Fritz: All Fritz

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

/ Fritz: All Fritz / All Fritz.zip / All Fritz / FILES / DESKHING / PICTURE3.LZH / TXT2.EXE / MANUAL3.TXT < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-12-31 | 55.3 KB | 949 lines

PICTURETHIS(TM) "SHAREWARE" VERSION RELEASE 4.00 DECEMBER 31, 1991 USER MANUAL, PART 3 OF 7 PARTS Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Patricia Y. Williams and Gregory Williams, All Rights Reserved. HortIdeas Publishing, 460 Black Lick Road, Gravel Switch, KY 40328 U.S.A. 15. SETTING THE GLOBAL LINE PARAMETERS The global line parameters can be set while in the FREE state by pressing L. The state changes to "NEWLNS" and a line parameter menu identical to the one for changing the line parameters of a trail appears (see Section 14.4). 15.1. SETTING LINE WEIGHT, LINE GRAY, LINECAP, AND LINE JOIN At the global line parameters menu, by pressing W, G, L, or J, you can change the line weight, line gray percentage, linecaps, or linejoin, respectively, of ALL curves and trails drawn AFTER the change is made. The entries for these global parameters are made in exactly the same way as those for individual curves and trails (see Sections 12.3 and 14.4). When K (for "Keep") or Enter is pressed, the global values change, and the state returns to "FREE." (If Esc is pressed, no changes are made, and the state returns to "FREE.") 15.2. SETTING DASH PATTERN Individual curves (see Section 7) and trails (see Section 14) can be drawn either solid or with user-settable dash patterns. A given dash pattern can have a repeating pattern of up to three different dashes (each ranging in length from 0 to 99 line-weights), separated by up to three different gaps (each ranging in length from 0 to 99 line-weights), starting (at the beginning of the curve or trail) a user- settable offset distance (ranging from 0.0 to 25.5) into the pattern (allowing the user to place the pattern in a desirable location along a curve, perhaps to allow the pattern to be centered on the curve, or so there are gaps or dashes at both ends of the curve). The dash, gap, and offset lengths are multiplied by a user-settable factor (ranging from 1 to 99), allowing quick rescaling of a particular pattern. Note that the length of the dashes and gaps is given in line-weights. This means that for a curve with a line weight of 1 point, a 1 line-weight dash is 1 point long, but for a curve with a line weight of 2 points, the same dash will be 2 points long. The length of each dash and gap is proportional to a curve's line weight. This means two lines 33 with the same dash pattern but different line weights will appear as scaled versions of each other. To set the dash pattern the first time in a PictureThis drawing session, press L to access the line menu, then press D to access the dash menu. The second line of the line menu shows the current dash pattern: the default is solid (no gaps), which is number 0 of 7 possible dash patterns (1-6 are user-settable; 0 is not) from which you can choose a current dash pattern. Press + (same as Space) and/or - repeatedly to see each of the 7 patterns in turn. The default pattern settings are listed below. NUMBER PATTERN 0 Solid 1 First Dash (Pattern Element d1) length = .1 line-weight, First Gap (Pattern Element g2) length = 4 line-weight, Second Dash (Pattern Element d3) length = 0, Second Gap (Pattern Element g4) length = 0, Third Dash (Pattern Element d5) length = 0, and Third Gap (before the pattern repeats; Pattern Element d6) = 0 or, more compactly, d1=.1, g2=4, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0 2 d1=6, g2=6, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0 3 d1=9, g2=6, d3=.1, g4=6, d5=0, g6=0 4 d1=16, g2=6, d3=.1, g4=6, d5=.1, g6=6 5 d1=0, g2=0, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0 6 d1=0, g2=0, d3=0, g4=0, d5=0, g6=0 Why these defaults? We set numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 to provide commonly used patterns, as shown below. These default patterns should suffice for nearly all drawings, and we suggest that you not worry about making new patterns unless you absolutely must! 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3: __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ 4: ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____ Numbers 5 and 6 are "zeroed" (ALL dash, no gap; that is, solid) to allow you to add your own patterns without needing to change 1 through 4. The best way to discover for yourself how the pattern element settings relate to dash patterns in the PostScript output is to try several different settings and look at the printed output. The rules go as follows. The pattern starts with d1 and ends with g6, then repeats over again, even if some elements are set to zero. Zero elements have zero length: a zero-length gap between two non-zero- length dashes results in a long dash with the combined length of the two dashes, and a zero-length dash between two non-zero-length gaps results in a long gap with the combined length of the two gaps. As in the default patterns 5 and 6, when all six elements are zeroed, there is NO gap, only dash. And if d1 = 1 and g2 = d3 = g4 = d5 = g6 = 0, there is also NO gap, only dash (a solid line). 