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An overview of A
Viewer for Windows
A Viewer for
Windows is a free lightweight tool which helps you view,
change, and save images.
The program has
three primary windows. The first allows you to open an
image, the second allows you to view, change, and save
it, and the third allows you to manage your 'effects'
(like sharpening or embossing).
With A Viewer
for Windows you can:
quickly open an
image,
level, rotate, pan, zoom and crop it,
change its brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation levels,
convert it to grayscale, invert and apply
effects to it.
The changed and original images can be viewed side by side, or
one over the other, with the program automatically syncing them
as they are panned, zoomed and rotated.
Additionally, A Viewer for Windows can keep itself on top of other applications, ensuring your work is viewable at all times.
When you're done working, your image can be saved to a file or your clipboard.
A Viewer for Windows integrates with A Ruler for Windows (also free), as well as Microsoft's Snipping and Magnify tools (both of which come with Windows).
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Quick Help vs Online
Help
Quick Help:
On A
Viewer for Windows' Main (open), Viewer, and Effects
Design windows there is Quick Help feature.
Just
click 'About/Help' on the main window, or 'Quick Help'
on either of the other windows to see a quick help
specific to the window you are using. The 'Quick
Help' covers the basics for the window.
Advantages of the Quick Help over the Online Help,
include:
It may be faster for you to
get the information you need from it, and
your computer does not need to be connected to the
internet to use it.
However, if you hold down the
'Alt' key when you click for help as described above,
the program will open up the online help in your default
browser instead.
Online Help:
The
online help is, in short, this webpage.
It
is specific to the version of A Viewer for Windows that
you are using.
Unlike the Quick help, access to
this page requires internet access.
Advantages of the Online Help over the Quick Help,
include:
in general, the font is
bigger so it may be easier for you to read,
it contains more information than the quick help,
it may be updated post release with
more complete information, and
it
can be printed via your browser's print feature (usually
'Ctrl '+ 'P').
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Opening an image
There are five ways to open an image.
The
first three are quite common: drag and drop, open from
an existing file using a file selector, and open from
your clipboard.
The forth way is to use
Microsoft's snipping tool. Just click the image of the
scissors, and then A Viewer for Windows’ first window
will automatically minimize and Microsoft’s snipping
tool will appear. Once you have snipped the image it
will automatically load into the second window.
The fifth is a somewhat experimental. Basically it
assumes you already have an image open in another
program, like a browser, on your primary screen. If you
do then just dick where it says 'Click here to select an
image already shown on the screen'. Once done, the first
window will be automatically minimized. Next, just dick
on the image that is already being shown on your primary
screen and it will automatically load. If however A
Viewer for Windows cannot load the image the original
window will reappear.
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Viewing, changing, and
saving an image
When you open an
image, an image will appear in the Viewer window.
The image you see is a copy of the original. The
original will not be changed unless you choose to save
over it.
The controls on the left are used to
update the image you see.
To quickly de-skew an
image, click the 'Level' control, then
press the mouse button down on one point and lift it up
on a second point where those two points would be on the
same horizon should the image be level. For best
results, use two points which are as far apart
horizontally as possible. If you want to stop the
leveling process, just click on the Level' control
again.
For the 'Rotate', 'Zoom',
'Brightness', Contrast',
'Gamma', and 'Saturation'
controls:
Holding the right mouse button down over
the control progressively increases its value, while
holding the left mouse button down over it progressively
decreases its value. Holding the Shift key down speeds
the rate of change by two, holding the Ctrl key down
speeds the rate of change by five, holding both down
speeds the rate of change by 10. Clicking the middle
mouse button over a control resets the value of that
control to its original value.
The status
bar at the bottom of the windows shows the
current values associated with each control.
To
crop an image, click on the 'Crop'
control and then use the mouse to draw a box around what
you would like to crop. If you want to stop the cropping
process, just click on the 'Crop' control again.
Clicking the 'Invert' control toggles
the image between being inverted or not.
Clicking
the 'Grayscale' control toggles the
image between grayscale and colour.
Right
clicking the 'Effects' control lets you
choose which effects you would like applied to your
image.
A pop-up box will appear where you can
select the first of up to five effects to be used.
In this pop-up box: clicking the name of the effect
specifies it for use, clicking the red box in the upper
left hand corner removes the specified effect from use,
clicking the green box in the upper right hand corner
lets you add another specified effect (to the right),
and clicking the long blue box accepts all specified
effects for use.
To add a new effect to the left,
just click on the green box, which will open up a new
box to the right with nothing selected in it. Select
whatever you have in your original effect box in your
new box, and then set the new effect box selection to
whatever you want.
Left clicking the 'Effects'
control opens a new window where you can manage your
effects.
Middle clicking on the 'Effects'
control removes all effects.
Holding a mouse
button down on the 'Reset' control for
one second resets the image to what it looked like when
it was first shown.
Right clicking on the
'Viewer' control opens a second window
on the right containing the original image.
This
image will be kept in sync with the changed image as you
pan, rotate or zoom it.
