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PICTURETHIS(TM) "SHAREWARE" VERSION
RELEASE 4.00
DECEMBER 31, 1991
USER MANUAL, PART 3 OF 7 PARTS
Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Patricia Y. Williams and
Gregory Williams, All Rights Reserved.
HortIdeas Publishing, 460 Black Lick Road, Gravel Switch,
KY 40328 U.S.A.
15. SETTING THE GLOBAL LINE PARAMETERS
The global line parameters can be set while in the FREE
state by pressing L. The state changes to "NEWLNS" and a
line parameter menu identical to the one for changing the
line parameters of a trail appears (see Section 14.4).
15.1. SETTING LINE WEIGHT, LINE GRAY, LINECAP, AND LINE JOIN
At the global line parameters menu, by pressing W, G, L,
or J, you can change the line weight, line gray percentage,
linecaps, or linejoin, respectively, of ALL curves and
trails drawn AFTER the change is made. The entries for these
global parameters are made in exactly the same way as those
for individual curves and trails (see Sections 12.3 and
14.4). When K (for "Keep") or Enter is pressed, the global
values change, and the state returns to "FREE." (If Esc is
pressed, no changes are made, and the state returns to
"FREE.")
15.2. SETTING DASH PATTERN
Individual curves (see Section 7) and trails (see Section
14) can be drawn either solid or with user-settable dash
patterns. A given dash pattern can have a repeating pattern
of up to three different dashes (each ranging in length from
0 to 99 line-weights), separated by up to three different
gaps (each ranging in length from 0 to 99 line-weights),
starting (at the beginning of the curve or trail) a user-
settable offset distance (ranging from 0.0 to 25.5) into the
pattern (allowing the user to place the pattern in a
desirable location along a curve, perhaps to allow the
pattern to be centered on the curve, or so there are gaps or
dashes at both ends of the curve). The dash, gap, and offset
lengths are multiplied by a user-settable factor (ranging
from 1 to 99), allowing quick rescaling of a particular
pattern.
Note that the length of the dashes and gaps is given in
line-weights. This means that for a curve with a line weight
of 1 point, a 1 line-weight dash is 1 point long, but for a
curve with a line weight of 2 points, the same dash will be
2 points long. The length of each dash and gap is
proportional to a curve's line weight. This means two lines
33
with the same dash pattern but different line weights will
appear as scaled versions of each other.
To set the dash pattern the first time in a PictureThis
drawing session, press L to access the line menu, then press
D to access the dash menu. The second line of the line menu
shows the current dash pattern: the default is solid (no
gaps), which is number 0 of 7 possible dash patterns (1-6
are user-settable; 0 is not) from which you can choose a
current dash pattern. Press + (same as Space) and/or -
repeatedly to see each of the 7 patterns in turn. The
default pattern settings are listed below.
NUMBER PATTERN
0 Solid
1 First Dash (Pattern Element d1) length = .1
line-weight, First Gap (Pattern Element g2)
length = 4 line-weight, Second Dash (Pattern
Element d3) length = 0, Second Gap (Pattern
Element g4) length = 0, Third Dash (Pattern
Element d5) length = 0, and Third Gap
(before the pattern repeats; Pattern Element
d6) = 0
or, more compactly,
d1=.1, g2=4, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0
2 d1=6, g2=6, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0
3 d1=9, g2=6, d3=.1, g4=6, d5=0, g6=0
4 d1=16, g2=6, d3=.1, g4=6, d5=.1, g6=6
5 d1=0, g2=0, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0
6 d1=0, g2=0, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0
Why these defaults? We set numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 to
provide commonly used patterns, as shown below. These
default patterns should suffice for nearly all drawings, and
we suggest that you not worry about making new patterns
unless you absolutely must!
1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3: __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __
4: ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____
Numbers 5 and 6 are "zeroed" (ALL dash, no gap; that is,
solid) to allow you to add your own patterns without needing
to change 1 through 4. The best way to discover for yourself
how the pattern element settings relate to dash patterns in
the PostScript output is to try several different settings
and look at the printed output. The rules go as follows. The
pattern starts with d1 and ends with g6, then repeats over
again, even if some elements are set to zero. Zero elements
have zero length: a zero-length gap between two non-zero-
length dashes results in a long dash with the combined
length of the two dashes, and a zero-length dash between two
non-zero-length gaps results in a long gap with the combined
length of the two gaps. As in the default patterns 5 and 6,
when all six elements are zeroed, there is NO gap, only
dash. And if d1 = 1 and g2 = d3 = g4 = d5 = g6 = 0, there is
also NO gap, only dash (a solid line).
34
You can change a pattern element in one of the 6 patterns
by cycling to the pattern number with + (same as Space)
and/or - and then pressing 1 to access the prompt box for
changing d1, 2 to access the prompt box for changing g2,
etc. When at the prompt box for changing one of the pattern
elements, key in the new value (0 to 99 (actually, since
only two characters can be input, you can enter the integers
0 to 99 or .1, .2, .3, ..., .9)) and press Enter to return
to the dash menu.