34 You can change a pattern element in one of the 6 patterns by cycling to the pattern number with + (same as Space) and/or - and then pressing 1 to access the prompt box for changing d1, 2 to access the prompt box for changing g2, etc. When at the prompt box for changing one of the pattern elements, key in the new value (0 to 99 (actually, since only two characters can be input, you can enter the integers 0 to 99 or .1, .2, .3, ..., .9)) and press Enter to return to the dash menu. At the dash menu, you also can access prompt boxes to allow changing of the pattern multiplication factor (press M) and the offset (press O). The pattern multiplication factor can range from 1 to 99, and the offset can range from 0.0 to 25.5 (points). For a given pattern (except number 0, which is always solid), all six of the pattern element lengths and the offset are multiplied by the "M" factor to give the actual lengths (in the PostScript output, assuming no subsequent scaling; in line-weights) of the pattern elements and the offset. The offset specifies the distance into the pattern at the beginning of the curve (or trail consisting of more than one curve). The default "M" and "O" settings of the six user-settable dash patterns are listed below, together with their default dash and gap element lengths, as already noted above. NUMBER M O d1 g2 d3 g4 d5 g6 1 1 0.0 .1 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0.0 6 6 0 0 0 0 3 1 0.0 9 6 .1 6 0 0 4 1 0.0 16 6 .1 6 .1 6 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 It is important to realize that the lengths of the dashes and gaps do NOT count line caps; with a round (the default in PictureThis) or square linecap, dashes appear longer in the PostScript output (because of the line caps added onto each end), and gaps appear shorter, than you might expect! In particular, the .1 line-weight dashes have been chosen to look like round dots with a round linecap, or square dots with a square linecap. To get a square dot with a but linecap, you would need to set the dash length to 1 line- weight. Since the default dash patterns all have offset equal to zero, each pattern starts at the curve (or trail) beginning at the start of its d1 element. But now suppose we change the "O" setting for pattern 4 (otherwise left at its default setting). If pattern 4 has an offset value of 8.0 (line-weights), then it will start at the curve (or trail) beginning at the MIDDLE of its d1 element (8 line-weights into the pattern). If pattern 4 has an offset value of 16.0, then it will start at the END of its d1 element (the BEGINNING of its g2 element; 16 line-weights into the pattern). And if pattern 4 has an offset value of 22.0, then it will start at the END of its g2 element (BEGINNING of its d3 element; 22 points into the pattern). The DASH1.DRW, DASH2.DRW, DASH3.DRW, and DASH4.DRW files on one of the distribution disks show the default dash patterns with various line weights and all three linecaps; you can write an Encapsulated PostScript file for this drawing (via F10, W, etc.), then send it to a PostScript- 35 compatible printer for a handy guide to the relations between settings and actual output. Warning: If you want to change the parameters of more than one dash pattern number, when you finish with one number, DON'T press + (same as Space) or - to choose another number, because your changes will be lost. To save the changes for one number, you must first press K (for "Keep") or Enter to exit to the line menu, then press D to get back to the dash menu. THEN select another dash pattern. Whichever dash pattern number is selected when you exit the dash menu by pressing K or Enter will appear in the line menu. If you return to the line menu from the dash menu by pressing Esc, ALL of the original dash pattern settings which existed when you accessed the dash menu will be restored --and any changes you made will be lost. If you exit from the line menu by pressing K or Enter, then the line parameters shown in the line menu just prior to exiting (including the selected dash pattern number) will be the current values. If you exit from the line menu by pressing Esc, then the current line parameters will return to those which existed when you originally entered the line menu, BUT IF YOU RETURNED FROM THE DASH MENU TO THE LINE MENU BY PRESSING K OR Enter (NOT Esc), ALL CHANGES WHICH YOU MADE IN DASH PATTERN PARAMETER SETTINGS WHILE IN THE DASH MENU WILL BE PRESERVED. WARNING: WHEN YOU CHANGE THE PARAMETERS FOR A GIVEN DASH PATTERN NUMBER (1-6), ALL PREVIOUSLY DRAWN CURVES WITH THAT DASH PATTERN NUMBER WILL HAVE ALL OF THEIR PARAMETER VALUES CHANGED TO THE NEW VALUES. However, you can change the offset ("O") value for an individual curve or for all of the curves in a trail, as discussed in the next paragraph -- just be careful that you don't later change the offset value again via the "global" dash menu! We've been considering only the "global" dash settings. You also can set the dash patterns of INDIVIDUAL curves (and all curves in individual trails), via (for individual curves) the curve modification menu (accessed by pressing F4 and selecting a particular curve; see Section 12.3.4) or via the trail menu (accessed by pressing F6 and selecting a particular trail; see Section 14.4). At the curve modification or trail menu, press L to access the ("local") line menu, then press D to access the ("local") dash menu. The current dash pattern is shown on the second line of the menu; for a trail, if "Mixed" appears there, then not all of the trail's curves have the same dash pattern. You can select the dash pattern number for the currently selected curve or trail by pressing + (same as Space) and/or - to cycle through the possibilities (as defined via the "global" dash menu). You also can change the offset by pressing "O" and keying in a new value, then pressing Enter. Press Esc to get back to the dash menu without changing the offset value. While at the dash menu, press Esc to return to the curve modification or trail menu with the original dash pattern(s) (no changes), or press K or Enter to return to the drawing screen with any changes made. NOTE: Clip art files with dashed curves include ONLY a specification of dash pattern numbers for each curve, NOT the parameters for each pattern which were current when the lines were drawn. Thus, dashed curves imported into a drawing as clip art will have the drawing's