CD Ware Multimedia 1995 May

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ CD Ware Multimedia 1995 May / cd Ware (Juegos) Epimundo.iso / DOS / GRAPHICS / KRIS20.ZIP / KRIS20.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-11-26 | 31.6 KB | 637 lines

KrisCards (TM) Personalized Greeting Cards Copyright Duckbill Group LLC, 1993-1994 All rights reserved Shareware Version 2.0 OVERVIEW OF KrisCards --------------------- KrisCards is an electronic greeting card program that lets your personality shine! It's easy, fast and fun. Simply select any image from a card set and add your special message in a choice of colors. Your finished card is saved as a compact self displaying file, which we call a "KrisCard"(TM). KrisCard images can also be saved in the popular PCX format or to the Windows Clipboard. KrisCards makes it easy to do those little things that mean so much. There is no limit to the number of personalized cards that you can send and they can be delivered quickly and inexpensively via modem or network. Because of their compact size, KrisCards are ideal for attaching to E-mail. And, of course, all KrisCards that you recieve are completely reusable. (Requires registered version). The KrisCards program is easy to operate and no special skills are required. A main menu is displayed at startup and is accessible at all times by pressing the [Esc] key. Screen prompts guide you through each section and the [F1] key provides additional help. KrisCards may be run from Windows or the DOS prompt. Use of a mouse is supported but is not required. Printing is indirectly supported. SHAREWARE and KrisCards ----------------------- Version 2.0 of KrisCards is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends or to upload it to bulletin boards as long as the original files remain unaltered and intact. The Shareware version of KrisCards is functionally identical to the registered version, with a few exceptions. Most noticable is that the Shareware version contains fewer images and has the obligatory "please register" screen. Sorry, but the Shareware concept requires that we remind you to register, and if we had included all the images, the resulting file size would prevent many users from downloading. Therefore, we have include a few full size cards and several preview pages of minature images. Additional information about shareware registration and its benefits can be found in the file KRIS-REG.TXT. We encourage you to read it. But first, let's go for a test drive! KrisCards INSTALLATION ----------------------- Since the Shareware version comes as a single compressed file, you have probably already expanded it to your hard disk. Hopefully, you placed it in its own directory. We prefer the directory name "C:\KC", but any name can be used. The Windows PIF file will need correcting if another name is chosen. Complete installation instructions for DOS and Windows are included in the README2 file. OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS ----------------------- Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with all of the program features. Technical Notes and legal notices are located at the end of this document. STARTING KrisCards ------------------ You may have multiple directories of cards if you are using DOS 3.0 or later. You should start KrisCards from the directory containing a card set. KrisCards always assumes that the current directory contains your card set. When launching from Windows, the Start Up Directory specified in the PIF file will be used. When you start KrisCards, the version and serial numbers are briefly displayed while the program checks your system for compatibility and itself for file integrity. Each program is individually serialized. Should an error occur, a message describing the problem is displayed for 3 seconds and the program ends. If you need to hold the screen for a longer period, press [Pause] to hold and [Enter] to resume. After a bit of housekeeping, the Main Menu is displayed. This is the first of two menus. The other is the Files Menu. While on a menu page, you can get help on "special" keys by pressing the [F1] key. Active keys are listed in white letters, and darkened for any function that may not be available, such as the Windows Clipboard. You can return to the menus at any time by pressing the [Esc] key. You can exit the program at any time by pressing ALT+X (hold the [Alt] key while pressing the [X] key). Menu functions can be selected by pressing the corresponding key or clicking on the appropriate button. MAIN MENU --------- Five functions are available through this menu by pressing the associated key or clicking on the corresponding button. The first four functions will invoke the Files Menu for your selection. The functions and keys are .... [C] CREATE a new file by adding your personalized text to an image template. Text may be written in any of 15 available colors on a letter by letter basis. [E] EDIT a finished card. This allows you to correct the text of a self displaying file. [P] PREVIEW an image. This allows you to view an image template without text. The image is displayed full screen without any prompts. [V] VIEW a finished card. This allows you to view the self displaying file with your text added. [End] END the program. You may also exit the program by holding down the [Alt] key and pressing [X]. FILES MENU ---------- The Files Menu is divided into an upper and lower section. The top portion contains screen prompts, "action keys" and a clock. Mouse users can simply click the button of choice or filename. The "action keys" allow you to change functions without returning to the Main Menu screen. The layout is shown