Vectoraster Manual

Vectoraster Manual

© Copyright 2009 Lost Minds www.lostminds.com 1

Manual

Vectoraster Manual


IntroductionVectoraster is an application that allows you to create raster patterns in vector-based formats from an existing bitmap image.

The resulting raster can then be exported to a file (EPS, PDF or TIFF) or copied straight into most layout and vector graphics software.

The rasters can be generated in different distribution patterns and the individual points can be of many different shapes to suit any purpose.

Bitmap Vector raster

Vectoraster Manual


ContentsSource images 1

Primary and secondary image 1Measurement 1

Raster points 2Size 2Shape 2Transform 2Color 3Point types 3

Raster patterns 5Spacing 5Transform 5Distortion 5Color 5Raster types 6

Display 7Primary display settings 7Draft mode 7

Saving and Loading 8Embedding 8

Exporting 9Copying to the clipboard 9File export 9Export raster size 9Batch export 10

Shareware 11

Example raster 1 12

Example raster 2 13

Example raster 3 14

Example raster 4 15

Distribution 16

Credits 16

Version history 17

Vectoraster Manual


Source images

Primary and secondary imageThe first thing you need to specify when creating a new raster is a primary source image.

This is the image that will be used as the base for the raster and it is set using the “Source images” panel.

There are several ways to set a source image:

Press browse and select an -image file on your hard drive.Drag and drop an image or image file -into the image-well on the panel.Paste in an image from the clipboard -using the menu item “Paste as Source Image” in the Edit menu.In Mac OS X 10.4 and later you can also -cut and paste images from the image-wells directly.

If you select a QuickTime compatible movie file you can also select a frame in the movie to use as a source image.

You can also set a secondary source image. This image can then be used if you want to use color and weight-information from different images.

At any time you can choose to change a source image without affecting any other settings.

MeasurementHere you control what is measured in what image to set the size of the raster points. You can choose between a wide range of data from each of the source images as well as random values.

The “Invert” option inverts the measured value effectively inverting the raster.

The “Local average” option generates a measured value by calculating a average of several local points. This makes the raster smoother.

Vectoraster Manual


Raster pointsThe shape of the points in the raster is defined in the “Raster points” panel.

There are four tabs with different types of point shape settings:

SizeIn this tab you set the min and max size of the points in the raster. The settings here are common for all point types.

The units correspond to one pixel in the primary source image, but they are converted to either mm or points in exported rasters according to what preference is set of export units.

If the “Incremental point size” option is selected you can set a number of size steps to use.

ShapeIn this tab you can change various shape parameters that are specific for each point type, so the content of this tab changes a lot. For more information about these settings, see the point types section below.

TransformIn this tab you can apply various transformations to the individual points.

Rotation sets the angle each point is rotated around its center. You can also add a random value to each point to have them rotated randomly or add the raster rotation to align the points to the rotation of the raster pattern.

The aspect ratio setting controls the height/width ratio of each point. The “Vary aspect ratio” option sets the aspect ratio as a function of the point size.

Vectoraster Manual


ColorIn this tab you specify what color the raster points will be by using the sliders to set a mix between three sources:

Single colorA single color that you can set using the color well next to the slider

Primary source imageThe color of the pixel corresponding the point in the primary source image.

Secondary source imageThe color of the pixel corresponding the point in the secondary source image.

Point types

CircleA circular point. There are no shape settings for this point type.

BoxA square box. There are no shape settings for this point type.

Polygon and Rounded polygonA polygon with equal length sides. In the shape settings you can control the number of edges and rounding of the edges for the rounded type. The Random edges-option makes the number of edges random from point to point, based on the base edge number.

Contracting shapeSame as rounded polygon but with an additional option to have the sides contract towards the center.

Random shapeA random rounded shape for each individual point. You can control the amount of rounding, contraction as well as the average number of edges.

Vectoraster Manual


Character / TextUse characters from any installed font as raster points. You specify a set of characters using the character set field. You can also use the “All letters” option to use all letters in the English alphabet as character set.

You can use the characters in the set in three different ways, controlled by the mode menu. You can either loop through the letters in order to get a text-like appearance of the raster or use the characters of the set in a random order. Finally you can also use the entire character set for each point.

Custom shapeImport a custom graphics file to use for the points. You can either use vector formats like PDF or EPS or you can use a bitmap image.

If the bitmap has an alpha-channel it will be used as a mask, otherwise the darkness will be used to control transparency.

Line rasterInstead of generating a raster with a lot of individual points this “point type” generates lines connecting the points with varying width depending to the point size.

Because this mode is a little different than the other point types it does not have any transform options, and it does not work with the random raster pattern types.

Vectoraster Manual


Raster patternsThe pattern of the raster is defined in the “Raster pattern” panel.

