The following provides a brief overview of each application and content title in Aztech's Home@Office Suite. An asterisk (*) in front of the application's proper name denotes that this application has won one or more industry awards.
Following this description listing is some suggestions on how to use the various applications
to meet your specific project needs.
Desktop Publishing & Page Layout *Pressworks 1 by GSP Ltd.
This multiple award-winning DTP application has over 150 pre-designed, ready-to-use desktop templates, screen capture, import many different graphic (BMP, PCX, TIFF, GEM, EPS, PIC,CGM and more) and text (Word, ASCII, WordPerfect, WordStar, Richtext, Ami Pro and more) file formats, spell-checker, personal dictionary, 40,000 word thesaurus, 24-bit color image support, 65TrueType fonts included, Adobe Type Manager fonts support, powerful typography tools, flow text around irregular shaped objects, many text enhancement features (slant, arc,spiral, etc.), full manual on disc, complete guided tour including sample layouts, includes 300 clipart images, supports 4-color separation.
TIP:_Use this program as your main print-based project assembly tool. Layout your project and then import various other support files like prepared images clipart. Use Harvard Graphics for multimedia slide show-type projects.
(English, French, German application and manual included on disc)
Illustration & Graphics Design *1st Design by GSP Ltd.
1st Design is much easier to use than many high-end professional products and is rated the best drawing package in its class. Incredible array of drawing functions including shape, controlled draw, freehand, arc, ellipse, text, move, split, align, blend, rotate, scale, skew, greeking,smoothing, undo, and reflect tools, copy, cut & paste functions, many line, arrowhead and fillstyles, import and export capabilities, zoom, near-infinite color support, bezier tools, print,automatic tile alignment, group/ungroup, crop & registration marks, various snap-to controls, joinpaths, kerning, tracking, automatic tracing, object layering, 600 clipart illustrations and symbols,53 TrueType fonts included, Adobe Type Manager fonts support, support of keyboard shortcuts,full manual on disc, complete quickstart guide. Imports and exports BMP, GEM, TIFF, PCX,WFM, CGM, EPS and others.
TIP: use this application to create or import and then edit line drawings like the clip art supplied in this Suite. You can also add color and apply a multitude of different visual effects. Use this program also to convert complex photographic ("bitmap") images into simple outline drawings(called "tracing").
(English, French, German application and manual included on disc)
Multimedia (Slide Show) Presentation *Harvard Graphics by Software Publishing Corp.
This multiple award-winning program is the best-selling presentation graphics software packageof all time and well-respected around the world for the creation and display of multimedia presentations. Add special effects, use drawing tools like arc, rotate, flip, drop shadow and more,autobuild slides with bullet, table, bar and pie charts, emphasize key points with Chalk the on-screen drawing tool, select from over 80 pre-formatted chart layouts, consult the onlineAdvisor Design Tips for professional advice on color, layout, fonts and more, use the handySpeaker Notes to remind you of important points during your presentation, select from over 500 high-quality drag-and-drop symbols, present slides in any order, add WAV and MIDI files that play back according to your requirements, use the built-in interactive tutorial to get up and running right away, and take your presentations on the road with the built-in runtime player
TIP: Once you have created or modified the elements of your multimedia slide show presentation (clipart from 1st Design, images from PhotoStudio, a background or form design from Pressworks, .WAV file from Sound Impression, and some sound effects from Sound Pro), pull it all together with short text lines in Harvard Graphics. Use the master slide feature to create a common look-and-feel to each slide.
(American English, UK/Canadian English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch applications and manuals included on disc)
Graphic File Conversion *Conversion Artist Win 95 & Win3.1 by North Coast Software
This multiple award-winning program converts over 35 different photographic and line art image formats. With Conversion Artist it is possible to exchange just about any type of graphic file format you create with any of the programs in this pack and import them into any othera pplication. You can view multiple images simultaneously, convert in groups, print, edit images,JPEG compress, unrivalled color-reduction, powerful color enhancement, read and play AVI files,employ a variety of image effects, screen capture and convert file formats between different computing platforms including SUN, Silicon Graphics, Macintosh, OS/2, Unix and Amiga.Converts BMP, GIF, TIFF, WPG, CUT, MCP, TGA, PCX, PCT, IMG, PCD, EPS and manymore.
