Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/DESKHING/PICTURE3.LZH/TXT3.EXE/MANUAL7.TXT

Text File | 1991-12-31 | 52KB | 986 lines

         PICTURETHIS(TM) "SHAREWARE" VERSION

         RELEASE 4.00

         DECEMBER 31, 1991

         USER MANUAL, PART 7 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.


         26. TEMPLATES

           Captured CGA, EGA, and VGA graphics screens can be brought
         into PictureThis to use as templates for tracing. These
         templates are read into PictureThis as described in Section
         19.5.

         26.1. CAPTURING SCREENS FOR USE AS TEMPLATES

           The CaptureThis program supplied with PictureThis
         (CAPTHIS.COM) is a memory-resident ("TSR") utility which
         allows most CGA, EGA, and VGA graphics mode screens to be
         saved in files which then can be loaded into PictureThis for
         use as drawing guides (templates). To be saved in a file by
         CaptureThis, a screen must be in the medium-resolution CGA
         graphics mode (320 x 200 pixels), the high-resolution CGA
         graphics mode (640 x 200 pixels), EGA graphics mode (640 x
         350 pixels), or VGA graphics mode (640 x 480 pixels), and
         the Print Screen function (normally accessed by
         simultaneously pressing the Shift key and the PrtSc key next
         to the numeric keypad) must be operational (a few programs
         disable this function, preventing the capture of their
         screens).
           CaptureThis occasionally conflicts with some other memory
         resident programs; if you have problems with CaptureThis
         when using such programs (installed either before or after
         CaptureThis has been installed), remove the programs and try
         again with ONLY CaptureThis installed as a "TSR"; some
         experimenting is necessary to determine which memory
         resident programs can be used with CaptureThis on your
         computer (and to determine when CaptureThis should be
         installed relative to their installations -- before or
         after).
           SPECIAL NOTE: YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE ETHICAL AND LEGAL
         IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING SCREENS SHOWING COPYRIGHTED
         MATERIALS, INCLUDING SOME SCANNED IMAGES; CONSULT AN
         ATTORNEY FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COPYRIGHT LAWS.
           To capture a CGA, EGA, or VGA graphics mode screen from a
         program, at the operating system prompt, with CAPTHIS.COM in
         the current directory, key in "CAPTHIS" and then press
         Enter. A brief message should appear to say that CaptureThis
         is installed, and the operating system prompt should return.
         If this doesn't happen, then either your copy of CAPTHIS.COM
         is defective, or your hardware and/or software isn't

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         compatible with CaptureThis. If you try to install
         CaptureThis again after it has already been installed, a
         message noting that the program is already in memory
         appears, and the operating system prompt returns. No
         facility is provided for removing CaptureThis from memory,
         once it has been installed.
           Assuming that CaptureThis is installed, do whatever is
         necessary to display a particular screen you want to capture
         for use as a PictureThis template. Typically, this involves
         running a graphics applications program. With the desired
         screen being displayed, press (simultaneously) Shift PrtSc.
         After these keys have been pressed, CaptureThis examines
         certain memory locations written by the BIOS to determine
         the current video mode.
           If, when you pressed Shift PrtSc, CaptureThis determined
         the current video mode as an allowable graphics mode, a
         message appears at the top of the screen ("Perform Screen
         Capture? (Y/N)"/"ESC to exit"). Press Y to proceed with
         capturing the screen, or press N for a screen dump (CAUTION:
         your computer might hang up if the printer is turned off or
         disconnected; and GRAPHICS.COM, supplied with PC-DOS, or a
         similar memory-resident graphics printer driver program must
         have been loaded previously for a proper graphics screen
         dump), or press Esc to continue with the applications
         program WITHOUT saving or dumping the screen. Pressing any
         other key has no effect.
           If CaptureThis determines that the screen is not in an
         allowable graphics mode, a normal screen dump is performed.
         CAUTION: your computer might hang up if the printer is
         turned off or disconnected; for a proper graphics screen
         dump, you must have loaded an appropriate printer driver
         program previously.
           Assuming that you responded to the above message by
         pressing Y, the second line of instructions is replaced by
         "Filespec for save?" Key in the file name you want (with an
         extension and directory specification, if appropriate).
         Example template files included on the distribution disk
         have a ".TMP" extension, and we suggest that extension for
         your template files. Next, press Enter. Pressing Esc any
         time before pressing Enter exits from CaptureThis and
         restores the current screen. If a file with the
         specification you have just entered already exists, the
         second line of the message is replaced by "Overwrite [FILE
         NAME]? (Y/N)"; pressing Y causes the file to be saved;
         pressing Esc removes the instructions from the screen and
         allows you to proceed without capturing or printing the
         current screen; pressing any other key results in a prompt
         for a different file name (keyed in as described above).
           Wait until disk activity stops before proceeding. If the
         screen was captured successfully, the instructions are gone
         from the screen, and you can proceed as usual with the
         application program. If there was a problem with file
         operations, an error message appears; press any key to
         proceed without capturing or printing the current screen (of
         course, you can attempt to correct the cause of the problem,
         such as a full, bad, or write-protected disk, and then call
         up CaptureThis again by pressing Shift PrtSc).
           If CaptureThis doesn't work correctly with your computer
         or with particular programs, you should try the Alternate
         CaptureThis program (ACAPTHIS.COM) instead. Once installed,

