Copyright: Copyright 1993-1995 Sierra On-Line, Inc.


Help Contents
Contents

The Basics

Basic Terms in Print Artist

The Mouse in Print Artist

Screen Conventions

Dialog Boxes

Creating New Documents in Print Artist

Saving and Naming New Documents

Opening Saved Documents

Deleting Saved Documents

Exiting the Program

Avoiding Mistakes and Changing Your Mind

The Print Artist Desktop

Frames

The Desktop

Program Menus

The Palettes

The Toolbar

The Status Bar

Turning Commands On and Off: Toggles

Libraries

The Layout Library

The Graphics Library

The Quotation Library

Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols

What are graphics, fills, shapes, and symbols?

Inserting Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols

Manipulating Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols

Effects and Color

The real contents of objects and frames

How Effects Change Your Objects

Using Color

Documents

Document Templates

Using View Commands (View menu)

Working with Overlapping Frames

Linking and Group Functions

Moving Elements Between Documents

Importing from Other Programs

Exporting to Other Programs

Notes on Document Types

Printing

The Print Dialog Box and Printer Settings

Setting Printing Options

Printer Setup

Percent Size

Creating a Print File with Print Artist

Menus

File Menu

Edit Menu

View Menu

Insert Menu

Object Menu

Font Menu

Effect Menu

Color Menu

Shape Menu

Alignment Menu


Basic Terms in Print Artist

Document

Anything you create using Print Artist, whether it contains graphics and fills only, text only, or a combination.

Document type

One of ten kinds of documents you can create: sign, banner, business card, envelope, greeting card, letterhead, postcard, certificate, calendar, or craft.

Fill

A fully colored-in rectangle used to fill in space in a document and set off graphics and text.

Graphic

An illustration included in Print Artist's Graphics library.

Layout

Fully formatted and designed, ready-to-print document included in Print Artist. Over 400 professionally designed layouts are included. Layouts and the layout library are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

Object

Text block, fill, or graphic that has been inserted into a Print Artist document.

Symbol

A special kind of graphic to which effects can be applied.

Text block

A group of words or letters that has been inserted in a document.


The Mouse in Print Artist

The pointer changes appearance as you move it around the screen with the mouse. Each of the different forms, or "icons," represents a different function in Print Artist. These icons types are shown in the User Guide.

To get access to the function you want, move the mouse until the correct icon appears and then keep the mouse in that area until you've begun using the function.

If you are unfamiliar with Windows conventions and using the mouse, you should take the time to work through the tutorials provided with Windows. These will give you a basic idea of how to navigate in Windows and how to maneuver with the mouse.


Screen Conventions

As in most Windows applications, the two basic screen displays in Print Artist are the Workspace screen or Desktop and the Print Artist dialog box.

The Select Document Type dialog box into which the program opens differs from all other dialog boxes in Print Artist; instead of Categories and Selections lists, it has a document type area above the preview screen and command buttons for selecting the type of document you wish to create or open.


Dialog Boxes

The main difference between Print Artist dialog boxes and dialog boxes in other Windows programs is the addition of the Preview screen, which allows you to see what you are selecting before you confirm the selection.

Each part of the dialog box has a particular function:

1.	The Screen title bar shows the dialog box you are currently working with.

2.	The Categories list includes the categories of layouts or documents available to choose from.

3.	The Selections list contains the descriptive names of all layouts or documents in the currently highlighted category.

4.	The Preview screen shows the document type or document currently highlighted on the screen.

5.	The Command buttons execute commands available within a dialog box. These may change as you enter different dialog boxes.

Note:

The preview screens for Greeting Cards and Postcards have list boxes which allow you to preview the fronts and backs of both types of cards, and both sides of the Greeting Card interior, for each layout in these document types.


Creating New Documents in Print Artist

You can create a document in any one of four ways:

1.	Creating your own document from scratch using a "blank"

2.	Beginning with a template, which is a special kind of blank

3.	Beginning with one of the document layouts from Print Artist

4.	Beginning with a document you earlier created and saved

First choose a document type from the Select Document Type dialog box or the File menu.

To choose a document type:

1.	Press or click its button in the Document type area.

2.	Click the New button. This activates a screen whose title matches the type of document you just chose.

Note:

Greeting cards have an intermediate screen that asks you to chose a card fold pattern. Once you have done this, you will see the dialog box, New Greeting Card.

Next, decide whether you want to work with a blank, template, or layout by clicking to highlight Blank, Template, or the category from which you wish to choose a layout.

To choose a layout, template, or blank format:

1.	Scroll using the scroll bar on the right side of the list, and click your choice.

2.	Click OK or double-click the preview screen or the highlighted name when your choice is visible.

Once you have chosen either a blank, template, or layout, you will see Print Artist's main Workspace, from which you can call up the Graphics library, insert text in one of many different fonts, and apply effects, shapes, and colors.

If you wish to close your current document and open another in the same document type, choose New from the File menu or press CTRL + N. This returns you to the Select New... screen. To open a different document type from the Workspace screen, choose Document Type from the File menu.

Note:

The Select Document screen also gives you a choice of viewing the document you select in monochrome. This is especially helpful if you have a color monitor but are going to print on a monochrome printer. This choice is also available for graphics, as discussed in  the "Effects and color" section.


Saving and Naming New Documents

When you are ready to save your document, you need to assign two names to it—a "descriptive name" and a standard DOS "filename."

Related Topics:

Descriptive Names Versus DOS Filenames

Saving a New Document

Saving an Existing Document and Renaming Files

Suggestions About Naming Files


Descriptive Names Versus DOS Filenames

The "descriptive name" is for your personal use and should remind you of the document's contents. When you later open your document, Print Artist will show you an alphabetical list of all the documents you have created in that document type—for example, a list of all the business cards you have created—so they are available for preview and selection.

DOS filenames, on the other hand, are for the computer's use and follow normal DOS conventions: they can have a maximum of eight characters and must not contain certain special characters reserved for use by DOS. For more information, consult your DOS documentation.

Print Artist automatically assigns the following file extensions to the DOS filenames that you choose:

.SGN  	sign

.BC  	business card

.LTH  	letterhead

.ENV 	envelope

.BAN  	banner

.CER  	certificate

.PC  	postcard

.GC  	greeting card

.CAL  	calendar

.CRF  	craft

Even if you add a different file extension, the program will overwrite it with the correct extension for that document type. This allows the program to list your saved files in the correct document type when you choose the Open command from the Select Document Type dialog box.

Print Artist also uses a number of other files that contain fonts, layouts and graphics:

.EXE  	program files

.DLL  	more program files

.FNT  	font files

.QOT  	quote files

.LAY  	layout files

.LYS  	more layout files

.PKW  	GraphicsGrabber files

.CSH  	resource cache files

.HLP  	help files'

.GFX  	graphics files


Saving a New Document

To save a new document:

1.	Choose the Save command from the File menu.

2.	Type in a descriptive name of up to 40 characters, and press ENTER.

3.	Type in a DOS filename.  If you don't type in a filename, Print Artist will make one up based on the descriptive name.

4.	Decide on the drive and subdirectory in which to save the document. Your Print Artist subdirectory is the default storage directory—if  you do nothing at this point, Print Artist will use this subdirectory for storing your document. If you want to change the storage location, follow these steps:

4a.	Click the arrow beside the Drives list to display a list of available drives.

4b.	Select the desired drive from among those listed.

4c.	Select the desired directory from the Directories list.

4d.	Confirm your choices by clicking OK or pressing Enter.


Saving an Existing Document and Renaming Files

You can save an existing document just like you do a new one—by pressing CTRL + S or choosing Save from the File menu. This saves the document under the same descriptive name and filename that it had before.

It's a good idea to get in the habit of saving often, as this will prevent loss of work in case of program or hardware failure. It will also make it more worthwhile to revert to the most recent version if you're not satisfied with the changes you've made to your document.

At the top of the Print Artist window, the current descriptive name of your open document is shown.  If you have made changes to your document, an asterisk (*) will appear after the name until you save it.

To rename your file:

1.	Choose the Save As... command from the File menu or press F12.

The Save As dialog box will open, listing the document's current names.

2.	Highlight the name you wish to change by double-clicking the box with the mouse.

3.	Type the new name and click OK or press ENTER to confirm.

Note:

You must enter a new DOS filename to save the document as a new document.  Changing the descriptive name only will not create a new file in your Print Artist subdirectory.


Suggestions About Naming Files

Once you have started to accumulate Print Artist files, it will become more important to be able to tell them apart by their names. You can incorporate quite a bit of information into both the descriptive name and the filename to help you.

For example:

Indicate which version of the file you have stored. You may want to save successive drafts of a document if you're not sure which one you'll ultimately use. If you are making a birthday card for your mother and have two designs you like, save both of them with descriptive names of MOTHER CARD 1 and MOTHER CARD 2, and with DOS filenames of MOTHER1.GC and MOTHER2.GC.


Opening Saved Documents

To open a saved document from the Select Document Type dialog box:

1.	Select the type of document by clicking the appropriate button.

2.	Click the Open button.

A dialog box will then open that lists all of your saved files by descriptive name. Your saved files will preview just as Print Artist's own layouts do. If you wish to open a saved file in a different document type, pull down the list in the lower right area of the Open screen and scroll to choose a different document type.

3.	Highlight the descriptive name.

4.	Double-click the name, click OK, or press ENTER.

To open a saved document from the Workspace:

1.	Select Open from the File menu.

A dialog box will then open that lists all of your saved files by descriptive name. Your saved files will preview just as Print Artist's own layouts do. If you wish to open a saved file in a different document type, pull down the list in the lower right area of the Open screen and scroll to choose a different document type.

2.	Highlight the descriptive name

3.	Double-click the name, click OK, or press ENTER.


Deleting Saved Documents

Print Artist allows you to delete any of your saved documents from within the program.

To delete a saved document:

1.	Open the File menu and choose Delete Files...

The Delete Files dialog box will automatically open with any documents you have saved in the current document type listed. If the file you wish to delete is another document type, click the down arrow next to the box displaying the current document type to drop down a list of files by type, and then click to choose the desired document type.

If your documents are stored on another drive, click the scroll arrow to pull down the Drives list and choose the correct drive. If they are stored in another directory, use the scroll bar next to the Directories list to view the available directories and click to choose the correct one.

2.	Click the descriptive name of the document you wish to delete. It will preview in the preview screen.

3.	Click Delete.


Exiting the Program

To exit the program and return to the Windows Program Manager:

1.	Return to the Desktop if you are not already there by pressing ESC.

2.	Save the document on which you are currently working.

3.	Choose Exit from the File menu.

If you forgot to save your document, Print Artist will ask if you would like to do that before quitting. If you want to save, click Yes or press ENTER. If your document is not yet named, the Save As... dialog box will open, and you should proceed with the steps outlined above for saving a new document.

If it is already named, the program will save the document and quit without further prompting. Press ESC to cancel the whole operation and return to the Print Artist screen in which you were working.


Avoiding Mistakes and Changing Your Mind

The following methods allow you to back up, prevent errors, or alter what you have done:

ESC

Pressing Esc lets you "escape" from a menu, dialog box, or incomplete command sequence without changing anything. You may use either the ESC key or the Cancel command button.

Undo

This command reverses the last move, edit, or command. To undo an action, press CTRL + Z or choose Undo from the Edit menu.

Undo can reverse only the last change. If  you have taken some action after the one you want to change, Undo will have no effect on the earlier one. To undo earlier changes, use the Revert command.

Note:

If you haven't initiated any commands, Undo is grayed out on the Edit menu (and pressing CTRL + Z has no effect).

Revert

This command allows you to return to the last saved version of your document. Any changes you have made since the document was last saved are thrown away. For best use of Revert, save your document often; then, if you make a change that you don't like and want the most recent version back again, you will not have lost a lot of other changes that you do like. To revert to the most recently saved version, choose Revert from the File menu.

Warning: Once you choose Revert, the version of the document currently on your screen will be lost forever. Use Revert only if you are sure that you do not want to save what is currently visible on your screen.


Frames

Learning to use the frame is the key to using Print Artist—all the essential functions for manipulating text and graphics are found there.

Every object in a document is surrounded by a frame, although you see the frame only when the object is selected. You cannot move, reshape, or edit the contents of a frame unless the frame itself is "active"—that is, selected and visible on the screen. Activate a frame by clicking somewhere within the frame, or press SPACEBAR, which activates one frame in your document, and then press TAB to activate each succeeding frame one at a time.  If you want to select an object that is behind another object, click on the intersection of the objects and press BACKSPACE to select the object behind it.

Changes you make to the frame affect everything within the frame in the same way. Usually, only one frame is active at a time, but there are ways to link and group frames. No two objects ever occupy the same frame.

Related Topics:

The Frame Functions


The Frame Functions

The boxes that appear on the frame outline and in the center are "grab handles." Each grab handle has a particular function. To move, resize, rotate, or skew an object, grab one of these handles with the mouse and drag it. Releasing the mouse button completes the action.

Note:

When you use the moving, resizing, and rotating frame functions, Print Artist keeps the proportions of a graphic constant so there will be no distortion. If you want to distort a graphic, use the skewing function or the Alignment and Shape functions.

Moving Function

Allows you to drag the active frame around the document and onto the Desktop as well. Nothing within the frame changes when you move the frame. You can click the center grab handle in the frame or click anywhere in the interior of the frame. If you want to move the frame on a straight horizontal or vertical path, press SHIFT while moving the frame or, if you have a three-button mouse, use the center mouse button to move the frame. (For best results in this case, grab the center handle of the frame.)

Corner Resizing Arrow

Allows you to change the height and width of the frame. To keep text, fills, and basic shapes inserted from the Object menu proportional, press SHIFT while resizing or use the center button of a three-button mouse.

Vertical Resizing Arrow

Allows you to increase and decrease the height of the frame while keeping the width constant. Pressing SHIFT or using the center button of a three-button mouse while executing this function will constrain the change in frame height to specific increments (8 points) on an invisible grid.

