Short:        Pro-style layered image editor RTG/AGA
Author:       Darko Djordjevic
Uploader:     darko djordjevic hotmail com (Darko Djordjevic)
Type:         gfx/edit
Version:      0.3
Requires:     AmigaOS 3.1+, 68020+, lots of Fast RAM; RTG (Picasso96/CGX) recommended
Architecture: m68k-amigaos >= 3.1.0

a-graph - a professional image editor for the Amiga
===================================================

a-graph is a raster image editor for AmigaOS 3.x, written from scratch in C.
Its menus, panels, tools, dialogs, shortcuts and workflow follow today's
industry-standard image editors as closely as the hardware allows - if you
have used a modern professional image editor, you already know a-graph.

It is still a real Amiga program: it respects the system, works with
Workbench, and treats the Amiga's own formats as first-class citizens.


ONE BINARY, TWO KINDS OF MACHINE
--------------------------------
At startup a-graph picks its display path by itself:

 - RTG (Picasso96 / CyberGraphX, cybergraphics.library v41+): its own
   24-bit truecolor screen. This is the main target.
 - AGA: without RTG it falls back to a 256-colour (8-bitplane) screen, so
   it also runs on a classic A1200/A4000 without a graphics card.

Two builds are included:

 a-graph        68020 or better, no FPU needed
 a-graph.060    optimised for the 68060 (with FPU)


AMIGA FORMATS
-------------
IFF ILBM
 - Loads 1-8 bitplane palette images, 24-bit ILBM, HAM6, HAM8 and EHB
   (the view mode from the CAMG chunk); the ACBM variant too.
 - Saves IFF 24-bit, HAM8, HAM6, EHB, 256 colours and 16 colours,
   ByteRun1 (PackBits) compressed.

IFF ANIM (DeluxePaint-compatible)
 - Saves FORM ANIM: a full ILBM first frame, then op-5 "byte vertical
   delta" frames (ANHD + DLTA), all frames on one median-cut 256-colour
   palette.
 - Loads ANIMs into the Timeline, or frame by frame into layers.
 - Modern Timeline: frame strip with thumbnails, per-frame delays,
   looping, Tween, Onion Skin, and layer animation (visibility, position,
   opacity per frame).

Workbench icons (.info)
 - Reads PNG icons, OS3.5 colour icons (FORM ICON/IMAG), NewIcons and
   classic planar icons; normal and selected images open as two layers.
 - Saves a classic DiskObject plus an OS3.5 colour image (up to 256
   colours, transparency). An edited icon keeps its Default Tool, tool
   types, stack, position and the rest.
 - Image Previews: every saved file can get an icon with a thumbnail.

Clipboard (clipboard.device)
 - Copy/Cut publish IFF ILBM; Paste takes an ILBM from any program.
   Text travels as IFF FTXT.


PART OF THE SYSTEM
------------------
 - ARexx port.
 - AppWindow: drop file icons from Workbench into the window.
 - Amiga bitmap fonts for type layers, with previews in the font list.
 - Tablet pen pressure (size, opacity, flow) through the system's tablet
   events.
 - Droplets: a saved batch process as an icon to drop images on.
 - Settings, brushes, patterns, actions and the dictionary live in PROGDIR:.


BRIDGES TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
--------------------------------
 - PSD: layers, masks, groups with blend modes, layer styles, editable
   type, adjustment layers, 8 and 16 bit. PSB (Large Document) is read too.
 - PNG (up to 16-bit, interlaced), JPEG, TIFF (LZW/ZIP, paths), GIF
   (animated too), WebP, BMP, TGA, PCX, PBM/PGM/PPM, Radiance HDR,
   OpenEXR, PDF and EPS.
 - Imports brushes (.abr), gradients (.grd), styles (.asl),
   custom shapes (.csh) and patterns (.pat); exports patterns (.pat).


WHAT'S INSIDE, IN SHORT
-----------------------
 - Layers: groups with real blend modes, clipping masks, Smart Objects,
   Smart Filters with Blending Options.
 - Layer styles: Drop Shadow, Bevel & Emboss, Glows, Satin, Gradient and
   Pattern Overlay, Stroke.
 - Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, a Camera Raw-style window, Filter
   Gallery, Blur Gallery, Liquify and many more filters and adjustments.
 - Select and Mask, Color Range, Quick Mask, single-channel editing.
 - Brushes with dynamics, on-canvas HUD for brush size and colour,
   Vanishing Point with several planes, live gradients.
 - Actions (with Record Again), batch processing, Save for Web, Indexed
   Color (Perceptual / Selective palettes), Bitmap mode.


INSTALLATION
------------
Unpack the archive anywhere and double-click a-graph (or a-graph.060 on a
68060). The program keeps its settings and presets in its own drawer
(PROGDIR:), so give it a drawer you can write to.

Optional: put a word list (one word a line) in PROGDIR:a-graph.dic for the
spelling checker.


TESTING
-------
a-graph is under active development and is constantly checked by automated
tests, on a PC under WinUAE and on real Amiga hardware.

Please report bugs and ideas to the e-mail address above.