Getting Started

Before doing anything you should make sure that you have made backups of your original program disk and your system clock is set to the correct date and time.  MPC uses this clock to calculate calendars and the days between dates.  Also make sure that your program and disk are unlocked.  MPC will not work if it is locked or the disk it is located on is locked.

Next make sure that a set of notes was loaded when you started the program.  The default file for the notes is the current year plus the word "Notes" such as "1994 Notes".  If you click on the application to begin the program, the indicated file is the file that will be used for the notes if it is available.  It must be in the same folder as MPC in order to be loaded.

Setting Preferences

The next thing you must do is open the Preferences window.  This window allows you to customize many ways that MPC formats the calendars.  Select how you wish to format the calendars using the available buttons.  Several selections allow you to choose how to format the calendars, to use pre-formatted graphics and scale or clip the graphics.  Additional selections decide if you want to display icons, notes and banners on the calendars.  Make your selections and choose whether you wish to use the selections for the current session or make the selections permanent.  Choose "OK" to use the selections for the current session and choose "Save" to make your choices the defaults each time you use the program.  Choosing "OK" or "Save" will allow you to save the setup in a custom calendar file in another operation.  See the manual for details.

Setting the Size

The next thing you should do when operating MPC is set up the size of calendars you will be creating.  The size of calendar is limited to the size of the paper your printer can use.  You can access the Calendar Size window by using the toolbar or through the Calendar Size menu item.  This window will show you a simplified graphic of your calendar and whether or not you have chosen to include an external graphic.  You can change the size of the width of the calendar to any size equal to or smaller than the current paper size.  The other edit fields allow you to format the size of the graphic and calendar body.  To change the size of the graphic and calendar items (if you have selected to use a graphic) use the pointer just to the right of the calendar.  Dragging the pointer up or down will change the size of the items and the results will be displayed in the edit fields.  No direct entry into the graphic and body fields can be made.  The sum of the calendar body and the graphic height must be equal to or less than the total calendar height available.  Once you have completed the inputs click the Done button to exit.

You now have MPC setup to create calendars.  See the topic Preferences and the topic Calendars for additional ways of customizing your choices for the calendars.  Do this now if you have changed the page setup or calendar size.  If you do not, the calendar may not be formatted correctly and dates, notes icons and banners may print incorrectly or outside the calendar grid.