Horizontal Resizing Arrow

Allows you to increase and decrease the width of the frame while keeping its height constant. Pressing SHIFT or using the center button of a three-button mouse while executing this function will constrain the change in frame width to specific increments (8 points) on an invisible grid.

Note:

 Print Artist's default is to resize objects around the "opposite handle"—that is, the grab handle opposite the one you are using for resizing remains anchored during resizing. However, you have the option of resizing around the center of the frame. To resize around center, press the ALT key while resizing. This toggle comes in especially handy when you have centered an object on your document and want to resize it without having to center it again when you're finished.

Rotation function

Lets you tilt the frame to any angle. The contents of the frame do not alter, only their angle. The frame rotates around its center, not the center of the document. The handle in the center of the frame shows where the center of rotation for that frame is. Pressing SHIFT or using the center button of a three-button mouse while executing this function will constrain rotation to 15-degree increments.

Skewing function

Lets you "bend" your text or graphic to the side. As with rotating, pressing SHIFT or using the center button of a three-button mouse while executing this function will constrain skew rotation to 15-degree increments.

The effect of the skewing tool does not preview on the screen, so you may make a change with it that you didn't intend. If so, use the Undo command on the Edit menu (CTRL + Z) immediately after skewing, or the SHIFT plus left mouse button constraint which will allow you to manually return the skewed object to its original orientation. The Revert command on the File menu takes you back to the last saved version of the document you are currently working on and can also be used to correct unintended skews. Remember, the more frequently you save your work, the more likely you are to be able to recover from mistakes or experiments that didn't work out without redoing a lot of work.

Note:

Because Print Artist keeps the proportions of your graphic constant when you use the frame functions, sometimes the frame is larger than the text block or graphic after you have resized. In that case, you can make the frame fit the object again by using the frame functions to shrink the frame size. If the border of the frame extends off the screen, use the View commands or the scroll bars on the right and lower edges of the screen to see them.


The Desktop

When you push bits of drawings and pieces of type off a sheet of paper, you can store them on the desktop until you know exactly where you will put them. Likewise, in Print Artist, text blocks or graphics that you move from your document onto the background Desktop do not disappear but remain there until you delete them or drag them back onto your document.

If you save a particular document, whatever is left on the Desktop is also saved and will still be there when you open that document again. And just as with items on the document itself, any item on the Desktop must have its frame activated before you can perform any actions on it.

Tip:

Some document types, such as Sign, give you a working "sheet of paper" on the screen that covers most of the Desktop when you start. If you want more Desktop space, you can make the document (the "sheet of paper") seem smaller by using various viewing options.


Program Menus

At the top of the Desktop is the Menu Title bar, which lists all the menus available to you within the Desktop(see Figure 3.15, below). The menu titles are dark when available and grayed out when unavailable.

If  you enter a blank document or a template, most menus will be grayed out until you insert an object.

The Font, Effect, Color, and Shape menus open the same as any other menu in Print Artist. However, because the choices available in these menus are too numerous to list in a regular Windows menu, only a few of the choices appear when you open these menus, with an option for More... at the end of the list. Choosing More... opens a palette which lists all the choices available for that option.

Note:

Because most effects cannot be applied to graphics, only a partial Effect menu will open if a graphic (or nothing) is currently selected on your document. The More option is not available in this list.


The Palettes

The Color, Effect, Font, and Shape palettes are different from the menus in Print Artist in that they can be dragged to any part of the Desktop for quick reference any time you need them and, if moved away from the Toolbar, they will remain open on screen until you close them (by double-clicking their control boxes or pushing their toggle buttons on the Toolbar). Also unlike menus, palettes have a scrolling area where their many options are listed.

To move a palette, place the pointer in the title bar and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the palette to the part of your screen where you want it. Print Artist will save your palette placements, even when you exit the program, unless you turn off the Save Palette Placement function on the View menu. To activate a palette that has been left open on screen, click anywhere in the palette.

Palettes may be opened using the More... option from the corresponding menus, or by pushing the buttons on the Toolbar. Palettes contain all the options (except More...) available on the menus, as well as the added choices available in the lists.

Note:

Palettes left in place under the Toolbar will close once you have chosen an item from them, just as menus do.


The Toolbar

Certain often-used functions are also available on buttons on the Toolbar below the Menu Title Bar. The Toolbar is hidden when you first enter Print Artist. To display the Toolbar, choose the Toolbar command from the View menu.

To use these buttons, simply click the appropriate button with the mouse.  The following list describes the buttons and their functions in Print Artist.

 Document Type - Opens the Select Document Type dialog box.

 New - Opens the Select New... dialog box in the document type currently open on the Desktop.

 Open - Allows you to open a previously saved document of the type currently open on the Desktop.

 Save - Saves the current document.

 Print - Opens the Print Control Panel/Preview dialog box.

 Text - Opens the Insert New Text dialog box for text entry.

 Graphic - Opens the GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box for the insertion of a graphic into the document.

 Fill - Inserts a fill into the document.

 Basic Shapes - Opens the graphics dialog box with the Basic Shapes category already open.

 Fonts - Displays the palette of fonts available for use in Print Artist.

 Effect - Displays the palette of effects which may be applied to text, fills, basic shapes, and symbols in Print Artist.

 Color - Displays the Color palette.

 Shapes - Displays the palette of shapes which may be applied to frames in Print Artist.

 Left align - Aligns text in a selected text block to the left frame border.

 Center align - Centers lines of text in a selected text block in its frame.

 Right align - Aligns text in a selected text block to the right frame border.

 Word justify - Justifies text in a selected text block to the left and right borders within a frame by adding or removing spaces between words.

 Letter justify - Justifies text in a selected text block to the left and right borders within a frame by adding or removing spaces between letters.

 Vertical stretch - "Stretches" a selected object to fill its frame between the top and bottom borders.

 Word Wrap - Toggles Word Wrap ON and OFF.


The Status Bar

The Status Bar below the bottom scroll bar of your workspace is a great help. In especially busy projects, object frames can overlap and make it difficult to know if the object you have "grabbed" is the object you want. The status bar will help you sort through all the backgrounds, borders, fills, basic shapes and text. Specifically, when an object is active (selected), the left side of the status bar displays what kind of object it is (text, graphic, fill, background, etc.). If the object is text, the status bar will also display the first part of the text. If no object is active, the left half of this line will simply say "Ready" and the right half will be blank.

The right half of the status bar has several functions. If no object is active, it is blank. If an object is active, this part of the status bar will show how many inches the center of an active object is from the top-left corner of the document. When you grab a resizing, skewing or rotating handle of an object, it will show the size of your object and how many degrees the object is skewed or rotated. Positive rotation values indicate a counter-clockwise rotation, negative rotation values indicate a clockwise rotation. A positive skew value means that the object is "tilted" toward the right. A negative skew value means the object is tilted toward the left. The length and width dimensions of an object do not change when an object is skewed or rotated.


Turning Commands On and Off: Toggles

Toggles are a special category of command that are either on or off, like a light switch. Choosing the command "flips the switch" and reverses the setting of the command. Examples of toggles in Print Artist are Snap to Grid, Save Palette Placements, and Word Wrap.

Toggles often set the parameters of your working environment within the Desktop or within a frame in the Desktop.

Some toggles, like Snap to Grid, have keyboard shortcuts; others have buttons on the Toolbar.


The Layout Library

Print Artist includes over 400 layouts ready for your use. These layouts have been created by professional artists and graphic designers to be attractive and effective designs. Each has been created with the graphics from Print Artist's Graphics library.

You can select any one of these layouts as a basis for a new creation of your own. Once you choose a layout from the Layout list, a copy of the layout will appear on the Desktop, ready to be edited according to your instructions.

Even if you would rather create your own documents from scratch, the layouts illustrate what the program does and can give you new ideas. They can also help you learn how to use Print Artist's commands; you can select a layout you like, open it, and figure out what commands the artist has used to create it by pulling down the menus and opening the tool palettes. The menus record the commands applied to each graphic or text box with a check mark, the palettes with a highlight.

Each different document type contains its own Layout library. The layouts have been designed to meet the most common needs users have, and the library is divided into categories based on these needs.


Libraries - The Graphics Library
The Graphics Library

The Graphics library is divided into categories, based on the subject matter of the illustration. It includes various backgrounds and borders, basic shapes, a large number of international symbols, a selection of nation symbols, illustrations of people and animals, and zodiac signs, for a total of over 700 illustrations. To ease your browsing, the All category shows (in alphabetical order by name) all illustrations in all categories.

Some graphics are monochrome only and others are available in both monochrome and color, but you can always convert color graphics to monochrome and apply colors to monochrome graphics. The color version of a graphic will automatically preview in color, unless you have clicked the box next to View Monochrome at the bottom of the Select New Graphic dialog box.

The Instant Imagination Guide index shows all the illustrations in the Graphics library by category, as well as selected layouts and all the program's fonts.


The Quotation Library

The Quotation library contains a variety of quotations ready to be inserted into your document with the click of a button.  Quotes are listed alphabetically by category and author.


What are graphics, fills, shapes, and symbols?

Besides text, there are four other kinds of objects you can use to create your documents: graphics, fills, shapes, and symbols. Graphics are fully crafted illustrations, some in monochrome values, others with artists' preset color sets assigned to them. Fills are rectangles "filled in" with color; they are often used to set off text and graphics, and to fill in white space in documents. Shapes are basic geometric shapes "filled in" with color; they may be inserted straight from the Object menu as well as from the Graphics library. Symbols are representational shapes "filled in" with color; they include nation symbols, which are found in the Places category in the Graphics library.

The crucial difference between graphics and fills, shapes, and symbols within Print Artist is that fills, shapes, and symbols are treated much like text. This means you can apply almost the full range of Effect commands to them. However, you can apply only the Flipped command to graphics.

Related Topics:

Graphics

Fill, Shape, and Symbol Characteristics


Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols - What are graphics, fills, shapes, and symbols? - Graphics
Graphics

You can assign a new frame shape to graphics, twist their shape within frames, change their alignments within frames, and change the colors applied to their surfaces, but you cannot actually edit anything within their frames.

When you choose a graphic, only a copy of the program original is inserted—all of Print Artist's graphics, like all its layouts, are stored separately from your saved documents. Nothing you do to a graphic within a document affects the original.

See the section later in this chapter for more information on reshaping graphics and "cropping" them with fill overlays or by moving parts of them onto the desktop to give them a new look.

Related Topics:

The Graphics Library


Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols - Graphics - The Graphics Library
The Graphics Library

Every time you enter Print Artist's Workspace, you have access to its full Graphics library. The library is organized alphabetically by keyword and topical category.

Normally, you would access the graphics by keyword.  Simply type a word that suggests the graphic you want, and all available graphics that have something to do with the keyword will be listed.

If you want, you can limit your search to Categories.  Each category is then organized alphabetically by each illustration's descriptive name. For example, the first category, Animals, contains illustrations of animals ranging from Bald Eagle to Tyrannosaurus Rex for the disk-based version, and Alligator to Zebra for the CD-ROM version

The index of the Graphics library in Instant imagination displays and lists the name of each Print Artist graphic by category.

Browsing Through the Graphics Library

You browse through the Graphics library in the same way you move through all lists in Print Artist, by using the scroll bar to the right side of the list.

For speedier passage down lists, press PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN, or press the first letter in a graphic's descriptive name.

For example, if you want to preview a tiger from the Animals category:

1.	Highlight the Animal category.

2.	Click the Graphics list.

3.	Press t.

This will take you directly to the "t" section of the list. Pressing t again will take you to the next object in the category whose name begins with that letter.


Fill, Shape, and Symbol Characteristics

All fills, shapes, and symbols have four components, but only some of them are visible when a fill, shape, or symbol is inserted:

Face (the visible object—for example, an arrow or a circle)

Face outline

Frame background

Background outline

All fills, shapes, and symbols have default insertion colors assigned to them. You can change these colors by choosing a color from the Color menu or palette, or by using the Customize Color option. You can also apply colors individually to any fill and symbol sections.

Related Topics:

Fills

Basic Shapes

Symbols


Fills

Three commands insert fills directly from the Insert menu.

1.	The Fill command inserts a solid-colored square, which is the fill's visible face. All other sections are colored "transparent."

2.	The Background Fill command inserts a fill sized to fit the document and automatically places it behind other objects in the document.

3.	The Frame command inserts a fill with the face set to transparent and the face outline set to black.

Fills are invaluable for setting off both graphics and text, as well as for filling in white space. They often define a document's look, as the placement of a fill can subtly direct the viewer's eye and can dramatically change the impact of a graphic or text block. Using fills is one way to give visual structure to a document without detracting or distracting from the really important graphics or text blocks.


Basic Shapes

The Basic Shapes category contains simple geometric shapes like circle and octagon.

You can access this category directly from the Insert menu, as well as from the Graphics library. Selecting Basic Shapes from the Insert menu places you directly in this category in the Select Graphic dialog box.

Note:

Basic Shapes inserted from the Insert menu, or by pushing the Basic Shapes button on the Toolbar, may be reshaped with the resizing functions—unlike graphics, which will remain proportional when resized. When inserted from the Graphics library, they will not be distorted when resized unless the Horizontal Stretch or Vertical Stretch command from the Alignment menu has been selected.


Symbols

Symbols may be found in two categories in the Graphics library.

The Symbols category contains items like the recycle and handicap symbols.

Nation symbols are found in the Places category.

Like fills and basic shapes, symbols may have many of the program's effects applied to them.


Inserting Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols

Inserting and Replacing Graphics

Inserting Fills and Shapes

Insertion Points for Graphics, Symbols and Fills

Inserting Backgrounds and Borders


Inserting and Replacing Graphics

To insert a new graphic:

1.	Choose Graphic from the Insert menu, or press the Graphic button on the Toolbar.

2.	Scroll through the categories of graphics until the desired category is visible, and then click the Category to highlight it.

