User:Ojwol/Chasys Draw IES

Chasys Draw IES (formerly known as Chasys Draw Artist) is a suite of applications including a layer-based raster graphics editor with animation, vista-style icon support and super-resolution via image stacking (Chasys Draw IES Artist), a multi-threaded image file converter (Chasys Draw IES Converter) and a fast image viewer (Chasys Draw IES Viewer). The whole suite is UAC aware and is designed to take advantage of multi-core processors and touch-screen technology.

The software is developed by John Paul Chacha in Nairobi, Kenya.

Chasys Draw IES is currently released as freeware, and is available for computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Chasys Draw IES is marketed under the slogan "powerful enough for pros... simple enough for newbies" and it's product vision is summarized in "The three pillars of IES":
 * Character - is not an imitation of the current market leaders
 * Performance - to be the fastest and most stable editor ever
 * Innovation - new techniques and out-of-the-box thinking

The suite is coded in a blend of C,C++ and assembly language. It runs on x86 processors and supports the MMX, SSE, SSE2 and S-SSE3 instruction sets.

History
Chasys Draw is a project that was started back in 2001 by John Paul Chacha, mostly as a hobby than anything else. Outlined below are some key stages in it's development, as sites on the developer's site: Chasys Draw classic : The original Chasys Draw dates back to November, 2001. It was a rather simple bitmap editor, a lot like MS Paint save for its ability to do gradients. A humble application done in visual basic, it wasn't much to write home about. This application underwent many changes, eventually leading up to Chasys Draw 5. This was the first version to have it's own native format, referred to simply as CD5.

Chasys Draw DTFx : Major updates to the graphics code in May of 2002 resulted in Chasys Draw DTFx (Direct Tool eFfects). The new graphics code being referred to here was actually a miniature bitmap abstraction engine that allowed for fast per-pixel operations and direct image buffer access (much as the DIB engine does for GDI). The engine was named JpDRAW. This version was also done in VB, but was much faster than all the previous versions. The new graphics code allowed for more tools to be implemented than was ever possible before.

Chasys Draw Artist 1.0~1.2 : 2002 was a year of many changes. For one, the developer decided to completely abandon VB as a programming platform and moved all the code to C/C++. The power of C allowed a lot of things to be done with pixels, but this power needed control, so the developer started out on an ambitious project to turn JpDRAW into a full-fledged graphics engine witch was named JpDRAW2. Chasys Draw was then re-baptized as Chasys Draw Artist. The CD5 image format was also updated to reflect the new features. By coincidence, the module that implemented the file format was the fifth module to be added, so the format was called Chasys Draw module 5, retaining the .cd5 file extension. Internally, the format was referred to as "trendy" (hence the term "cd5 trendies") due to its ability to encode image data as mathematical trends (simple "equation-lets").

Chasys Draw Artist 1.22~1.27 : April of 2004 saw the release of Chasys Draw Artist 1.22, which was loaded with new features, but was rather difficult to use. Subsequent updates led up to version 1.27, which was the first version to be posted on the internet (notably on betanews ). User reviews posted on various websites provided useful input that ultimately guided the development of future versions.

Chasys Draw Artist 1.54~1.90 : In 2005, Chasys Draw underwent major user interface changes as well as internal changes. By December of that year, the project had reached version 1.63. This was the first version to introduce advanced features such as anti-aliasing. It was also the first version with full support for alpha channels. The version had been intentionally pumped full of features to counter a code leak that had resulted in the cracking of version 1.60's security code. The CD5 image format was also upgraded to version 2, adding advanced compression, full alpha channels, encryption and metadata. Version 1.80 introduced the "chazy-glass" interface, from which the all later versions' user interfaces borrowed.

Version 1.63 was the first version to win an IEEE (Kenya chapter) award in ICT.

Chasys Draw Artist 2.01~2.42 : Chasys Draw Artist adopted photo editing features and many other functions that are generally considered essential for any proper image editing application in version 2.01. This version gained a lot of popularity from the fact that it performed typical tasks much faster than the industry giants. Subsequent revisions squeezed in more features and functionality, including automations that made workflow smoother for the user. Comprehensive tutorials were added and many features were re-designed to make them easier to use. Multi-threading was introduced to accelerate some tasks, such as the improved auto-save engine. Utilities such as a converter and browser were added.

Chasys Draw Artist 2.43 : The version 2.43 of Chasys Draw Artist was quietly released to the public in late 2007 without any announcements. It featured many fixes to the formal version 2.42, as well as many new features. The quiet release was due to a decision to re-build Chasys Draw Artist from scratch, while still continuing support for the old architecture.

Chasys Draw Artist 2.45 "Clara on Fire" : Version 2.45 was an experimental edition that was released only to beta-testers for the purpose of testing new technologies that would be included in the new architecture. This version revealed weaknesses in the original structure that would make the adoption of intended improvements such as layer support difficult to introduce without compromising the stability of the code. Chasys Draw Artist 2.45 was officially withdrawn in May of 2008.

