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--------------   Creating an HP-100/200 Topcard   --------------
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The following procedures assume that you have a Windows-capable
computer with the following Windows applications:

WinGIF      You can find the WinGif application in the "Windows
            Software" library of the ZENITH forum, as WINGIF.ZIP

Paintbrush  The Paintbrush application is a standard application
            that comes with Windows.


The procedure I describe here is just one method for creating
topcard images for the HP-100/200. It outlines techniques that
have worked well for me. You may find other techniques that work
for you.

Note that words in {braces} refer to menu selections.


---                          ---
--- Step 1 - Select an Image ---
---                          ---

To get the best result, you should select images which have
moderate to high contrast, and which do not have (or at least,
do not depend upon) a lot of fine detail. If you want an image
to fill the screen, the original image should have a horizontal
orientation, and be about twice as wide as it is high.

If you have a scanner available to you, then your choices are
greatly expanded, since you can select any printed image you
can scan. If you have no scanner, there are still many sources
of very fine scanned images, on CompuServe and other online
services, and from the vast collection of resources on the
Internet.


---                                    ---
--- Step 2 - Scan the Image (Optional) ---
---                                    ---

If you have selected an already digitized image, you obviously
don't need to scan it, so skip this step. Otherwise...

Scan your selected image. I used an HP ScanJet IIc, because
that's what was available to me. The software was DeskScan II,
and while there were many options available, I found that just
using the defaults was fine. One setting that did make a lot of
difference was "Type": I had the best results when I selected
either "Color Photo" or "Black & White Photo." Brightness and
contrast turned out to be not worth bothering with, since these
could be more easily adjusted later using WinGif. Select the
area of the image you want scanned, and press the "Final"
button. I saved my scans as "MS Windows 3.0 Bitmap" files.


---                         ---
--- Step 3 - Crop the Image ---
---                         ---

This step and the following two steps are done using WinGIF.
Open the WinGIF application, then open your digitized image.

First, drag the mouse across a part of the image with the mouse
button pressed. Notice that the pixel dimensions are displayed
in the middle of the selection. Now select an area (if your
image is big enough) of 640 x 240 pixels. (Yes, I know that the
HP-100/200 screen is 640 x 200 pixels, but we will deal with
that later.)  Now you have an idea of the area your final image
must occupy. If your image is too small, your can enlarge it; if
it is too large, you can reduce it.

I have found the most reliable way to reduce or enlarge an
appropriate amount is to select an area approximately encompass-
ing the width of the final image you want, but taller than the
area you want. Then crop to that size by selecting {Edit},
{Trim}. Next, resize the cropped image by selecting {Edit},
{ReSize} (the very *last* selection on the Edit menu), and in
the ReSize dialog box specify a width of 640: with the "Resize
to Scale" checkbox checked, the Height will be automatically
calculated for you. Click OK.

Don't worry if, when reducing or enlarging an image, you find
that if becomes quite grainy. This effect will almost always
disappear completely when the image is dithered (in a later
step), so carry on.

Once you have the size about right, trim it to exactly the right
size by selecting a 640 x 240 region and select {Edit}, {Trim}.
This is exactly the area that will appear in your final topcard
image.


---                                  ---
--- Step 4 - Adjust the Aspect Ratio ---
---                                  ---

Because the aspect ratio (the ratio of the height of an image to
its width) of the HP-100/200 LCD screen is different from the
aspect ratio on your Windows display, if you do not adjust the
aspect ratio your image will appear horizontally compressed (or
"skinny") on the HP-100/200 display.

To adjust the aspect ratio, select {Edit}, {ReSize}. If the
image was correctly cropped, the dimensions for Width and
Height should be 640 and 240. Before you change either of these
dimensions, you *MUST* ensure that the "Resize to Scale"
checkbox is *not* checked. Then, change the Height dimension to
200 and click the OK button. The image will appear somewhat
flattened, but that's the way it should look at this point.

If you are satisfied with the composition of the image, then
this is a good time to save it. Use {File}, {Save} and save this
edited image under a new name.


---                                  ---
--- Step 5 - Dither the Image to B&W ---
---                                  ---

Having saved the trimmed and resized image, use F7 (decrease
brightness) and F8 (increase brightness) to adjust the
brightness, and F9 (decrease contrast) and F10 (increase
contrast) to adjust the contrast. When you think you have a
good, fairly bright, fairly high contrast image, select {Edit},
{Monochrome Dither}. You will now have a pretty good idea of
how the image will ultimately appear. If you don't like it,
select {File}, {Re-open}, and try readjusting the brightness
and contrast again, and re-dither the image. Iterate on these
steps until you have an image you are satisfied with.

Now save the dithered image in PCX format by selecting {File},
{Save}, and give the file a name with an extension of .PCX, and
specify a Format (by pressing the "Format>>" button) of PCX.


---                              ---
--- Step 6 - Add Text (Optional) ---
---                              ---

This step and the following one are performed using the
Paintbrush application, so open Paintbrush and then open the
dithered image you created using WinGIF. (You must specify
"PCX files (*.PCX)" in the "List files of Type" box in order
to have PCX files appear in the file list box.)

If you want to add text to your image, you can do so now, or you
can do so after the following step. If the area of the image
where you plan to add text is mostly dark, it may be preferable
to add the text after inverting the image. However, since you
can set the palette to white, you can just as easily add white
text now. It's up to you.

Pick a font that seems appropriate for the image. Pick a Size of
at least 12. Most fonts are more legible if you select a Font
Style of Bold. Depending on the image, you may also feel that
the Bold Italic font style looks better. Experiment. You can get
rid of your typed text by backspacing -- unless you click
elsewhere with the mouse after typing: then it's too late and
you'll need to re-open the image.


---                           ---
--- Step 7 - Invert the Image ---
---                           ---

Since the HP-100/200 screen is an LCD display, images displayed
there will appear to be "negative" compared to how they look on
a CRT. So you must "invert" the image to make it appear
"Positive" on the HP-100/200 LCD display.

To invert the image, click on the select tool (in the upper
right corner of the tool bar), and select the entire image by
clicking on one corner and dragging to the opposite corner. Then
select {Pick}, {Inverse}. Now, immediately select {Edit}, {Copy}
followed immediately by {Edit}, {Paste}. Now select {File},
{Save} or {File}, {Save As...}.


---                                ---
--- Step 8 - Download the PCX File ---
---                                ---

Download the image to your HP-100/200 using whatever transfer
method you prefer.


---                                        ---
--- Step 9 - Select the New Image in Setup ---
---                                        ---

Tell your HP-100/200 about your new topcard by opening the Setup
application ([CTRL] + [Filer]), pressing [MENU], [O]ptions,
[O]wner..., [ALT] + [P]icture. Specify the .PCX file you
created. Press [F10] (OK), [F10] (OK), [MENU], [Q]uit. Close all
open applications, and admire your new topcard.

Note that if you want the owner information to be overlaid on
the middle of your topcard image (presumably you have designed a
topcard to accommodate that information) you must store your
.PCX file in the C:\_DAT subdirectory with the name TOPCARD.PCX.

That's it. Happy Scanning!


Eugene Dorr
CompuServe 75156.3132