3.	Scroll through the Graphics list using the scroll bar. Click the desired name to highlight it and display the graphic on the preview screen.

4.	Double-click the preview screen or the highlighted name, or press ENTER.

To replace a graphic already in your document:

1.	Activate the frame around the unwanted graphic by clicking the frame, and then double-click. You will be returned to the point in the Graphics library where the original graphic came from.

2.	If you want to replace the original graphic with one from the same category, use steps 3 and 4 from the previous list. If you want to replace the original graphic with one from a different category, return to the Category list and choose the category you want, and then use steps 3 and 4.

Replacement graphics will be inserted at the same frame size and orientation as the original graphic.

With templates, there are additional ways to insert graphics. For a discussion of templates, see the section on "Documents."

Once you have inserted a graphic in a document, the graphic's category and its descriptive name will remain highlighted to remind you of your choice. The next time you look at the Graphics library, you will see your previous selection on the preview screen (unless you are working with a template or as noted above).


Inserting Fills and Shapes

You can insert fills and basic shapes directly into your document using the fill and basic shapes commands from the Insert menu or the Fill button or Basic Shapes button on the Toolbar.

You can also insert basic shapes from the Graphics library using the Graphic command from the Insert menu.


Insertion Points for Graphics, Symbols and Fills

Print Artist automatically inserts all graphics, symbols, and fills in the horizontal and vertical center of the Desktop This default cannot be changed. Remember, however, that the center of the Desktop is not necessarily the same as the center of your document. If you want to insert a new object in another location, use the View commands or the Desktop scroll bars to change the location of the center of the Desktop, and then insert your graphic or text block.


Inserting Backgrounds and Borders

If you insert backgrounds and borders as you do other graphics, using the Graphic command from the Insert menu, they will be inserted in the standard default frame size. However, you can also insert them already sized to fit your entire document by using the special Background Graphic and Border Graphic commands on the Insert menu.

To insert a background or border at full document size:

1.	Open the Insert menu and choose the Background Graphic or Border Graphic command.

2.	The Graphics library automatically opens, with either the Background or the Border category selected. Browse through in the usual way (see the section on browsing,) to select a background or a border.

3.	Double-click the chosen background or border or click it once and press ENTER.


Manipulating Graphics, Fills, Shapes and Symbols

Using the Desktop to "Crop" Graphics

Duplicating (Edit menu)

Overlaying Objects (Object menu)

Graphics and Alignment Commands

Using Shapes (Shape menu and Palette)


Using the Desktop to "Crop" Graphics

While you cannot edit anything within a graphic, you can position and resize graphics so that portions you don't want are "pushed off" your document and onto the Desktop. These unwanted portions will be invisible on your screen and will not print, although they are still there, waiting to be pulled back onto the page if you want them in your document again.


Duplicating (Edit menu)

The Duplicate command on the Edit menu is particularly useful when working with graphics.

Duplicate makes a copy of the selected object and puts the copy on top so that it overlaps but doesn't cover the original object.

This ia a shortcut command, allowing for quick copying and placement of objects you want to repeat in your document. You can still resize and reposition all of the objects as you like, using the frame grab handles.

Tip:

Repetition of a visual element (though perhaps with minor variations, like differences in color) can give visual coherence and a striking look to a document. Use Duplicate to experiment with these possibilities. You also may want to make duplicates of a graphic to try out different shapes and colors; then compare them and choose which you prefer.


Overlaying Objects (Object menu)

Many layouts in the program consist of carefully arranged overlays of graphics, symbols, shapes, fills, and text blocks. Fills and shapes especially are often placed behind all the other elements of a document to give it visual coherence and unity.

The Bring to Front, Send to Back, Move Up and Move Back commands on the Object menu are designed to help control the overlays of objects in your document.

The Send to Back command will take the selected object and place it behind all other objects in the document.

The Bring to Front command takes the selected object and places it in front of all other objects in the document.

The Move Up (ALT + GREY +) and Move Back (ALT + GREY -) commands  are useful when you have several levels of objects placed on your document. These commands move the selected object forward or backward one level.

Levels of objects in Print Artist are defined by the order in which the objects are originally placed on the document, not by the objects' relationship to one another on the document. If you use the Move Back command, for example, and it does not produce the expected results, it is probably because the objects you are trying to affect were actually placed several levels apart from one another.

You can create complex overlays using these four commands, and easily experiment with different layout possibilities.

Note:

If you ever "lose" an object while using these commands, it's probably covered by a larger object in front. Select the larger object and use Send to Back to put it in the background; then the smaller object will appear again. The Hide Selection command can also help in this situation.


Graphics and Alignment Commands

Most of the frame alignment commands will have no visible effect on a graphic unless you assign it a new shape from the Shape menu. Only the Horizontal Stretch and Vertical Stretch commands will affect a graphic in a rectangle frame and shape. (The Center and Align commands from the Object menu, however, work on graphics just as they do on other objects.)


Using Shapes (Shape menu and Palette)

You can change the look of graphics in two main ways: by recoloring them and reshaping them.

The shape commands offer two sets of choices. One set gives you a choice of three basic frame shapes, while the other set contains choices which allow you to distort the contents of the frame.

The best way to see what these options do is simply to try them out.

So see for yourself: Select a graphic and preview various shapes, experiment with your own documents, and analyze the layouts in the Layout library. The advanced tutorial at the end of Chapter 6 in the Reference Guide also introduces you to some shape commands.


The real contents of objects and frames

To understand how the Effect and Color commands allow you to change and customize the look of objects, you must first understand how objects are constructed in Print Artist.

Related Topics:

Graphics


Effects and Color - The real contents of objects and frames - Graphics
Graphics

Graphics are made up of surfaces. A surface is an area of a graphic to which an artist applied colors or shades of gray when creating its finished appearance. A graphic can have up to 17 surfaces. The simpler the graphic, the fewer the surfaces. The minimum number of surfaces for a graphic is two. Basic shapes and symbols have a single surface if no effect has been applied.

When you customize the color of a graphic using the Customize command, the number of surfaces available to you depends on the number of surfaces in the artists' original graphic. When you change a color graphic to a standard color choice in order to customize it, that graphic may have fewer surfaces than the colored original.

Note:

The more complex a graphic, the longer its screen redraw time. If you are making extensive changes in a document that contains complex graphics, using one of the View commands will speed your way.


How Effects Change Your Objects

You can use all the effects discussed in this section on shapes, symbols, and fills as well as on text, but only the Flipped effect can be applied to non-symbol graphics.

In the Effect palette, Group A commands add areas to objects, or increase the number of faces or outlines. Group B effects both add areas and change object perspectives. In essence, Group B commands add shapes to some of the Group A effects.

Applying any of these effects increases the number of areas to which you can apply custom colors.

To apply an effect, select an object and choose one of the effect commands. Try out several effects and combinations of effects on the same object—you'll be surprised at the variety of results possible.

Note:

Three commands on the Effect palette appear only when text is selected: Multi-Color, Touching, and Blended. Two commands, Balloon and Anchored Shadow, appear for all text, shapes, and symbols but are available for fills only from the Customize Effect dialog box.

Related Topics:

Layers, Shades, Strata and Shadows

Increasing the Number of Faces in a Block of Text

Zooms, Ladders, and other Perspective Effects

Increasing the Number of Outlines

Customizing Effects


Layers, Shades, Strata and Shadows

You can add four kinds of areas to objects: layers, shades, strata, and shadows. Layering and shading are both techniques for giving two-dimensional objects a three-dimensional appearance; strata only increase the number of colors present on an object's face. Shadows appear as shadows behind or in front of objects.

Layer commands copy the face of a selected object and overlap these faces one on top of the other. The face outlines of these layers are set to transparent, so only the original surface face is outlined. You can choose a 2-, 3-, or 7-layer object directly from the Effect palette. In addition, you can choose a 19-layer effect from the Customize Effect dialog box, which also allows you to change the orientation and depth (or thickness) of the object. You can assign each layer a different color using the color sets or the Customize option from the Color menu, and you can color the outlines of the layers as well.

The Block command creates a shaded "block" that appears solid because the layers are stacked directly on top of one another. This gives the object a three-dimensional appearance. The 2-, 6-, and 18-Shade Block commands create a block background that has 2, 6, or 18 different shades of color. You can give each shade a different color using the Customize option from the Color menu. You can also change the orientation and depth of the block in the Customize Effect dialog box.

Strata commands create contiguous bands of color across the face of the object. The strata commands from the menu give you a choice of three strata orientations: Horizontal, Vertical, or Box.

Shadow commands insert a shadow (either anchored or floating) behind your object. An anchored shadow is attached to one edge of the object's face, while a floating shadow "floats" detached from the object's face. You can change the color of a shadow using the Customize option from the Color menu. You can also change the angle of the shadow and the number of shades it has by using the Customize Effect option. With 1- and 2-shade shadows, the color is applied to the face. For shadows with more shades, the color is applied to the shadow.


Increasing the Number of Faces in a Block of Text

Although every text block is entered in the default color black, Print Artist enables you to apply one of up to eighteen different colors in sequence to each letter with its Multi-Color effect. When you apply this effect to a block of text, it gives each letter one of a sequence of up to six different colors or shades (depending on the number of letters/digits in the text block). In essence, the Multi-Color effect increases the number of faces available for custom colorization from one to up to eighteen. (Options for 1, 2, and 18 colors are available in the Customize Effect dialog box. The default from the Effect menu is 6 colors.)


Zooms, Ladders, and other Perspective Effects

Zoom effects make objects appear as if they are "zooming" into the foreground by adding perspective lines (segments) that recede from the object's face. The Zoom Vanishing command zooms from a single point in the background, while the other three zoom commands zoom up from a reduced image of the object's face. Up to eighteen segments can be used to create this zoom effect with choices available in the Customize Effect dialog box; each one can be assigned a different color using the Customize Color option.

The vanishing, perspective, twist, and spiral options are combined not only with zooms but also other effects. Each is a different way to create an impression of action and drama. Each adds shades or layers to your object that can be individually colored using the Customize Color option.

The Ladder commands make several layers of the object's face and connect them to that face with extended rods, just as the rungs of a ladder connect its sides. The Ladder Perspective command gives the object a receding perspective, while the Ladder Twist gives it a receding perspective with a twist. All seven layers are outlined. You can recolor the outlines along with the rungs using the Customize Color option, but only as a set; individual outlines or rungs cannot be colored separately. You can recolor each of the seven background layers individually. Ladder Vanishing and Ladder Spiral effects are available in the Customize Effect dialog box, as well as choices for 2, 3, 7, and 19 layers.


Increasing the Number of Outlines

The Multi-Outline, Touching, and Blended effects all increase the number of outlines around an object from one to seven. You can also increase the number of outlines around your object in a range anywhere from one to eight in the Customize Effect dialog box.

Note:

Touching and Blended effects can be applied only to text.


Customizing Effects

The Customize option in the Effect menu and palette allows you to choose the orientation, depth, and number of areas of the selected object. The choices available to you depend on the effect you have applied to the object. If no effects have been applied when you choose the Customize option, the dialog box will show only the standard effects list. After you have chosen one of these standard effects, other variations will become available.

Each effect will preview above as you scroll through the various possibilities. To confirm your selections, click OK or press ENTER.


Using Color

Print Artist gives you three different ways to create in color:

1.	Artist-colored layouts and graphics, ready to use as is

2.	A Color menu and palette which allow you to apply standard preset colors to text and

3.	A Customize option which allows you to apply colors of your own choice to text and graphics.

All layouts and graphics in Print Artist have been created in monochrome, and some have been colored especially for color printing. However, all layouts and graphics can be colored using the choices on the Color menu or palette.

Graphics available in color are listed in boldface type in the graphics index in Instant imagination; monochrome graphics are listed in plain type. If you have a color system, all graphics available in color will automatically be inserted in color unless you choose the View Monochrome option from the Insert New Graphic dialog box.

The graphics available in color were been colored with special artists' color sets. These color sets appear on the middle portion of the Color menu. The number of color sets available varies from graphic to graphic. For example, the paintbrush graphic has five color set choices so you can choose one of four colors for the paint on the brush, or have no paint appear. You cannot customize artists' color sets, although you can change any color graphic to a standard color choice and then customize the color.

Graphics colored with artists' custom color sets may lose some complexity of shading when converted to monochrome or standard color values, and this cannot be recaptured even if you recolor them with the Custom Color palette. You can always reapply the artists' color set from the Color menu.

Related Topics:

View Monochrome

Customizing Color

Creating Monochrome Documents


View Monochrome

Because certain colors translate to the same shade of gray when converted to monochrome, monochrome versions of all layouts and graphics exist in Print Artist's libraries.

The View Monochrome option that appears in the Select New Document and Insert New Graphic dialog boxes allows you to open a color layout or place a color graphic in their monochrome versions. This enables you to create documents which will print better on monochrome printers than color layouts or graphics which have been converted to monochrome with choices from the Color menu.


Customizing Color

The advantage of customizing colors over choosing standard colors from the Color menu or palette is that you can apply color separately to different areas of the object within the frame. This includes applying specific colors to the background of the frame and to the outlines of objects.

The Custom Color palette available in the Customize Color dialog box offers you 242 colors, including 15 shades of gray, 4 gray tones, black, white, and transparent. The transparent setting will erase any color, so objects or surfaces behind the transparent area will show through.

To customize color on a graphic:

1.	Change the graphic colors to a standard color choice (if a color graphic is used).

2.	Choose Customize from the Color menu. A dialog box appears with a custom color palette, a list of special commands you can apply to colors, and a color preview screen.

