Getting started - instruction manual
The first thing to know is this is a desktop application, it will not work on a mobile device. It uses a combination of mouse and keyboard controls.
SCREEN LAYOUT
The screen is divided into three sections outlined below
1) The Fractal plane panel:
The main panel in the top right is where the fractal is rendered, in this panel, you can use your mouse to select an area to zoom in on.
2) The Control panel:
To the right of the screen are the controls that can be used to set the various variables that affect the rendering of the fractal as well as some helpful controls for manipulating the zoom box.
3) The Colour palette panel:
At the bottom of the screen are the colour palette controls. This control contains colour pickers and sliders tha are used to set the colors of the fractal.
ZOOMING IN
To begin zooming to to explore the fractal first move your mouse cursor over to the top left of the area you want to zoom in on. Next hold your mouse button down while dragging down and right. You will notice a white zoom box square being drawn over the screen. This is the area you will zoom in to. When you are happy with the area release the mouse. If you are not happy with the area you selected you can release the mouse and start a new zoom box elsewhere. To zoom in to this area select the Zoom button at the top of the Control panel. after a short period the area you selected will appear.
UNDO
If you want to return to a previous step you have taken you can use the undo button under the zoom button in the control panel to retrace your steps. Each click goes back a step and you can go back multiple steps.
ZOOMING OUT
To zoom out you can use the buttons in the control panel or for finer control you can hit the minus key and then choose 1 to 9 on the keyboard, the greater the number the more magnitudes of zoom out are used.
PAN
If you want to move the area on displayed up, right, down, or left use the arrows in the control panel.
ITERATIONS
The 'depth' of the fractal can be set using the Maximum iterations input box. Note higher number will take more time to render so this control may need to be adjusted as you dive into the fractal. Every time this is adjusted the fractal will need to be refreshed using the update button.
BACKGROUND COLOR
You can use the background color control set the areas of the fractal not colored by the Palette. The fractal will need to be refreshed using the update button when this is changed.
SIZE
The fractal is square and the height and width can be set in the size input box.
SAVING AND RESTORING A FRACTAL
The data control can be used to store the coordinates of the fractal area on display and the color palette. This can be copied into temporary memory by selecting the copy coordinated to clipboard button. You may then whish to be pasted into a document for later use. To restore a previously saved fractal paste the saved data into the Stored data text box and then refresh the fractal.
DOWNLOAD IMAGE
If you which to save the fractal to your computer choose the Download image button. This will download the image at the size set above.
COLOR PALETTE
The color palette controls can be used to add color detail to the fractal. It uses a color bar that runs left to right and each step represents an interaction of the fractal.
To add a new color marker to the palette click just above the colour bar and a new marker will appear.
To remove a marker choose the X at the top of the marker.
To move a marker move the mouse over the center of the marker hold down the mouse button and drag the marker left and right.
To change the color of the marker click over the color block and a color choice will appear.
If the palette exceeds the level of iterations, for instance if the interations are reduced the color markers will still appear, however they cannot be dragged beyond the end of the palette.
If you want to combine two color palettes to create a stripy effect, first select the Stripes check box at the top left of the palette controls. A second palette will then appear and when the fractal is updated it will combine the two palettes.
Each time the color palette is updated you will need to select the Update button to refresh the fractal the fractal and see the results.
