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The Original Shareware 1.1
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The Original Shareware (WeMake CDs)(Volume 1.1)(CDs, Inc)(1993).iso
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GRAF-PIX.DOC
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1986-11-09
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GRAF-PIX
A Graphics Creating Program
By Read G. Gilgen
U. W. Labs for Recorded Instruction
Madison, WI 53706 (608) 262-1408
(c) 1982 by the Board of Regents
University of Wisconsin System
GRAF-PIX is designed to help create graphic designs, pictures,
charts, etc. and requires little training on the part of the
user. The program uses straightforward commands to allow use of
the special graphics commands available in the IBM-PC Advanced
BASIC language. Pictures can be saved on diskette, edited, and
(with a graphics dump) be printed on a dot-matrix printer.
GRAF-PIX may be copied and distributed, providing that the
copyright information and credits are not changed. Changes in
the program may be made. Suggestions or comments may be directed
to the author.
GRAF-PIX requires one disk drive and the color-graphics adapter
with at least a black & white monitor. If you are interested in
color illustrations as a final product, use a high resolution
color monitor if possible. If you use a low resolution color
monitor, try GRAF-PIX.2X, which may avoid low resolution problems
such as loss of parts of the lines being created, or problems
with colors. If you are primarily interested in printed copies
of your graphic illustrations, the monitor will have no effect
on the final product, and a black and white monitor (which is
usually high resolution) may actually be preferable to a low
resolution color monitor.
PROCEDURES
1. Before beginning, you should have the Graf-Pix program disk
and another IBM-formatted diskette for storage of your graphics
creations.
2. To begin the GRAF-PIX program, simply insert the program disk
in drive A and turn the system on (or press CTRL-ALT-DEL). In a
moment the program will appear and you will be asked to specify:
1. Edit an existing graphics file
2. Create a new graphics file
3. Delete a graphics file
4. Print the Graf-Pix documentation
5. Exit from Graf-Pix
If you have a picture on disk that you wish to edit, make sure
that the proper diskette is in drive "A" and press number 1. If
you want to create a new picture, specify the filename (up to 8
characters) and the extension ".grf" will be added. The disk
that will hold the new picture should also be in drive A,
although nothing will be saved until later.
3. Once you have specified the picture file, the screen will
clear (if you are editing, the picture to be edited will appear),
and you will be ready to begin.
The pictures are created by using a cursor which moves in eight
directions (up, down, left, right, and diagonally). When you
begin, the cursor is located in the center of the screen and can
be moved by pressing the cursor keys on the numeric keypad:
Cursor Arrows = left, right, up, down
Home = up and left
PgUp = up and right
End = down and left
PgDn = down and right
As you move the cursor, a "rubber-band" line is created with each
move. This tells you where the cursor began, and where you are
currently. To erase the line, or to draw the line permanently,
you may use function keys F9 or F10 (explained below).
Several keys have been designated to assist in the graphics
creation process. They are:
F1 HELP Press this key to see a list of function
keys on the bottom line of the screen.
Since only 5 keys can be displayed at
one time, you may press the F1 key again
for additional keys. Press it again and
and the list will be cleared from view.
It is not necessary to display the HELP
list in order to activate the function
keys; they are active at all times while
in the editing mode.
F2 CLR Use this key to change the color of the
line. You may also follow the prompts and
change the palette of colors available as
well as the background color. The lines
and area colors are as follow:
Palette 0: 1 Green 2 Red 3 Brown/Yellow
Palette 1: 1 Cyan 2 Magenta 3 White
Any background color from 0 to 15 may be
chosen. 0 is black, 1 is blue, 9 is bright
blue, etc. Some colors are not good for
background, since lines and text can't be
seen well with them.
NOTE: Default colors are black background
(Color 0) and palette 1, since these are the
combinations which work best on all types of
monitors. If you have a low-resolution monitor,
you will have particular problems with palette 0
and with the vertical lines in palette 1.
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For example, vertical white lines are actually
alternately red and blue, yet two such lines next
to each other appear white.
Also, angled or horizontal lines may appear to be
producing every other dot, and some vertical lines
may appear not to be producing anything at all.
Nevertheless, all lines and dots are indeed being
produced and will still function as borders for
filled areas
F3 CIRCLE This key allows you to create circles,
using the current cursor position as the
center of the circle. You will be prompted
on the bottom line for such information as
radius size, full or part circle, and normal,
tall, or flat aspect. If you specifiy
partial circle, you will be asked for the
beginning and ending points. Any number
between 0 and 2 may be entered for these
points, but the circle is drawn counter-
clockwise beginning with the lower number and
ending with the higher number. If you want
radius lines drawn, you may specify that too.
F4 AREAFILL This option allows you to fill in any enclosed
area with one of three colors from the current
palette, plus the background color. If the area
is already filled with color 3 (white or brown/
yellow) this option will have no effect. The
cursor must be within the area to be filled, and
there must be no holes in the boundaries, or
else the entire screen will be colored in!
Also, if you do not properly specify the boundary
color, the entire scree may be colored in and
the picture you are working on will be destroyed!
The line color changes automatically to that of
the filled area to make for easy exit from the
area. Line color may be changed with the F2 key
(see above.)
F5 TEXT If you want to type text in your picture,
simply position the cursor just below where
you want to start, and press F5. Then type
your text and press <ESC> or <ENTER> to
return to the graphics process. Note that
you may only type on the one line that you
are on. If you wish to type more than one
line, you must press <ESC>, reposition the
cursor, and press F5 again. The graphics
cursor does not move while you enter text.
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F6 BOX You can make boxes by moving the cursor from
one corner of the box location diagonally to
the opposite corner, and then pressing F6.
You will then have the choice of a line box,
or a box filled with white (or brown/yellow).
To fill a box with another color, draw the box
alone, and then fill it with the F4 key option.
F7 CURSOR The "rubber-band" cursor normally moves six
dots at a time in the specified direction.
If you want to move only one dot at a time,
press F7. If you want to resume with 6 dots
at a time, press F7 again. Using this key one
dot at a time can be very useful for filling in
missing dots, for creating intricate details, or
for "erasing" segments of your picture by moving
the "rubber-band" line across it.
F8 ENDPGM This key allows you to end the program, by
letting you save the work you have done,
print the picture you are working on, or
ending without saving or printing anything.
If you accidentally hit F8, you may return to
the editor by pressing <ESC>. The PRINT
option works only if you have a graphics
screen dump on the GRAF-PIX program disk.
When you select this option, it first saves
the picture, then send you to DOS to run your
graphics dump. You must reboot or (from DOS)
type GP to return to the Graf-Pix program.
F9 ERASE This will be one of the most used keys, since
it erases the line being created by the
"rubber-band" cursor, and sets a new starting
point for the cursor. This key allows you to
move the cursor to whereever you want to
create your graphics, text, etc.
F10 LINE If you want to draw the "rubber-band" line
permanently, then press F10. The cursor then
begins where you left off and you can proceed
from there. You may change the color of the line
by using the F2 option before pressing this key.
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