3.	Change the colors of each surface of the object, one by one, using one of the following methods.

3a.	If you already know which area of your object you want to change, click its designation on the Surfaces list to select it, and then click the color you want to assign it. (Any grayed-out surfaces are not used in the graphic.) Then, click the next area you want to recolor, and repeat the above procedure. Do not press Enter until you have finished recoloring the entire object, as that would record your choices and return you to the Desktop. Using the Color Preview screen can help when you can't easily tell where an area listed on the Surfaces list appears on your object

3b.	To find out where an area is located on your object, double-click a surface name and watch the Color Preview screen. The color of that area will briefly flash a different color to indicate the area's location. Once you've located the area you want to recolor, click the new color on the Color palette. Double-click the Surfaces list again until you find the next area you want to recolor. Repeat the above procedure. Do not press ENTER until you have finished recoloring the entire object, as this would record your choices and return you to the Desktop.

Remember that a color graphic changed to a standard color choice from the Color palette in order to be customized may lose subtleties of shading.

Related Topics:

Options

Effect Palette Choices and Customizing Color

Reverting to original artists' colors


Options

In the upper left side of the Customize Color dialog box is a list of option buttons available to you for further customization.

The Blend option automatically generates a gradation of colors between the color in the Gray #1 surface and the color in the Gray #15 surface for graphics. For objects to which effects have been applied, the Blend option generates a gradation of colors between the first and last layers, shades, outlines, faces, or strata in the object. There must be a logical path between the chosen colors for Print Artist to perform this function.  If there is no path, the Blend button will be grayed out. The original white and original black surfaces in graphics are not affected by this option.

The Reverse option reverses the order in which colors are applied to the surfaces; for example, if the Surfaces list originally goes from yellow to violet, the reverse function will apply the colors in the opposite order—from violet to yellow.  The function is useful for multi-layered and strata effects. The original black and original white surfaces in graphics are not affected by this option in the Customize Color dialog box, although they are affected if you choose this option from the Color menu.

The Rotate option rotates the colors through the surfaces a step at a time. Original white and original black are not included in the rotation.

The Invert option changes colors to their complements—that is, from white to black, blue to yellow, etc.

Lighten lightens the colors currently in use in the object.

Monochrome translates colors in a graphic to their corresponding monochrome values. This is different from using the View Monochrome option in the Select New Graphic dialog box, which places the monochrome version of the graphic in your document.

Reverse and Lighten are also available in the Color menu and the Color palette.


Effect Palette Choices and Customizing Color

The number of areas you can color when you choose the Customize Color option depends on earlier changes you have made using Effects commands. The number of areas you can color in a graphic, however, is determined by the number of surfaces it contains and cannot be changed.

If you want to color a greater number of areas than appear in the dialog box, exit the Customize Color dialog box, apply the effect you want, and then return to the Customize Color dialog box.

For more information on these topics, read the sections above on how effects change objects.


Reverting to original artists' colors

If you are not satisfied with the look of your graphic after assigning your own colors, you can revert to the artists' color sets by choosing whichever Preset artists' color set is listed on the Color menu.


Creating Monochrome Documents

If you have a monochrome printer, you can easily create documents in monochrome by choosing the View Monochrome command in the Select New Document or Insert New Graphic dialog boxes. Many color layouts and graphics print better on a monochrome printer if created with this setting rather than color graphics converted to monochrome values. And while the Custom Color palette offers a range of grays, white, and black as color options, many color printers do not print true black and may not render grays as well as  monochrome printers do.  See the section on  "Printing," for more information about true black and the color printing process.

All color options remain available when the View Monochrome option has been selected. You can still color monochrome graphics and place graphics in color (the View Monochrome command must be selected for each new graphic placed). Text will be placed in color, but can be changed to one of the monochrome options on the Color menu.


Document Templates

While every project has unique elements, every document type also presents design problems that repeat from project to project. For example, business cards present the challenge of how to fit a lot of information in a small space. Banners require you to catch a viewer's eye at a distance. Letterheads often must integrate a logo or other graphic at a size that doesn't detract from the body of a letter, but still conveys the company's image effectively. Greeting cards need to smoothly integrate the message text with graphics. Templates present conventional solutions to the recurrent design problems of a given document type.

A template is a design guide for creating your own document. It's already formatted, with empty "Guide frames" sized and placed so you can quickly create a well-designed document. The empty rectangles represent text blocks; the rectangles crosscut with an "X" represent graphics.

Related Topics:

Why use templates?

Opening and Using a Template


Why use templates?

If you have never designed a document before, using templates can be a quick way to learn some of the basics of good design. Looking at the relative placement and sizing of text and graphics Guide frames can start you thinking about what makes good layouts. Placing the same elements in different templates can quickly demonstrate what a difference layout makes to the overall look and impact of a document.

The templates included in each document type vary a great deal, and it's a good idea to look through them all to become familiar with them. The descriptive names are just that—a "corporate" template may be just the thing for your personal business card. The names are meant only to suggest the most likely use for the template.


Opening and Using a Template

You open a template in the same way you open a layout or a blank: Select the desired template, and double-click it or press ENTER. If you double-click a graphics Guide frame, the Graphics library will open; if you double-click a text Guide frame, the Change Text dialog box will open.

If you enter text and graphics in this way, anything you insert will automatically be sized to fit into the Guide frame. This is the great advantage to using templates—you don't have to reposition and resize your objects.

Note:

If you place objects using the Insert menu, they will not be inserted into the Guide frames. They will be inserted in the default position, horizontally and vertically centered on your screen, and at the default size.

You are not bound by the layout given to you in a template; the text and graphics blocks defined for you are merely guides. You can delete the empty Guide frames just as you delete any object, and you can move and resize inserted text blocks and graphics in any way.

While a template is a useful guide when you begin designing a document, it may turn out to be inappropriate for your particular project. Maybe you need to include more text than really looks good with that layout. Maybe you want the graphic to be in the lower corner and not the upper corner. Templates are not meant to be rigid guides. Only you know what your document needs to communicate your message, and who its audience will be. Only you can determine when your document looks right for the job.


Using View Commands (View menu)

View commands do just what their name suggests: they change your view of the document on your screen. It's like having a microscope in your computer that allows you to see a document at various distances. Just as a blood cell doesn't change size as a scientist adjusts the microscope, your document remains the same size as you zoom in and out with View commands.

There are four major situations in which you would want to use View commands:

Working with small graphics or text blocks. Close views (Zoom In and Zoom On Selection) enable you to position and size your objects more precisely.

Working on document layout and design. Distant views (Zoom Out, Zoom 100% for smaller documents, and Fit to Screen) enable you to better evaluate spatial relations between objects, and the overall shape of the design.

Working with frames that travel off the page of your document. Distant views (Zoom Out) enable you to spot and grab frame handles more easily.

Working with very large documents such as banners or multi-page signs. Closer views (Zoom 100% and Zoom In) allow you to see better how objects will actually look printed on the page.

Related Topics:

Viewing choices

Moving your Document on the Desktop

Snap to Grid for Precision Placement (View menu)

Wireframe Preview (View menu)

Hiding Selections (View menu)


Viewing choices

The following commands are all on the View menu:

Fit in Window (CTRL + W)

Zoom 100% (CTRL + 1)

Zoom In (CTRL + GREY +)

Zoom Out (CTRL + GREY -)

Zoom On Selection (active frame(s))(CTRL + U)

Fit in Window is the default view in Print Artist, but you can choose to work with any view you like. Zoom In and Zoom Out change the magnification in increments of approximately 15% of the current view.

There is also a way to zoom to the position of the mouse cursor on your document. To do this, hold down CTRL while double-clicking the area you want to zoom in on. You can repeat this as many times as is needed to get the view you want.

Related Topics:

Using close views to insert small objects


Using close views to insert small objects

Unless you are using template guide frames, Print Artist always inserts graphics and text at the same default size relative to your screen. However, if you zoom in on your document and then insert the objects, this will make inserted text and graphics smaller relative to your document. You might find using close views in this way faster and more precise than using frame functions when you want to insert type in a small point size, or want to shrink a graphic.

Note:

Zooming out from the Fit in Window view will not increase the size of inserted objects relative to your document. The default insertion size at Fit in Window view (CTRL + W) is the largest insertion size of objects in Print Artist (with the exception of Backgrounds and Borders placed from the Object menu).


Moving your Document on the Desktop

You can move your document around on the Desktop—up and down, and side to side—by using the scroll bars at the right and bottom edges of the window. This is especially useful when you're working at close view, and want to see another portion of your document without zooming out and zooming in again. You can move your document in this way regardless of the view you're currently using.

This is like panning with a video camera across a landscape; the magnification stays the same, but the piece of the whole that you see changes.


Snap to Grid for Precision Placement (View menu)

Imagine that the background of your document is a piece of graph paper, and all your text and graphics are positioned on top of that paper. Normally within Print Artist, you can slide your objects around as freely as you want, just as if you were sliding them around on top of a piece of paper. However, when you turn on Snap to Grid, the movements of your objects are constrained by 1/8" increments on an invisible grid. It's just as if you were aligning objects in your document with the grid lines of graph paper, and were only sliding a frame from one blue line to another. The objects appear to "snap" into place along the lines of the grid.

Snap to Grid allows you to align two or more frames more precisely than if you placed them freehand. It's especially useful when you have a number of frames you want aligned on the same margin.

Snap to Grid is a toggle, and can be turned on and off as needed while you work on your document. To turn it on and off, choose the command in the View menu.


Wireframe Preview (View menu)

The Wireframe Preview command, also a toggle on the View menu, shows all of your objects except the currently active frame(s) as outlined frames only. These "wireframes" look the same on your screen as the blank Guide frames in templates.

As you begin to create more complicated graphics with many layers and elements, you'll soon see one of the uses of this command: It significantly speeds up the operation of the program, because redrawing the items on the screen takes less time as you make changes. This is particularly useful if you are working with more than a paragraph of text, or with complicated graphics.

Working with Wireframe Preview turned on also allows you to concentrate on the look and placement of the particular frame you are working on, without being distracted by other elements of your document. And sometimes you can better see the relationship of your active frame to the other objects when they are reduced to abstract forms.

Using Wireframe Preview is also one of the ways (discussed in detail in the section below) to work more easily with small or hard-to-grab frames.

When Wireframe Preview is turned on, you can still tell the difference between text blocks and graphics because, just as with the templates, text wireframes are empty rectangles while graphics wireframes are marked with a diagonal criss-cross. You move between frames in the usual way, clicking or pressing TAB to activate a new frame.

It's easy to turn Wireframe Preview on and off as you are working: Simply choose it from the View menu.


Hiding Selections (View menu)

If Wireframe Preview isn't enough, you can completely hide objects with the Hide Selection command. This makes it easier to work with many overlapping objects by concealing the objects you don't need to see or work on at the moment. Hiding will also speed the screen redraw time. A hidden object is not visible on the screen in any way (not even an outline), but it is still included in your document.

To hide a selection, choose Hide Selection from the View menu. You can hide as many selections as you want at a time. Hidden selections cannot be deleted or changed in any way, so hiding objects can be a good way to prevent accidents.

To reveal a hidden object (or objects) again, choose Show All from the View menu. As the name suggests, Show All reveals all hidden objects at once. Hidden objects cannot be selectively revealed.

Note: Objects that are hidden when you save and exit a document will not be hidden when you reopen the document.


Working with Overlapping Frames

Sometimes your document will contain a number of overlapping elements.

If you are having trouble grabbing and manipulating the frame of a small object that falls in the field of a larger one, using Wireframe Preview might be a good solution. The frame handles are unavailable for all except the currently active frame, so you can't accidentally grab the wrong frame handles.

Another way of ensuring that you grab the right frame, once one frame on the document is active, is to press TAB until the frame you want to work on is activated. Then hold down CTRL while manipulating the frame with the mouse. As long as you continue to press CTRL, focus will remain on the active frame.

If your object is either very small or very large, using the appropriate View commands might make working with its frame easier. See the section on View commands above for more information.


Linking and Group Functions

Sometimes you want to work on more than one object at once. You may want to resize everything to better fit your page, or you may want to tilt or rotate two separate text blocks. Print Artist allows you to select and affect more than one frame at a time.

Linking frames allows you to perform the same command simultaneously on separate frames. The frames are still treated as separate objects rather than as a group; that is, each frame still rotates, skews, and resizes around its own center, not the center of the group of linked frames.

Grouping frames goes one step further; the center of the group of linked frames becomes the center. This allows you to resize and rotate groups of objects while maintaining their relationship with one another.

The best way to understand the difference between these functions is to link a few frames and try some commands. If you rotate or skew linked frames, you can see clearly how each frame is affected separately. To see the difference between linked resizing and grouped resizing, you might want to insert two objects and duplicate each of them. Then, link each set of two. Resize one using the frame functions, and resize the other using the group function. Try this with rotating also to see the difference.

Related Topics:

Linking Frames

Unlinking Frames

Group Resizing

Group Rotating


Linking Frames

There are a number of ways to link frames in Print Artist:

1.	Choose one of the four Select All commands from the Edit menu.

2.	Click each object you want to select with the center mouse button on the frames(s) you want to link.

3.	Press SHIFT while you click each object you want to select with the center button of a three-button mouse.

Draw a box around them ("marquee-select" them). Imagine the size of a box that would include all the objects. Position the pointer at one of the corners of this box and press the left mouse button while dragging the pointer diagonally across the screen. Drag until you have included all the items in the box. The box needs to be large enough to encompass every part of each frame you want to link. Once you see that the box is big enough, release the mouse button. The box will disappear, and in its place, you will see outlined frames on the screen.

Note: The starting point for marquee-selection must be outside of any object's frame. If you have a background in place in your document, you may have to zoom out and start your marquee-selection on the Desktop.

Whichever method you use, the result will be the same: Every command that you initiate will affect all the linked frames (until you unlink them).

Note:  Only one frame will have visible handles when you link frames. This frame's center will be the default center for performing linked actions. Group actions are performed around the calculated center of the group.

