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***        DELTAVIEW 2oo5        ***
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*** http://deltaview.xdeltax.com ***
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*** (c) 2004/2005 thomas koehler ***
*** email: deltaview@xdeltax.com ***
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              OVERVIEW
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i wrote this software because i need an application for
- fast and easy (pre-)viewing the digital pictures i shoot with digial cameras
  - reading the exif information of the digital pictures
  - analysing the overexposed areas of an image
  - viewing the histogram of a picture
- sort the good images for processing from the rest
- processing the images
  - rotate the images (autorotate the images by the exif information tag)
  - crop the images
  - filter them with photoshop plugins
  - save the processed images
- creating contactsheets
- creating thumbnails of the best images for uploading to my homepage
- quickstart of my favorite external applications for further processing the images

no single software application fits all my need.
most of them are filled with useless features resulting in slow application startup.
i had to waste my time switching between serveral applications.
as a result of this i wrote this program.

here is a list of my favorite digital processing and viewing applications:
- deltaview (freeware): preview, copy, crop, filter with ps-plugins, creating thumbs of many images
- phaseone c1 pro (commercial): very fast viewing and converting digital camera raw files
- adobe photoshop (commercial): deep processing of the favorite images
- photoline32 (commercial): deep processing of the favorite images
- Shortcut S-Spline PRO (commercial): high quality expanding image dimensions
- Pixup v1.3 (freeware): fast preview and simple 2:3 cropping of many images
- Exif Reader v3.0 (freeware): exif informations oif single images
- JK FixFoto (commercial): some good and easy to use image processing routines

here is the list of my favorite photoshop compatible plugins:
- Xe847 Pro (commercial): very good and natural color correction of jpeg images



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           TIPS and HINTS
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# DRAG & DROP a directory or an image from the explorer to the application window.
  if you drop a directory -> the directoy is changed to this directory.
  if you drop a imagefile -> the image is opened (if it is a valid image) in the mainframe.
# ABORT most of the processing operations by pressing the ESC (escape) key
# REFRESH the directory listing / thumbnail preview by pressing F5-function key
# ZOOM IN and OUT the displayed image with the mouse-wheel.
# click the "ZOOM"-factor inside the statusbar to change the ZOOM mode to "fit-to-screen"/"original-size"
# MOVE the image (if the image is bigger than main-frame) with the scrollbars (activate in OPTIONS menu)
  or by holding the CTRL(STRG)-KEY and the left mouse button.
# click the EXIF-information field to toggle autohide EXIF-info.field mode
# double-click the image to ZOOM IN and right-click the image to ZOOM OUT.
# all image SAVE operations will be done with the JPEG QUALITY settings you choosed in the "set jpeg quality" dialog

menu structure
""""""""""""""
FILE menu
  set jpeg loading quality
    here you choose the quality a image is loaded for viewing and processing
    for viewing, "medium quality" is recommended and "low" can be uses.
    but do *not* save files loaded with medium or low quality.
    for image processing, always and only use "max.quality" setting.
    max.quality: for image processing and saving this quality setting is the only choise!
    med.quality: if you just want to view the pictures use this setting to speed up loading.
                 the quality is good enough for viewing the pictures but *not* for saving.
    low.quality: loading is faster but quality is bad.
    *only save images you have loaded with "max.quality"-setting*
  set jpeg saving quality
    here you choose the quality a image is saved.
    values between 75% and 95% al recommended for good quality.
    higher values generate bigger files.
    *this setting only affects saving operations*

VIEW menu
  show thumbnail images
    if this option is marked, all valid jpeg files in the active directory will be shown as
    miniatur images (thumbnails).
    if this option is unchecked, only the filenames and size is shown. this is much faster.

