To adjust the quality of a fractal

1) On the Options menu, click Iteration Control.

2) Increase the Maximum Iterations Per Pixel value.

Changing the Maximum Iterations Per Pixel value causes the fractal to be rerendered. Setting this value too low will cause some points to be incorrectly identified as being in the Mandelbrot set and make most of the fractal window black. Setting this value too high will produce more detailed fractals along the edges of the interior, but the fractal will take noticeably longer to render.

Note

• Fractal eXtreme allows you to set the Maximum Iterations Per Pixel value as high as 100,000,000. Sometimes this is necessary. Usually it is not. For most pictures, one or two thousand is sufficient. Setting this value to the maximum may produce a marginally better picture, but may also take considerably longer to calculate. If you set Maximum Iterations Per Pixel that high, you may notice Fractal eXtreme becomes very slow to respond. This is normal. This is because Fractal eXtreme can only respond to your requests after it has finished the pixel it is working on, which can take a few seconds at the higher values. To restore its responsiveness, drag the slider to the left and wait for the program to respond, or choose Pause from the Render menu.

Tip

• When increasing the Maximum Iterations Per Pixel value no longer makes noticeable changes to the fractal image, the value is high enough. Typically, the farther you zoom in though, the higher you need to set this value.