At the dash menu, you also can access prompt boxes to
allow changing of the pattern multiplication factor (press
M) and the offset (press O). The pattern multiplication
factor can range from 1 to 99, and the offset can range from
0.0 to 25.5 (points). For a given pattern (except number 0,
which is always solid), all six of the pattern element
lengths and the offset are multiplied by the "M" factor to
give the actual lengths (in the PostScript output, assuming
no subsequent scaling; in line-weights) of the pattern
elements and the offset. The offset specifies the distance
into the pattern at the beginning of the curve (or trail
consisting of more than one curve). The default "M" and "O"
settings of the six user-settable dash patterns are listed
below, together with their default dash and gap element
lengths, as already noted above.
NUMBER M O d1 g2 d3 g4 d5 g6
1 1 0.0 .1 4 0 0 0 0
2 1 0.0 6 6 0 0 0 0
3 1 0.0 9 6 .1 6 0 0
4 1 0.0 16 6 .1 6 .1 6
5 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
It is important to realize that the lengths of the dashes
and gaps do NOT count line caps; with a round (the default
in PictureThis) or square linecap, dashes appear longer in
the PostScript output (because of the line caps added onto
each end), and gaps appear shorter, than you might expect!
In particular, the .1 line-weight dashes have been chosen to
look like round dots with a round linecap, or square dots
with a square linecap. To get a square dot with a but
linecap, you would need to set the dash length to 1 line-
weight. Since the default dash patterns all have offset
equal to zero, each pattern starts at the curve (or trail)
beginning at the start of its d1 element. But now suppose we
change the "O" setting for pattern 4 (otherwise left at its
default setting). If pattern 4 has an offset value of 8.0
(line-weights), then it will start at the curve (or trail)
beginning at the MIDDLE of its d1 element (8 line-weights
into the pattern). If pattern 4 has an offset value of 16.0,
then it will start at the END of its d1 element (the
BEGINNING of its g2 element; 16 line-weights into the
pattern). And if pattern 4 has an offset value of 22.0, then
it will start at the END of its g2 element (BEGINNING of its
d3 element; 22 points into the pattern).
The DASH1.DRW, DASH2.DRW, DASH3.DRW, and DASH4.DRW files
on one of the distribution disks show the default dash
patterns with various line weights and all three linecaps;
you can write an Encapsulated PostScript file for this
drawing (via F10, W, etc.), then send it to a PostScript-
35
compatible printer for a handy guide to the relations
between settings and actual output.
Warning: If you want to change the parameters of more than
one dash pattern number, when you finish with one number,
DON'T press + (same as Space) or - to choose another number,
because your changes will be lost. To save the changes for
one number, you must first press K (for "Keep") or Enter to
exit to the line menu, then press D to get back to the dash
menu. THEN select another dash pattern.
Whichever dash pattern number is selected when you exit
the dash menu by pressing K or Enter will appear in the line
menu. If you return to the line menu from the dash menu by
pressing Esc, ALL of the original dash pattern settings
which existed when you accessed the dash menu will be
restored --and any changes you made will be lost. If you
exit from the line menu by pressing K or Enter, then the
line parameters shown in the line menu just prior to exiting
(including the selected dash pattern number) will be the
current values. If you exit from the line menu by pressing
Esc, then the current line parameters will return to those
which existed when you originally entered the line menu, BUT
IF YOU RETURNED FROM THE DASH MENU TO THE LINE MENU BY
PRESSING K OR Enter (NOT Esc), ALL CHANGES WHICH YOU MADE IN
DASH PATTERN PARAMETER SETTINGS WHILE IN THE DASH MENU WILL
BE PRESERVED.
WARNING: WHEN YOU CHANGE THE PARAMETERS FOR A GIVEN DASH
PATTERN NUMBER (1-6), ALL PREVIOUSLY DRAWN CURVES WITH THAT
DASH PATTERN NUMBER WILL HAVE ALL OF THEIR PARAMETER VALUES
CHANGED TO THE NEW VALUES. However, you can change the
offset ("O") value for an individual curve or for all of the
curves in a trail, as discussed in the next paragraph --
just be careful that you don't later change the offset value
again via the "global" dash menu!
We've been considering only the "global" dash settings.
You also can set the dash patterns of INDIVIDUAL curves (and
all curves in individual trails), via (for individual
curves) the curve modification menu (accessed by pressing F4
and selecting a particular curve; see Section 12.3.4) or via
the trail menu (accessed by pressing F6 and selecting a
particular trail; see Section 14.4). At the curve
modification or trail menu, press L to access the ("local")
line menu, then press D to access the ("local") dash menu.
