44 PICTURETHIS "SHAREWARE" VERSION RELEASE 2.00 MAY 1, 1989 USER MANUAL, PART 3 OF 5 PARTS Copyright 1988, 1989 by Patricia Y. Williams and Gregory Williams, All Rights Reserved. 17. MANIPULATING OBJECTS Objects can be manipulated in several ways: they can be moved, copied, scaled, rotated, flipped, and inclined. Combinations of these manipulations can be used on an object to change it in an unlimited number of ways. To perform one of these manipulations, you must access the object menu by pressing: F7 The state changes to "OBJECT," and the object menu appears. To perform one of the manipulations, press "M" for move, "C" for copy, "S" for scale, "R" for rotate, "F" for flip, or "I" for incline. The state changes to "MOVE," "COPY," "SCALE," "ROTATE," "FLIP," or "INCLIN," respectively, the cursor moves to the closest initial point of an outermost object or trail, and that object is dashed. An instruction box appears ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: -"/"Select: Enter"). Press "+," "SPACE," and "-" repeatedly until the object that you want to manipulate is dashed. Then press "ENTER." (Pressing "Esc" returns the state to "OBJECT" and the object menu reappears.) If only one object is available, it will automatically be chosen. After an object is chosen, each manipulation proceeds differently, as described in the following sections. The best way to learn how these manipulations work is to try each one on a box as you read through the instructions. In Section 17.6 are two examples of combined manipulations that you can try. 17.1 MOVING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press "M" and select an object as described in Section 17. The state is "MOVE," and the selected object is dashed. If you have the prompts toggled on ("H+": see Section 4.1), a prompt will appear: "Move then F1 to set start point." This means that you may move the cursor (with the cursor keys (see Section 5), the "Del" key (see Section 9), the frame corner keys (see Section 6.1) or the "Shift-Del" key (see Section 22.1)) to a start point on the object; then press "F1". It is often convenient to leave 45 the cursor where it is (at the initial point of the object) and press "F1" immediately. The start point can be anywhere on the screen; it designates the point that you want to position elsewhere on the screen. It is usually easiest to see what you are doing if the start point is on an endpoint. (If you press "Esc" instead of "F1," the state will return to "OBJECT" and the object menu will reappear.) Once you have pressed "F1," another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set finish point". Move the cursor (a dotted line will follow) to the position where you want the start point of the object moved, then press "F3". (If you press "Esc" instead, the "start point" prompt will appear again if "H+" is toggled, and you can choose a new start point.) After you press "F3", the dotted line is erased, a copy of the object (without endpoints) is drawn in the new position, and a prompt appears: "OK? (Y/N)." If the position is correct, press "Y"; the object is erased from its old position and drawn in its new position, and the state returns to "FREE." The layering is not changed; the moved object is still behind objects it was behind before, and in front of objects it was in front of before. If you press any other key, the copy of the object will be erased, the "finish point" prompt will reappear, and the dotted line will reappear from the start point to the cursor position. You may then move the cursor again and press "F3" at a different position. An object does not have to be entirely on the screen for this or other object manipulations. But the initial point of the object must be on the screen for it to be chosen in the first place, and the start and finish points must be on the screen. 17.2 COPYING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press "C" and then select an object as described in Section 17. The state becomes "COPY" and the selected object is dashed. From now until you have selected a position for the copied object, this operation is carried out exactly like the move operation (see Section 17.1): You select a start point, press "F1," select a finish point, then press "F3"; a copy of the object is drawn in the new position and an "O/K (Y/N)" prompt appears. For copying, however, if you press "Y," the original object is NOT erased (it remains dashed), when the copy is drawn. A new prompt appears: "Again? (Y/N)." If you press "Y," the dotted line reappears from the start point to the cursor, the "finish point" prompt shows again (if "H+" is toggled), and you may move the cursor to choose a new position for ANOTHER copy of the object. (If you press "Esc" here, you can even go back and change the start point if you like.) Make as many copies of the object as you like. When you are finished and the "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears, press any key other than "Y." The original object returns to normal and the state returns to "FREE." All copies of objects are placed at the "front" of the 46 drawing, but this can be changed (see Section 16.4). All copies of objects are independent objects. They can be further manipulated without altering the original object or other copies of that object. 