Some new tools

[chrisridd]

Hi,

I've written a couple of command-line tools in rust that might be interesting. See pbtools for the source code. They are meant to run on your desktop, not your PocketBook.

The first rpbres is yet another implementation of the old pbres tools from various people. It is incomplete at the moment, but already a little more useful than other implementations because it tries to output the format of each resource.

The second res2image is kind of interesting. It can convert any 8pp bitmap resource into a BMP/PNG/TIFF file. This is pretty helpful, because it means you can see what various non-obvious named resources actually contain. I've used this to add BMP files into the e-reader's system/resources/Line subdirectory and add bits of colour into my UI!

Creating good BMP files that PocketBook likes is difficult. This page is a helpful start if you have Windows: http://cyfranek.booklikes.com/post/5...kow-pocketbook but I'm using ImageMagick command-line tools instead to convert my efforts. This is what worked for me:

$ convert -type Palette -compress None -colors 256 library.png desktop_app_library.bmp

Creating icons that look good will need some practice, as the Kaleido 3 panel can make them look quite washed out. Bold colours will probably work better.

If you're new to rust you'll need to use rustup to install the rust tools, and then just running cargo build from your clone of the pbtools git repo will get you the two tools.

[chrisridd]

I've uploaded some binaries for Macs, Linux and Windows. I cross-compiled the last two platforms so have not tested them.

https://github.com/chrisridd/pbtools/releases

[chrisridd]

I traced the existing PB icons and just filled things in maximum red/green/blue (and a grey in the Apps icon) just for fun.

IMO it is definitely looking a bit nicer than the boring black/white icons.

[orontee]

Nice work!

Not directly related but, in case you want to experiment with color icons, you may give a try to this issue of Taranis: Improve look on color screen.

[certciv]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

The second res2image is kind of interesting. It can convert any 8pp bitmap resource into a BMP/PNG/TIFF file. This is pretty helpful, because it means you can see what various non-obvious named resources actually contain. I've used this to add BMP files into the e-reader's system/resources/Line subdirectory and add bits of colour into my UI!

I'm a little unclear on how this works. My Pocketbook Era does no seem to have a system/resources directory. Is this a case of newer models working a little differently?

[chrisridd]

Originally Posted by certciv

I'm a little unclear on how this works. My Pocketbook Era does no seem to have a system/resources directory. Is this a case of newer models working a little differently?

That's a good question. When I got my InkPad Color 3 I grabbed a complete snapshot of all the initial files; it also had no system/resources directory.

There will definitely be a system directory, so just create the subdirectory "resources" yourself, and then another subdirectory inside that called "Line", which matches the active theme shipped by PB.

[chrisridd]

I've just released 0.3.0 for Mac, Linux and Windows. It adds support for 24bpp images - the "klondike" cards are 24bpp - and an image2res tool that converts back to the resource image format.

[neil_swann80]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

I've just released 0.3.0 for Mac, Linux and Windows. It adds support for 24bpp images - the "klondike" cards are 24bpp - and an image2res tool that converts back to the resource image format.

Nice. I'll be playing with this ASAP.

[GreyFox]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

I traced the existing PB icons and just filled things in maximum red/green/blue (and a grey in the Apps icon) just for fun.

IMO it is definitely looking a bit nicer than the boring black/white icons.

Attachment 208943

Can you share the icons and your view.json?

[chrisridd]

Sure. I think I did these right before I went on holiday and didn't carry on when I got home, so there aren't many. I'd love to see better versions!

I did create a wiki page listing which filenames you need to override which app.

Bonus: some colour Lock Screen (sleep) images, which I just grabbed from the Internet and then filled the background in

#808040

which tells PB this should be transparent.

[GreyFox]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

Sure. I think I did these right before I went on holiday and didn't carry on when I got home, so there aren't many. I'd love to see better versions!

I did create a wiki page listing which filenames you need to override which app.

Bonus: some colour Lock Screen (sleep) images, which I just grabbed from the Internet and then filled the background in

#808040

which tells PB this should be transparent.

Awesome, thanks so much. Someone else made some color icons too and now with yours everything has a nice splash of color.

[dmalinovsky]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

Bonus: some colour Lock Screen (sleep) images, which I just grabbed from the Internet and then filled the background in

#808040

which tells PB this should be transparent.

Thank you very much, my son is the big fan of these comics, it was a nice surprise for him.

[totasenior]

I would like to ask if the icons listed on the wiki page exist, or are they just in the zip file, or did someone mention that someone else made some, where are they located?

[chrisridd]

Originally Posted by dmalinovsky

Thank you very much, my son is the big fan of these comics, it was a nice surprise for him.

Thanks, I think they're perfect to show the device is sleeping!