Font Magic

Font Magic is an easy-to-use tool for creating 3D text. The wealth of options and direct manipulation interface allow you to create attractive logos quickly and easily.

With Font Magic, you can:

·	Create logos for web pages

·	Save static images and animations

·	Use any TrueType font installed on your system

·	Apply material characteristics to text, using the predefined materials provided, or by creating your own

·	Change the size, position and orientation of the text

·	Apply a wide range of textures to your text - you can also add your own textures.

·	Copy images direct to the clipboard.

Visit Font Magic's web page for details of updates.

See:

Getting started

Opening, saving and creating Font Magic files

Setting the text

Setting the size, position and orientation of the text

Setting the colour of the text

Setting the material of the text

Setting the texture of the text

Setting the background colour

Exporting images

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Getting started

Font Magic requires OpenGL to be installed. If you are using Windows 98, NT, or Windows 95 OSR2, you already have the files you need.

If you are using the original version of Windows 95, you must download OpenGL for Windows 95 from Microsoft.

To start Font Magic

1	Click on the Font Magic icon from the Font Magic group in the Programs option on the Windows 95/NT Start menu.

Font Magic starts, with the default text in the canvas area.

The first time Font Magic starts, the Text Properties and Environment Properties panes are in their default positions; click on them, and drag them to the side or the bottom of the screen, and they dock in their new positions.

2	Choose the size of canvas you want to use.

By default, Font Magic uses the whole available screen area; you can use a smaller area if you want. Select Canvas Size... from the View menu, and type the Width and Height (in pixels) that you want to use.

If you want to return to using the Entire Window, check the box.

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Opening, saving and creating Font Magic files

You can save your Font Magic files, open them, and create new ones.

To create a new Font Magic file

1	Select New from the File menu.

If you have made any changes, you are prompted to save them.

2	Choose the size of canvas you want to use.

By default, Font Magic uses the whole available screen area; you can use a smaller area if you want. Select Canvas Size... from the View menu, and type the Width and Height (in pixels) that you want to use.

If you want to return to using the Entire Window, check the box.

To save a Font Magic file

1	Select Save from the File menu.

If you want to save an existing file under a new name, select Save As.

2	Type a name for the file.

Font Magic files have the extension  .mag; you don't have to include the extension.

Font Magic saves the text, colour, orientation, position, material, background and texture name with the file.

To open a Font Magic file

1	Select Open from the File menu.

The Open dialog appears.

2	Select the file you want, and click Open.

You can also open a Font Magic file from Windows Explorer; double-click on the file, and Font Magic starts with the file loaded.

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Setting the text

You can use any True Type font installed on your machine, with any of the available characters, to create your image.

To set the text for the image

1	If the Text Properties dialog isn't visible, select Text Properties from the View menu, then select the Text tab.

2	Type the text you want in the box.

The text appears immediately in the canvas.

If you want to use a non-standard character, or are using a symbol font, use the Character Picker to select the characters to use; click the C button next to the text box, then click on the characters displayed in the grid to add them to the text displayed.

Click on the screen away from the Character picker to close it.

3	Select the Font you want to use from the list.

You can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list of fonts, viewing the effect of each on your image; this is a good way to choose the right font for your particular graphic.

4	Click Bold or Italic to change the face of your image.

5	Choose Outline or Filled; Outline provides a wireframe effect, while Filled is a solid shape.

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Setting the size, position and orientation of the text

You can set the size, position and orientation of the text within the pane.

To set the geometry of the text

1	If the Text Properties dialog isn't visible, select Text Properties from the View menu, then select the Geometry tab.

2	In the Size box, type in the Height, Width and Depth.

3	Check the Movement box, and change the X, Y and Z values to change the position of the text on screen.

4	Uncheck the Movement box, and change the X, Y and Z values to change the orientation of the text on screen.

To move and rotate text using the mouse

1	To switch between rotation and movement, double-click the left mouse button.

2	In rotation mode:

Hold down the left mouse button and drag on the image; the text is rotated along the X and Y axes.

Hold down the right mouse button and drag on the image; the text is rotated along the X and Z axes.

3	In movement mode:

Hold down the left mouse button and drag on the image; the text is moved along the X and Y axes; that is, left and right, and up and down.

