Software Review: Impos/2 v2.0 32-bit Image Processing for OS/2 by Compart

By Jeff Stone

Impos/2 is an image manipulation and creation tool which fully takes advantage of a multi-tasking, multi-threaded environment. Images can be imported via scanner, video camera, or Kodak Photo CD, and then customized to your liking with its powerful set of tools and filters. It supports multi-page images and automated batch programming. It also includes a REXX interface. You need not be a graphic whiz to use this application. The manual is very well written and is only about 128 pages long. For people who are new to graphic design, it starts with an explanation of graphics and builds from there to give you a good fundamental understanding of the basics before getting into the different things Impos/2 can do. It is well worth the read.

The product ships in CD format and it includes about 200 high quality images to get you started. Installing the product is very simple and takes less than a minute. An Impos/2 folder is created on the desktop. Inside you will find an icon for the application and a Rexx information manual. The base install requires about 2 Meg of storage on your hard disk. Minimum system requirements are OS/2 Warp v3.0 or higher, minimum 386 or higher processor, and 8 Meg of memory. It runs well on my 486 66Mhz DX2 with 24 Meg of memory.

Before you use the product, I'd recommend a few extra steps. First, download the product fix via FTP from Indelible Blue. A User ID and Password are required. Second, reset your video to 800x600x64k or higher. Although that's not required, I think images look much better. Finally, if you add a scanner, the installation of the appropriate driver can be done after Impos/2 is installed. There is a special page in the settings notebook where this is done. More than one scanner can be installed at a time. Unlike some software packages, this one ships with real OS/2 drivers for about 25 of the more popular hand-held and flat bed scanners.

As with everything, the best place to start is with an idea. Once you have that (or even if you don't) working with Impos/2 is very simple. One of my favorite features is that Impos/2 doesn't run in a window. It's basically a fancy tool bar. Each image gets its own window. Impos/2 itself is just that tool bar, which you can customize to fit your working habits and then resize and position anywhere on the desktop. This leaves your desktop free to utilize drag and drop, other applications, etc. Several views of the same image can be opened at the same time (different sizes if you like) so you can view your progress (before and after).

A click on the Tools menu and you now have access to a powerful set of image manipulation tools. These include your basic bread and butter tools like Airbrush, a Line Tool, Flood Fill, Eraser, etc. Some of the more exciting tools are the Text Tool, the Finger (which is for smearing or blending things so they look more natural), the Clone (like the Air brush but instead of spraying color it sprays image parts taken from another position), Linear and Radial Gradient Tools (can help you create 3D and lighting effects with a little practice), and a Paintbrush which is just like using a real brush. The color gets lighter and the line gets thinner as your stroke gets longer. I would have to say Impos/2's tools are very intuitive and designed to be very effective while at the same time very simple to use.

In addition to its tools you also have several filters, including special effect filters that you can run over your images. These can be applied to the whole image or just a section. There are just too many to list them all. Some of my favorites are Wave, Ripple (both give things a liquid texture), Whirlpool, Motion and Radial Blur, and Oil Painting. Most of the filters have settings and can be adjusted in many different ways depending on what effect you're going for. Don't like what the filter did? Just click on Undo in the pull-down menu. Experimenting with this can be a lot of fun.

The image window itself is made up of three layers. These are the Image Layer, the Mask Layer, and the Image and Mask Layer together. You can toggle between the layers with the buttons provided in the upper right corner. Working with these different layers can help you achieve a more polished and professional looking image.

Impos/2 supplies you with several selection tools. These help in defining specific areas that you wish to work with. The more obvious ones are Square and Rectangular, Circular and Oval. However, if these are not good enough to get the job done there is also a Freehand selection tool as well as something they call the Magic Wand. The Magic Wand takes some getting used to because what it attempts to do is select areas of the same color and brightness. You define this area by clicking the wand on the area and Impos/2 goes to work.

Once you define a selection there are a few things you can do to define them even further. Things like Feathering the edges so things blend better, or making it Float so when you move it you're not left with a big hole, or even Hide your selection. Cropping is another option you will find very useful. Impos/2 looks at a selection as its own image inside of the image you are working on. So basically what can be done to an image can also be done to a selection. That's one of the things that makes Impos/2 so great and really allows you to be more creative.

Impos/2 also has a built in Preview function which I find very useful. You can preview a thumbnail of a image in the Open Dialog Box before actually opening it. This is great for browsing large archives on CD-ROM, or in case you forget what that picture was you saved. Some of the filters and color adjusting tools also allow you to preview their effect on the image. In the case of the filters, some take longer than others to run, so a preview before you spend the time running it on your whole image can be a real time saver.

There's a few other things worth mentioning about Impos/2. One is that it can take screen shots. This is very handy if you do a lot of work with presentations. You can also convert color images into black & white and vice versa. And of course you can also resize and save your images using a few of the more popular compressions.

My experience with this product has been, to say the least, more than enjoyable. Sometimes more fun than playing Doom II. This is certainly a must-have for anyone who has OS/2 and wants to get into graphic design without paying an arm and a leg or two.

Available through our friends at Indelible Blue. Please check the catalog for the current pricing. Last time I looked, it was $169.00 for the full product, $69.00 to upgrade from v1.2.

J.P Stone

Team OS/2 Cincinnati Member