Related Topics:

Commands you can apply to linked frames


Commands you can apply to linked frames

The range of commands you can apply to linked frames depends on the contents of the frames. If your linked frames contain only text blocks, all commands and options available for a single text block may be used. If you have graphics in any of your linked frames, only the commands and options available for graphics will be available for the objects in your linked frames. The following commands are those that are generally available for linked frames containing at least one graphic:

1.	Moving; you can move all linked frames by dragging them with the mouse or using the arrow keys.

2.	Flipped

3.	Most of the Alignment menu commands

Warning:  Delete also works with linked frames. Make sure to save your document before linking to prevent unhappy accidents. While the Undo command will work if Delete was the last command you entered, saving your document is always the best way to prevent losing your work.


Unlinking Frames

To unlink all the frames at once, simply click once anywhere in your document (except within a frame) or on the Desktop.

Linking is a toggle, so to unlink frames selectively, use the same methods you used to link them:

Press SHIFT while you click once with the left mouse button on the frames(s) you want to unlink.

Click the frame(s) you want to unlink with the center button of a three-button mouse.


Group Resizing

To resize all the frames in a group at the same time, press CTRL while simultaneously using LEFT ARROW (to shrink) or RIGHT ARROW (to enlarge).

Group resizing will maintain the same relative spacing between objects.


Group Rotating

To rotate all the frames in a group of objects around a group center, hold the CTRL key while using PAGE UP (counterclockwise) or PAGE DOWN (clockwise). Unlike linked rotating, group rotating maintains the objects' relationship to one another.


Moving Elements Between Documents

While Print Artist does not allow you to work on more than one document at a time, you can use the Clipboard and one set of Edit commands to move and copy elements of one document to another.

This enables you to create matching documents easily. For example, you could create a matching letterhead and envelope set by copying and pasting a customized graphic from a newly created letterhead onto a blank envelope.

To copy an object or linked set of objects from one document to another:

1.	Select or link the objects to be copied.

2.	Choose Copy from the Edit menu or press CTRL + C.

Your screen will not look any different, as the copy has been placed on the Clipboard.

3.	Open the document into which the copy will be pasted. Depending on the type of document you want to create, this may require returning to the Select Document Type dialog box, choosing a new document type, and then opening a document.

4.	Choose Paste from the Edit menu or press CTRL + V.

5.	Position the pasting cursor where you want to place the copied objects and click once with the left mouse button.

The copied object(s) should now appear. You have completed the copy and paste. If the pasted object is not exactly where you want it in the new document, move it there as you would any other object.

Since the copied object(s) are still on the Clipboard, you can paste them into other documents as well. Just open the new document and choose Paste again.

You can cut an object from one document and paste it into another by following the same procedures, substituting the Cut command for the Copy command. Remember, however, if you save the first document after cutting an object from it, the object is gone from that document.

If you want a copied or cut object to be pasted into a frame that you have selected in a document, use the Paste Into command. The newly inserted object will replace the current object in the frame. You can undo this command with the Undo command.

When you Cut or Copy any part of a Print Artist document, you put your work into a buffer which can then be pasted into any Windows application document which has a Paste menu item in the Edit menu. Such applications include (but are not limited to) word processors, spread sheets, and paint programs. However, colors of what you cut and paste will most likely be different than what they were in Print Artist, because each application has it's own particular color palette.

Note:

You can also use the Cut, Copy, Paste, and Paste Into commands within one document. This is different from the Duplicate command, which does not place a copy on the Clipboard and so cannot be used to copy to other documents.


Importing from Other Programs

Because the Cut and Paste functions are standard in Windows, they may also be used to import graphics and text from other Windows applications. This enables you to create vector-based graphics in other programs, cut them to the Clipboard, and paste them into Print Artist documents. Vector graphics will be affected in the same ways Print Artist's graphics are: you will be able to reshape, resize, and rotate them.

The Import command, from the File menu enables you to import graphics from other sources into a Print Artist document.  You can import graphics in TIFF, GIF, PCX, JPEG, EPS, BMP (Windows Bitmap) or WMF (Windows Metafile) formats (see Import a Graphic for more information).


Exporting to Other Programs

The Export command, from the File menu (CTRL + E) creates files which can be imported into many different software programs. This command might be used, for example, if you had a graphic you wished to use in a newsletter or other document created in a desktop publishing or word-processing program.

You can also export graphics using the Windows clipboard (see Moving Elements Between Documents  for more information).

When you Cut or Copy any part of a Print Artist document, you put your work into a buffer which can then be pasted into any Windows application document which has a Paste menu item in the Edit menu. Such applications include (but are not limited to) word processors, spread sheets, and paint programs. However, colors of what you cut and paste will most likely be different than what they were in Print Artist, because each application has it's own particular color palette.

You can export files in the following formats:

 .TIF	TIFF

.BMP	bitmap

.EPS	Encapsulated Postscript

.WMF	Windows Metafile


Notes on Document Types

Signs

Banners

Greeting Cards

Business Cards

Letterheads

Envelopes

Postcards


Signs

You can choose a number of blanks and templates set to a default size of two pages. If you later decide to reduce the size of your sign, you can always adjust the actual image size sent to the printer, and thus the number of pages your document fills, by using the Percent (of original) Size command in the Print dialog box. For instructions on how to change the image size, see Chapter 8 of the Reference Guide.


Banners

There is one banner-specific menu command: Change banner length... on the Edit menu. If you initiate this command, a dialog box will open that tells you the length (in inches) of your current banner and allows you to change that length by increments of one inch. Maximum size is 127".

Print Artist assumes that you want banners to be large, and so all layouts you choose open at a default size larger than one page. As always, you can change the page size of your document by specifying the image size you want sent to the printer using the Percent Size command.

If your printer uses cut sheets of paper, you will need to tape together banners that are longer than one page.


Greeting Cards

When you choose Greeting Card as a new document type, you are presented with a dialog box which does not appear for any of the other document types. It offers you four styles of card, each with a different fold pattern. You must choose a card style before the Select New Greeting Card dialog box opens.

The preview screen in the Select New or Open Greeting Card dialog boxes has list box which allows you to see all the sides of the previewing document. Choose the appropriate face setting to change the face that is currently previewing.

Once you are working in the greeting card Workspace, you can change your mind about the type of greeting card fold you want without exiting this Workspace. Choose the Change Card Fold... command at the bottom of the Edit menu, and you will be prompted to choose a new fold pattern.

If you have any objects placed on your document, you will be limited in your choice of fold patterns. If you started with a tall card, you will be limited to tall cards; if you began with a wide card, you will only be able to choose from the wide fold orientations.

Another special command on the Edit menu is the Change Face... command, which returns you to the Layout Preview screen and allows you to replace the layout currently placed on the face of your card. Each greeting card orientation has a different layout library, because some layouts are designed to fit in one direction or the other. Some layouts not available as "New" cards can be found in this manner.

The other special commands added to the greeting card Workspace are all contained at the bottom of the View menu. Here you can choose which of the four parts of  the card you want to see on the Desktop:  The front cover, each of the inside pages, or the back cover. Greeting cards always open with the front cover on view.


Business Cards

When you print a business card, Print Artist will place as many copies of the card on one sheet as will fit, at an image size as close to 100% as your printer will receive.

How many copies Print Artist will be able to fit on a page depends on:

1. The type of printer you have and the image size it will receive

2. The default paper size you have chosen

If you have set a different printing image size, this will override the Print Artist default, and will determine the number of cards that fit on one page.

Each page of cards will print with crop marks to indicate where the paper should be cut to make properly sized cards.


Letterheads

Some printers force a print image size of less than 100%, and so will not print your letterhead on the far edges of the page.


Envelopes

If you have configured your printer properly, Print Artist will automatically position the image sent to the printer in the correct way for your machine. You have a choice of creating and printing standard or business envelopes; how each size feeds will depend on your particular printer. You can tell by looking at the orientation of your document on the Print Preview screen how you will need to feed the envelope into the printer.


Postcards

As with greeting cards, the preview screen in the Select New and Open Postcards dialog boxes has a list box which allows you to view the two different sides of the currently previewing document. A single click changes the side showing in the preview screen.

There are three postcard-specific menu commands: Change Face... on the Edit menu; and Front and Back on the View menu. Change Face... allows you to replace the current face layout. You can undo this command. The Front and Back commands allow you to move between the front and back of the postcard.

Two full copies of the postcard usually fit on one 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. If you would like to print out four images of a front instead of two fronts and two backs, design the front as you would like it, link all the frames, and copy the entire front. Then choose the Back command from the View menu and press CTRL + V to paste a copy of the front image onto the back.

Postcards, like business cards, are printed to fit as many copies of the card on one sheet as is possible with your particular printer.

How many copies Print Artist will be able to fit on one page depends on:

1.	The type of printer you have and the image size it will receive

2.	The default paper size you have chosen

If you have set a different printing image size, this will override the Print Artist default and will determine the number of cards that fit on one page.

The front and back of the postcard will both print face up as two complementary sides, ready to be folded to make one postcard of the chosen size after cutting and cropping. Each page of cards will print with crop marks to indicate where the paper should be cut to make a properly sized card.


The Print Dialog Box and Printer Settings

When you choose the Print command, the Print Control Panel/Preview dialog box opens. The document you've selected to print will preview oriented just as it will appear printed on the page. If the document will print on more than one page, this will be indicated by lines across the document image.

Note:

 If you have a color monitor but are printing on a monochrome printer, the image in the Print Preview screen will appear in color, even though it will be printed in monochrome.

To print the document as it appears, all you need to do is to click OK or press ENTER. However, you may want to change some of your printing settings before printing your document. The sections below discuss each of the Print dialog box commands that allow you to alter your printer settings.


Setting Printing Options

These commands allow you to select which pages of a multi-page document will print and the number of copies to be printed. There is also a special command, Mirror Image, that will create a mirror image of your original document for printing.

The default settings are for one copy of all pages to print.

To change the pages to be printed from All to a specified set:

1.	Click the radio button Selection.

2.	On the preview screen, click the page you want to print.

2a.	If you want to print a series of pages, hold SHIFT while clicking the first and last pages of the series of pages with the left mouse button, or click the first and last pages with the center button of a three-button mouse.

2b.	If you want to print selected pages that are not in a series, hold the CTRL and SHIFT keys while clicking each page you want to print with the left mouse button, or hold the CTRL key while clicking each page you want to print with the center button of a three-button mouse.

To change the number of copies printed:

1.	Click the entry box next to Copies.

2.	Type the number of copies you want to print.

To choose the Mirror Image command:

1.	Click the checkbox next to the command. To turn it off, click the checkbox next to the command again.

The mirror image will preview on the preview screen of the Print dialog box.

Choosing the Mirror Image command does not affect your saved document; it only alters the image as it will print for this particular printing. The command is automatically turned off again once you leave the Print dialog box.


Printer Setup

Print Artist prints automatically to your Windows default printer, which will be listed in the upper left corner of the Printer Control Panel/Preview dialog box. You can change printers by clicking the Setup button in the command line to open the Print Setup dialog box. The drop-down list of printers will show all of the printers to which you are currently connected through Windows. To choose one of these printers, highlight its name in the list and click OK.

The Print Setup box also allows you to change page orientation (portrait or landscape), and paper size and source. The options available depend on the printer you have selected.

The Options button in the Print Setup dialog box command line allows you to access the more detailed print options available in Windows, such as resolution, print darkness or intensity, and color. For more information, see your Windows documentation or the documentation for the specific printer you have selected.

Notes:

To change the port to which your printer is connected, it will be necessary to exit Print Artist and open Windows Print Manager. You can then choose Printer Setup... from the Options menu to change printer ports. See your Windows documentation for more information.

For optimal printing smoothness on HP DeskJet 550C printers, it is recommended that you turn on Scatter Dithering and Complex Color Printing in the printer setup options dialog.


Percent Size

The Percent Size command allows you to change the size of your printed document, no matter what the original size of the layout, template, or blank. This command affects only the size of the image Print Artist sends to the printer. It does not change either the size of the original document as it is saved or any of your printer settings.

Size is expressed as a percentage, where 100% is the full size of the original document. For example, if you chose a two-page sign template, your original is a two-page document when at 100% image size; at 50% it would print on one page. If you created a business card, your original may be a single-page document containing eight or ten copies of the business card when at 100% image size.

To change document size:

1.	Click the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW next to the box showing Percent (of Document) Size in the Printer Settings list. The percentage of image size will change in preset increments, depending on the type of document and the size of the original, or you can type in the desired percentage.

The size of the document as it will appear printed previews on the right, and is noted in the height and width boxes above the setting box.

You can also set your image to print at a particular height or width by highlighting the dimension you wish to change and typing in the desired dimension. The other dimension will change automatically to keep the document proportional.


Creating a Print File with Print Artist

To create a print file in Print Artist, you must have the driver for the specific printer loaded in Windows. This may be done either in the Printers option in the Control panel or by using the Printer Setup command in Windows Print Manager.

To create a print file (for Windows 3.1 users):

1.	In Windows Print Manager, open the Options menu and choose Printer Setup. You may also open the Printers dialog box in Windows Control Panel. If you do not already have the driver loaded for the specific printer to which you wish to print, do so now.

2.	Once the driver has been loaded, click the Connect button.

3.	In the Ports list, scroll until FILE is highlighted. Click OK.

4.	Click Close.

5.	Exit Print Manager or Control Panel.

6.	If you now open a document in Print Artist and go to print, you will find that the printer output in the upper left corner of the Print Control Panel will show the printer outputting to FILE. Click OK to print as usual.

7.	Print Artist will ask you for an Output File Name for your print file. Type in a filename and click OK.

Warning:  Do not assign your document's complete DOS filename, including the three-letter extension, to your print file; this will corrupt your document file. You can assign the same eight-character DOS name if you assign an extension that is not one of Print Artist's default file extensions. While .PRN is a standard file extension for a print file, you may want to assign another extension.

