THE GRAPHIC EXCHANGE review
By Wayne Short
Copyright (c) 1991 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
'The GRAPHIC EXCHANGE' is a graphics conversion utility for the Apple IIGS.
With The Graphic Exchange (TGE) you can pass virtually any Apple II graphics image between application programs. This includes programs such as 'Print Shop', 'Publish It!', 'Dazzle Draw' and 'AppleWorks GS'. Facilities also exist for converting graphics created on other platforms such as the Macintosh and Amiga. A scaling facility is available to handle the different resolution of these graphics formats.
The program's author, John MacLean, is a long-time member of the AUG and the members have always been fortunate enough to see his work evolve over a period of years.
The program originally started life as a ProDOS 8 program and was known as the 'Graphics Tourer'. The current version is 4.2.1 and is now fully GSOS compatible. The desktop interface is used with pull-down menus and you have full access to NDAs and CDAs.
When you start TGE from the Finder you are greeted with the familiar desktop menu bar and a window containing three scrolling control lists which appear as columns. The first column contains all of the graphics toolsets available. The second column contains all of the original graphics loaded. The third column holds all of the destination or converted graphics images.
TGE is modular in that individual toolsets loaded at bootup control the graphics conversion. This means that if a new program is released having a specialised format a new toolset could be written by its Authors and supplied to assist graphics conversion.
The program is originally published with 32 toolsets including:
1. Low Resolution
2. Double Low Resolution
3. High Resolution
3. Double High Resolution
4. 320 Resolution Screen (SHR)
5. 320 Resolution Page (SHR)
6. 640 Resolution Screen (SHR)
7. 640 Resolution Page (SHR)
8. Print Shop Graphic (DOS 3.3)
9. Print Shop Graphic GS
10. QuickDraw Icon
11. MacPaint Screen
12. MacPaint Document
13. Newsroom Clip Art
14. Newsroom Photo Mono
15. Unrestricted 320 RGB
The QuickDraw Icon toolset is interesting in that it allows you to turn your favorite graphics into icons usable by the finder.
After loading an "Original Graphic" into TGE, various transfer modes are available. These are BATCH, STANDARD, SCALED and FULL SCREEN. The simplest to use is the Batch Transfer Mode. This converts the graphic to the new format without scaling. If you use the OPTION key you may select a group of files for conversion and leave the computer unattended while each one takes place. The "Destination Graphic" may then be saved to disk.
The other transfer modes of interest are:
The STANDARD TRANSFER mode converts graphics images pixel for pixel. This mode is useful for extracting parts of an image using the "mask" function. This allows you to "hold back" one or more existing colors of the source. This would allow you to keep a background colour from being transferred over. An additional feature is the adjustment of translation colours. This lets you control exactly which colours in the original will be converted to which colours in the destination graphic.
SCALED TRANSFER mode allows you to specify the size of the destination graphic and select all or part of the source graphic to be used in the conversion. This mode allows you to compensate for differences in resolution between graphics formats (e.g. Apple IIGS and Macintosh). A composite destination graphic could also be constructed from several 'scaled' original graphics. (Useful for creating Hypermedia clip art libraries.) You can if desired, do making and colour translations also.
FULL (SCREEN) TRANSFER mode converts all of the source graphic, filling the screen of the destination graphic in the format selected. Masking and colour translations are available also.
Graphics may be disposed of, to free memory, when they are no longer needed.
A SLIDESHOW option allows you to examine all graphics of a particular type in a directory or even a hard disk. The graphics are kept only temporarily in memory therefore large slide shows are possible. It is also is just a good way just to impress your friends.
The program is published by Roger Wagner Publishing in the United States. The program along with the original toolsets is shipped on two 3.5 inch disks and installable on a hard-drive. A well-written 56 page manual completes the package.
A further enhancement, TGE Library Disk #1 is now shipping on a single 3.5 inch disk. Twenty new Toolsets are provided including:
1. GIF 320 x 200 (colour)
2. GIF 320 x 400 (colour)
3. GIF 320 x 200 (gray)
4. GIF 320 x 400 (gray)
5. GIF 640 x 200 (gray)
6. GIF 640 x 400 (gray)
7. Print Shop Borders
8. Print Shop Gs Borders
9. 3200 Screen
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is the recognised standard for the porting of graphics between various computer platforms. The 3200 graphics are new format the allow up to 3200 colours to be displayed on the GS screen!
If you are thinking of transferring graphics between the Macintosh and the Apple IIGS then TGE is the ideal medium used in conjunction with the 'Apple File Exchange' for transferring files between operating systems.
Most existing IIGS setups will be able to run this program. You only need 1 MEGABYTE of memory, an Apple mouse and a 3.5 drive. I found though that more memory is useful, particularly when you are using BATCH transfer mode for converting several graphics at once. This is especially true when you are dealing with GIF pictures which consume large amounts of machine memory and disk space.
The program also ships with the ProDos 8 version of TGE (version 3.7) because of its ability to directly read DOS 3.3 and Macintosh disks.
Hypercard IIGS has sparked renewed interest in the possibility of transferring graphics between the IIGS and Macintosh. The Mac screen resolution is 546 (horizontal) by 342 (vertical). Rather than converting to the native SHR graphics directly, I obtained a better result by converting to the GIF 640 x 400 (gray mode) first.
John MacLean is currently working on further toolsets so there is a good chance another Library disk will be available some time in the future.
TGE is a worthwhile investment if you do a lot of work with graphics, collecting them from various sources to use in DeskTop Publishing projects, slide shows, and Hypermedia development with either HyperStudio or HyperCard GS.
Program: The Graphic Exchange
Author: John MacLean
Hardware: Apple IIGS, 1MB memory, one 3.5 inch drive,
mouse (hard drive recommended).
Publisher: Roger Wagner Publishing, Inc.
Distributor: II Series Software (02)606-9343
Cost: $59.95
Program : The Graphic Exchange Library Disk #1
Author : John MacLean
Cost : $19.95 (US dollars)

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