17.3 SCALING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press "S" and then select an object as described in Section 17. The state becomes "SCALE" and the selected object is dashed. A prompt will appear: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer "Esc," you will be returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press "Y," the scaled object will REPLACE the original object when you have completed your manipulations. (This is similar to the move operation; there will be the same number of objects when you are done as when you started.) If you press any other key, the original object will remain IN ADDITION to any scaled objects that you make. (This is similar to the copy operation; the original object will remain, and there can be any number of "scaled" copies.) A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set anchor point." This means that you may move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press "F1" at an anchor point. The anchor point is a point on the screen around which the object will be scaled. When the object is scaled, the anchor point will NOT move, although other points on the object will. It is frequently useful to have the anchor point on an endpoint. (If "Esc" is pressed instead of "F1," the object menu will return.) A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the scale factors (horizontal and vertical) will be set by cursor movement or direct entry. (An "Esc" here backs out and lets you reset the anchor point.) If you want to set the scale factors by direct entry, press "D." A prompt appears: "Uniform scaling? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer "Esc" to this prompt, you are given another opportunity to select cursor movement or direct entry, or you can back out further. If you answer "Y", it means that you want the object to be scaled uniformly in the horizontal and vertical directions, that is, it will retain its current proportions, but be smaller or larger. In this case a new prompt will appear: "Enter scale factor" on the first line, and the current scale factor (in parentheses) on the second line. If the current scale factor is satisfactory, press "ENTER." If you want to change the scale factor, enter a new value and press "ENTER." (If you press "Esc" instead, you back out to the "uniform scaling" prompt.) Initially, the scale factor is 1.0 (that is, the object will not change size at all), but each time you enter a new uniform scale factor, it is retained; the next time you scale an object the current scale factor will be whatever you last entered. This eases scaling multiple objects by the same amount. If you want to scale the object non-uniformly, press any other key except "Y" and "Esc." You will then have two successive prompts to answer; the first for a horizontal scale factor, the second 47 for a vertical scale factor. They are answered just like the uniform scale factor prompt, and your entered scale factors are retained for your next scaling operation. Entering scale factors by direct entry has the advantage of being easy to understand, and it allows you to exactly specify scale factors. If you want to set the scale factors by cursor movement instead of direct entry, press "C" at the menu. A prompt will appear (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F2 to set 100% line." Move the cursor (a solid line follows) in any direction and then press "F2" to establish the 100% scaling line. If this line is horizontal, you will be scaling ONLY in the horizontal direction, if it is vertical, you will be scaling ONLY in the vertical direction. If it is slanted, you will be scaling in BOTH directions. If you press "Esc" instead of "F2," you will be able to go back and set a new anchor point. After "F2" is pressed, another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set scaling line." As you move the cursor, a dotted line follows from the end of the 100% line to the cursor. If you move back toward the anchor point, the scaled object will be smaller. If you move further away from the anchor point, the scaled object will be larger. If the scaling line and 100% line form a straight line, the scaling will be uniform (unless the lines are horizontal or vertical). The effect is to move the point at which you pressed "F2" (the end of the 100% line) to the point at which you pressed "F3" (the end of the scaling line). This can be very useful: the anchor point on the object will remain in its original position, while the point at which you pressed "F2" is moved to the point at which you pressed "F3" on the screen, and the rest of the object is scaled with it. It is especially useful when the "F2" and "F3" keys are pressed while the cursor is on endpoints. This allows you to precisely fit an object among other objects. Pressing "Esc" during this process backs you out a step at a time. A further aid to scaling can be obtained by toggling the relative position box on (see Section 19.4). While setting the scaling line, you can see the current horizontal and vertical scale factors as the cursor moves. Once you have established the scale factors, either by direct entry or cursor movement, you are asked if you want to scale the line weights of all the curves in the object with first the horizontal scale factor (if it is not 1.0) and if not, then with the vertical scale factor (again, only if it is not 1.0). Sometimes this is appropriate, and sometimes not; it depends on the effect that you want to achieve. Finally, the scaled object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the scaled object, answer "Y" and the scaled object will be established. If you are not satisfied with the scaled object, press any other key, and you will be returned to the prompt asking if you want to enter the scale factors by cursor movement or direct entry. Then you can try again. If you pressed "Y," further action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the 48 original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object will be erased, and the new object will take its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new scaled object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer "Y," you can make more scaled copies of the original object. All scaled copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). While