Chasys Draw IES 2.50 "Latifah" : During the time when the versions 2.43~2.45 were being released, work was underway to create a Chasys Draw that, acoording to the developer "would change the face of the project forever". This edition took a radically different internal structure that completely transformed the way the application operated. The intention was to bring the project to a level that would make it "so good and so full-featured that it would shake the very foundations of the market giants and rip a huge chuck of the market share from them". It was not only to provide all the features they have, but to do so in a better way. The new application would be a suite designed to be fast, reliable, scalable, and fully Vista UAC compliant to attract new users. It is on this platform that the IES suite was born, and with it many supporting technologies, such as CD5 v3, the new multi-stream, stream-able, extendable, tag-based container-style image format.

Chasys Draw IES 2.51 ~ 2.52 : IES 2.51 introduced animation and multi-resolution support as editing modes. IES 2.52 brought in an unlimited undo engine, new plug-ins and several internal fixes. The application acquired a new look and several speed-boosting modifications.

Chasys Draw IES 2.53 ~ 2.55 : These introduced super-resolution and image stacking, support for video and video capture, and other high-end features. Anti-aliasing was later introduced in the line and shape tools. New super-resolution modes were added.

Chasys Draw IES 2.56 "Sniper-Kit" : IES 2.56 introduced support for metadata save and restore; and to keep Photoshop die-hards happy, the all-famous pen tool in the form of a "Pen and Path" tool. Physical measurement specification was added for the old-school class, and a video sequence composer engine was also thrown in. The user interface was enhanced with adaptive scrolling and the auto-save engine was optimized. Some memory management was added for machines with low RAM.

Chasys Draw IES 2.57 ~ 2.59 : Internal distribution versions. JPEG 2000 read/write plug-in added.

Chasys Draw IES 2.60 ~ 2.61 "Ivy" : IES 2.60 introduced Anti-aliased Pen and Path object cutting, setting it a notch above other editors. Shell integration with thumbnails and application-level support for multi-monitor display setups was added to make it easier to use the editor with multiple screens at the same time. Metadata was extended to support save, restore and scaling for text formatting and path data. A Photoshop import plug-in was also thrown into the works. IES 2.61 refined these features, and featured an improved palette with exchangeable swatches, loadable from all kinds of palette files. A slicing tool for web and user interface design was also included. A C++ code module output for inline image generation was added, as was a constrained recolor brush.

Chasys Draw IES 2.62 ~ 2.63 "Kazara" : IES 2.62 introduced the concept of a "fully anti-aliased work-flow", in which all drawing and selection tools are anti-aliased by default. To support this, a highly improved version of the JpDRAW2 engine was adopted, including the so-called Path API for JpDRAW2.

Chasys Draw IES 2.64 ~ 2.65 "Ivy" : IES 2.64 saw the introduction of full-page gradients (like you have in Photoshop), polygon selection and the famous "magnetic lasso" as an extension to Pen and Path. Restrictions on the API were removed to encourage third-party plug-in development. Poly-lines and poly-curves were made editable, and new shapes were added to the shape tool. Version 2.65 polished the interface, adding better support for tool editing and improving re-editable text support. The SDKs were streamlined, with no restrictions on use.

Chasys Draw IES 2.66 "Switch-Blade" : IES 2.66 introduced support for Photoshop plug-ins using Adobe's 8bf format, allowing user to utilize thousands of free plug-ins available online. A new blending mode was also added: Overlay.

Chasys Draw IES 2.67 "EasterEgg" : IES 2.67 introduced the Just-in-Time memory compressor, significantly reducing the editor's memory requirements. Equivalents for the Pantone® palettes (PMS 100 to 814-2x) were added. Improvements were made to super-resolution and stacking. Color management (ICM) was also improved, as was the printing interface.

Chasys Draw IES 2.68 ~ 2.69 : IES 2.68 featured major changes to the Converter component, adding an improved parallel process engine and a re-designed user interface. IES 2.69 introduced a DirectSHOW® video import plug-in, minor changes to the SDK, all backward compatible, and a best-in-class post-edit heuristics anti-aliasing engine. For user of netbooks, a special small-screen mode was added.

Chasys Draw IES 2.70 ~ 2.71 : IES went freeware. With the coming of the freeware IES, two blending modes (Hue and Chroma) were added. Textures were improved to allow multiple layer-based textures. The TextArt G3 engine was enhanced with LINK metadata, and alpha shift was improved.