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         this program doesn't require any keyboard input other than
         Shift PrtSc to capture CGA graphics mode screens, and thus
         works even with programs which "take over" the keyboard
         (unless they take over the Print Screen interrupt).
           To install Alternate CaptureThis, at the DOS prompt
         corresponding to the drive containing the disk with
         ACAPTHIS.COM, key in "ACAPTHIS" and then press ENTER. A
         message noting that Alternate CaptureThis has been installed
         should appear, and the DOS prompt should return. Any time
         after Alternate CaptureThis has been installed, you can
         capture a CGA, EGA, or VGA graphics screen simply by
         pressing Shift PrtSc. If Alternate CaptureThis determines
         (from your computer's BIOS) that the current video mode is
         NOT an allowable graphics mode, it performs a normal screen
         dump to a printer. CAUTION: If a printer is not connected,
         or if it is turned off, your computer might hang up; for a
         graphics screen dump, you must have installed a memory-
         resident graphics printer driver program appropriate for the
         graphics mode PRIOR to installing Alternate CaptureThis. If,
         according to the BIOS, the current video mode IS an
         allowable graphics mode, Alternate CaptureThis captures the
         screen in a file named "A0.TMP" (in the current directory).
         Subsequently captured screens are saved in files having the
         following sequence of names: A1.TMP, ..., A9.TMP, B0.TMP,
         ..., B9.TMP, ..., C0.TMP, ... CAUTION: Each time ACAPTHIS is
         installed it will save screens in files (beginning with
         A0.TMP) WRITING OVER ANY EXISTING FILES IN THE CURRENT
         DIRECTORY WITH THE SAME NAMES WITHOUT WARNING -- so after
         saving a series of files with ACAPTHIS, you should rename
         them before installing ACAPTHIS again, to guard against
         overwriting, and to provide more descriptive names.
           Each template file written by CaptureThis or Alternate
         CaptureThis for CGA screens has a length of 16192 bytes.
         Template files for EGA and VGA screens are compressed, so
         the size will vary with the complexity of the screen. When
         imported into PictureThis (see Section 19.5), pixels in the
         template which are the color of the cursor and curves on the
         PictureThis drawing screen are changed to an alternate color
         so that the cursor and curves drawn with PictureThis will
         always show up. Color remappings are performed
         automatically; these mappings were chosen to preserve as
         much fidelity to the original applications program screens
         as possible.

         26.2. MOVING THE TEMPLATE

           When a template is read into PictureThis, it is placed in
         the middle of entire drawing screen. If you want to move the
         template to use it for tracing on a different part of the
         screen, WHILE AT THE 100% SCREEN, press F9 to access the
         miscellaneous menu, then press T. The state changes to
         "TMPMOV." Move the cursor to the position on the template
         which you wish to move (the start point); press F1. Now move
         the cursor (a dotted line follows) to the point to which you
         want to move the start point; press F3. The template moves,
         and the state returns to "FREE." Press Esc to back out of
         the operation.

         27. DRAWING HINTS

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           This section contains several "hints" to make drawing with
         PictureThis easier and to produce better results.

         27.1. JOINING CURVES AT ENDPOINTS ONLY

           This is an important rule when using PictureThis! Because
         the screen resolution is much lower than prints made by
         laser printers and imagesetters, a curve which "looks like"
         it joins another curve on the drawing screen might NOT join
         it at all or might cross the other curve on the printed
         output. Moreover, the results will be different for
         different PostScript-compatible output devices, depending on
         their resolution. IF A CURVE NEEDS TO JOIN A PREVIOUSLY
         DRAWN CURVE PRECISELY AT A POINT NOT ALREADY AN ENDPOINT,
         YOU SHOULD CUT THE PREVIOUSLY DRAWN CURVE TO MAKE A NEW
         ENDPOINT.