The current dash pattern is shown on the second line of the
menu; for a trail, if "Mixed" appears there, then not all of
the trail's curves have the same dash pattern. You can
select the dash pattern number for the currently selected
curve or trail by pressing + (same as Space) and/or - to
cycle through the possibilities (as defined via the "global"
dash menu). You also can change the offset by pressing "O"
and keying in a new value, then pressing Enter. Press Esc to
get back to the dash menu without changing the offset value.
While at the dash menu, press Esc to return to the curve
modification or trail menu with the original dash pattern(s)
(no changes), or press K or Enter to return to the drawing
screen with any changes made.
NOTE: Clip art files with dashed curves include ONLY a
specification of dash pattern numbers for each curve, NOT
the parameters for each pattern which were current when the
lines were drawn. Thus, dashed curves imported into a
drawing as clip art will have the drawing's current dash
36
pattern parameters. Drawing files contain full specification
of both dash pattern numbers and parameters, so that, in
general, loading a previously saved drawing overwrites the
current parameters. Dash patterns in PictureThis 3.0 were
NOT proportional to line weights but given directly in
points. If you import a drawing made with PictureThis 3.0,
into this version, the dash pattern will appear different on
the PostScript output (except for curves with line weights
of 1 point)!
Dashed curves appear on the drawing and view screens as
SOLID lines, (remember that construction lines, with a
weight of -1, which don't show in the PostScript output,
appear on the drawing screen as dotted lines) and on the
Quickshow screen as simply-dashed (dash, gap, dash, gap,...)
lines, REGARDLESS of their patterns. That is, no attempt is
made to show actual dash patterns.
16. OBJECTS
Objects are groups of trails, text blocks (see Section
18.4), and smaller objects. Objects can be "layered," that
is, they can be put "in front of" or "behind" other objects,
trails, and text blocks (see Section 14). They can be
manipulated in many ways: moved, copied, scaled, rotated,
flipped, and inclined (see Section 17). And they can be
saved as clip art and retrieved for use in other drawings
(see Sections 19.3 and 19.4).
Objects and their manipulations provide perhaps the most
significant advantages of PictureThis over "paint" programs.
Instead of "painting" on a surface, with objects you can
work with "scissors and glue" (quite easily removable glue!)
and a "photocopier" which can (irregularly) scale and
otherwise (linearly) distort what it copies. This affords
tremendous flexibility!
In almost all cases, trails and text blocks that are not
in objects can be treated as objects: they can be layered,
manipulated, or saved as clip art. On the other hand,
objects CANNOT be treated as trails: they cannot be filled
or assigned single line parameters or joins (but see global
parameter changes, Section 16.5). However, the trails which
make up an object can have their fills and line parameters
changed, can have their individual curves modified, and even
can be erased, WITHOUT disassembling the object. As an
example of this, consider a very simple drawing of a house.
The drawing could be made of four trails: a filled box for
the main part of the house, a filled triangle for the roof
of the house, and two more filled boxes for a door and
window. If you wanted to move the house to another part of
the drawing, you could move each individual trail
separately, but it would be much easier to group the trails
into an object and then move them altogether. Even after the
trails were grouped into an object, you still could change
the gray fill percentage for the door without disturbing the
rest of the object.
No trail, text block, or object can be a part of more than
one object. The components of a PictureThis drawing can be
thought of as forming a tree. Individual curves are the
smallest branches. Each curve is in one AND ONLY ONE trail
(the next larger branches). Each trail and text block can be
in an object (still larger branches). Individual objects can
37
be in larger objects (the largest branches). All trails,
text blocks, and objects not in larger objects are in the
drawing as a whole (the trunk), and they are in a specific
order, ordered by the drawing sequence (or layering). Within
each object, the component trails, text blocks, and smaller
objects also are ordered by drawing sequence. The curves in
each trail also are ordered by drawing sequence (the fills
are drawn first, followed by the curves in the order they
were drawn or defined).
Objects are formed and manipulated through the object
menu. To form an object or manipulate an existing object,
press F7. The state changes to "OBJECT" and an object menu
appears. This menu allows you to "group" a new object
together, "ungroup" an existing object into its component
trails, textblocks, and smaller objects, erase an object,
layer objects, and move, copy, scale, rotate, flip, or
incline existing objects. It also allows you to change the
parameters of an object "globally."
