Bitmap Editor

The Bitmap Editor is a fully functional tool for creating and editing bitmaps, which can be used independently of the other DesignGuide Studio tools. The Bitmap Editor can create or edit any 32 by 32 bitmap for use as a custom palette button within the DesignGuide Studio itself, or for other applications that use bitmaps. The Bitmap Editor uses the standard .bmp format, so bitmaps created using the editor are compatible with any other application that uses bitmaps.

Drawing Tools Palette

Following are the buttons in the Drawing Tools Palette.

Selection

The Selection mode allows a rectangular section of the bitmap to be selected using a simple mouse drag. After selection is completed, the selection is shown on the screen with a thin dotted black line. The selection will only be in effect while the bitmap editor is in Selection mode. A switch to any other mode will remove the selection marker from the screen. Many of the toolbar commands such as cut, copy, rotate, and flip require the bitmap editor to be in selection mode, and will only function after a selection has been made.

Moving a selection

The Bitmap Editor provides a quick method of moving a selection from one place to another without having to use the Cut and Paste buttons. Moving can be done in the following steps

Draw a selection box around the bitmap section to be moved.
Put the mouse cursor within the selection box, and hold down the left mouse button.
An image will appear below the mouse cursor showing the current location of the selection. Move the cursor and the image to the desired destination.
Release the mouse button; the selection will be automatically cut from the old location and placed in the selected destination.

Erase

The Erase mode allows individual pixels on the bitmap to be replaced with the background color. Similar to Draw mode, Erase mode allows you to either click on individual pixels, or hold down the mouse button and drag, changing the individual pixels to the background color.

Draw

In Draw mode, you can click or drag the mouse on the screen to change individual pixels to the selected foreground color.

Flood Fill

In Flood Fill mode, clicked on a pixel with the mouse, causes every square of that color within the same shape to be filled with the selected foreground color. The flood proceeds in all four cardinal directions, and stops whenever it reaches a color that is different from the original selected color. The following figure shows a demonstration of the flood fill action.

Line

Line mode allows you to draw a line, one pixel wide, connecting any two points. Simply hold down the mouse button over the desired starting point, and drag the mouse to the desired end point. A line image will appear after dragging, showing the location of the line. When the line is in the right place, release the mouse button, and the line will be filled in with the selected foreground color. The following figure shows how the line tool works.

Rectangle

Rectangle mode allow you to draw entire rectangles quickly and conveniently, without having to draw each side separately using the line tool. After selecting Rectangle mode, move the mouse cursor to any corner of the desired location and hold down the left mouse button. Dragging the mouse will display a rectangle image which then can be sized appropriately.

Releasing the mouse button will draw a rectangular border in the selected foreground color, as shown here.

Filled Rectangle

Filled Rectangle mode works the same way as Rectangle mode, only the entire rectangle will be filled with the selected foreground color, overwriting any other colors within the boundaries of the rectangle.

The following figure shows how the filled rectangle mode works:

Circle

The Circle mode allows a user to add an unfilled circle to the bitmap. After selecting Circle mode, click and hold the left mouse button where the center of the circle will be, and then move the mouse outward. An image will appear, showing the boundaries of the circle as the cursor is moved. Once the circle is the proper size and shape, releasing the mouse button creates the circle using the selected foreground color.

The following diagrams show the use of the Circle too:

Filled Circle

Filled Circle mode works the same way as Circle mode, only the completed circle is filled completely with the selected foreground color.

The following figure demonstrates its use:

Text (7)

The larger text tool of the Bitmap Editor allows you to place text anywhere on the bitmap. Once selected, the mouse cursor shows a bracket image, representing the left side of the text. Once the location is selected, and the mouse button is pushed, a dialog box asks for the text to be inserted. The Text 7 tool is capable of upper and lower case letters and numbers, although blank spaces will be inserted in place of any other symbols. The text will be printed in the selected foreground color, and will start in the location specified by the mouse. In the case the text is too long to fit within the borders of the bitmap, the tool will cut off the text at the border and any remaining text will not be printed.

Text (5)

The smaller text tool of the Bitmap Editor draws characters that are 5 pixels high at any place on the bitmap. When the tool is selected, the mouse cursor becomes a bracket image representing the left border of the text. As with the Text-7 tool, once the mouse button is pushed, a dialog box prompts you to input the desired text. Unlike the Text-7 tool, the 5-pixel font has only upper case letters, and will print the inputted text in all upper-case regardless of the case used when inputting.

The following figure shows the results of both text tools.

Menu/Toolbar Items

The following provides details on the menu and toolbar commands.

File Menu

New
Creates a new blank bitmap without saving the previous bitmap. The blank bitmap is automatically gray, regardless of the selected background color.

Open
Opens an existing bitmap. Selecting this menu item opens a file selection dialog box, allowing you to selected the bitmap to open.

Note
Since the bitmap editor only handles bitmaps that are 32 X 32, attempting to open a larger bitmap will result in an error message.

Browse
Consists of four separate menu items: Analog, DSP, Layout, and Template. Each item opens a special browse window to look through and select from specially defined preexisting bitmaps.

