§ 14 - Preferences Dialog

Preferences is where you set some of iToolBox's general behavior. You can open the Preferences dialog with ⌘-, or via the  iToolBox/Preferences  menu item.

§ 14.1 - Antialiasing

Each of the area tools has its own antialiasing switch (checkbox.) All share a common range, which is a value specified in pixels that the antialias effect will extend inside and outside the area selection boundary.

So if you set range to 2, the antialiasing effect will extend 2 pixels into the selection from its edge, and 2 pixels outside the edge of the selection as well.

Keep this in mind — it affects how you might plan some area selections.

§ 14.2 - Wand Always Global

The ✓ Wand always global setting, when checked, causes the Areatools wand tool to select matching colors anywhere on an image within range set by the tolerance in the Areatools, regardless of if the selected colors are connected by similar colors to the point where the wand was initiated. If ✓ Wand always global is unchecked, then the wand will only fill colors that are similar, and neighbors to the point where the wand was clicked.

§ 14.3 - Grid

This is the pixel grid. You can change it "hot" in any action image with g and G (shift+g).

§ 14.4 - Meta Defaults

This is how you set the iToolBox defaults for the Annotation, Author, and Copyright operators. You can set the syntax highlighting colors for the Script operator. In addition, you can set a GPS home location for the GPS operator to use, and variables for signature and callsign. These may be accessed via the text function, as can latitude, longitude and altitude.

§ 14.5 - Help

Help opens the online manual to the documentation page for the preferences dialog.

§ 14.6 - Set Icons

Set Icons opens the Set Icons dialog, which allows you to select custom 24x24 .png images for one or more of the area toolbox icons.

§ 14.7 - Confirmation

These settings allow you to control iToolBox nagging you about various issues. For myself, I never turn them off, but some people will not want to be nagged.

§ 14.8 - Miscellaneous

✓ Actively notify: Upgrades, when checked, will pop up a dialog when iToolBox is started if a new version is available for download.

✓ Compact Help eliminates most of the blank lines in the Help dialog.

✓ Assign crop as Origin Causes a crop to immediately become the origin image, ready for a merge operation.

✓ Restore Window Positions Causes iToolBox to put windows back where you left them. With regard to image views, the first one will be left where the first one you created was when you last closed the application, unless this is not checked. You can leave it checked, and with ✓ Position Freeze on, the window position will not update even if you move the first window you opened. If, with ✓ Position Freeze checked, you Set Window Positions, then the current position of the first-created image window will be saved. It's a little complicated, but once you get your head wrapped around it, it makes the application much more pleasant to use.

✓ Use Native File Dialog iToolBox offers a custom File dialog that allows you to filter the filelist and is generally much faster than the native file dialog. However, if you find you prefer the native file dialog, just check this.

✓ Use Native Color Dialog iToolBox offers a custom color dialog that allows you to select more colors and is generally much faster than the native color dialog. However, if you find you prefer the native color dialog, just check this.

✓ Rects always use guides is a convenience for your area selections.

✓ Ovals always use guides is a convenience for your area selections.

✓ Saves change image name optionally update image names on save.

✓ Invert Y axis Scrolling optionally invert the sense of the mouse scrollwheel when vertically panning images with it.

✓ Script button changes op, when checked, causes the operator dialog to jump to the Script operator when →Script is clicked in any other operator.

✓ Loading Favorite → Recents, when checked, will cause a load of a Favorite to promote into the  File/Load Recent Image ▶ submenu. If not checked, then loading a favorite will not change the content of that submenu.

✓ Drops become origin image, when checked, causes any image that is dragged from another application and dropped into iToolBox to automatically be assigned as the origin image.

✓ Use Operator Dropdown, when checked, enables the (very, very long) Operator selection drop-down menu in the operator's dialog. Windows 10 users will probably want always this on, as the menu bar is longer than the Areatools titlebar and so access to operator choices is somewhat indirect.

✓ Non-Modal copy = simple tells iToolBox that when you are in ✓ Modal mode, set in the Areatools, that a copy-to-clipboard using  Edit/Copy  or ⌘+c copies the currently selected area to the system clipboard. No areatool modifiers are consulted; so reverse selections and so forth will have no effect. If you uncheck ✓ Non-Modal copy = simple then the copy to the clipboard will be the entire image, just as it is in ✓ Modal operating mode.

✓ Right-handed affects how chords are generated in the Guitar Chord operator. When checked, the strings are conventionally ordered; if ✓ Right-handed is unchecked, then the high E string is nearer the player's head.

✓ Offset Loads affects how windows are placed when a new image or layer is loaded or opened. If checked (which is the default), then each additional window that is opened is placed a short distance down and to the right of the last window that was opened. If not checked, then each additional window is opened in the same position as before.

§ 14.9 - Set Help Url

The Set Help URL button opens a dialog that lets you access the documentation anywhere you like:

You can download a recent version of the documentation from here for local installation on your computer, or installation on the website of your choice. Basically all you have to do is aim this URL at the folder containing the documentation after you've unzipped it, and everything should work.

§ 14.10 - Alpha Treatment

✓ Off-image Checking allows you to display an alpha checked pattern wherever the image boundaries are exceeded in an image view. The current state is shown by the [O/o] indicator in the Areatools.

✓ Alpha Checking allows you to display an alpha checked pattern wherever the image is transparent, underneath the transparency. The current state is shown by the [C/c] indicator in the Areatools.

✓ EXIF Enables writing EXIF information to a JPEG file when you save a modified image, or an image created using the Crop operator from an image which had EXIF information. You can view EXIF information associated with any image using the Image information dialog.

 

This manual was generated with wtfm wtfm uses aa_macro and SqLite wtfm and aa_macro are coded in python 2.7 iToolBox 3.12 This Documentation and Associated Application Executables are Public Domain