TIP: This program is particularly useful when you want to make use of the extremely high resolution of a 32-bit (CMYK) TIFF image file from one of the photo collections. Most PC applications do not support this high a level of resolution so you could import this file into Conversion Artist and then save it as a 24-bit RGB TIFF file, which is supported by just about everything. The resulting file will have a great deal more "information" in it (perhaps 9-12 MBeach) then the usual 24-bit RGB TIFF files (about 1.2 MB) in the collections.
However, you really only need this type of resolution if you are going to magnify a very small partof the image to full screen size or if you want to print to a printer that can handle this amount of detail.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
Graphic File Conversion *HiJaak Pro by Quarterdeck
This multiple award-winning program allows you to use virtually any_image any_where. HiJaakPro converts over 70 different file formats, provides screen capture capabilities, allows for quick graphics viewing and provides time saving image management.
It converts 18 "vector" formats (eg. CGM, WMF, WPG, PICT, etc.), 32 "raster" formats (EPS,TIFF, BMP, PCD, PCX, MAC, etc.) and 24 fax formats. Convert vector to vector, vector to raster, raster to raster, and anything to Postscript.
You can use HiJaak Pro to edit and enhance your converted image or you can scan with yourTWAIN compliant scanners and electronic cameras directly into HiJaak Pro. Use it to create professional looking screen captures for presentations, documentation, and training manuals. Youcan capture full screens, windows, menus,icons or any rectangular area of your screen in eitherWindows or DOS.
Use the HiJaak Browser to automatically create thumbnails of your images and automatically update when your computer isn't busy. And you can save valuable hard disk space too by compressing large raster images into JPEG, sometimes by as much as 200:1.
HiJaak Pro will also convert many file types from other types of computers including Macintosh,SUN, Amiga, mainframe systems and more.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
This easy-to-use and powerful photo image manipulation, editing and retouching application features an album manager, screen capture, slide presentation, over 30 different visual effects,customizable tools, 50 bitmapped seamless tile textures, 200 photo images and support for avariety of different file formats. Acquire images from TWAIN scanners, video grabbers, etc.,organize images in convenient thumbnail groups, display selected images in pre-determined, timed presentation sequences, zoom in to fine details, perform image enhancement, color correction andspecial filter effects and get help from the comprehensive online manual.
TIP: Use this program to crop (cut away portions of) photographic images to your document's size requirement. correct colors that are off or accentuate a feature. Add effects like blur to suggest speed or use a filter to create the impression of an oil painting. Scan in a photograph of your product using PhotoStudio and then touch it up. This application does not support 32-bit CMYK TIFF files so you must use Conversion Artist first to convert the 32-bit file into a 24-bitfile (if you want very migh resolution) or use the supplied 24-bit RGB TIFF files instead.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
MIDI & Wave File Manipulation *Sound Impression by Midisoft
Sound Impression is the ultimate sound production environment for creating, editting, andintegrating .WAV, MIDI, and CD audio formats. Record from CD or MIDI to .WAV, add musicto voice tracks, add special effects and edit any size .WAV file, build voice-overs, mix .WAV filesfor multi-track compositions, view and play MIDI files as music notation, edit MIDI notes andevents with your mouse, remove noises, hisses, silence (or add silence) etc., produce voice, musicand sound effects for OLE 1.0-compliant applications like word processors, spreadsheets, etc.,synchronize playback of MIDI, .WAV and CD Audio, and much, much more.
TIP: Pick one of the wave files from The Music Works! collection. Add an echo effect or link it with a "bridge" piece. Then copy it and attach it to the end of itself so that the track loops. Or record your voice for your presentation and store it as a new .WAV file. Use the built in timer to cut either file to the exact length for your presentation. Pull the new piece into Harvard Graphicsand use HG's slide show feature to link the wave file to the timing of one or more of your "slides".Play a MIDI file while also playing the .WAV file so that your voice is heard over the background(MIDI) music. Clean up the noise, hissing and scratches of that otherwise perfect recording.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
PixFolio is a multimedia file browser and manager that allows you to manage a variety of graphics, video, sound, and music formats in multiple catalogs. Supported graphics formatsinclude BMP/DIB, EPS, FLI/FLC, ICO, IMG, JPG, MAC, PCT, TIFF, WMF, WPG, AVI, MID,MOV, PCD, WAV and others. PixFolio builds catalogs of multimedia files that may reside on different disks. The catalog can be searched and files easily located. Thumbnails are displayed forimages, and generic bitmaps represent sound and video file formats. Pixfolio also includes the ability to read an image in one format and to save it to several other types (somewhat likeConversion Artist although CA has many more supported file formats. Pixfolio is found on mostAztech CD ROM image collections.
