ReadMe.txt for Beagle Bros. Minipix for ProDOS
Disks 1 - 3
By Bill Buckels 2008

Note: Under ProDOS the following Types and Subtypes are required.
Both are binary files:

BSaved Images - Type $06 SubType $2000
Minipix - Type $06 Subtype $5800

The Apple ][ Minipix Format 

When The Print Shop® first appeared on The Apple ][, the only type of
graphics it used were small 4 sector DOS3.3 files, called minipix.
Because the range of them built into The Print Shop® was limited, people
drew their own, using the print Shop Graphic Editor, and soon these
little 88x52 pictures were everywhere. There were disks and disks, just
packed with them. The storage format was quite simple, basically just a
bit mapped image, with every 11 bytes of the file mapping to one line of
88 dots on the screen. An extra 4 filler bytes were tacked on the end of
each mini-graphic file. Each file held only 1 mini-graphic. 52 lines x 8
bytes + 4 = 576 bytes. Now when "The New Print Shop" came along, you
could convert these little graphics to the new format. It turns out that
all that was done to each graphic to convert it, was a small header was
placed at the start, and the 4 filler bytes were dropped from the end,
and so 576 byte graphics became 605 byte "NPS" compatible graphics.

Minipix on The IBM-PC 

The first collection of Apple ][ ClipArt that I converted to IBM format
was The Beagle Bros. Minipix Collection.

In those days (circa 1990) I would use a serial cable from my Apple ][ to
my IBM and send files back and forth and I would write whatever
additional programs I needed for the occasion. This process is quite
technical for the average person, and assumes that you have an Apple ][
in the first place and the ability to use all the low-level programs that
are not necessarily necessary anymore. Utilities like my ClipShop program
and the availability of Apple ][ disk images on the Internet now make the
process easier.

The MiniPix collection survived the 15 years since I did the conversion
and is distributed with my ClipShop program for Windows XP. ClipShop can
be downloaded from The ClipShop Website at:

http://www.clipshop.ca/index.htm

The MiniPix Collection of "Old Printshop" Clipart 

Introduction 

The collection of "Old Printshop" Data Files of Clipart Images
distributed with my ClipShop program was converted from Apple II format
to IBM-PC format. These images were originally distributed on 3 disks.

How I ported Minipix from the Apple to the IBM-PC 

In 1991, I converted Disks 1-3 of The Beagle Bros. Minipix disks to Apple
Bsaved screens using the Beagle Bros. Minipix Converter that Came on
Disks 2 and 3 ("Read Page 6 in Your Manual").

I then used the Proterm Terminal program and a Null Modem cable to port
the Bsaved screens from my Apple ][ to my IBM-PC running the Procomm Plus
Communications program.

I then wrote a program called Minipix.Exe to convert the Apple Bsaved
screens to IBM Bsaved screens. (Yes Virginia, there are Bsaved screens on
Both Platforms.)
 
This was so long ago now, that I forget exactly what other programs that
I eventually wrote to convert these to their almost final resting place
in their respective "Old PrintShop" Graphics Library. Read Further.

How I ported Minipix BACK to the Apple II from the IBM-PC 

In 2008, I reconstructed Disks 2 and 3 of The Beagle Bros. Minipix disks
by using Apple II emulator Disk Images of Minipix Disk 1 as a template,
and the "Old PrintShop" Graphics Libraries that I had converted back in
1991. I had long ago lost my original Minipix disks for my real Apple II,
and so it seems has the rest of the world. Fortunately for all of us I
think, the Disk Image for Disk 1 had survived and was available from a
couple of Internet Archives.

To achieve this minor miracle of reconstructive digital surgery I wrote a
program called Dat2Mini which reversed the process of so long ago by
reading the Minipix graphics from the "Old PrintShop" Graphics Libraries"
and creating Apple II BSaved Images in the format used by this particular
version of Minipix that I came across which it seems to me is somewhat
different from the version that I had originally. However it was close
enough!

To complete the reconstructive surgery I then used two different Apple II
DiskImage utilities, and some minor editing of the STARTUP program to
identify the new disks as Disk 2 and 3 (keeping in mind that I used Disk
1 as a template so these disks were still identified as such).

First I used CiderPress to overwrite the original images with the ones
that I had created. Apple II Oasis was unable to do so without running
out of room. However, CiderPress scrubbed the file attributes so the disk
was unusable until these were restored. This is where Apple II Oasis was
used, and I set all the dates back as well as setting the proper
attributes. CiderPress was also useful in renaming the volume and file
names.

Each DiskImage utility has its own strengths and weaknesses, but by using
both and some "sleight of hand" in my own organizing of this little
project, I am hard-pressed to tell that these new disks were not produced
by the Beagles themselves. So I will represent these as being facsimiles
of the originals until the real ones come along (I doubt if anyone would
even know the difference if I represented these as originals). And in the
meantime, the utility that I wrote (Dat2Mini) can also be used to produce
many more disks of Minipix from the many "Old PrintShop" Graphics
Libraries that I and others still have available for download from the
Internet.

Beagle Bros. and Minipix and Apple II Forever! 

What You Have Here

In this ZIP file you have the original diskimages that I mentioned above
and the diskimages that I created that I mentioned above and the "Old
PrintShop" Graphics libraries, and my Dat2Mini utility and more.

In short, you have everything you probably need to get started using
Minipix on the Apple II, the IBM, and if you are using some other
computer but want to see what Minipix look like, I have even thrown-in
Catalog images of all 603 Minipix.

In order to run the Minipix Diskimages you will need an emulator of you
can tranfer these to a real Apple II for an authentic experience.

And finally I have also included a set of Minipix Work Disks to get you
started. You can explore these yourself to see what kind of goodies I 
put on them and use these as the basis for your own efforts.

Remember to work on a copy as always and put the originals aside.

Have Fun!

Bill Buckels
bbuckels@mts.net
May 2008

Update May 2008

How I reconstructed Minipix Disks 2 and 3 Apple DOS 3.3 Versions

Shortly after I uploaded my announcement about the ProDOS versions
of Minipix Disks 1-3 I received an email from "RedskullDC" and attached to
the email was a Disk Image of Disk 1 of the DOS 3.3 Version of MiniPix.

So I again got busy and modified the Dat2Mini program ever so slightly
to recreate the proper file names that the DOS 3.3 Version uses for Minipix.
Unlike the ProDOS version which provided the Minipix as BSaved Images, the
DOS 3.3 Version provided these as individual Minipix. I have no idea why
this difference. 

So I reconstructed the DOS 3.3 Diskimages using Apple II Oasis entirely.
I first tried CiderPress, but the file attributes couldn't be 
preserved en-masse. But I was delighted that Apple II Oasis did the
whole job without running out of space after I deleted the files that
I wanted to replace (It had space problems on the ProDOS version which
is why I used CiderPress which has a replace function unlike Apple II 
Oasis.)

Anyway, I recreated the title screens by combining the converted screens
for Minipix that come with my ClipShop Utility with the converted screens
from the version that Red had sent. The results again are pretty accurate
as was the ProDOS conversion process.

You now have all the Minipix disks available that I am aware of the Beagles
ever produced (keeping in mind that disks 2 and 3 are reconstructed versions
but they will do until the real ones come along).

You also have the Mini2Rag utility and project complete with source code
which will show you how to load your own MiniPix and RAG image fragments
in an Aztec C program. You can also simply use this as a MiniPix viewer if
you so desire.

Have Fun!

Bill Buckels
bbuckels@mts.net
May 2008









