JDraw Help

The two boxes to the right and left of the gradient palette represent the two colours that define the gradient fill. Double-click them to modify their RGB and alpha values.

Select one of the boxes between the two gradient colours to specify the direction of the gradient fill. From left to right and row by row these can be the following:

• Top to bottom
• Left to right
• Upper left corner to lower right corner
• Lower left corner to upper right corner
• Top to middle
• Left to middle
• Upper left corner to middle
• Lower left corner to middle

The "Cycle" check box affects the fill patterns in the second row. After reaching the middle, the colour change is repeated back to the starting colour.

The "Invert" check box applies to all patterns and swaps the two selected colours with each other.

Creates a new 32x32 picture using the default palette.

Asks for a file name and loads the selected picture.

Opens a new window. Here you can choose a file filter and the directory that will recursively be searched for images. Just hit the "Search" button to begin. The images that are found will be displayed by small thumb nails. Left-click on such a thumb nail to open yet another window displaying the image at full size. If you want to edit it in JDraw, choose "Open" in this window.

Saving as GIF or ICO will ask you to reduce colours, if the picture's palettes use more than 255 colours.
Note - Saving as PNG refers only to the current frame. Saving multiple frames in a PNG is not supported.

Asks for a file name and saves the picture.

Compresses the picture before it's saved. (see the corresponding menu item)

Brings up JDraw's setting dialog. (see The settings dialog)

Let's you reopen one of the last ten images you previously worked on.

Quits JDraw

Undoes the last drawing action.
Note - Only the primitive tool actions can be undone. Complex functions like colour reduction or changing the frame settings cannot be undone.The undo function is somewhat untrustworthy after a complex change. So save often. :)

Redoes the last undone action.

Asks for the new dimension and resizes the picture (without scaling it).

Crops the image to the currently selected clip (see tools section).

Asks for the new dimension and scales the picture. You can choose between smooth, average and fast scaling. Scaling can increase the size of your palette.

Flips the currently selected clip horizontally (see tools section).

Flips the currently selected clip vertically (see tools section).

Rotates the currently selected clip 90º clock-wise. (see tools section).

Removes all unused colours in the picture's palettes. Removes local palettes if they do not differ from the global palette.

Combines similar colours until all frames of this picture use maximally 255 colours.

Replaces all (semi-)transparent colours with their opaque equivalent.

Increases the current grid size by 1.

Decreases the current grid size by 1.

Sets the previous grid size.

Sets the maximum grid size (25x25 pixels)

Sets the minimum grid size (1x1 pixels, displays the picture in its original size)

Shows or hides the grid lines.

Shows or hides the palette and tool panels.

Specifies what is visible, if a pixel is transparent. If "Pattern" is selected, the pictures background is displayed as tiny gray tiles. If "Colour" is selected the picture's background colour shines through transparent pixels.

Displays the current picture as an animated GIF. Behaves like a preview, if the picture contains only a single frame.

Adds a new frame to the picture.

Removes the current frame from the picture.

Asks for a rotation angle (-360º..+360º) and rotates the current frame.

Asks for a file name, reads the corresponding image and pastes it into the current frame.

Grayscales the current frame. You're asked to set two parameters that define how strong the effect will be.

Opens the "Frame Settings" dialog. See section 6.

Either creates a local palette for the current frame or discards it to use the picture's global palette.

Adds a new colour to the frame's palette.

Replaces all pixels in the current foreground colour with the background colour and vice versa.

Removes the current foreground colour from the frame's palette. All pixels in this colour are replaced with the palette's first colour (#0).

Sorts the palette by the colours' HSB values (HSB=hue, saturation, brightness).

Removes all unused colours in the current palette. All frames using this palette are considered.

Combines similar colours until the current palette uses maximally 255 colours. All frames using this palette are considered.

Replaces all (semi-)transparent colours in the current palette with their opaque aquivalent. All frames using this palette are considered.

Displays JDraw's About dialog to tell you about Source Forge and J-Domain.

Displays this document as online help.

The pixel tool let's you draw single pixels. Click and drag the mouse over the draw panel to set pixels. Pressing the left mouse button sets pixels in the current foreground colour, the right mouse button sets the background colour.

The colour picker selects a colour when you click on a pixel in the drawing panel. Left-clicking sets the foreground colour, right-clicking the background colour.

The line tool draws lines. Click into the drawing panel and drag the mouse to the line's end point. Doing this using the left mouse button draws the line in the foreground colour, the right mouse button uses the background colour. The line tool supports antialiasing.

The rectangle tool draws rectangles. Click and drag to specify the rectangle's dimension. Again the left mouse button uses the foreground, the right button the background colour.

The filled rectangle tool draws either solid or gradient filled rectangles. In solid filling the left mouse button uses the foreground, the right button the background colour. The filled rectangle tool supports gradient filling.

The oval tool draws ovals. Click and drag to specify the oval's dimension. Again the left mouse button uses the foreground, the right button the background colour.

The filled oval tool draws either solid or gradient filled ovals. In solid filling the left mouse button uses the foreground, the right button the background colour. The filled oval tool supports antialiasing and gradient filling.

The clip tool let's you copy and move portions of an image within a frame or between different frames. Click and drag to specify the clip's dimension. When releasing the mouse button the selected clip is represented by a red-white rectangle.
If you move the mouse close to the clip's borders, the cursor changes; you can now click and drag to change the clip's size. You can move the clip around by clicking inside and dragging. To paste the clip into the image, double click within the clip. You can define a different clip by clicking outside the active clip and dragging.
The clip tool enables the crop, flip horizontally, flip vertically and rotate menu items.

The text tool let's you place text into your image. When clicking on the text tool, a font dialog is displayed, that - hopefully - is self-explanatory. After selecting a font, a clip containing your text is displayed within the current frame. You can move it around by clicking inside and dragging. To paste the clip into the image, double-click within the clip. To create a new text clip, just click the text tool again.
The text tool enables the crop menu item and supports antialias and gradient filling.

The Gradient toggle button enables or disables gradient filling. It can only be selected (deselected), if a tool supporting gradient filling is active. When selected, the current tool uses the specified gradient pattern.

The Antialias toggle button enables or disables the antialias mode. It can only be selected (deselected), if a tool supporting antialias is active. "Antialiasing" means that lines and curves are smoothed by setting extra pixels that reduce the contrast between back- and foreground. When selected, the penguin looks even cuter and the current tool draws in antialias mode, which might enlarge the frame's palette.