Fastgraph (tm) Font Factory for Windows Version 1.3 By Tim Kilgore (Member STAR) Copyright 1994, All Rights Reserved Product Description - Fastgraph Font Factory is a Microsoft Windows 3.1 application designed to all you to export TrueType fonts for use with Ted Gruber Software's Fastgraph/Fonts. If you are not using Fastgraph/Fonts, then this application will be of very limited use to you. Disclaimer - BY USING FASTGRAPH FONT FACTORY (FGFF.EXE) AND ALL RELATED TEXT AND DATA FILES, YOU AGREE NOT TO HOLD THE AUTHOR (TIM KILGORE) RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, REAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, CAUSED THROUGH THE USE OR MISUSE OF THIS PRODUCT. YOUR USE OF THIS PROGRAM INDICATES YOUR AGREEMENT WITH THESE TERMS. Installation - Create a directory and copy all of the distribution files into the new sub directory. From the Windows Program Manager, select a destination group (or a create a new group) and press ALT-F. Select NEW (Item) and use the BROWSE function to locate and add FGFF.EXE. Don't forget to add something to the description field; 'Font Factory' is fine. Differences Between Versions - Version 1.1 fixed several annoying display problems that occurred when using small font displays (i.e. 800*600 small font). While FGF was tested at all video modes, the author was using an out-dated video driver and thus introduced display problems into the program. Version 1.1 was made available only to registered users. Version 1.2 introduces dynamic resizing of the two view panels. You now are no longer limited to a small text alignment view window. Maximize FGFF, and you'll see . | Version 1.3 improved dynamix resizing so that the preview window now uses | all available space on the main window. Text rotation was added in this | version and the two text rocker controls have been replaced by a single, | multi-directional text rocker. A standard Windows help file was also | added to the program. Limitations of the SHAREWARE version - The shareware version of Fastgraph Font Factory will only allow you to load fonts starting with an A, B, or C. If you want more than the ABC's, see REGISTRATION INFORMATION, below. Program Operation - Fastgraph Font Factory (hereafter refered to as FGFF) is easy to use. FONT INFO This window graphically displays the current font, marking the font cell top, the font's baseline, and the length of the longest descender. Also displayed is the face name and the current pitch being used. This Window is strictly informative. OUTPUT PREVIEW The preview window has two scroll bars and looks like a standard MAKEPCX.PCX file. This window allows you to examine every cell and make sure that the text is aligned properly. HINT: This preview window has a special scrolling feature. Move the mouse over the control, press and hold the right mouse button. Now move the pointer. The pointer should change into a hand and the image will scroll as you move the mouse pointer. Note that you can move the point off of the control, allowing you to scroll great distances quickly. Why can't FGFF align the text automatically? Well, it does. It determines the length of the largest descender and adjusts all of the text upwards by the correct number of pixels. The problem is that Fastgraph only needs characters with ASCII values ranging from 32 to 127 while FGFF can only get information about ALL characters in a type face. It is not uncommon for unused characters to have the longest descenders and as a result you may be able to use the TEXT SHIFT controls (see below) to adjust the text downwards by several pixels. SELECT FONT This allows you to select a new font to work with. ITALIC This check box allows you to toggle italics ON and OFF. BOLD Using this check box will toggle bold ON and OFF. | TEXT ROCKER Using this button allows you to adjust both the x-axis | and y-axis of text placement by +/- 1 pixel per click. | The control is multi-directional and can shift text on | both the x and y axis by clicking in the corners of | the text rocker. You can also reset the text shift by | clicking directly in the center of this control. The | text shift value will be reset