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Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1
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Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso
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demos
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hrqfx31.arj
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README.DOC
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1993-01-13
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01-10-92 HiRes QFX(tm) Demo Version 3.10
Please use the <PgDn> key to read about the following topics:
√ Features Disabled or Limited in this Demo
√ Documentation and Online Help
√ Important Note About Disk Space
√ New or Enhanced Features
√ Clarifications and Errata
√ Common Installation Problems
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Features Disabled or Limited in this Demo
1. The FILE-SAVE and FILE-SAVE CLIPBOARD options in Paint mode are
not available in the Demo. You may use the FILE-SAVE AS option
to save up to a 300 by 300 pixel area of your image if you need
sample output from the program. This option always saves the
lower-left corner of the image. This cannot be changed.
2. The FILE-SAVE OBJECTS and FILE-SAVE OBJECTS AS options in Draw
mode are not available in the Demo. You cannot save objects
that you create in Draw mode.
3. Three fonts are included with the demo and are installed in the
\FONTS directory. They are COBB (similar to Courier), DIXON
(similar to Helvetica) and MARIN (similar to Times Roman). The
full working program comes with twelve fonts and a
PostScript(tm) and TrueType(R) to HiRes QFX format font
converter.
More, press <PgDn>...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation
A complete copy of the HiRes QFX 3.1 manual (without illustrations
or fancy formatting) is included. It is in Adobe PostScript(tm)
and can be printed on a suitable PostScript printer. The page size
is 8-½ by 11 inches, so load your printer with that size paper.
There are 121 pages in 11 separate files that occupy a little over
a megabyte when installed on the hard disk.
1. Put the Demo diskette in drive A or B, log on to that drive
and run the INSTALL program again and select "Install
Reference Manual" as the type of installation to perform.
2. After the PostScript files are installed, switch to the
drive and directory where the files were installed.
Example: C:
CD \HRQ3DEMO
3. Copy all the files to a PostScript printer.
Example: COPY *.PS LPT1:
or
3. Copy each file individually, if your printer cannot handle
all the files at once or if the paper tray cannot hold all
the pages necessary.
Example: COPY 01COVER.PS LPT1:
COPY 02TOC.PS LPT1:
COPY 03INTRO.PS LPT1:
COPY 04START.PS LPT1:
...
You may need to configure your printer port for "continuous retry"
to avoid timeout errors. Examples:
MODE LPT1:,,p (DOS 4 or earlier)
MODE LPT1:,,b (DOS 5 or later)
The page counts for each file are listed below:
01COVER.PS 1
02TOC.PS 6
03INTRO.PS 9
04START.PS 9
05MENUS.PS 18
06TOOLS.PS 7
07PAINT.PS 32
08DRAW.PS 11
09MSGS.PS 12
10APPEND.PS 11
11INDEX.PS 5
More, press <PgDn>...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Help
The HELP button at the far right of the Main Menu can be used to
access the HiRes QFX Help Text. To get more information on how to
use the Help function, select the HELP menu button and select INDEX
from the menu. When the Help Index list dialog appears, scroll the
list down to the topic "HELP" and click on it. The Help Text
dialog will open and offer an explanation of how to use Help.
These Help topics offer information not found in the printed manual:
File Utility Buttons
The Help topic "File Utility Buttons" explains the use of the five
utility buttons labeled COPY, DEL, MOVE, INFO and FREE that appear
on all File Selection dialogs.
Paste and Copy With Mask
The Help topics "Paste With Mask" and "Copy With Mask" explain how
the Alpha Mask affects cutting, copying and pasting image areas.
Fading Two Images
The Help topic "Fading Two Images" contains a complete discussion
of how to "fade" or blend two images together.
Emboss Effect
The Help topic "Emboss From Image" outlines a procedure for
creating an emboss that keys off the shapes in the image itself.
This type of emboss may appear more familiar to those who have
created embosses in other graphics programs.
Image Control
The Help topic "Image Control" has a section titled "Image Control
Options" that explains the Image Control Options dialog in more
detail.
Changing Colors
The Help topic "Changing Color" gives a simple procedure for
changing the color of an object or area in an image.
Text Symbols
The Help topic "Text Symbols" describes how to enter various
symbols such as the copyright and trademark symbols, typeset-style
double quotes, foreign currency symbols, bullets and more.
More, press <PgDn>...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Note About Disk Space
HiRes QFX manages memory "virtually". This means that the program
uses space available on your hard disk when all of the computer's
electronic memory (RAM) is exhausted. This allows HiRes QFX to
edit files that are much larger than can be edited using electronic
memory alone.
If you edit large image files or set several levels of Undo, disk
space may become exhausted (the disk will become full). In this
situation, the program may appear to "hang" and it may take a long
time for processing to complete or for an error message to appear.
