This is an
automatic posting
from the Alchemy Mindworks
Update Mailing List |
Click here to UNSUBSCRIBE.
( http://mindworkshop.com/mailman/options/newsletter
)
View this message in your web
browser.
Contents:
- Graphic Workshop
Professional 15 Revision 2 (additional
notification)
- Announcing The Ultimate
Screen Clock 15
- Announcing e-Paint
15 (second
notification)
- Replying to this
Message, List Removal and Details
|
If
it were any more medieval,
Amazon
would upload a free broadsword
to your Kindle tablet.
Click on the book.
|
|
|
|
Graphic Workshop
Professional 15 Revision 2
|
Graphic Workshop Professional 15
has been updated.
In this release:
- WebP: The
Graphic Workshop WebP library has been updated to
version 1.3.2 to address a security issue. We'd like to take
this opportunity to urge all users of Graphic Workshop
to update to this release, 'coz the universe has a lot
of really bad people in it.
- Supercompressor:
The Graphic Workshop supercompressor, which will
interactively create the smallest possible JPG and
WebP documents while avoiding turning your source art
into sand paintings, has been updated. It now manages
its deliberations without the use of temporary disk
files, making it substantially quicker and imposing
less stress on your storage devices.
- MOZ JPEG:
The MOZ JPEG plugin for
Graphic Workshop, which creates way more compact JPG
files than conventional JPEG writers, has been
updated. Among other things, you'll need this if you
use the new Supercompressor, as discussed above, with
the MOZ JPEG option. Please click on the foregoing
link to download it.
- Matrix:
Addresses an issue with the image indexing logic.
- Randomization:
The table randomization logic that appears
throughout Graphic Workshop and some of its ancillary
applications has been enhanced to create less
predictable results for larger data sets.
- Up To
Date: Updates the Alchemy Mindworks
notification agent. You might see a prompt from Up To
Date during installation as a result. It's harmless.
- Ahem...:
A number of first-release issues in the revision 1
software have been addressed.
From the initial
release:
We've added new
functionality to the known universe's most popular
image management application, improved its performance
and generally refined it to better get along with
Windows 10 and 11. (We hasten to add that it still
performs admirably under earlier builds of Windows,
all the way back to Windows XP, if you're feeling
retro.)
Among the new features and enhancements to Graphic
Workshop Professional
15, you'll find:
- Speed:
A quicker and more efficient architecture to make
the most of the latest releases of Windows.
- Matrix: Create
picture matrices like the ones to your right with a
few clicks. The Graphic Workshop 15 Matrix window
offers a rich palette of matrix styles, at pretty
much any resolution you need.
Select Matrix from the Graphic Workshop Image menu,
select your favorite photographs and Graphic
Workshop will do all the complex arithmetic for you.
Matrix graphics are an epic way to add multiple
pictures to a web page without having to devise the
HTML to arrange them.
- AXES:
Graphic Workshop 15 includes a downloadable no-cost
plugin that supports AXES, our encrypted graphic
standard. With a suitably robust pass phrase, an
AXES graphic can resist attempts to crack its
encryption for approximately 26-trillion years.
- JPEG
XL: The 64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop 15
supports JPEG XL, a leading-edge enhancement of JPEG
by the JPEG format's original creators.
- JPEG
XR: The 64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop
15 also supports JPEG XR, Microsoft's putative
replacement for JPEG.
- JPEG
2000: Graphic Workshop 15 includes full read
and write support for JPEG 2000 documents.
- SVG: The
64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop 15 includes SVG
support, to view and convert from scalable vector
graphics.
- ICNS: Graphic
Workshop 15 can read and create Macintosh ICNS icon
documents. If you like to collect icons, it opens up
a huge library of hitherto inaccessible pictures.
- QR Codes: Graphic
Workshop 15 can create QR codes with any content you
need. Embed them in your graphics to include
copyright information or a link to your web page.
Print them as hard copy and affix them to walls — passers-by
will scan them to see what they're up to.
The 64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop can locate QR
codes in your pictures and tell you what they say.
It will also provide you with clickable links to any
web page addresses it finds therein.
- QOI:
Graphic Workshop 15 supports the Quite OK Image
format, a shockingly quick way to store pictures.
- EXR: The
64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop 15 includes support
for Industrial Light & Magic's EXR graphics.
- PBM, PGM
and PPM: Graphic Workshop 15 supports the
standard Linux graphic formats.
