PREFORMATING AND REFORMATING

One of the great features of many Ensemble applicaitons is the ease with which you can alter formatting. For this reason, you can work with text and graphics in a way that you are comfortable with and then reformat when you're findished to get the kind of output you desire. A few simple suggestions and examples...

Making use of GeoWrite's style, font, size, and color...

Text font and size:
I think I mentioned before that I like using the Shattuck avenue font but am not able to see it onscreen. Therefore I work in URW Roman or Sans then when I'm finished I highlight my work, and change to shattuck avenue. (Do this by clicking your left mouse button 5 times to highlight whole page, then select desired font.)
I do the same with font sizes. In this way I can work with 18 or 24 point type onscreen then size down to print.

Special effects:
If you have a long passage to type underlined, bold, italic, etc. consider using this technique to make your work onscreen easier to see. Type the entire passage, highlight, then click on STYLES, then choose the desired effect.

Using COLORS to change screen appearance...
Since Ensemble doesn't yet offer color printing, I really ignored text and background color options until recently. Again this will be of greatest value to folks like me who have trouble dealing with the bright white background and black text.

Changing text color:
To change text color, click on STYLES, click on TEXT COLOR. A box displaying a choice of colors will appear. Pick the desired color then click on "apply". Your best bed on a light background is a dark color.. and on a dark background a light color. In either case, pick solid as it's easier to read onscreen than shaded text (dark, med. or light). Once finished typing you can change your text back to the original color by highlighting it, clicking on styles, text color, and picking black/solid.

Changing background color:
I'm hooked on the option on America Online (under help/options) to change background in text screens to grey. Well there's a way to get that in GeoWrite as well (sort of). Click on PARAGRAPH, then paragraph color. A box similiar to the text color box will appear. Chose the desired color then pick "apply". Remember to highlight the area and return the paragraph color to white before printing or you'll get a surprise.
Please folks don't do what I did and chose the same paragraph color and text color... then sit there wondering what's WRONG with GeoWrite :).

A few general tips about reformatting:
Whether you're changing fonts, text color, or paragraph color you can leave the option window open an just move it off the the bottom of your screen. To keep the window open select "apply" but not "close". In the case of fonts, click on FONTS, click on MORE FONTS. This will give you the same list of fonts (unless you have purchased extras) but with a window that lets you preview and apply them without closing the window. This may sound like a small matter but can save a lot of mouse clicking in the long run.

If anyone has some good ideas along these lines please send them to me in email (GWRepRobyn) and I'll include them here. Thanks!!