 





            Colorize - Text mode
                              palette editing tool
                         
                                Documentation File
           
 
 This entire document is Copyright 1994 Calvin French


        Table O' Contents :
        
        Disclaimer, Copyright, Etc. ...................................... 2
        Introduction .....................................................
        What is Colorize? ................................................
        Using Colorize ...................................................
        When are the Colors Reset? .......................................
        The Included PAL Files ...........................................
        PAL2EXE ..........................................................
        Contacting Me ....................................................


        Disclaimer, Copyright, Etc. :
        
        I, Calvin French, the author, hereby disclaim all personal
        liability to any and all damages or undesired effects which are
        caused by Colorize or any of it's files. I make no guarantees on the
        operation of Colorize, whatsoever. USE THIS PROGRAM AT YOUR OWN RISK!

        The entire Colorize software utility is Copyright 1994 Calvin French.
        You may freely distribute the ShareWare version of Colorize software
        utility and are encouraged to do so provided it is in it's original,
        unmodified form.


        Introduction :
        
        Thank you for choosing to try Colorize! I trust that you will find it
        very useful in creating a more aesthetically pleasing computing
        environment! (if it doesn't, I messed up somewhere! <grin>)

        Colorize is ShareWare, or user supported software. That means you can
        use Colorize for free for a short demo period. If you find Colorize
        useful and wish to continue to use it, a registration fee of 12$ (US
        or Canadian) is required. Otherwise you must remove Colorize from
        your hard disk. Please see the file ORDER.TXT for information on
        obtaining the registered version of Colorize.

        Colorize is a simple software utility designed to modify the colors
        your computer normally uses via a special feature available on all
        VGA-compatable (this includes SVGA) graphics adapters known as the
        DAC register set, or as I call it, the "palette". This will allow you
        to change any of the default 16 colors to any of 262,144 available
        shades! And what's more, you can do it easily and quickly!
        
        Colorize will not run under Windows, or most other Graphical User
        Interface (GUI). This is because a most GUI's have thier own system
        of orginizing colors, one which is normally entirely different from
        the method Colorize uses. Colorize is intended for DOS systems only.


        What is Colorize? :
        
        Colorize is a software utility designed to make your computing
        environment more aesthetically pleasing by letting you alter the
        colors to a degree far greater than is normally supported by utility
        programs.

        On VGA systems, the colors in text (non-graphics) modes are orginized
        so that each color has a corresponding number. When a program wants
        to display text (or lines, boxes, etc.) in a certain color, it does
        not actually select a color, per se, but rather a number. VGA then
        interprets the number as a color. In text mode, there are 16 of these
        numbers, and they are numbered 0 to 15. Color number 0 is normally
        black. Color number 4, on the other hand, is normally red. What
        Colorize does, via your VGA card, is make it so that every instance
        of a certain color number is not neccesarily what it should be. That
        means, in plainer terms, you can change color 4 to be light pink,
        green, blue, a darker blue, or anything else you want out of the
        262,144 possible colors!!! Colorize does not alter your other
        programs at all. In fact, your other programs will not even realize
        that you have done anything. This is because Colorize uses the VGA
        hardware directly, bypassing DOS, and any other program which might
        be running completely!

        Unless something is wrong with your VGA graphics adapter, Colorize
        should never permanently alter your VGA hardware or harm it. If you
        have questions as to the safety of Colorize, I can only offer this:
        Nearly every game, utility, or any other kind of program that uses
        a graphics mode (i.e., Windows for example) does precisely the same
        thing that Colorize does. This is why a 256 color mode can provide
        near-photographic images: it is not actually 256 colors that can be
        displayed (this would nowhere near suffice) but rather it is 256
        different color numbers which can be each assigned to one of 262,144
        actual colors!

        Colorize will allow you to save your edited "palettes" to disk, via
        a "save" function. Later on, for instance once you have rebooted
        your system, Colorize will then be able to load one of these
        "palettes", thereby restoring your changed color codings.


        Using Colorize :
        
        To run Colorize from the DOS prompt, type in:

        COLORIZE <enter>

        A short delay screen will then pop up informing you that you are
        using the UNREGISTERED version of Colorize and that you are required
        to register (pay for) it if you continue to use it. When the message
        "Press any key." is displayed, do so.

        A window will then be displayed. It will look something like this:

   Ŀ
    Colorize!                               Copyright 1994 Calvin French 
   Ĵ
    [-+]                                                 
   Ĵ
    Ŀ Ŀ                                         
      Save                   Red     
                                                             
    Ŀ                 Green   
      Load                                                           
                     Blue    
    Ŀ Ĵ                                         
      Exit     Color:       Red [  ]     Green [  ]      Blue [  ]  
                                              
    File: .PAL  [<ALT+S> Save]   [<ALT+L> Load]   [<ALT+X> Exit] 
   

        The top line contains my copyight information.

        The next part contains 16 boxes. Each will have a different color
        inside. One will be highlighted. This is where you select what color
        number you would like to alter. To select it, click on it with the
        mouse, or use the + and - keys, respectively.

        The three buttons on the left hand side will allow you to save your
        palette, load a previously saved palette, or exit Colorize. These
        can be accessed by clicking with the mouse or using the shortcut
        keys: <ALT+S> to save, <ALT+L> to load, and <ALT+X> to exit.
        