below. [Alt] [C] [E] [P] [V] [X] [Enter] [PgUp] [PgDn] [Esc] The function keys are displayed in a red color, indicating a "hot key". The [Alt] button preceeding the letter keys indicates that keyboard users should hold the [Alt] key while selecting a function. Of course, you could just press [Esc] to take you back to the Main Menu and select the function there. The [Enter] button is a reminder to keyboard users when selecting files. The [PgUp] and [PgDn] buttons are used for selecting files. Within the program, arrows indicate the up and down direction. The lower portion of the screen in lists available files. If no matching files are found, an error message is displayed. Perhaps you haven't created any cards. Change functions or press [Esc]. Available files are listed alphabetically in up to five columns. We use the same format as the DOS command "DIR/W". One page holds 50 files and a maximum of 200 names can be displayed on four pages. If there is more than 1 page, the [PgDn] button will change from gray to black. As you change pages, [PgUp] will turn black. This bolding will indicate that the key is active and you have more files in the indicated direction. The currently selected file name is displayed in white letters. You may use the arrow keys to select a name or use letter keys to find the first matching name. If no match exists, the file name highlight does not move. At this point, lets discuss the differences between using the keyboard or a mouse for selecting files. Keyboard users would press [Enter] to confirm selection and display the file. When using a mouse, selection and confirmation happens when you click on the file name. A mouse can move around the page freely, but can not search by letter. You'll probably find that you use a little of each. Arrow key movements are limited to the selected page. The name highlight will "wrap around" to the next name if you reach the end of a line or page. By limiting these actions to one page, the keys act the same way whether you have 2 files or 200. It is also more consistent with the way that the mouse works. Keyboard users have two additional keys to navigate. The [Home] key takes you to the very first file name, while the [End] key takes you to the very last file name, which may be on another page. Once a file is confirmed, KrisCards will check to see that is valid. If the file is invalid, it will not be displayed and you will be returned to the File Menu. An error message is displayed until you press a key or select a new name. If the file is valid, it will be displayed. If you chose the CREATE or EDIT functions, those functions will be invoked. Before we leave this section, let's talk about the clock. The clock was added to remind you of how much fun you are having when you are supposed to be doing something else. It is only displayed in the Files Menu. It is updated only when the time changes in order to minimize screen flicker and allow the best time share with Windows. If you position the mouse cursor over the numbers, you may see an incorrect display for a very short time. VIEW/PREVIEW MODES ------------------ The image is displayed full screen without prompts. The PREVIEW mode displays blank cards while the VIEW mode is used to display finished cards with your message as you typed it. Press any normal key or click the left mouse button to return to the Files Menu after viewing. Several special features are available in these viewing modes, including file deletion and image conversion. On screen prompts are not available for this screen, except for the delete function. The screen remains unclutterd for color and file conversions so that it can be captured to the Windows Clipboard. You may review the following list of function keys by pressing the [F1] key from any menu screen. [F4] key - Save displayed image as a PCX graphics file. [F5] key - Toggle between image colors and Windows colors. [Delete] - Delete the file for the displayed image. If you are running Windows in the 386 Enhanced mode, you can capture the image to the Clipboard by holding down the [Alt] key and pressing the [Print Screen] key. You may swap to an active Windows application by holding down the [Alt] and pressing the [Tab] key. This may be useful for Pasting the Clipboard image into a Windows application. Additional information for using KrisCard images in Windows based applications follows the operating instructions. Once the image has been displayed, you can press [F4] to save it as a PCX graphics file. You will be returned to the Files Menu after conversion. The file is saved with the original name and the new .PCX extension. The new name is displayed as "saved" if successful. A "failed" message indicates a full disk or an existing read-only protected file. You may convert the colors to a Windows palette before saving the PCX file. PCX files allow you to send your greetings to friends who do not have an EGA/VGA compatible display or IBM compatible computer. You can also take advantage of the new color printers and fax machines through this format. PCX is the most universally accepted graphic format and can be imported into Windows and many paint, FAX and desk top publishing programs with minimal effort. Read the section entitled "PRINTING YOUR CARDS" for additional information. Press the [F5] key to convert the KrisCard screen colors to a Windows 16 color palette. The conversion to Windows colors will take about 3 to 5 seconds in the full screen mode. Press [F5] again to restore the original palette. Windows with a 16 color driver is not capable of displaying all of the colors used in KrisCards. We have to fake most of the colors with a process called "dithering". This is the same method used by Windows