current dash 36 pattern parameters. Drawing files contain full specification of both dash pattern numbers and parameters, so that, in general, loading a previously saved drawing overwrites the current parameters. Dash patterns in PictureThis 3.0 were NOT proportional to line weights but given directly in points. If you import a drawing made with PictureThis 3.0, into this version, the dash pattern will appear different on the PostScript output (except for curves with line weights of 1 point)! Dashed curves appear on the drawing and view screens as SOLID lines, (remember that construction lines, with a weight of -1, which don't show in the PostScript output, appear on the drawing screen as dotted lines) and on the Quickshow screen as simply-dashed (dash, gap, dash, gap,...) lines, REGARDLESS of their patterns. That is, no attempt is made to show actual dash patterns. 16. OBJECTS Objects are groups of trails, text blocks (see Section 18.4), and smaller objects. Objects can be "layered," that is, they can be put "in front of" or "behind" other objects, trails, and text blocks (see Section 14). They can be manipulated in many ways: moved, copied, scaled, rotated, flipped, and inclined (see Section 17). And they can be saved as clip art and retrieved for use in other drawings (see Sections 19.3 and 19.4). Objects and their manipulations provide perhaps the most significant advantages of PictureThis over "paint" programs. Instead of "painting" on a surface, with objects you can work with "scissors and glue" (quite easily removable glue!) and a "photocopier" which can (irregularly) scale and otherwise (linearly) distort what it copies. This affords tremendous flexibility! In almost all cases, trails and text blocks that are not in objects can be treated as objects: they can be layered, manipulated, or saved as clip art. On the other hand, objects CANNOT be treated as trails: they cannot be filled or assigned single line parameters or joins (but see global parameter changes, Section 16.5). However, the trails which make up an object can have their fills and line parameters changed, can have their individual curves modified, and even can be erased, WITHOUT disassembling the object. As an example of this, consider a very simple drawing of a house. The drawing could be made of four trails: a filled box for the main part of the house, a filled triangle for the roof of the house, and two more filled boxes for a door and window. If you wanted to move the house to another part of the drawing, you could move each individual trail separately, but it would be much easier to group the trails into an object and then move them altogether. Even after the trails were grouped into an object, you still could change the gray fill percentage for the door without disturbing the rest of the object. No trail, text block, or object can be a part of more than one object. The components of a PictureThis drawing can be thought of as forming a tree. Individual curves are the smallest branches. Each curve is in one AND ONLY ONE trail (the next larger branches). Each trail and text block can be in an object (still larger branches). Individual objects can 37 be in larger objects (the largest branches). All trails, text blocks, and objects not in larger objects are in the drawing as a whole (the trunk), and they are in a specific order, ordered by the drawing sequence (or layering). Within each object, the component trails, text blocks, and smaller objects also are ordered by drawing sequence. The curves in each trail also are ordered by drawing sequence (the fills are drawn first, followed by the curves in the order they were drawn or defined). Objects are formed and manipulated through the object menu. To form an object or manipulate an existing object, press F7. The state changes to "OBJECT" and an object menu appears. This menu allows you to "group" a new object together, "ungroup" an existing object into its component trails, textblocks, and smaller objects, erase an object, layer objects, and move, copy, scale, rotate, flip, or incline existing objects. It also allows you to change the parameters of an object "globally." 16.1. GROUPING AN OBJECT To group trails, text blocks, and objects into a new object, press G. The state changes to "GROUP," the cursor jumps to the closest on-screen initial point of a trail, text block, or object, and that entire trail, text block, or object is dashed. The initial point of an object is the initial point of the first drawn (rearmost) element of the object. If the first element drawn is a trail, the initial point of the object is the initial point of that trail (see Section 14.3.1). If the first element drawn is a text block, the initial point is the beginning of the text block (see Section 18.4). If the first element drawn is an object, the initial point is the initial point of that object. (An aside to mathematicians: yes, this is indeed a recursive definition.) It is important to note that AN OBJECT, TRAIL, OR TEXT BLOCK CANNOT BE CHOSEN FOR ANY OPERATION UNLESS ITS INITIAL POINT IS ON THE SCREEN. An instruction box appears on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/ "Select: Enter"/"Done: D"). If the dashed trail, text block, or object is one you want to include in your new object, press Enter. The selected object is dashed-and-dotted, and the cursor jumps to the next closest initial point of a trail/text block/object. Otherwise, press Space and + repeatedly until the dashed trail, text block, or object is one you want to include. Continue in this manner, pressing Space and + to dash different trails/text blocks/objects and Enter to select trails/text blocks/objects. When you have selected all of the trails, text blocks, and objects that you want in your new object, press D. All curves return to normal, and the state returns to "FREE." (If you select all available trails, text blocks, and objects, PictureThis automatically makes them all into a new object without your needing to press D.) The new group of trails/text blocks/objects now can be manipulated as an object. If you press Esc during this process, all dashed and dashed-and- dotted curves are returned to normal, the state returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears. Note that PictureThis does NOT allow you to select trails, text blocks, or objects which are already in other objects. You only can select the "outermost" elements, since no 38 trail, text block, or object can be in more than one object. The new object appears in the drawing sequence where the "frontmost" of its elements previously appeared. In other words, if the drawing was layered correctly before the object was grouped, it remains layered correctly (see Section 16.4). If some of the components of the new object were behind some other object and some were in front of it, they all now are drawn in front of it, and the Quickshow screen looks different than before. If only one object, text block, or trail is chosen to be in a new object, PictureThis ignores the grouping operation, since there is no advantage to grouping a single trail/text block/object. No error message is given, since no harm has been done. This is noticeable if you grouped a single trail and then try to ungroup it; it does not ungroup, since it was never made into an object. (There is a way to effectively "ungroup" a single trail; see Section 16.2.) Of course, an object with only one element may occur if you group several elements into an object and then erase all but one element. 16.2. UNGROUPING AN OBJECT At times you might want to "ungroup," or dissassemble, an existing object into its component parts. You might want to manipulate one of the component parts (see Section 17) and then regroup them; or you might want to relayer the component parts (see Section 16.4). To ungroup an existing object, press U. The state changes to "UNGRP," the cursor jumps to the closest initial point of an object, and the object becomes dashed. An instruction box appears on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: - "/"Select: Enter"). Press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly until the object you wish to ungroup becomes dashed. Then press Enter. A prompt appears: "Ungroup selected object? (Y/N)." If you want to ungroup the selected object, press Y. The object is ungrouped, and the state returns to "FREE." You now can manipulate the component parts of the ungrouped object. If you press any key other than Y, the state returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears. The ungrouped object's components are put into the drawing sequence in place of the ungrouped object. The Quickshow screen appears the same before and after ungrouping. Notice that you cannot ungroup a single trail with this operation. Occasionally you may wish to move or otherwise manipulate part of a trail. You can do this by defining PART of the existing trail as a new trail, and then manipulating that part (see Section 17). If the original trail is not filled and not in an object, the curves in the new trail are erased from the original trail, and you have divided the trail into two trails which can be manipulated separately. 16.3. ERASING AN OBJECT An outermost object (or trail or text block) can be erased with all of its component parts by pressing E when the object menu is showing. The state changes to "ERASE," the cursor jumps to the closest initial point of an object, and the entire object is dashed. A box with instructions appears on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/ "Previous: 39 -"/"Select: Enter"). If the "dashed" object is the one you want to erase, press Enter. If you wish to select a different object, press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly until the object you want to erase is dashed, then press Enter. If only one outermost object has its initial point on-screen, it is automatically selected, and the instruction box will not appear. If you press Esc during this process, the object menu reappears, and the state returns to "OBJECT." A prompt appears: "Erase selected object? (Y/N)." If you want to erase the dashed object, press Y; the object is erased, and the state returns to "FREE." Otherwise, press any other key; the object menu reappears, and the state returns to "OBJECT." Note that with this operation you can erase only outermost trails, text blocks, and objects. PictureThis does not allow you to erase a component of an object unless you ungroup it first. In contrast, the trail erase available through the trail menu (see Section 14.2) allows you to erase any trail, whether it is in an object or not, the curve erase (see Section 12.1) allows you to erase any curve which does not border a filled area, and the text block erase (see Section 18.8) allows you to erase any text block. Erasing an object, trail, curve, text block, or the entire drawing in PictureThis are operations which cannot be easily reversed. There is no "undo" in PictureThis, but it was designed to allow you to change anything back to a previous state IF you decide to do so before taking the final step. Before you erase anything, be certain that you want to erase it. If you AREN'T certain, consider saving the entire drawing (see Section 19.2) or a single object (see Section 19.4) BEFORE erasing. 