Introduction to DigitalPaint Automation

Adding automation to a paint application enables the user to add all the paint toolkit capabilities and the associated user interfaces, to that application. The paint automation coordinates the low-level Digital Paint toolkit functions, the LEAD container functions and the LEAD toolbar functions. This facilitates the building of a paint application and removes the need to understand all the low level functionality.

The paint automation toolkit can do the following:

• handle multiple windows simultaneously, with each window having its own transformations, regions, Undo/Redo information…etc.

• set the Undo/Redo level to virtually any value, as well as Undo or Redo the operations in every window in an MDI environment.

• select All or None of the bitmap in the current active window. In addition, the current selection can be cut, copied, pasted or deleted.

• print the bitmap in any of the application's opened windows.

The paint automation toolbar lets the user select the needed tool and draw, while the automation handles the visual feedback needed to communicate between the painting process and the user. Mouse cursors and the basic drawing algorithms for selected tools (Line, Ellipse, Polygon…etc.) are handled by automation. The Paint tools currently available in the toolkit are:

• Paintbrush.

• Line Shape.

• Rectangle Shape.

• Rounded Rectangle Shape.

• Ellipse Shape.

• Polygon Shape.

• Curve Shape.

• Rectangular Select.

• Rounded Rectangular Select.

• Elliptical Select.

• Polygon Select.

• Surface Select.

• Border Select.

• Color Select.

• Fill using the surface fill method.

• Fill using the border fill method.

• Fill using the color replace method (Color Replace).

• Text.

• Color Picker.

• Select (region) mover.

• Zoom.

Most of the tools above have an accompanying dialog that can be used to set the tool properties.

The user should have a good grasp of the following LEAD functionalities before effectively using the automated digital paint functionality:

• Low-level digital paint functionality.

• LEAD Toolbar.

• LEAD Container.

Therefore, we strongly recommend that anyone wanting to use the automated digital paint functionality carefully read the documentation of the modules mentioned above.

The automated digital paint functionality gives the user the flexibility to create and add LEAD Containers and the LEAD Toolbar using automated functions. This offers the maximum possible creativity to the user. Please be advised that using the low-level functionality of the LEADTOOLS Container and LEADTOOLS Toolbar may occasionally create internal automation conflicts. Consequently, we recommend using the given automation interface functions with the LEADTOOLS Container and the LEADTOOLS Toolbar