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                              ANAMORPH ME!
                            by Phillip Kent
                              Version 0.2
                            21 February 2001
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                             INTRODUCTION

"Anamorph Me!" is a free, small software application that can read
images in the most common formats (e.g. JPEG, BMP - but not GIF, since
this is a commercial format) and carry out a range of anamorphic
transformations on them - including oblique, cylindical mirror and
conical mirror. I'm developing this software myself using Visual C++
and it'll some time for it to evolve into something absolutely
professional-looking. Please note that this software is written for
Microsoft Windows operating systems (95/98/ME/NT/2000) only.

Please note that this is only a prototype version. Features that will 
be added later are listed below. At the moment, there is no online
help documentation - please look at the User Guide, which is available
on the web site.

                              DOWNLOADING

You can download the program from 
   http://www.anamorphosis.com/software.html

More specifically:
   http://www.anamorphosis.com/anamorphme02.zip
      [252 Kbytes, and you'll need an unzip program]
       
When unzipped, you should have a single file "AnamorphMe.exe" (760
KB). To run it, just double-click on the file (in the normal Windows
fashion). Do "Open" in the file menu to load in any JPG, BMP, TIFF,
etc. image (but not GIF), click on "Anamorph" and start
experimenting. One thing to watch out for is that the transformed
images are always made larger than the original - there is no
automatic scaling down - so the output images can get very large. Note
that under the "Image" menu you can Resize images before anamorphing
them. For the mirror anamorphs you'll need mirrors to view them - the most 
convenient material is reflective "Mylar" plastic. The User Guide gives
instructions on how to construct mirrors.

Here also are a few images to try things out on:

www.anamorphosis.com/grid.jpg  [a plain black-on-white grid]

www.anamorphosis.com/checker-board.bmp  [an 8x8 grid of squares]

www.anamorphosis.com/deGheyn-skull.jpg [detail from a "Vanitas" by
Jacques deGheyn, c. 1603, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York]

For more art images to work with, visit The Artchive: www.artchive.com .


                             INSTALLATION

There is no installation (or uninstallation) procedure for this
experimental version. Simply put the AnamorphMe.exe file in any
convenient location - you can make a shortcut to it, or include it in
the "Start" menu in the usual ways.


                     LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS

(1) This is a prototype version, and it will break under some 
    circumstances. Make sure to save immediately any anamorphic images 
    that you want to keep. You can save images by doing "Save As..." from 
    the File menu. Unfortunately, the "Save changes" dialogue when you close 
    down a window does NOT work for saving.

(2) This program needs a Microsoft library file called "MFC42.DLL" to be 
    installed on your computer. If you are using Windows 95, it's likely 
    that you'll get an error message saying that this file cannot be found. 
    You can get a free library update from the Microsoft web site.

(3) Printing may be erratic, especially when using a USB connection.

(4) The "Zoom" mode (magnifying glass icon in the tool bar) DOES
    work for zooming out - if you press the Ctrl key whilst you
    click the mouse inside the image, the image will resize to fit 
    within the window.


                          FORTHCOMING FEATURES

You'll notice that several items in the program menus are "greyed out". 
These will be implemented in the next version:
 * a TWAIN interface for digital cameras and scanners;
 * a "Copy" option so that you can paste images directly into the program from 
   the Windows clipboard;
 * an Anamorph option implementing the exact transformation for a cylindrical
   mirror;
 * an Anamorph option for pyramidal mirrors.


                      COPYRIGHT AND RESTRICTIONS

"Anamorph Me!" is copyright Phillip Kent 2001. The program is based on 
the following copyrighted code:
 * Paintlib C++ class library, copyright Ulrich von Zadow, 1996-2000
 * "Piclook" application, copyright Bernard Delmee, 1998
For information and downloads for Paintlib, see
   http://www.paintlib.de

"Anamorph Me!" is made freely available for non-commercial purposes only.
It is provided "as is" and is not warranted to be suitable for any
particular purpose.

For commercial use, please contact me via p.kent@mail.com .


                               FEEDBACK

Any comments on the software are extremely welcome, via email to
p.kent@mail.com . If you do download and use it, I'd appreciate an
email so I can keep track of who is using it.

For occasional news about the software and web site, you can join the
mailing list via the input box at www.anamorphosis.com .