scaling, especially with large scale factors set by direct entry, you may get two error messages. The first ("END/CONTROL POINTS OFF VIRTUAL SCREEN") means that you have scaled part of the object not only off the entire drawing screen (the screen that is visible at 50% magnification), but also off a much larger virtual screen where PictureThis allows endpoints and control points to be placed. This is not allowed, and you are given an opportunity to reset your scale factors. The second message ("YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS OBJECT IF SAVED") means that the initial point (See Section 16.1) of the scaled object will be off the entire drawing screen (but not off the virtual screen). Since objects are accessed for alterations via their initial points, you will not be able to group, ungroup, erase, layer, or manipulate this object in the future. This could be highly undesirable, so do not save when "YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS OBJECT IF SAVED" appears unless you are SURE you won't want to alter it again. You can change the initial point of an object by ungrouping it (see Section 16.2), relayering it so a different component is "rearmost" (see Section 16.4), and then grouping it again (see Section 16.1). (For your new "rearmost" component, you might want to make a construction line that will not show on output.) These two error messages also can appear for object manipulations other than scaling, but they are most likely when scaling. 17.4 ROTATING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press "R" and then select an object as described in Section 17. The state becomes "ROTATE" and the selected object is dashed. A prompt will appear: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer "Esc," you will be returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press "Y," the rotated object will replace the original object when you have completed your manipulations. If you press any other key, the original object will remain in addition to any rotated objects that you make. A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set anchor point." This means that you may move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press "F1" at an anchor point. The anchor point is a point on the screen around which the object will be rotated. When the object is rotated, the anchor point will NOT move, although all the other points on the object will. It is frequently useful to have the anchor point on an endpoint. (If "Esc" is pressed instead of "F1," the object menu will return.) A new menu appears allowing you to select whether the 49 rotation angle will be set by cursor movement or direct entry. An "Esc" here backs out and lets you reset the anchor point. If you want to set the rotation angle by direct entry, press "D." A prompt appears requesting the rotation angle in degrees. The second line of the prompt gives the current rotation angle (in parentheses). If you are satisfied with the current rotation angle, press "ENTER." If you want a different rotation angle, type it in, followed by "ENTER." If you press "Esc", the cursor movement/direct entry menu will reappear. POSITIVE rotation angles are measured in a CLOCKWISE direction. NEGATIVE angles are measured in a COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION. The current rotation angle is initially 90 degrees. Any rotation angle you enter will be retained and becomes the "current rotation angle" for your next rotation operation. If you want to set the rotation angle by cursor movement, press "C." A prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F2 to set 0 degree direction." Move the cursor and a solid line follows. This is the line from which the rotation angle will be measured. Press "F2" when the line is in the desired direction. It is often useful to place this line along a line radiating from the anchor point. If you press "Esc," you will be allowed to reset the anchor point. When you press "F2," another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set rotation angle." Move the cursor away from the 0 degree direction line; a dotted line is drawn from the anchor point to the cursor. The angle between these two lines is the rotation angle. Pressing "Esc" will back out and allow you to reset the 0 degree direction line. (By toggling the relative position box on (see Section 19.4) while setting the rotation angle, you can see the current rotation angle as the cursor moves.) Pressing "F3" sets the position angle. The rotated object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the rotated object, answer "Y" and the rotated object will be established. If you are not satisfied with the rotated object, press any other key, and you will be returned to the prompt asking if you want to enter the rotation angle by cursor movement or direct entry; then you can try again. If you pressed "Y," further action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object will be erased, and the new object will take its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new rotated object will be drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt will appear. If you answer "Y," you can make more rotated copies of the original object. All rotated copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). 