Take these nine steps to improve the performance of Creator2 1.6:
Step One: Upgrade your System
The performance of Creator2 1.6 improves with faster CPUs, faster and larger hard disk drives, and more RAM. We recommend the following hardware and software:
Ñ Macintosh System 9.0 or newer
Ñ PowerPC G4 processor or higher
Ñ 128 MB available RAM or higher
Ñ 100 MB available hard drive space or higher
Step Two: Optimize System Memory
If a dialog asks you to shut down applications, you are running low on Mac OS system memory. If this happens, perform these steps to optimize system memory:
1. Close unneeded applications to free up memory for applications you are working in.
2. Adjust your virtual memory settings or use a memory-doubling utility:
Ñ If you use virtual memory, choose Apple Menu > Control Panels > Memory. Then set Virtual Memory to On. Next, set it to 1 MB over the built-in memory.
Ñ If you use a memory-doubling utility such as RAM Doubler, it tells you it cannot load until virtual memory is turned off.
3. If you're using a version of Mac OS older than 8.5, adjust your settings for disk cache. Choose Apple Menu > Control Panels > Memory. Then set Disk Cache to 5╨8% of your built-in memory. For example, if your computer has 32 MB RAM, set the disk cache to 2048 K.
Step Three: Optimize Application Memory
Keep memory requirements set at factory settings unless a dialog box appears warning you to close windows to free up space. If this warning appears, then allocate more memory to Creator2 1.6:
1. Quit Creator2 1.6.
2. Open the Multi-Ad Creator2 folder in the location you specified during installation.
3. Click once on the Creator2 icon.
4. Choose File > Get Info > Memory.
5. Allocate more memory to Creator2 1.6, adding no more than 1000 K at a time in the Minimum Size and Preferred Size boxes.
Tip: Don't allocate too much memory to Creator2 1.6, because graphics need free memory in the global memory store as well as in the application partition.
Step Four: Optimize Font Management
1. Keep the number of fonts in the "System Folder: Fonts" folder to a minimum; put all other fonts outside of the system folder, loading them using a font manager.
Note: Do not use subfolders for fonts stored in the "System Folder: Fonts" folder.
2. When you activate fonts using a font manager, don't activate more than you need. You can activate additional fonts at a later time without having to relaunch Creator2 1.6.
3. Use a separate suitcase for each font family (one suitcase for all styles of Garamond; a separate suitcase for all styles of Palatino, etc.).
Step Five: Speed Up Load and Save Times
1. Turn off the setting for overflowed text. In Creator 2, choose Edit > Preferences. Then scroll down and click on the Text panel icon. Next, deselect "on opening document" under "Check for text overflow."
2. If possible, work off a local hard drive, as opposed to a remote server. If your document and all its graphics are in the same folder on a server, you can copy the entire folder to your hard drive, work on it, and then copy the entire folder back to the server.
Step Six: Speed Up Scrolling
1. Scroll with the scroll box instead of with the hand tool or scroll arrow.
2. Turn off dynamic scrolling so you can drag the scroll box faster. In Creator2, choose Edit > Preferences, click on the General panel icon, and deselect "Use dynamic scrolling."
3. Keep palettes from overlapping the document window.
Step Seven: Speed Up Screen Redraw
1. If your ad is complex, work on one section at a time, making sure it is the only section visible on your screen. Screen redraw will speed up because your entire ad won't have to be redrawn.
2. Keep scrolling to a minimum. Work in one area until you need to change locations.
3. Turn off invisibles. In Creator 2, choose Document > Document Settings. Then click on the General panel icon, go to Show Invisibles, and deselect all items.
4. Turn off rulers when not in use. Choose View and deselect Rulers.
5. If you edit guides frequently, change the setting for guide style. Choose Edit > Preferences. Then click on the Rulers & Guides panel icon, and set the Guide Style to "dashed (faster)."
6. Lower the settings for graphics preview resolution and preview depth. Choose Edit > Preferences. Then click on the Graphics panel icon, and set the Preview Resolution to 72 dpi or lower, and the Maximum Preview Depth to 256 colors or lower. This suggestion applies to non-EPS bitmap graphics (TIFF, JPEG, etc.) only.
Note: If you print non-EPS bitmap graphics (TIFF, JPEG, etc.) to a non-PostScript (QuickDraw) printer, maintain the higher settings for preview resolution and preview depth so that you get an acceptable print resolution. For a non-PostScript printer, the print resolution for bitmap graphics will be the same as the preview resolution.
7. Lower the settings for color depth. Choose Apple Menu > Control Panel > Monitors & Sound. Then click on the Monitor icon, and set the Color Depth to Thousands of Colors (instead of Millions of Colors).
Step Eight: Improve the Handling of Large Documents
If you are experiencing problems while loading or printing a large document, perform these steps to speed up your work:
1. Quit Creator2 1.6 if it is currently running.
2. Double-click the Creator2 icon to open the program, and immediately press and hold the Shift key. A dialog box appears. The current memory settings are displayed above the "Initial graphics heap size" field.
3. Type a larger number into this field (adding no more than 1,000 K at a time) to increase the amount of memory available for graphics. These new settings can be used for either the current session or for all future sessions.
4. Keep the check mark in the "Save new settings in preferences" checkbox, and your new settings are automatically added to Creator2's preferences; deselect this option and your new settings will only be used during the current session.
5. Click OK to keep your new setting.
6. Click "No change" to exit this feature. Be aware that this graphic memory setting can only be changed while you are starting up Creator2; there is no way to do this while you are within the application.
7. Speed up load time by turning off the setting for overflowed text. (See "Step Five: Speed Up Load and Save Times.")
Step Nine: Improve the Handling of Graphics with no Previews
Instead of displaying previews of graphics, sometimes Creator2 1.6 will display placeholder boxes containing the graphics' file information. This happens because the graphics use too much memory for Creator2 1.6 to display them properly. To solve this problem:
Tip: After performing each of the following steps, close the document that is unable to display previews of graphics and then open it to see if the previews appear.
1. If you have other documents open, close them.
2. Quit other applications. If this action fails to free up enough memory, proceed to the next step.
3. Lower the settings for graphics preview resolution and preview depth (see "Step Seven: Speed Up Screen Redraw").
Tip: Reducing the graphics preview resolution may be more effective than reducing the preview depth.
4. If the previews of graphics do not appear, allocate more memory to Creator2 1.6 (see "Step Three: Optimize Application Memory" above).
Tip: Don't allocate too much memory to Creator2 1.6, because graphics need free memory in the global memory store as well as in the application partition.
5. If the previews of graphics still do not appear, install more RAM.
Note: The display of placeholder boxes usually affects only the graphics' previews; it rarely affects printing. When you send a document to a printer, most graphic files should print clearly╤except for PICT files, which fail to print when they are not visible.
