You can either choose MSX1 or MSX2 as your Project Type.
This option affects your Exported data, and - in the near future right now - the ability to change the palette.
MSX1 allows you to have a maximum of 4 sprites per line, where each sprite is of a single color.
So, to compose a drawing of, say, 3 colors, you'll need exactly 3 sprites.
MSX2, on the other hand, allows you to have up to 8 sprites per line, and each of the sprite's line
can have a different color.
In addition, the video chip in MSX2 is able to combine sprites colors with an OR operator, producing
a total number of colors higher than the number of sprites combined.
TinySprite take that into consideration and automatically generates the best combination of colors in
order to minimize the quantity of sprites you need.
Note 1: the color 0 (zero) in MSX2 is not always transparent. In fact, you can change its RGB values and
use it as a regular color. This behavior will be implemented soon in TinySprite.
Note 2: in MSX-BASIC you can change the sprite bitmap mask using SPRITE$(N)=[pattern]. With MSX2 you can also alter the line colors with COLORSPRITE$(N)=[attributes].
You can choose to Save/Load your Project in a variety of ways:
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File: this method is only supported by Firefox 1.5 and requires that you download and run TinySprite from your computer.
It will request your permission to read and save files on the hard-disk, and then
proceed with your regular file dialog window.
This is the only option that supports choosing a file name and using files directly on the hard-disk,
so it's the more natural option for an editor :)
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Cookie: this option loads/saves a single project by using a cookie on your browser.
A cookie is a piece of data associated with a particular domain, so this will only work as long as
you run the editor always from the same place.
This is a easy-to-use option, however must be handled with care. If you delete your browser's temporary
files (cache) you might lose your cookies, and then your Project is gone. So, be careful!
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Copy+Paste: also known as the "backup option". This will encode your project in a plain text
format, that you can copy and paste into any file on your computer. Later on, you can load your Project
by simply pasting the very same text into the Import window.
The preview area presents a reduced scale version of what your drawings look like.
Clicking on one of the available previews have the effect of selecting which slot is being edited in the main Grid.
You can use the preview panel to line up 4 slots together. This is often useful when editing "big sprites".
Each of your drawings is stored inside a single slot.
You can create any number of slots to store your drawings, rename them accordingly, and preview them on the preview area.
They can also be deleted, copied, pasted over another slot...
Upon clicking on a slot, your selected preview grid will be linked to it. So whenever you return to that particular preview, the slot will be active again.