TIP: The image catalogs for most of the Aztech CD-ROM image collections have already been created. Some of the later collections allow you to view all these catalogs from the respective CD.However, if you have extra HD space you might want to copy all the catalogs to your pixfolio directory. You will then have instantaneous access to hundreds of high quality photographs. Then create a catalog of all your wave files (don't forget The Music Works! and Sound Pro collections) as well as any MIDI files you may already own.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
Multimedia Browser & Manager *Kudo by Imspace Systems
Kudo is an image catalog for managing all your computer images, including those found in various Home@Office modules. Just as you consult an office supply catalog for desk calendars, legal padsor pens, consult your Kudo catalog for logos, clip art, illustrations, videos, quicktime movies andPhoto CD pictures.
Kudo catalogs image files using thumbnails. Think of a thumbnail as a miniature photo of animage file. It looks like your original file, but it's a replica that takes up very little memory. Kudouses the thumbnail in its catalog and leaves the image file, untouched, in its original form andlocation. With these compact thumbnails, Kudo catalogs all your image files in a convenient,accessible way.
The thumbnails provide a visual reference for each image file. Kudo adds additional information,such as the original file's name, location, size and file type, to complete the catalog.
You have hundreds of clip art, logos and other graphic image files on your computer, all createdusing different applications. Unfortunately, to look through your images, you must find and openeach file.
With Kudo, you can:
Zoom through the catalog to locate the image file's thumbnail.
Reference the image file's location, size and format.
Preview the full-sized image in a floating window.
Place the image into another document.
TIP:You have a photograph or piece of artwork in mind that would fit perfectly in your new layout. Using the Riffle Control, quickly zoom through the catalog until you see the one youwant. Once you find an image that will work, you preview it with a simple menu selection. Whenyou are satisfied with the selection, simply drag and drop the image directly into your favorite graphics or desktop publishing application.
(English only application and online help manual included on disc)
Photo Image Morphing *Photomorph 95 by North Coast Software
PhotoMorph is a multiple award-winning special effects morphing studio. Includes morphing,warping, transitions, storyboarding, chain multiple clips, image edit (crop, scale, rotate, etc.),24-bit sample movies and images included, movies work in 8 picture formats (GIF, TIFF, TGA,PCX, BMP, JPEG, PICT, Amiga IFF), and highly optimized for FAST operation. Use any imagesfrom Aztech's photo image and clipart collections.
(English and German application and manual included on disc)
Virtual Word is a full-featured, powerful word processor that fully interates with Gridworks (spreadsheet), Check-Mate (spelling checker), Word-Morpher (thesaurus) and RenaissanceGrapher (spreadsheet graphing). . Access all your Windows fonts and sizes, add effects like bold,underline, etc., import .BMP images, super- and subscripting, text alignment and line spacing,pagination, search and replace, maintain detailed information about each document, and much more.
Virtual Word is a professional quality, full featured, easy to use Windows 3.1 or 95 wordprocessor. Virtual Word has all the basic features you require to do most any basic document including graphics support, print preview, multiple level undo's, Windows cut and paste, blockmoves, multiple margins, color printers, search and replace, True Type and printer fonts (with sizeand multiple color support!). Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethru, Superscript and Subscript, etc.Margins may be set for left, right, center and full justification.
Using Virtual Word, you will be able to create professional quality word processing documents with ease. Virtual Word is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) word processor. This significantly simplifies creating documents, since your screen always displays how your document will appear when printed.
TIP: Use Virtual Word for all your basic and quick documents like letters. Use PressWorks for your more ambitious applications like multi-column newsletters. use Conversion Artist to createa .BMP file for importing into Virtual Word.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
The GridWorks Spreadsheet is a powerful, full featured spreadsheet that is compatible with most features of Microsoft's Excel version 4.0. Most controls and menus work with the same look andfeel as Excel. If you have used a spreadsheet before, or specifically worked with Microsoft Excel,then you already know the basics on using GridWorks. GridWorks supports a wealth of features.You can change fonts and colors, create borders, modify column and row sizes, copy and moverows, columns, ranges, formulas, and formats. You can also produce presentation quality reports.The best way to learn GridWorks is to go through the online help file included in the application.It will be time well spent.