16.4. LAYERING OBJECTS All the elements of a PictureThis drawing are drawn on the Quickshow screen and the PostScript output in a specific order. This order is defined by the drawing sequence of the outermost objects and the drawing sequences of each object's components. Since the elements are opaque, a layered effect is created: objects are "behind," "in front of," or "in between" other objects. As you draw or define trails or set text blocks (see Section 18.4), they are placed at the front of the drawing. Unless you relayer your drawing, the first trail (or text block) you drew is drawn first (at the "rear"), followed by the next trail/text block, etc. When trails/text blocks are grouped together into an object, the object is placed in the layering where its "frontmost" component previously was. If the Quickshow screen looked correct before the grouping, it will look the same after the grouping. Frequently, the order in which you drew the trails/text blocks is not the order in which you want them to appear. Fortunately, this is easy to correct. To change the layering of objects (and trails and text blocks not in objects), while in the "OBJECT" state, press L. The state changes to "LAYER," the cursor moves to the closest on-screen initial point of an outermost object (or trail or text block), and that object is dashed. An instruction box appears on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: - "/"Select: Enter"). Press Space, +, and/or - repeatedly 40 until the object you want to layer is dashed, then press Enter. (If you press Esc during this operation, the state returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.) Upon pressing Enter, a layering menu appears. It allows the choice of moving the selected object to the front or rear of the drawing, or ahead of or behind selected objects. If you press F or R (for "Front" or "Rear"), the selected object is moved to the front or rear of the entire drawing, the object is returned to normal, and the state returns to "FREE." If you press A or B (for "Ahead of Selected" or "Behind Selected" objects), the object you are layering becomes dotted instead of dashed, another object becomes dashed, and an instruction box appears on the left side of the screen ("Next: +, Space"/"Select: Enter"/"Done: D"). Press Space or + repeatedly until an object which you want the "dotted" object to be ahead of or behind is dashed; then press Enter to select that object. The selected object becomes dashed-and-dotted, and another object becomes dashed. Continue selecting objects in this manner until all of the objects which you wish the dotted object to be ahead of or behind are dashed-and-dotted; then press D for done. All of the objects are returned to normal, their layering is as you specified, and the state returns to "FREE." (If you press Esc during the process of selecting dashed-and-dotted objects, the dashed-and-dotted objects are returned to normal, but the dotted object will remain selected, and the layering menu will reappear. Another Esc will get you back to the object menu.) Check all layering with the Quickshow screen; since all elements are transparent on the drawing screen, layering can ONLY be observed on the Quickshow screen. Note that layering can be performed ONLY on the outermost objects, trails, and text blocks. To layer the components of an object, it first must be ungrouped (see Section 16.2). 16.5. CHANGING AN OBJECT'S PARAMETERS "GLOBALLY" Sometimes you will want to alter the line parameters and/or fills for several trails in one operation. PictureThis allows this via the object menu. If you group all curves in a drawing into one object, you can, for example, change every linecap in the drawing to another setting, change every 10% fill to 25%, or change every 1- point curve to a 3-point curve. At the object menu (accessed by pressing F7), press P (for "Parms") to change the line weight, line gray, linecap, dash pattern number, and/or line join settings of curves in an object, and/or fill settings of the object. First pick the object that you wish to modify as usual. At the parameters menu, press W to access the line weight change box, G to access the line gray change box, L to access the linecap change box, D to access the dash change box, J to access the join change box, or F to access the fill change box. For each of these choices, you can select those parts of the object having particular parameters, in turn, by pressing + (same as Space) and/or - (the parts become dashed-and-dotted in turn, and the value of the parameter for the currently dashed-and-dotted parts is given). Press Enter to choose the parts with the parameter value you wish to change. Then key in the new parameter value and press 41 Enter to return to the drawing screen with the change made. You can return from a parameter change box to the parameters menu without making a change by pressing Esc, and you can return to the object menu from the parameters menu without making a change by pressing Esc. Note: If you want, for example, to change all 2-point curves to 1-point curves and all 1-point curves to .5-point curves, be sure to change the 1-point curves first, or you will end up with only .5-point curves. 17. MANIPULATING OBJECTS Objects can be manipulated in several ways: they can be moved, copied, scaled, rotated, flipped, or inclined. Combinations of these manipulations (performed successively) can be used on an object to change it in an unlimited number of ways. To perform any of these manipulations, you must first access the object menu by pressing F7. The state changes to "OBJECT," and the object menu appears. Press M for move, C for copy, S for scale, R for rotate, F for flip, or I for incline. The state changes to "MOVE," "COPY," "SCALE," "ROTATE," "FLIP," or "INCLIN," respectively, the cursor moves to the closest on-screen initial point of an outermost object, trail, or text block, and that object is dashed. An instruction box appears ("Next: +, Space"/"Previous: -"/"Select: Enter"). Press +, Space, and/or - repeatedly until the object which you want to manipulate is dashed. Then press Enter. (Pressing Esc returns the state to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.) If