busy November and December

I have been coding some these 2 months. But getting it done seems to be a month or 2 away. I have no new updates. I'm guessing January will be really boring and tons of updates will be ready.

Cooky cutter fix

Looks like a one liner broke the cookie cutter tool. That is fixed. I posted a new update with several fixes.

The image grid has been improved. Also the language change is 1/2 in. Still 1000 more lines of code to make it bi-lingual.

I also have some fixes in the import file routine.

Translating for Spanish

I've spent the last 40 hours working on translation code.
I was prompted to start this by a spanish blog I read last week which had a link to the craftboard. Hopefully I'll have the script written and translated in 30 days.
If the spanish translation works, I can also do the other languages that use the ABC and 123 system. But in a shorter time period because I'll use the computer to translate it.

I'm not sure about Chinese or Japanese font's. Or Arabic characters. I'll inquire about it with some teachers I know.

Be back next week.

Masking Fix and Selections by coords upgrade

I have been having so much trouble with masking that I re-made the whole system for making masks. The previous files that used masks will no longer work. But now the bounds should be correct and the hit area for each masked item should only include the area that shows. I also re-made the selection process so it doesn't have to look through all items on the board to find what was selected. This was a real hassle if many things are an the board. It's not implemented yet till I test it a little more.

I hope to have the update posted tomorrow.

Rotation In Clip error fixed

Not sure how the rotation variable was misplaced. I put it back.

Found it! Clips with masks should open correctly

That was a tough one find! Very inconspicuous. It took 2 1/2 hours on finding it!

I guess I will search for more bugs today. I don't have any more fixes to do.

I want to put in a list box in the login panel that displays users names. So you don't have to type them in.

Kaleidoscope fix on boundaries

I had timming issue with kaleidoscopes boundaries. That is fixed. Also now the cookie cutter can use groups to cut shapes. Just a little tweaking some code to get that happening.

I found an error when loading clips that have masks. They don't work if the clip is not on the canvas. So will look at that tonight.

Fixed the snap grid and clear grid selections routines

Seems I made a couple insertion errors with the grid. So snap to grid in the plotter tool is fixed and also the clear grid selection button for grids is fixed. I also input a prompt to make a grid if using the plotter tool.

Clip Fix uploaded

Looks like my boundary fix had a typo in it. That prevented the clip from loading. Fixed that.

I think the next thing I should do is make a list of users pop into the login panel. So people can choose a user name instead of remembering it.

Look for that to happen soon.

Changed the tipping routine

This tips rollovers should show quickly then clear back to the overwritten message. I also change the grid attach tool to be a little more descriptive. Chalk up another 5 hours today.

Blaming it on the leprechauns

I found a dumb mistake in the grids this morning. Not sure how a line of code was moved but it really screwed up the add grid routine. So it's fixed now.

New Help Video on Image Grids

Image Grids are simply an image that is divided up into blocks. And the area of the image is searched to find an average color for that area. After all the blocks are set over the image you can drop an item on a block. Then the rest of the image is searched to find more blocks that are near the same and drop the same item there.

The purpose of the Image Grid is to allow portrait or image pattern designing. It can be used with seedbeads, or designing stitch patterns.
Image Grid Video and more

Fixed the boundary problem

I redid the boundary code. It took staying up till midnight! I'll keep checking it this week.

Now the designers subscription is free

I decided to open the designers plan to everyone. Also I changed the other plans to allow for a 6 mo. trial period. This will allow free time to build a store for those who want to sell items. Developement of version 3 is coming along a little each day. I also fixed an error in the file saving and image uploading.

Trying to fix the boundaries again.

Not sure what happened with the bounds when selecting and deseleting. But seems it's not resetting reselected items correctly. So I guess I'll rehash that code. Fun! Fun! I'm still working the tool classes into AS3. I have 3 days this weekend for another 30 hours on the project. I've also been rethinking the interface when I'm tired of typing.

Fixed Category Creation Problem

I switched back to AS2 mode and noticed an update error that prevented making categories. It is fixed. Let me know if you find any more.

