Centerpiece readme 

==========part 1 of 3 ============================
WHAT IT DOES
Centerpiece provides a simple way of making wallpaper. Instead of being stuck with the choice of 'tile' or 'center' or 'stretch', you can do all at once.

The simplest way to use the program:
1) find a tile and a centerpiece in folders on your computer
2) drag-and-drop each onto the program's two bottom panels
3) set the result as wallpaper.

IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTE
this program is provided as-is. there are no guarantees.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES (the most important)
-Attractive 2-color gradients and halos are available instead of tiling. The colors can be picked off of the centerpiece image 
-The centerpiece can be sized
-the tiling can be sized
-the paths are remembered, for future use.

SUPPORTED FILE TYPES
Centerpiece supports BMP, PNG, JPG, and GIF as input, and the first 3 as output. Note that when the Wallpaper is set, BMP is always used (due to 
charactistics of Windows)

THE FUTURE
I intend to add a better use of transparency. This may mean that in the next version centerpieces can be rendered as silhouttes (after a bit of clicking).

SOUND EFFECTS
if you want to replace any of the sound effects, then replace any of the files in the 'wav' directory.

FEEDBACK
If you want to e-mail me, you should use the email address given at the website.

REMEMBER: the image in the viewer is only a shrunken version of the bitmap that is being prepared as wallpaper. This bitmap is the size of your screen, 
at the time the program starts.

===part 2 of 3=== 
===technical: will it work on your computer, and how to set it up, etc.========

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Centerpiece should work with: Win95 OSR2 or later (including win98, win2000, winXP, winME, WinNT). 

If you have the original Win95: this OS's common controls did not include the 'coolbar' which Centerpiece uses. So users who have this OS will have to 
update the file "comctl.dll" (getting v4.7  or later). This is not that hard. For instance, the newer version of this file happens to be bundled with MSIE 4.0 
(or later)(which uses coolbars).

INSTALLATION and DEINSTALLATION
There is no installation program. Centerpiece does currently require that the file 'LPng.dll' be in the same directory (or registered on your machine).

Just unpack the zip into a directory (retaining 'folder names'). The files should be
'Centerpiece.exe'
'LPng.dll'
'readme.txt' (this file!)
there should be also be a folder called 'wav' (in case you want sound effects)

When the program is run it will create 3 more small files in that same directory. these files store your options, and the paths to the images you have used.

When you dont want the program anymore, just delete the entire directory. Because Centerpiece puts no application data in the system registry (and 
registers no components)  it does not need to be de-installed.

EFFECT ON COMPUTER
When Centerpiece sets the wallpaper it does call the Windows API {SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER...}. This API itself does set the 
value in the system registry that gives the path to  the walllpaper. Thats only logical!
Other than this Centerpiece does not alter the windows registry. 

the PNG functionality
this functionality (including the dll) was written by David Taylor [see http://www.david-taylor.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/software/index.html]

===part 3 of 3====
===the options menu=====================
there are 2 options whose meaning might not be clear...

 'PART OF WALLPAPER UNDER TASKBAR'
 if this is checked the size of the constructed wallpaper will be your entire screen size. If it is not checked, then the app won't count the area under the 
taskbar. 

'RETAIN ASPECT RATIO'
As far as Centerpiece is concerned, the 'aspect ratio' is the ratio of the area of the destkop to the area of the centerpiece. When the program starts up, 
to decide the size of it centerpieces it will normally use its default aspect-ratio (1.61803399) 
[this is the "golden ratio" - the famous mathematical constant called 'phi'.  First noticed by ancient Greeks, phi has been used in architecture. Blind polls 
have shown people prefer this ratio to others. It is also found in Nature.]

But  if you check the option 'retain aspect-ratio'  then instead the program will use
 the aspect-ratio of the last picture when the program was last used (this might be different because of the tools in the 'resizing submenu').

-If some resizing is done (via these tools), the program from then on until it is closed will calculate the size of the all centerpieces without reference to the 
aspect-ratio. 
instead it will use the prior resizing values.
-when the program is closed, it stores the last aspect-ratio, however derived.
-Please note, that the resizing commands are not retained  between program uses, wheter 'as is' or 'max' or a resizing via the mouse, the only data ever 
that can be saved 
is the last aspect-ratio. 
-in later releases this feature may change.