DO NOT reboot (restart) your computer. You will lose data and
possibly damage your hard disk. If you want to try to interrupt
the program, press the <Esc> key several times and wait for a
message to appear or the cursor to return. The delay can take
several minutes, so be patient. You should close some image
windows, empty the Clipboard or free up some disk space by deleting
any unnecessary files, before doing any more work in the program.
The best insurance against this situation occurring is to make sure
that you have lots of space available on your hard disk BEFORE
starting to edit large images.
See the Online Help topic "Performance Tips" for some tips on
working with very large images. If you print out the manual, you
should also read the section found at the end of the Messages
section titled "Managing the HiRes QFX Spill Files". The spill
files are also discussed below in the first topic under "Common
Installation Problems".
In the event that you do have to reboot your computer or if the
program exits abnormally ("crashes"), you may need to free the disk
space that was allocated by the program. Run the CHKDSK program
that is one of the DOS operating system utilities. Example:
CHKDSK /F (the '/F' tells the program to 'fix' the disk)
If you see the message "Convert lost chains to files (Y/N)?",
answer "No". If you answer Yes, no disk space will be recovered.
More, press <PgDn>...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New or Enhanced Features
Several features have been added or enhanced in this release that are
not documented in the printed manual. They are documented in the
Online Help mentioned above.
Accelerator Keys
Accelerator keys are shortcut keys for certain menu commands. They
are designated on the menu buttons by a caret symbol (^) followed
by a letter key. To learn how to use these keys, consult the Help
topic "Accelerator Keys".
Automatic Copy of Clipboard to New Image
After you create a new image using the CLIPBORD button in the New
Image dialog, you may choose to copy the image from the Clipboard
into the new window. For information on this feature, open the
Help topic "New Image" and scroll down to the section titled "New
Image Hints and Tips".
Fine Control of the Tile Selection Box in Video Show Function
When selecting a "tile" area to show using the Video Show function,
the <SHIFT> key can be used to gain finer control of the exact
image coordinates for the tile. For information on this feature,
open the Help topic "Video Show" and scroll down to the section
titled "Showing an Image Tile".
More, press <PgDn>...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clarifications and Errata
"Save As" in Paint mode versus Draw mode
The FILE-SAVE AS command in Paint mode does NOT change the name of the
current image. When you "save as" in Paint mode, the current image is
written to the file you select from the Save Image File dialog.
However, if you subsequently select FILE-SAVE, the current image will
be written to the original file name. FILE-SAVE always writes the
image to the name of the image file selected when you first opened the
image window.
In Draw mode, FILE-SAVE OBJECTS AS writes the objects to the file you
select from the Save Object File dialog and changes the name of the
objects to that name. If you subsequently select FILE-SAVE OBJECTS,
the current objects will be written to the new file name.
Video Show Function
When editing an image using another program via the Video Show
function, you must select the image area with the TILE button option in
order for HiRes QFX to restore the edited image upon return. If you
select any part of the image with either the FULL or WINDO buttons, it
cannot be restored. You must select the area for editing using the
TILE button. See the Help topic "Tile Editing".
Furthermore, both the FULL and WINDO selected areas are displayed with
aspect ratio correction. TILE selected areas are not. If you want an
image displayed WITHOUT aspect ratio correction, use the TILE button.
To select a tile section from an image that is the same size as (or
smaller than) the screen, you must be in PAGE view and the window must
be maximized (no scroll bars). To maximize a window, click the button
with the green up-arrow icon, in the upper-right corner of the window.
Minimum Heap Size
HiRes QFX now sets aside 2 megabytes of memory at program start for the
memory "heap". The printed manual states that the initial heap size is
1 megabyte. Complex Lassos or a large number of objects in Draw mode,
especially Text objects, consume a large amount of heap memory. See
the "Out of Memory" message in the printed manual for more information.
More, press <PgDn>...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Installation Problems:
Not Enough Disk Space to Install or Run the Program
HiRes QFX requires enough space on the hard disk to create its
"spill" files. These are temporary files for storing parts of
images when memory is exhausted and are part of the Virtual Memory
Management system employed by HiRes QFX. Normally these files are
placed on the same disk drive as the program itself. However,
HiRes QFX looks first for a DOS Environment variable name that
signals exactly where to put these files. DOS environment variable
names are usually defined in the autoexec.bat file as follows:
SET TEMP=C:\DOS
or SET TMP=C:\
HiRes QFX looks at the drive and directory following either of
these two names, TEMP or TMP, and uses that location for its spill
files. If there is not enough space on the named drive, HiRes QFX
cannot run. Edit the line in the autoexec.bat file to name a drive
with more space. If you have more room on drive D:, change the
line to read:
SET TEMP=D:\
or SET TMP=D:\
IMPORTANT: Whatever directory you name must exist! HiRes QFX does
not automatically create temporary directories. If you want to
create a directory for HiRes QFX spill files, use the DOS make
directory command (ie: MKDIR TEMP).
HINT: If you do not have a TEMP or TMP environment variable name
listed in the autoexec.bat file, add one yourself to tell HiRes QFX
where to place its spill files. Re-boot the computer after making
changes to the autoexec.bat file so they will take effect.