File Opening fixed

The files from the home page will load now. Had to search for a couple hours to find the culprit. I also found a file I thought I had lost. So I'm very happy not to redo all the work I put into it. :)

Will be even more happy when this strep throat goes away!!

Got it loading files now for fixing tools

This last week I had lots of fun battling strep throat while programming. Very annoying!!!
I redid the xml code in AS3. Items are loading and files are opening now. However I did notice that online they are not loading now. So I will have to check into that.

I have only 20 hours in for the last 2 weeks. I hope this next 2 weeks will reach nearer to completion and I'll get twice that much time in fixing the Craftboard.

Yes, I'm still here

I've been putting in about 30 hours a week on the craft board. I did not make the goal to have it done by July. But August or early September is what I'm hoping for. It's slow going with tons of tracking time. Will keep everyone posted when it's finished. :)

Memorial Weekend :) and lots of coding time. I Love it!

I have all the code dissected and ready to be put back together. The application frame was rewritten. The color box was rewritten. The carousel has been rewritten. And the scroll ball component was rewritten. All within the last 2 months. So that's doing pretty good. ( I hold down a full time job too! )

Most of the hard stuff is done.

The next thing I need to write is my tabs component, the image grids, and the loading and saving code. The last one will take some time because XML has changed and also the parameters to reload items has all changed. :(

At least now I can see it on the screen. One can get pretty tired of just looking at words all day.

7 more panels done

I know this is boring. It's just so everyone knows something is happening here. I have most of the difficult panels loading in AS3. There is 42 panels left to go of fixing missing references. Because most of them are easy this will take about 3 weeks. After that is done. I have to rewrite some classes for the seed bead tool. Then comes testing time. I'm thinking I can upload at the end of July. After that were good to go! 3D effects can be added.

Login Panel is updated

I spent many hours redoing events in the login panel to as3. Getting it just right took a couple days. Tomorrow I will start with the canvas side panels. Would be nice to have most of them done by June 18. I'm thinking of making the admin panels in a separate application. But have not completely decided on that.

Finished the main frame

Progress! I've made it to the panels. The main frame and adds are now updated.
I've split the engine code into panel setters and shared functions. And I hope to finish the panel setters within 3 weeks. The shared functions should be ready to go with the new interface. I have some time off after schools out to write more quickly.

Finished intro page in as3

I thought this would be easy. But instead it was exasperating! Rollovers and clicks were unmanageable without a complete rewrite. So it took me a few days of reading, typing, and testing.
1. XML is different
2. Motion had to be handled differently for smooth transitioning
3. Clicks had to be globalized for spinning items.
4. No rollovers for moving items. They sometimes would not fire.

You want to talk about a frustrated programmer!
I'm afraid of what's going to happen when I get to the canvas code.
It should not be as hard because items are only moved by the users dragging them.
In the intro page the items are oscillating on their own.
So the next step is to load all the panels and test each panels code. This is already written. So I just need to change a few areas with XML, and loading saved files. Also my tabs and scroll bar need rewritten.

I'm thinking another month of constant typing before the upgrade is finished.

Progress with rewriting Craftboard

I have the panels loading now and sequence is changed so it does not prompt to update. It just gets the most recent panels. I spent more than 40 hours on it this week. Now to test all the buttons. The testing phase will take at least a week to completely fix. It's still in AS2, but written so AS3 will run also. I think AS3 testing will be in within 2 weeks. But testing time for AS3 may be a month. It's not hard, but time consuming.

So I'll be back next week. I'm excited that it's not a 5 month rewrite.

Done! Finally got all the scripts translated.

Been working since 6am on it. That's 7 hours in this morning. My hands are tired and relieved they can stop! Tomorrow I'll start testing it. I have to change the loading procedure slightly. But have most of that in as3 already. So have to rewrite that part back to as2 until as3 is fully tested. What's really cool is the code will run in both as2 and 3 with the new wrappers. So until it's complete I'm only working in 1 file.

Now to go get to some physical exercise before I melt.