only one object is available, it is chosen automatically. After an object is chosen, each manipulation proceeds differently, as described in the following sections. The best way to learn how these manipulations work is to try each one on a box as you read through the instructions. In Section 17.6 are two examples of combined manipulations which you can try. 17.1. MOVING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press M and select an object, as described in Section 16. The state is "MOVE," and the selected object is dashed. If you have the prompts toggled on ("H+"; see Section 4.3), a prompt appears: "Move then F1 to set start point." Move the cursor (with the cursor keys (see Section 5), Del (see Section 9), the frame corner keys (see Section 22), Shift Del (see Section 23.1), the Tab or Shift Tab keys (see Section 18.4), or the margin edge keys (see Section 18.4)) to a start point on the object; then press F1. Often, it is convenient to leave the cursor where it is (at the initial point of the object) and press F1 immediately. The start point can be anywhere on the screen; it designates the point which you want to position elsewhere on the screen. It is easiest to see what you are doing if the start point is on an endpoint. (If you press Esc instead of F1, the state returns to "OBJECT," and the object menu reappears.) Once you have pressed F1, another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set finish point". Move the cursor (a dotted line follows it) to the position where you 42 want the start point of the object moved, then press F3. (If you press Esc instead, the "start point" prompt appears again if "H+" is toggled, and you can choose a new start point.) After you press F3, the dotted line is erased, a copy of the object (without endpoints) is drawn in the new position, and a prompt appears: "OK? (Y/N)." If the position is correct, press Y; the object is erased from its old position and drawn in its new position, and the state returns to "FREE." The layering is not changed; the moved object still is behind objects it was behind before, and in front of objects it was in front of before. If you press any other key, the copy of the object is erased, the "finish point" prompt reappears, and the dotted line reappears from the start point to the cursor position. Then you can move the cursor again and press F3 at a different position. An object does NOT have to be entirely on the screen for this or other object manipulations. But the initial point of the object MUST be on the screen for it to be chosen in the first place, and BOTH the start and finish points must be on the screen. 17.2. COPYING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press C and then select an object, as described in Section 16. The state becomes "COPY," and the selected object is dashed. From now until you have selected a position for the copied object, this operation is carried out exactly like the move operation (see Section 17.1): You select a start point, press F1, select a finish point, then press F3; a copy of the object is drawn in the new position and an "O/K (Y/N)" prompt appears. For copying, however, if you press Y, the original object is NOT erased (it remains dashed) when the copy is drawn. A new prompt appears: "Again? (Y/N)." If you press Y, the dotted line reappears from the start point to the cursor, the "finish point" prompt shows again (if "H+" is toggled), and you can move the cursor to choose a new position for ANOTHER copy of the object. (If you press Esc here, you can go back and change the start point if you like.) Make as many copies of the object as you want (or as available memory allows). When you are finished and the "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears, press any key other than Y. The original object returns to normal, and the state returns to "FREE." All copies of objects are placed at the "front" of the drawing, but this can be changed (see Section 16.4). Copies of objects are independent objects. They can be further manipulated without altering the original object or other copies of that object. 17.3. SCALING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press S; then select an object, as described in Section 16. The state becomes "SCALE," and the selected object is dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you press Esc, you are returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press Y, the scaled object REPLACES the original object when you have completed your manipulations. (This is similar to the move operation; there are the same number of objects 43 when you are done as when you started.) If you press any other key, the original object remains IN ADDITION to any scaled objects which you make. (This is similar to the copy operation; the original object remains, and there can be any number of "scaled" copies.) A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set anchor point." You can move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press F1 at an "anchor" point. The anchor point is a point on the screen around which the object will be scaled. When the object is scaled, the anchor point does NOT move, although other points on the object do move. Often, it is useful to have the anchor point on an endpoint. (If Esc is pressed instead of F1, the object menu returns.) A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the scale factors (horizontal and vertical) are set by cursor movement or direct entry. (An Esc here backs out and lets you reset the anchor point.) If you want to set the scale factors by direct entry, press D. A prompt appears: "Uniform scaling? