The Apple Hi-Res Painter
James Totten
"Hi-Res Painter" is a graphics editor for use with a 32K Apple. With it you can: use any one of six colors (or combine colors with your "pen"); select from three different drawing pens; label pictures with upper- and lowercase lettering; color in squares, rectangles; and more.
When using the Apple's hi-res graphics, it seems that a lot of work can yield few results. This is true, of course, only if you are doing your graphics manually (HPLOT 0,0 TO 45,67 etc.). Since I use the graphics considerably (they are one reason I bought the computer), I didn't enjoy taking hours to draw a fairly impressive title page or chart or some other type of picture.
Menu Options
The "Hi-Res Painter" runs from four menus: Main Menu (1), Accessory Menu (2), Diskette Menu (3), and, most important of all, the Picture Menu (4). When you start, you are automatically placed at the first menu (Main). From here you can select to go to any of the other three menus presented by just pressing the first letter of its name. This letter is highlighted on the screen.
Pressing A will take you to the Accessory Menu (2). Here, you can choose from p)rint, f)ill, k)eyboard, and m)ain. The print option will work for those who own either a Trendcom or Silentype printer only. The fill option works for everyone. You select two points on the screen: the first is the upper left corner of the square you wish filled, and the other is the lower right corner. Presto! The keyboard option allows the user to change from paddle or joystick control of the pen to keyboard control of the pen. With the change, the I, J, K, M keys move the pen in the direction they are positioned. And, of course, the main option will take you to the main menu again.
The next menu in the list is the Diskette Menu, number three, and you can call that menu by pressing D. Here you can n)ame, d)elete, s)ave, l)oad, or r)ename any picture - s)ave will save the picture currently on the screen. Again, m)ain will return you to menu 1.
Finally, menu four is the Picture Menu, and to call it up press P. The available options here are: v)iew, 1)abel, b)drop, c)olor, d)raw, e)rase, p)ens, and m)ain. The first option allows simply a total view (no text) of the graphics screen which you are working on. Label will do just that; you are asked for a date, name, or whatever to be typed in on the keyboard, and it is then transferred to a location of your choice onto the graphics screen.
The b)drop option stands for backdrop, and this will simply fill the screen (rather quickly) with a color of your choice. Color will allow you to choose a new color. Press the first letter of each as in the menu selections. Draw and erase are obvious in that they do exactly what they say. A note of warning though: if a picture is erased, it cannot be recalled unless it is on disk. The pens option is actually two in one. With it you can change the size of your pen (press 1, 2, or 3 and watch the screen), and turn it on or off. And again, main returns you to menu one. You can draw using paddles or a joystick, or you can switch the controls to use the keyboard.
To produce very good-looking designs, try some experiments. Fantastic pictures (such as stars on a moonlit night) can easily be created by just moving the pen in various sizes and colors.
