Atari Works Document | 1993-08-07 | 9KB | 17 lines
Classical Garamond
Classical Garamond
nThe AtariWorks Scrapbook
Instructions
by Michael Hebert
The AtariWorks Scrapbook was born out a desire to have a printed catalog of GEM graphics for use in Atariworks - sort of an IMG_CAT for GEM (sorry 'bout that Dr. Bob). The other requirement that I felt had to be met was the creation of a scrapbook format on-screen utility that would permit viewing and selecting graphics for incorporation in documents without leaving AtariWorks. I wanted a simple copy and paste procedure similar in function to the scrapbook that is part of GeoWorks on the messy DOS platform. I also wanted to avoid the laborious resizing that occurs when importing GEM graphics onto a page that has been predefined with default margins, etc. All of these parameters were easily met within the functions built into AtariWorks.
Using the Scrapbook
Start AtariWorks and open or create the document in which you wish to incorporate graphics. Click on Open under the File menu then open the desired scrapbook volume. When the scrapbook appears on screen locate the required graphic, scrolling if necessary, then click anywhere on a line that is occupied solely by the graphic you want. Clicking on a line that contains portions of two or more graphics will result in the wrong graphic being selected. Next click on Select Picture under the Edit menu and the graphic will be highlighted. Click on Copy under the Edit menu then on Activate Document under the Window menu. Select your work document and click on OK. Position your cursor at the point in the document where you want the graphic to appear then click on Paste under the Edit menu. Your graphic will be imported in exactly the size that it had in the scrapbook. You may leave it as is or resize it as you wish without going through the aggravation of trying to resize a graphic that may be several times the size of your screen.
Creating a Scrapbook
Creating a scrapbook is not a difficult procedure. You will need a blank document with default margins and tab setting. I suggest using the standard 1" all around margins and left tabs at 2, 4 and 6". Create the tabs on the first line of the document with the point size of your font set to 12 points. Hit the return key until you have created 3 or 4 blank pages. Save this document under a dummy name such as SCP_BLNK.STW. Next create a new document with only enough carriage returns to bring the cursor to the bottom of the screen. Select Page Setup under the File menu and define the page size as being 3" wide by some arbitrary height (I use 6.5") with 1" margins all around. Save this document as 1_WIDE.STW. Select Page Setup again and increase the page width to 4" then save again using the title 2_WIDE.STW. These two widths should be adequate to handle the kind of thumbnail views we need for a scrapbook. If your are going to be using the 1" wide format close 2_WIDE.STW then open 1_WIDE.STW.
With SCP_BLNK.STW and ?_WIDE.STW loaded into memory you are ready to begin creating your scrapbook. Select SCP_BLNK.STW and give your scrapbook an appropriate name. Position your cursor where you want the upper left corner or your first graphic to appear. Select Activate Document under the Window menu and click on ?_WIDE.STW following by OK. When ?_WIDE appears on screen select Import Picture under the Edit menu and choose GEM VDI Metafile. A file selector will appear for you to select the appropriate file. After the graphic appears on screen click on Select Picture under the Edit menu. The graphic will now be highlighted. Click on Cut under the Edit menu then on Activate Document under the Window menu. Select SCP_BLNK.STW and when it appears click on Paste under the Edit menu. Your first graphic has been imported into the scrapbook in a 1" or 2" wide by ?? tall format with original aspect ratio maintained. Now select the position for your next graphic insertion. Remember to offset all your graphics so that there are at least 2 or 3 lines not occupied by other graphics.
Repeat this procedure until you run out of graphics or pages. I do not recommend making any one scrapbook volume more that 3 or 4 pages long. That seems to be the optimum tradeoff between operating speed and content.
Postscript
Enjoy your scrapbooks and please remember to share them with the rest of us. We all have some unique pictures that we may not think much of but are just what someone else needs. Remember that uploads are free on Genie so please upload your efforts!
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