5 more scripts to go

Well, I thought I would be done tonight, but am too pooped to pop. I should be happy because I finished most scripts and am only a few hours away from testing for broken references and as3. So, I guess I will wake up early and finish tomorrow morning.
About 71 changes to go, but who's counting.

21 more scripts to go

This should take about 3 days before testing begins. I can hardly wait till it's there. Because when this is in and tested I have a new 3d world to play with. This will bring some very interesting effects to design with. Like wrapping designs around spheres etc. I may have to have some more math skills. But am great at bumping up code to do what I need it to do. So next week will be testing week. I put in 5 hours this morning and the next 2 days just typing.

Had to postpone a couple days

Went around with a stomach flu last week. I got only half done that I wanted to do. I think I will have the code switched within 2 weeks. After that's done I want to put in a sticky note program. Emails are so unreliable. I have tried to contact a few members but have not recieved responses. This problem will be fixed with little paper resembling sticky notes that are pasted to the canvas till the user closes them.

I have most of the code translated. It's mainly testing and finding broken references now.

It compiles!!!

A brainy idea for reaching my goal came to mind. So I spent the last few days with my wonderful replace all button and writing some code wrappers.
I just finished the huge task of making the code compile in as2 and as3. So while I'm doing quick fix's in as2 I can use the same code and look for the run time problems in as3. This will save tons of time. I still have a lot of input references to create. About 1000 of them.

I should be done by Easter!

Typing 10 hours a day!

What a challenge. Did I set this Easter as a goal for as3? I think more realistically next Easter. I did dicover some more fixes while searching code. So had to fix version 2 again. I guess that's the way the programmers life goes anyway. To be expected. Never quite done.

I think I will extend my goal to later this year and keep perfecting what I have up. Otherwise my users will never hear from me! Wish I was magic. So I'm going to work on admin panels this week and try to get that back online.

I also wanted to work on the carousel. So I can add more items to it.

I also noticed the replace one item with another was broke. When I updated the boundary code the looping routine in replace item did not function. So that is fixed.

Busy with new as3 upgrade

I have been extremely busy writing the new code. I have a goal for Easter but that's pushing it. I have to write 12 hours a day to make it. So realistically a couple weeks after that. The structure is in. Now it's just typing and testing. I took down the subscriptions page until I'm done. I have to change a couple things before the admin panels can be used properly. So maybe next month it will be back up.

I'm only at the front page carousel rewrite today. With only 51 panels to go.

Pattern upload fix

While uploading patterns I found a line of code that should have been in a better place. It stopped my pattern upload while saving to the web. It's a small but important update.

Spent the Weekend on Upgrades

This weekend was spent upgrading to as3. It going to take at least 2 months to finish. Also the file viewer I was going to write will be in as3. That will be after some review and study on how to get as2 and as3 to communicate. I hear it is possible. I know this is jargon to most users. But when it is done most of the issues I've been having trouble with will be solved.

There are still some small boundary issues. So the craftboard is not perfect yet. But I never give up. As3 will be a big improvement.

Kaleidoscope Fix is Up

I finished the KI fix for boundaries. I also put a done button on it. So it makes it a saved item on the clipboard. After you click the done button it is not editable. If someone wants the K designs to be editable that can be done. Just send me the request.

Now to get that bottom viewer in for the designs. That's going to take a little time. Be sure to check back next week for it.

Small Issue Needs Fixing with Kaleidoscope

Yesterday I noticed an issue with the kaleidoscope boundaries. It uses the invisible pie wedge for the boundary. So the box looks bigger than it should. I tried several work arounds for this. But each one made problems with other parts of the program. So I was thinking about it last night and came up with another solution. I hope to have the fix up for it this weekend.

I was able to use the kaleidoscope successfully making a design. But when I went to delete another image on the board afterwards, the kaleidoscope was hit and deleted instead. And there went my pretty design. The undo button did work to get it back. So anyway, this weekend I will have that problem fixed.

I would like to welcome all the new users to the board that signed up last week. Please check this blog often if you're interested in what's next. I just got another hair brain idea. I thought it would be nice if shared designs would be put in a pop over under the tool bar. It would take about a week to install and test.

