Graphics Utilities for DOS [page 2 of 2]

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BITMAP PAINTING PROGRAMS

GRAFX- 256-color bitmap painting program (GPL).

* * * * [added 11-97 updated 01-21-01]

Good freeware paint programs for DOS are rare. GRAFX2 is a nice 256-color painter supporting 60 resoultions that underwent several cycles of beta development before the original authors ended their effort (GPL'd source code is now available for others to use). If you rely on Windows Paintbrush for drawing, you should try this much superior alternative. GRAFX is still missing some important features (no add text tool). Authors: Guillaume Dorme, Karl Maritaud, France. Home Page. (1999)

Features:

01-21-01: Source code (mostly in French) now available under GPL: GFX2_SRC.ZIP

download gfx2b965.zip(480K)


IMPROCES- 256 color image processor/ bitmap paint program.

unrated [added 06-19-99]

While this image processor and bitmap painter hasn't been updated in years, it remains an excellent choice as a DOS paint program- especially if you own an older PC (runs great on my 386/20 laptop).

Requirements: DOS3.0+, Microsoft compatible mouse, 512K RAM (XMS/EMS can be used), 80286+ CPU (an FPU will also be utilized if found). Most users will need VESA video compatibility and 64 K - 1 MB video memory; there is some dedicated video card support (c. 1993).

Formerly shareware, now freeware. Author: John Wagner, (1993). Home Page.

You will need to download two files- a free registration key and the zipped program files:

download improc42.zip (360K)
and
download IMREG.KEY (text, 1K)


OGE- 256 color bitmap painting program.

unrated [added 01-11-00]

This Czech program has an English interface- but the docs are Czech. Seems best suited to older PC's (286+) with VGA support. OGE's simple interface belies a surprisingly rich program underneath. But with the absence of English documentation, OGE may require exploration by the user to discover many features lurking within the remarkably small (58K) binary.

A quick and incomplete summary of features discovered while testing the program:

Quick hints: OGE relies on mouse button 2 for finishing many tasks initiated with mouse button 1 (e.g., to complete object and selection drawing, pop-up menus...). Double clicking on certain toolbar icons allows setting of custom parameters (spray can speed, fill pattern, ...). Manipulate selected areas (flip, rotate, ...) using the mouse button 2 pop-up menu. ESC displays full screen picture.

Requirements: 286+ PC, VGA, mouse. [Fast Pentium PC users: OGE v2.50 contains the Borland TP/BP CRT bug (runtime error 200), not easily patched here, but you can use Prot 200 to get OGE running.]

Notes: GPL source. Author: Daniel Skarda, Czech Republic (1996). Home Page. Suggested by Jean-François Buisson

download oge-bin.rar (210K)


2D/3D CAD PROGRAMS


bCAD - CAD program with 2D drafting and 3D modeling /rendering.

unrated [added 01-30-01]

bCAD presents a friendly, GeoWorks GUI interface with toolboxes and pop-up tool descriptions. Supports multiple video resolutions (640 X 480- 16 color, up to 1280 X 1024 -16 million colors). Slick 3D modeling and rendering tools (try them on the sample files). Reads and exports a number of popular bit mapped formats. There is no external documentation but the program has an extensive internal help system. Also see a brief review/ tutorial at PCPlus Online.

Author: ProPro, Russia (1996). Suggested by Greg Head and others.

download bcad22.zip (625K)


DESI-III - Professional 2D CAD system.

unrated [added 01-21-01]

Revise description. DESI-III is a 256-color, VESA-compatible 2-D CAD program. Remains in development (2000). Requires at least 560K free conventional memory. Multi-language support. UK and US English, Dutch, French and German, Ukrainian in preparation. Includes complete, print-ready manual.

Author: Hugo Mariën, Belgium (2000). Home Page.

Find files at DESI-III Download Page (un-framed)


OTHER GRAPHICS PROGRAMS


Pov-Ray - Ray tracing application.

* * * * * [updated 07-31-99]

Pov-Ray (Persistence of Vision) is a freeware ray tracing application and is the product of several years of continuous development by the POV-Ray team of independent programmers. Pov-Ray represents a remarkable achievement in programming and is a professional application. With the release of Win 32s/Win9x versions of POV-Ray, the MS-DOS version finally steps into the background because of the limitations of the DOS environment. If you're unfamiliar with ray tracing see the POV-Ray team's home page for a good introduction to ray tracing theory, sample images, and version histories. A whole industry of specialized supporting utilities has blossomed over the last few years- many are freeware.

07-31-99: Pov-Ray is now at version 3.1g (5-99) at povray.org site. I can't vouche that mirror sites yet carry the latest release.

download povmsdos.exe (v3.1g, about 1.7MB)


GIF-TOOLS- Create animated and/or transparent GIFs, and more..

See extended description.


TTM- Create background texture images for HTML pages.

See extended description on HTML Utilities page.


FractInt- Fractal image generator.

* * * * * [updated 03-14-01]

Very complete fractal image generator and nicely documented. An older compilation has been ported to Windows 3.1. See the FractInt Home Page for latest version info. Also see Fractint Development Team home page.

03-14-01: changed link to most current version (20.0, 1999). More recent developer binary releases (v20.1.07, 03-01) can be found here: http://www.fractint.org/ftp/current/.

download frain200.zip (878K)


PaintPro- ANSI drawing application.

* * * *

ANSI drawing programs are most commonly used for creating archive comments and FILE_ID.DIZ files destined for BBS's. The home user could use this program to make logos or more colorful batch files. This program implements a standard mouse and menu driven, text mode interface and is very easy to use. An undocumented (?) feature is multiple undo support. An included program can convert ANSI files to executables which offer faster display. Nice sample drawings included. EXE size = 190K. Authors: A. Kapostyak and A. Merches. Romania. (1997).

Features:

Limitations:

download paintpro.zip (111K)


CAMWORK- Download images from digital cameras.

unrated [added 7-20-98]

Untested. From the docs: "CamWork is a DOS program designed to extract pictures from the Agfa ePhoto and Olympus digital cameras. It has been tested successfully (as far as I know) with the Agfa 307, 1280, Epson 500, Epson 600, Olympus 200, Olympus 300 cameras...The program names images image01.jpg, image 02.jpg, etc..While the images are downloading the program displays session statistics, including elapsed time, time remaining, percent completed, images remaining, etc. Where possible, CamWork also displays the total number of pictures taken since the camera was created." E-mail ware. Author: Max Lyons (1998); Suggested by Dev Teelucksingh.

Command Line Options:
/d[drive:\path]                   specifies download destination
/p[1.2.3] or /p[1-9] or /pall     specifies pictures to download
/com[1],[2],[3],[4]               specifies com port to use
/s[9600],[19200],[38400],[57600]  sets communication speed
/e[1],[2]...[99]                  sets number of errors to ignore
/bw                               black and white display
/q                                turns off sound
/nb                               turns off battery check

download camwork.zip (46K)
Also see: Other programs from Tabaware.


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