to display more than 16 colors. During the conversion, the screen colors will temporarily distort but will be restored pixel by pixel. The resulting image may appear to be grainy or bumpy since solid colors are now made from alternating dots of different colors. Avoid using a partial window display in Windows during this conversion. Conversion time is painfully slow since every one of the 224,000 pixels must be remapped twice. You may delete the file of the displayed image by pressing the [Delete] key. You will be prompted for confirmation before deletion. You are automatically returned to the Files Menu after the prompt. If you confirmed the deletion, a message is display showing the results. This is useful for deleting finished cards that you have already sent. EDIT/CREATE MODES ---------------- CREATE allows you to add text to a blank card. EDIT allows you to correct a saved finished card. The CREATE mode also incorporates the EDIT mode for corrections before the finished card is saved. After the image is displayed, a status bar appears at the top of the screen. Beginning with version 2.0, these messages are in white letters on a black background. Older versions used the background color of the image. A mouse is not supported for these modes to allow maximum view of the image. Arrow keys are used to select text column (cursor position) and text color. CURSOR POSTION Use the Left arrow or Backspace key to erase the previous character. The Right arrow key moves cursor one space and prints the appropriate character and color. If you have not entered any text, this will simply be a series of blanks. In EDIT, the original character and color will be revealed, saving you from retyping a line during corrections. SELECTING COLORS Use the Up and Down arrow keys to cycle through the palette of available text colors. A block indicator in the upper right corner of the screen will display the current color. The background color is never displayed since it would make the text invisible. You may use any of the 15 other palette colors for text. The current line number and total number of available lines are displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Enter your text after selecting the color of your choice. Any printable characters are allowed, including extended and international characters. A gray bar indicates the number of spaces remaining on the selected line. This also act as your cursor while the screen is in the graphics display mode. Text is limited to this area. If you continue to type beyond this space, the cursor will not move. Once you have completed a line of text, press [Enter] to save it. You will now be prompted with a "CENTER? Y/N" message. Press [Y] to automatically center the text on the line. Any other key skips centering. You may undo the centering during corrections. Your text is then displayed as it will be on the finished card. In the CREATE mode, the Gray Bar moves to the next blank line and you can continue to create your message until all available lines have been displayed. You may press [Enter] to skip to the next line and leave the current one blank. Once all available lines have been displayed, you enter the EDIT mode. You can skip directly to the EDIT mode from any line by pressing the [PgDn] key. The center message is skipped for blank lines. EDIT MODE --------- You are prompted to see if you want to correct any line of text. Press the corresponding number key to correct a line. If you were originally in the CREATE mode, the right arrow key will reveal a left justified line, even if you selected Center before. This allows you to change your mind about centering the text. If you are editing a saved finished card, the right arrow key will display the text as it was on the original. Any leading spaces will be included. If you select a valid line number, the Gray Bar will highlight the appropriate line and you may make corrections or type in new text. Press [Enter] to save the new line and indicate if you want to center. The program returns you to the EDIT mode where you may correct other lines. Press [Enter] to save the file. [Esc] returns you to the Files Menu. SAVE MODE -------- You will be prompted to enter a DOS file name of up to eight characters. The extension is automatically added. You must save to the current directory and drive. Valid characters for a name are A-Z, 0-9, a dash, or an underscore. Other characters are ignored, and lower case letters are capitalized. The backspace key may be used for corrections. Press [Enter] to save the file with the name you typed. If no name is entered, you are asked if you want to continue with this image. Press [Y] to return to EDIT. Any other key returns the Files Menu. If the file name already exists, you will be prompted for permission to overwrite the old file. Press [Y] to overwrite. Otherwise, you will be prompted for a new name. If a write protected file exists with the specified name, you will be prompted for a new name. If there is not enough disk space to save the file, you will be automatically returned to the Files Menu and and error message will be displayed. After the file has been saved, you will be ask if you wish to continue with the same image. This is useful for making multiple copies of a file where only a few text lines are different. Press [Y] to return to EDIT. Any other key returns you to the Files Menu where you may view the finished card, create a PCX file, or select another function. =================================================================== PRINTING YOUR CARDS ------------------- KrisCards was designed to produce electronic cards and has no provision to output directly to a printer. However, we