More next weekend...

Boundaries are up

To view the box for bounds without rotation hold down the CTRL and SHIFT key and press an item.

For those who don't know what boundaries are, they are the boxes that appear around the items that are loaded into the board. The boundaries were difficult to find on some translated and rotated items. I've added new code that get's the bounds almost exactly no matter what the alterations are to a shape or image.

It's still in testing but is better than it was.

While I was doing this I noticed my crop tool needs a little help. I'll check that tonight. Also I wanted to remind users that the undo and redo buttons only function with simple types of actions. Like movement or making items reappear. It does not recreate groups or put items back into the clipboard.

Hope I get some good reports on the update.

Boundary problems being resolved

For the last 4 days I've been redoing the boundary functions.
Seems like it would be a simple thing. But not so. If a movie is rotated the boundaries cannot be found in a normal fashion. Same for groups with rotated or translated (mirrored) items. This has been a complicated subject but I think I've finally got it.

With the new way of finding boundaries you will be able to see a bounding box for the shape that is always a box that has no rotation. And another box that shows the original position of the item. If the item is rotated this box is tilted.

I'll be testing this tomorrow before I upload it. I also am working on the email system for the new server. It is not sending all the emails.

The cart uses cgi scripts and email. So if this happens it does not affect receiving orders.

I hope to get this up by tomorrow and do another video of how the seedbead tool works this week.

New Update system

Because I have 2 servers going now I had to change the update system. So you may be encountering a large update if your not installing after today. I also added alot of updates to finding boundaries of masked items. That's still not perfect.

Tomorrow I want to do a video on seed beads. This weekend has been mostly taken with learning about servers, ftp, and email systems.

Yesterday I sat down and wrote my first download script in as3. That will take a few more days to perfect. It will give a view of what has been downloaded in the current session.

So that's it for my exciting week of no posting. I knew you wouldn't miss it.

Working on new help videos

In the last week I've been relearning how to use Camtasia. It's an easy program to use but I'm not the most coordinated person with timing and getting all the info needed in the right spot. So forgive me if you hear something strange or cut off. I'm getting better with practice.

I did away with the old videos because the interface has drastically changed. The new videos should go up pretty fast within the next 2 weeks. I had a problem with cached pages not showing new videos posted. So I wrote a new flashy system to load images instead of text.

Fixed Grammar, Rewrote Boundaries, and Updated Kaleidoscope

I spent the last 2 days redoing the boundary code. The boundaries for finding the sides of the scopes were off. I optimized the code for finding mask boundaries which led to rewriting most of the boundary code for all items. I also noticed some grammar errors. I just don't know how those can go unnoticed. I guess from looking at it so much. Some things go unnoticed. I also debugged the loading of the kaleidoscope. It was not working when changing the number of rays and then saving as a clip. So that took quite a while to find. So now I think I have it perfectly coded. We'll see.

I also made it so the CTRL key must be down when putting an item under a green ball to add it to a wedge. I think I said before in a previous post you can hold the CTRL key down and click the center to put more than 1 wedge on the scope. The number of wedges overlapping each other is unlimited. But you can have only 20 wedges around at this time. I might change that if I can get it to respond correctly now.

So I think I'm ready to move on to fix those rotating images on load to allow posted items to load into them. That code is started. But will take another week or so at least. Lot's of server side work and testing to complete it.

I just know this is very entertaining!
OK, so it's pretty boring... These videos might be a tad bit more interesting.
Video Help

Kaleidoscope Wedge Can Be Any Shape

I thought I would do the last feature on the K tool. I made a video of it that I will upload. The wedges that are by default a triangle can now be made to any shape. You can cut the pattern on the scop to any shape by making the wedges visible from the K tool. Then drag a square handle out without holding the control key. Then drop the shape you want to cover the pattern over the square handle.

It will put the shapes all around. Then use the rotater with the CTRL key down to make the custom wedge point in the direction you want.

Use the K tool to apply the mask over the pattern.