         27.2. USING THE Del KEY TO MOVE TO ENDPOINTS

           It is necessary to be EXACTLY on an endpoint to join
         curves PRECISELY. The best way to do this is to use the Del
         key on the numeric keypad. Moving the cursor with the
         numeric keypad number keys to what APPEARS to be an endpoint
         will NOT necessarily result in the cursor being on the
         endpoint. (On the 50% screen in CGA mode 2304 internal-unit
         points show as the same point on the drawing screen!)

         27.3. SMOOTHER SMOOTHING

           Smoothed curves might appear "smoother" if, during
         smoothing, you move the control points AS FAR AS POSSIBLE
         out along the tangent lines away from their associated
         endpoints. This effect is because of rounding during
         calculations.

         27.4. JOINING CURVES WITH DIFFERENT LINE WEIGHTS

           When joining curves with different line weights at a
         common endpoint, the results can appear "sloppy" on the
         hard-copy output. This is because the PostScript language
         allows "neat" joining of curves only if they have the same
         line weight (see Section 14.4.3). The best general advice we
         can give for avoiding "sloppiness" when joining curves is to
         keep the line weights of the curves nearly the same, and to
         connect LARGER line weight curves as the cross-members at
         "T" intersections, as shown below.

                      O.K.                          NO!
              ___________________           ___________________
                       |     \                       |  \
                       |      WIDE                   |   NARROW
                       |                             |
                       |--NARROW                     |--WIDE
                       |                             |

         27.5. DOING DETAILED WORK ON HIGH MAGNIFICATION SCREENS

           For detailed work, it is best to use the 300%, 600%,
         1200%, or 2400% screens. You can see what you are doing on
         any of these screens better than on the 100% screen, and

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         endpoints can be positioned more precisely at high
         magnifications. Occasionally, it is useful to establish
         endpoint locations on a high magnification screen before
         drawing a curve on the 100% screen. This can be done by
         noting points for each endpoint while at high magnification,
         then using the resulting noted points to draw the curve on
         the 100% screen.

         27.6. DOING FINE WORK ON A LARGE SCALE AND THEN SCALING DOWN

           To draw EXTREMELY fine work, you can make a drawing at a
         large scale and then reduce it by scaling it down. The
         scaled-down object might not look perfect on the drawing
         screen, but it should look fine on the PostScript output.

         27.7. DRAWING AN OVAL WITH SIDE ENDPOINTS AT SPECIFIC
               POSITIONS

           Normally, an oval (or circle) is drawn by first specifying
         the center of the oval. You can set the side endpoints of
         the oval to be in specific positions (say at specific
         endpoints), by using measuring (see Section 23.2). First
         change the units to pixels (temporarily) for exact
         measurements (see Section 20.1) First move the cursor to one
         of the desired endpoints and remember its position (from the
         current position box). Then press M, move the cursor
         horizontally to the opposite desired endpoint, and press F3.
         Then key in "50" and press Enter to move the cursor to the
         center of the oval. Press "O" to start drawing the oval as
         usual. Move the cursor along the guideline to the first
         remembered endpoint. (You cannot press Del to get to the
         endpoint, because the cursor is restrained to the
         guidelines.) Then complete the oval.

         27.8 ROUNDING CORNERS

           To change a corner with two lines meeting at ANY angle to
         a rounded corner (for example, to make a box with rounded
         corners), cut each of the two lines at the point at which
         you want the rounding to start (see Section 11). Then draw a
         curve with an endpoint at each cut position and ONE control
         point at the intersection of the two lines (the other
         control point should not be moved off the endpoint). This
         creates a smoothly rounded corner, even if the cut positions
         were not equidistant from the corner. Erase the lines from
         the cut position to the original corner (see Section 12.1).