17.5 FLIPPING AN OBJECT Flipping an object means flipping it over a flipline, 50 making a mirror image of the object. In the "OBJECT" state, press "F" and then select an object as described in Section 17. The state becomes "FLIP" and the selected object is dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer "Esc," you will be returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press "Y," the flipped object will replace the original object when you have completed your manipulations. If you press any other key, the original object will remain in addition to any flipped objects that you make. A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set 1st flipline point." This means that you may move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press "F1" at one end of the line over which you want to flip the object. If you press "Esc," the object menu will be returned and the state will be "OBJECT." After you press "F1," another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set 2nd flipline point." Move the cursor (a dotted line follows); when it is placed so as to form the line over which the object will be flipped, press "F3." If you press "Esc" instead, you will be able to reset the 1st flipline point. The flipline can be placed anywhere on the screen, at any angle. Functionally, it extends at both ends past the edges of the entire drawing screen. The flipped object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the flipped object, answer "Y" and the flipped object will be established. If you are not satisfied with the flipped object, press any other key, and you will be able to reset both ends of the flipline. If you pressed "Y," further action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object will be erased, and the new object will take its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new flipped object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer "Y," you can make more flipped copies of the original object. All flipped copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). 17.6 INCLINING AN OBJECT Inclining an object means leaning it away from the vertical or from the horizontal. This operation can be very useful for drawing 3-dimensional figures and shadows. To incline an object, while in the "OBJECT" state, press "I" and then select an object as described in Section 17. The state becomes "INCLIN" and the selected object is dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer "Esc," you will be returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press "Y," the inclined object will replace the original object when you have completed your manipulations. If you press any other key, the original object will remain in addition to any inclined objects that 51 you make. A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set anchor point." This means that you may move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press "F1" at an anchor point. The anchor point is a point on the screen around which the object will be inclined. When the object is inclined, the anchor point will NOT move, although other points on the object will. It is frequently useful to have the anchor point on an endpoint. (If "Esc" is pressed instead of "F1," the object menu will return.) A new menu appears, allowing you to choose whether you want to incline the object away from the vertical or the horizontal. Press "V" or "H" to choose vertical or horizontal inclination. ("Esc" allows you to reset the anchor point.) After you have chosen one of these, another menu appears, asking you to choose whether you want "shadow" or "3- dimensional" inclination. These are descriptive terms to suggest ways the two different types of inclination are useful (described more fully below). Press "S" for "shadow" or "3" for "3-dimensional." A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the inclination angle will be set by cursor movement or direct entry. (An "Esc" here backs out to the inclination type menu.) If you want to set the inclination angle by direct entry, press "D". A prompt appears, requesting you to enter the inclination angle in degrees. The second line of the prompt gives the current inclination angle in parentheses. If you are satisfied with the current inclination angle, press "ENTER." If you want a different inclination angle, type it in, followed by "ENTER." If you press "Esc," the cursor movement/direct entry menu will reappear. Inclination angles are measured in a clockwise direction from a vertical line connecting the anchor point to the top of the screen for vertical inclination, or from a horizontal line connecting the anchor point to the right side of the screen for horizontal inclination. A negative angle is measured in a counterclockwise direction. The initial current inclination angle is 30 degrees. Any inclination angle entered will become the current inclination angle for your next inclination operation. If you want to set the inclination angle by cursor movement, press "C." A solid line appears through the anchor point, vertically from the top to the bottom of the screen for vertical inclination, or horizontally from the left to the right side of the screen for horizontal inclination. A prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set inclination angle." Move the cursor; a dotted line follows. The angle between the two lines is the inclination angle. Press "F3" when you are satisfied with the inclination angle. If you press "Esc," you will be allowed to reset the anchor point. (By toggling the relative position box on (see Section 19.4) while setting the inclination angle, you can see the current inclination angle as the cursor moves.) The inclined object is drawn (without endpoints) and an 52 "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the inclined object, answer "Y," and the inclined object will be established. If you are not satisfied with the inclined object, press any other key, and you will be returned to the prompt asking if you want vertical or horizontal inclination. If you pressed "Y," further action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object will be erased, and the new object will take its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new inclined object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer "Y," you can make