-=-=-= ColorPad v2.4 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     Real freeware with no annoyances.  This application was created
 in order to assist graphic designers of all sorts, from beginer to
 expert in their development of computer graphics.  ColorPad can
 capture colors from the screen, or generate them on the fly.  Many
 more options are supported from Anti-Dithering to skins support.
 Thanks for trying out ColorPad, hope you enjoy it!



 Table of Contents ------------------------------------=-  =]  -=--

  [1] QUICK USAGE   - Quick info on how to use ColorPad.
  [2] FEATURES      - ColorPad's features.
  [3] SKIN USAGE    - How to load ColorPad skins (new interfaces).
  [4] SKIN CREATION - How to create a ColorPad skin.
  [5] FUTURE PLANS  - Possible additions to future versions.
  [6] VERSION INFO  - List of updates per version.
  [7] CONTACT INFO  - How to contact me.
  [8] DISCLAIMER    - We all really care, don't we?



[1] QUICK USAGE ----------------------------------------=-  :o  -=--

   Menu buttons:

     From left to right the top menu buttons are:

     Snap to screen - Makes ColorPad snap to the screen edge
     Always on Top  - Makes ColorPad always stay on top of other
                      windows
     Minimize       - Gee, I have no clue :)
     Close          - Quits


   Mouse usage:

     Modifying the current color:
       Click on the little + or - next to the numbers.  Holding
       down the mouse button will auto-increment/decrement the
       value(s).  You may also click and drag these buttons for
       a faster, more accurate way to change the values.

     Copying the current color to the clipboard:
       Right-clicking on the color screen will copy the
       current color in the currently selected color format
       ('RRGGBB' or 'RRR, GGG, BBB') to the clipboard.

     Copying individual color values to the clipboard:
       Right-clickxing on any of the text values will copy that
       value to the clipboard.

     Pasting a color from the clipboard:
       If you currently have a color in the clipboard (in the
       RRGGBB hex format or the RRR,GGG,BBB decimal format)
       then all you have to do is double-click with the left
       mouse button on the color screen.

     Pasting individual color values from the clipboard:
       To paste only a specific value, double-click on the
       text of the value you wish to update.

     Capturing a color from the screen:
       To get any color currently on the screen, just left-
       click on the color screen and hold down the left mouse
       button until the cursor turns into a crosshair.  At this
       point, you can now move your mouse over any part of the
       screen while still holding down the left mouse button.
       The bottom part of ColorPad's color screen will be updated
       with the color currently under the crosshair, and that
       color's value will be displayed in the text fields.  Once
       you find the color that pleased you in the first place,
       let go of the left mouse button and the color will be
       sucessfully loaded.

       (The same method is used for capturing a zoomed picture
       of the screen.)

     Oops, you made a booboo:
       If at any point of changing the color while you are
       dragging the mouse (while getting a color from the screen
       or modifying it with the +/- buttons) you can Right-click
       (while the left mouse button is still held down) and the
       current operation will be canceled.

       Alternatively, you can press the Escape (ESC) key


   Keyboard Shortcuts:

      r            - Less red (-1)
      R            - More red (+1)
      g            - Less green (-1)
      G            - More green (+1)
      b            - Less blue (-1)
      B            - More blue (+1)
      w            - Darker (All colors -1)
      Down arrow   - same as 'w'
      Left arrow   - same as 'w'
      W            - Lighter (All colors +1)
      Up arrow     - same as 'W'
      Right arrow  - same as 'W'

      Ctrl-f       - Switch between color formats

      Ctrl-c       - Copy the current color to the clipboard
      Ctrl-Insert  - same as Ctrl-c (copy color)
      Ctrl-x       - Same as Ctrl-c

      Ctrl-v       - Paste (get) the color from the clipboard
      Shift-Insert - same as Ctrl-v (paste color)

      Return       - Confirm color operation
      Escape       - cancle current color operation
      Ctrl-z       - Undoes the last color change

      Ctrl-d       - Load a default skin
      Ctrl-u       - Load a user skin
      Ctrl-p       - Turns the splash screen on/off

      Ctrl-a       - Toggles 'always on top'
      Ctrl-s       - Toggles 'snap to screen'
      Ctrl-t       - Put ColorPad in System Tray/Task Bar
      Ctrl-i       - Toggles 'single instance'

      Ctrl-m       - Minimize ColorPad
      Ctrl-q       - Quit ColorPad
      F2           - Shows the about screen



[2] FEATURES ------------------------------------------=-  8)  -=--

   There are basically two types of features that colorpad
   supports.  The first I call "Tools" which let you specify the
   behavior of actual color editing, and the others are "Settings"
   which have little or nothing to do with color editing and more
   with how ColorPad should behave as an application.