16.1. GROUPING AN OBJECT
To group trails, text blocks, and objects into a new
object, press G. The state changes to "GROUP," the cursor
jumps to the closest on-screen initial point of a trail,
text block, or object, and that entire trail, text block, or
object is dashed. The initial point of an object is the
initial point of the first drawn (rearmost) element of the
object. If the first element drawn is a trail, the initial
point of the object is the initial point of that trail (see
Section 14.3.1). If the first element drawn is a text block,
the initial point is the beginning of the text block (see
Section 18.4). If the first element drawn is an object, the
initial point is the initial point of that object. (An aside
to mathematicians: yes, this is indeed a recursive
definition.) It is important to note that AN OBJECT, TRAIL,
OR TEXT BLOCK CANNOT BE CHOSEN FOR ANY OPERATION UNLESS ITS
INITIAL POINT IS ON THE SCREEN. An instruction box appears
on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/ "Select:
Enter"/"Done: D"). If the dashed trail, text block, or
object is one you want to include in your new object, press
Enter. The selected object is dashed-and-dotted, and the
cursor jumps to the next closest initial point of a
trail/text block/object. Otherwise, press Space and +
repeatedly until the dashed trail, text block, or object is
one you want to include. Continue in this manner, pressing
Space and + to dash different trails/text blocks/objects and
Enter to select trails/text blocks/objects. When you have
selected all of the trails, text blocks, and objects that
you want in your new object, press D. All curves return to
normal, and the state returns to "FREE." (If you select all
available trails, text blocks, and objects, PictureThis
automatically makes them all into a new object without your
needing to press D.) The new group of trails/text
blocks/objects now can be manipulated as an object. If you
press Esc during this process, all dashed and dashed-and-
dotted curves are returned to normal, the state returns to
"OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.
Note that PictureThis does NOT allow you to select trails,
text blocks, or objects which are already in other objects.
You only can select the "outermost" elements, since no
38
trail, text block, or object can be in more than one object.
The new object appears in the drawing sequence where the
"frontmost" of its elements previously appeared. In other
words, if the drawing was layered correctly before the object
was grouped, it remains layered correctly (see Section 16.4).
If some of the components of the new object were behind some
other object and some were in front of it, they all now are
drawn in front of it, and the Quickshow screen looks
different than before.
If only one object, text block, or trail is chosen to be
in a new object, PictureThis ignores the grouping operation,
since there is no advantage to grouping a single trail/text
block/object. No error message is given, since no harm has
been done. This is noticeable if you grouped a single trail
and then try to ungroup it; it does not ungroup, since it
was never made into an object. (There is a way to
effectively "ungroup" a single trail; see Section 16.2.) Of
course, an object with only one element may occur if you
group several elements into an object and then erase all but
one element.
16.2. UNGROUPING AN OBJECT
At times you might want to "ungroup," or dissassemble, an
existing object into its component parts. You might want to
manipulate one of the component parts (see Section 17) and
then regroup them; or you might want to relayer the
component parts (see Section 16.4). To ungroup an existing
object, press U. The state changes to "UNGRP," the cursor
jumps to the closest initial point of an object, and the
object becomes dashed. An instruction box appears on the
left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: -
"/"Select: Enter"). Press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly
until the object you wish to ungroup becomes dashed. Then
press Enter. A prompt appears: "Ungroup selected object?
(Y/N)." If you want to ungroup the selected object, press Y.
The object is ungrouped, and the state returns to "FREE."
You now can manipulate the component parts of the ungrouped
object. If you press any key other than Y, the state returns
to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.
The ungrouped object's components are put into the drawing
sequence in place of the ungrouped object. The Quickshow
screen appears the same before and after ungrouping.
Notice that you cannot ungroup a single trail with this
operation. Occasionally you may wish to move or otherwise
manipulate part of a trail. You can do this by defining PART
of the existing trail as a new trail, and then manipulating
that part (see Section 17). If the original trail is not
filled and not in an object, the curves in the new trail are
erased from the original trail, and you have divided the
trail into two trails which can be manipulated separately.
16.3. ERASING AN OBJECT
An outermost object (or trail or text block) can be erased
with all of its component parts by pressing E when the
object menu is showing. The state changes to "ERASE," the
cursor jumps to the closest initial point of an object, and
the entire object is dashed. A box with instructions appears
on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/ "Previous:
39
-"/"Select: Enter"). If the "dashed" object is the one you
want to erase, press Enter. If you wish to select a
different object, press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly until
the object you want to erase is dashed, then press Enter. If
only one outermost object has its initial point on-screen,
it is automatically selected, and the instruction box will
not appear. If you press Esc during this process, the object
menu reappears, and the state returns to "OBJECT."
A prompt appears: "Erase selected object? (Y/N)." If you
want to erase the dashed object, press Y; the object is
erased, and the state returns to "FREE." Otherwise, press
any other key; the object menu reappears, and the state
returns to "OBJECT."
Note that with this operation you can erase only outermost
trails, text blocks, and objects. PictureThis does not allow
you to erase a component of an object unless you ungroup it
first. In contrast, the trail erase available through the
trail menu (see Section 14.2) allows you to erase any trail,
whether it is in an object or not, the curve erase (see
Section 12.1) allows you to erase any curve which does not
border a filled area, and the text block erase (see Section
18.8) allows you to erase any text block.