more inclined copies of the original object. All inclined copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). Let's return to the difference between "shadow" and "3- dimensional" inclination. The best way to see the difference is to try a couple of examples. (For both of these examples, toggle "H+" on, and toggle the status box on with "W".) The first example shows "shadow" inclination, called that because it can be used to create shadow effects. Clear your drawing by pressing "C" and then answering "Y" to the prompt. Next, import the clip art object file STICKFIG.CLP (included on one of the distribution disks). See Section 18.3 for more details on how to do this; for now, make sure STICKFIG.CLP is in the default directory, then press "F10," "I," "ENTER," move the highlighted box to STICKFIG.CLP with the cursor keys, and press "ENTER" again. At the prompt "OK? (Y/N)," answer "Y." Press "Q" to look at the Quickshow screen picture of a stick figure running across the screen. You are going to give the stick figure a shadow. Press "Esc" to return to the drawing screen. Press "F7" and then "I" to start the incline process. The stick figure will be automatically selected since it is the only object available. Answer "N" to the prompt: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)". Press "Del" to find an endpoint, and press "-" once to move the cursor to the endpoint at the stick figure's forward foot. Press "F1" to set the anchor point at the forward foot. The "vertical/horizontal" menu will appear; press "V" for vertical. At the next menu, press "S" for shadow. At the next menu, press "D" for direct entry and enter 50 as the desired angle. An inclined image of the stick figure will be drawn. Press "Y" in answer to the "OK?" prompt, and "N" in answer to the "Again?" prompt. View your figures on the Quickshow screen. The shadow should be black, so you need to darken it. Press "F6," then "L," and then select the shadow's body as the trail you want; next, press "G" for gray and enter a line gray percentage of 100 (black). Press "K" for keep. Now you need to make the shadow's head black too. Press "F6," then "F," and then select the shadow's head; enter 100 for the requested fill value. Now look at the figures on the Quickshow screen again. You will notice that the shadow is in front of the stick figure. To correct this, press "F7," then "L," then choose the shadow and press "R" to move it to the 53 rear. View the Quickshow screen one more time. All done! Notice that the shadow reaches the same "height" as the stick figure. This is the important difference between "shadow" and "3-dimensional" inclination. For "shadow" inclination, the vertical (or horizontal) distances from a horizontal (or vertical) line through the anchor point to each endpoint remain the same when inclining vertically (or horizontally). For "3-dimensional" inclining, the distances of the inclined object remain proportional and are NOT stretched. As an example of "3-dimensional" inclining, make a child's alphabet block. Clear your drawing by pressing "C" and then answering "Y" to the prompt. Now import the clip art object file BLKSIDE.CLP (included on one of the distribution disks). See Section 18.3 for more details on how to do this; for now, make sure BLKSIDE.CLP is in the default directory, and then press "F10," "I," "ENTER," move the highlighted box to BLKSIDE.CLP with the cursor keys, and press "ENTER" again. At the prompt "OK? (Y/N)," answer "Y." Press "Q" to see the Quickshow screen: the side of a block with an "A" on it. You are going to make a drawing of a 3-dimensional block. Press "Esc" to get back to the drawing screen. First you have to make two copies of the block side. Press "F7," then "C" for copy. The block side will automatically be selected because it is the only object available. Press "Del" and then "+" and "-" repeatedly until the cursor is on the lower left endpoint of the block side. Now press "F1" to select that as the start point of the copy. Press "Del" again, then "+" and "-" repeatedly until the cursor is on the lower right endpoint of the block side. Now press "F3." A copy of the block side will appear next to the original. Press "Y" to the "OK?" prompt and then "Y" to the "Again?" prompt. Press "Del" again, followed by "+" and "-" repeatedly to move the cursor to the top left endpoint of the original block side. Then press "F3." Another copy of the block side will appear above the original. Answer "Y" to the "OK?" prompt, but "N" this time to the "Again?" prompt. (Notice that there is some on-screen "garbage" left when manipulating objects; it is harmless, but you can press "D" while in the "FREE" state to redraw the screen if it becomes bothersome (see Section 24.3).) Now you need to scale the two copies of the block side. Press "F7" and then "S" for scale, and select the top block side. Answer "Y" to the "Replace original object?" prompt. Move the cursor to near the bottom left corner of the top block side and press "Del," followed by "+" and "-" repeatedly until the cursor is on this corner. Press F1 to set the anchor point at the corner. At the next menu, press "D" for direct entry of scale factors. Answer "N" to the "Uniform scaling?" prompt. Enter 1.0 for a horizontal scale factor and .6 for a vertical scale factor. Answer "N" to the prompt about scaling line weights. A squashed copy of the top block side will be drawn. Answer "Y" to the "OK?" prompt. Similarly, scale the right block side by .6 horizontally and 1.0 vertically, using its bottom left corner as the anchor point. Now the top and right sides need to be inclined to finish the block. Press "F7" and then "I" for incline. Select the top block side, answer "Y" 54 to the "Replace original object?" prompt, and again move the cursor to its lower left endpoint. Press "F1" to set the anchor point. Press "V" for vertical, and "3" for "3- dimensional." Press "D" for direct entry and enter an inclination angle of 60. The top block side will be inclined. Answer "Y" to the "OK?" prompt. Similarly, incline the right block side horizontally, at -30 degrees. You should now have what looks like a 3-dimensional block. (Note that the top right corner endpoint of the top block side and the top right corner endpoint of the side block side are a few internal units (see Section 19.3) apart. This should not be noticeable on a 300 dpi laser printer, but may be slightly noticeable on a higher resolution printer, or if you scale the block up considerably. This can be corrected, if necessary, by ungrouping the object, erasing and redrawing the lines so they meet at the same endpoint, and regrouping the object. It is not very hard to do; the result is stored as a clip art object (BLOCK.CLP) on one of the distribution disks.) You should group the three block sides into an object ("F7","G", followed by three "ENTER"s.), or import BLOCK.CLP. Now you can try making a stack of blocks, flipping or rotating the block, etc. 18. FILE OPERATIONS AND DOS SHELL All file input/output operations and the shell to the operating system are accessed by pressing: F10 The state changes to "FILES" and a menu appears at the top of the screen, with seven options: GetDRW, SaveDRW, ImportCLP, ExportCLP, ReadTMP, WriteEPS, and DOS. 18.1 RETRIEVING A SAVED DRAWING At the file menu, the GetDRW option (for retrieving a PictureThis-format drawing file previously saved with the SaveDRW option (see Section 18.2)) is accessed by pressing: G A prompt appears at the top of the screen. The first line of this prompt states: "Enter filespec for DRW retrieval." The second line is a file specification using your current directory as the path, "*" for the filename and "DRW" for the file extension. (We strongly recommend using the file extension "DRW" for your drawing files.) If you press "ENTER," the screen will change to a directory list of all the filenames that match the specification in the second line of the prompt. Press the cursor keys to highlight the drawing file that you wish to retreive. Press "ENTER" and that file will be retrieved. If you want to view the directory for a different file specification, instead of pressing "ENTER," type in that file 55 specification with a "*" or "?" to indicate a "wild card." If you want to retrieve a specific file without viewing the directory, key in the filename (with extension and the appropriate path specification if necessary) of a drawing file saved previously with the SaveDRW option, then press "ENTER." PictureThis saves the path you enter and uses it as the path for your next drawing retrieval. Within a short time, the saved drawing should appear. If not, pay heed to any error messages and try again. Note: Drawings saved using PictureThis Version 1 will be correctly retrieved. Your current drawing will be cleared when you bring in a new drawing; save it first if you do not want to lose it. 18.2 SAVING A DRAWING At the file menu, the SaveDRW option (for saving the current drawing to disk for subsequent use in PictureThis) is accessed by pressing: S If you have previously retrieved or saved a drawing, a prompt will appear asking if you want to use the most recent file specification. If you answer "Y," the current drawing will be saved as that file specification. If you answer "N" or you have not previously retrieved or saved a drawing, a different prompt appears at the top of the screen. The first line of this prompt states: "Enter filespec for DRW save." The second line is a file specification using your current directory as the path, "*" for the filename, and "DRW" for the file extension. (We strongly recommend using the extension "DRW" for your drawing files.) If you press "ENTER," the screen will change to a directory list of all the filenames that match the specification in the second line of the prompt. Press the cursor keys to highlight the drawing file specification that you wish to save the current drawing as and press "ENTER." The current drawing will be saved as that file. If you want to view the directory for a different file specification, instead of pressing "ENTER," type in that file specification with a "*" or "?" to indicate a "wild card." If you want to save your drawing as a specific file without viewing the directory, key in the filename (with extension and the appropriate path specification if necessary), then press "ENTER." PictureThis saves the path you enter and uses it as the path for the next drawing retrieval or save. If the file that you typed in already exists, a prompt will appear asking if you want to write over the existing file. If you do, press "Y"; if not, press "N" and you will be able to enter a different file name. The saved drawing includes all of the curves on the current drawing, not just those curves visible on the current screen. It also includes the trail, object, and drawing sequence information. Along with the actual drawing, the current frame 56 (see Section 21.1), the current unit (see Section 19.1), the current grid (see Section 20.2), the positions of all noted points (see Section 22.1), and the scale of the drawing (see Section 21.2) are all saved. The file saved DOES NOT include template information. Try again if you get an error message (after trying to correct the problem). Note: Saving a drawing deletes from the drawing file all erased curves, endpoints, trails, and objects (which have been erased directly or by various other operations). This can be useful when memory limits are being approached (see Section 27). WE RECOMMEND FREQUENT SAVING WHILE DRAWING, FOR SAFETY!!! 