   Both tools and settings are changed through ColorPad's popup
   menu.  There are also some keyboard shortcuts which can be
   found uder "Keyboard Shortcuts" in the section above.  (To
   activate the popup menu, right click anywhere on colorpad that
   is not the color screen or the text/color values!)

   The supported tools are:
     Split screen
     Persistent Zoom
     Cut/paste in Hex (RRGGBB) and Decimal (RRR,GGG,BBB) formats
     Auto selection of color format on paste
     Zooming of 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x and pixel-only (Max)
     Anti-Dithering over a small, medium, large area.

   The supported settings are:
     Always on top
     Snapping to the screen edge
     Allowing only a single instance of ColorPad
     Showing a splashscreen on startup/change of skin
     Placing the ColorPad icon in the taskbar or system tray
     Loading alternate user-defined interfaces called skins

   The following is a more detailed listing of the tools and
   settings mentioned above.

   Split Screen:
     By default, ColorPad will only show you the current color
     you're working with or part of the screen you're zooming in
     on.  Alternatively, you can switch to split screen mode
     found under 'Tools - Screen Mode - Split Screen' of the
     popup menu.  If this setting is checked, only part of the
     screen will be used to show you the lastest color.  The other
     part will be used to show you the color you are selecting or
     creating by holding down the +/- buttons.  This can be
     helpfull for when you wish to compair the previous color with
     a new one without actually making a selection.

     Also, if you are getting a color from the screen, which part
     of the color screen you  initially clicked on will give
     different results.  If you select from the top, you will be
     shown the selected color after anti-dithering (if any) in the
     top part and the latest color in the bottom.  If you initially
     select with the bottom part, you will be shown a zoomed image
     there and the top will have the latest color.  This might be
     hard to understand because my explanation sucks.  At any
     rate, the text values will always be the anti-dithered result.
     Have fun exploring this feature. :D

   Persistent Zoom:
     This option is only available when split screen mode is
     enabled.  In this mode, part of the screen will be used to
     actually acquire a color while the other will be to acquire
     a zoomed portion of the screen.  The text values and color
     is not updated by selecting a zoomed image.  As above, the
     top part of the color screen is used to get a color, while
     the bottom is used to acquire the zoomed image.

     NOTE: The zoomed image is not currently backed up, so
           Ctrl-Z will not restore it, sorry!

   Color Format:
     ColorPad lets you work with the hexadecimal (RRGGBB) and
     decimal (RRR,GGG,BBB) representations of a color.

     The default interface (skin) for ColorPad displays both
     these formats but note that other skins might not follow
     suit and may choose to display only the hexadecimal values,
     only the decimal values, or none at all.  (or if they're
     feeling wacky, they may choose to only display the red
     decimal value of the color and the green hexadecimal value
     or something confusing like that.)

     ColorPad will automatically figure out which format you
     are trying to paste from. However, you will need to specify
     which format you would like to copy with.  This can be set
     from the popup menu under: Tools - Color Format ...

     The HEX format will copy colors in the "RRGGBB" format,
     like this -> 6C758E
     (Mainly used in webpage editing.)

     The DEC format will copy colors in the 'rrr,ggg,bbb'
     format, like so -> 108,117,142
     (Ex. this format is used
     (Usefull for working with .ini files)

     Selecting "Auto" from the menu will cause ColorPad to
     switch to whatever format you last pasted in.

     Whitespace, such as spaces, tabs and returns/new lines are
     ignored while pasting, so the following are read the same:
     1, 2, 3
     1,		2,3
     1,	2,			3

     You may press Ctrl-f to switch between formats.

     You can tell which format you are currently in by looking
     at ColorPad's title in the taskbar.  If it has commas,
     then you're in decimal mode.


   Zoom:
     The zoom feature will let you zoom in on an area of the
     screen while grabbing a color from the screen.  To get to
     this feature, you must right-click somewhere on ColorPad
     and select: Tools - Zoom ...