Print Artist will begin printing. Rather than printing to a machine, however, the program will create a print file with the assigned name in the same directory your documents are saved in.

If you want to copy the print files to a diskette, use the change directories in the Print dialog box.


File Menu

Create a New Document

Open an Existing File

Select Document Type

Save to a Disk File

Save to a Different File Name

Delete a File

Revert to Last Saved Version of Document

Print the Current Document

Import a Graphic

Export Document to Alternate Format

Directory Setup

Setting Special Directory Paths

Exit the Application


Create a New Document

This command allows you to start a new document.  You can start with a blank page, a template, or a pre-designed layout.

Under Categories, if you choose Blank, you will start with a blank page. Under Layouts, you have a choice of various standard sizes of paper.

If you choose Templates,  then the Layouts appear as sets of empty boxes.  A box with an 'X' through it is a space where a graphic object will go.  A box without an 'X' is a space where a text object will go.

If you choose any other Category, then you have a choice of pre-designed Layouts.  If you find one you like, you may simply read it in and modify it to suit your needs.

If you have a monochrome printer, you should click on the View  Monochrome check box, so that what you see is what you will get when you print the document.

When you click on OK, you then go to the desktop with your new document.


Open an Existing File

This command lets you open your saved files in the current document type. Saved documents will be listed in the Open File dialog box and will preview just as Print Artist's own layouts do. Click to select the document you wish to open, and then click OK or press ENTER to open the document onto the Desktop.

If you want to start with a copy of a saved document, click on the Open Copy button.  This will copy all the information in the document into a new, untitled document.  Any changes you make to this copy will not be saved in place of the original document.


Select Document Type

This command is the beginning of the program.  In the Select Document Type dialog box, you choose what type of document you wish to create or edit by clicking the button for Sign, Business Card, Letterhead, Certificate, Greeting Card, Banner, Postcard, Envelope, Calendar or Craft. Then click New to create a new document or Open to read in a document you had previously saved.


Save to a Disk File

This command saves changes to an already named document under the existing descriptive name and filename. If you execute this command on a new document, it will open the Save As dialog box, which prompts for a descriptive name and filename under which to save the new document.


Save to a Different File Name

This command allows you to change the descriptive name and/or save the document under a different File Name.  You can save it in a different Directory or on a different Drive if you wish.  After you execute this command, the new File Name will appear in the Title Bar.  If you then make more changes to the document and execute the Save command, the document will be saved under the new File Name, not the old.


Delete a File

This command enables you to delete any of your saved documents from within the program. When the Delete Files dialog box opens, the names of saved files in the current document type are listed. To delete documents of another document type, choose that type from under List Files of Type. The list of saved documents of that type will then appear.


Revert to Last Saved Version of Document

Revert returns you to the last saved version of your current document, deleting any changes made to that document since the last time it was saved.

Use this command only if you don't wish to keep any changes made since your most recent save.


Print the Current Document

You enter the Print Control Panel / Preview dialog box when you are ready to print your document.

Press OK to print, if all the information shown in the dialog box is correct.

In the upper left corner of the dialog box is the name of the currently selected printer.  If this information is incorrect then click the Setup button to select the correct printer.

Next, the Width and Height of the document are shown.  The Pages/copy is the number of pages that are needed to print the document.  The Percent Size is the percent of the height of the paper that the document takes up.  If you change either the Width, Height, or Percent Size, then all the numbers (Width, Height, Pages/copy and Percent Size) change to reflect the new situation.  The Preview box also changes to show how the document will be laid out on the page(s).

Next, you may choose to Print the Document or the Swatch.  The Swatch is a sample page of all the colors available in the program.  You may want to print out the Swatch once to use as a reference.  It can come in handy because the colors as they appear on the screen may not be exactly the same as they appear when printed.

Next, you may select the number of Copies of the document to print.  The default is 1, but you may change it to any number in the range of 1 to 99.

If your document takes up more than one page, you have the choice of printing All of the document, or printing only Selected Pages.  An example of when you might want to print only select pages is if you had started to print a document and ran out of paper half way through.  Then you would need to start printing again, but you would only need to print out the second half of the document.  To select pages to print, position the mouse cursor on the representation of the first page in the preview area that you want to print.  Then press and hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse cursor to the last page you want to print.  The pages that will be printed are shown in 'reverse video'.

Pressing the Setup button will allow you to choose a different printer. It will also let you set the orientation of the paper, paper size, paper source, print mode, print quality, print medium, print intensity, dithering method, and more.

Pressing the Print Area button allows you to calibrate precisely the dimensions of the area on the page that your printer is capable of printing on.

Pressing the Print Options button allows you to modify some printing options that change the way your document is printed.

You can use your mouse to click and drag the document on the paper to accomodate special paper sizes, such as envelopes or cardstock.  The document can be positioned 4 different ways: centered on the page, in the upper left-hand corner, upper middle, or in the upper right-hand corner.

Related Topics:

Print Graphics Catalog

Print Fonts Catalog

Print Catalog Control Panel

Change the Printer Settings

Setup Printable Area

Print Options


Print Graphics Catalog

In the Print Graphics Catalog dialog box, you can print a catalog of all or some of your graphics.

Categories to Print - Choose one or more categories to catalog to the printer.  When you choose your first category, a preview of the page will appear on the dialog.

Select All - Select all the categories for printing.  This may take a while to compute the number of pages.  Choose Small Graphics to reduce the number of printed pages to a minimum.

Clear All - Clears all selected categories.  This will also clear the preview window until a category is selected.

Preview Page Number - Type a number or use the scroller to preview any of the pages to be printed.  This selection will not affect the pages printed.

Small/Medium/Large Graphics - Choose the number of graphics per page by adjusting this item.

Press OK to go to the Print Catalog Control Panel.


Print Fonts Catalog

In the Print Fonts Catalog dialog box, you can print a catalog of all or some of your fonts .

Print Artist/PostScript/TrueType Fonts - Choose one or more font types to catalog to the printer.  When you choose any type, a preview of the page will appear on the dialog.  The fonts you have selected will be cataloged in alphabetical order.

Preview Page Number - Type a number or use the scroller to preview any of the pages to be printed.  This selection will not affect the pages printed.

More/Less Detail - Choose the number of fonts per page by adjusting this item.  More Detail will print a sample of may of the font characters, and Less Detail will only show the font names.

Press OK to go to the Print Catalog Control Panel.  If some of the fonts don't print, they will also not be useable in Print Artist.


Print Catalog Control Panel

In the Print Catalog Control Panel dialog box, you can select which catalog pages to print.

Small/Medium/Large Graphics - Choose the number of graphics per page by adjusting this item.

More/Less Detail - Choose the number of fonts per page by adjusting this item.  More Detail will print a sample of may of the fon characters, and Less Detail will only show the font names.

Page Range - Type a number to indicate which pages you want to print.  By default, all pages are printed.

Coloring Book will print just the outlines of the graphics in your catalog.  This is great when you want to output your masterpiece on a plotter, which would normally have trouble filling in large areas with color.  Note that bitmap graphics cannot be shown in outlines, and will appear on the page as they usually do.  This option does not appear for font catalog printing.

Press OK to print the requested pages.


Change the Printer Settings

In the Print Setup dialog box, you can change printers, paper orientation, and paper size and source before printing your document. If you choose Print Setup from the File menu, the settings you select become the default settings for this session of Print Artist.  If you choose Print Setup from the Print dialog, the settings are used only once for the current document.

Some printers also require specific DIP-switch settings in order to work properly with Windows.  For a list of printers and their required DIP-switch settings, see the PRINTERS.WRI text file in your Windows directory.

Orientation - With Portrait, the page is taller than it is wide when viewing the printed document upright (the document prints lengthwise on the page).  With Landscape, the page is wider than it is tall when viewing the printed document upright (the document prints sidewise on the page). Print Artist will normally adjust the orientation automatically.

Paper Size - Open the list, and then select the size of paper you wish to use.  Sizes measured in inches are standard sizes for the United States.  Sizes measured in millimeters are standard sizes for use in other countries.  If you are printing fanfold paper that is 8 1/2 by 11 inches when the perforations are torn off, choose "Letter 8 1/2 x 11 inches".

Paper Source - Different printer models support different paper sources, such as tractor, the upper tray, manual feed and envelope feed.  When tractor is selected, Print Artist will try to print to the entire page, including the top and bottom margins.  Some Windows printer drivers will not support printing to the entire page, and will produce gaps at the bottom perforation when banners or multiple-page documents are printed.  When this happens, you may need to obtain an updated printer driver from your printer manufacturer, or you might try a different driver that is compatible with your printer.  See your printer manual to see which printers it is compatible with.

Cut Sheets on Tractor - Some Windows dot-matrix printer drivers will not support printing to the entire page, and will produce gaps at the bottom perforation when banners or multiple-page documents are printed using tractor feed.  If this happens, check this option to print overlapping cut sheets with your tractor printer.  This options is available for tractor feed printers.

Options Button - Allows you to access more detailed print options available for your printer, such as resolution, print darkness or intensity, and color (when available).


Setup Printable Area

The printable area is the area of the page that the printer is capable of printing on.  Many printers cannot print all the way to edge of the paper.  For example, if your paper is 8½" x 11", your printable area may only be 8" x 10½".

For some printers the printable area may not be exactly centered on the page.  The Setup Printable Area feature is designed to help you center the printable area exactly on the page.  This is especially important for printing greeting cards.  If the printable area is not centered, the individual greeting card panels will not come out centered when the card is folded.

The default values for the distances between the Top, Left, Bottom and Right edges and the printable area are the values the Windows printer driver thinks are correct for your printer.  These are usually correct, but printers sometimes have individual variations.  To be certain, make sure your printer is turned on and connected and click on Printable area test.  A page containing an test pattern and instructions will be printed to help you determine the actual printable area of your printer.

If the Use Printable area values box is not checked, Print Artist will use the full printable area of your printer, centered or not.

If the Use Printable area values box is checked, Print Artist will trim the printable area so that your documents come out centered on the page.  This will only work if the values for Top, Left, Bottom and Right are entered correctly.  If the Use values as Margins box is checked, the values in Top, Left, Bottom and Right will be used to position the document within the maximum area that the printer can print.

If after correctly entering in the printable area values, your printed document comes out cropped, then check the Use values as Margins checkbox and try again.  This will probably fix the problem.

Note:

Because the Printable area test tries to print as large as possible, you may get 2 pages.  In this case, you should ignore the second page.


Print Options

Print Options lets you modify printing options that change the way your document is printed.

Coloring Book will print just the outlines of the text or graphics in your document.  This is great for creating coloring books for your kids, or when you want to output your masterpiece on a plotter, which would normally have trouble filling in large areas with color.  Note that bitmap graphics cannot be shown in outlines, and will appear on the page as they usually do.

Mirror Image will flip the document being printed.  This is useful when printing on material that can directly transfer an image to T-shirts.

Tile will repeatedly print images smaller than a full page on one piece of paper.  This is useful for business cards and postcards.

Space will put spaces between multiple copies of an image when Tile is checked.

Thin Outlines will convert thick outlines in text, symbols and fills to thin lines when printing.  This is useful for vinyl cutting tools that rely on plotter instructions to cut thin lines.

Show Crop Marks will print small crop marks along with your document.  This is great for business cards, as it helps you cut up a full sheet of them without making mistakes.

Symmetrical margins will even up the margins of your document to center it on the page.

Minimal margins will stretch the document to print on as much of the available page as possible.

Equal margins will use the largest margin set for your printer for each of the 4 margins.  This usually results in a smaller image than the other margin settings.

Rotate Automatically will print your document the  best possible way for your printer.

Rotate Never will turn off the automatic rotation.

Rotate Always will force the document to print rotated.


Import a Graphic

This command enables you to import graphics from other sources into a Print Artist document.  You can import graphics in TIFF, GIF, PCX, JPEG, EPS, BMP (Windows Bitmap) or WMF (Windows Metafile) formats.

You can also import graphics using the Windows clipboard (see Importing from Other Programs for more information).

Select the format of the graphic you wish to import under List Files of Type.  Select the Drive and Directory your graphic is in.  Then select the graphic under Document Name.  Click on the Preview Graphic button to see the graphic you have selected.  If this is the graphic you want to import, click on OK.

When a graphic is imported, it is copied into a directory where Print Artist can find it more easily the next time you want it.  (The next time you want to find this graphic, you can find it in the GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box). The graphic is then placed on your document and may be resized, skewed, rotated, and colored (with limitations) in much the same way as Print Artist's own graphics can.

Occasionally a graphic may be too complicated to import.  If you get a message saying so, and you click on OK to import it anyway, Print Artist will import as much of it as it can.


Export Document to Alternate Format

Use this command to export Print Artist graphics in one of four different formats: TIFF (.tif), bitmap (.bmp), Encapsulated PostScript (.eps), or Windows Metafile (.wmf). These may then be used in other applications which accept the chosen format.


Directory Setup

The Directory Setup command brings up the Directory Setup dialog box, where you tell Print Artist where to search for the program's graphics, layouts, and fonts, and your PostScript fonts, and where to store your saved documents.

To change any of the directories, click on the directory name you want to change.  You can then either type in a new directory name, or click on Browse to choose a directory by navigating.

If you click on the Count button, it will display the number of relevant items in each directory.

Related Topics:

Directory Setup Browse


Directory Setup Browse

The Directory Setup Browse dialog lets you choose a subdirectory graphically, without typing in the path name.

The pathname for the directory currently chosen is shown above the list box in the Directory Setup dialog box.

In the list box in this dialog box, the first item in the list is the drive.  The next item(s) down to the item at which the cursor is positioned is the chain of subdirectories comprising the pathname of the currently selected directory.  The items (if any) below the one at which the cursor is positioned are subdirectories of the currently selected directory.

To change directory, move up or down through the list box and/or change the drive.  Then click OK.  You will then still be in the Select Directory dialog box, but the name of the currently selected pathname (above the list box) will have changed.  You may have to repeat this process several times to get to the directory you want.  Once the directory you are looking for appears above the list box, click OK once more to return to the Directory Setup dialog box.

