

  =============================================== 
   
         GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL 

                   Version 2.0a

                  April 28, 2000

            Updated to Patch Level 18
            For Windows 95/98/2000/NT 

  http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifcon.html 



              ALCHEMY MINDWORKS, INC. 
              -----------------------
 http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/alchemy.html 
             alchemy@mindworkshop.com 

  _______________________________________________ 
  =============================================== 



------------------------------------------------- 

  TO REGISTER GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL 
_________________________________________________ 
================================================= 
GIF Construction Set Professional is a shareware application. 
We invite you to evaluate GIF Construction Set Professional
to see if it's suitable for your needs. If you like it, 
please register it. If it turns out not to be what you need, 
or if you don't feel it's worth registering, please delete it
from your hard drive and accept our thanks for trying it out.
If you do productive work of any sort with this software, you 
are no longer evaluating it.

The registration for GIF Construction Set Professional is 
$20. Add $5.00 for shipping and handling if you'd like the 
current version sent to you on CD-ROM.

After evaluating GIF Construction Set Professional, check out 
the Registration and Technical Support document and the 
Order Form document in the program's folder for information 
on the many options available to register, or order the 
program on CD-ROM, by phone, fax, mail or via our on-line 
secure server. 

The unregistered evaluation copy of the most recent release of 
GIF Construction Set Professional may be distributed freely in 
its unaltered state as long as the means of distribution are in 
keeping with Alchemy Mindworks' current policies for shareware 
distribution. The current policies are summarized in the 
Shareware Distribution file which is added to the program's 
folder during installation of the program. 


----------------------- 

  ABOUT THIS DOWNLOAD 
_______________________ 
======================= 
This download contains 3 files: 

-- readme.txt  -- which you obviously have found, 

-- file_id.diz -- a general desription text file, and 

-- gcsp20.exe  -- the application install program which is:
                - version 2.0a updated to patch 18 
                  for Windows 95/98/2000 and NT. 
                - 4,231,168 bytes in length. 
 
New functionality is added to GIF Construction Set Professional 
from time to time. So it is recommended that you visit the 
program's information page, on occasion, to see if there is 
an update. The GIF Construction Set Professional's information 
page is http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifcon.html. 

The Alchemy Mindworks CRC for gcsp20.exe is C4 66 72 3F

A CRC value can be used to check the integrity of a file 
you have downloaded. By assuring that the CRC check value 
shown here matches the CRC check value for the file in 
question, you will reduce the possibility of attempting 
to install a damaged archive to about one in 4,294,964,296 
-- odds even longer than those of winning most state-run 
lotteries. 

You must have the Alchemy Mindworks CRC software installed 
on your system to perform this check. Please visit the CRC 
page to download the CRC software if you do not currently 
have it. It's small, free and a valuable asset to make 
sure that your Alchemy Mindworks software has not been 
damaged in transit.



-------------------------------

  INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
_______________________________
===============================
GIF Construction Set Professional requires a Pentium or better 
processor. A display adapter and a Windows screen driver 
capable of displaying more than 256 colours are recommended. 

GIF Construction Set Professional represents the state of the 
art in GIF animation software. It will assemble your original 
animations effortlessly through its Animation Wizard, squeeze 
them down to as close to nothing as possible with its 
Supercompressor; create eyecatching banners and animated 
transitions; manage your GIF files; add transparency to 
existing graphics; port GIF files to PowerPoint presentations;
add a Protection Matrix to safeguard your intellectual property; 
and a lot more with an intuitive user interface. 

The extensive documentation and tutorials included with GIF 
Construction Set Professional will get you up to speed in less 
time than it takes most elected officials to redefine the truth. 

If you need a less extensive version of GIF Construction Set, 
check out GIF Construction Set Classic; the 32 bit version for 
Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, or the 16 bit version for 
Windows 3.1 and 3.11. They can be found at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifconcl.html 



----------------------------------------------------- 

  GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL'S FUNCTIONALITY 
_____________________________________________________ 
===================================================== 
The list of GIF Construction Set Professional's functionality 
can run for pages. Here are a few:

  - Build instant animations with Animation Wizard. 

  - Reduce the size of your GIF files with Supercompressor. 

  - Build special-effect text banners with the Banner generator. 

  - Create sophisticated animated transitions between still images. 

  - Rotate, crop, colour-adjust and resize all or part of an animation sequence. 

  - Implement transparency in still and animated GIF files. 

  - Convert animated GIF files to AVI for use with PowerPoint. 

  - Create rotating two-dimensional animated graphics. 

  - Protect your graphics with Protection Matrix 

  - Drag and drop between multiple document windows. 

  - Manage the controls of multiple images with breathtaking ease. 

  - Generate animated GIF files by remote control with integrated scripting. 

  - Generate text with soft shadows. 

  - Create neon and backlit text banners. 

  - Generate eye-catching text titles.

  - Reverse the order of the images in a GIF file.


Get up to speed quickly with the extensive documentation and tutorials 
included with GIF Construction Set Professional.

Check out the GIF Construction Set Professional Information Page: 
http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifcon.html

Then check out the GIF Construction Set Demonstration Page for a quick 
overview of the many features of GIF Construction Set and a gallery of 
its better tricks. Note that the demonstration page uses frames and it 
is fairly graphic-intensive.

The article, Build Banner Ads That Rock, is a tutorial on creating 
effective animations, using banner ads to show how you can achieve many 
different effects. Build Banner Ads That Rock also discusses design, 
usage and display considerations for the creation of effective and 
efficient web page animations. Visit Banner Ads That Rock at 
http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/banners/banners.html


-----------------------------------------------------

  INSTALLATION OF GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL 
_____________________________________________________
=====================================================
Extract the file gcsp20.exe from this zipped file to a temporary 
folder such as c:\temp

Please install GIF Construction Set Professional through the 
Run item of your Start menu. It is recommended that you close 
all applications before installing. Installing it through 
Explorer or Add/Remove Programs will usually fail very colourfully. 

The self-extracting Windows archive installs GIF Construction 
Set Professional. Follow the prompts that guide you through 
the install procedure. After installation, the source file gcsp20.exe 
can be deleted from the temporary folder.

You must have a minimum of 11 megabytes of free hard drive space to 
install this package. Part of this space is used for temporary files 
created by the installer and will be freed as soon as the 
installation is complete.



--------------------------------------------------

  TO UNINSTALL GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL
__________________________________________________
==================================================
Use Add or Remove Programs under the 
Start -- Settings -- Control Panel.



  =================================
        ALCHEMY MINDWORKS Inc.
       Since the earth was flat

             Creator of

    GRAPHIC WORKSHOP PROFESSIONAL
  GIF CONSTRUCTION SET PROFESSIONAL
    SCREEN SAVER CONSTRUCTION SET  
          PAGAN DAYBOOK II 
            FONT WRANGLER 
           CALENDAR WIZARD 
    -----------------------------
             plus other 
        innovative shareware
            applications
  _________________________________
  =================================

