of original Floater file, which it hides.
- Choose Floater Adjustment Tool from Tools Palette
- Press-point-select second Floater file and move it to the
side, revealing original Floater.
- With second Floater still selected, with orange rectangle,
choose Orientation/Flip Horizontal from Effects Menu.
Second Floater flips as mirror image of the first.
- In the Floater Menu in the Objects Palette, choose Select All
(selects both Floaters, with orange rectangle outlines)
- In Floater Menu, select Group (Both Floaters now group-
selected in a single larger orange selecton rectangle)
- Save Floater Group as RIFF file
- Point-Click-Activate Nozzles Palette
- Choose Make Nozzle From Group from Nozzle Menu. Nozzle
Window appears, containing Floaters.
- Save Nozzle as RIFF file
- Choose Open Nozzle from Nozzle Menu. Open Nozzle file.
- Open NEW 5"x5" window.
- Choose Brush from Tools Palette
- Move Rank 1 Slider to Sequential in Nozzle Palette
- Point-click brush cursor in new file to test Nozzle.
Nozzle Floater image is hosed to file. Examine to confirm.
- Point-click brush cursor a second time in new file, over
and slightly to the side of first hosed file. Nozzle
mirror-image Floater is hosed to file. Examine to confirm
that second image is hosed (in sequence), that it is a
mirror-image of the first, and that its background is
transparent - allowing the first image to show through.
- Close test window (not necessary to save, unless desired for
archival log)
- Choose Add Nozzle to Library from Nozzle Menu. Library
window opens, with active Library displayed to the left,
with new Nozzle image in first (upper left) position, and
empty new nozzle window to the right.
- Point-press Open New File button and enter NZL file name for
empty new nozzle window. Name appears.
- Point-press-select new Nozzle image in active library
window and press-drag-copy to New nozzle window.
- Re-select original new nozzle in active nozzle window and
point-click Delkete button to delete.
- Save both Nozzle files separately, and close window.
- Choose Load Library from Nozzle Menu, and select newly
created library to open.
- Open garden layout RIFF file
- Hose Nozzle image to layout. To reposition, choose Undo from
Edit Menu and re-hose.
- Save layout file with added image(s) dropped onto it. (Hosed
images not saved as Floaters)
We plan to make available graphic floaters in Painter format for
Flowers of Our Lady not presently available in the FLOWERscape
plant library.
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