- XCF:
Graphic Workshop 15 will read and write GIMP XCF
graphic documents.
- Mosaic: Graphic
Workshop 15's Mosaic window will build photographic
mosaics - graphics created from tiles derived from
your library of pictures.
Click on the example to your right to see what it's
really up to. Zoom in to see how it was constructed.
We hasten to add that while mosaic graphics look cool
on screen, they're amazing printed as hard copy.
- Photoshop
Plugins: The 64-bit edition of Graphic Workshop
15 can import most third-party Photoshop-compatible
plugins, and subsequently apply the effects contained
therein to your graphics. Be sure to read the
discussion of Photoshop plugins in the Reference
section of Graphic Workshop's documentation.
- Status
Bar: The Graphic Workshop 15 status bar has been
updated to display the aggregate file size for
selected objects... a hitherto implemented feature
that vanished some time ago when an unnoticed bug
crept into it.
- Smart
Thumbnails: Graphic Workshop 15 includes a new
smart thumbnail mode that fetches its thumbnail images
from the Windows thumbnail cache. If you'll be looking
at graphics in common formats, such as JPG, PNG, WebP
and GIF, smart thumbnails are quick, uncomplicated and
they don't require the creation of THN files. See the
discussion of Smart Thumbnail in the Thumbnails
section of Graphic Workshop's Reference document.
- Favorites:
The Graphic Workshop Favorites window will now fetch
its thumbnails from the Windows thumbnail cache by
default, making it substantially quicker for common
file formats.
- View:
Graphic Workshop 15's View window now includes jump
buttons to move to the previous or next graphic in a
browser. Hover your mouse cursor over the left or
right edge of the View window to summon a jump button.
Jump buttons can be disabled in the View mode
Configuration window if you aren't in a jumping mood.
The un-maximize button the title bar of Graphic
Workshop's View window is now disabled by default. It
can be restored in Setup. Users who found the View
window being resized by other applications can stop
wondering what caused this phenomenon. We don't know
either, but it's history.
- Plugin
SDK: If you'd like to see Graphic Workshop
support formats it currently doesn't, we invite you to
download the Graphic Workshop Plugin
SDK, everything you'll need to create your own
format plugins... as long as you have a suitable
language compiler and you know how to use it.
- WebP:
The WebP Override window has been updated to correctly
apply its parameters to animations.
- Animation
Workshop UltraLight: Several issues in the
application's user interface have been addressed.
- Themes:
An issue in the theme interface common to most Alchemy
Mindworks software that could leak resources and
occasionally crash the applications in question has
been mercilessly stomped.
The Graphic Workshop
Printed Reference has been revised for the version
15 software, and it includes sections for all the new
functionality. It's available through Amazon — there's a
link to it at the Graphic Workshop web page, and you can
access it through the Get The Graphic Workshop Printed
Reference item of Graphic Workshop's Help menu.
Alternately, just click on the book to your right.
All the Graphic Workshop
plugins have been upgraded to install in version
15. Note that if you're currently using an earlier
version of Graphic Workshop and its attendant plugins:
- Be sure to
uninstall the version 14 plugins before you install
Graphic Workshop Professional 15. Failing this,
Graphic Workshop Professional 15 should prompt you to
do so automatically the first time you run it.
- You'll need
to download and install the new plugin installers to
run under Graphic Workshop Professional 15.
- The plugin
installers will install plugins for both the 32- and
64-bit editions of Graphic Workshop as applicable —
you don't have to download separate 32- and 64-bit
plugins.
If you're using a registered
installation of the Graphic Workshop RAW Digital Camera
and Smartphone plugin for an earlier release of Graphic
Workshop, note that your existing registration key will
work with the version 15 plugin — you won't have to buy
it again.
As in years past, when you run
Graphic Workshop Professional 15 for the first time, it
will look for a previous installation of Graphic
Workshop Professional 14 and optionally copy your
existing configuration, so you won't have to set
everything up by hand. Even your open browser windows
will be preserved.
Note that if you installed both the 32- and 64-bit
editions of Graphic Workshop Professional 14 on the same
computer, the automatic uninstall will only remove one
of them. You'll need to uninstall its sibling by hand.
Click on the blue button to download Graphic Workshop
Professional 15.
If you haven't done so previously,
we recommend that you install the Alchemy
Mindworks trusted certificate and disable the Smart
Screen blue window of doom prior to
downloading Alchemy Mindworks software.