Lett clicking on the
'Viewer' control will put the original image under the
changing one.
Middle clicking the 'Viewer'
control will hide the original image.
Clicking
the 'Pin to top' control will toggle if
the viewer window stays on top of other windows.
Left clicking the 'AR4W' control will
launch A Ruler
for Windows (if it is installed on the computer).
The left mouse button opens the program in reading guide
mode, the right mouse button opens it in ruler mode, the
middle mouse button closes A Ruler for Windows.
Clicking the 'Magnify' control opens
Microsoft's Magnify tool if it is closed or closes it if
it is open. When the magnifier is open it will be
restored to its last used settings.
Clicking the
'Copy' control copies the image to the
computer's clipboard.
Clicking the 'Save'
control allows you to save the image to your computer or
network.
More on zooming, rotating, and other
features
When the mouse pointer is over
the image, spinning the mouse wheel will zoom in
/ out on the image.
Holding the 'Alt'
key down when rotating the image, rotates it to the next
45 degree increment.
When the mouse
pointer is over the image, clicking and holding any
mouse button allows you to pan the image.
Also holding down the middle button over an
image shows the original image (only) until you
lift up on the middle mouse button again.
The
line between the controls images and text
can be dragged left or right to hide/unhide the words
associated with the controls.
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Creating, changing,
saving and sharing your own effects
The Effects Design window lets you set custom
Effects Profiles (profiles).
To get to this
window, right click on the 'Effects' control on the
Viewer window.
The left portion of the Effects
Design window contains controls to manage your profiles
and update the images you see. The centre portion of the
screen lets you define your profiles. The right part of
the screen lets you see the results of your profiles.
The left portion of
the Effects Design windown
The 'Next'
and 'Previous' controls allow you to
quickly move through your profiles, seeing the impact of
each as you go. Profiles have an 'Enabled'
option on them. Disabled profiles will be skipped when
you click 'Next' or 'Previous' unless you are also
holding down the Ctrl' key.
The 'Add'
control adds a new blank profile.
The 'Copy'
control copies the current profile using the name of the
current profile adding ' - copy' to the end of it.
The 'Save' control will be enabled
if you are adding a new Profile, copying one, or have
made changes to an existing profile. Clicking the 'Save'
control saves the changes to the profile you have made.
The 'Remove' control allows you
to delete an existing profile.
To rename
an Effect, start typing in the Name field and a pop-up
window will appear in which you can enter the new name
you would like to use.
The 'Locate'
control allows find where on your computer your profiles
are stored. It is a good idea
to periodically back these up.
You may also share profiles you create with
others. This can be done by you sending them your
profile files, and them double clicking on those files
to have them automatically added to their profile files
folder.
The 'Test' control lets
you see the results of the profile setting on your
screen without having to save them. If you are happy
with your testing results, click 'Save' to save them, or
click 'Cancel'.
The 'Cancel'
control cancels that you have been making and reverts to
the original profile.
The 'Viewer'
control behaves the same way as on the main window.
However, rather than seeing the original image and the
image you are changing, you will see the changed image
at the time the Effects Design window was open (without
any Effects applied) and the impacts of the profile you
see in the centre of the screen applied to it. This
allows you to first apply other modifications, such as
changing its zoom, rotation, brightness, contrast, etc.,
to your image and then use this window to select the
best profile for use with your image.
The centre portion of the
Effects Design window
Displays the name
and values associated with a profile. You can quickly
change the profile you are working with be selecting it
from the drop-down box.
The Bias
adds its value to each cell in the matrix when Effects
the image. Valid value is a number between -255 and 255
inclusive.
The Factor multiply
values in matrix when Effects the image. Valid value is
a number between -255 and 255 inclusive (excluding
zero).
When both the bias and factor are used,
the bias is first added to a matrix cell, and then the
sum of that is multiplied by the factor. So, in
short, the actual filter used = ( what is shown in the
matrix + the bias) x the factor.
When
working with the matrix, the values you use should be
between -255 and 255 inclusive and may be either
integers or decimal numbers. If you leave a cell blank,
it will be treated as a zero.
If you have a
symmetric matrix, checking the 'Symmetric'
check box reduces the number of numbers you will need to
enter.
For more on the use of matrices for
sharpening an image, here is a good wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsharp_masking
Also, to download and Excel based masking
calculater, please click
here.
The 'Notes’ section is a
free form area where you can record your own
notes/comments related to the profile.
The right portion of the
Effects Design window
Displays images as
already described. The images you see can be panned, but
not further zoomed or rotated in this window.
Other features
When the
mouse pointer is over the image, clicking and holding
any mouse button allows you to pan the image.
Also holding down the middle button over an image shows
the original image (only) until you lift up on the
middle mouse button again.
The line between the
controls images and text can be dragged left or right to
hide/unhide the words associated with the controls.
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Some additional
features
You can learn
more about A Viewer for Windows by clicking the other
options under the About/Help menu.
You can also
check the option to ’Automatically check for updates’ so
the program can let you know if a new version becomes
available.
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