You can of course click CANCEL any time to go back to Directory Setup without having changed anything.


Setting Special Directory Paths

When Print Artist starts, it requires some critical files containing graphics, fonts, layouts and documents.  This dialog box is where you tell the program where these files are located.

When Print Artist was installed on your machine, these special files were copied into the same directory as the program.  If you have moved your program files, or had a loss of files on your hard disk, you may need to reinstall Print Artist before you can run the program successfully.

If you know where these special files are, simply type the proper path over the current directory path, or click on Browse to choose a directory by navigating.  WHen the path is set correctly, click on the OK button.

If you click on the Count button, it will display the number of relevant items in each directory.

If you click on the Cancel button, you will quit the program.


Exit the Application

Use the Exit command to quit Print Artist. If you have made changes to your current document without saving, Print Artist gives you the option of saving your changes before it returns you to Windows Program Manager.


Edit Menu

Undo and Redo

Cut Current Selection to Clipboard

Copy Current Selection to Clipboard

Paste Current Contents of Clipboard to Document

Remove Current Selection

Paste Current Contents of Clipboard into Selection

Duplicate Current Selection

Edit the Current Selection

Select All Objects

Select All Text Objects

Select All Graphics Objects

Select All Fill Objects

Select All Items Similar To Selected Object

Select All Date Graphics

Select All Date Numbers

Select All Date Texts

Change Greeting Card/Postcard Face

Change Greeting Card Fold

Change Dimensions

Change Calendar Date


Undo and Redo

Undo reverses the last move, edit, or command.  Redo recovers from a previous undo by restoring your work to the state it was in prior to issuing the undo. Redo only appears on the menu if an Undo was the last action performed.


Cut Current Selection to Clipboard

Cut removes the currently selected object from a document and places it on the Clipboard. It may then be pasted into another Print Artist document, or into a document in another Windows application.


Copy Current Selection to Clipboard

Copy makes a copy of the currently selected object and places it on the Clipboard. The copy may then be pasted into another Print Artist document, or into a document in another Windows application.


Paste Current Contents of Clipboard to Document

Paste places the current contents of the Clipboard into the current document. Objects from the Clipboard that can be pasted into Print Artist include anything from within Print Artist, as well as text, bitmap and vector-based graphics from any other Windows application.

Sometimes, objects on the Clipboard can contain elements that Print Artist does not support.  If Print Artist detects such elements, it will warn you and ask whether you want to try to paste anyway.  If you choose "Paste Metafile" and the image does not display correctly, then you should choose Paste again and press the "Paste Bitmap" button.


Remove Current Selection

Delete removes the currently selected object(s) from the current document.


Paste Current Contents of Clipboard into Selection

Use the Paste Into command to replace the current selected object(s) with item(s) from the Clipboard.


Duplicate Current Selection

Duplicate makes a copy of a selected object and places it on the current document just below the original.


Edit the Current Selection

The Edit command places you in the Change Text dialog box if the currently selected object is a text block, or in the Change Graphic dialog box if the currently selected object is a graphic.


Select All Objects

Select All selects all the objects on the current document and makes them available for changes.


Select All Text Objects

Select Text selects all the text objects on the current document and makes them available for changes. Any changes made will be applied to all the text on the document.


Select All Graphics Objects

Select Graphics selects all the graphics on the current document and makes them available for change.


Select All Fill Objects

Select Fills selects all the fills placed on the current document and makes them available for change.


Select All Items Similar To Selected Object

This menu item is available when there are more than one items on the document.  It will select all similar objects, so that you can change their font, effect, color or shape at the same time.


Select All Date Graphics

This menu item is only available for calendars.  It will select all the date graphics, so that you can change their font, effect, color or shape at the same time.


Select All Date Numbers

This menu item is only available for calendars.  It will select all the date numbers, so that you can change their font, effect, color or shape at the same time.


Select All Date Texts

This menu item is only available for calendars.  It will select all the date text items, so that you can change their font, effect, color or shape at the same time.


Change Greeting Card/Postcard Face

This command returns you to the Layout Preview dialog box and allows you to replace the layout currently placed on the face of your card. Because some layouts are designed to fit either the tall or wide orientations of the card, each orientation has a different layout library.

Some layouts not available as "New" cards can be found using this command.


Change Greeting Card Fold

If you are creating a new greeting card, you need to tell Print Artist where the fold will be on your card.  This information is used when printing all four panels on one page of paper.

If you are changing the fold of an already-open greeting card, your choice of fold will be limited to only the selections that will fit.


Change Dimensions

Change Dimensions stretches or shrinks the size of the current document.  As you make changes, you can see a preview of the size of the resulting document.

Width and Height are the dimensions of the printable area in inches.  They must be between 0.5 and 127 inches.

Resize objects stretches or shrinks the objects on a document to the new dimensions.

Note:

If you want to keep the proportions of your objects when you expand or shrink the page (for instance, to give yourself more room) you should cut all of your objects to the clipboard before changing dimensions.  After you change the document size, select Paste from the Edit menu to replace the objects on the document.


Change Calendar Date

Change Calendar Date allows you to change the date of a calendar.  The default setting is the current month and year.  You can set this date for any month between the years 1901 and 2099.

Note:

Changing the date of a calendar that contains custom information will lose all the changes you have made to the calendar, since all the days of the month will change.


View Menu

Adjust Document Size to Fill Window

Zoom to Actual Size

Zoom In on the Document

Zoom Out from the Document

Zoom In on a Selection

Hide the Current Selection

Display All Hidden Objects

Display All but Current Selection as Wireframe

Turn on Grid Snap

Resize Around Center

Toggle Display of Toolbar - ON/OFF

Toggle Display of Status Bar - ON/OFF

Save the Current Palette Locations

Return All Palettes to their Default Positions

Direct the Print Artist Screen to Redraw Itself

Choose Monochrome Defaults

View Front

View Inside Left/Top

View Inside Right/Bottom

View Back


Adjust Document Size to Fill Window

Fit in Window adjusts the document size so that the document fills, as much as possible, the Desktop. The percentage size of the document at Fit in Window view depends upon its actual size and the screen resolution.


Zoom to Actual Size

Zoom 100% lets you view the document at the actual (default) size it will be printed.


Zoom In on the Document

Zoom In magnifies the document in increments of approximately 15% of current size.


Zoom Out from the Document

Zoom Out zooms out from the document in increments of approximately 15% of current size.


Zoom In on a Selection

Zoom On Selection zooms to the currently selected object on the document.


Hide the Current Selection

Hide Selection conceals the currently selected object from view, making it unavailable for editing as well as invisible. Hide Selection does not change the hidden object's relationship with other objects on the document.

Hide Selection is not like Delete.  When you hide an object, it is still there -- you just can't see it.

This feature is useful if you have objects on top of one another.  If you hide the object in front, it is easier to select the object in back.  You also may want to hide objects that take a long time to redraw to make editing less time-consuming.  Use the Show All command to "unhide" all the objects you have hidden.


Display All Hidden Objects

Show All displays all hidden objects.


Display All but Current Selection as Wireframe

Wireframe Preview shows all objects except the currently selected object as outlined frames only. Text wireframes are empty frames, while graphics wireframes are crossed. Choose this command to toggle Wireframe Preview on and off.


Turn on Grid Snap

Snap to Grid restricts the movement of objects to 1/8" increments on an invisible grid. Choose this command to toggle Snap to Grid on and off.


Resize Around Center

This command allows you to change the way in which objects are resized—from resizing around the opposite handle to resizing around the center, or vice versa. When you resize around the opposite handle, the handle opposite the one you are using for resizing remains anchored. When you resize around the center, the center handle remains anchored while the sides of the object frame are affected by the resizing. The command toggles between these two options.


Toggle Display of Toolbar - ON/OFF

The Toolbar command allows you to display or hide the Toolbar at the top of the Desktop. Turning the Toolbar off increases the usable workspace in the Desktop.


Toggle Display of Status Bar - ON/OFF

The Status Bar command allows you to display or hide the Status Bar at the bottom of the Desktop. Turning the Status Bar off increases the usable workspace in the Desktop.


Save the Current Palette Locations

The Save Palette Placements command lets you save your palette placements between sessions. When this toggle is turned on, the palettes will remain where you place them on the Desktop when you exit Print Artist, and be there when you start the program again. When this toggle is turned off, the palettes return to their places under the Toolbar when you exit Print Artist.


Return All Palettes to their Default Positions

The Reset Palettes command returns all palettes that have been moved on the Desktop to their default positions under the Toolbar.


Direct the Print Artist Screen to Redraw Itself

Redraw Now causes Print Artist to redraw everything currently placed on your document.


Choose Monochrome Defaults

Choosing Monochrome Mode prior to opening a document will cause the document to display as it would probably appear if printed to a monochrome printer.  Also, with this option active, any text, fills, layouts, or graphics that are placed will appear in monochrome.


View Front

This command lets you work on the front face of a greeting card or postcard.


View Inside Left/Top

This command lets you work on the inside left or top face of a greeting card.


View Inside Right/Bottom

This command lets you work on the inside right or bottom face of a greeting card.


View Back

This command lets you work on the back face of a greeting card or postcard.


Insert Menu

Insert a Text Object

Insert a Graphic Object in the Foreground

Insert a Fill Object in the Foreground

Insert a Border Graphic

Insert a Background Graphic

Insert a Background Fill

Insert a Hollow Rectangle

Insert a Basic Shape (Circle, Ring, Line..)

Insert Double Arc Text


Insert a Text Object

This feature is used for text entry.

If you are creating a new text object, it is called the Insert New Text dialog box.  If you are editing an existing text object, it is called the Change Text dialog box.

Simply type what you want the text object to say.  In addition to the standard keyboard characters, there are special characters available, each with its own button you can click.

Also available is a data base of quotations.  Click the Quotes button to access them.  If you select a quote, it will be inserted into your text at the text cursor.


Insert a Graphic Object in the Foreground

The GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box is used for selecting or changing a graphic.

Simply type the description of the graphic you are looking for to see all graphics that fit that description.  If you would like to see your graphics broken down by their category, click on the Categories button.  If no graphics exist for a category (say, TIFF Graphics) then the list will not show that category.

If you own the The New Print Shop® or Print Shop Deluxe®, those graphics are available simply by typing "PS" or "PSD" in the search text.

If you enter the GraphicsGrabber dialog box by selecting Background or Basic Shape from the Insert menu, then any graphic you choose will be placed in the background and expanded to fill the whole page.

If you choose Basic Shape, then there is no category list -- you are limited to selecting only Print Artist basic shapes.

If you have a monochrome printer, click the Monochrome button, so that what you see on the screen is what you will get when you print your document.

Choose Print to print a catalog page of the graphics selected by the current keyword or category.


Insert a Fill Object in the Foreground

The Fill command inserts a "fill" (a solid-colored square) in the document.


Insert a Border Graphic

This command opens the GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box with the Borders category previewing. If you place a border using this command, it will be inserted sized to fit the document and placed behind any other objects (except a background) already in place on the document.


Insert a Background Graphic

This command opens the GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box with the Backgrounds category previewing. If you place a background using this command, it will be inserted sized to fit the document and placed behind any other objects already in place on the document.


Insert a Background Fill

The Background Fill command inserts a fill sized to fit the document and automatically places it behind other objects in the document.


Insert a Hollow Rectangle

The Frame command inserts a fill with the face set to transparent and the face outline set to black. This command does not refer to the frames around objects which have the resizing, rotating, skewing, and moving handles.


Insert a Basic Shape (Circle, Ring, Line..)

This command opens the GraphicsGrabber™ dialog box with the Basic Shapes category previewing. If you place a basic shape using this command, it may be reshaped with the resizing functions, unlike graphics, which remain proportional when resized.


Insert Double Arc Text

The Double Arc Text command inserts two arced text objects into your document.

Simply type what you want the text object to say.  In addition to the standard keyboard characters, there are special characters available, each with its own button you can click.

Also available is a data base of quotations.  Click the Quotes button to access them.  If you select a quote, it will be inserted into your text at the text cursor.

After selecting OK, two linked text objects will appear, one on top of the other.  Each one will contain the text you typed.  Each object is changeable independently.


Object Menu

Bring Selection to Front of Document

Send Selection to Back of Document

Move Selection One Step to Front of Document

Move Selection One Step to Back of Document

Make the Selected Item as Big as the Document

Shrink the Selected Frame to Fit the Object

Center The Object Horizontally on  Page

Center The Object Vertically on Page

Align the Object Horizontally to a Column

Align the Object Vertically to a Row

Grouping Objects

Ungrouping Objects


Bring Selection to Front of Document

The Bring to Front command places a selected object in front of all other objects in the document.


Send Selection to Back of Document

The Send to Back command places a selected object behind all other objects in the document.


Move Selection One Step to Front of Document

The Bring Forward command moves a selected object forward one level. Levels are based on the order in which objects are placed on the document. For more information, see Chapter 4 in the Print Artist User's guide.


Move Selection One Step to Back of Document

The Send Backward command moves a selected object backward one level. Levels are based on the order in which objects are placed on the document. For more information, see Chapter 4 in the Print Artist User's guide.


Make the Selected Item as Big as the Document

The Maximize command resizes a selected object to fit the entire document, stretching it both horizontally and vertically. This command will not resize the object's frame beyond the borders of the document.


Shrink the Selected Frame to Fit the Object

The Shrink to Fit command resizes the frame surrounding an object or group to make it just fit the size of the object.


Center The Object Horizontally on  Page

The Center Horizontally command places the center of a selected object's frame in the horizontal center of the document, without changing its vertical orientation. Linked objects will all be moved on a horizontal path so that the centers of their frames are in the horizontal center of the document.


