                        Installing PC PATTERNS

To install the demo on your hard drive simply copy everything on the
floppy to the same directory.

                         RUNNING PC PATTERNS

Requirements

        PC PATTERNS will run on IBM-compatible computers using MS-DOS
2.0 or higher.   PC PATTERNS supports CGA, MCGA, EGA, VGA, &HERCULES
monochrome graphics cards.  A hard drive is required.  
Printers supported: Epson FX, Epson LQ, HPLaserJet, HP DeskJet, 
HP PaintJet, HP ThinkJet, Citizen MSP-10, Citizen MSP-15,Encapsulated
Postscript (EPS) or any printer compatible with the above list.




Starting PC PATTERNS DEMO

        To start the PC PATTERNS demo program change to the directory the
program is in, type 'PCPAT' and press the Enter key. To start the PC
PATTERNS: Additions type 'PCPAT2' and press the Enter key.


Using the Menus

	All menu operations can be done either with the mouse or with
keys.  To operate the menus with a mouse click the left mouse
button on a menu title at the top of the screen and holding the
button down, drag the mouse downwards to the menu item desired. 
When the mouse is released the menu item is selected.  To
operate the menus with the keyboard, type the capitalized letter
of the menu title, then either use the down and up arrows to
move up and down through the choices or type the capitalized
letter of the menu item desired.  When the menu item is
highlighted, press the 'Enter' key.

	If a menu item is 'grayed out', it is disabled.  This means the
item is not functional at this time.  In some cases, a menu
selection will lead to a submenu choice.  Simply continue to
make choices as in the main menus. CONFIGURING PC PATTERNS



Choosing a Printer

	To choose a printer select the 'Configure' menu title and then
'Change Printer'.  Choose your printer from the list with the
mouse or use the keyboard.  If you are not sure which printer to
select, consult your printer manual for compatibility with a
printer on the list.



Calibrating the Printer

Although you may not be aware of it, if your printer is
instructed to print a 1 inch line it may not print a line
exactly 1 inch long.  For an 8 inch line, it may be off by as
much as 1/4 inch.  If you are printing a 40 inch pair of pants
that requires five sheets of paper the length would then be off
by more than an inch.

	In order to correct for any such problems, you must calibrate
your printer. First, make sure your printer is turned on. 
Select the 'Configure' menu and then the 'Calibrate' menu item. 
If this is the first time you are calibrating the printer, or if
you do not remember what the measurements were, or if you wish
to remeasure the lines, select 'Yes' when you are asked whether
to print calibration lines.  After the lines are printed,
measure them very carefully and enter the page width and page
height measurements.  Press the 'PageDown' key to accept your
entry and the 'Esc' key to cancel the entry.



Testing Printer Calibration

	

	The best way to test the printer calibration is to print a
pants pattern.  Select the 'File' menu and then the 'Load
measurements' menu item.  In the pop-up menu select
'femstand.grp' and then select 'size twelve' in the next pop-up
menu.  Note the PANTS outseam measure shown on your screen. 
Select the 'Print' menu then the 'Pants' menu item and the
'Back' submenu item, then choose 'Full'.  When the pattern is
finished printing measure the length along the grain line. (The
thin solid line running vertically on the right side of the
pattern.) This measurement should be the same as the outseam
measure. If you find that the measurements are not correct,
change them by altering the measurements in the printer
calibration. This time you need not print the calibration lines.

	It is possible that you will need to recalibrate the printer. 
If your printer uses continuous feed paper the space between the
holes may vary slightly, or the feed rate of your printer may
vary slightly.  The current printer configuration is printed on
the screen each time your run a PC PATTERNS program.  If your
patterns are not printing accurately, reprint the calibration
lines and reenter the measurements.  

	The calibration lines are supposed to be exactly 8 inches
vertically and 6.5 inches horizontally.  If your printer is more
than .25 inches off you might want to get it checked.  If the
printer is off by more than .5 inches we cannot guarantee the
results of PC PATTERNS printouts.



MEASURING THE SCREEN

	If you want your onscreen patterns to look proportioned you
must enter your screen measurements.  While this will have no
effect on the accuracy of the printed patterns, you still should
try for the best onscreen representation of a pattern.

	To enter these measurements, select the 'Configure' menu and
the 'Screen measurements' menu item.  Measure the lines that
appear on the screen and enter the measurements.ENTERING MEASUREMENTS



Starting a new record

	Before viewing or printing patterns you must either load
measurements from disk or enter measurements into a new record. 
A record is the measurements of one person.  To begin a new
record select the 'File' menu and the 'New record' menu item. 
Then select 'Male' or 'Female' in the submenu.  Type in the name
of the person in the form that appears. Press 'Enter' to accept
the name, 'Esc' to cancel the box. 

	After entering the name of the new record, a list of all the
measurements initialized to zero will be printed on the screen. 
The name of the record is at the top left:  Measurements of:
Johnny Doe.  The sex, M or F, is at center top.   And the group,
which is blank for now, is right top.  Every record is stored in
a group when saved.  See Saving Measurements or Loading
Measurements for an explanation of groups.

	If you decide to change the name of a record, select the 'Edit'
menu and the 'Edit record name' menu item.  Type in the new name
and press 'Enter'.


DATA ENTRY: USING THE FORMS

	All the forms for entering measurements can be used the same
way.  All fields accept only numbers.  To move up and down a
form use the arrow keys or click the mouse on the field you wish
to go to.  The left and right arrow keys will move left and
right in a field and onto the next or back to the preceding
field if the end of a field is reached.  The 'Enter' key also
moves to the next field.  The delete key deletes the character
under the cursor.  The backspace key deletes the character to
the left of the cursor and moves the cursor left one position.