still get asked how to print them. Due to the popularity of Windows and other graphics programs, you probably already have a program for printing graphics. We saw no reason to duplicate the efforts of others and crowd your hard disk with unneccessary print drivers. Therefore, we though it best to provide export to the PCX format and direct Clipboard access into Windows for printing our images. Most paint programs and desktop publishers will import PCX files for printing. Some FAX programs will also import the PCX format. The preferred method of printing is from Windows and to a color printer. Write for Windows and Paintbrush can both be used for printing our cards. Paintbrush can import both PCX files and Clipboard images. Results will vary depending upon your printer. We have found that dot matrix printers do not reproduce very well and should be avoided. The most common printing program is GRAPHICS.COM, which is supplied with MS DOS. This utility provides black and white printer output of the screen when the [SHIFT] and [PRINT SCREEN] keys are pressed. Current versions of GRAPHICS.COM support many different types of printers. Refer to your DOS manual for more information. Most IBM compatible dot matrix printers can be used by typing "GRAPHICS /R" at the DOS prompt before launching KrisCards. GRAPHICS.COM remains in memory until you reboot. The easiest card to make is the Trifold shape. We have included a file called TRIFOLD.COM to illustrate one method for laying out the text and graphics, and for folding the paper. A variation of trifold is the Z-fold, which is well suited for newsletters. Z-folds allow you to use the middle 1/3 of the page and "unfolds" the story as it is expanded from its "Z" shape. =================================================================== SENDING KrisCards ----------------- KrisCards may be sent in many ways. As long as the sender and reciever agree on the format, it becomes a matter of preferrence. However, some systems, such as InterNet, distinguish between pure text files and BINARY files. While a complete discussion of all the variations is beyond the scope of this document, we offer a few thoughts on what you may expect. NETWORKS usually have a common "work disk" where you can leave files. Use this option if your E-Mail does not allow graphic files to be attached. Then use a standard message to inform your friend where they may find the file. ("Hey John, look for H:JOHNBOY.COM"). The file may need to be copied to your friends hard disk before running. Also note that common disks offer no privacy, so keep it civil and act promply before another user accidently overwrites your card. BULLETIN BOARDS may let you use "private uploads" or "mail boxes", where only the intended user can recieve the mail. In this case, KrisCards are no different than any other graphic file. ONLINE SERVICES are very similar to bulletin boards. As long as both parties use the same service, we do not know of any technical problems. Policy differences exist for the major services, but in general, you can attach KrisCards to your E-Mail without worry. Some services limit the total document size to 64KB. This is no problem as KrisCards will always be smaller than that. Normally, you would only create a very brief letter before attaching the KrisCard. Maybe you would type something like "John, this is just for you" as the entire message. FLOPPY DISKS are a good way to send your cards to others who are not on the same network, bulletin board, or online service as you. Or maybe you find the proven "floppy net" method works better for you. The only restriction is if the resulting disk can be read your friend. The INTERNET is often used to connect different online services for E-Mail. Unfortunately, the original design only allowed for ASCII text messages. BINARY files often must be converted to an inter- mediate form before transmission and then converted back to the original form. This is similar to "zipping" a file, since it must be "unzipped" to be used. The original translators for InterNet are UUENCODE and UUDECODE. Some online services make the translators an automatic part of their mail service. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is another feature of InterNet. It allows for BINARY transfer with the /BIN switch. This feature enables the needed encode/decode translators automatically. Basically, this allows you to send KrisCards to InterNet "sites" almost as easily as sending by way of your local bulletin board. Learning the correct syntax for InterNet is beyond this document. To all the power users, GO FER IT ! PRINTED CARDS obviously have no more restrictions than any other letter. We encourage this form only as a last resort since we prefer to remain electronic. Plus, the paper card will probably be thrown away in a few days while an electronic card could be retained for years. TRICKS FOR WINDOWS ------------------ WRITE FOR WINDOWS: Write for Windows will allow you to create newsletters or custom cards. Save a KrisCard to the Clipboard and then start Write. Open a document and position the cursor where you want the top left corner of the graphic to start. Click on "Edit" and select "Paste". The image is placed in your document. Write allows you to stretch an image. Click on the image and it will be color reversed. Click on "Edit" again and select "Size Picture". Move the cursor to the bottom of the picture. Hold down the left button and move the mouse to size the picture. Click outside the image to restore the correct colors. You may use the Justify commands to center the image. Unfortunately, Write will not let you place text next to your image. Use Paintbrush to add text to the side