TIP:You can use the cut and paste functions of Windows 3.1 and 95 to move blocks of information to and from VirtualWord and GridWorks.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
Multilingual Spelling Checker Check-Mate by Aztech New Media
Check-Mate is a very powerful universal Windows 3.1 and 95 spelling checker. Check-Mate will work with any Windows' application that supports copy, cut and paste including Virtual Word,Gridworks, Pressworks and 1st Design. While in your Windows' application, copy or cut text tothe clipboard. Run Check-Mate and click on the Spell Check. Once complete, copy your spellchecked text back to the Windows' Clipboard to be pasted into your application's document. You can also type text directly into Check-Mate's input area to perform spelling checks, then copy to Clipboard to use in a Window's application.
Check-Mate contains a state of the art, high efficiency 120,000 word American English spellingchecker. (Most word processor contain only 50,000 to 75,000 words.) You can add new wordsto your personal dictionary file while performing spelling checks. You can also manually create and edit this file with any word processor (or Windows' Notepad) that allows you to save a textfile. While the application itself is only available in English, spell checker databases are included for French, German and Italian vocabularies.
TIP: You can use Check Mate with any application. Open it, minimize it, run your other applications and checking spelling on the fly as required.
(English only application and manual, with spell checking capability for English, German, Frenchand Italian included on disc)
Word-Morpher is a very powerful, easy to use program that contains over 50,000 synonyms.Word-Morpher adds a full featured thesaurus to any Windows program that supports copy, cut and paste including Virtual Word, Gridworks, Pressworks and 1st Design. The program works just like Check-Mate but is also useful as a stand alone utility allowing you to manually typewords you wish checked. Word-Morpher can be used to improve your writing and word power.If you enjoy solving cross-word puzzles, Word-Morpher may become your most valuable assistant.
TIP: You can use Word Morpher with any application. Open it, minimize it, run your other applications and use the thesaurus on the fly as required.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
Spreadsheet Graphing Renaissance Grapher by Aztech New Media
Renaissance Grapher is a very powerful, easy to use graph program that allows you to create professional quality business graphs with ease. Renaissance Grapher supports more than one dozen different graph types and styling variations. With Renaissance Grapher you can add titles,legends, select color palettes, scale your outputs for printing, or copy them to the clipboard toallow them to be used with other Windows programs like Virtual Word, PressWorks, 1st Designand Harvard Graphics.
Renaissance Grapher automatically creates a random graph when loaded to assist you in quickly setting up various graph options. Simply finish your graph by adding your data, and you're done.Save it, Print it, or copy it to Windows clipboard. Changing any graph/style to another is as easy(and fast) as hitting one mouse button! Use saved graphs as template files to create new graphs! (Never waste any time creating variations of graphs you have already saved!)
TIP: Renaissance Grapher is one of the most powerful, easy to use graphing programs available for the home, school or workplace. Use it to track your home budget, prepare for meetings, orjust see how your investments are doing! Renaissance Grapher has literally thousands of uses.Once you begin using Renaissance Grapher , you will quickly realize just how powerful, easy touse and helpful this program is.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
Fax/Data/Voice Integrated Communications *FaxMaker Home Office by Aztech New Media
Digital answering machine, voice mail, call transfer, fax on demand, call paging, automatically detect between incoming fax, data and voice calls on a single telephone line, automatically start the associated application, send a fax from any Windows application, design your own cover pageor use a stock page, multiple phonebooks & databases, scheduled group sending faxes, import& export faxes, support of most popular communications protocols and modem (including voicemodems) brands.
TIP: Make your operation look much bigger than it is by setting FaxMaker to prompt the caller for a particular department and then answer the phone accordingly. Create your fax cover sheet in Pressworks using the logo designed in !st Design. Check Clipart III for logo design ideas.
