How do I...?
About picture effects...
Why...?
Concepts

How do I...?

How do I draw shapes?


    
  
    

Choose a shape tool and drag the mouse from the start to the end of the shape. Release the mouse to end the shape.

Most shapes are drawn from a corner to the diagonally opposite corner. Ellipses, arcs and polygons are drawn from the center to the outside edge.

How do I draw paths?


Choose the Pen tool and click to start a new path, or click on an endpoint of an open path to continue an existing path. Move the mouse and click again to draw a line segment.

Drag to draw curve segments. Each curve has two curve handles which determine the shape of the curve. Drag out the first curve handle from a point, move the mouse to the end point, and drag out the second curve handle.

Press Esc or the Space Bar to end an open path, or click on the start point to close the path.


You can also sketch your ideas with the Freehand tool instead of drawing lines and curves with the Pen tool.

How do I import graphics?

To import a graphic, choose Place Graphic from the File menu. Select a graphic from the Open file selector. Click Open. The Place Graphic dialog box will appear. Select options, if applicable, and click Place.

When importing an EPS illustration created in Adobe Illustrator® or Art Expression®, you can choose the Illustrator or Art Expression filter, as applicable, in the Place Graphic dialog box instead of the regular EPS filter. This will interpret the EPS illustration and import it as a drawing. Drawings can be dissolved and edited, whereas EPS illustrations are non-editable objects that can only be printed to PostScript printers.

How do I apply effects to a picture?


To apply an effect to a picture, select the picture with the Object tool and then click on the FX button in the Edit palette. A dialog box will open to allow you to select an effect to apply. After choosing an effect, select or set its options as applicable. Click Perform to apply the effect to the picture.

Effects cannot be applied to external pictures. If you want to apply an effect to only part of a picture, apply the effect in BME instead of PageStream.

How do I select objects?


To select an object, choose the Object tool and click on the object with the mouse pointer. If the object is unfilled, you must click on its outline; if the object is filled, you can click anywhere on it. You can modify object selection with the following modifier keys:

You can also select one or more objects by dragging around them: choose the Object tool and then drag the mouse pointer around the object(s). Any object that is all or partly inside the area you choose will be selected.

You can modify object selection with the following qualifiers:

If an object is beneath the point from which you wish to start dragging, you would normally move the object by mistake. You can force PageStream to drag select rather than move with the following qualifiers:

How do I move objects?


To move an object, choose the Object tool and drag the object to a new position. To move more than one object at once, select the objects and then move any one of them to move them all.

If you drag the objects without pausing, only the outline of the objects will be shown. If you wait until the mouse pointer changes to a 4-way arrow, the actual objects' shapes will be shown. This is slower but offers a more realistic preview.

To move an object a precise distance, select the object and choose Move from the Object menu, or enter the offset into the Edit palette's X or Y text boxes. For example, if the current horizontal value is 5.102" and you want to move it 2.843" to the left, enter 5.102"-2.843 and press Return.

Ellipses and polygons are measured from their centers. Enter the offsets into the CX and CY text boxes.

If you move an object onto the pasteboard surrounding a page, the object will no longer be considered part of that page and will be visible on all pages in the chapter. Use the pasteboard as a convenient way to move objects between pages, and to store them for later use.

How do I scale objects?


To scale an object, choose the Object tool and select the object. Drag any of the eight size handles around the object to a new position.

If you scale the object without pausing, only the outline of the object will be shown. If you wait until the mouse pointer changes to a 2-way arrow, the actual object's shape will be shown. This is slower but offers a more realistic preview.

To scale an object a precise amout, select the object and enter the scale factor or amount into the Edit palette's W or H text boxes. For example, if the current width value is 5.302" and you want to make it 2.843" wider, enter 5.302"+2.843 and press Return. To make it twice as wide, enter 5.302"*2. To make it half as wide, enter 5.302"/2.

Ellipses and polygons are measured from their centers. Enter the scale amount or factor into the RX and RY radius text boxes.

How do I group objects?

Select the objects with the Object tool. Choose Group from the Object menu.

To ungroup a group, select the group and choose Ungroup from the Object menu.

How do I edit imported drawings?


Imported drawings are non-editable drawing objects. To edit the components of a drawing, you must dissolve it. To dissolve a drawing, select the drawing with the Object tool and choose Dissolve Drawing from the Drawing submenu in the Object menu.

To make objects into a drawing, select the objects with the Object tool and choose Make Drawing. To add an object to an existing drawing, select the drawing and the object and choose Add to Drawing.

How do I reshape paths?


Choose the Reshape tool and select the path to reshape. Point handles will appear at the points joining each segment.

How do I crop graphics?


To crop a graphic, choose the Crop tool and select the graphic. Drag a size handle inward to reduce the amount of the graphic that is visible, or drag it outward to increase the amount shown.

To change the portion of the graphic shown inside its frame, drag the contents of the graphic within the frame.

How do I crop graphics irregularly?


To crop a graphic irregularly, position a shape over a bitmapped graphic, select both of them with the Object tool and choose Mask Graphic from the Mask submenu of the Object menu.

How do I wrap text around objects?