That's pretty much it. I'll post a link to the new video tonight.

Put a new option in the Kaleidoscope tool bar

I decided to add the option to reposition masks over items if the done button is clicked. If it is with the pie wedges apart it will save the current position. If the wedges are together it will put the mask in it's starting position.

This creates some nice effects. The only problem I see is I think it might do better on each ball.

Kaleidoscope saving and opening is fixed!

Well, thank goodness that was related to some small path issues.
Very easy fix. I can sleep well tonight. So looks like we're back on track.

I tried something really neat. I selected a kaleidoscope I made and put it on the clipboard with the clip tool. Then turned on the tile button in the clipboard and dragged the kaleidoscope back to the canvas. Then I turned on the kaliedoscope tool again and dropped the kaleidoscope I took from the clipboard on a green ball. So it put kaleidoscope tiles on all the balls. Wow! Now that was pretty. Then I wondered if it would save and reload. Sure enouph it did reload all the items back just as it was.

Uploading fixed webside

I fixed the uploading problem. Also installed some great GD server side scripts which will be handy for automating things like webpage thumbnails and uploads.
It took hours of reading web server articles to search for an unknown php error. I suspect it has something to do with firewall settings. Usually that is the culprit when unknown errors occur. But I did not want to mess with it. So I switched to perl. Perl never fails me. An that took a whole rewrite of the php script to Perl. So now the web side uploader for adding images is working again.

I kinda guessed switching servers would create some issues like this. But the benefits in the end are worth it.

Now to see why the kaleidoscope shapes are not reloading on the web.

Fixed a couple more things.

I'm having a little trouble getting Kaleidoscope items to load again. But will keep on it. I'll try to get that fixed by tomorrow.

The plotter tool got a couple fixes today. The pencil image was not returning to plotter mode after drawing an image grid. Also fixed an error when plotting items smaller that 50px.
The Kaleidoscope was resetting itself improperly. Making new groups instead of adding to the current group. So that hopefully is fixed.

I also put in a new option for seedbeads to be put on the colored grid 1 at a time.

If anyone has any more fixes for me use the lady bug.

Uploading Items

I just finished the check for uploading items. Also did a new server check again and found some directories that did not transfer properly. So I'm getting that in place. I think all is in place now.
This morning I want to check the system for hiring someone to do the images. The store can just open a main image and send it for editing. The cost is $4.00 per item. It makes it much easier to add items for those who don't want to bother with it.
Also I need to make a couple adjustments to the colored grid and the kaleidoscope. So the shape attaches to the tool with a lock. I had a couple issues with the tools resetting without knowing it. I also need to put a single drop option in for colored grids. So they will drop 1 item at a time in a color.

So that is what's happening this morning. Then tomorrow I think I will work on that carousel on the front page.

Next 2 videos are up

Video Help
One is without sound. This is because the one with sound turned into a 20 mb file.
Without sound the second is only 13 mb. It is pretty self explantory so I decided to leave it quiet.

Remember even if you don't want a store, you still need to create one. This process creates the categorization of items and posting. Without that part you cannot keep track of your items or reopen them easily. Also in the future you may decide to publish it.

The next video will be on the cart system. I do have images posted online about this. But a video with sound will be made also because the cart does need a little explaining.

Cart Images

Server Testing Completed

I tested uploading and transfering images this morning and tested the cart last night. So far so good. I spent alot of time last night reading about spf. I'm tired of spammers bouncing email from anyones site. Anyone who has this problem you can stop it with spf records posted at your dns registrar. Learn more here http://www.openspf.org/. I found this while setting up the server.

Now to get those help admin videos made.

Perlygates.net is on the dedicated server

It's done! Now I'm testing the server side scripts. Only55 scripts to go! : )
I guess that video will be made tomorrow.
Just letting everyone know where it's at now.

Moving to the Dedicated Server

I started on videos. Then decided to complete the move to the new server. I had my other sites there. But not my main site. There was so much to learn and with the new additions to the application less time to do it all.

Tomorrow the move should be complete. This will improve performance. On the old server I did a reverse lookup and saw that 1124 sites were using the resources.