(English, German, and Dutch applications and manuals included on disc)
Windows Environment Enhancement Multimedia Tool *Wired For Sound Pro CD by SMS
This title is one of the world's best known Windows utilities. It includes (take a deep breath ...) over 2,000 sound effects, 300 MIDI files, 400 icons, 50 animated icons, 100 designer cursors, 50 color cursors, 300 photographs (excluding all the other CD collections and those on the PhotoStudio disc), 150 video clips, 50 celebrity impersonations, a talking clock with reminder alarms, talking appointment calendar, talking Solitaire and Minsweeper games, talking systemmonitor that warns when memory or disk space get low, 5 animated faces to deliver the message,replacement cursors and icons, create your own animated icons, automatically switching wallpaper patterns at specific intervals, multimedia slide show screen saver to present pictures,movies and music (oodles of such material is provided with the Home@Office Suite), intruder alert feature, a CD browser provides thumbnail sketches and a description of the CD's available video and photos, ability to attach MIDI (music) to Windows events, Post This! feature, voicerecorder/editor (requires your own sound card and microphone), multimedia jukebox (plays MIDIand .WAV files), 12 preset Windows desktop styles, a wave file player and editor, ... and an uninstall routine. Did we forget anything??
TIP: This is the ultimate tool to bring your Windows environment and your multimedia presentations to life. This CD could take months to go through but the content could be used, for example, with slide presentations in Harvard Graphics. Use Sound Impression to further enhance the celebrity impersonations or to create that perfect sound effect. Personalize your PC like no other- make a statement.
(English, French and German applications and manuals included on disc)
Organizer, Scheduler and Address Book Anytime For Windows by Individual Software
Anytime incorporates a Day Planner and Address Book to organize, schedule and maintain your day-to-day affairs. Use the Day Planner to manage your daily schedule of appointments, events,and to do list. The Address Book keeps track of friends, family, business contacts, and other acquaintances. View and quickly change your schedule with the Quick Glances.
Choose from Week, Month, and Year Glance displays. Each Quick Glance gives you both acalendar and a graph view. AnyTime also offers over 40 exceptional, high-quality,professional-looking layouts to print information from your Day Planner, Address Book, and Quick Glances.
TIP: Students can use this for their daily curriculum planning. Anytime is also compatible with most major "printed" time planners including Day TimerTM, DayRunnerTM, FranklinTM, FilofaxTMand more. Print to pre sized sheets or Anytime will print the cut lines and hole punch guides.
(English only application and manual included on disc)
This collection of 100 original TrueType fonts adds a new dimension to all your Windows documents. No matter what you want to say, you can add more impact with the right visual message. The variety of styles range from Circus, Irish, Stencil and Antique to Hotel, Saphire,Shadow, GlowWorm, Comic Strip and many more.
TIP: These fonts may be used by all the different Windows applications in the Home@Office Suite including Pressworks, 1st Design, Virtual Word, Harvard Graphics, and Gridworks. TheseTrueType fonts are in addition to all the others that come with the individual applications.
5,000+ Clip Art Images Classic Clipart III by Aztech New Media
This collection features over 5,000 line art images in several different file formats which may beused for virtually any occassion. A true multimedia suite of products is not complete without afull complement of clipart images. Use the Kudo image browser to view any clipart image. Whenyou have selected the one you want, open your drawing, desktop publishing, presentation, wordprocessing or graphics application and simply drag the clipart image to the application or copyit to the clipboard and then paste it.
TIP: Import them into Pressworks to accent a point, use 1st Design to modify or enhance animage, or pull an image into Harvard Graphics for a slide show.
License & Royalty-Free Music The Music Works! I & II by Aztech New Media
The Music Works! is license and royalty-free music for accompiament to all kinds of media productions.You may use this material without charge for any film, TV, radio, video, multimedia,live or other productions (see license enclosed) without any fees. Featured is an outstanding arrayof musical styles composed and performed by a leading professional session group that createsand performs for broadcast commercials of several Fortune 500 companies. This energy-charged CD-ROM plays in a standard audio CD player, and any Mac, PC, Unix or other platform supporting standard CD-ROM's (ISO 9660). This 2-CD collection contains more than 45 minutes of digitally mastered original music, recorded in "redbook" audio format. Track 1 contains the16-bit stereo, 44.1 KHz Windows .WAV and Apple sound files, and tracks 2 onwards comprisethe CD audio "redbook" tracks. The styles are a blend of rock & roll, blues, new age, ambient,easy listening, pop, country, techno, percussive, latin, acoustic, progressive, and ochestral contentin segments from 10 seconds to over 3 minutes.
TIP: Use Sound Impression to add special effects, shorten, lengthen, edit, splice or loop content from this collection. Link this content to individual slides or full presentations in HarvardGraphics.
