Image To ZX Spec 2.0.2 Maintenance Release

Release Overview:

This maintenance release fixes video frame dropping (thanks to David at arbitraryfiles.com for finding it) and corrects source code copyrights.
UPDATE 4/1/2019: Recent 2.0.2 builds did not have the build version correctly displayed in the UI - this has been fixed but otherwise functionality remains identical.

What is Image to ZX Spectrum?

Image to ZX Spec(trum) is a utility to convert image and video files to a REAL ZX Spectrum as a slideshow/video, to a Spectrum compatible file format for games development (SCREEN$ "scr" format) or create retro art posters or gifs (images of any size - memory limited - can have a Spectrum effect applied to them).

For more info and examples have a look at previous release posts or the early version tutorial

Source:

https://github.com/KodeMunkie/imagetozxspec

Downloads (nb all builds are x64 - 64 Bit CPUs only):

Windows:
imagetozxspec-windows-2.0.2.zip (sha1: 576B30757F9653A13EEAAB0181F352F608F43594)
MacOS:
imagetozxspec-macos-2.0.2.zip (sha1: 07F75548ECF9F58100965E4C0B68BDE0FE59D9AD)
Linux:
imagetozxspec-linux-2.0.2.zip (sha1: ABD008A50800A4F08C03C64AC270F3B9BA5F560D)

Changelog for 2.0.2:

• Fixed related bugs to do with output image naming and missing output images
• Updated copyright
• Minor code clean up

Image To ZX Spec 2.0.1 Release & Source Code

What's new?
As mentioned in my last post this project is in maintenance stage for me (or as little work as I can get away with) so I can concentrate on other things. However... it's having a rebirth as a new project on Github! I'm a bit tentative about Github as previously I had exclusive distribution of the source via my blog but now it's easy for anybody to fork and improve. This is a double edge sword as others' improvements can be pushed back up stream and the project won't die - still it's letting go of my pride and joy!

What still needs work for the source release?
Over the next few weeks I hope to document the architecture and build instructions that I've simply not yet had the time to do - these will follow on a fixed blogger page and the project readme markdown respectively. There are areas that I'm not happy with (as with any project) that are downright ugly but the processing pipeline is sound and has had many refinements. Hopefully others will help improve the bad areas!

So what else has changed?
This release sees UI improvements for niggling issues like the image being too large and going off screen and a fix for serious bug in SCR export. It also has improvements to Gigascreen rendering on a real Spectrum.

Source:

https://github.com/KodeMunkie/imagetozxspec

Downloads (nb all builds are x64 - 64 Bit CPUs only):

Windows:
imagetozxspec-windows-2.0.1.zip (sha1: 9be463c17e4a26231e45a39250bceba9)
MacOS:
imagetozxspec-macos-2.0.1.zip (sha1: 4e5e213755c9bd4258ef6aee13330adf)
Linux:
imagetozxspec-linux-2.0.1.zip (sha1: 748b7cc8bd726f001d89761587de0625)

Changelog for 2.0.1:

• Fixed bug with main window extending off screen
• Fixed image labelling bug
• Fixed bug adding last frames of video to a new video if conversion manually stopped
• Fixed bug with multi image popup preview's image being too large when unscaled
• Fixed bug in SCR converter that would fail to output some images/second Gigascreen image
• Added 2 new Gigascreen export attribute orders
• Added pre-processing slider reset to defaults button
• Removed some redundant dither processing
• Removed test framework from production build
• Cleaned up some code

Image To ZX Spec 2.0.0 Released!

Santa comes early with an Image To ZX Spec 2.0.0 release!



This will be the last major revision of Image To ZX Spec as I'm moving on to other projects. The two major features of this release are high speed native video decoding (requiring separate platform builds) and some critical bug fixes for MacOS, the full changelog is below.

Downloads:

MacOS:
imagetozxspec-macos-2.0.0.zip (sha1: d76b6507f8f8a16e2e03b58d7b8c7ffb)
Windows:
imagetozxspec-windows-2.0.0.zip (sha1: b3269054d40fc1a09ae92aebcc4c31a6)
Linux:
imagetozxspec-linux-2.0.0.zip (sha1: bd8e3a1a569d630f9aa7701a42eaae7a)

Changelog for 2.0.0:

• Updated for Java 8.
• Squashed MacOS directory bug causing files not to be saved (Java bug).
• Integrated native video decoding via HumbleVideo.
• Massive performance improvement for processing video.
• Improved code quality with tests, logging and Java 8 features.
• Fixed Gigascreen original scale conversion crash bug.
• Fixed original scale conversion converted edge pixels bug.
• Fixed black threshold scaling range.
• Added warnings for poor options combinations.
• Changed text output behaviour for multiple images - many files now instead of one.
• Modified About to show free memory.
• Fixed small graphics memory leak.
• Added turbo mode.

