How to Use a Background Image in the Fractal Window

You can load or paste a background image into the fractal window. You can only use the "Load Background Image" menu item when in the random drawing mode. You can paste a background image from the clipboard in either mode. What happens with this image, however, depends on whether you are in the random drawing mode or the deterministic drawing mode.

When you first load an image (or paste from the clipboard) the image will appear with dashed lines around the edges. While the dashed lines are present, you can move the image around the fractal window to a desired location. You can display the axes or the grid to help guide your placement by pressing ctrl-A or ctrl-G, respectively. If you right click on the image while the dashed lines are present, a popup menu will appear that allows you to bring up a dialog box to set the precise location of the image (based on one of the four corners) as well as change the width and height. Or you can choose to resize the image manually. In this case, grab handles will appear in the corners and along each edge which you can use to resize the image. Once the image is where you want it, press the escape key, click anywhere outside the image, or choose Finalize Position from the popup menu to set the image's location and erase the dashed lines around the edges.

In the random drawing mode, the fractal will be drawn on top of the background image. If you choose "Clear" from the Draw menu or press the Del key, any background image will be deleted along with the fractal. If you press Ctrl-Del, only the fractal will be deleted and the background image will be re-activated with dashed lines in case you want to move or resize it (this works even if you have not drawn the fractal yet). If you select a different IFS, the background image will usually be deleted along with any fractal that has been drawn. If "Freeze Scale" is checked in the Draw menu, however, whatever is drawn in the fractal window will remain. This is one method, therefore, for drawing different fractals in the same picture.

If you paste an image from the clipboard when in the deterministic drawing mode, that image will be treated as the initial set for the iterations (with "From Clipboard" checked in the Draw menu). To put the image in the background, either select "Paste Fractal Background" (Ctrl-B) from the Edit menu for an image on the clipboard or select "Load Background Image" from the Draw menu to select an image file (this only works if an image is not already chosen as the initial set). When you have a background image in the deterministic mode and press Ctrl-Del, the initial set will be redrawn with the background image. Press Ctrl-X or select "Remove Background Image" to delete the background image. Note that when you have a background image in the deterministic drawing mode, you will be unable to shift the Fractal window. You can still zoom the window, however, but the background image will stay the same size and in the same location relative to the window. If you load or paste a background image while in the random drawing mode, you can then switch to the deterministic drawing mode and that image will remain as a background image (as long as the currently selected initial set does not come "From File" or "From Clipboard").

Drawing different fractals in the same picture

Random Drawing Mode

Determine the best window size to show all the fractals you want to draw.
Check "Freeze Scale" in the Draw menu. This will prevent any image in the Fractal window from being deleted when you choose a new IFS.

Deterministic Drawing Mode

Using the random drawing mode, determine the best window size to show all the fractals you want to draw. Once this is done, check "Freeze Scale" in the Draw menu.
Change to the Deterministic drawing mode.
Draw the first IFS with the desired number of iterations.
Press Ctrl-C to copy the image, then Ctrl-B to paste it back in the window. It will be the same size as the window so the dotted lines will appear around the edges of the Fractal window. Press the Esc key immediately without moving the image.
Select the new IFS from the Fractals menu.
If necessary, select a different initial set or change the drawing parameters for the current initial set.
Draw the new IFS with the desired number of iterations. If you make a mistake you can start over by pressing the Del key. The iterations for the current IFS will reset to 0 with the initial set drawn on top of the current background image.
If you want to add another IFS, repeat these steps starting with copying the current image.

Warning: Be sure to turn off the axes, fixed points, and grid before doing the copy command or those items will become part of the background image.