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc to this prompt, you are given another opportunity to select cursor movement or direct entry, or you can back out further. If you answer Y, it means that you want the object to be scaled uniformly in the horizontal and vertical directions (that is, the object retains its current proportions during scaling). In this case a new prompt appears: "Enter scale factor" on the first line, and the current scale factor (in parentheses) on the second line. If the current scale factor is satisfactory, press Enter. If you want to change the scale factor, enter a new value and press Enter. (If you press Esc instead, you back out to the "uniform scaling" prompt.) Initially, the scale factor is 1.0 (that is, the object does not change size at all), but each time you enter a new uniform scale factor, it is retained; the next time you scale an object, the current scale factor is whatever you last entered. This eases scaling multiple objects by the same amount. If you want to scale the object non-uniformly, press any other key except Y and Esc. You then have two successive prompts to answer; the first for a horizontal scale factor, the second for a vertical scale factor. These are answered just like the uniform scale factor prompt, and your entered scale factors are retained for your next scaling operation. Entering scale factors by direct entry has the advantage of being easy to understand, and it allows you to exactly specify scale factors. If you want to set the scale factors by cursor movement instead of direct entry, press C at the menu. A prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F2 to set 100% line." Move the cursor (a solid line follows) in any direction and then press F2 to establish the 100% scaling line. If this line is horizontal, you are scaling ONLY in the horizontal direction; if it is vertical, you are scaling ONLY in the vertical direction; if it is slanted, you are scaling in BOTH directions. If you press Esc instead of F2, you back out and can set a new anchor point. After F2 is pressed, another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set scaling line." As you move the cursor, a dotted line follows from the end of the 100% line to the cursor. If you move back toward the anchor point, the scaled object becomes smaller. If you move 44 further away from the anchor point, the scaled object becomes larger. If the scaling line and 100% line form a straight line, the scaling is uniform (unless the lines are horizontal or vertical). The effect is to move the point at which you pressed F2 (the end of the 100% line) to the point at which you pressed F3 (the end of the scaling line). This can be very useful: the anchor point on the object remains in its original position, while the point at which you pressed F2 is moved to the point at which you pressed F3 on the screen, and the rest of the object is scaled with it. It is especially useful when the F2 and F3 keys are pressed when the cursor is on endpoints. This allows you to fit an object precisely among other objects. Pressing Esc during this process backs out a step at a time. More aid for scaling can be obtained by toggling the relative position box on (see Section 20.4). While setting the scaling line, you can see the current horizontal and vertical scale factors as the cursor moves. Once you have established the scale factors, either by direct entry or cursor movement, you are asked if you want to scale the line weights of all the curves in the object with first the horizontal scale factor (if it is not 1.0) and if not, then with the vertical scale factor (again, only if it is not 1.0). Sometimes this is appropriate, and sometimes not; it depends on the effect that you want to achieve. Finally, the scaled object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the scaled object, press Y and the scaled object is drawn. If you are not satisfied with the scaled object, press any other key and you are returned to the prompt asking if you want to enter the scale factors by cursor movement or direct entry. Then you can try again. If you pressed Y, additional action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object is erased, and the new object takes its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new scaled object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer Y, you can make more scaled copies of the original object. All scaled copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). While scaling, especially with large scale factors set by direct entry, you can see two error messages. The first ("END/CONTROL POINTS OFF VIRTUAL SCREEN") means that you have scaled part of the object not only off the entire drawing screen (the screen which is visible at 50% magnification), but also off a much larger virtual screen where PictureThis allows endpoints and control points to be placed. This is not allowed, and you are given an opportunity to reset your scale factors. The second message ("YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS OBJECT IF SAVED") means that the initial point (See Section 16) of the scaled object is off the entire drawing screen (but not off the virtual screen). Since objects are accessed for alterations via their initial points, you cannot group, ungroup, erase, layer, or manipulate this object in the future. This could be highly undesirable, so don't save when "YOU CAN'T CHANGE THIS OBJECT IF SAVED" appears unless you're SURE you won't want 45 to alter it again. You can change the initial point of an object by ungrouping it (see Section 16.2), relayering it so a different component is "rearmost" (see Section 16.4), and then grouping it again (see Section 16.1). (For your new "rearmost" component, you might want to make a construction line which will not show on output.) These two error messages also can appear for object manipulations other than scaling, but they are most likely when scaling. 