Erasing an object, trail, curve, text block, or the entire
drawing in PictureThis are operations which cannot be easily
reversed. There is no "undo" in PictureThis, but it was
designed to allow you to change anything back to a previous
state IF you decide to do so before taking the final step.
Before you erase anything, be certain that you want to erase
it. If you AREN'T certain, consider saving the entire
drawing (see Section 19.2) or a single object (see Section
19.4) BEFORE erasing.
16.4. LAYERING OBJECTS
All the elements of a PictureThis drawing are drawn on the
Quickshow screen and the PostScript output in a specific
order. This order is defined by the drawing sequence of the
outermost objects and the drawing sequences of each object's
components. Since the elements are opaque, a layered effect
is created: objects are "behind," "in front of," or "in
between" other objects.
As you draw or define trails or set text blocks (see
Section 18.4), they are placed at the front of the drawing.
Unless you relayer your drawing, the first trail (or text
block) you drew is drawn first (at the "rear"), followed by
the next trail/text block, etc. When trails/text blocks are
grouped together into an object, the object is placed in the
layering where its "frontmost" component previously was. If
the Quickshow screen looked correct before the grouping, it
will look the same after the grouping.
Frequently, the order in which you drew the trails/text
blocks is not the order in which you want them to appear.
Fortunately, this is easy to correct. To change the layering
of objects (and trails and text blocks not in objects),
while in the "OBJECT" state, press L. The state changes to
"LAYER," the cursor moves to the closest on-screen initial
point of an outermost object (or trail or text block), and
that object is dashed. An instruction box appears on the
left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: -
"/"Select: Enter"). Press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly
40
until the object you want to layer is dashed, then press
Enter. (If you press Esc during this operation, the state
returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.)
Upon pressing Enter, a layering menu appears. It allows
the choice of moving the selected object to the front or
rear of the drawing, or ahead of or behind selected objects.
If you press F or R (for "Front" or "Rear"), the selected
object is moved to the front or rear of the entire drawing,
the object is returned to normal, and the state returns to
"FREE." If you press A or B (for "Ahead of Selected" or
"Behind Selected" objects), the object you are layering
becomes dotted instead of dashed, another object becomes
dashed, and an instruction box appears on the left side of
the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Select: Enter"/"Done: D").
Press Space or + repeatedly until an object which you want
the "dotted" object to be ahead of or behind is dashed; then
press Enter to select that object. The selected object
becomes dashed-and-dotted, and another object becomes
dashed. Continue selecting objects in this manner until all
of the objects which you wish the dotted object to be ahead
of or behind are dashed-and-dotted; then press D for done.
All of the objects are returned to normal, their layering is
as you specified, and the state returns to "FREE." (If you
press Esc during the process of selecting dashed-and-dotted
objects, the dashed-and-dotted objects are returned to
normal, but the dotted object will remain selected, and the
layering menu will reappear. Another Esc will get you back
to the object menu.)
Check all layering with the Quickshow screen; since all
elements are transparent on the drawing screen, layering can
ONLY be observed on the Quickshow screen.
Note that layering can be performed ONLY on the outermost
objects, trails, and text blocks. To layer the components of
an object, it first must be ungrouped (see Section 16.2).
16.5. CHANGING AN OBJECT'S PARAMETERS "GLOBALLY"
Sometimes you will want to alter the line parameters
and/or fills for several trails in one operation.
PictureThis allows this via the object menu. If you group
all curves in a drawing into one object, you can, for
example, change every linecap in the drawing to another
setting, change every 10% fill to 25%, or change every 1-
point curve to a 3-point curve.
At the object menu (accessed by pressing F7), press P
(for "Parms") to change the line weight, line gray, linecap,
dash pattern number, and/or line join settings of curves in
an object, and/or fill settings of the object. First pick
the object that you wish to modify as usual. At the
parameters menu, press W to access the line weight change
box, G to access the line gray change box, L to access the
linecap change box, D to access the dash change box, J to
access the join change box, or F to access the fill change
box. For each of these choices, you can select those parts
of the object having particular parameters, in turn, by
pressing + (same as Space) and/or - (the parts become
dashed-and-dotted in turn, and the value of the parameter
for the currently dashed-and-dotted parts is given). Press
Enter to choose the parts with the parameter value you wish
to change. Then key in the new parameter value and press
41
Enter to return to the drawing screen with the change made.
You can return from a parameter change box to the parameters
menu without making a change by pressing Esc, and you can
return to the object menu from the parameters menu without
making a change by pressing Esc. Note: If you want, for
example, to change all 2-point curves to 1-point curves and
all 1-point curves to .5-point curves, be sure to change the
1-point curves first, or you will end up with only .5-point
curves.
17. MANIPULATING OBJECTS
Objects can be manipulated in several ways: they can be
moved, copied, scaled, rotated, flipped, or inclined.