of the image before placing it on the Clipboard. PAINTBRUSH FOR WINDOWS: You can create "wallpaper" and clip art from our images with this program. Pasting to Paintbrush requires an additional step to prevent cropping the image. Click on "View" and then click on "Zoom Out" to display the entire drawing area. Click on "Edit" and then click on "Paste". You will see a cross hatched area representing the image size. KrisCards are shorter than the normal Windows screen. If you want to center the image, click on the cross hatch and hold the left button down as you move the image. Click on the menu to display the image. Then click on "View" again and then click on "Zoom In" to restore the screen. You can use the PICK tools for cropping images to be used as clip art. Smaller images may be suitable for "tiled wallpaper". Use the pick tool to enclose the desired size. Save this area as a 16 color BMP file. Please remember that all KrisCard images retain their copyright status. They may not be used for any commercial intent without prior permission from the author. L E G A L N O T I C E S =================================================================== DISCLAIMER AND WARRANTY ----------------------- This product is distributed AS IS. The Duckbill Group specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Any similarities of the program or images to other works or any person are coincidental. In no event shall the Duckbill Group be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. LICENSING AGREEMENT ------------------- KrisCards are copyrighted software and all rights are reserved as specified in the Copyright Act. The program(s), image files and child programs may not be changed or modified in any way except as detailed in this document. This program is licensed for SINGLE USE ONLY, meaning the program may be used on a single machine at one time. You may make back up copies of purchased programs, providing that you retain the original and back up copies. Licensing of KrisCards is based on `personal usage' and grants a specific person (not a juridical person or corporate entity) the right to `use' KrisCards. If this program is to be used by a BUSINESS, it must be registered to a specific employee of your company prior to its use. Commercial and/or For Profit use of this software or images is prohibited. Bulletin Board operators and business persons are permitted to send KrisCards to their clients as long as the two following conditions are met. The software must be registered and the cards must remain free of any advertising, offer or commercial intent. As an example, it is permissible to say "Merry Christmas from Acme Anvils", but the cards may not include "Ask about our special offer". A special license is provided to certain non-profit organizations such as schools, clubs and churches, which are operate for the good of the community. Such groups are granted full use of the images from their copy of the registered software in newsletters, bulletins and other such forms of communications. TRADEMARKS ---------- Windows, Write for Windows and MS DOS are trademarks of MicroSoft. Paintbrush and PCX are trademarks of Z-Soft. PC/AT and IBM are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. PKUNZIP and ZIP are trademarks of PKWare. Kriscard, KrisCards and Kris_Jr are trademarks of the Duckbill Group LLC. Any ommission of other trademarks in this listing are accidental and will be corrected upon notice. DUCKBILL GROUP LLC, P.O. BOX 610349, BIRMINGHAM, AL. 35261-0349 TECHNICAL NOTES --------------- 1. The images included in PREVIEW files have been reduced in resolution and color range. They are for quick reference only and do not accurately represent the dynamics of the full size images. Preview files are always in the PREVIEW mode. You can not add text to a these files. Preview file names are enclosed with curly brackets "{ }". 2. Some full screen images (with the .COM extension) are for demonstration and tutorial use. They can not be edited. 3. The Files Menu display is limited to 200 entries. 4. KrisCards image resolution is 640 x 350. 5. Card sets are shipped in the compressed ZIP 1.10 format. 6. KrisCards should be run in the FULL SCREEN mode of Windows. The KrisCards colors are not available when using the Windows 16 color driver. A partial screen will cause strange color combinations. Use the conversion routine for images that you want to export to Windows (F5 key). 7. Use of the Windows Clipboard requires the 386 Enhanced mode. 8. KrisCards contains an internal self check routine to verify the integrity of the program. Should the file be altered in any way, an error message is displayed and the program ends. Because of this, do not run any program which immunizes KrisCards against viruses. The immunization will cause the integrity check to fail. Individual cards do not contain this routine, but should not be immunized since they can no longer be edited. 9. The serial number can be displayed without launching the program by typing "/?" after the file name. You may need this information for future upgrades or technical support. KrisCards 2.0 REQUIREMENTS ---------------------- a) an IBM PC/AT compatible computer b) EGA, VGA, or SVGA 16 color display c) 128 K available memory d) 1 MB free disk space WHY ARE THE COLORS WRONG? ------------------------ Although PCX files are flexible, some programs refuse to utilize the correct palette colors and default to their own palette. A similar problem may occur in some Desk Top Publishing (DTP) or FAX programs. Some of these programs expect monochrome or gray scale images. Files saved with the Windows palette may appear "washed out" when viewed by some DOS based programs.