█                         MAIN MENU                          
▒                         ═════════                          
▒                                                            
░  The MAIN MENU is the point of departure for all funct-    
░  ions of ALPHAQUOTE.  Enter the selection number for       
░  the desired function to use.                              
░            The functions and a brief descripton:           
░                                                            
░  Setup          Contains the hourly rates, penalty         
░                 factors, credit factors, and the data      
░                 necessary to print a report.               
░                                                            
░  Estimate/      The major function for pricing and         
░     Copyfit     pagination.                                
░                                                            
░  Print          Prints a formatted report to a line        
█                 printer or disk file                       
█                                                            
░  View Status    Displays a window that shows current       
░                 calculation with an optional summary.      
▒                                                            
▒  Reset Status   Initializes the STATUS display to zero     
░                                                            
░  Disk           Saves, retrieves or displays a directory   
░                 of the estimates.  Note: The setup rates   
░                 are saved and recalled with the estimate.  
░                                                            
░  Help           Help text files.  They may be accessed     
░                 anywhere in the program by pressing F1     
░                                                            
░  Calculator     A pop-up calculator featuring, addition,   
░                 subtraction, multiplication and division   
░                 as well as conversion of picas & points    
█                 to inches and inches to picas & points.    
█                                                            
░  Breakout       A pop-up window keeps track of all pages   
░                 while keeping a running total.             
░                                                            
░  Quit           Close the program and return to DOS        
░                                                            
▒                           STRATEGIES                       
▒                           ══════════                       
░     ALPHAQUOTE can be used to estimate many different      
░     types of publications such as magazines, newspapers,   
░     newsletters and books.  There are two basic estimat-   
░     ing strategies to use with ALPHAQUOTE, one for a       
░     consistent layout and another for an inconsistent      
░     layout.                                                
░                                                            
░     For example, books and technical documents are         
█     consistent.  Page after page is virtually the same     
█     with an occasional chapter drop or piece of spot art.  
░     For these projects ALPHAQUOTE is quite straight-       
░     forward, answer the questions from the various menus   
░     as they are presented.  When finished press 'V' from   
░     the MAIN MENU to view the results.                     
░                                                            
░     Magazines are an example of an inconsistent layout.    
░     The first pages may be two columns and the second      
▒     three columns.  The typeface and point size may vary   
▒     and some pages may be more complex than others.        
░     The best approach to an inconsistent layout is to      
░     estimate each page separately.                         
░                                                            
░     ALPHAQUOTE allows input based on the number of         
░     characters or number of pages to describe the          
░     length of the document to be estimated.  For           
█     an inconsistent layout, answer the Number of           
█     Characters question with zero (0) and the Number       
░     of Pages with 1.  Answer all of the other questions    
░     appropriately.  Press 'V' from the MAIN MENU to see    
░     the results for page 1.  Select 'E' from the MAIN      
░     MENU.  Using the PGDN, PGUP and CURSOR keys,           
░     navigate to the items that change for page 2.          
░                                                            
░     For example, page 1 is a 2 column page, but            
░     page 2 is 3 columns.  Navigate to the columns          
░     question change the 2 to a 3 then press F2 for the     
▒     result.  ALPHAQUOTE will quickly recalculated using    
▒     the new information.  Go through the entire job        
░     looking for exceptions make just those changes         
░     then press f2 for immediate results. Magazines tend    
░     to have sections that are the same.  Lumping like      
░     sections together will speed the estimating process.   
█                                                            
█     Starting with version 3.0, ALPHAQUOTE will keep        
░     track of individual pages when estimating an           
░     inconsistent layout.  The Breakout By Pages feature    
░     will itemize each page and keep a running total.       
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