Combinations of these manipulations (performed successively)
can be used on an object to change it in an unlimited number
of ways. To perform any of these manipulations, you must
first access the object menu by pressing F7. The state
changes to "OBJECT," and the object menu appears. Press M
for move, C for copy, S for scale, R for rotate, F for flip,
or I for incline. The state changes to "MOVE," "COPY,"
"SCALE," "ROTATE," "FLIP," or "INCLIN," respectively, the
cursor moves to the closest on-screen initial point of an
outermost object, trail, or text block, and that object is
dashed. An instruction box appears ("Next: +,
Space"/"Previous: -"/"Select: Enter").
Press +, Space, and/or - repeatedly until the object which
you want to manipulate is dashed. Then press Enter.
(Pressing Esc returns the state to "OBJECT," and the object
menu reappears.) If only one object is available, it is
chosen automatically.
After an object is chosen, each manipulation proceeds
differently, as described in the following sections.
The best way to learn how these manipulations work is to
try each one on a box as you read through the instructions.
In Section 17.6 are two examples of combined manipulations
which you can try.
17.1. MOVING AN OBJECT
In the "OBJECT" state, press M and select an object, as
described in Section 16. The state is "MOVE," and the
selected object is dashed. If you have the prompts toggled
on ("H+"; see Section 4.3), a prompt appears: "Move then F1
to set start point." Move the cursor (with the cursor keys
(see Section 5), Del (see Section 9), the frame corner keys
(see Section 22), Shift Del (see Section 23.1), the Tab or
Shift Tab keys (see Section 18.4), or the margin edge keys
(see Section 18.4)) to a start point on the object; then
press F1. Often, it is convenient to leave the cursor where
it is (at the initial point of the object) and press F1
immediately. The start point can be anywhere on the screen;
it designates the point which you want to position elsewhere
on the screen. It is easiest to see what you are doing if
the start point is on an endpoint. (If you press Esc instead
of F1, the state returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu
reappears.)
Once you have pressed F1, another prompt appears (if "H+"
is toggled): "Move then F3 to set finish point". Move the
cursor (a dotted line follows it) to the position where you
42
want the start point of the object moved, then press F3. (If
you press Esc instead, the "start point" prompt appears
again if "H+" is toggled, and you can choose a new start
point.)
After you press F3, the dotted line is erased, a copy of
the object (without endpoints) is drawn in the new position,
and a prompt appears: "OK? (Y/N)." If the position is
correct, press Y; the object is erased from its old position
and drawn in its new position, and the state returns to
"FREE." The layering is not changed; the moved object still
is behind objects it was behind before, and in front of
objects it was in front of before. If you press any other
key, the copy of the object is erased, the "finish point"
prompt reappears, and the dotted line reappears from the
start point to the cursor position. Then you can move the
cursor again and press F3 at a different position.
An object does NOT have to be entirely on the screen for
this or other object manipulations. But the initial point of
the object MUST be on the screen for it to be chosen in the
first place, and BOTH the start and finish points must be on
the screen.
17.2. COPYING AN OBJECT
In the "OBJECT" state, press C and then select an object,
as described in Section 16. The state becomes "COPY," and
the selected object is dashed. From now until you have
selected a position for the copied object, this operation is
carried out exactly like the move operation (see Section
17.1): You select a start point, press F1, select a finish
point, then press F3; a copy of the object is drawn in the
new position and an "O/K (Y/N)" prompt appears. For copying,
however, if you press Y, the original object is NOT erased
(it remains dashed) when the copy is drawn. A new prompt
appears: "Again? (Y/N)." If you press Y, the dotted line
reappears from the start point to the cursor, the "finish
point" prompt shows again (if "H+" is toggled), and you can
move the cursor to choose a new position for ANOTHER copy of
the object. (If you press Esc here, you can go back and
change the start point if you like.) Make as many copies of
the object as you want (or as available memory allows). When
you are finished and the "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears,
press any key other than Y. The original object returns to
normal, and the state returns to "FREE."
All copies of objects are placed at the "front" of the
drawing, but this can be changed (see Section 16.4).
Copies of objects are independent objects. They can be
further manipulated without altering the original object or
other copies of that object.
17.3. SCALING AN OBJECT
In the "OBJECT" state, press S; then select an object, as
described in Section 16. The state becomes "SCALE," and the
selected object is dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace
original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you press Esc, you are
returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you
press Y, the scaled object REPLACES the original object when
you have completed your manipulations. (This is similar to
the move operation; there are the same number of objects
43
when you are done as when you started.) If you press any
other key, the original object remains IN ADDITION to any
scaled objects which you make. (This is similar to the copy
operation; the original object remains, and there can be any
number of "scaled" copies.)
