Perl Graphics Programming

by Wallace, Shawn

• ISBN13: 9780596002190
• ISBN10: 059600219X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-01
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

This insightful volume focuses on scripting programs that enable programmers to manipulate graphics for the Web. The book also helps demystify the manipulation of graphics formats for web newcomers with a practical, resource-like approach. While most of the examples use Perl as a scripting language, the concepts are applicable to any programming language. The book documents ways to use several powerful Perl modules for generating graphics, including GD, PerlMagick, and GIMP. Perl Graphics Programming will change how you think about creating and manipulating graphics for publishing on the Web.

Author Biography

has been applying computers to graphics problems for the past fifteen years. A programmer and artist, Shawn is managing director of the AS220 (www.as220.org) artist community in Providence, RI, a cofounder of the SMT Computing Society, and a member of the Rhode Island chapter of the Perl Mongers. He is also involved in the Bolero open source music notation system (www.as220.org/shawn/bolero) and the Institute for Folk Computing, a program to inform and inspire the use of open software by the general public in Providence. Shawn studied computer engineering at the University of Rhode Island and participated in the construction of an early (mid-80s) hypermedia delivery system at HyperView Systems in Middletown, RI.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Part I. Raster Images and Web Graphics
Creating Graphics with Perl	3	(22)
Introduction to File Formats	3	(2)
Color	5	(5)
Raster File Formats	10	(7)
Vector Graphic File Formats	17	(4)
Document File Formats	21	(3)
References	24	(1)
On-the-Fly Graphics with GD	25	(37)
GD Basics	26	(1)
Sample GD Applications	27	(8)
Reading and Writing Methods	35	(5)
Getting and Setting General Information	40	(1)
Color Table Manipulation Methods	41	(3)
Brushes, Styles, and Tiles	44	(4)
Copying and Transforming Images	48	(2)
Image Drawing and Manipulation Methods	50	(3)
Strings and Fonts	53	(2)
Polygon Methods	55	(7)
Graphics Scripting with Image::Magick	62	(55)
What Is ImageMagick?	62	(3)
Using Image::Magick	65	(5)
Sample Image::Magick Applications	70	(9)
Reading and Writing Images	79	(3)
Retrieving and Setting File Information	82	(4)
Sizing and Transforming Images	86	(5)
Copying and Composing Images	91	(4)
Color and Transparency	95	(5)
Annotation and Drawing	100	(6)
Filters and Effects	106	(11)
Charts and Graphs with GD::Graph	117	(28)
Let's Make Some Graphs!	117	(8)
A Sample GD::Graph Application	125	(5)
GD::Graph Methods	130	(4)
Attributes of GD::Graph Objects	134	(8)
Colors and Fonts in GD::Graph	142	(3)
Scripting the Gimp with Perl	145	(30)
Getting and Installing the Gimp	145	(3)
Writing Gimp Plug-ins in Perl	148	(2)
Your First Gimp Script	150	(5)
Object-Oriented Versus Procedural Scripting	155	(3)
Adding New Features to the Gimp	158	(13)
Standalone Scripts	171	(4)
Part II. Vector Images and Animations
SVG: The Scalable Vector Graphics Format	175	(20)
SVG Document Structure	176	(4)
The Basic SVG Tags	180	(15)
Creating SVG with Perl	195	(20)
A Slide-Show Presentation	195	(6)
SVG Animation	201	(1)
Creating a Bouncing Ball	202	(2)
SVG Scripting with JavaScript	204	(4)
Using Unicode Text in SVG Images	208	(2)
Transformation with XSLT and Perl	210	(5)
SWF: The Flash File Format	215	(23)
The History of Flash and SWF	215	(1)
The Format and Function of SWF Files	216	(7)
Anatomy of a Tag	223	(10)
Parsing an SWF File with Perl	233	(5)
Using Ming	238	(53)
Installation	238	(1)
Overview of the Perl Interface	239	(1)
The Astral Trespassers Game	240	(6)
The SWF Module	246	(1)
The SWF::Movie Module	247	(2)
The SWF::Sprite (or SWF::MovieClip) Module	249	(1)
The SWF::DisplayItem Module	250	(4)
The SWF::Shape Module	254	(5)
The SWF::Button Module	259	(3)
The SWF::Bitmap Module	262	(1)
The SWF::Text Module	263	(2)
The SWF::TextField Module	265	(2)
The SWF::Font Module	267	(1)
The SWF::Fill Module	268	(1)
The SWF::Gradient Module	269	(1)
The SWF::Morph Module	269	(3)
The SWF::Sound Module	272	(1)
The SWF::Action Module	272	(1)
SWF Recipes	273	(18)
Part III. Documents and Printing
Printing with Postscript and PDF	291	(24)
PostScript in a Nutshell	291	(8)
Portable Document Format (PDF)	299	(15)
References	314	(1)
Using the PostScript Modules	315	(18)
Creating PostScript from a Web Interface	316	(4)
The PostScript::TextBlock Module	320	(6)
The PostScript::Document Module	326	(2)
The PostScript::Elements Module	328	(4)
Other PostScript Modules	332	(1)
Creating PDF Documents with Perl	333	(104)
Introduction to PDF::API2	333	(3)
Creating Address Labels	336	(5)
Adding to Existing PDF Files	341	(2)
PDF::API2 Reference	343	(4)
PDF::API2::Page	347	(2)
PDF::API2::Content	349	(4)
PDF::API2::Gfx	353	(2)
PDF::API2::Text	355	(2)
PDF::API2::Outline	357	(3)
References	360	(3)
Part IV. Appendixes
A. Serving Graphics on the Web	363	(22)
B. Gimp Reference	385	(28)
C. Image::Magick File Formats	413	(5)
D. ActionScript Reference	418	(19)
Index	437