Just Another Fractal Generator 1.1

Here's your really quick start guide to get you generating super-cool fractals fast! If this looks imposing, keep in mind that this is the entire manual that you need to read.

1. You may want to read the Version History, which describes new features and bugs.
2. Open Just Another Fractal Generator (it will open in another window) and continue reading the rest of the steps below.
3. When JAFG is loaded, you can click "Generate" to see the default fractal. A window will pop up briefly with a button to cancel the generation. When it is done generating, the fractal will appear.
4. You can alter the fractal primarily by using the Transformation Editor:
   1. Click the "Transformations..." button in the main applet window.
   2. You can select the transformation you want to edit in the list of transformations.
   3. To edit the transformation, drag the corners of the triangle in the gray box around. The shape and position of each the triangle determines what the fractal will look like.
   4. To change the plot color for this transformation, click in the little colored box where it says "Plot Color".
   5. To add a transformation, click "Add Transformation". You can then edit this transformation like any of the others. Keep in mind that the more transformations you have, the slower the fractal generates (the generation time increases exponentially as the number of transformations increases).
   6. To remove a transformation, click "Remove Transformation". The currently selected transformation will be removed. (You cannot remove all of the transformations, however. You must have at least one.)
   7. Click "Done" when you are done editing the transformations.
5. Click on "General Parameters" in the main applet window. Here you can edit lots of parameters:
   • The background color. Just click on the little colorful box on the right side to pop up a window that lets you change the background color.
   • The number of iterations. Depending on just about all the other parameters, a good number for this field is usually around 9 or 10. The more iterations, the longer it takes to generate (the time increases exponentially).
   • Antialiasing. Checking this box turns on antialiasing, which smooths the edges of the fractal. (However, this is not a very good antialiasing algorithm, so don't get excited.)
   • The canvas width and height. These fields set the width and height of the area on which the fractal is generated (not the actual size of the fractal), not including a 15-pixel border which is added on automatically. Note that this only changes the size of the window in which the fractal appears. To change the size of the actual fractal, you need to change the "Fractal's Size and Location" parameters.
   • The fractal's size and location on the canvas. This alters the size of the fractal without changing the size of the window in which it is generated. The top two fields are the coordinates of the upper-left (northwest) corner of the fractal, and the bottom two fields set the width and height of the fractal. You probably don't have to fiddle with these settings right now.
   • Click "Done" when you're done editing the General Parameters.
6. To generate the fractal after you've edited stuff, click "Generate" in the main applet window. While the fractal is generating, you can click "Cancel" at any time to stop it.
7. When the fractal pops onto the screen, you can change its size by dragging the resize box to whatever size you want. When you release the resize box, the fractal will automatically be re-generated.
8. E-mail bug reports to me along with your comments.
9. That's it! Wasn't that easy?