	When entering numbers in a field, if the last position in the
field is reached and a number typed, the cursor automatically
moves to the next field.  All measurements are entered in
fractions.  Common fractions and their decimal equivalents are
listed at the bottom of each form.  To accept the data you have
entered press the 'PageDown' key.  To reject the data entered,
press the 'Esc' key.  



An Example:  Entering Bodice Measurements

	To enter bodice measurements, select the "Edit' menu, the
'Bodice' menu item, and the 'Front' submenu item.  Enter the
measurements  for each item.  If any item is left at zero the
pattern cannot be drawn or printed.  After entering all the
measurements, press 'PageDown' and the new measurements will be
shown onscreen.  



USING STANDARD SIZES

	If you want to use the measurements of a standard size, select
the 'File' menu and 'Load Measurements'.  Then select either the 
'femstand' group or the 'malestnd' group.  In the pop-up menu select
the desired standard size measurements. To save these measurements 
choose the 'Edit Name' menu item in the 'Edit menu' and enter a name.
Then save these measurements to whatever group you wish.
 



FOR CGA ONLY

	Because of the low resolution of CGA it is not possible to list
all the measurements on one screen. You must view half the
measurements at a time.  Press a key to view the rest of the
measurements.


SAVING MEASUREMENTS


        All records in PC PATTERNS are saved in groups.  You can name
a group yourself or you can save it to a default group called
Male or Female.  To save measurements at any time, select the
'File' menu and then 'Save to. . .'. You will have four submenu
choices:

  1)  to New group:  Type in the name of the new group and press
PageDown to accept the name.  The record will be saved to a file
with the name you typed plus a .GRP extension such as
'FAMILY.GRP'.	

  2)  to Old group:  Select an old group from the choices in the
pop-up menu.  The record will be saved to that group.

  3)  to Female group: The record will be saved to the female
group.

  4)  to Male group: The record will be saved to the female
group.  

	If you have already selected a group for this record or have
loaded it in from a group you can select 'Save to current group'
where the words current group will be replaced with the name of
the current group.   You can then simply select this choice and
the record will be saved to the current group.



LOADING MEASUREMENTS

	To load measurements, select the 'File' menu and then 'Load
measurements'.  If you already have measurements loaded, you
will be asked if you are sure you want to continue as those
measurements will be lost if they have not been saved.  Choose a
group from the pop-up menu, then choose which record in the
group you want to load.  If the list of names is longer than the
window that appears, drag the slider with the mouse or press the
PgDn and PgUp keys to access the rest of the names.



DELETING A RECORD

     To delete a record, select the 'File' menu and then 'Delete
a record'.  Select a group, and a record, and the record will be
deleted.

PACKING A FILE
	
     Deleted records are not actually removed from files. 
If you wish to purge the deleted records from a file and shrink 
the size of the file choose 'Pack file' in the 'File' menu.  Then 
choose the name of the file to pack.

VIEWING AND PRINTING PATTERNS



   Viewing and printing are done essentially the same way except
that when printing you must choose between a full scale printout
and a scaled printout. (The scale depends on the pattern.)

	To view a pattern, select the 'View' menu and the pattern name,
and if necessary, 'Front' or 'Back'.

	To print a pattern, select the 'Print' menu, the pattern name
and 'Front' or 'Back'.  After the pattern is drawn onscreen,
choose either 'Full', '1/2 scale', '1/4 scale', or 'fit to page'.  
1/2 scale and 1/4 scale are only available for the basic sloper.
If you decide not to print, select 'Cancel'.  To interrupt a printout
press the Esc key.
	

                        Measurements Needed



        Front Bodice Measurements

Full Length

Width Across Shoulders

Center Front To Waist

Shoulder Slope

 Shoulder Length 

Body Width

Full Body (Bust)

Side Length

Width Across Chest

 Waist Measurement



        Back Bodice Measurements

Full Length

Width Across Shoulders

Center Back To Waist

Neck Measurement

Shoulder Slope

Full Body Width

Side Length

Width Across Shoulder Blades

Waist


        Skirt Measurements

Center Front Length

Center Back Length

Front Waist Measurement

Back Waist Measurement

Hip Circumference

Bottom Circumference


        Pants Measurements

Hip Circumference

Crotch Depth

Outseam Measure

Front Waist Measure

Back Waist Measure



        Sleeve Measurements

Overarm Length

Underarm Length

Biceps Circumference

Elbow Circumference

Wrist Circumference


Constructing Patterns

	Constructing a pattern is a simple process consisting of
cutting each piece on the dotted line where it says "cut paper
here", using transparent tape to tape the pieces together to
construct two long pieces of the pattern; cutting down one long side
of the pattern, and taping the pieces together.  

	All pattern pieces are numbered and labeled.  Some numbers may
be skipped on smaller sizes. 

Example of constructing a front bodice pattern

 Size 12

Cut the bottoms of Pages 1,2,4, and 5 on the dotted line below
the words 'CUT PAPER HERE'. 

Tape pieces 1,2, and 3 together.

Tape pieces 4,5, and 6 together.

Cut along the dotted line on the right side of the 4,5,6 piece. 
The dotted line is only at the top and bottom of each page.

Tape the two pieces together lengthwise by matching the side end
of the 4,5,6 piece with the dotted line on the 1,2,3 piece.

It is very important to cut and paste accurately leaving the
line when you cut. 
        All patterns can be put together by cutting the bottom of
the page on the dotted line, taping together (matching the grain lines
when necessary), and then taping the two (sometimes three) vertical
strips together. A little practice and you will be a pro.



Seam allowance

	There is no seam allowance on any patterns.

Units of Measure

       You may switch between metric and feet and inches.  Select 'Units
of Measure' in the Configure menu and follow the prompts.  If you save
your choice PC PATTERNS will load those defaults the next time you start
the program.
