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SearedIce

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Posts posted by SearedIce

  1. Some of you may be familiar with "AutoHotKey" or "AutoIt". These programs give a Windows computer Apple-script-like capabilities. You can automate simple tasks that are boring/time-consuming, bind new hotkeys for things, run software, manage the clipboard, etc. etc. etc.

    I thought it'd be cool to use the icons on my desktop in my desktop's background in some way ... to mimic next-gen OS GUI effects, if at least on the desktop...

    I took a screenshot of my current desktop to show what I mean (right now, glowing icons):

    http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~drake/bgu/BGU01.jpg

    Anyway... so I wrote a script for AutoIt that does the following:

    Minimizes all windows

    Changes the desktop background to "None"

    Screenshots the desktop icons

    Opens PDN

    Pastes the screenshot to a new image

    Applies a Gaussian Blur

    Saves the image

    Applies the image as my computer background

    The steps could be changed, and any effects (or combinations of effects could be used). You could even have it add an image to the mix (a normal background).

    Here's the script file:

    http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~drake/bgu/BackgroundUpdate.au3

    With a script, if the icons on my desktop change (move files around or install a new program), I just run the script and it takes less than 30 seconds to produce a new background.

    Now, this may not seem desireable to most, but I happen to like how it works out and I think the concepts could be applied to other PDN automation tasks. Also, it sure did impress my girlfriend!

    AutoIt (open source = free!):

    http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/

    -John

  2. You may be looking for "feathering," a feature not in PDN.

    If you truly are talking about antialiasing, there's only really one genuine effect it has, and the first squiggle surely has it. For example, straight parts of the line are prefectly sharp, and angled parts attempt to be perfectly sharp. In the 3rd line there, nothing is sharp.

  3. Arctan / inverse tangent

    That's what you need for finding the angle.

    y=mx+b

    m = rise/run

    rise/run = y/x

    tan(a)=y/x

    so...

    arctan(y/x)=a

    (what I have there is not at all code...I'm not sure of the syntax for the trig functions in PDN source/C#...I've used them in effects before, though, so if you need, I can help figure it all out)

    You may need to adjust this in the code a bit (since the images have the origin at the top left not the bottom left), but it should do the job.

  4. The "white" areas in the Paint.net logo at the top-left of this page are not actually 100% white. The white on that image has a brightness value of 99. See for yourself :)

    It's been bothering me because my laptop screen is actually showing that small difference in brightness...the logo looks like it's in a grey box.

  5. I'm not sure exactly which build this was implemented in, but I've found that the Ctrl+Spacebar shortcut for the thumbnail dropdown is rather inconvenient.

    I'm used to holding both Ctrl and Space at the same time to both zoom and pan an image for detailed work. Now, however, when I'm doing this sort of work, I have to make sure I totally stop pressing one of the keys before depressing the other. I often accidentally hit them both at the same time.

    There's no easy way now to activate both zoom and pan, moving around an image efficiently.

    Thanks for considering this problem,

    John

  6. Education.

    Also, maybe the text is ugly...? As long as you aren't copying beyond what you're allowed, it's pefectly legal. This is a very tricky topic because, for example, even your browser technically copies the image when it downloads it.

    As long as the stuff is for totally private, education-oriented work, no one will ever know and no one will ever care.

  7. You just need to learn the ways of modern programming. There are a lot of approaches to this. I prefer the "teach yourself" method...

    Buy a book or two.

    Look up tutorials online.

    Maybe start with a simpler language, then make the switch.

    If you really want to do it hard-core style, download a bunch of C# code and figure it out on your own by looking at it.

    You can take a programming class...if you're not in a school that offers this, your local community college probably has a course you can take now or during next summer.

    Ask your friends...you might be able to find someone who can help you 1-1 mentor-style.

  8. The GNU license was originally written for the GNU project:

    GNU is a free operating system consisting of a kernel, libraries, system utilities, compilers, and end-user applications. Its name is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix", which was chosen because its design is Unix-like, but differs from Unix by being free software and by not containing any UNIX code.

    The GNU license is commonly called the GPL or "General Public License"

    The GPL grants the recipients of a computer program the following rights:

    the right to run the program, for any desired purpose.

    the right to study how the program works, and modify it. (Access to the source code is a precondition for this)

    the right to redistribute copies.

    the right to improve the program, and release the improvements to the public. (Access to the source code is a precondition for this)

  9. Yeah...this is a problem with the code that currently determines where your cursor is over the image. I think Rick said it will eventually be fixed with a more precise system.

    I know how annoying this can be nickspacek...

    If you just have to move it, you can actually click and drag outside of the selection area (as long as your cursor is a black arrow, and not a hand).

  10. Raven, that will work, but it's going to take a long time if the image is the size of any normal photograph...there could be thousands of noisey areas on the image!

    There are some tricks you can use to make the noise less apparent, but there's no real way to get rid of it entirely. For example, you can blur the image a bit, but then the image will still be blurry and will probably still have noise.

    Some people have methods they love to no end, but I haven't seen anything that does a perfect job...

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