Chasys Draw IES 2.72 ~ 2.73 : IES 2.72 added the Luma Wand tool, fixed PNG and TIFF transparency issues, and fixed Smart-Paste transparency. TextArt's "border" fill style was also fixed. IES 2.73 introduced a TextArt engine that accepts alpha in textures, added 'Make Tile' effect, 'Save Group' option, Luma blending mode, hard merge (blit) and a Luma Wand tool for the adventurous.

Chasys Draw IES 2.74 ~ 2.75 : IES 2.74 introduced alpha protection, and 2.75 followed with a new adjustments engine that faced out many effects implemented by the effects engine. The adjustments engine was designed to appeal to experienced image editors, who find such an interface more intuitive and useful.

Chasys Draw IES 2.76 ~ 2.77 : IES 2.76 introduced a new transform engine and the Resizer for IES plug-in supporting multi-core and 18 scaling methods, including customizable windowed Sinc interpolation. IES 2.77 added Greyscale with Tint adjustment, separated the Lock and Click-Thru layer properties, extended the Cloning Brush with three options (this, below and composite) and also extended the Color Picker with multiple point sampling.

Features
Chasys Draw IES emphasizes speed and ease of use as major design goals, and it's design is intended to reflect this.

Layers
Chasys Draw IES uses the concept of a free-style layer. A free-style layer is one that can be positioned anywhere, including totally removing it from the image and keeping it aside. Chasys Draw IES Artist provides free-style layering as a way to enable people to work with images the same way they would if the images were photos placed on their desk - you may stack what you need together, while placing pieces that you are not currently using outside the stack but within reach.

Image Modes
The rendering (drawing) of layers in Chasys Draw IES Artist is dictated by a parameter called the image mode.

The default image mode, composite, renders the layers as a stack for the purpose of compositing.

In the multi-resolution image mode, similar copies of the image are made at different resolutions. The destination device then has a choice of images to choose from, depending on the intended display resolution. This mode is primarily used for creating icons and cursors.

The animation image mode is used for short videos, known as animations. In this mode, only one layer is displayed at a time, one after the other, after a duration of time dictated by the frame delay layer attribute. It is analogous to the way an artist can draw a slightly different figure on each page of a pad of paper so that when you flip between sheets rapidly, the drawing appears to move.

Metadata
Chasys Draw IES can add descriptive information, such as the name and style of font used, path data, etc. to a layer. This information is called metadata, and is saved along with the layer. If the layer were to be opened for editing later, this information will be restored to facilitated easier editing.

File formats
Chasys Draw IES supports saving and loading a large number of different file formats, and support for others can be added using plug-ins. The native format is Chasys Draw Image (CD5).

General

 * Super-fast internal graphics engine (JpDRAW2)
 * Free-style layering with blending modes
 * Composite, Animation and Multi-resolution image modes
 * Full alpha channel through out the workflow
 * Re-editable tools and fully re-editable text
 * Alpha protection (a.k.a transparency protection)
 * Multi-core aware software architecture
 * Vista UAC aware
 * Multiple display setup aware
 * Shell integration with thumbnails
 * Asynchronous auto-save engine with 1 minute latency
 * Anti-aliasing and super-sampling support in tools and paths*
 * Unlimited Undo/Redo - undo any action any time
 * Just-in-time memory compression
 * Best-in-class post-edit heuristics anti-aliasing engine
 * Image Stacking for super-resolution, stitching and moving object removal
 * Advanced printing and scanning engines
 * Video capture from devices (e.g. TV/Video)
 * Video sequence composer engine
 * In-built utilities (Calculator, Notepad)
 * Metadata save, restore and scale to imitate vector art
 * Extensive plug-in support
 * Support for Photoshop Filter Plug-ins (.8BF)
 * Support for older formats such as PPM/PGM/PBM, PCX, TGA, etc.
 * Uses the latest CD5 specification with animation and multi-resolution
 * Vista-style icon import and export
 * Can output C++ code module for inline image generation
 * Includes plug-ins for JPEG 2000, AVI video, animated cursors, JPEG, PNG, animated GIF, etc.
 * Physical measurement specification
 * Streamlined SDKs with no restrictions
 * Pantone equivalent palettes for PMS 100 to 814-2x

- path super-sampling enables very smooth selections, smoother than you would get with any other image editor

Chasys Draw IES Artist

 * Tools :