OPTIONS menu
  show contactsheet of directory
    if this option is checked, every time the directory is changed a contactsheet of all valid
    images of this directory if generated.
    he contactsheet is only generated automatic if no other image is loaded inside the main-frame.
    to switch back to auto-generating the contactsheet just process generating contactsheet manualy
    in the EXTRAS-menu.
  image view mode
    fit to screen: the image is automatic zommed to fit inside main frame. the image will not be resized!
    original size: the image is displayed in original size. the image can be zommed and scrolled.
    *every time a new image is loaded to the main-frame this option is used*
    *click at the ZOOM-factor visualization in the statusbar to toggle the display mode*
  set jpeg saving quality
    look in FILE menu for description
  autorotate at load
    every new image you load into the main-frame is automaticly rotated to normal orientation
    if the jpeg have exif information included providing the image orientation.
    most new digital cameras save this information. if this information is not provided the
    image will be left unchanged.
    if you unmark this option you can manually process it in the IMAGE-menu.
  show thumbnail filenames
    if "show thumbnail images" option in VIEW menu is checked, you can see the name of each
    thumbnail inside the image. otherwise only the image is shown.
  show thumbnail information
    if thsi option is checked, a small hint-window providing some file-information is shown
    if you hold the mouse-pointer over a thumbnail.
  autosave settings
    checked: if you close the application all settings, window position and size, and the
    last active directory will be stored to the init-file and automaticly restored at
    appication restart.

WINDOW menu
  show exif information field
    shows the filename, display quality, exif and iptcinformtion and shows the
    a * in front of the filename indicates that the image contains unsaved changes.
    visible at the right side of the main-frame.
    *click at the EXIF-information field (is visible) and the "autohide-mode" is toggled*
    *mouse-over the Exif-info.field and the background fades from transparent to black*
  autohide exif information field
    checked: if "show exif information field" is checked, the exif-info.field will be hidden automticly
    and will be shown if the mouse is moved at the very right border of the main-frame.
  show memo field
    provides (status) information about all processing operations done.
    visible at the bottom of the main-frame
  autohide memo field
    will be shown if the mouse is moved to the bottom of the main-frame.
  view thumbnails
    shows a list of all valid image files in the active directory.
    contains the "directory select box"
    visible at the left side of the main-frame
  autohide thumbnails
    will be shown if the mouse is moved to the very left of the main-frame.
  directory select box
    change the active directory by clicking a new directory.

VIEW menu
  show over exposure warning
    checked: all possible over-exposed areas of the main-frame image will blink.
  show histogram
    calculates a histogram of the main-frame image.
    calculation may take some time depending on image-size and cpu-speed.
    the histogram is shown inside the "exif information field".
    *if "exif information field" is switched off, the histogram in not visible.*
  show miniatur image
    checked: every image loaded to the main-frame is shown in a miniatur frame at the
    lower-left border of the main-frame.
  show embedded thumbnail
    checked: most jpeg file containing exif information holds an embedded thumbnail
    inside the exif-structure. this image can be extracted and shown.
    it always shows the original image taken from the camera and is left unchanged by
    all image processing done to the image.
    if you want this thumbnail removed, use the remove option in the EXIF/IPTC menu.
    some image processing application only show this image as a fast preview.
    but the main image can look different after image processing operations.

LAYER
  crop layer
    activate the crop layer. the layer can be moved by clicking inside the layer
    and resized by draging its frame-border points.
    if you double-click inside the layer-area the image is cropped (and resized) to
    the layer-dimensions.
    if you right-click inside the layer-area, the layer is maximized to image dimensions.
    the layer dimsensions are shown is the statusbar.
    the layer dimesnsions is affected by the "layer format".
  layer format
    free size : the layer can 
    1:1 format:
    2:3 format:
  drag layer mode
    checked: if the crop-layer or the zoom-layer is active you can click and hold the
    left mouse button outside the layer area to create new sized layer.
    *try it - its a nice feature*
    *works only if you click inside the main-frame image but outside the active layer*
  zoom layer
    same as crop-layer but only zoomes the layer area to screen.

EXTRAS
  contactsheet
    create a image containing all valid jpeg images of the active directory in a small
    thumbnail preview.
    you can save this contactsheet as a jpeg to disk with the SAVE or SAVE AS... operation.