So tomorrow I'll be busy checking all the scripts. Hopefully all will be the same without interruption.

New Help Videos Going Up

Add Items
This video is for adding your own items. Next I'll do creating a store front.

Rotater tool updated for Kaleidoscopes

When I put the rotater tool on the kaleidoscope group I had some interesting effects.
But they were not the expected effects so I made the rotater tool turn all the items over a ball group if in the mode to rotate a single object. This keeps the kaleidoscope shape to what it is expected to do. If in group mode it will rotate the whole kaleidoscope. Remember when putting a rotated Kaleidoscope group back on the Kaleidoscope tool that it will not hold it's position.

I'm all coded out on grouping for now. So will tinker with it more tomorrow.

Alignment tool to be updated for groups

DONE: The groups will now align as if one item.
__________________
At this time the alignment tool only works with single items. I'll update that today so groups will position together. That was in the plan but with so much to do, somehow it got put further down the list. It sure messes up a pretty kaleidoscope! :(

So no worries, the undo button brings it back. However there are some things the undo button is not programmed for yet with kaleidoscopes. But that will get put in future versions. I'm trying to update to actionscript 3 without putting in too much more of version 2. Just doubles my work.

Now Kaleidoscope resets

This was a real brain teaser. I just love puzzles! It took a few rounds and all day. Now the kaleidoscope will only pull away from the tool if you hold the shift key. And if it is dragged off the tool while the shift is down you can begin a whole new group. Then if you want to change an existing kaleidoscope just drag it back over the tool. I still have to work on the grouping thing. You cannot combine a kaleidoscope group to another group. Then add it onto the tool. That will give some weird results. So don't try that yet.

Fixed a couple more things

There was a problem getting the boundaries for the kaleidoscope shapes.
So their boundary should be showing exactly now. I also fixed a reference which caused groups boundaries not to show.

First Kaleidoscope Rose!

That took all of 30 seconds to make. I dropped an image of a rose on the kaleidoscope and there it was, ready to go.

If you click on the K in the tool bar it will show the kaleidoscope. You can click the balls to make them turn green. When they are green you can drop anything on them and it will put the item on all the green balls. If you want to put more stuff in it you can.

To put more items in it hold the CTRL key down. Then click the center. More little balls will appear. Drag the new balls to where you want them to be. When you click them they turn green. When they are green drop more stuff on them. You can only have 1 item on each set of balls.

In the center you will find the rotate tool. It will turn the items. This still needs a little more work to perfect. Hope everyone is patient. This tool is not fully tested.

And the fun part! If you hold the CTRL key down while dragging the green balls the items will move the the position of the ball. You can drag the items away from or toward center.

In the toolbar for the K you will find a number box and a pie wedge. The number box will reset the number of pie wedges in the scop. The arc wedge button will show, hide, or remove the area the pie wedge cuts.

The little squares which do the same thing as the balls are for changing the position of the pie wedge over the area. So each item gets a pie wedge over it when it is put on the green ball. If you hold the CTRL key down you can move the wedge over the items. This makes for some really cool effects!

IMPORTANT: If you lose what is under the pie wedges it is because the pie wedge is not over it's item anymore. To see where everything is click the pie wedge button till it is grey. Then click the check mark. This will make all the wedges appear. You can adjust them to where they should be. Then click the pie wedge button again till it is green. Click the check mark the view the pattern.

So let me know as usual if something goes amiss. The program automatically sends me any errors if you click the ladybug button.

Good night everyone. Hope you like the new tool!

Curve tool fix today

I just found out the curve tool is missing when the mouse is down when the panel is open. I'll have this fixed tonight. The kaleidoscope is almost ready also. I'll try to get some demo videos up this week. You will be able to make patterns within patterns even with the kaleidoscope pattern. So this should be very interesting.

