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2006-10-19
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.IF DSK1.C3
.CE 2
*IMPACT/99*
by Jack Sughrue
PUBLISH
.IF DSK1.C2
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
Did you ever really dream some
day that you'd be able to make
professional-looking labels and
letterheads with your TI? Not just
the stuff you get when you discover
how to access your printer's italics
or enlarged or condensed. But real
professionalism. Think back a year
or two. What were the chances of
something like this column header
being done on our machine? Seemed
like nil then.
But not any more.
CSGD III is a wonderful edition
to your text/graphic library. It is
unquestionably graded "A" by this
reviewer. It is the next excellent
step in desktop publishing.
Character Set and Graphic
Designs III is ingenious and (for
the TI) easy to use . Dave Rose, the
program designer, is one of those
geniuses like Tony McGovern, Chris
Bobbit, Barry Traver, Peter Hoddie,
Craig Miller, Rodger Merritt, Mack
McCormack who have risen to our TI
needs. He has given us an
extraordinary creation.
CSGD III comes with an
overwhelming amount of good
documentation (which includes superb
keystrips for relative ease of use),
loads automatically in XB. A menu
offers 0)CONFIGURATION 1) PRINT
LTTR,LBL,MSSG 2)DOCUPRINT 3)EXIT. My
complaint here is that 0) should be 3
and EXIT 4). I look at the second
line of ANY menu and press 2. [That's
the way most menus are set up and
that's the way I do it. I must have
inadvertently pressed 2 instead of 1
at least 40 times in the past month.
(I am a slow learner.) Also, once you
configure your system, you probably
won't change it often enough to
warrant that being your first menu
choice.]
The next menu is okay. It starts
with 1). You can load LABEL or
LETTERHAD or MESSAGE or RETURN TO
MENU.
If you choose LETTERHEAD, for
example, you have a pile of decisions
to make in this design. You can
decide if you want your pattern at
the top only, bottom only, or top and
bottom. You can choose to have
graphics to the left and right
(either, neither, both). If you
choose both sides, the graphics may
be different. They may also be
completely different - along with new
fonts - for the bottom. These are
unique features which I really like.
The graphics take a bit of
explaining. There are graphics in
CSGD I and II and on some user disks.
(I use #2 here for samples.) Even
though User Disk #2 has over 100
graphics and fonts the larger
graphics can only be used if you own
CSGDI. However, with CSGDIII (the
latest) and User Disk 2 there are
still have well over 100 usable fonts
and small graphics to draw from. TI
ARTIST allows conversions of
everything but CSGD, but FONTWRITER
converts CSGD files to TI ARTIST
files for printouts and changes, so
customizing is possible with multiple
software items. (And TI ARTIST
converts GRAPHX graphics into TI
ARTIST graphics. So there has become
a roundabout standard pulled together
in FONTWRITER and TI ARTIST. We'll
discuss these further when reviewing
FONTWRITER.)
Back to CSGDIII and the
LETTERHEAD. Have a bunch of
formatted blank data disks handy when
working with any of these
graphic/text programs.
First, you must give Command 1
(which you can't get out of if you
make a mistake - thus slow reloading)
when beginning a new design. Next,
you'll be asked to give a filename to
this LETTERHEAD (as you will SAVE it
later for permanent use). Next,
Graphics / 1 (yes), 0 (no); then Top
and Bottom, Top only, Bottom only;
then Dashed Line to separate head
from body.
Now you'll go back and choose the
left graphic (and decide if you want
it reversed and/or its negative:
these choices are excellent if you're
looking for a certain kind of
balance) and then the right.
The large character set comes
next (such as the IMPACT-99 above).
You are given the opportunity here to
enter normal or condensed width and
the amount of spacing you'd like
between characters. Your message
(clearly marked as to total number of
characters permitted for the chosen
font) can then be typed and changed
and typed until satisfied.
The smaller font for the next
three lines go through the same
formatting procedure. When satisfied
with each item you give the okay.
When all items are complete, put a
blank disk in your designated drive
(designated in the original
Configuration section) and SAVE.
You cannot reload and change this
file. You may only print it out at
this point. It does this well.
But...
Complaint #2: I wish the
letterhead would print out without
running a *%##!% formfeed
automatically. This is really
annoying. If you want to load up TIW
and write a letter, the sheet must be
rewound after shutting off the
printer. An option would be nice at
this point.
I may as well do Complaint #3
while I'm at the cantankerous part of
this essay. I wish an escape to the
previous input could be devised.
It's terrible to go through all the
long paths to your goal only to find
out you don't have lowercase letters
or punctuation and you can't change
anything. When you print out and
discover you really needed dot spaces
between the letters on the second and
third lines, you must begin all over.
Or if you pressed 1 (start new)
instead of 8 (print) at the outset,
there's no way to make a change
without reloading the entire shebang.
Maybe the docs (which have all
the graphics printed out) could also
give limits to the fonts, telling
whether punctuation is available or
lower case or dots [for readability].
But an escape would be the very
nicest change.
CSGD is one of those programs
that get better the more you use it.
Once you get comfortable with it, you
can really get creative with messages
and labels and even (thanks to
two-column and upside-down printing)
unusual greeting cards. There's even
a program that will let you use files
created on TI WRITER (or the various
improved versions) in any of six
interesting and larger fonts. Even
in two columns, if you wish.
This III is a neat program. So
were I and II, though not nearly as
friendly or profound.
In addition to having some very
practical applications (labels and
letterheads and special notes - all
done professional), the program has a
lot of fun built into it. The
ice-covered font, for example, or the
font written on movie film. And any
graphic program that would include a
fat lightning bolt with "SHAZAM"
above it has to be doing a lot right.
The manual is WAR AND PEACE
size. If you are at all familiar
with graphics programs for the TI, go
immediately to the QUICK START very
condensed manual. That's only four
pages. Start right in. Letterheads
(top only) might be the best way to
start. After you've made two or
three you'll really get the hang of
it.
The rest is fun.
Excellent program.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd recommend the USER DISK #2
package also. There are another 22
interesting fonts and 86 graphics you
can use (and 28 you can't unless you
buy #1) to really extend your
professional and recreational
computer activities.
Now that so many other artist
programs (like MAX-RLE, ART-CONVERT
and so on) allow conversions from one
artist program to another AND with so
many new packages of CSGD fonts and
pictures available commercially and
through Fairware and Public Domain
(such as LABELER which depicts ON THE
SCREEN the CSGD graphics and text
design), the CSGD Connection is made
firmly in out TI World. CSGD
packages are a must for any serious
99ers with a printer.
[JACK SUGHRUE Box 459
E.Douglas MA 01516]
If any newsletter editor prints
these articles, please put me on your
mailing list. Thanks - JS
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