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ComicSetter
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************************************************************************
* *
* ComicSetter V1.0A *
* (C) 1988 Gold Disk Inc. *
* *
************************************************************************
Attention New mComicSetter Owner:
Thank you for purchasing mComicSetter. May we remind you to return
the registration card. This will enable you to take advantage of Gold
Disk's Technical Support services, and will give you a free subscription
to our newsletter, mNew Laser Times.
mBUG FIXES (v1.0A)
In version 1.0 of mComicSetter, there was a bug which prevented the
program from working with some printers (notably the Okimate 20).
Another bug caused memory to be corrupted under some circumstances,
leading to corrupt pictures and occasional crashes. This often happened
when printing or saving.
Both of these major bugs have been fixed in V1.0A, along with a
couple of minor ones. No new features have been added to V1.0A.
mNEW FEATURES (v1.0)
In the tradition of all great programs, the programmers have been
working up to the last minute, packing mComicSetter with nifty new
features. The following is a list of features added to mComicSetter
since the manual was printed:
1. When you select the Import Bitmap function by either double-clicking
on the Bitmap tool or selecting the mProject/Import menu item, your
cursor will change to an upside-down "L". This shows that the frame
you are about to draw will be used to import a bitmap, rather than
to create a blank one.
2. You will notice that, whenever mComicSetter redraws the display, it
switches to black-and-white. This allows for quicker screen updates,
and should cause you no concern.
3. A new menu item has been added under the mLayout heading: mCollapse
Panel. If a panel is selected, choosing this menu option takes all
the individual objects that comprise that scene, and replaces them
with a single bitmap object. If a panel consists of many elements,
collapsing it this way will make it redisplay much more quickly.
Also, if the panel contains bitmaps, it will usually take up less
memory after it is collapsed.
Beware: Once you have collapsed a panel, its individual elements no
longer exist separately, and you can no longer move or change them as
you normally would. (You can still alter the panel using the bitmap
drawing tools, however.) For this reason, you should only collapse a
panel when you are sure you won't want to change it any more, or else
you should save a copy of the comic in a different file on disk so
that, if you later need to change the panel, you'll be able to bring
in an uncollapsed version to work with.
Note also that if a panel contains only structured graphics and text
objects (including balloons), collapsing that panel will make it take
up a whole lot more space (although it may still display more quickly
than before).
4. Under the mPreferences menu, another menu item has been added:
mWorkbench. When selected, this option tells mComicSetter to attempt
to close the Workbench screen, thus freeing a significant amount of
memory. If there are any windows on the Workbench screen, other than
Workbench drawers, this command will have no effect.
Once the Workbench screen has been closed, the Screen-to-Back gadget
at the top-right corner of the mComicSetter screen will no longer do
anything. The Workbench screen will reappear automatically when you
quit from mComicSetter, or you can select mPreferences/Workbench
again to bring it back without quitting.
mTRICKS TO SAVE MEMORY
Here are some things you can do to conserve memory, thus allowing you
to create bigger, more complex comics:
1. Use the mCollapse Panel option on panels with multiple bitmaps in
them, to make them take up less space.
2. Select the mWorkbench option, to close Workbench.
3. If you want a large area of the same color, or the same fill pattern
(for example, a brick-wall background for a panel), use a structured
graphic rather than a bitmap. Structured graphics use much less
memory than bitmaps do.
4. The way the Undo feature works is that every time you delete some-
thing, or change a bitmap, a copy is saved away. Then, if you select
mEdit/Undo, the saved copy is used to restore things to the way they
were. When mComicSetter saves something like this, it throws away
any information for undoing previous operations.
If you delete a bunch of bitmaps at once, for example, you will have
a lot of memory tied up in the saved copies of them. To get this
memory back, just do anything which is undoable -- create a struc-
tured graphic or a panel, for instance. This will cause the program
to free up all the saved bitmaps in the process of saving the new
information.
5. Along the same line, if you have mCut or mCopied a large amount of
stuff to the Paste buffer, you can get back the memory by mCutting or
mCopying something else.
We bet you'll make some amazing comics, and we'd love to see them.
Why not send us some examples, to the address given below?
Make the good guys win at least msome of the time, and have loads of
fun with mComicSetter!
mKAPOW!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to contact us
by mail or telephone. Our Technical Support phone number is
(416) 828-5636.
Gold Disk Inc.
P. O. Box 789,
Streetsville, Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada L5M 2C2