Image To ZX Spec 1.4 Released

Image To ZX Spec 1.4 has now been released.



For a full description read more here

Version 1.4:

• Huge improvements to GigaScreen (102 colour) image quality.
• SCR Gigascreen export image order by Hue/Saturation/Brightness.
• Added new GigaScreen BASIC ZX Spectrum image loader.
• Usability improvements and toolbar added to UI.
• Image quality improvements for prefer detail setting.
• Accuracy and speed improvements for image pre-processing.
• Updated VLC4J to allow the video conversion from VLC 2.1.3.
• Fixed missing character dither.
• Bug fixes.

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.4 distribution (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Image to ZX Spec 1.4 source code (GPL 3)

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.4 Released

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.4 has now been released.



For a full description read more here

Changes (since 1.3.4):

Version 1.3.4

• Updated for Java 7.
• Added VLC compatible video importing option.
• Added simultaneous video decode/spectrum encode.
• Added new prefer detail setting improving output.
• Added new Sierra error diffusion option.
• Added automatic preference saving.
• Added dynamic memory allocation (grabs as much free as possible).
• Added conversion cancel button (finally!)
• Removed some redundant localisation code.
• English text and licenses changes.

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.4 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.4 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.4 source code

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.3_02 Released

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.3_02 has now been released.



For a full description read more here

Changes (since 1.3.3_01):

Version 1.3.3_02

• Fixed an image resize bug which was forcing output to 256x192.
• Fixed preview image flicker and preview image input-output synchronisation.
• Removed two video queue bottlenecks (improves video conversion speed).
• Removed all video pre-buffering (real time loading and conversion replaces it).
• Removed non-internationalised video buffering message.

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 source code (note GPL 2.0 licenced).

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.3 Released

Version 1.3.3_01 of Image To ZX Spec is now freely available!
Image to ZX Spec is written in Java and will work on Windows, Linux (tested on Ubuntu) or any Java 6 capable operating system.

Full colour conversion

Image To ZX Spec is an image and video converter that can produce "Spectrumized" retro art images of any size and convert real work to use on the ZX Spectrum, an emulator as a slideshow or video. This is useful to create music videos, posters, mock screenshots, to name a few - you do not even need a Spectrum to use this program!

Features:

• Convert most avi formats/divx video to anim gifs or virtual tapes (for use in an emulator or on a real Spectum)!
• Convert any image to a format a real Spectrum can display.
• Convert any image to a full (original) size image with a retro Spectrum effect.
• Multi core high speed conversion - configurable!
• Fully automatic conversion, you just choose how you want to apply the effects.
• Pre processing (brightness colour etc.) options.
• Multiple dither (colour correction) options - 15 in total, that's excluding image to text and no dither options!
• Multiple previews of all the dither options.
• Many colour modes, such as monochrome, full 15 colour and the exotic "Gigascreen" colour mode (102 colours on a ZX Spectrum!)
• Localised GUI - German, Greek, Italian, Polish and Spanish

Text conversion

Changes (since 1.3.1):

Version 1.3.3_01

• Added internationalisation support.
• Added new languages - German, Greek, Italian, Polish and Spanish.

Version 1.3.3

• Added random single frame video preview.
• Added improved video format support.
• More monochrome dither fixes.
• More UI changes.
• Added serpentine error diffusion option.
• Added error diffusion constraining option.
• Improved error diffusion accuracy.

Version 1.3.2

• Added Character Conversion (image to text).
• Fixed long standing monochrome dithering bug (loss of detail).
• UI changes for new options and usability changes.
• Source code contains initial ground work for Muffin web proxy.

Gigascreen (102 colour) conversion

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.3 source code (note GPL 2.0 licenced).

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.1 Released

Version 1.3.1 of Image To ZX Spec (more details) has now been released and is freely available.
Image to ZX Spec is written in Java and will work on Windows, Linux (tested on Ubuntu) or any Java 6 capable operating system.

Version 1.3.1
- Added Anim Gif export feature.
- Updated licence/about information.

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.1 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.1 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.1 Source code and Javadoc (note GPL 2.0 licenced).
Tutorial and demo videos

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Released

Update: Version 1.3.1 is now available.