         27.9 CHECKING FOR WIDE SPACING WHEN FULLY JUSTIFYING

           When a text line is fully justified, extra space is
         inserted between each word to make the line extend all the
         way to the right margin. If hyphenation is turned off or if
         PictureThis cannot find a hyphenation point in the first
         word in the following line, the added space can be quite
         large, and look unattractive. The easiest way to find lines
         with large spaces between words is to greek the text by
         pressing J. Any lines with large spaces will stand out. If
         you want to correct such lines, cut the text back to the
         editor, and change the wording or insert a HARD-HYPHEN.
         While in the editor, you can check for lines with large

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         spaces by going to the end of each line and looking at the
         Width Remaining (WR) indicator in the status line. If any
         lines have considerably more width remaining than most
         lines, they will have large spaces. If hyphenation has been
         turned off, you will have many more lines with larger spaces
         than you will otherwise.

         27.10 MAKING A TEXT LINE FIT WITH TRACK KERNING

           Occasionally, you will find a text line that almost but
         not quite fits within the margin. If you do not want this
         line to be broken, you can insert a track kerning
         typesetting code with a small negative unit value (e.g.,
         <TK-3>) at the beginning of the text line and then compose
         (F3). You may have to try various negative numbers, until
         you find one that will work.

         27.11 USING PAIRWISE KERNING

           Do not use pairwise kerning with small text; it does not
         improve the appearance of small text noticably. Pairwise
         kerning can make large text look better, so it can and
         should be used with large text.

         28. KARTOONS MODE

           All work and no play makes for dull graphic artists, and
         so we've included this "fun" mode in PictureThis. But it
         isn't ONLY for play: you can learn a lot about the program's
         features and how to use them by 'tooning around!
           When in the "FREE" state, press K and respond
         appropriately to subsequent prompts to enter Kartoons mode.
         In this mode, you can cycle through, modify, and save
         cartoon faces composed of parts (such as eyes and noses),
         each part associated with one of nine blocks (corresponding
         to forehead, left and right ears, chin, left and right
         eyebrows, left and right eyes, and nose). Files for several
         parts and faces (collections of particular parts) are
         provided in the \KARTOON directory on one of the
         distribution disks. Part files are named !FOREHD.NNN,
         !LEAR.NNN, !REAR.NNN, !CHIN.NNN, !LBROW.NNN, !RBROW.NNN,
         !LEYE.NNN, !REYE.NNN, and !NOSE.NNN, where NNN = 1 to 999;
         the format of each of these files is that of a standard clip
         art file. Face files are named *.FAC.
           To quit Kartoons mode and return to normal drawing mode,
         press C and respond appropriately to the prompts.
           In Kartoons mode, most PictureThis operations work
         normally. Those which don't are noted below. Special
         Kartoons-mode keys include the following:
           K (mnemonic: "khoose") cycles through the nine blocks,
         showing each in turn. After pressing K, you also can use +
         (same as Space) to cycle "forward" and - to cycle
         "backward." Enter selects (stops at) a block; any other key
         stops at a block and continues with the operation
         corresponding to that key.
           U (mnemonic: "use") cycles through parts (having files in
         the current part directory, which you might have been
         prompted to enter) associated with the currently selected
         block. After pressing U, you also can use + (same as Space)
         to cycle "forward" and - to cycle "backward." The order of

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         cycling is based on the file extension numbers, relative to
         the file extension number of the current part. Enter selects
         (stops at) a part; any other key stops at a part and
         continues with the operation corresponding to that key.
           Y (mnemonic: "yes save") saves an object as a part file
         associated with the currently selected block. The procedure
         is the same as for saving clip art files, with successive
         objects dashed for choosing, except that there is no prompt
         for a file name. Part files are named automatically, based
         on their associated block at the time of saving; extension
         numbers are assigned in consecutive order.
           The file menu (accessed as usual by pressing F10) has no
         "GetDRW" in Kartoons mode; instead, there is "GetFAC." And
         the menu also has "PutFac."  Each face file (saved by
         pressing P at the file menu and then keying in a name;
         retrieved by pressing G at the file menu, etc.) consists of
         a set of nine numbers which correspond to the extensions of
         the files for parts of that face. (When accessed with the
         view or Quickshow screen showing, the file menu shows only
         "SavDRW"; you can read or write a face file only with the
         drawing screen showing.)
           Note: if you make many changes to parts of a face, the
         program memory can become full. If you see a message saying
         that the memory is almost full, quit Kartoons mode by
         pressing C, then reenter Kartoons mode by pressing K. The
         excess memory is released, and the face reappears AS YOU
         LEFT IT.