Select the object with the Object tool and choose the Text Wrap command from the Object menu. Select from one of the six wrap methods, enter the horizontal and vertical offsets, select whether the text should wrap around the shape or the object's bounding box, and click on OK.

Note: For text wrap to work, the object must be in front of the text frame. If it is not in front of the text frame, bring it to the front with the Bring to Front command from the Stack submenu of the Object menu. The text from the frame should then flow around the object according to the options set in the Text Wrap dialog box.

How do I wrap text around the subject of a bitmapped graphic?

Normally, if you wrap text around a bitmapped graphic, the text will flow around the rectangular edges of the graphic because all bitmapped graphics have a rectangular shape. However, with PageStream's Generate Mask feature, you can clip a bitmapped picture around the non-white parts of the graphic, enabling you to wrap text around the bitmapped graphic's subject.

To automatically clip a picture around its subject, first make sure that the subject is on a pure white background. If it's not, you will have to change the background color of the picture with an image processor.


Import the picture with the white background, select it with the Object tool and choose the Generate Mask command from the Mask submenu of the Object menu. This will clip the picture around the non-white parts of the graphic, making it ready to wrap text around it.

Note: Do not do this to overlay a bitmapped graphic over a background because the masks generated by PageStream are not pixel-accurate. If you need to do this, first blend the graphic and the background together with an image processor before importing them into PageStream as a single object.

How do I align objects?


Select the objects with the Object tool and choose Align from the Object menu. Select how you want to align objects and click OK.

You can align objects to guides by creating guides by choosing Set Page Guides from the Layout menu and then selecting Snap-to-Guides. Objects moved close to guides will 'snap' to them automatically.

The drawing grid is also an excellent tool for aligning objects. Choose Set Grid from the Layout menu to specify the grid spacing, and then choose Snap-to-Grid. Objects can then be moved only in increments of the grid spacing.

How do I rotate objects?


Select the object(s) to rotate with the Object tool. Choose Rotate from the Object menu and set the rotation, slant and twist values.

You can also rotate copies of an object. Choose Transform from the Object menu. Enter the number of copies into the Transform dialog box, as well as the offsets and desired rotation angle of each successive copy.

How do I set the line and fill color?


Select the objects with the Object tool and choose Line & Fill from the Object menu. Select the line and fill styles and color and click OK.

You can also apply line and fill colors with the Color palette. Choose Show Color Palette from the Window menu to use this palette.

How do I copy objects?

   
Select the object(s) to copy with the Object tool. Choose Copy from the Edit menu to copy the objects to the clipboard without affecting the objects, or choose Cut to remove the object(s). Choose Paste to paste a copy of the objects on the page. Hold down Shift while choosing Paste to paste them at their original position rather than the center of the window.

To make a quick copy of selected object(s), choose Duplicate from the Object menu.

To make multiple copies of selected object(s), choose Transform from the Object menu. Enter the number of copies into the Transform dialog box, as well as the offsets and desired rotation angle of each successive copy.

How do I copy object attributes?


Select the Eyedropper tool. Hold down Shift and click on the object whose attributes you want to copy. Release the Shift key and click on the object you want to copy the attributes to. All object attributes will be copied to this object.

You can continue clicking to copy the formatting to other objects, or you can Shift click to copy other attributes.

You cannot copy and paste object attributes for text frames or blocks, because this will copy text attributes instead.

About picture effects...

Brightness

This effect brightens and darkens pixels. You can set the brightness adjustment from -100 to 100%.

This effect cannot be used on black & white or palette pictures.

Contrast

This effect increases and decreases the differences between colors. You can set the contrast adjustment from -100 to 100%.

This effect cannot be used on black & white or palette pictures.

Emboss

This effect creates a three dimensional effect by emphasizing edges. There are no options.

This effect cannot be used on black & white or palette pictures.

Negative

This effect inverts the colors of pixels to create a negative. This is most useful for greyscale and black & white pictures.

This effect cannot be used on palette pictures.

Pixelize

This effect breaks a picture into blocks of pixels to make the picture jaggier. You can set the size of the blocks (cells) and how the color for each is chosen.

Average uses the average of all colors in the cell. Center uses the center pixel's color. Minimum and maximum uses the min and max color values in the cell. Random selects a color from any pixel in the cell and Upper Left uses the top left pixel's color.

Reduce Noise

This effect removes isolated clusters of pixels below a certain size. This is useful when cleaning up scanned images and when preparing a picture for tracing. You can set the noise size below which pixels should be replaced with the background color. Be careful not to set the noise value too high, or you will eliminate important parts of your picture.

This effect cannot be used on black & white or palette pictures.

Sharpen

This effect improves the "focus" of a picture. Use it to correct blurry pictures.

This effect cannot be used on Black & White or palette pictures.

Tiles

This effect tiles thumnails of the picture or selection in the picture or selection. You can set the number of horizontal and vertical tiles.

Trace

This effect traces the edges of a picture and creates a drawing that matches the picture. Drawings are made up of points connecting line and curve segments. They usually lack the realism of a photograph, but can be scaled without loss of detail and are smaller and faster.

