Open, Open Recent

These menu commands are used to open a file that has been saved on your file system (hard drive). You normally will use this command to open EazyDraw files saved in the native .ezdraw file format. But the Open panel may be used to create a new EazyDraw document with the contents of files saved in other formats such as MacDraw, MacDrawII, MacDrawPro, ClarisDraw and others.

The Open Panel is the preferred method to import the Classic Mac file formats: MacDrawII, MacDrawPro, and ClarisDraw. Use the File Types popup menu to enable importing of these files.

You may also open an EazyDraw file by double clicking on the file icon on the desk top. You will find more information on reading different file types under the Insert Menu Command which uses the same file selection panel.

The open panel provides methods to build Thumbnail preview icons for most file types that contain image information.

The Open menu command will create a new EazyDraw drawing window with the contents as they were last Saved to a file on the hard drive. This command presents a folder hierarchy navigation menu that is used to choose a file for the target of the action. Only files with the extension ".ezdraw" are enabled for selection in the file navigation panel. The extension may not be visible in the file lists presented. The "EazyDraw File Icon" (shown below) is associated with each file that has been saved in the native EazyDraw file format.

Choose a folder in the From pop-up menu or select a folder in the column view to locate a drawing. You may type in a path or path/filename designator in the text box and navigate to a particular location using Unix file designator conventions (~ for home, slash as separator).

The "Open Recent" menu is provided as a convenience. The most recent saved files are shown on the sub menu. These files may be opened by selecting desired file from the sub menu.

The File Type popup menu may be used to filter the types of files that are enabled. Choose All to allow all files to be selected, or choose a specific type to have other types of files disabled. If All is selected, any file may be chosen, but it may not be understood by EazyDraw, an error message or just a void action may result.

If MacDrawII, MacDrawPro, or ClarisDraw file type is selected a second popup menu is shown to provide control over the handling of patterns contained in the file and the file's resource fork. Patterns contained in these files may be added to your library of colors and become available on the color picker for EazyDraw and other OS X applications. The selection of the popup menu will define which if any patterns are installed. The patterns do not to be installed in order to be used as part of the graphics of the imported drawing.

For the Classic Mac file types, a check box is provided to obtain a conversion report. For ClarisDraw the report is shown as a progress field. In addition a small text file (same name and location as the imported file - with text extension) is created which contains a brief summary of the processing of the contents of the imported file.

After importing a Classic Mac file, it is advisable to immediately "Sync" the page setup and page layout with your current system printing environment. Go first to Page Setup and select a printer and page size. Even if all parameters look appropriate - at least select the Orientation popup, this action will cause a final cross check of all the printing parameters. It is likely that the Page Layout will need a adjusting to provide the proper active area for the drawing. After these steps it is wise to then save the newly imported file - in the native EazyDraw format, close the window, and re-open the file. This step will make certain all graphics and drawing settings are consistent and stable. Then converted file will then become your new master for the drawing on OS X.

Please note that importation of the Classic Mac format drawings is necessarily supplied at a reduced standard of completeness. The translation from the Classic OS and application environment to OS X and EazyDraw will probably not be perfect, especially with respect to typesetting of text, Font translation, and printer environment issues. Some user "Touch - Up" is to be expected. Our goal is to capture and recreate the core content of the importing drawing, with the intent that this process should be much quicker and more accurate than re-drawing from scratch. Some things will just be different on the new operating system and these will require human intervention and interpretation.

You can add a drawing to an open window by dragging the file icon to the window. The entire contents will be added the drawing, if the incoming file has more than one layer a sheet is presented with options for layer contents placement.

You can add the contents of a file to a drawing by dragging the file icon to an open EazyDraw window. In some cases you may insert a file by dragging the File Icon from the title bar of another window in another application to an EazyDraw window, this depends on the support provided by the other application.