Upgrades
If you have registered or upgraded
a registration for Graphic Workshop Professional 14 on
or after May 1, 2023, you're welcome to a no-cost
upgrade to Graphic Workshop Professional 15.
If you have registered or upgraded
a registration for Graphic Workshop Professional 14
prior to May 1, 2023, we invite you to upgrade to
Graphic Workshop Professional 15 for half the
current new-user price.
The first time you run Graphic
Workshop Professional 15, it will determine which
upgrade option applies to your license.
Click on the blue button below to
visit the upgrade page.
You can access the no-cost upgrade page
directly by clicking on the foregoing link.
The graphic of the woman with a
digital camera is by Kurhan and is used under
license from StockFresh. The people in the example
graphics in this section don't exist — their
pictures were created by an AI at
This-Person-Does-not-Exist.com. Photoshop is a
trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Alchemy
Mindworks has no business relationship with Adobe
Systems Incorporated, and the name Photoshop is used
herein for descriptive purposes only.
|
|
Announcing The Ultimate
Screen Clock 15
|
The Ultimate Screen Clock 15 has been
released.
We've added new functionality to The Ultimate
Screen Clock, improved its performance and generally
refined it to better get along with Windows 10 and 11. (We
hasten to add that it still performs admirably under
earlier builds of Windows, all the way back to Windows XP,
if you're feeling retro.)
Among the new features and enhancements to The Ultimate Screen Clock 15,
you'll find..
- WebP: The
WebP library has been updated to improve its
performance.
- Analog
Smartwatch: The analog Smartwatch clock style
won’t check your blood pressure, notify you of new
friends at your Facebook account, text your stock broker
or improve your sleep patterns. This said, it never
needs recharging and it won’t wear the hair away on your
wrist.
The
analog Smartwatch comes in two sizes
and five colors, and it isn’t made of ethically-sourced
rhodium. Adventurous users may want to use The Ultimate
Screen Clock's style override option to experiment with
different colors for its hands.
- Digital
Smartwatch: The digital Smartwatch offers all the
leading-edge features of its analog sibling, above, with
a large digital display and no detectable hands.
It’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than a conventional
smartwatch, and rarely appears pretentious or vulgar.
The Digital Smartwatch style also comes in two sizes and
five colors. No one knows what the control on the right
side of its case actually does, so pretty much like a
real smartwatch.
- Octagon: The
must-have accessory for any serious pirate ship,
trans-galactic yacht or trendy fish restaurant, the
Octagon clock style sings of the grey-green mantle of
the endless seas before the days of GPS, satellite
telephones and ravening environmental activists from
upstate New York gluing themselves to the forecastle.
Octagon comes in two sizes. A cutlass and a shoulder
parrot are optional.
- Mercury:
It’s the messenger of the gods, the only known metallic
element to melt at room temperature and the planet in
our solar system where sunblock is never optional.
More to the point, it’s a shockingly cool clock style.
Bright, fluid and transcendent, Mercury is available in
three sizes and four colors, with and without digital
dissolve. The thumbnail above hardly does it justice,
but if you click on it, you'll see a far better
representation of its epic coolness.
- Global Clocks:
The Ultimate Screen Clock's Global Clocks window will
display 24 analog clock faces, one for each time zone on
Earth. It will look more or less like the window to your
right, if substantially larger – we hasten to add that
you can change the clock style it displays its many time
zones with.
It can also be configured to display 27 time zones,
including the half-hour zones used in Newfoundland,
India and Australia.
To access the Global Clocks window, right-click in The
Ultimate Screen Clock and select Global Clocks from the
menu that appears.
The clock style used by the Global Clocks window can
be configured through the Styles sub-menu of The
Ultimate Screen Clock.
- Startup
Window: Users who need The Ultimate Screen Clock
to open one of its ancillary functions when it starts up
can now configure it to do so in its Setup window. Use
the Startup Window field.
You could, for example, have the Global Clocks window
appear, if you wanted to be apprised of the time around
the world.
Once you close a window opened by the Startup Window
option, The Ultimate Screen Clock will behave normally.
Hold down the left Ctrl key on your keyboard when you
start The Ultimate Screen Clock to bypass this setting.
- Performance:
Addresses a number of GDI and performance issues
that software developers never really stop meddling
with.
- Documentation:
Updates the documentation.