Center The Object Vertically on Page

The Center Vertically command places the center of a selected object's frame in the vertical center of the document, without changing its horizontal orientation. Linked objects will all be moved on a vertical path so that the centers of their frames are in the vertical center of the document.


Align the Object Horizontally to a Column

The Align Horizontally command aligns the center of any objects selected after the first (primary) selection to the horizontal center of the primary selection (first item selected in the group) without changing its vertical orientation.


Align the Object Vertically to a Row

The Align Vertically command aligns the center of any objects selected after the first (primary) selection to the vertical center of the primary selection (first item selected in the group) without changing its horizontal orientation.


Grouping Objects

The Group command will combine several objects into one object.  This is useful when moving or resizing a set of objects at once.  To use the Group command, you will need to select more than one object first.


Ungrouping Objects

The Ungroup command will split up a group of objects.  The objects can then be moved, resized and colored independently.  After ungrouping, all the objects in the group will be automatically selected.


Font Menu

Point Size

Font Width

Plain

Italic

Tilted

Wacky

Staggered

List of Fonts

The Font Palette


Point Size

The Point Size command allows you to see exactly what the point size is for the selected text block.  You may also set it to a specific point size if you wish.

If Fit letter to frame is selected (default), the point size depends on the size of the frame, and changes if you change the size of the frame.

If Fit frame to letter is selected, then you can set the point size to anything between 4 and 3200.  If you then change the size of the frame, the text will remain the selected point size. You will be unable to change the frame to a size in which the text of the selected point size does not fit.


Font Width

The Font Width command allows you to control the width of the characters of your text.

When the width is 100% (default), the width of the characters are exactly as the font was designed.  Above 100% the characters appear wider -- below 100% the characters appear thinner.


Plain

The Plain command sets the type style of a selected text block to the "plain," or default, format for the chosen font.


Italic

The Italic command sets the style of a selected text block so that the letters are slanted to the right.


Tilted

The Tilted command tilts each individual letter of a selected text block to the right.


Wacky

The Wacky command tilts the individual letters of a selected text block randomly to the left and right.


Staggered

The Staggered command changes the vertical orientation of a line of text so that the individual letters are alternately slightly above or slightly below the center of the text line.


List of Fonts

Choosing a font type from the list of fonts tells Print Artist to use that font on a selected text block and any subsequently inserted text blocks.  Any text blocks placed prior to the font change will not be affected unless they are selected when the font is chosen.


The Font Palette

The Font palette is different from the Font menu in Print Artist in that it can be dragged to any part of the Desktop for quick reference any time you need it and, if moved away from the Toolbar, it will remain open on screen until you close it (by double-clicking the control box or pushing the toggle button on the Toolbar). Also unlike menus, palettes have a scrolling area where their many options are listed.

To move a palette, place the pointer in the title bar and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the palette to the part of your screen where you want it. Print Artist will save your palette placements, even when you exit the program, unless you turn off the Save Palette Placement function on the View menu. To activate a palette that has been left open on screen, click anywhere in the palette.

Palettes may be opened using the More... option from the corresponding menus, or by pushing the buttons on the Toolbar. Palettes contain all the options (except More...) available on the menus, as well as the added choices available in the lists.

Note:

Palettes left in place under the Toolbar will close once you have chosen an item from them, just as menus do.


Effect Menu

Customize Effect

Thick Outlines

Thicker Outlines

Cutout

Flip the Object on it's Axis

Keep In Frame

The Effect Palette

Using effects on objects


Customize Effect

The Customize option in the Effect menu and palette opens the Customize Effect dialog box, where you can choose the orientation, depth, and number of areas of the selected object.

The choices available to you depend on the effect you have applied to the object.

If no effects have been applied when you choose the Customize option, the dialog box will show only the standard effects list. After you have chosen one of these standard effects, other variations will become available.

Each effect will preview above as you scroll through the various possibilities. To confirm your selections, click OK or press ENTER.


Thick Outlines

Thick Outlines doubles the width of the outline around the face of a selected object.


Thicker Outlines

Thicker Outlines triples the width of the outline around the face of a selected object.


Cutout

Cuts the face of a selected object out of a rectangular "fill" sized to fit the object. In the case of text, this effect is applied individually to each letter in a selected text block.


Flip the Object on it's Axis

Flip horizontally flips a selected object.


Keep In Frame

Keep in Frame affects effects which normally "spill" outside a selected object's frame. It restricts the effect to within the object's frame.

This command is disabled for graphics and basic shapes, and enabled for fills, text and frames.


The Effect Palette

The Effect palette is different from the Effect menu in Print Artist in that it can be dragged to any part of the Desktop for quick reference any time you need it and, if moved away from the Toolbar, it will remain open on screen until you close it (by double-clicking the control box or pushing the toggle button on the Toolbar). Also unlike menus, palettes have a scrolling area where their many options are listed.

To move a palette, place the pointer in the title bar and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the palette to the part of your screen where you want it. Print Artist will save your palette placements, even when you exit the program, unless you turn off the Save Palette Placement function on the View menu. To activate a palette that has been left open on screen, click anywhere in the palette.

Palettes may be opened using the More... option from the corresponding menus, or by pushing the buttons on the Toolbar. Palettes contain all the options (except More...) available on the menus, as well as the added choices available in the lists.

Note:

Palettes left in place under the Toolbar will close once you have chosen an item from them, just as menus do.


Using effects on objects

Effects increase the number of areas of selected objects and may add dimension as well. All effects are available for text, and most effects can be used on fills, basic shapes, and symbols, but only the Flipped effect will be available for graphics.


Color Menu

Customize Color

Background

Reversed

Lightened

The Color Palette

Choosing a Color


Customize Color

The Customize Color dialog box allows you to completely control the colors of the selected graphic or text object.

To change a color, select a surface from the Surface List.  Then click on a color in the color palette.  You will see the selected surface change instantly to the new color.  You will also see the name of the color below the color palette.

The Blend button is useful for coloring multiple surfaces.  For some graphics and text effects, the Surface List includes several surfaces that are consecutively numbered.  If you select a color for the first numbered surface and another color for the last numbered surface, then when you click on Blend intermediate colors will instantly be assigned to all the intermediate surfaces.  For objects to which effects have been applied, the Blend option generates a gradation of colors between the first and last layers, shades, outlines, faces, or strata in the object. There must be a logical path between the chosen colors for Print Artist to perform this function.  If there is no path, the Blend button will be grayed out. The original white and original black surfaces in graphics are not affected by this option.

Clicking Reverse will take all the colors currently coloring certain surfaces and apply them to the surfaces in reverse order.

Clicking Rotate will take all the colors currently coloring certain surfaces and rotate them through those surfaces.

Clicking Invert will change the color of each surface to its complementary color.

Clicking Lighten will lighten the color of each surface.  Colors can be lightened several times.

Clicking Mono will change each color to a shade of gray.

Clicking Revert will change all the colors back to what they were when you first entered the Customize Color dialog box.


Background

The Background command applies a preset color that is designed to complement the color of the selected object to the background of the object. The background color can be changed in the Customize Color dialog box.


Reversed

The Reversed option reverses the order in which colors are applied to the surfaces of the selected object. For more information about object surfaces and coloring objects, see Chapter 6 in the Print Artist User's guide.


Lightened

The Lightened option lightens the colors currently in use in the selected object.


The Color Palette

The Color palette is different from the Color menu in Print Artist in that it can be dragged to any part of the Desktop for quick reference any time you need it and, if moved away from the Toolbar, it will remain open on screen until you close it (by double-clicking the control box or pushing the toggle button on the Toolbar). Also unlike menus, palettes have a scrolling area where their many options are listed.

To move a palette, place the pointer in the title bar and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the palette to the part of your screen where you want it. Print Artist will save your palette placements, even when you exit the program, unless you turn off the Save Palette Placement function on the View menu. To activate a palette that has been left open on screen, click anywhere in the palette.

Palettes may be opened using the More... option from the corresponding menus, or by pushing the buttons on the Toolbar. Palettes contain all the options (except More...) available on the menus, as well as the added choices available in the lists.

Note:

Palettes left in place under the Toolbar will close once you have chosen an item from them, just as menus do.


Choosing a Color

When you choose a color from the Color menu or palette, it is applied to the surfaces of the selected object. For more information about coloring objects in Print Artist, see Chapter 6 in the Print Artist User's guide.


Shape Menu

Rectangular Frame

Clockwise Arc

Counter-Clockwise Arc

Object Shapes

The Shape Palette


Rectangular Frame

There are three frame shape choices in Print Artist: Rectangular, which is the default frame shape, clockwise, and counterclockwise. These choices change the shape of the frame around the selected object.


Clockwise Arc

There are three frame shape choices in Print Artist: Rectangular, which is the default frame shape, clockwise, and counterclockwise. These choices change the shape of the frame around the selected object.


Counter-Clockwise Arc

There are three frame shape choices in Print Artist: Rectangular, which is the default frame shape, clockwise, and counterclockwise. These choices change the shape of the frame around the selected object.


Object Shapes

The Object shapes listed in the menu and the palette affect the shape of the objects themselves within the frames. Whether or not the shape applied affects the selected object may depend upon whether either (or both) of the two "stretched" alignment commands has been applied to the object.


The Shape Palette

The Shape palette is different from the Shape menu in Print Artist in that it can be dragged to any part of the Desktop for quick reference any time you need it and, if moved away from the Toolbar, it will remain open on screen until you close it (by double-clicking the control box or pushing the toggle button on the Toolbar). Also unlike menus, palettes have a scrolling area where their many options are listed.

To move a palette, place the pointer in the title bar and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the palette to the part of your screen where you want it. Print Artist will save your palette placements, even when you exit the program, unless you turn off the Save Palette Placement function on the View menu. To activate a palette that has been left open on screen, click anywhere in the palette.

Palettes may be opened using the More... option from the corresponding menus, or by pushing the buttons on the Toolbar. Palettes contain all the options (except More...) available on the menus, as well as the added choices available in the lists.

Note:

Palettes left in place under the Toolbar will close once you have chosen an item from them, just as menus do.


Alignment Menu

Align Object to Left Border

Center Object Horizontally Within Site

Align Object to Right Border

Justify Letters Within Site

Justify Words Within Site

Stretch Selection Horizontally to Fill Site

Align Selection to Top Border

Center Selection Vertically Within Site

Align Selection to Bottom Border

Justify Selection Vertically

Stretch Selection Vertically

Turn Word Wrap Feature ON/OFF

Add or Remove 1/4 Spaces Between Letters

Add or Remove 1/2 Spaces Between Letters

Add or Remove 1/2 Line Spaces Between Words

Turn Vertical Orientation Feature ON/OFF


Align Object to Left Border

The Left commands aligns the selected object to the left frame border.


Center Object Horizontally Within Site

The Horizontally Centered command places the selected object in the horizontal center of its frame. If the selected object is a text block with several lines of text, each line will be centered within the frame.


Align Object to Right Border

The Right command aligns the selected object to the right frame border.


Justify Letters Within Site

The Letter Justified command evenly spaces all the letters in a selected text block so that the edges of the text are flush with the left and right borders of the frame. This function is affected by Word Wrap.


Justify Words Within Site

The Word Justified command evenly spaces all the words in a selected text block so that the edges of the text are flush with the left and right borders of the frame. This function is affected by Word Wrap.


Stretch Selection Horizontally to Fill Site

The Horizontally Stretched command stretches the selected object so that it horizontally fills its frame. In the case of text, each letter in a selected text block will be stretched.  When this command is applied to a graphic, it may not become apparent until an Object shape from the Shape menu is applied.


Align Selection to Top Border

The Top command aligns the selected object to the top frame border.


Center Selection Vertically Within Site

The Vertically Centered command places the selected object in the vertical center of its frame.


Align Selection to Bottom Border

The Bottom command aligns the selected object to the bottom frame border.


Justify Selection Vertically

The Vertically Justified command arranges lines of text in a selected text block so that they are flush with the top and bottom borders of the frame.


Stretch Selection Vertically

The Vertically Stretched command stretches the selected object so that it vertically fills its frame. In the case of text, each letter in a selected text block will be stretched.  When this command is applied to a graphic, it may not become apparent until an Object shape from the Shape menu is applied.


Turn Word Wrap Feature ON/OFF

Word Wrap is a toggle that affects how text is placed in a text block. When Word Wrap is on, the text automatically moves to the next line when it comes to the right edge of the frame. When Word Wrap is off, all of the text in a selected text block will be placed on one line, in the vertical center of the frame, unless you have inserted manual returns.


Add or Remove 1/4 Spaces Between Letters

Extra Letter Spacing (1/4 space) adds one-fourth of a normal space between each letter in a selected text block.


Add or Remove 1/2 Spaces Between Letters

Extra Letter Spacing (1/2 space) adds one-half of a normal space between each letter in a selected text block.


Add or Remove 1/2 Line Spaces Between Words

Extra Line Spacing (1/2 line) adds one-half of a normal line between each line of text in a selected text block.


Turn Vertical Orientation Feature ON/OFF

The Vertical command creates vertical lines of text in the selected text block; that is, the letters flow from top to bottom instead of from left to right within the frame. Letters remain right-side-up.


Glossary of Terms

Document

Document type

Fill

Graphic

Layout

Object

Symbol

Text block


Document

Anything you create using Print Artist, whether it contains graphics and fills only, text only, or a combination.


Document type

One of ten kinds of documents you can create: sign, banner, business card, envelope, greeting card, letterhead, postcard, certificate, calendar, or craft.


Fill

A fully colored-in rectangle used to fill in space in a document and set off graphics and text.


Graphic

An illustration included in Print Artist's Graphics library.


Layout

Fully formatted and designed, ready-to-print Document included in Print Artist. Over 400 professionally designed layouts are included.


Object

Text block, fill, or graphic that has been inserted into a Print Artist document.


Symbol

A special kind of graphic to which effects can be applied.


Text block

A group of words or letters that has been inserted in a document.