         29. CONVERTING A WORD PROCESSOR FILE

           Text can be prepared for a PictureThis drawing entirely in
         the editor, but you might want to typeset text which was
         previously prepared in a word processor. In Section
         18.5.2.10, you learned how to import an ASCII file into the
         PictureThis editor. If you import a file directly from a
         word processor into the PictureThis editor, you will have
         usable, but not necessarily ideal, text. The editor IGNORES
         any Ctrl characters which it does not use (such as a
         linefeed) and replaces RETURNS with its own END-OF-PARAGRAPH
         character (down-arrow). This is fine in some cases, but not
         in others.
           Various word processors use different methods to mark
         special occurrences (e.g., indents, page breaks) in their
         files. In particular, each word processor has a special
         method to distinguish between HARD-RETURNS (returns which
         the user enters) and SOFT-RETURNS (returns which the word
         processor inserts when it decides that a line needs to be
         wrapped). A typical method is to use a SPACE followed by a
         CR for a SOFT-RETURN and just a CR for a HARD-RETURN. For
         typical text imported into the PictureThis editor, you want
         the SOFT-RETURNS to turn into just a SPACE and the HARD-
         RETURNS to turn into just a CR, since you are reformatting
         the text into a different margin. To solve this problem and
         other similar problems, you can run the word-processor
         prepared file through the program CONVERT before you import
         it into PictureThis.
           CONVERT is a standalone text replacement program useful
         whenever you need to modify an ASCII file. It uses convert
         instruction files (we recommend using the extension .CVT),
         consisting of comments and search/replace pairs. We have

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         prepared a standard convert instruction file (STANDARD.CVT)
         which is useful with many word processor files.
           To run CONVERT, simply type CONVERT at the command line.
         You are first asked for the name of the ASCII file you want
         to convert. Type in its name (with path if necessary) and
         press ENTER. You are then asked for the name of the file you
         want to write. Type it in and press ENTER. You are asked for
         the name of the conversion instruction file (e.g.,
         STANDARD.CVT). Type it in and press ENTER. You are asked if
         you want to replace all multiple spaces with single spaces.
         (This is preferable for most typesetting. When most people
         type, they place two spaces at the end of each sentence.
         This is usually NOT done when typesetting text, so it is
         desirable to get rid of the multiple spaces. There are
         occasions when it is not desirable to get rid of multiple
         spaces; for instance, if you are typesetting computer code,
         the multiple spaces at the beginning of each line give the
         code "structure" which you want to maintain.) If you want to
         change multiple spaces to single spaces, press Y, otherwise
         press any other key. Finally you are asked if you want to
         strip the high-order bits of each character. WORDSTAR and
         some other word processors mark certain characters by adding
         a high-order bit to the character (equivalent to adding 128
         to the character's ASCII value). For files from these word
         processors, press Y; the high-order bits are stripped off.
         (In general, this usually won't harm text prepared by non-
         WORDSTAR-like word processors.) CONVERT then reads the first
         10000 characters of your Ascii file (or the whole file, if
         it is shorter than 10000 characters). It performs the first
         search/replace command in the chosen convert instruction
         file on the entire read portion of the file. Then it
         performs the second search/replace command on the results of
         the first command. It continues until it performs all of the
         search/replace commands in the chosen convert instruction
         file, then it writes the resulting portion of the file. It
         then reads the next 10000 characters of the ASCII file and
         repeats the process on this portion of the file. It
         continues to read and process portions of the ASCII file
         until it has processed all of it.
           Since CONVERT processes portions of the Ascii file
         separately (so that it can handle any size file), it is
         possible that at a break between portions, a search/replace
         command is incorrectly processed. CONVERT attempts to
         correct such errors, but it is still possible (though
         unlikely) that such an error could occur. If there is a
         possible error at any break point, CONVERT informs you where
         the error might occur. Even if CONVERT warns you of such a
         possible error, it is not likely that such an error actually
         occurred, and you probably can ignore the warning. If such
         an error occurred, you would probably notice it in the
         process of normal proofreading.
           To make a convert instruction file, use a text editor or
         word processor. You do not want any special control codes,
         etc. in your convert file, so save the file as an ASCII file
         or non-document file. Or you can use the PictureThis editor
         to make a convert instruction file. Here are the rules:

         No line can be longer than 80 characters.

         Any line starting in column 1 with a SEMICOLON (;) is

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         considered a comment and ignored.

         Any line consisting only of a CARRIAGE RETURN is ignored. A
         search line is any other line, and is immediately followed
         by a replace line (no comments or empty lines are allowed
         between search and replace lines).