There are four tabs with different types of raster pattern settings:

SpacingHere you control the spacing of the points in the raster pattern.

You can either set the horisontal and vertical spacing individually or check the “use horisontal spacing” to use the same spacing for both.

While the two spacing settings are labeled horisontal and vertical they should actually be seen as a first and second direction. For example in a radial raster they represent radial and circumference distance.

TransformHere you control basic transformation of the entire raster pattern, rotation and offset.

To offset the raster you can also click and drag in the raster window. To quickly re-center the raster use the re-center button.

DistortionTo make a more interesting raster pattern you can apply various distortions to the pattern. The distortion types that are available are: Twist, Bulge, Wave and Split. For each you can control the strength of the distortion and the size.

ColorIn the last tab you control the color of the background. You can also chose not to use any background.

Vectoraster Manual


Raster types

Straight gridA grid with the points in straight rows.

Alternating gridA more compact pattern where every other row is shifted.

RadialThe points are arranged in a circular pattern around a center point.

RandomPoints are distributed at random.

(Line rasters cannot be generated with this raster type.)

Varied densityPoints are distributed at random, but with higher frequency in darker areas.

(Line rasters cannot be generated with this raster type.)

Vectoraster Manual


Display

Primary display settingsThe basic display settings are located at the bottom of the main window.

The main control of this panel is the display slider. It controls how much of the raster and source image are shown. This does not affect the exported raster, it’s only for practical reasons while you’re working with the raster.

The panel also offers a zoom menu that allows you to zoom in. While you are zoomed in you can hold space and click and drag in the image to pan around. Next to the zoom menu there is a fit-button that zooms the image to fit in the current window size.

In the Display menu in the menu bar there are a few more display-settings: Auto regenerate

Turns on and off auto regenerating of the raster after you’ve made a change. If you’re working with very large rasters you can turn this off and manually choose Regenerate to update the raster.

Draft modeWhen draft mode is turned on the raster is drawn in a faster but less accurate way. It doesn’t affect exported rasters, but speeds up things while you’re working.

Vectoraster Manual


Saving and LoadingTo save or open a previously saved Vectoraster document, just use the Save and Open commands in the File menu.

The files saved by Vectoraster use an internal format and are of the type “.VRaster”. This file cannot be used by any other applications and is only for use by Vectoraster.

EmbeddingWhen saving a document the source image(s) and custom point image data is embedded into the VRaster file, so you do not need to keep the original source image file once you have saved the Vectoraster document.

However, font data is not embedded in the file, so in order to display character/text rasters correctly in Vectoraster when you open a saved VRaster file you need to have the font installed.

Vectoraster Manual


ExportingTo use the raster you have created you need to export it to a format other applications can use.

Copying to the clipboardThe easiest way is to copy the raster onto the clipboard by using the “Copy Vector-Raster” item in the Edit menu. This will copy the raster data to the clipboard. In the preferences dialog you can set what format the clipboard data should be. The default is PDF and EPS.

There is a bug in Adobe Illustrator CS2 and CS3 that sometimes prevents you to paste in PDF data from other applications. If you are having this problem, try this:

In Illustrator, copy any object inside an -open Illustrator document. Quit and restart Illustrator. -You should now be able to paste in things -from Vectoraster and other applications into Illustrator.

File exportYou can save the raster in vector format as an EPS or PDF-file that can be imported into most vector illustration packages.

You can also generate a bitmap TIFF image of the raster. All these option are found in the File menu.

Export raster sizeThe size of the exported raster is dependent on two things. First the size of the primary source image, second the export units used. You can set what units to use in the preferences dialog. If you for example use millimeters a 100x100 pixel source image the result will be a 100x100mm raster.

Vectoraster Manual


Batch exportThe batch export panel, accessible from the Batch Process menu, allows you to automatically apply the current vectoraster to a series of source images.

In the panel you can first define input options, choose either to use frames in a QuickTime compatible video file, or use all image files in a selected directory.

In the output portion of the dialog you set where the output will be stored. You can also choose the size and format of the output. You can either save the output as numbered vector files in EPS or PDF format, TIFF-bitmap images or you can render the exported rasters into a QuickTime movie file.

Vectoraster Manual


SharewareThis software is shareware. That means that you can try it out for free, but if you like it you should pay for it. Until you register and pay for the application points will be missing from all exported rasters.

The price is $20 and payment is handled online via the secure servers of Kagi. You can pay with credit card, paypal, wire transfer or check.

To register go to www.lostminds.com and click “registration”.

You will then be directed to Kagi, the company that handles our payments. They can offer secure online payments and accept just about any form of payment.

After you have paid you will receive a code via e-mail that allows you to unlock the software and use it without limitations.

Your payment is vital as it will enable us to continue improving this product and make other great applications in the future.

