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dmg-0139
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imprint.asc
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1997-04-16
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7KB
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131 lines
IMPRINT - zzSOFT
================
When I asked Roger Pearson of zzSOFT if it would be possible to get some
of his companies products to review I was more than pleasantly surprised
when he not only agreed but sent Imprint by return post.
The package consists of a master disc, a manual and registration slip. The
first thing anyone should do is register their purchase as they are then
entitled to help, technical support and future upgrades.
As I was reviewing a product and expected to get my facts right, I decided
to break with tradition and do things correctly. First, read the manual
and then check the disc for any extra documentation. On reflection, it was
a fairly painless experience. The 36 page manual is well laid out with an
excellent index and the subject matter runs logically from creating a work
disc through the tools to actually dumping a screen to printer. The disc
also had a 'read_me' file detailing program upgrades since the last
printing of the manual.
After backing up the master disc a work disc was made, consisting of the
Imprint program and associated resource files, depending on the screen
resolution(s) that would be used and the printer driver most suitable for
my Amstrad 3160 (OK don't laugh, it does a reasonable job).
There are four drivers supplied with the disc, for mono (Epson) or
colour (Star LC10) and 9 or 24 pin printers. If none of these work with
your set up there is also a program supplied that allows you to set the
driver parameters to suit.
Getting started is equally easy, simply make sure the ST is in the correct
resolution for the picture type that you will be using and then load
Imprint. The program uses two main screens, switchable by clicking the
right mouse button. The main screen has the drop down menus, toolkit
options and other information, the second screen contains the picture
being worked on.
The program allows screens saved in Degas (.PI? and .PC?), Neochrome
(.NEO) and Tiny formats (.TN? and .TNY) to be loaded. Once a screen is in
memory it may be edited using any of the tools available. While these are
fairly limited, and never meant as a replacement for a full blown art
program, they are still comprehensive enough to give impressive results
quickly and easily.
The toolbox allows various 'art tools' to be selected as well as colours,
fills and line types.
Text can be placed on screen in any combination of 6 sizes, 6 print types
(light, bold, italic, etc) and either word or character justified.
Frames, lines and circles can be drawn using combinations of the line
and brush types supplied in any of the palette colours. If this is still
not enough it's possible to edit any of the 8 brushes.
Other toolbox goodies are disc and box options which are simply filled
frames and circles. Areas can also be flood filled, the fill being any of
the predefined fills and colours.
There is a cut and paste option where areas of the screen can be defined
and copied to other areas.
Finally, an eraser to help out when the non Picassos among us make the
inevitable mistake. Although, simple mistakes can be easily rectified at
the time by pressing the UNDO key.
From the drop down menus the text can be set, colours in the palette
changed and brushes redesigned. The picture can be cleared and the palette
restored to its default values, pictures of different resolutions can be
converted to the current resolution.
Other options convert the screen to 'mono', here the ink is converted to
either paper or ink. The screen can be outlined which means that all the
lines in a picture are replaced with their outline. Or the screen can be
reflected along its x or y axis.
When it is time to print a picture, it can be either as a full size or a
block defined using the mouse. Whatever is chosen the output size is
variable both in the x-axis and the y-axis. Leaving the aspect ratio lock
on means that altering one will change the other to keep the picture in
proportion. The aspect ratio lock can be switched off and the picture is
dumped to the printer in the x and y sizes selected.
The number of passes that the print head makes while printing and picture
darkness can both be altered. These settings depend on how much 'dark'
areas there are in the picture and how good the ribbon quality is.
The last thing to consider before printing the screen is its orientation
on the paper. It can be either Portrait (normal) or Landscape (turned
through 90 degrees). Landscape allows a larger picture size to be
selected.
Throughout the manual there are loads of hints and tips on how to get the
best possible output. The last two pages have Appendixes covering when and
where to get help, support and technical information, and a small
measurement conversion table between millimetres and inches for all us old
foggies who can't stop thinking in Imperial units.
To top that lot off, there is also a screen-grabber program that redirects
the screen to disc instead of the printer when ALT/HELP is pressed. A very
useful bonus.
There are a couple of improvements/features that I would like to see added
to Imprint.
The first is for the program to 'remember' the last path used. Just now
the path always defaults to the root directory in drive A:, it can be very
annoying having to change drives and reopen folders for every new picture
that is loaded.
The other is to allow the parameters be saved to disc (if desired) and be
automatically loaded before running (if present on disc), it would save
having to redefine favourite brushes and reset options every time.
The mono version of Imprint costs £10.95 and the colour&mono version
£15.95 from:
zzSOFT
25 Honeyhole
BLACKBURN
Lancashire
BB2 3BQ Tel: 0254 672965
At these prices you are getting a very good product, especially as the
programer is also providing on line support and continuing to upgrade and
develop the program. If you need a screen dump program for any reason you
can't go wrong buying Imprint. If it doesn't do everything you want, write
(or call) and tell Sean Hodgson, he's a nice guy and likes to keep his
customers satisfied, chances are the features you need will appear in
future versions (you did register, didn't you?).