A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1
to set anchor point." You can move your cursor (in all
possible ways); then press F1 at an "anchor" point. The
anchor point is a point on the screen around which the
object will be scaled. When the object is scaled, the anchor
point does NOT move, although other points on the object do
move. Often, it is useful to have the anchor point on an
endpoint. (If Esc is pressed instead of F1, the object menu
returns.)
A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the
scale factors (horizontal and vertical) are set by cursor
movement or direct entry. (An Esc here backs out and lets
you reset the anchor point.) If you want to set the scale
factors by direct entry, press D. A prompt appears: "Uniform
scaling? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc to this prompt, you
are given another opportunity to select cursor movement or
direct entry, or you can back out further. If you answer Y,
it means that you want the object to be scaled uniformly in
the horizontal and vertical directions (that is, the object
retains its current proportions during scaling). In this
case a new prompt appears: "Enter scale factor" on the first
line, and the current scale factor (in parentheses) on the
second line. If the current scale factor is satisfactory,
press Enter. If you want to change the scale factor, enter a
new value and press Enter. (If you press Esc instead, you
back out to the "uniform scaling" prompt.) Initially, the
scale factor is 1.0 (that is, the object does not change
size at all), but each time you enter a new uniform scale
factor, it is retained; the next time you scale an object,
the current scale factor is whatever you last entered. This
eases scaling multiple objects by the same amount. If you
want to scale the object non-uniformly, press any other key
except Y and Esc. You then have two successive prompts to
answer; the first for a horizontal scale factor, the second
for a vertical scale factor. These are answered just like
the uniform scale factor prompt, and your entered scale
factors are retained for your next scaling operation.
Entering scale factors by direct entry has the advantage of
being easy to understand, and it allows you to exactly
specify scale factors.
If you want to set the scale factors by cursor movement
instead of direct entry, press C at the menu. A prompt
appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F2 to set 100%
line." Move the cursor (a solid line follows) in any
direction and then press F2 to establish the 100% scaling
line. If this line is horizontal, you are scaling ONLY in
the horizontal direction; if it is vertical, you are scaling
ONLY in the vertical direction; if it is slanted, you are
scaling in BOTH directions. If you press Esc instead of F2,
you back out and can set a new anchor point.
After F2 is pressed, another prompt appears (if "H+" is
toggled): "Move then F3 to set scaling line." As you move
the cursor, a dotted line follows from the end of the 100%
line to the cursor. If you move back toward the anchor
point, the scaled object becomes smaller. If you move
44
further away from the anchor point, the scaled object
becomes larger. If the scaling line and 100% line form a
straight line, the scaling is uniform (unless the lines are
horizontal or vertical). The effect is to move the point at
which you pressed F2 (the end of the 100% line) to the point
at which you pressed F3 (the end of the scaling line). This
can be very useful: the anchor point on the object remains
in its original position, while the point at which you
pressed F2 is moved to the point at which you pressed F3 on
the screen, and the rest of the object is scaled with it. It
is especially useful when the F2 and F3 keys are pressed
when the cursor is on endpoints. This allows you to fit an
object precisely among other objects. Pressing Esc during
this process backs out a step at a time.
More aid for scaling can be obtained by toggling the
relative position box on (see Section 20.4). While setting
the scaling line, you can see the current horizontal and
vertical scale factors as the cursor moves.
Once you have established the scale factors, either by
direct entry or cursor movement, you are asked if you want
to scale the line weights of all the curves in the object
with first the horizontal scale factor (if it is not 1.0)
and if not, then with the vertical scale factor (again, only
if it is not 1.0). Sometimes this is appropriate, and
sometimes not; it depends on the effect that you want to
achieve.
Finally, the scaled object is drawn (without endpoints)
and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with
the scaled object, press Y and the scaled object is drawn.
If you are not satisfied with the scaled object, press any
other key and you are returned to the prompt asking if you
want to enter the scale factors by cursor movement or direct
entry. Then you can try again. If you pressed Y, additional
action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking
whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If
you are replacing the original object, the original object
is erased, and the new object takes its place in the drawing
sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the
new scaled object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt
appears. If you answer Y, you can make more scaled copies of
the original object. All scaled copies appear at the front
of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see
Section 16.4).
While scaling, especially with large scale factors set by
direct entry, you can see two error messages. The first
("END/CONTROL POINTS OFF VIRTUAL SCREEN") means that you
have scaled part of the object not only off the entire
drawing screen (the screen which is visible at 50%
magnification), but also off a much larger virtual screen
where PictureThis allows endpoints and control points to be
placed. This is not allowed, and you are given an
opportunity to reset your scale factors. The second message
("YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS OBJECT IF SAVED") means that the
initial point (See Section 16) of the scaled object is off
the entire drawing screen (but not off the virtual screen).
