Been keeping an eye on this one for a little while but took my eye off since David created a similar way to pack objects in G'MIC, but, it's still a cool program. Wish I would have kept my eye on this one since it's still free until the beta period ends on 7/31. At $15, it's not going to break the bank so I do plan on getting this one (I collect many programs; lol). Just wanted to share a result with you and the link.

http://www.picpaks.com/

Click the image for the uber hirez result at Flickr.

This is a cool little program Lyle.
Thanks for sharing it. Not to mention it is very easy to make your own libraries.

Thank You Lyle

Like the addition dimension effect. It's pretty cool and there's features that they implement that would be cool for the G'MIC preset (like restricted angle range; also the option with a near endless number of objects that isn't so smart to try in G'MIC if you know what I mean). Still, I do like how the G'MIC version does a few things too such as closer packing (I know; you can get that with picpac too but only if you use the clunky scale feature). Still, with it's faults, I do plan on paying the $15 when the beta test period ends in around a week.

I look forward to your results using the commercial version. You can be the guinea pig as it were.

I'm pretty sure the commercial released version will be not much different if at all to the beta Rod. The trick with using the program is playing with the resize/zoom. One addition feature (at least shown in the videos) is the ability to extract objects from contact sheets much like Dave's preset in G'MIC. Thought that was cool too but admit I've not test drived this feature yet.

So with this program you can take a sheet with multiple sprites and cut them out and use them all in one shot as packed images? That is far out!

OK; making an imbroidary site's contact sheet transparent for extract wasn't ideal (yes, the contact sheet has to have a transparent background) for picpak's extractor to work so I more then likely will continue using G'MICs version. That said, had some fun with one of Dad's Halloween templates after the object extraction.

What the hey; one more before I hit the sack. lol

Click following for uber hi-rez: http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/9518/o9ws.png

lylejk: doesn't look much differetn from what can be done in g'mic. i really like the last one - something fishy about it

Just a little more control such as angle range and also it handles high count objects easier for my antequated system AnMal. Still, what David did with his G'MIC preset is nothing short of awesome and it is faster for certain things. What would be cool with G'MIC is to utilize an indexing scheme like picpak does so that you can zoom the result and get high quality results still (i.e., can work on a low rez target to start so it's faster then the end result can be hirez). G'MIC's extractor is better then picpak's too; indeed I extracted the fish using G'MIC.

Yet still having fun; click on the image for the hirez at Flickr. :0

I agree G'MICS extractor filters (both Garagecoders, and Davids), are fantastic.

I can't decide if I want to get this...have to register all sorts of info, or ask for a tutorial on how to use the gmic version.

Just noticed something about the licensing. If I'm reading it right, this isn't a trial version but the full version so it's free until July 31 2-ton. Go ahead and read the download link yourself to see if I'm reading this right (I am still tired and have one more night to work before I'm off the rest of the week; lol). I did purchase a few more object files since I want to support the guy because I really like what I'm seeing. Looks like he's actually associated with magicmosaics.com too (pingotec I toyed with a while back). Anyway, just wanted to share the additional insight and if I'm right, get the program while it's on it's trial offer. If I'm wrong, well, it won't be too hard to un-install.

You are correct Lyle. It is a free download.


The libraries are extra (5 USD each), but the software is free right at the moment. Who knows for how long though. I would get the beta while you can for free.
This is what i tried to tell folks about Hexagon also. It was free for 6 months. Now it's 19 USD per license.

Yeah; purchased 2 sets already Rod because I want to support this project. Probably will purchase the steampunk pack too but not right now. $5 is worth it too me since extraction still is painful and time consuming. lol

I will probably grab a few of the libraries myself soon.

Created a library with nuts and bolts.

Another library with steampunk sprites.