Version 1.3.0_01 of Image To ZX Spec (more details) has now been released and is freely available.
Image to ZX Spec is written in Java and will work on Windows, Linux (tested on Ubuntu) or any Java 6 capable operating system.



Changes:

Version 1.3.0_01
- Added support for drag and drop on Ubuntu.
- Minor Ubuntu window size issue fixed.
- Fixed bad line numbering in Simple BASIC Loader.

Downloads:

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Source code and Javadoc (note GPL 2.0 licenced).
Tutorial and demo videos

Image To ZX Spec 1.3.0 Released

Update: Version 1.3.1 is now available here.

Version 1.3.0(_01) of this application has now been released and is freely available.



Image To ZX Spec 1.3.0 is a multi core capable image and video converter that can produce vintage computer art images (jpeg/png) of any size and can even convert work to a real ZX Spectrum (or an emulator) as a slideshow or video. This is useful to create retro 8bit music videos, posters, tshirts, mock screenshots etc etc - you do not even need a Spectrum to use this program!



New for 1.3.0 - With the exception of the first Ubuntu (15 colour) screenshot above (the tool works on Windows and Ubuntu), the other screenshots illustrate the new GigaScreen 102 colour palette option. For more images and information on Image To ZX Spec's full capabilities read here. GigaScreen images are viewable on any Spectrum with a suitable GigaScreen viewer program. The large palette is a product of flashing two specially prepared images in sequence and due to persistence of vision extra colours can be seen. The real colours are displayed in Image To ZX Spec's preview and saved in other image file formats (png/jpeg) capable of being shown on a PC.



What reviewers have had to say:
"Great tool..."
(kgmcneil, World Of Spectrum)

Amazing stuff and works perfectly with SpecEmu.
(Pegaz, World Of Spectrum)

Awesome...
(orange, World Of Spectrum)

I like the option that you can see the result of different methods at the same time and can choose the one I like the best.
(Ralf, World Of Spectrum)

5/5 stars
(Editor, Softoxi)

5/5 stars
(Softpedia users' rating of Image To ZX Spec)



Third party artwork using Image To ZX Spec:

• zxthetics (Hi-Fi Lo-Fi / Digital Impressionism / Faux-Bit)
• Prosthetic Knowledge/More zxthetics works
• 8 Bit Tron
• United Colours of Clive (NSFW - NOT SAFE FOR WORK!)
• 8-Bit One London Bridge
• Flower (ZX Spectrum Rendering of Soundgarden's Flower)
• A Brief ZX Spectrum Guide to Cinema History

Changes in version 1.3.0

• Added "GigaScreen" palette mode (102 colours).
• Added "Reduced Set Colours" attribute favouritism.
• Added drag and drop support.
• Added proportional 256x192 preview capability to the dither preview dialog.
• Removed lesser used tape loaders.
• Fixed main window size bug.
• Fixed missing dialog icon bug.
• Improved Contrast slider sensitivity.
• Improved preview repaint for Java >1.6.0_2x.
• Updated readme and about dialog text.
• Updated copyrights.

Downloads (updated for version 1.3.0_01):

Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Standalone (Softpedia mirror)
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Standalone (direct download, just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Try Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.3.0_01 Source code and Javadoc (note GPL 2.0 licenced).
Tutorial and demo videos

Surfing the web Sinclair ZX Spectrum style

Recently I've integrated a Java proxy server and Image to ZX Spec to allow you to surf the web seeing every image as would be displayed on a ZX Spectrum.



Of course the youtube video being low resolution doesn't really help, but look at about 2 minutes in to see the difference when I disable the proxy.
I'll be releasing the proxy patches and a modified version of Image to ZX Spec that will allow you to do this with your own browser in a few days (fun for parties maybe?!!). If I get time I'll also add conversion of the font so the text on the pages even looks like that on a Spectrum.

If you came here looking for a real way of getting your old Spectrum on the net you should have a look at Spectranet.

Image to ZX Spec 1.2.1 Released

Update: Version 1.3.0(_01) has been released
Version 1.2.1(_02) of this application has now been released and is freely available.



Image to ZX Spec 1.2.1 is a multi core capable image and video converter that can produce vintage computer art images (jpeg/png) of any size and can even convert work to a real ZX Spectrum (or an emulator) as a slideshow or video. This is useful to create retro music videos, posters, mock screenshots etc etc - you do not even need a Spectrum to use this program!

