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CharPad 2.8 User Manual - Subchrist Software, 2021.

The Tile Set Form.

The Tile Set form allows you to view and organize the project's tiles and also perform multi-tile transformations.

Resizing the tile set (quantity)...

To set the quantity of tiles in the tile set, simply type a new quantity into the numeric entry box on the form's tool bar and hit ENTER.

nb. The minimum quantity is 1 and the maximum is 65536.

Resizing the tile set (dimensions)...

To alter the dimensions of all the tiles in the set, select a new tile size from the drop-down list on the form's tool bar, all existing tiles will have their dimensions altered and their contents converted to retain the existing images as much as possible.

nb. The smallest tile size is 1x2 or 2x1, the largest size is 10x10 (character images).

Selecting tiles...

This version of CharPad allows you to specify two 'current' tiles, a 'primary tile', this is the one that also appears (for editing) in the Tile Editor, you can use the LEFT mouse button to specify a primary tile, it will appear highlighted and boxed by yellow vertical bars to indicate it's position in the set.

The primary tile is the one that will be used as a brush when drawing on the map using the LEFT mouse button.

A 'secondary tile' may be selected by using the RIGHT mouse button, it will appear boxed by red horizontal bars to indicate it's position in the set.

The secondary tile will be used as a brush when drawing on the map using the RIGHT mouse button.

To select a range of tiles, use the LEFT mouse button to select a primary tile, then hold down the SHIFT key and select another primary tile, the selected range will appear highlighted.

Naming and Tagging...

This version of CharPad allows each tile to be assigned a name (string) and a tag value (byte).

To change the name or tag value for the current tile (or the currently selected range), simply type the new information into the text entry boxes provided in the toolbar on the main form.

nb. It is not necessary to hit ENTER in these text entry boxes but doing so will create an Undo snapshot.

Transformations...

The following transformations are available when this form is active...

• Scroll (up, down, left, right).

• Flip (left-to-right, top-to-bottom).

• Reflect (left-to-right, top-to-bottom).

• Negative.

• Colour swapping (for multi-colour tiles).

nb. Clicking a Scroll, Flip or Reflect action while holding the SHIFT key allows the selected action to be performed on the tile contents (image references) rather than the pixel data.

Other functions...

• Swapping - By selecting a tile using the LEFT mouse button and then selecting a second tile using the LEFT mouse button whilst holding down the CTRL key, the two tile's positions in the set can be swapped.

• Cropping - With a range of tiles selected, the 'Crop' menu item will remove all tiles not included in the selection.

• Cycling - With a range of tiles selected, the 'Cycle Backwards' and 'Cycle Forwards' menu items will cycle (rotate) the selected tile's positions in the set by one place.

nb. Tile cycling does not perform correction on ie. map data, so the function can be used to produce an animation effect.