Since objects are accessed for alterations via their initial
points, you cannot group, ungroup, erase, layer, or
manipulate this object in the future. This could be highly
undesirable, so don't save when "YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS
OBJECT IF SAVED" appears unless you're SURE you won't want
45
to alter it again. You can change the initial point of an
object by ungrouping it (see Section 16.2), relayering it so
a different component is "rearmost" (see Section 16.4), and
then grouping it again (see Section 16.1). (For your new
"rearmost" component, you might want to make a construction
line which will not show on output.) These two error
messages also can appear for object manipulations other than
scaling, but they are most likely when scaling.
17.4. ROTATING AN OBJECT
In the "OBJECT" state, press R; then select an object, as
described in Section 16. The state becomes "ROTATE," and the
selected object is dashed. A prompt will appear: "Replace
original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc, you return
to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press Y,
the rotated object replaces the original object when you
have completed your manipulations. If you press any other
key, the original object remains in addition to any rotated
objects which you make.
A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1
to set anchor point." You can move your cursor (in all
possible ways); then press F1 at an "anchor" point. The
anchor point is a point on the screen around which the
object will be rotated. When the object is rotated, the
anchor point does NOT move, although all the other points on
the object move. Frequently, it is useful to have the anchor
point on an endpoint. (If Esc is pressed instead of F1, the
object menu returns.)
A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the
rotation angle is set by cursor movement or direct entry. An
Esc here backs out and lets you reset the anchor point. If
you want to set the rotation angle by direct entry, press D.
A prompt appears requesting the rotation angle in degrees.
The second line of the prompt gives the current rotation
angle (in parentheses). If you are satisfied with the
current rotation angle, press Enter. If you want a different
rotation angle, type it in, followed by Enter. If you press
Esc, the cursor movement/direct entry menu reappears.
POSITIVE rotation angles are measured in a CLOCKWISE
direction. NEGATIVE angles are measured in a
COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION. The current rotation angle
initially is 90 degrees. Any rotation angle you enter is
retained and becomes the "current rotation angle" for your
next rotation operation.
If you want to set the rotation angle by cursor movement,
press C. A prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then
F2 to set 0 degree direction." Move the cursor and a solid
line follows. This is the line from which the rotation angle
is measured. Press F2 when the line is in the desired
direction. Often, it is useful to place this line along a
line radiating from the anchor point. If you press Esc, you
back out and can reset the anchor point. When you press F2,
another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3
to set rotation angle." Move the cursor away from the 0
degree direction line; a dotted line is drawn from the
anchor point to the cursor. The angle between these two
lines is the rotation angle. Press Esc to back out; you can
reset the 0 degree direction line. (By toggling the relative
position box on (see Section 20.4) while setting the
46
rotation angle, you can see the current rotation angle as
the cursor moves.) Pressing F3 sets the rotation angle.
The rotated object is drawn (without endpoints) and an
"OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the
rotated object, answer Y and the rotated object is drawn. If
you are not satisfied with the rotated object, press any
other key, and you return to the prompt asking if you want
to enter the rotation angle by cursor movement or direct
entry; then you can try again. If you pressed Y, additional
action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking
whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If
you are replacing the original object, the original object
is erased, and the new object takes its place in the drawing
sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the
new rotated object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt
appears. If you answer Y, you can make more rotated copies
of the original object. All rotated copies appear at the
front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently
(see Section 16.4).
17.5. FLIPPING AN OBJECT
Flipping an object means flipping it over a flipline,
making a mirror image of the object. In the "OBJECT" state,
press F and then select an object, as described in Section
16. The state becomes "FLIP," and the selected object is
dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace original object?
(Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc, you are returned to the
object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press Y, the
flipped object replaces the original object when you have
completed your manipulations. If you press any other key,
the original object remains in addition to any flipped
objects which you make.
A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1
to set 1st flipline point." You can move your cursor (in all
possible ways); then press F1 at one end of the line over
which you want to flip the object. If you press Esc, the
object menu is returned, and the state becomes "OBJECT"
again. After you press F1, another prompt appears (if "H+"
is toggled): "Move then F3 to set 2nd flipline point." Move
the cursor (a dotted line follows); when it is placed so as
to form the line over which the object will be flipped,
press F3. If you press Esc instead, you can reset the 1st
flipline point. The flipline can be placed anywhere on the
screen, at any angle. Functionally, it extends at both ends
past the edges of the entire drawing screen.
The flipped object is drawn (without endpoints) and an
"OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the
flipped object, answer Y, and the flipped object is drawn.
If you are not satisfied with the flipped object, press any
other key, and you can reset both ends of the flipline. If
you pressed Y, additional action depends on your answer to
the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the
original object or not. If you are replacing the original
object, the original object is erased, and the new object
takes its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not
replacing the original object, the new flipped object is
drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer Y,
you can make more flipped copies of the original object. All
flipped copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they
47
can be layered differently (see Section 16.4).
48