         Any keyboard character except '=' or ';' (d,G,8,*, etc.) can
         be included in a search or a replace line, and represents
         itself. Special strings beginning with '=' can also be used,
         as described below. (In the table 'N' represents a single
         digit, 0 - 9.)

         Special Character       Meaning

         =e or =E                carriage return
         =l or =L                line feed
         ==                      equals sign
         =;                      semicolon
         =NNN                    the character represented by the ASCII
                                   value NNN; NNN must be less than
                                   256 (e.g., =032 is the same as
                                   SPACE, and easier to read)
         =?N                     a wildcard character that matches any
                                   character
         =aN                     a wildcard character that matches any
                                   alphabetic character (a-z, A-Z)
         =#N                     a wildcard character that matches any
                                   digit (0-9)
         =.N                     a wildcard character that matches any
                                   punctuation character

         Examples of search lines:

         the dog                 will match 'the dog'

         =a3=#9                  will match 'A1', 'j5', 'Q0'

         =?5"=032                will match 't" ', '?" ', '4" '

         t=a1=.7g                will match 'th,g', 'tD@g'

           When a match is found, it is replaced by what the replace
         line indicates. A normal character in a replace line
         produces that character. A wildcard character uses the
         character that was found to replace it in its position.

         Examples of search/replace pairs:

         the dog                 'the dog' will be replaced by 'the cat'
         the cat

         =a3=#9                  'A1' will be replaced by '1a'; 'j5'
         =#9=a3                    will be replaced by '5j'

         =?5"=032                't" ' will be replaced by 't'' '
         =?5''=032

         =a1=#1=a2=#2            'b3c4' will be replaced by 'cb43';
         =a2=a1=#2=#1            'A9Q8' will be replaced by 'QA89'

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           You cannot have a wildcard character in a replace line
         which does not appear in the corresponding search line. An
         equals sign followed by characters which are not in the
         previous list is also an illegal string. If an illegal
         search/replace pair is found, CONVERT aborts the conversion
         process.

         Examples of illegal search/replace pairs:

         =q4
         a=q4

         =?abc
         =?cba

         =32dog
         dog

         =a2cat=a4
         =a1dog=a4

         =456
         ggg

           STANDARD.CVT includes search/replace pairs to do the
         following:

         Replace SPACE followed by CARRIAGE RETURN with a SPACE. (To
         get rid of some SOFT-RETURNS.)

         Replace DOUBLE-QUOTES with a pair of SINGLE-QUOTES. (This is
         normal typesetting practice.)

         Replace a TAB with 8 spaces. (If your word processor indents
         with TABs, you might want to change a TAB to no characters
         instead.)

         Replace a < with the special character used to start a
         typesetting code in the PictureThis editor.

         Replace a > with the special character used to end a
         typesetting code in the PictureThis editor.

           We don't know all of the ways word processors represent
         SOFT-RETURNS and other important codes. If STANDARD.CVT does
         not work properly with your word-processor files, you can
         modify it and/or add to it to make it work. Sometimes just
         writing the file out in ASCII mode might help. Try it! To
         find out how your word processor represents SOFT-RETURNS,
         write a short file in your word processor. Then look at the
         HEX version of it using any one of numerous utilities that
         exist. We'd use LOTUS MAGELLAN, but there are many more. Try
         to figure out what code your word processor is using for a
         SOFT-RETURN, and write a conversion instruction file to
         change it to a SPACE.

         30. COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS/CONFIGURATION FILE

           When you install PictureThis, you must specify how many
         curves you want to allow for and what screen type you are

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         using. This information is saved in a configuration file in
         the default directory (called PICTHIS.CFG) and used each
         time you run PICTHIS4, so you don't have to type in
         configuration information when you subsequently run
         PictureThis unless you want to change it.
           The two command line parameters are, IN ORDER:

         1. A letter (a-h or A-H). The letter indicates how many
         curves are to be allowed. An 'A' (or 'a') means 250 curves.
         Each succeeding letter adds 250 more curves, so: a = 250; b
         = 500; c = 750; d = 1000; e = 1250; f = 1500; g = 1750; h =
         2000. The default is A.

         2. A three letter indicator of the screen type: CGA, EGA, or
         VGA. If not specified, the default is CGA. (Case is ignored,
         so ega means the same as EGA.)