If you haven't done so previously,
we recommend that you install the Alchemy
Mindworks trusted certificate and disable the Smart
Screen blue window of doom prior to downloading
Alchemy Mindworks software.
Click on the blue button to download The
Ultimate Screen Clock 15.
Note that in addition to installing The
Ultimate Screen Clock, you'll probably also want to install
The Ultimate Screen Clock Extra Styles library,
which will augment it with wealth of additional clock
styles, including some of the ones mentioned herein. The
Extra Styles library is also accessible through the above
big blue button.
Upgrades
If you have registered or upgraded a
registration for The Ultimate Screen Clock 14 May 1, 2023,
you're welcome to a no-cost upgrade to The
Ultimate Screen Clock 15.
If you have registered or upgraded a
registration for The Ultimate Screen Clock 14 prior to May 1, 2022, we invite you to
upgrade to The Ultimate Screen Clock 15 for half the
current new-user price.
The first time you run The Ultimate Screen
Clock 15, it will determine which upgrade option applies
to your license.
Click on the blue
button below to visit the upgrade page.
You can access the no-cost
upgrade page directly by clicking on the foregoing
link.
The deck watch
graphic at the beginning of this section is by
Volodymyr Horbovyy, licensed through Alamy Ltd.
|
|
Announcing e-Paint 15
|
e-Paint 15 has been released.
We've added new functionality to
e-Paint, improved its performance and generally refined it
to better get along with Windows 10 and 11. (We hasten to add that it still performs
admirably under earlier builds of Windows, all the way
back to Windows XP, if you're feeling retro.)
Among the new features and enhancements to
e-Paint 15, you'll find...
- WebP: The
e-Paint WebP library has been updated to version 1.3.2
to address a security issue. We'd like to take
this opportunity to urge all users of Graphic Workshop
to update to this release, 'coz the universe has a lot
of really bad people in it.
- Speed: A
quicker and more efficient architecture to make the
most of the latest releases of Windows.
- Themes:
An issue in the theme interface common to most Alchemy
Mindworks software that could leak resources and
occasionally crash the applications in question has been
mercilessly stomped.
- Drawing
Engine: Improves the performance of e-Paint's
drawing engine.
- Performance:
Addresses a number of GDI and performance issues
that software developers never really stop meddling
with.
- Documentation:
Updates the documentation.
If you haven't done so previously,
we recommend that you install the Alchemy
Mindworks trusted certificate and disable the Smart
Screen blue window of doom prior to downloading
Alchemy Mindworks software.
Click on the blue button to download e-Paint
15.
Upgrades
If you have registered or upgraded a
registration for e-Paint 14 on or after May 1, 2023,
you're welcome to a no-cost upgrade to e-Paint 15.
If you have registered or upgraded a
registration for e-Paint
14 prior to May 1, 2023, we invite you to upgrade to e-Paint 15 for half the
current new-user price.
The first time you run e-Paint 15, it will determine
which upgrade option applies to your license.
Click on the blue
button below to visit the upgrade page.
You can access the no-cost upgrade page directly
by clicking on the foregoing link.
The banner
graphic above, a detail from Girl with Tattoos, is
by Sarah Wissink, and is used under license from
freeimages.com. |
|
Replying to this
Message, List Removal and Details
|
This message has been sent from an
unmonitored address — please do not reply to it.
To remove your address from this
mailing list or to change your address, please visit our newsletter
management page or click on the Unsubscribe button:
Removal requests will be processed
instantly.
If you have questions about this
list or any Alchemy Mindworks products, please contact
us or click on the button below:
You can also contact us by
telephone at (705) 789-5238, and by snail-mail at
Alchemy Mindworks, L10 C8 Brunel Box 3-11, Huntsville,
ON P1H 2J3, CANADA.
IMPORTANT: Prior to
downloading Alchemy Mindworks software, we strongly
recommend that you install the Alchemy
Mindworks trusted certificate, and forego several
of Windows' scarier pseudo-warnings. While you're busy
ridding your computer of nettlesome popups, we'd like to
suggest you disable its Smart
Screen blue window of doom as well.
If you don't see any graphics in
this message, your mail reader is probably blocking
them. Please visit our
blog for assistance with resolving this issue.
The archive
for this newsletter includes access to earlier postings.
Follow us on:
Copyright
© 1998 - 2023 Alchemy Mindworks. All rights reserved.
Use no hooks.
|
|