Graphics Adapter Resolution Too Low
If you get the error message "Graphics Adapter Resolution Too Low,
Select a Higher Resolution Mode", the current horizontal and
vertical resolution set for the graphics adapter is too low for
HiRes QFX to run. Depending on the type of graphics adapter
installed, try the following:
TARGA 16, 24 or 32:
Add or modify the DOS environment variable TARGASET to contain
the characters "P241". Normally there is a line in the
autoexec.bat file like this:
SET TARGASET=T##...
where "##" is 16, 24 or 32 and "..." indicates other parameters
that may be present. Edit the line as follows:
SET TARGASET=T##P241...
If the letter P already appears in the line, followed by three
numbers, change the numbers to 241. If there is no line in the
autoexec.bat file that sets the TARGASET variable, add a line
as above without the "..." and substituting 16, 24 or 32 for
"##" depending on which TARGA board you have.
TARGA+:
The INSTALL program will not allow you to set a resolution mode
that will not work with HiRes QFX. However, if you did not
complete the installation or INSTALL could not set the TARGA+
mode automatically, you must run the TMODE.EXE program prior to
running HiRes QFX. Select a TARGA Plus mode having at least
480 lines of resolution or more. For example:
TMODE 11 (sets 512x486x32 mode)
is acceptable because it sets a mode with 486 lines. In
general, all modes are allowed EXCEPT modes 1 through 8, and
31, 32 and 35. Consult your TARGA+ Reference Guide for more
information.
ATVista:
The INSTALL program will not allow you to set a resolution mode
that will not work with HiRes QFX. However, if you did not
complete the installation, you must add or modify the
environment variable DISPLAYCFG that appears in the
autoexec.bat file. It must be set to select an addressable
vertical resolution of at least 480 lines and 512 columns of
resolution or more. For example:
SET DISPLAYCFG DH512 DV486 AH512 AV486
is acceptable because the AH512 and AV486 parameters select an
addressable resolution of 512 columns by 486 lines.
NOTE: Re-boot the computer after making any changes to the
autoexec.bat file so they will take effect.
or
Run INSTALL again and it will create the startup batch file
which sets the DISPLAYCFG environment variable for you.
Out of Environment Space
If you see the message "Out of environment space" during program
startup, increase the amount of memory allocated for the DOS
environment by adding or modifying a line in the config.sys file.
Look for a line like this:
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM c:\dos\ /P /E:####
where "####" is some number. Change the number to a larger value.
For example, if it is 640, change it to 1024. If there is not a
line like this in the config.sys file, add one as shown here. Try
1024 as the number after the /E (the letters may be in upper or
lower case). Consult your DOS manual for more information on the
DOS environment.
HiRes QFX Does Not Run in TARGA Plus Mode
Run the INSTALL program again and be sure to select "TARGA Plus"
as the graphics adapter for HiRes QFX to use.
HiRes QFX Does Not Run With Your Super VGA adapter
or you see one of the following messages:
"No Super VGA Information Available"
"VESA Super VGA BIOS Extensions Not Found"
HiRes QFX works with VESA compliant Super VGA adapters that support
the VESA BIOS Extensions level 1.2 or better and also support one
of the Direct Color modes. Normally you must load a VESA BIOS
Extension driver to enable the Super VGA features for your adapter.
This driver is sometimes referred to as the "VESA VGA BIOS
Utility". It is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program that
can be loaded from your DOS autoexec.bat file or directly from the
DOS command line. For example, with Super VGA adapters based on
the TSENG 4000 chipset, the driver is usually named TLIVESA.COM.
Consult the documentation that came with your adapter or with your
computer for the name of the driver for your adapter. You must
load this driver before running HiRes QFX.
"Un-supported VESA Version = '#.#'"
You should contact the manufacturer of your adapter or computer to
obtain an updated version of the VESA BIOS Extensions driver.
HiRes QFX requires version 1.2 or better.
"No Suitable Direct Color Super VGA Modes Found"
HiRes QFX requires a Direct Color mode in order to run. Direct
Color modes are modes that support 32,768 or more colors. HiRes
QFX will not work with Super VGA adapters that support only 256 or
fewer colors.
"Unable to Set Super VGA Mode = #"
The mode you selected is not supported by your adapter. You should
re-install HiRes QFX and select a VESA mode that your adapter
supports. If your adapter supports a mode number that is not
listed by the INSTALL program, you will have to manually set that
mode number in the HiRes QFX startup batch file. Edit the line in
HRQ3.BAT that reads "SET HRQVESA=###" and change the "###" to the
mode number that your adapter supports.
Thank you for trying out HiRes QFX.
If you have questions, please contact us by phone, FAX or mail.
Office hours are 9AM to 6PM Central Time, M-F.
Ron Scott, Inc.
1000 Jackson Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 529-5868 (Voice) (713) 529-9370 (FAX)