Snowbound Software’s VirtualViewer web viewer and SnowView have several features that allow you to change the appearance of an image. One of these tools is the Alias/Anti-alias tool. This tech tip describes how to use the Alias/Anti-alias tool to improve the appearance of an image.

Aliasing is a process by which smooth curves and other lines become jagged because the resolution of the display or the graphic file is not high enough to represent a smooth curve. Anti-aliasing is a software technique used to diminish 'step-like' lines that should be smooth. Anti-aliasing surrounds stair steps with intermediate shades of gray, or gray scaling, for 1-bit images or color for color images.

The image below shows an example of aliasing and anti-aliasing:

VirtualViewer’s Alias/Anti-alias Tool

In Snowbound Software's VirtualViewer Applet, you can anti-alias images by using the Anti-alias feature. To turn aliasing on, select Preferences>Anti-alias>Scale to Gray or Preserve Black from the menu. This feature only works for black and white 1-bit images.

To turn aliasing off, select Preferences>Anti-alias>Off from the menu. This feature only works for black and white 1-bit images.

SnowView’s Alias/Anti-alias Tool

In Snowbound's SnowView application, aliasing can be turned on or off by doing the following:

1. Choose View > Aliasing (This displays the Alias dialog.)
2. In the Type field, select None, Preserve Black, Scale to Gray, or Quality. (See the table below for a description of each alias type.)
3. Click OK to accept the changes, or click Cancel to avoid making any changes.