        The big box in the middle will have your currently selected color
        inside. Below that (in the box beside the box marked "Color:") is
        the number of that color.

        To the right of that are three control bars, marked "Red", "Green"
        and "Blue". On each one of these bars will be an indicator (control
        knob) which you can move left or right with the right or left arrow
        keys or by clicking somewhere along that bar with the mouse. Below
        that are three fields (again marked "Red", "Green" and "Blue) which
        will contain the red, green, and blue brightness for the current
        color number. These values range from 0 to 63, giving you a
        possibility of 64 * 64 * 64 or 262,144 different shades!!!

        If you are using the keyboard, the up and down arrow keys will
        select which brightness rating you wish to change: red, green, or
        blue.
        
        When you press <ALT+S> or click on the save button, the mouse cursor
        will dissapear (if you have a mouse installed) and the cursor will
        appear in the file entry box at the bottom (next to the word
        "File:") Here, type in the name of the file you would like Colorize
        to save your palette to. When you press <ENTER>, the palette will
        be saved to that file and control will return to the palette editor.
        Pressing <ESC> will cancel this.

        When you press <ALT+L> or click on the load button, again you will
        be given a chance to enter a name in the file entry box. Type in the
        name of the file you would like to load (remember it must be in the
        current directory) When you press <ENTER>, Colorize will load that
        file from disk. If you try and load a non-Colorize PAL file, or a
        file that does not exist, Colorize will not complain or try and
        stop you. In the case of a nonexistant file, a 0 length file with
        the name you specified above will be dropped in your current
        directory. In the case of a non-Colorize PAL file, Colorize will
        misinterpret the data and your colors will become all "jumbled".

        Pressing <ALT+X> or clicking on the exit button will exit Colorize.
        If you have NOT saved the current palette, Colorize will NOT warn
        you before you exit. If you accidentally hit <ALT+X> when you wanted
        to save the palette you were editing, you have only to reload
        Colorize (via the DOS prompt) and re-access the save function! Also
        note that it is not neccesary to save or load in order to change the
        Colors of your desktop.


        When are the Colors Reset? :
        
        It is important for you to know that the changes Colorize makes to
        your VGA hardware are by no means permanent. Whenever you reboot
        your computer or exit from any kind of graphics-mode program, the
        colors will be totally reset to default.

        When you run a graphics mode application, (such as a VGA game, or
        Windows) two things must happen. First, a graphics mode will be
        initialized. Second, you will exit the program and the text mode will
        be re-established. Unfortunately, when either of these things happen,
        the VGA hardware's palette is completely reset. Games or applications
        which utilize the same technique Colorize uses have to deal with
        this as well, and they themselves must set the palette to thier own
        specifications AFTER the graphics mode has been set. When the text
        mode is set, again the same thing happens. For you to change the
        palette to your own colors, you will have to do the same thing, after
        the mode has been set (i.e., upon exit from a graphics mode
        application). This normally means loading up Colorize and reloading
        a previously saved PAL file, or if you have the registered version
        you can simply type in the name of an EXE file which PAL2EXE creates
        and the palette will be restored. Also, it is not too too terribly
        uncommon for a TEXT mode application to also alter the VGA palette.
        This is unfortunate again, for you. For example, I have seen a
        configuration utility for a very impressive virtual reality game
        which does just that. As well, every time you boot or <CTRL+ALT+DEL>
        your system, text mode is re-initialized. If you have registered,
        you can simply include the name of an EXE file PAL2EXE creates into
        your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or if you have not registered, you might
        also include the name of the Colorize EXE file, and go through the
        simple process of loading a PAL file.


        The Included PAL Files :
        
        Along with Colorize, I have included several PAL files to give you a
        better idea of what you can do with Colorize. However everyone has
        different tastes so you may not like either! Feel free to do whatever
        you like with the colors... there's nothing that says you can't make
        red into a dark green, or blue into yellow!
        
        DEFAULT.PAL contains the default palette, initialized every time text
        mode is set.

        PASTELS.PAL is a "foggier" version of the default palette, and is a
        nice change.

        SIMILAR.PAL is my favorite, and contains basically the default
        palette, only altered subtly to make it more brilliant.

        Remember, once you register you can convert these PAL files (and any
        others you create) into EXE's with the program PAL2EXE.


        PAL2EXE :
        
        When you register, you will recieve, along with your registered copy
        of Colorize, another program, PAL2EXE. PAL2EXE will convert a
        Colorize-format PAL file into an extremely compact 101-byte EXE file,
        which you may then simply invoke from the command line. PAL2EXE is
        not shareware, it is commercial software which you can only recieve
        through registering Colorize.


        Contacting Me :
        
        If you would like to get in touch with me, my mailing address is:

        Calvin French
        1319, 89th AVE SW
        Calgary, Alberta
        Canada
        T2V-0W9

        As well, I can be reached on FidoNet netmail through 1:134/40
        (TechTalk BBS) or 1:134/75 (RJ's Byteline BBS). FidoNet netmail is
        always preferred because it is both faster and easier (and cheaper).

        Also, I welcome comments and constructive criticisms.