Save. Saves the current bitmap under its current name. If no name has been selected for this bitmap, a file dialog box is opened allowing you to input the new bitmap's name.
Save As. Opens a file dialog box to allow you to save the current bitmap under a user-defined name.
Exit. Closes the bitmap editor without saving the current bitmap.

Edit Menu

Undo
Redraws the current bitmap as it was before the last drawing command was performed.

Note
Undo can only be used once in succession as only the most recent drawing command is remembered. When undoing a paste command, the paste selection remains in the clipboard, and can be pasted again immediately.

Cut
This is only applicable in Selection mode, and after a selection has been made. Copies the selected section to the clipboard and replaces the selection with background color.

Copy
This is only applicable in Selection mode, and after a selection has been made. Copies the selected section to the clipboard while leaving the original selection unchanged.

Paste
This is only applicable in Selection mode, and after having selected a section and either used the Cut or Copy command beforehand. Displays a rectangular image under the mouse cursor showing the size of the clipboard. Once the left mouse button is pressed, the selection is copied onto the bitmap in the designated location. If the selection reaches beyond the boundaries of the bitmap editor, the extraneous pixels are eliminated.

Clear Selection
This is only applicable in Selection mode, and after a selection has been made. Replaces the selected area with background color.

Clear All. Replaces the entire bitmap area with background color.

View Menu

Redraw Bitmap Preview . Refreshes the bitmap preview window to the side of the main bitmap display.
Redraw View. Refreshes the main bitmap window. Use if visual artifacts begin to appear on the screen.
Caption Guide Display .
Toggles the Caption Guidelines on and off. When activated, the bitmap window shows the approximate space designated for captions, for aid in bitmap design.

Image Guide Display
Toggles the Image Guidelines on and off. When activated, the bitmap window shows the approximate space designated for the main bitmap image, used as an aid in bitmap design.

Tools Menu

Add Caption
Allows you to input a caption to be placed in the caption area at the bottom of the bitmap window. The caption will be centered and printed in the selected foreground color. Captions that extend the boundaries of the bitmap window will have the left-most and right-most sections cut off.

Add Analog/RF Corner Tab
Draws a yellow corner on the bitmap, used to designate an Analog/RF item.

Add Smart Component Corner Tab. Draws a blue corner on the bitmap, used to designate a Smart Component.

Flip Selection Horizontal
This is only applicable in Selection mode, after a selection box has been drawn. Flips the selection across a vertical axis, creating a mirror image of the original image.

Flip Selection Vertical
This is only applicable in Selection mode, after a selection box has been drawn. Flips the selection across a horizontal axis, creating a vertically opposite image of the original.

Rotate Selection
This is only applicable in Selection mode, after a selection box has been drawn. Rotate also requires the selection box to be a square. Once the selection is made, Rotate redraws the selection after rotating the image 90 degrees clockwise.

Help Menu

User Manual
Brings up the help documentation for the bitmap editor.

About Bitmap Editor. Version and copyright information.

Color Selection Tools

The Selected Color Box at the bottom left of the bitmap editor shows the currently selected colors: the inner square is the foreground color, the outer square is the background color. The fifteen color boxes shown in the following Bitmap Editor Colors table are the available colors.

Bitmap Editor Colors

Color	ADS Number
Red	1
Black	0
Yellow	2
Green	3
Light Blue	4
Blue	5
Purple	6
Gray	7
White	8
Dark Blue	13
Brown	29
Olive	27
Orange	82
Teal	63
Magenta	37

Clicking on one of the color boxes selects that color according to which mouse button is used:

Left Mouse Button : Selected color is now the foreground color.
Right Mouse Button : Selected color is now the background color.

Color Selection List

Another way to select a color is through the Color Selection List, found right above the color boxes. The List contains names for standard component items and the colors associated with them. This will assist in ensuring that custom bitmaps have the same color scheme and pattern as other ADS bitmaps. To select a color, simply choose the desired name from the list, and the foreground color will be adjusted automatically. The choices shown in the following Color Selection List Options table are available through the Color Selection List.

Color Selection List Options

Name	Color
RF Symbol Outline	Black
RF Symbol Fill	White
RF Symbol Text	Black
RF Pins	Red
RF Graphics	Black
DSP Timed	Black
DSP Symbol Bodies	Black
DSP Any	Black
DSP Integer	Yellow
DSP Message	Teal
DSP Fix	Purple
DSP Float	Blue
DSP Graphics	Dark Blue
DSP Complex	Green
DSP Matrix	Orange

Bitmap Preview

The Bitmap Editor provides a bitmap preview window just to the right of the main layout grid. This window shows the created bitmap as it would appear as a palette item using a .bmp file. (This does not physically create the named .bmp file, just a temporary one for use as a preview. To create a .bmp file, use the Save or Save As commands in the Bitmap Editor menu.) The bitmap preview will be automatically updated each time any palette (Circle, Rectangle, Text, etc.) or menu functions (cut, paste, rotation, etc.) are performed. If you want to refresh the preview for any reason, select the View > Refresh Bitmap Preview from the menu.

Note
The Bitmap Preview only exists on the Windows Version of the DesignGuide Developer Studio.