Hold down the right mouse button and drag on the image; the text is moved along the X and Z axes; that is, left and right, and into the image and out of it.

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Setting the colour of the text

You can set the colour of the text within the pane. Remember that the colour is only one component of the text's appearance; depending on the material and texture you use, the colour may differ quite substantially from the colour you choose.

To set the colour of the text

1	If the Text Properties dialog isn't visible, select Text Properties from the View menu, then select the Colour tab.

2	Use the Red, Green and Blue sliders to change the colour components of the text. The effect on the text is shown instantly.

3	If you want, you can use the standard Windows colour picker; click the colour preview box, and the colour picker appears.

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Setting the material of the text

You can set the material of the text within the pane. Remember that the material is only one component of the text's appearance; the appearance of the material you choose depends heavily on the colour you have selected for the text.

Materials are created from a combination of the following properties:

Ambient

Diffuse

Specular

Shine

Often, a brighter specular than diffuse colour shows up better. A good idea is to start with one of the preset materials, and experiment with changing one of the properties at a time.

To set the material of the text

1	If the Text Properties dialog isn't visible, select Text Properties from the View menu, then select the Material tab.

2	Choose one of the preset materials from the drop-down list.

You can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list, applying each material to the text in turn.

3	You can adjust the four properties to suit your image.

Ambient, Diffuse and Specular are colours. Click on the colour preview block to choose the new colour for each.

Shine is a numeric value. Use the slider to change the value; this works within the normal range of values (0 to 25), but you can increase the shine up to 128 using the arrows next to the value display box.

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Setting the texture of the text

You can set the texture of the text within the pane. The textures are bitmaps stored in the Textures subdirectory of the application. Remember that the texture is applied along with the colour and material of the image; it won't necessarily look just like the bitmap its applied from.

To set the texture of the text

1	If the Text Properties dialog isn't visible, select Text Properties from the View menu, then select the Texture tab.

2	Choose one of the textures from the drop-down list.

You can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list, applying each texture to the text in turn.

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Setting the background colour

You can set the background colour for the image.

To set the background colour

1	If the Environment Properties dialog isn't visible, select Environment Properties from the View menu.

2	Choose one of the types of background:

Solid colour	One colour is used.

Vertical gradient	Two colours, shading top to bottom.

Horizontal gradient	Two colours, shading left to right.

Rectangular gradient	Four colours, shading from each corner.

3	Click on the colour preview block, and select the colour you want to use for each area.

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Exporting images

You can export images to use in your own applications in a variety of ways. We strongly recommend JASC's PaintShop Pro version 5 as the ideal companion to Font Magic.

To copy to the clipboard

1	Set the image the way you want it.

Hint: it's often a good idea to make the image larger than you want, then resize or resample in your paint application; this can smooth the edges (anti-alias is the technical term) and create a more pleasing effect.

2	Select Copy from the Edit menu.

You can also press CTRL+C.

3	Open your paint application (for example, PaintShop Pro) and paste the contents of the clipboard as a new image.

You can then save as GIF, JPEG or any other format you want to use.

To create a bitmap image

1	Set the image the way you want it.

2	Select Wizard from the Render menu.

3	Choose Single Frame.

This will create a single bitmap of the current image.

4	Click Next.

5	Select a file for output.

Click on the ... button to choose a location, or type the name of the file you want to use in the box.

6	Click Finish.

The frame is rendered as the bitmap file you entered.

To create a bitmap image

1	Set the image the way you want it.

2	Select Wizard from the Render menu.

3	Choose Movie.

This will create a series of 36 bitmaps which you can use to create an animation.

4	Click Next.

5	Select the axes of rotation for the text.

You can choose the X, Y or Z axes, or any combination thereof. Choosing all three produces an animation which may induce sea-sickness in people of weak constitutions.

6	Click Next.

7	Select a file for output.

Click on the ... button to choose a location, or type the name of the file you want to use in the box. This filename is used as the stem for the output files; for example, if you choose c:\animation\test.bmp 36 files named test000.bmp to test035.bmp are created in the c:\animation directory.

8	Click Finish.

The frames are rendered with the name and location you specified.

9	You can now import these frames into an animation application such as Animation Shop, provided with the retail version of PaintShop Pro 5.

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