Braiden

No, what i mean by "skin-able" is that i can change the whole look of a program as i release it. Not so that you guys can skin it. Adding a skinning feature isnt worth it, as you said, it will just be there so i can change the look of it at will

It doesnt have those features yet, they are being added to new revisions of "X". If i WERE to add right click menu's I will probably release the program separately ( that program being the right-click menu ) which would alleviate the need for this. I could always make a .exe file which will clean out my program, if it ever needs a registry key or two. Actually, when i was making this, i didnt think you needed anything more than Regular Rights to access registry keys, but from what i searched, it generally wants Power User or Administrative Rights. At this particular point, im not too sure how to go about adding something to enable Admin Rights, or Power User for that matter ( i personally think giving Admin powers to a .net application is not all that wise, but power user i can handle ) No such key existing could also mean that i installed it to a pen drive, which I do for College work, so i can run the program anywhere. Paint.Net doesnt need any registry keys to work. Yea, I just notice that the controls dont draw themselves correctly, I will fix that problem tonight. That UI is NOT going to stay, i just threw it together for no real reason. the UI is going to be Skin-able soon ( once i figure out Custom Controls ). But skinning is at best a nuisance, for I would have to handle destroying each custom component ( sides, top & bottom, buttons, etc etc ), and also handle creating it on startup ( whop, there comes the Splash Screen ) I've figured out Late and Early Binding, all i have to do is recreate the menu bar you have in Paint.Net, so it draws correctly, then nullify the actions each plugin tries to acheive. It will have to have a Splash Screen to early bind 100 or so Plug-Ins Anybody want to make a mockup of what you would like a UI to look like? Im open to all suggestions Thanks for the feedback

meh.. its a filecount gltich.. ill clear it up.... it meant to be added to the numbers at the top of a group box, but only the number ended up there

New Version JUST Released, See First post for Details!!!

PDN Plug-In Manager is being Built.... again... Read first post for more Info

Mehr, I like mine better

Hi guys, i need some help here, what im trying to do i make a silhouette of a person rotate about 45* so that he looks likes hes standing in a different direction. Dont worry about his features looking askew, it is an all black colored picture, black and white bg. Im not sure how i could do this, so any help is appreciated!

Thats great there's going to be a Plugin Manager in 4.xx ( hopefully mine! ) Im also looking at .net .dll decompilation, .dll compilation and a UI for making Effects, in a simplified program, but that sort of complexity is out of my reach, for now atleast! I will also hopefully have a website up and running aswell, so i can have a Frontier for my ventures! Thanks for the support guys and gals!

Actually, building upon what Harold said, You would have to do several things before you can use System.Reflection properly; Build a project with: Splash Screen, No Forms. and also, Read through the \src of PDN, finding all the functions you want. Then, using the Splash screen as a Proxy, Call System.Reflection on the dll's containing the functions you want, e.g. Public effectloader () 'Add a function to check registry key for default installation location If File.Exist(.dll file location as string) = "true" then 'See :*: Dim Effectsapi as New System.Reflection(.dll file location as string) Else End If From that point onwards, you can just call the following code to use functions: Effectsapi.linedraw(Parameters 'Usually a .X, .Y, Color, Width) 'Or Assign a function to an individual variable, to save code space Dim linedraw As New Effectsapi.linedraw(Parameters 'Usually a .X, .Y, Color, Width) 'Then you can simply call: linedraw("50","50","Blue","2") Unfortunately i have had no luck with that, so yea, thats just a possible way of handling it. /=====/ another idea you could look at is using a C++ .dll as a Proxy, by using code from the web, let the .dll handle all the heavy codes ( probably like 10kb of code, but it saves space in the program ) and just call the .dll in namespace. Well, thats my idea anyhow!

Gosh, this is a pain in the butt. Ive fixed the Problem that has arised, but i probably should stress that improper use will throw errors, although im trying to add some error control to this. Ill try my best anyways

No, not yet, because, it assumes your working with single 'Effect' dll's, because those are 'mainly' what are used, although there are probably some that have and need folders. @D3z, Ill see what i can do, but i think your mostly all alone with that problem, ill check that its being compiled under the correct FX, becuase for some strange reason i have found my projects change FX as i add newer code, which may be it. For some reason all functions seem to work for me, ill check over the code, from the looks of that JIT im missing some "=" in an "If" function. Ill see what i can do tonight!

New Revision Version 1.3.5 New Features: -Plugin counting, shows exact numbers of Plugins loaded or available -Low-level Plugin Details ( this is a VERY low-level daignostic of the selected Plugin, but will be improved drastically in the very near future! ) Hopefully late binding can start being nice to me Then i can finish off the Plugin exploring features!

Thanks for the Ups @D3z It does tell you which are installed and which aren't, the left list, happens to be Plugins that aren't installed ( but can be ), and the right list is of the Plugins that are installed ( and can be removed! ) I think ill add a Plugin counter tonight, and try work on some of the more annoying feat's

Im not entirely sure its worth adding the ability to browse for the 'Effects' folder, because, to be truely honest, it would take just as long to copy the plugins, and paste them into the directory manually, so im sorry, but im not going to add the ability to browser for an installation directory, as it does that fine as long as you installed it properly. @Rick, Will PDN 4.0 have a built in plugin manager? Because if it is, how long would the manager be useful to the user's here? Anyways, ill keep adding now things to this project until its not useful anymore!