This effect is a basic autotracer. The resulting drawing is saved in IFF DR2D format: a structured drawing format that can be imported into PageStream.

About Gary's Effects

Gary's Effects is a package of twelve effect filters that are sold separately for $25. Contact SoftLogik Publishing to order Gary's Effects.

The effects in this package are: Average, Blur, Convolve, Equalize, Gamma, Histogram, Hue/Saturation, Maximum, Median, Minimum, Solarize, and Threshold.

Why...?

Why can't I import a specific picture?

If you can import other pictures, but not a particular picture, it is likely unsupported by PageStream's filters. For example, PICT files using QuickTime compression, vector PICT files, and TIFF files older than TIFF v5.0 that lack the strip byte count tag, cannot be imported into PageStream at this time.

If you are unsure why a file cannot be imported into PageStream, send a small test copy to SoftLogik Support for testing.

Why can't I import any graphics?

PageStream uses filters to import text and graphics. Filters are stored in the System:Extensions:SoftLogik: Filters directory. If you have moved the filters from this directory, PageStream will not be able to import text or graphics.

Move the filters back, or reinstall PageStream, to solve the problem.

Concepts

Composite path

When you join objects into a composite path, the original objects are converted into paths if they are not already paths, and then merged into one path. Overlapping portions of the paths will be unfilled, making holes through which can see objects behind them.

Do not confuse compound objects (which are created with the Join Objects command in the Object menu) with composite paths (which are created with the Merge Paths command). They achieve similar results, but they have different effects on the objects.

Compound object

When you join objects into a compound object, the original objects are unchanged. Overlapping portions of the objects will be unfilled, making holes through which can see objects behind them.

Do not confuse compound objects (which are created with the Join Objects command in the Object menu) with composite paths (which are created with the Merge Paths command). They achieve similar results, but they have different effects on the objects.

Drawings

PageStream can combine objects into drawings to simplify manipulating them. A drawing can be selected, moved, scaled and edited as one object. The appearance of individual objects is unchanged when they are combined into a drawing. The differences between drawings and normal groups are:

EPS illustration

EPS illustrations are designed for use with PostScript printers. They are not editable in PageStream because they are composed of PostScript language commands which describe the illustration to the interpreter in a PostScript printer.

External graphics

Graphics can be stored in the document file, or left external to keep the document file smaller. Internal graphics are never updated. External graphics update whenever the original graphic changes, but you cannot delete the original graphic without losing the graphic in a document.

Graphics may be left external when imported by selecting Leave External in the Place Graphic dialog box, or by choosing Information from the Edit menu and selecting Leave External from the Object Information dialog box.

External pictures will be shown at low resolution on screen to save memory and increase display speed. Internal pictures will be shown at full resolution.

Graphics

There are three types of graphic objects in PageStream:

PageStream allows you to draw shapes and paths. These can be organized into a drawing. Drawings can be dissolved into shapes and paths so that they can be edited.

Group

PageStream can combine objects into groups to freeze their relative positions and to simplify manipulating them. A group of objects can be selected, moved, scaled and edited as one object. The appearance of the individual objects is unchanged when they are grouped; groups exist only to make editing easier.

Groups can be many levels deep. For example, you could group a number of groups together as one group, or group objects with another group.

Do not confuse groups with drawings.

Importing drawings

Drawings are made up of objects defined as series of points, lines and curves. You can scale a drawing without it becoming jaggy. Drawings are non-editable when imported into PageStream, but you can dissolve them into their subobjects which can be edited. You can also create a drawing out of shapes and paths drawing in PageStream.

Examples of other programs which can create structured drawings are Adobe Illustrator® and MacroMedia Freehand®.

Importing graphics

You can import graphics created with other programs if PageStream has a matching filter. The included filters are: TIFF, PICT, IFF ILBM, JPEG, GIF, MacPaint, PCX, BMP, IFF ILUS, IFF DR2D, ProDraw Clip, EPS, Adobe Illustrator® EPS, Art Expression® EPS.

Note: The JPEG filter is sold separately for PageStream Amiga.

Pasteboard

The pasteboard is the area surrounding each page. Consider it a blotter on which you can temporarily store objects.

If you move an object onto the pasteboard, the object will no longer be considered part of that page and will be visible on all pages in the chapter. Use the pasteboard as a convenient way to move objects between pages, and to store them for later use.

Path

Paths are series of any number of line and curve segments. They are called paths because an imaginary pen follows a path to draw the lines and curves. Paths can be drawn with PageStream's Pen and Reshape tools.

Picture

Bitmapped pictures are made up of a grid of dots. If you scale a picture larger, it will become jaggier. Pictures are generally created with scanners or paint and image processing software.

While you can apply effects to pictures with PageStream, you must use another program to paint in a picture. BME, Adobe Photoshop® and MacPaint® can be used to create pictures.

Shape

Shapes are geometric objects such as lines, boxes, ellipses and polygons. They can be drawn with PageStream's Line, Box, Rounded Box, Ellipse, Arc and Polygon tools.

Previous section: Object Styles
Go to next chapter: Line, Fill and Color: Applying Line, Fill and Color Attributes

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