     Here are the Zoom options and what they mean:

      1x  - This will show pixels at their normal size in the
            color screen
      2x  - This will show pixels 2 times their normal size
            in the color screen
      4x  - This will show pixels 4 times their normal size
            in the color screen
      8x  - This will show pixels 8 times their normal size
            in the color screen
      16x - This will show pixels 16 times their normal size
            in the color screen
      Max - This will show the selected pixel's color in
            the color screen


   Anti-Dithering:
     Anti-Dithering allows you to get an "average" of the
     surrounding pixels when you are getting a pixel from the
     screen using the eyedropper tool.  To activate this feature,
     right-click somewhere on ColorPad (not the color screen or
     the text fields) and go to: Tools - Anti-Dither ...

     Here are the Anti-Dither options and what they mean:

      None   - This will let you grab the exact color shown on
               the screen at the selected pixel.
      Small  - This will look at the pixels right next to the
               selected pixel and give you back an average of
               all those colors. (3x3 pixels box)
      Medium - Does the same as 'Small', but over a wider area.
               (9x9 pixels box)
      Large  - Same as 'Medium', but with yet a larger area.
               (21x21 pixels box)

      NOTE: While you are grabbing a color from the screen,
            there are two modes which will allow you to see
            the resulting color.  The first is setting 
            Zoom to max and turning off split screen.  the
            second is in splitscreen and selecting from the
            top part of the screen.


   The remaining are the Settings which can be found under the
   "Settings" part of the popup menu.


   Always on Top:
     This setting will make ColorPad remain on top of other
     windows.

   Snap to Screen:
     When selected, this will cause ColorPad to cling to the
     screen edge when it is being moved.

   Single Instance:
     This will limit ColorPad to only allow one instance of the
     application.  If this is selected and you try to run
     ColorPad again, the currently running application will be
     brought to the foreground.

   Splash Screen:
     When this is selected, a splash screen (eye-candy) is
     displayed briefly when a skin is loaded or the application
     is started.

   System Tray:
     Selecting this will cause ColorPad's icon to be placed in
     the system tray.  Unselecting it will place ColorPad back in
     the taskbar.

   Default Skin:
     This loads ColorPad's default (graphical) interface.

   User Skin:
     Alternate graphical user interfaces for ColorPad are loaded
     through this menu choice.  Read the following section for
     more information about skins!  (If you do not know what
     a skin is, try looking it up on google, skins are fun! :D )



[3] SKIN USAGE ----------------------------------------=-  :P  -=--

   Support:
     * Skins are only supported in versions 1.7 and up.
     * Transparency is only supported in versions 1.8 and up.
     * Skin-defined text color is only supported in versions
       1.9c and up.
     * Freestyle skins are only supported in versions 2.0 and up.
 
   Loading Skins:
     To load a skin, just drag and drop the .bmp (bitmap) image
     file onto the ColorPad window, or you can right click
     (somewhere NOT on the color screen or numbers) and go to
     Settings - User Skin and pick your bitmap image from there.
     You may also press Ctrl-u to load a skin and Ctrl-d to
     load the default skin.

   Loading The Default Skin:
     Hit Ctrl-d or right-click on ColorPad (NOT on the color
     screen/text) and select: Settings - Default Skin

   Downloading Skins:
     Right now, the only places I know of that have ColorPad
     skins are:

     my homepage (Orbit):
      http://www.entic.net/~vmoya/downloads.html
      http://val.modemboy.net/downloads.html

     deviantART
      http://www.deviantart.com/thumbnails.php?section=colorpad

     DeskMod
      http://www.deskmod.com/?show=showcat&cat_name=colorpad

     WinCustomize
      http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=21



[4] SKIN CREATION -------------------------------------=-  ;D  -=--

     Skin creation is rather long to explain here so I've stuck
   it in the "colorpad skinning.txt" file that should have come
   with this package.  Don't take the fact that this requires a
   seperate txt file as a bad sign, I just wanted to make this
   file a little shorter.  Skinning ColorPad is actually an easy
   thing to do, even if it's the first time you've skinned
   anything!



[5] FUTURE PLANS --------------------------------------=-  :T  -=--

   - CMYK & HSB/HSL support - This is actaully mostly done, but
     there are problems with finding a standard to RGB-HSB and
     other conversions.  I'm open to hearing what you have to say
     on this subject :)

   - 'Skin menu' to keep track of previously loaded skins or a
     skin directory.