Kaleidascope Update

I have spent the last 3 days on the Kaleidoscope tool. It's alot of coding but well worth it. Today I succeeded in making the scope change the number of rays and recalculate the masking area. I also made it possible to put more than 1 kaleidoscope in a group. You can put an unlimited number of Kaleidoscopes together. That won't be enabled right away. I have to test it some more. It only uses a triangle at this time. I will update this to an arc later to make a full circles. I need to write more code for saving and reopening arcs. Maybe next week we will have arcs.

I'm going to test it more tonight and upload it tomorrow.

Uh Oh, some how I lost the image grids loading

Fixed the problem below. Let me know if you find anything else.
___________

Just wanted everyone to know I'm on it. Will update the corrected file tonight. I had to change a couple items for the kaleidoscope loading. That may have effected the Image Grids. So the grid is still there. Just the sequence in loading is broken.

Perfection comes through trial, error, and fixing. Thanks for your patience.

Kaleidascope is uploaded

This was a fun tool to create. It is pretty simple. Just click the K in the tool bar. Then click the number of rays you want. And click the check mark. It will display the tool with some lines and balls. Create any shape and drop it on a ball. It makes the shape on all the balls. Each shape is rotated the number of degrees in the ray. You can move the balls in or out to reposition it. You can also make a pattern in a tile and use the pattern on the tool. This make some really cool designs. After you create the kaleidascope shape you can make it into a tile and then use the tile as a cookie cutter to cut from images you have added from your pc.

Time to hit the sack again. Also I fixed a broken reference in the delete tool. And another misplaced function call in the cookie cutter tool.

I also found some more fixits for tomorrow. If you delete a colored grid it has trouble reloading. So be sure not to delete them if you want to reopen it. I'll get that fixed tomorrow too.

Kaleidascope almost completed

The tool is in and functioning. I still want to test it a little more. Make sure it works properly with the other tools. I have yet to try it with masked items. I hope to have it up tomorrow. The hard part is done. It is pretty handy and easy to use.

New kaleidascope tool being made

While I was admiring my kaleidoscope preloader I came up with a great positioning tool that works like a kaleidoscope. The user selects a number of rays that will extend from a center point. When the user drops an item over a ray it will create that pattern on that point. These points on the rays are all tied together so when you move 1 point they all will move equal distance from the center. The basic tool coding is pretty much complete. Now I just need to plug it in to the board.

This is a great tool for creating kaleidoscopes. I can combine the cookie cutter and the kaleidoscope positioner for some awsome effects.

If a person only wants to use it to position a given number of items from a center point and change the rotation to face center without a kaleidoscope effect it can be done also.

Reflection tool is remade

The reflection tool needed to be rebuilt so items could be flipped without using the guides. So I remade all the buttons to show or hide the line to indicate if the guides were being used. Also there is a problem with equilateral triangles not being redrawn at the correct size. I'll have to take a look at that one later.

Paypal Approved Today!!!

Adaptive payments is in! Now to test it. This may take a couple days. Soon sellers will be able to post items for sale! I want to test the back end a little more this week. It can only get better.

Everyone please download the new setup file

I was testing this morning. The CPU usage has been a little on the high side. So after a more thorough investigation I discovered the preloader in the flash player was not unloading correctly. This was a transparent error not due to my coding. So I rearranged the preloader. It looks the same but completely unloads now releasing the cpu usage as it should.

So everyone please download the new setup file. This is the only way to replace the culprit.

http://perlygates.net/download.php

Delete File fixed

Found a small error with the delete button in the file list box.
It is working for me now. If anyone else has trouble deleting send a report with the lady bug.

Thanks a million

Seed bead designs was 1mb down to 20kb

Well I've done it again! I went to best buy to check out my seed bead tool. I thought I would try it out on the biggest Mac. I got an image that had 18,000 possible spaces for a seed bead. When I tried to save and reload it jammed! This was upsetting because I worked so hard to get it right!

So I re-did everything in the plotting system for colored grids! Now what was saved as tons of data is down to a simple line. The tool should now be able to handle any size image up to 2000x2000. The Flash Player set those limits.

Well, now that I've put in another 32 hours on this tool I think it's time to relax in the tub! (My rear is getting flatter than flat doing this!)

Happy New Year!