17.4. ROTATING AN OBJECT In the "OBJECT" state, press R; then select an object, as described in Section 16. The state becomes "ROTATE," and the selected object is dashed. A prompt will appear: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc, you return to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press Y, the rotated object replaces the original object when you have completed your manipulations. If you press any other key, the original object remains in addition to any rotated objects which you make. A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set anchor point." You can move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press F1 at an "anchor" point. The anchor point is a point on the screen around which the object will be rotated. When the object is rotated, the anchor point does NOT move, although all the other points on the object move. Frequently, it is useful to have the anchor point on an endpoint. (If Esc is pressed instead of F1, the object menu returns.) A new menu appears, allowing you to select whether the rotation angle is set by cursor movement or direct entry. An Esc here backs out and lets you reset the anchor point. If you want to set the rotation angle by direct entry, press D. A prompt appears requesting the rotation angle in degrees. The second line of the prompt gives the current rotation angle (in parentheses). If you are satisfied with the current rotation angle, press Enter. If you want a different rotation angle, type it in, followed by Enter. If you press Esc, the cursor movement/direct entry menu reappears. POSITIVE rotation angles are measured in a CLOCKWISE direction. NEGATIVE angles are measured in a COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION. The current rotation angle initially is 90 degrees. Any rotation angle you enter is retained and becomes the "current rotation angle" for your next rotation operation. If you want to set the rotation angle by cursor movement, press C. A prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F2 to set 0 degree direction." Move the cursor and a solid line follows. This is the line from which the rotation angle is measured. Press F2 when the line is in the desired direction. Often, it is useful to place this line along a line radiating from the anchor point. If you press Esc, you back out and can reset the anchor point. When you press F2, another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set rotation angle." Move the cursor away from the 0 degree direction line; a dotted line is drawn from the anchor point to the cursor. The angle between these two lines is the rotation angle. Press Esc to back out; you can reset the 0 degree direction line. (By toggling the relative position box on (see Section 20.4) while setting the 46 rotation angle, you can see the current rotation angle as the cursor moves.) Pressing F3 sets the rotation angle. The rotated object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the rotated object, answer Y and the rotated object is drawn. If you are not satisfied with the rotated object, press any other key, and you return to the prompt asking if you want to enter the rotation angle by cursor movement or direct entry; then you can try again. If you pressed Y, additional action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object is erased, and the new object takes its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new rotated object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer Y, you can make more rotated copies of the original object. All rotated copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). 17.5. FLIPPING AN OBJECT Flipping an object means flipping it over a flipline, making a mirror image of the object. In the "OBJECT" state, press F and then select an object, as described in Section 16. The state becomes "FLIP," and the selected object is dashed. A prompt appears: "Replace original object? (Y/N/ESC)." If you answer Esc, you are returned to the object menu and the "OBJECT" state. If you press Y, the flipped object replaces the original object when you have completed your manipulations. If you press any other key, the original object remains in addition to any flipped objects which you make. A new prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F1 to set 1st flipline point." You can move your cursor (in all possible ways); then press F1 at one end of the line over which you want to flip the object. If you press Esc, the object menu is returned, and the state becomes "OBJECT" again. After you press F1, another prompt appears (if "H+" is toggled): "Move then F3 to set 2nd flipline point." Move the cursor (a dotted line follows); when it is placed so as to form the line over which the object will be flipped, press F3. If you press Esc instead, you can reset the 1st flipline point. The flipline can be placed anywhere on the screen, at any angle. Functionally, it extends at both ends past the edges of the entire drawing screen. The flipped object is drawn (without endpoints) and an "OK? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you are satisfied with the flipped object, answer Y, and the flipped object is drawn. If you are not satisfied with the flipped object, press any other key, and you can reset both ends of the flipline. If you pressed Y, additional action depends on your answer to the previous prompt asking whether you wanted to replace the original object or not. If you are replacing the original object, the original object is erased, and the new object takes its place in the drawing sequence. If you are not replacing the original object, the new flipped object is drawn and an "Again? (Y/N)" prompt appears. If you answer Y, you can make more flipped copies of the original object. All flipped copies appear at the front of your drawing, but they 47 can be layered differently (see Section 16.4). 48