   - Tooltips - This looks like it might be a bit difficult to do
     for some weird reason.  I'll try when I have a lot of time.

   - 'Dock to window(s)' where ColorPad can be set to snap to
     other windows currently visible.

     And as always, if you have any suggestions to make, I'm all
   ears!  I can't promise that your suggestions will be added, but
   I'll just say that if it wasn't for all the people that gave me
   awesome feedback and helped me beta test this app, ColorPad
   woudn't be where it is today.  So let me know! :) (contact
   information can be found down below)



[6] VERSION INFORMATION -------------------------------=-  8|  -=--

   v2.4  - New main graphic (same button placement, though.)
           Changed look of icons a bit.
           Changed popup menu layout.
           Zoom/Get color now works realtime.
            * Thanks to Nusret Vardarman for his idea :)
           Added persistent zoom feature.
            * Idea taken from Plastic's Switch program. :)
              http://www.virtualplastic.net/
           Added 16x zoom option.
           Changed buttons to increment values by 1 instead of 5.
           Holding down the left mouse button on a color-
             incrementing button (without moving off the button)
             will now auto-increment, speeding up over time.
           Added auto-identification of color format on paste.
           Fixed anti-dithering errors. (oops, my bad!)
           Fixed random quirks with how mouse clicks are handled.
           F2 key brings up the about screen.
           Changed layout of skinning document and this one.
           Added "Single instance" option
            * Thanks to Eric for the request!
              http://four80seven.tripod.com
           Added/changed some keybaord shortcuts

   v2.3  - Added support for decimal number format (rrr,ggg,bbb)
            * Big thanks to Doug Jones for the idea!
           Fixed some really minor bugs with about window.
           Tidied up the code a bit to be cleaner (for me.)
           Updated the skinning.txt file with HEX numbers.

   v2.2  - Updated the skin loading algorythms.
           Fixed clipping text bug when using big (system) fonts.
           Updated color controls to allow vertical movement.
           Added an about box.
           Updated the task-bar title to include current color.

   v2.1  - Fixed freeform text field bug.
           Fixed default text color problem.
           Updated Zoom feature. (Now centers in screen region.
                                  Also, off-screen is now shown
                                  as black.  This was previously
                                  shown as "garbage pixels")

   v2.0  - Added freestyle skinning support.
           Added system tray support.
           Added splash screen option.
           Added more keyboard shortcuts.
           Added double-click anywhere to minimize.
           Fixed various bugs.

   v1.9c - Added Text color support for skins.

   v1.9b - Added split screen option.
           Added anti-dithering options.
           Added zoom-in feature/options.

   v1.9  - Added version info. (Right-click on colorpad.exe, then
                                go to Properties - Version tab.)
           Added Dynamic docking. (Now snaps to the screen edge
                                   where the skin ends.)

   v1.8  - Added transparency support for skins.
           Added a popup menu.

   v1.7  - Added skin support. (Not supported in older Windows NT
                                versions.)

   v1.6  - Fixed cut/paste bug.

   v1.5  - Added eye dropper support.
           Added cut/paste support.
           Added registry save state.

   v1.0  - Initial release.



[7] CONTACT INFORMATION -------------------------------=-  :D  -=--

   Email Addresses:
    vturnip@yahoo.com
    vmoya@cats.ucsc.edu
    vmoya@entic.net 

   Homepage location:
    http://www.entic.net/~vmoya/index.html

   AOL Instant Messenger (AIM):
    rethan

   ICQ:
    354348

   IRC:
    rethan, soulraven, murfose or sometimes dronar.  When I'm
    actually on, I can usually be found on EFnet in channels
    like #skinnerz, #4am and #bayarea.

   deviantART.net:
    I am often active in this online art community.  This is a
    great place to give me feedback and is also a good way to
    contact me or catch up on possible current email/web
    addresses I may have.



[8] DISCLAIMER ----------------------------------------=-  :U  -=--

     I am not responsible for what you do with this app, nor
   am I responsible for any damage it may cause to your system.
   I am, also, not responsible for the horrible colors that you
   may choose to use.

   Yeah yeah, I know.  I won't own up... at least it's free ya
   slaker!@#$)*$#@ :P

                    ColorPad is copyrighted to Valry Moya, 2002.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= End Document -=-