New Version out now: Paint.Net Plugin Manager 1.3 Bug Fixes: -Fixed Crash when a file existed in Both the Plugins Folder, and the Effects folder New Features: -If you have an older Version of a Plugin installed, and you use the Manager to install a new one, it now deletes the older version, and installs the new one! -Slight code improvements

Okay, i can fix that now. When you try to install 2 plugins with the same name which would you prefer: -A prompt asking you if you wanted to: A. Overwrite the Plugin B. Rename the Plugin your adding ,or, -Have the 2 clashing plugins version checked, and keeping the newer one? Either way it can be done, just one will take longer than another, until im sure which si wanted, ill just add some error checking, to stop crashes. Thanks!

Hey guys, seems im getting some good attention Im sorry for all the people who have a 'portable' install of Paint.Net, but finding an install of PDN that doesnt have a registry key, it like looking for a needle in a haystack, because i can know what drive, or folder, or sub sub sub folder its been placed in, doing a search like that would need me to put a Splash screen up, taking a good 20-40 seconds to load, so i dont think so @people who think it would be easier to save a shortcut to the 'Effects' folder, Remember, when a person first downloads a plugin, they arent going to know where to put it, because PDN doesnt have a 'Plugins' folder, instead it has an 'Effects' folder, which in my own experience, puzzled me on where i should place them! Also, touching upon an update manager, i think PDN does that fine itself, it updates itself regularly, and wanting to upgrade/downgrade? i dont think anybody in their right minds would want to! Soon PDN Plugin Manager will have some new functionality, too make it have more of a PDN feel, being able to bring up and LOAD any plugin you want! So you can see its Name, Version, and even its Interface! Also, new commands and possibly some advanced coding could allow for some very handy features! but ill keep those to myself until i can be sure i can achieve them! Ill try to update the Manager Daily, adding or fixing problems or new features. Thanks guys!

Thanks Miguel, It needs work, but so do all works in progress. Alteast it has the basics down, and does its job, for the most part :wink: Im happy i got the installation directory checking system in, that made plugins easier to find, move and later on check.

Hi, welcome to the Forums, Ill try not to 'bite the newbies' If you wish to take your programming anywhere, 'ripping' proper softwares tools is not the way to go. Try doing that with Photoshop and youll find your self with either a Cease and Decist, or a Law Suit, or both. Although this is Open-Source ( i think ? ), your better to start small dude, jumping straight into heavy code and missing out the rudimentary stuff is going to make you obsolete in the programming world. Maybe ask for some advice on how to make your own functions, and usually someone will post a template, or some sample code to get you on your way!

Pfft, you just know you'll lose against me No thats cool, thanks mate!

Heh, thanks! In general terms, it will look the same across both XP/Vista, regardless of what theme you are using, which is good. Im going to Edit the first posts with screen shots and more formatted Details, as i think that it looks sloppy Any Features you think i should add?

@Mike Sorry about my spelling, i did mean you, i hope to hear from you soon ! New Version, fixed several low level bugs ( speeds, reliability, file checking etc etc ) -Now Finds the Installation path itself! -Now process's most ( if not all ) commands in under 0.2 Seconds! -Fixed colours looking askew ( Link, Boxes, how the program 'Draws' itself on different OS ( XP/Vista ) Please, if there is anything you think should be added to this, do tell me, so we can have a 200% awesome Program for us to use!

Maybe once i finish the Paint.Net Plugin Manager, i could work on that. Also, i think that 4.0 is quite a way away, as its a total rewrite ( or so i hear ) most plugins will probably need appending to! You should get into the plugin making scene, also, there are several reasons why PDN auto levels are better, they are made by a number of people ,all appending improvements to the code, by our great mathematical wizzy's! Also, other programs are made by generally one or two people, so their thoughts are streamlined, and the other alternatives are usually Expensive, so are based on Quantity over quality, where as we are the opposite!

Were you talking about me when you said 'Kite'? Hah, yea sorry, was early morning before college, had to leave quickly so yea. Ill pm you some time, im waiting for your pm ^ You code in both VB.net and C#? If not ill send you code converted to what ever language you script in ( unless its C++ ) Thanks

It will soon. At this particular moment, no, I need to make an installer, or search the registry for its HKEY, and make the directory that, either way works, the Installer will be better in the long run, but until this becomes a mojor hassle ( because, in honesty, more people will have 'Program Files' as their directory. I would use .ini files, but from ive had to do, the code can get quite messy, so i would rather use the 'not so pretty' "Imports System.IO" and use StreamReader as such: Imports System IO() Dim contents as String Dim objReader as New StreamReader() contents = objStreamReader.ReadLines("C:\File.txt") Thats probably slightly wrong, but the idea is there. By tonight, i will have some more features added, probably: -Mass Remove/Add -Correct .DLL Directory ( Mentioned Above ) I will also work on being able to show Details about a selected .dll so you can manage several .dll's for the same thing, as some might be out dated etc etc, Also, ill have to get some help from Mite ( Got is right now ) and Rick, but also doing a dll comparison, so you can know if a .dll WILL work with the current Paint.Net version your using! Thanks guys, feedback is awesome, bring it on!