Selecting this item pops up a window which allows you to set various options, like the name of the file you want to save, the type of output to produce, and whether or not to invert the foreground and background when you save your image.
The
Set save options
window might look like
Set save options window
, if you are using MeshTV's defaults. If you aren't, the values might be different.
This window allows you to set the options in effect when you save a plot. The options include things like the name of the file to which to save, the type of output generated, and whether to print a banner at the top and bottom of the picture.
This text field takes the name of the file you want to save. The name must be a valid UNIX file name. An extension appropriate to the file type will be added to the end of this name when the file is actually saved. Raster Postscript and Postscript add a .ps extension, while Rgb adds an .rgb extension, Tiff adds a .tif extension, and STL adds an .stl extension.
These options determine the output type MeshTV produces. The available options are
Raster postscript
,
Postscript
,
Ppm, Rgb
,
Tiff,
and
STL
.
(If you plan to print the file some time in the future, you should remember that different printers require different output types, so you should save your file in a format supported by the local printer you will use.)
This option produces PostScript output in raster (pixel) form rather than the "normal" PostScript form, which details actual lines to draw. Because we are drawing pixels rather than lines, raster files can be smaller than conventional PostScript files in some circumstances, and therefore can take less time to print or move across a network. Raster PostScript files can be handled by PostScript printers.
When choosing between the two PostScript formats you should keep in mind the following trade-offs:
PostScript files produce the highest quality images in 2D.
Raster PostScript files are often large, take a long time to print, and can cause problems with most color PostScript printers when the image size is above 900 by 900. They can be smaller than PostScript files in certain situations, however.
MeshTV automatically switches from PostScript to Raster Postscript when printing 3D images, since PostScript only gives wireframe images without hidden lines removed.
This option produces standard PostScript output, which can be handled by PostScript printers. Because this output type includes information as descriptions of lines to draw, files containing large amounts of information can become quite large, possibly even too large for a printer's buffer. If this occurs, you might want to try the raster PostScript type.
When choosing between the two PostScript formats you should keep in mind the following trade-offs:
PostScript files produce the highest quality images in 2D.
Raster PostScript files are often large, take a long time to print, and can cause problems with most color PostScript printers when the image size is above 900 by 900. They can be smaller than PostScript files in certain situations, however.
MeshTV automatically switches from PostScript to Raster Postscript when printing 3D images, since PostScript only gives wireframe images without hidden lines removed.
This option produces SGI's RGB (Red, Green, Blue) format output, which is run-length encoded.
This option produces STL (Stereolithography) files. An STL file represents a 3D model, rather than a flat image like MeshTV's other file types (RGB, TIFF, etc.). Rapid prototyping machines use STL files to create physical parts.
The only MeshTV plots that can be saved to STL files are Mesh, Pseudocolor, and Filled boundary.
This toggle button determines whether file families are generated. File families are sequentially numbered files, using the same base name. For example, if the base name in the File text field was "myfile" and the file type was Postscript , then the first time you saved, MeshTV would create a file called myfile0000.ps. The second time you saved a plot, the file would be called myfile0001.ps. This works well when you produce multiple, related plots, and you don't want to write over a single file every time you save a plot.
This toggle button indicates whether you want to automatically save plots without having to specifically issue a save command by selecting Save image in the File menu or Save from the Set save options window. Plots will be saved whenever you delete a plot from the visualization window or whenever you clear the visualization window completely. For example, if you added a pseudocolor plot and a mesh plot, an automatic save would occur if you deleted either one of the plots via the Delete button in the MeshTV Main window, or if you used the Replace button to replace either one of the two plots. An automatic save would also occur if you selected the Clear menu item from the MeshTV Display window
This toggle button allows you to save all open visualization windows to a single file which would fit onto a sheet of paper if printed.
This toggle button indicates whether the picture should be "grabbed" from the computer screen or taken from memory. If the picture is grabbed from the screen, the visualization windows will come to the front of the screen so that no other windows obscure them. Though grabbing the picture from memory yields a higher resolution image, grabbing via screen capture is faster, which is why it is the MeshTV default. If you turn off the screen capture, the image is rendered in software at 24 bits at the resolution specified by the Width and Height resolution text fields. Screen capture works for Raster postscript only.
If you turn off screen capture via the Screen capture toggle button , the image is taken from memory at a specified resolution, which you can set by typing integer numbers into the width and height text fields. Note that when the Maintain aspect toggle button is turned on, the values typed for width and height will be forced to match. Setting the image width and height is supported for the Raster postscript , RGB , TIFF , and PPM formats. Note that while higher resolutions produce nicer-looking pictures, they also increase file size.
This toggle button forces the Resolution text fields to match. Any value typed into the width text field will also be set into the height text field and vice-versa. To save images where the height does not equal the width, set this toggle to off before setting the image resolution.
Text entered in this text field will be printed at the top and the bottom of the image when it is saved. This can only be set if the file type is Postscript or Raster postscript .
Pressing the Apply button applies changes you made in the window containing the button. If you don't want your changes applied, press the Dismiss button without pressing Apply .
When you wish to close a window, press the Dismiss button. You should press the Apply button before you press the Dismiss button if you want your changes applied. If you don't want to apply your changes, pressing only the Dismiss button (without pressing Apply ) will return you to previously applied values.