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Instructions for adding your own target images to PC Archery
Requirements
In order to add new target images to PC Archery you will need the following:
  • Digital Camera or Scanner.
  • Image editing software that will allow you to crop images and to generate (draw) GIF images.

Overview
There are 5 steps to adding your additional bow images to PC Archery.

  1. Create a new target group to add your images to.
  2. Take a digital picture of a target.
  3. Create a score image for the target.
  4. Create a property file to provide PC Archery information about the target image.
  5. Create a new target list property file.
The following will take you through an example of adding a new target image to PC Archery.
This target (turkey) image was provided by Bob of Naches, WA and I would like to thank Bob for the use of this great picture!
Step 1: The first step is to create a new target group to place your targets into. To create a traget group you simply create a new folder in the
C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets folder. In this example we will call our target group "Turkeys". We therefore need to create the new folder:
C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets\Turkeys 		 
Step 2: The second step is to get a new target picture. Something like the image on the right is what you are after. Note: the image is show here at 1/3 actual size. To see the image at full size simply click on it.

You want a picture that contains the full target, but not alot of extra background. Crop the image so that it contain the target and only a small amount of background.

The image size should 300-500 pixel range for small targets (turkey, Javelina, etc) 500-700 pixels for medium sized (Deer, sheep, antelope) and as large as 700-1000 pixels for large tragets (elk, Bision). The images do not need to be square, simply crop them and resize as need. If your target image is smaller than this it will still work, but the image may be grainy at short distances (15-30 yards)

Save the image into your new target group folder as xxx.jpg (xxx can be any name you want) In this example xxx is turkey1. For this example we save the image to:
C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets\Turkeys\turkey1.jpg


turkey1.jpg at 1/3 scale (Actual size is 450x512 pixels)
Step 3: Next you need to create a score image that PC Archery uses to determine what part of the image will be visible and what the score will be for different locations on the target.

This can be done by many image editing software packages. The one I use is called PaintShop Pro. You can get a trial version of PaintShop Pro at www.jasc.com
I use Paint Shop Pro because it allows me to create the score image by adding layers to the target image. I use one layer per color. This allows me to hide the layer, or to make it semi-transparent. This is useful in getting it the way I want it.

You need to end up with an image like the one shown on the right. It must be the exact size as the original and must be made up entirely of the following colors:
NOTE: The colors must be exact RGB values specified.

  • White (RGB value 0xFFFFFF or red=255, green=255, blue=255)
    The areas colored white will be transparent.
  • Black (RGB value 0x000000 or r=0, g=0, b=0)
    The areas colored black will be scored as a 5
  • Blue (RGB value 0x0000FF or r=0, g=0, b=255)
    The areas colored blue will be scored as a 8
  • Red (RGB value 0xFF0000 or r=255, g=0, b=0)
    The areas colored red will be scored as a 10
  • Yellow (RGB value 0xFFFF00 or r=255, g=255, b=0)
    The areas colored yellow will be scored as a 10x
  • Gray (RGB value 0x848484 or r=132, g=132, b=132)
    The areas colored gray will be scored as a 0, this is used to mark areas, you want to show but not count as a hit. Tail feathers, horn, feet, etc.

As you can see I have chosen to not give a score if the arrow only passes through feathers on this target.

Once completed, save the score image into the target group folder as a GIF image with the name xxx_score.gif. For this example we save the score image as:
C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets\Turkeys\turkey1_score.gif


turkey1_score.gif at 1/3 scale (Actual size is 450x512 pixels)
Step 4: Now you need to tell PC Archery about your target image. You do this by creating a text file like the one at the right.

  • The first two lines are comments and must start with #.
  • name
    The name can be anything. This is the name that will be displayed in PC Archery, it does not have to match the file name. In this example I chose "Strutting"
  • height
    Height is the height of this image in inches. To calculate this value, locate two points on the image that you know (or can estimate) the height of.
    In this case I chose the bottom of the feet and the top of the head. The turkeys feet are at pixel location (240,481) (x, y) and the top of his head is at (272,159). Taking the difference in the y values we have 481-159=322. In other words the distance between the turkeys feet and head is 322 pixels. I estimated this distance on the real turkey to be 28 inches (on a target I would measure it).
    The last piece of information we need is the height of the image in pixels. In this example the image is (450,512) so the height in pixels is 512.
    Now we can calculate the height of the image:
    Height = (image height in pixels)*(target height inches)/(target height in pixels)
    Height = 512*28/322 = 44.5
  • min
    This is the minimum distance you want PC Archery to place this target. For a small target make this 15 yards. For a large target like a Bison, you may want to limit the closest shot to 30 yards.
    The value must be between 15 and 60
  • max
    This is the maximum distance you want PC Archery to place this target. For a large target make this 60 yards. For a small target like this one, you may want to limit the longest shot to 45 or 50 yards. You can over-ride the maximum distance with the level settings.
    The value must be between 15 and 60
  • sholder
    The height of the targets shoulder in inches.
  • chest
    the thickness of the target's chest in inches.
  • footx and footy
    The pixel location of the target's left most foot.
  • footxRev and footyRev
    The pixel location of the target's left most foot when the image has been mirrored
  • centerx and centery
    The pixel location of the center of the x ring.

    Save the file in the target group folder as xxx.trg where xxx is that name you used in Step 1. In this example:
    C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets\Turkeys\turkey1.trg

    		• contents of turkey1.trg
    # Properties for Turkey1
    # Photo by Bob
    name=Strutting
    height=44.5
    min=15
    max=50
    sholder=28
    chest=19
    footx=230
    footy=465
    footxRev=240
    footyRev=463
    centerx=256
    centery=260
    Step 5: The last step is to create a target property file.

    Save the file in the target group folder as target.prp
    C:\Program Files\PC Archery\targets\Turkeys\targets.prp

    		contents of targets.prp
    # Turkey target parmeters
    #
    scoring=scoreRings
    Step 6: Play PC Archery and select the Turkey target group.
    Copyright 2001,2002 all rights reserved, Walk Technology, LLC