Welcome to Certificate Creator. Using Certificate Creator should be fairly intuitive. Most of the menus and tools are standard items you have probably seen in several other programs already. The way these tools are used my be a little different, but those differences should be easy to understand. If you do need help, this help window is available at any time.
¶File Menu
• New
This will open a new empty Certificate window, providing there is no window currently open. Certificate Creator only supports one window at a time.
• Open
This will open a certificate from a file saved previously to disk.
• Save
This will save the current document to any disk.
• Save as
This gives you the option of saving the current certificate under a new name.
• Close
This closes the current window.
• Page Setup
This gives you the ability to set the printer options. Selecting between wide format and tall format is critical to the layout of your certificate. Most certificates are printed in "landscape" orientation (sideways). If you decide to choose "portrait" orientation (upright) then you will have to keep track of the objects you have created. To ensure that the document window does not "hang over the edge" of a document, the window is automatically resized and the scrollbars are repositioned if necessary whenever the page layout is altered. Borders are also automatically adjusted.
• Print
Prints the current certificate. High quality and standard quality are supported. Draft quality is not supported. Printing on a laser printer involves some special steps to take, so if you have a laser printer, be sure to read the “Laser Help” section in this help window.
• Quit
Obviously.
¶Edit Menu
• Undo
Undo is not supported in Certificate Creator. It is included for use in desk accessories that support it.
• Cut
This will cut the selection from the window and place it in the clipboard. Although you can past in text and graphics from other programs, Certificate Creator does not allow you to cut a graphic from a certificate and paste it into another program.
• Copy
This will place a copy of the selection into the clipboard. See Cut, above.
• Paste
Paste does several things, depending on the circumstances. If you have cut or copied an object from within a certificate document, Paste will place a new object that is identical to the one cut or copied (a copy and then an immediate paste will cover the original object with the identical copy, covering the original completely). If you have cut text from another program (or desk accessory) paste will insert the contents of the clipboard into the currently active text box (if there is one active). If no text object is active, you will get a message telling you to create one before pasting.
• Clear
This will cut the object or objects selected from the window, but will not place it in the clipboard. It will be deleted from the page. Because of the lack of an undo option, this is a dangerous command.
¶Features Menu
• Select Border...
There are a total of twenty separate borders that you can choose from in Certificate Creator. This menu selection will present you with a window that allows you to choose which border you want. There are two types of borders ("normal" and "topical") and you select between them by clicking on the two radio buttons at the extreme right and bottom of the window. The names of the borders will change depending on which set of borders you have selected. Ten borders are listed at the top right of the window, and clicking the mouse on any of them will immediately display a sample of the border in the area to the left of the buttons. There are also two check boxes labeled "Thin Line" and "Thick Line" that allow you enhance the border you have selected. Both of these boxes can be checked at the same time. To select a border for your document, simply experiment until you find a border you like, then click the "OK" button. After a few (okay, sometimes its more than a “few”) seconds the border you have chosen will be displayed in the main window. Borders cannot be selected like other objects, but they can be overwritten, so be careful. If you decide to get rid of a border, simply choose this menu option again and click on the "No Border" button. If you decide that the original border you had selected was best, simply click on the "Cancel" button and your document will remain as it was before you chose the menu option.
• Select Seal
We have provided a few "seals" for your certificates. These are simply samples and you are encouraged to design your own seals in a graphics program and to paste your design into your documents. If you decide to use one of these, simply click the mouse on whichever seal you like and it will immediately be pasted into your document. For that absolutely “official” look, take a trip to a gift shop and purchase some gold leaf envelope seals (usually around $3.00 for twenty) and attach them to the printed certificate.
• Reduced View...
Gives you a quick look at your entire document.
• Nudge (Right,Left,Up,or Down)
This will move all selected objects one pixel in the chosen direction. This is a great help in positioning your objects.
• Align Objects...
Speaking of aligning objects, Certificate Creator allows you to align objects in a variety of ways. The most important of these is the align to page options. This will allow you to quickly and easily center your text and graphics for better eye-appeal.
• Bring to Front/Send to Back
If one object completely covers another, these two menu choices will allow you to move or resize the object that is buried, then send it back under the first object when you are satisfied.
¶Lines Menu
This special menu allows you to control the type of lines you want. It works for the rectangle, oval, and line tools.
¶Arrow Tool
The arrow tool allows you to select, move, and resize objects.
¶Rectangle Tool
Selecting this tool changes the cursor to a "cross" while in the document window. To draw a rectangle click the mouse button once, holding the button down, then drag to the desired size. A rectangle will follow the mouse until you let up on the button. You cannot draw a rectangle (or any other shape) outside of the window area. Once a rectangle is drawn you can use the arrow tool to move or resize it. Moving rectangles (or any other object) is simple: Click the mouse inside the objects boundary rectangle, hold the mouse button down, and drag. A gray outline will follow the mouse to the edge of the window, but no furthur. Resizing rectangles is done by positioning the arrow cursor on the "handle" at the lower right corner of the object (this is the same for all objects except lines) clicking the mouse, and then dragging the mouse while the button is still down.
¶Oval Tool
Ovals are identical to rectangles except that the objects drawn are ovals, not rectangles.
¶Text Tool
The large letter "A" indicates a text box. Text boxes are very flexible and can contain any font, style, or size variation you may want. (Each text object can only have one font, style or size.) The boxes are fully editable at all times. To create a text box simply select the tool and click the mouse wherever you want the text positioned on the screen. Each new text object will contain the currently selected font, style, and size characteristics, but you can change them at any time. Cutting, copying and pasting of text both within a box and between boxes is supported. You can move and resize text objects in the same manner as rectangles.
¶Line Tool
Clicking on the Line tool allows you to draw a line from the place where you click the mouse to the place where you release the mouse button. Lines are slightly different from other objects. The "handle" for resizing is always at the "endpoint" of the line. You can stretch and rotate a line to any point you wish, as long as you don't go outside of the window.
¶Resizing
Each object on the screen can be resized. Rectangles, ovals, text boxes, and graphics pasted in all have a “resize handle” at the lower right corner of the object when selected. Using the arrow key, you can click and drag the mouse in this handle to size the object however you like. Lines have a resize handle also, but it is located at the “end” of the line, wherever that may be.
¶Limits
Certificate Creator is fairly impressive in terms of how many objects a single document can contain. The absolute limit of items, both in the document and in the clipboard combined, is one thousand (1,000). This number was decided upon because we could not imagine that any user would need that many objects. Each text box can contain about 32,000 characters, and each PICT object (pasted in from outside) is restricted to the dimensions of the page.
¶LaserWriter Help
Certificates printed on the LaserWriter can take an unbelievable amount of time to print. This is mostly due to using fonts that must be downloaded to the LaserWriter, and to the graphic nature of a certificate. Laser output is also not in alignment with ImageWriter output. A standard printout of a certificate on the LaserWriter will cut off part of the border. To avoid this, print the certificate out at 95%.
¶Other Neat Stuff
You can make nice invitations simply by printing at 50% reduction, then cutting out the one-quarter sized result. On the LaserWriter you can use Certificate Maker to print the cover of a birthday card by flipping the printout horizontally or vertically, then printing out at 45% (or thereabouts -- you may need to experiment). You can hold the shift, command, and question mark key down (simultaneously) to see how many objects are included in your document.
¶Credits
Certificate Creator was written in MPW Pascal by Sean Golden with crucial and much appreciated assistance from Lynda Fowler and Jeff Billings. (Jeff, thanks for your Lines menu and the stack routine. Lynda, thanks for your help on recursion.) It was a blast to do too, I hope you like it.