Vectoraster Manual


Example raster 1Basic straight grid raster with circle points, with a slight twist distortion added to make it a little more interesting. (Sample file included: “Twisted Dot.VRaster”)

Vectoraster Manual


Example raster 2Line raster with a wave distortion. (Sample file included: “Line raster Darwin.VRaster”)

Vectoraster Manual


Example raster 3Random blob point shapes in a varied density distribution, color mix using primary source color. (Sample file included: “Varied Density Chili.VRaster”)

Vectoraster Manual


Example raster 4A straight raster using character point shapes and a character set containing the lyrics of “Crossroad blues” drawn in order. To get light points on a dark background the primary image darkness measurement is inverted. The color is a mix of orange and the primary source image color. (Sample file included: “Text raster Robert.VRaster”)

Vectoraster Manual


DistributionThis application is distributed as shareware. As such you are free to distributed the unregistered version as long as you distribute the entire package with this manual, the online registration link and the sample files are included with it. However, it would be nice if you dropped me a line to tell me about it.

If you wish to distribute the application commercially or if you have some other question you can reach me at:

lars.gafvert (at) lostminds.com

You can always find the latest version of Vectoraster and our other products at:

http://www.lostminds.com

Credits

Concept and programmingLars Gäfvert -

TestingJorge Pérez Boeneker -Francis Glebas -Andrew Lilleyman -Benjamin Schudel -Jonas Svensson -Nenke van Wermeskerken -

Vectoraster Manual


Version history

Version 3.5.0 - 2009-11-30Added batch processing tool. -Added movie frame import. -Added Box point shape. -Added the random edge number option -for the polygon point shapes.Added lossless LZW-compression to -exported TIFF-files.Fixed some interface quirks in Mac OS -X 10.6.

Version 3.0.1 - 2009-06-19Vectoraster now properly adds the right -file extension in save dialogs.Made the interface fields more -responsive.Added a help menu item to open the -manual.

Version 3.0.0 - 2009-03-24Line raster mode to generate proper line -rasters.New character point modes to select -characters from a defined set, loop through a string or use an entire string as a point.Separate horisontal and vertical raster -spacing setting. Incremental point size option to use a -set number of point sizes instead of the default linear distribution.Improved point rotation control. -Better control of “Random shape” points, -previously know as “Random blob”.Remodeled user interface with separate -source image, point and pattern panels.

Moved display slider and zoom controls -to the bottom of the main window and fixed zoom centering.Option to include source image in -exported rasters.Improved manual. -Fixed problems with open paths in -exported rasters with rounded point shapes.Fixed random value measurement. -Fixed problem with aspect ratio of -custom point shapes.Fixed problem selecting font family -members for character point shape type under OS X 10.5.

Version 2.1.2 - 2008-02-17Fixes to various things that were broken -in version 2.1.1Restored real-time raster regeneration. -Better support for the special character -panel.

Version 2.1.1 - 2008-02-09Fixed crash under Mac OS X 10.5. -You can now abort slow raster -regenerations.

Vectoraster Manual


Version 2.1.0 - 2008-01-10A new raster distortion feature allows -you to twist and deform the raster patterns.Adjustments to make the interface more -responsive.Source image data is now compressed -making saved .VRaster files much smaller.Better handling of corrupted files. -

Version 2.0.1 - 2007-10-01You can now apply color to custom -bitmap shapes.Improved random blobs shape, now you -can adjust contraction and smoothing of the blobs.Undo now works for the color wells. -A bunch of small fixes. -

Version 2.0.0 - 2007-08-14Custom point shape. Use any image file -as raster points.Secondary source image for color or -point size.Source color mixing sliders. -Preference to use points or millimeters as -units for exported rasters.Character point type can now use a -random character.Display menu with options to render -rasters in draft mode and to turn off raster auto regeneration.Export to PDF added. -Export to TIFF added. -New option to control if the raster should -have a background color.Preference to copy vector-rasters as PDF, -EPS or both.

Lots of small bugs fixed. -

Version 1.1.2 - 2006-09-09Fixed bug caused by duplicate fonts. -Correct pixel sizes for source images at -non-72dpi resolutions.Fixed source colors for images with -alpha channels on Mac OS X < 10.4

Version 1.1.1 - 2006-08-30Point shape aspect-ratio parameter -introduced.Polygon shapes are now properly closed -in exported rasters.Removed extra points from exported -character rasters.All color picker modes are now -supported.

Version 1.1.0 - 2006-08-22Vectoraster now requires Mac OS X 10.3 -or later.Varied density distribution introduced. -Character point type now supports all -members of each font family.CMYK-channel measurement. -Reworked random blob points and -random distribution.Some minor bugs fixed. -

Version 1.0.1 - 2006-08-03Fixed bug with missing controls under -Mac OS X 10.3.

Version 1.0.0 - 2006-07-29Initial release. -

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Vectoraster Manual

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