 * Hand - for moving layers around
 * Pencil - for pixel art, draws thin single-pixel lines
 * Line - for drawing thick, straight, anti-aliased lines
 * Curve - enables you to draw smooth curves that join points on an image
 * Brush - allows you to draw thick anti-aliased free-form lines in any color of your choice
 * Effects Brush - for special effects, such as shadows, red-eye reduction, and re-color
 * Cloning Brush - (healing brush), copies pixels from one area of an image to another
 * Pattern Brush - used to fill an area with a pattern, tiling it if and when necessary
 * Smoother - smoothens the area around it
 * Directional Smooth - directional smoothening for natural bump effects
 * Spray gun - sprays paint over a surface
 * Texturizer - "roughens" the area around it
 * Filling Paint - fills areas with even color with selected color
 * Border Fill - fills areas within a border with selected color
 * Transparency Fill - makes areas with even color transparent
 * Color Picker - picks (selects) colors from the image
 * Rectangular Selection - cuts out rectangular portions for editing
 * Elliptical Selection - cuts out circular portions for editing
 * Polygon Select - cuts out free-form portions for editing
 * Pen and Path - allows you to create a path, which you can then use to select, fill and stroke regions. Supports several modes of operation, including elastic and magnetic lasso
 * Razor - slices (splits) the current layer into two pieces
 * Magic Wand - erases pixels that have the same hue or brightness as the selected pixels
 * Eraser - allows you to make pixels in a layer transparent
 * Opaquer - allows you to make pixels in a layer opaque
 * Texture Mapper - transforms an image to fit into any four sided polygon
 * TextArt - allows you to add plain and decorative text to your images
 * Ruler - allows you to make markings and measurements on the workspace
 * Lens - used to view small areas on your work up close
 * Shape - allows you to draw various common shapes such as rectangles, circles, etc
 * Custom Shape - allows you to draw a custom shape (polygon) of your choice by setting vertices
 * Triangle Fan - draws a series of triangles in a polygon fan manner
 * Triangle Strip - draws a series of triangles in a polygon strip manner
 * GT Rectangle - draws a gradient- and alpha-shaded rectangle / square
 * GT Ellipse - draws a gradient- and alpha-shaded ellipse / circle
 * GT Angular Rect - draws a gradient- and alpha-shaded angled rectangle / square
 * GT Free-form - draws a gradient- and alpha-shaded free-form shape
 * GT Sparkle - draws a gradient- and alpha-shaded star (sparkle)
 * Full-page Gradients - draws gradients covering the entire layer; such gradients are usually used as backgrounds
 * Decorative GTs - draws various gradient- and alpha-shade objects and effects
 * MyTool™ - allows you to use tools exposed through MyTool™ plug-ins
 * Engines :


 * Icon Generator (supporting 32 bpp Vista style icons and cursors)
 * Video Sequence Composer
 * Stacking - Noise Averaging
 * Stacking - Sequence Stitching
 * Stacking - Moving Object Removal
 * Stacking - Multi-frame Super-resolution
 * Heuristics-based Single-frame Super-resolution


 * Transforms :


 * Flip
 * Rotate
 * Skew
 * Perspective
 * Stretch
 * Tile
 * Kaleidoscope
 * Adjustments :


 * Brightness and Contrast
 * Hue, Saturation and Lightness
 * Greyscale with Tint
 * Levels and Gamma
 * Curves / Transfer Function
 * Alpha Function
 * Auto-Level
 * Histogram Equalization
 * Invert Color


 * Effects :


 * Synthetic Enhance
 * Replace Color
 * Duo Tone
 * Bilevelize
 * Channel Swap
 * Blur
 * Sharpen
 * Heuristic Anti-alias : Edges
 * Heuristic Anti-alias : Image
 * Pixelate
 * Posterize
 * Oilify
 * Dither to 256 Colors
 * Noise Reduction
 * Red-eye Reduction
 * Color-play Reduction
 * JPEG Artifact Reduction
 * Emboss : Simple
 * Emboss : Advanced
 * Edge Detect
 * Drop Shadow
 * Create Halo
 * Blue-Screening : Normal
 * Blue-Screening : Exact Match
 * Blue-Screening : Basal : Black
 * Blue-Screening : Basal : White


 * Custom Effect via GraphAsm Program
 * Custom Effect via Convolution Matrix


 * External Effects via Plug-ins (Resizer for IES and Photoshop Effects are bundled)
 * Blending modes :


 * Alpha-blend
 * Additive
 * Subtractive
 * Multiply
 * Overlay
 * Hue
 * Chroma
 * Luma
 * Screen
 * Mask

Chasys Draw IES Converter

 * Support for dual/multi-core processor acceleration (up to 32 cores for 32x speed)
 * Animation conversion
 * Super-fast internal graphics engine (JpDRAW2)
 * Vista UAC aware

Chasys Draw IES Viewer

 * Easy advance - keypad, mouse and mouse-wheel
 * High-speed loader function
 * Animation and animation rotation support
 * In-built support for plug-ins with lossless rotation (e.g. JPEG)
 * Super-fast internal graphics engine (JpDRAW2)
 * Vista UAC aware

Reviews
Although very few reviews of Chasys Draw IES have been done, they have been largely positive. Some users have pointed out that it is a very powerful piece of software and one of those you need to try for yourself to really appreciate.

Criticism
Chasys Draw IES has been criticized for it's lack of a native CMYK mode, and for the lack of Wacom Tablet support.