IrfanPaint - Early Betas

[MItaly]

Both are older versions of IrfanPaint; download the latest version (b0.4.2.40) here.
(BTW, the bug you said has been corrected in b0.4.1.39)

[matera]

No odd behavior for me (in first five fun minutes lol).

Oh, and WOW cool

[Sam_Zen]

I've been a passive reader here so far, but I've decided to join the beta-testing.
So I DL'd build 0.4.2.40.
I looked in the zip. What's this alien ini-file doing there ? I certainly hope that my current ini-file will not be overwritten by that one, with all it's non-existing paths, etc.

Apart from all the brush and paint stuff, I will focus on the options of the selection of areas.

[matera]

Me likes betas.

I like the new reverting behavior of the Dropper tool, but it's buggggggyyyyyyy!

Select Brush, use dropper tool, width selector grays out
It stays grayed until line/arrow or shape selected, then brush width can be changed

Then select circle, use dropper tool, and BANG there is a big oval that I did not draw. Same with square. Drawn from I'm not sure where to point of color selection.

Select line - use dropper - BANG! a line draws from the upper-left corner or from the last end-point(?) to the spot where I picked the color.

No problem with the bucket fill

The instantly drawn objects appear only after some initial fiddling with the brush and dropper, not immediately if the dropper is the first tool used.

Interesting feature potential of line-draw bug, see attached image
All lines were drawn by selecting the color at the fartest point from the central common origin.

[ChuckE]

I DL'd build 0.4.2.40.
I looked in the zip. What's this alien ini-file doing there ? I certainly hope that my current ini-file will not be overwritten by that one, with all it's non-existing paths, etc.

There are only two files in there that you really need. The "i_view32.exe" and the "Paint.dll"

"i_view32.exe" is needed because it provides for the <F12> hook to call up the "Paint.dll"

Once you have the modified "i_view32.exe" in place (which should be in the top IrfanView install directory) you will not need to replace it again (until there is some new version of IrfanView, at least). Oh, and by the way, that modified "i_view32.exe" does have the GIF-fix in it, thank you MItaly for having the foresight to provide that updated version.

The "Paint.dll" is the real work of the IrfanPaint added functions. And that is why MItaly provides for just the versions of the .dll's as he updates the Beta versions. You only need to overwrite the "Paint.dll" with a new version. It should be located in the IrfanView\Plugins directory.

If you have placed the Zip provided "i_view.ini" over your current one, you have lost all your settings. Sorry.
MItaly, if you are reading this, I really think you ought to remove that from your Zip file. It is going to screw up people's installs.

[MItaly]

Apart from all the brush and paint stuff, I will focus on the options of the selection of areas.

IrfanPaint doesn't add selection capabilities. It would be too messy to make complex selections them work with the primitive selection system of IV.

I like the new reverting behavior of the Dropper tool, but it's buggggggyyyyyyy!

Whops... I'll fix it for the next release.

MItaly, if you are reading this, I really think you ought to remove that from your Zip file. It is going to screw up people's installs.

Ok, I'll remove it.

[MItaly]

All fixed. The new maintenance release is online, ready to download.

[Sjef]

Problem solved... Pen and Brush settings? It's getting more and more interesting!!

[MItaly]

Yes, and more and more complex ; the sources now consist of almost 4000 rows of code!
Little anticipation: in the next release I'm going to add a new tool to easily unbend the scanned images (a great idea by Irfan); all you have to do is to "underline" a portion of image that must become horizontal (e.g. a line of text): IrfanPaint calculates the angle and tells to IV to rotate the image. I hope it will be useful.

[Sjef]

You're afraid IrfanPaint will overwrite your ini file. Does this mean you only have one sample of IV on your harddrive?

[Sjef]

Tremendous! I assume this will be a welcome option for a lot of IV/IP users. Could this parameter (the angle of the drawn line) not be sent to the ?Rotate by angle? dialog (Ctrl+U)? Maybe this would take you a lot of work out of hands (and a lot of code). From now on I'll keep visiting your site to download the latest version. Thanks and lots of succes!

[MItaly]

Could this parameter (the angle of the drawn line) not be sent to the ‘Rotate by angle’ dialog (Ctrl+U)?

Yes, it could, but I don't see the usefulness of this parameter if not passed to IV to perform the rotation.

Maybe this would take you a lot of work out of hands (and a lot of code).

It is not so much work: the only thing IP must take care of for this tool is the UI; once calculated the angle IP just have to send it to IV.

From now on I'll keep visiting your site to download the latest version. Thanks and lots of succes!

Thank you!

[ChuckE]

I think what Sam_Zen might have been concerned about with overwriting his current .ini file is that if there were some settings already personalized (such as desired background colors, or window positions, or particular file storage areas) then overwriting the current .ini with a new one will wipe those out. Not a TERRIBLE thing, of course, but an inconvenience.

Now that the MItaly has removed the .ini file from the package, that is no longer a problem. (Thanks!)

[Sam_Zen]

2 ChuckE
When it comes to an installation, I'm a cautious person. So if I see any irregularity, I rather risk a stupid question, than the risk of wasting work to recover things, before proceeding.

IrfanPaint doesn't add selection capabilities.

A pity. I had hoped for a 'magic wand'. But I understand the technical consequences.
But enough nice things left. You're doing a fine job here !

[matera]

WOH! That scan straightener sounds like manna from Heaven on a platinum platter! I drool in anticipation.

BTW, it's really a treat already. It saves a lot of time over opening an image in something slower just to do a small touch-up. I find the clone tool very handy.

One other thing about the dropper - not a bug, but definitely not a feature. Before the reversion, it was possible to drag it over an area until it hit the right pixel. I miss that. Now I have to zoom or use a magnifier to find the right pixel or reselect umpteen times. I was wondering...a tiny magnifying selection window that would show about a ten-pixel area...cross-hairs or a dot...it's nice to dream.