18.3 IMPORTING CLIP ART At the file menu, the ImportCLP option (for importing into the current drawing a PictureThis-format clip art file previously saved with the ExportCLP option (see Section 18.4)) is accessed by pressing: I A prompt appears at the top of the screen. The first line of this prompt states: "Enter filespec for CLP retrieval". The second line is a file specification using your current directory as the path, "*" for the filename and "CLP" for the file extension. (We strongly recommend using CLP as the file extension for your clip art files.) If you press "ENTER," the screen will change to a directory list of all the filenames that match the specification in the second line of the prompt. Press the cursor keys to highlight the clip art file that you wish to import and press "ENTER." That file will be retrieved. If you want to view the directory for a different file specification, instead of pressing "ENTER," type in that file specification with a "*" or "?" to indicate a "wild card." If you want to retrieve a specific file without viewing the directory, key in the filename (with extension and the appropriate path specification if necessary) of a clip art file saved previously with the ExportCLP option, then press "ENTER." PictureThis saves the path you enter and uses it as the path for the next clip art retrieval. Within a short time, the saved clip art object should be added to your current drawing (without endpoints) and the prompt "OK? (Y/N)" will appear. If you are satisfied with the imported object, press "Y"; the object will be permanently drawn, and the state will return to "FREE." (Note that the imported object is placed wherever it was on the screen when it was exported. It can be moved easily (see Section 17.1).) If you are not satisfied with the imported object, press "N" in response to the prompt and you will be given a chance to use a different file specification. Notice that your current drawing is NOT cleared when you import a clip art object. The imported clip art object is placed at the front of the current drawing, but it can be relayered (see Section 16.4). 57 18.4 EXPORTING CLIP ART While at the file menu, the ExportCLP option (for saving a clip art object to disk for subsequent importing into a PictureThis drawing) is accessed by pressing: E The cursor will jump to the closest initial point of an outermost object or trail, and that object will be dashed. An instruction box will appear ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: -"/ "Select: Enter"). Press "+," "SPACE," and "-" repeatedly until the object that you want to save is dashed. Then press "ENTER." Pressing "Esc" returns the files menu. If only one object is available, it will automatically be chosen. If you have previously retrieved or saved a clip art object, a prompt will appear asking if you want to use the most recent file specification. If you answer "Y," the selected object will be saved as that file specification. If you answer "N" or you have not previously retrieved or saved a drawing, a different prompt appears at the top of the screen. The first line of this prompt states: "Enter filespec for CLP save." The second line is a file specification using your current directory as the path, "*" for the filename and "CLP" for the file extension. (We strongly recommend using the extension "CLP" for your clip art files.) If you press "ENTER," the screen will change to a directory list of all the filenames that match the specification in the second line of the prompt. Press the cursor keys to highlight the clip art file specification that you wish to save the selected object as and press "ENTER." The selected object will be saved as that file. If you want to view the directory for a different file specification, instead of pressing "ENTER," type in that file specification with a "*" or "?" to indicate a "wild card." If you want to save the selected object as a specific file without viewing the directory, key in the filename (with extension and the appropriate path specification if necessary), then press "ENTER." PictureThis saves the path you enter and uses it as the path for the next clip art retrieval or save. If the file that you typed in already exists, a prompt will appear asking if you want to write over the existing file. If you do, press "Y"; if not, press "N" and you will be able to reenter a different file name. 18.5 READING A TEMPLATE FILE At the file menu, the ReadTMP option (for retrieving a template previously captured with the CaptureThis or Alternate CaptureThis programs, as discussed in Section 25.1) is accessed by pressing: R 58 A prompt appears at the top of the screen. The first line of this prompt states: "Enter filespec for TMP retrieval." The second line is a file specification using your current directory as the path, "*" for the filename and "TMP" for the file extension. (We strongly recommend using the file extension "TMP" for your template files.) If you press "ENTER," the screen will change to a directory list of all the filenames that match the specification in the second line of the prompt. Press the cursor keys to highlight the template file that you wish to retreive and press "ENTER." That file will be retrieved. If you want to view the directory for a different file specification, instead of pressing "ENTER," type in that file specification with a "*" or "?" to indicate a "wild card." If you want to retrieve a specific file without viewing the directory, key in the filename (with extension and the appropriate path specification if necessary) of a template file saved previously with CaptureThis or Alternate CaptureThis program, then press "ENTER." PictureThis saves the path you enter and uses it as the path for the next template retrieval. The template is placed at the center of the 50% screen unless a previous template was moved. Templates can be moved easily (see Section 25.2).