whenever a new font is | selected. SNUG FIT True Type fonts can actually extend to the left of the placement point. As a result, FGFF examines each character and adjusts the placement point IF the font extends to the left of the placement point. Other characters start several pixels to the right of the placement point. By default, FGFF does adjust the placement of these characters. Selecting the SNUG FIT check box will force FGFF to place all character snuggly against the character cell's left edge. This is useful if you intend to set a kerning value with MAKEFONT, but probably should be avoided otherwise as Windows generally does an excellent job of kerning the characters. 2X ZOOM This will zoom the OUTPUT PREVIEW window by a factor of 2. Keep in mind that is a bitmap zoom, and fonts are displayed as a part of the bitmap and will no longer have as smooth an appearance. (This will NOT effect the output files.) FILE The file menu (ALT-F) will allow you to save the current typeface to a BMP file by selecting the SAVE AS... option. Because FGFF currently does not support the PCX format, you'll have to use a 3rd party tool to convert the BMP to a PCX file. You can also copy the current typeface to the clipboard, which is the preferred method if you have PAINT SHOP PRO, HIJAK for Windows, or some other image conversion tool. When converting, be sure to reduce the number of colors to 16 and to disable dithering. Finally, the EXIT option on the file menu allows you to close FGFF. ABOUT Provides a little information about FGFF. SPLITTER-BAR This is an invisible display control. If you position the mouse cursor between the two display panels, the mouse cursor will change into a bar. You can now expand or shrink the size of the display panels. Using FGFF with Paint Shop Pro - Paint Shop Pro, a highly-rated shareware program by JASC, Inc, makes image conversion a snap. If you have Paint Shop Pro, here are the steps involved in creating a PCX file usable by MAKEFONT.EXE. 1. In FGFF, copy the image to the clipboard (CTRL-C). 2. Switch to or start Paint Shop Pro. 3. Select EDIT, Paste (SHIFT-INSERT) 4. Select COLORS, Decrease Color Depth, 16 colors. 5. Set the Palette to OPTIMIZED and set Reduction Method to NEAREST COLOR. Select OK. Paint Shop Pro will now convert the image. 6. Save the file as a type 5 PCX file. If you keep both FGFF and Paint Shop Pro open, you can toggle back and forth between the two applications (ALT-TAB). Shareware Packing List - Fastgraph Font Factory was distributed with the following files - FILE_ID DIZ 312 08-02-94 ARTIST VBX 59,920 12-09-93 CCBUTTON VBX 108,704 09-23-93 PICSCRLL VBX 35,344 12-08-93 SS3D3 VBX 32,560 09-22-93 THREED VBX 64,544 04-28-93 CMDIALOG VBX 18,688 04-28-93 FGFF EXE 177,151 08-02-94 ORDER FRM 1,012 06-28-94 FGFF TXT 9,941 08-02-94 COMMDLG DLL 89,248 03-23-92 VSVBX LIC 411 03-10-94 VSVBX VBX 78,864 05-12-94 NOTE: FGFF requires VBRUN300.DLL, which was not included in this archive due to size considerations. If you do not have this file, most BBS systems make it available as VBRUN300.ZIP or VBRUN.ZIP. The latter file typically has several different versions (VBRUN100, VBRUN200, and VBRUN300) of the VBRUNxxx.DLL file. A copy of VBRUN300 is available on The Dust Devil, the TGS support BBS. VSVBX.LIC, an included text file, is REQUIRED for the proper operation of FGFF. Do NOT delete this file. Planned Improvements - | I'd like to add the ability to save directly to PCX format. Adding this | feature depends largely upon the amount of interest shown in the product. Registration Information - Fastgraph Font Factory is available for $15 + $2.50 for shipping and handling ($5.00 for shipping & handling if you live outside the US or Canada). A registered copy of program will be mailed to you on 3.5 inch media. Upgrades to new versions will be available at no cost via downloadable update files which will be posted on TGS's DUST DEVIL BBS. Please send your check or money order along with return mailing information to - TIM KILGORE 2601 S. PROVIDENCE #40 COLUMBIA, MO 65203 | If possible, please print and use ORDER.FRM or print it directly from the | HELP file included with FGFF.