Just to show you how easy it is here's one I made earlier in 15 mins:



Key features include being able to:

- Apply a "Spectrumized" effect to any size JPEG, PNG or GIF image.
- Convert AVI or MOV files to ZX Spectrum video with optional video loader.
- Convert any JPEG, PNG or GIF image, convert to a ZX Spectrum slideshow (.tap file), or to ZX Spectrum SCREEN images (.scr file).
- Choose from numerous processing options as to how the images will be converted, including customising how colour "attribute" clash is handled.
- Convert an entire directory of images in one go.
- Change all processing options on-the-fly.
- Java based - works on Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu, etc or try it online! (Requires Java 6 to be installed)

Third party artwork:
zxthetics (Hi-Fi Lo-Fi / Digital Impressionism / Faux-Bit)
Prosthetic Knowledge/More zxthetics works
8 Bit Tron

Requirements:

Java 6 or better
Online version: >256MB memory free (image size limited).
Standalone version: >512MB memory free (larger image sizes permitted).

Downloads:

Try Image to Zx Spec 1.2.1_02 online.
Image to ZX Spec 1.2.1_02 Standalone (just unzip and double click jar file to start).
Image to ZX Spec 1.2.1_02 Source code and Javadoc (note GPL 2.0 licenced).
Tutorial and demo videos

Image to ZX Spec 1.1 Released

Image to ZX Spec 1.1 is now freely available.
UPDATE: Get the latest 1.3.1 build

You can use Image to ZX Spec 1.1 online here (requires Java 6) or choose to download it.
Image to ZX Spec allows you to:

- Create retro art work, any size image can be "Spectrumized" (.png, .gif .jpg file) using
and one of 15(!) dithering modes (shading for the non techies).
- Convert JPEGS or GIFs to a ZX Spectrum slideshow (tap file).
- Convert JPEGS or GIFs to a ZX Spectrum SCREEN image (.scr file).
- Convert an entire directory of images, with previews.
- Choose from numerous processing options as to how the images will be converted.
- Change all processing options on-the-fly.



New for Version 1.1
- Added new Atrribute Favoritism feature to choose the colour set to use (greatly improves default image quality).
- Added Dither Preview feature which displays previews with different dithering algorithms (and takes advantage of multi core processors).
- Updated BASIC slideshow program with new warning to stop tape.
- Minor bug fixes to do with image conversion colour choice.
- Memory usage increased for larger image conversion (512MB min).
- Improved UI layout for Linux based systems (tested on Ubuntu)
- Main frame has splash picture, About box displays system info.

Requirements
Java 6 or better
Online version: >256MB memory free (image size limited).
Standalone version: >512MB memory free (larger image sizes permitted).

Downloads
Try Image to ZX Spec Online
Image to ZX Spec 1.1 Standalone
Image to ZX Spec 1.1 Source Code

Many thanks to Viperfang Networks for the hosting.

Image to ZX Spec 1.1 Progress

Just a quick update regarding Image to ZX Spec - multi core support has been added, dither preview is now included and Spectrum attribute favouritism option has been added greatly improving the image quality. Have a look at the preview image (click for full size image) - bear in mind these display like this on a real ZX Spectrum!

Image to ZX Spec Tutorial

The video below shows the creation of a "Little Shop of Horrors" slideshow and it running in an emulator. The video explains all of Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5's settings but the principles are the same for 1.3.x too.

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5 Released

UPDATE: Version 1.2.1 supersedes this revision of Image to ZX Spec you can get this here



Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5 "Omega" is now available - try it online (requires Java 6, you will be shown a security prompt) or download it (more links bottom of this post beneath changes).

You can find out more about what Image to ZX Spec can do here and here


Bill and Ted agree being Omega dithered is most excellent (click image)


Changes
-------
Version 1.0.5

• Added Bayer Ordered Dither (2x1)
• Added Omega Ordered Dither (2x2)
• Minor code changes including better error messages.
• Remembering directory locations in the file dialogs
• OpenGL hardware acceleration switch (disabled by default, source
  code only adjustment required to enable it due to instability and
  currently only rendering display improvements).
• Small UI changes

Downloads:

YouTube video tutorial

Webstart Image to ZX Spec (i.e. "online" usage - requires Java 6)

Download Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5

Download the Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5 (GPL 2) source code

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.2 Progress

I thought I'd post progress on Image to ZX Spec. I've now added a number of other dither options and a separate dialog for configuration, but I guess what you really want to see is how much it's improved - the following conversions where done with my own "low error" dither based on the Atkinson dither. Click the images to see them full size. Yes... this is what the images will look like on a real ZX Spectrum!