           The command line parameters must be specified in order,
         but you do not need to specify both of them. If you need to
         specify only the number of curves, just specify the first
         parameter. But if you need to change the screen type, you
         must specify the first two parameters.

         Examples of legal command lines:

         PICTHIS4 b ega

         PICTHIS4 A VGA

         picthis4 d

         picthis4 c EGA

           PictureThis saves in PICTHIS.CFG not only these command
         line parameters, but also the aspect ratio and the
         directories of the font files, the screen font files, and
         the Kartoon features files. When you install PictureThis,
         PICTHIS.CFG includes the directories of these files as
         installed. If you change the locations of these files, and
         PictureThis cannot find the needed file, it asks you for a
         new directory. After you type in this new directory, it is
         saved in PICTHIS.CFG, so you do not have to type in the
         directory every time you run PictureThis.

         31. MEMORY MANAGEMENT

           PictureThis is a large and complex program which maintains
         a large amount of user generated data and thus uses a lot of
         computer memory. But it is still usable on a PC with only
         standard memory (640K). There is no need to have extended
         and/or expanded memory (though you can use them (see Section
         32)).

         31.1 MEMORY USAGE

           In addition to memory used by the program itself, and
         small amounts of memory used and then freed during various
         operations, five types of data use considerable memory:

         1. Data used to define curves, endpoints, trails, and

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         objects. You must specify how many curves are allowed with a
         command line parameter (see Section 30). See Section 31.2 to
         determine how to handle this curve space.

         2. Textblock data (all of the text, plus all of the
         information needed for placing the text in the proper
         position, with the proper font, size, etc.). The memory
         required for this depends on how much text is in a drawing.
         When a textblock is cut or deleted, much of the memory it
         used is freed, but a portion of it is NOT freed. If you cut
         and delete large textblocks frequently, you can build up a
         considerable amount of unusable memory. THIS MEMORY CAN BE
         FREED SIMPLY BY SAVING YOUR DRAWING AND THEN GETTING IT
         AGAIN.

         3. Font information (character widths, kerning, etc.) for
         each font used and definitions of all characters for each
         screenfont used.

         4. Background pixel color values for the drawing screen.
         When each curve is drawn, the previous color of each pixel
         in the curve is saved. This allows you to move or erase a
         curve (or a full object) without leaving "holes" in the
         background. (This is most obvious when you are using a
         template.) This information is saved in a highly compressed
         form used not only for redrawing the background when an
         element is erased, but also for dashing elements for
         selection (e.g., when choosing an object to copy). CGA mode
         uses less pixel memory than EGA mode, which uses somewhat
         less than VGA mode. Unfortunately, a page of small text uses
         a lot of pixel memory, sometimes more than is available.
         "Greeking" the text helps, but is sometimes undesirable.
         See Section 31.3 for a way to eliminate the pixel memory
         used for text.

         5. A VGA template uses a portion of memory, only when a
         template is read into PictureThis, and only in VGA mode. If
         you no longer need a VGA template, you can free memory by
         saving your drawing, exiting PictureThis, and then
         restarting PictureThis.

         31.2 CURVE SPACE

           Memory used to store curve, endpoint, and object
         definitions is determined each time that you start
         PictureThis by a command line parameter or by the
         PICTHIS.CFG configuration file. You can choose by command
         line parameters (see Section 30), how many curves you want
         to allow (proportional numbers of endpoints and objects are
         then allowed also). For a simple drawing or a mostly textual
         page choose A, the default. For more complex drawings,
         choose a higher setting. The memory allocated when the
         program starts is called "curve space."
           You can determine how close you are to the limits for
         curves, endpoints, and objects by checking the curve space
         used box, which is toggled on (ONLY when the viewscreen (V)
         is on) by pressing U. A box appears in the lower left corner
         of the viewscreen, showing how many curves, endpoints, and
         objects you have used, and how many are allowed. To toggle
         off the curve space used box, press U again. When the value

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         of any of these parameters (for curves, endpoints, or
         objects) reaches 90% of its maximum, a message appears at
         the top of the screen: "OVER 90% OF CURVE SPACE USED"/"Press
         any key to continue." This is just a warning, and you can
         proceed as usual. This message continues to appear with
         every subsequent curve added, unless conditions are changed.
         When the value of any of the parameters reaches 98% of its
         maximum, another message appears at the top of the screen:
         "CURVE SPACE FULL - SAVE DRAWING NOW"/"Press any key to
         continue." Subsequently, each time you add a curve, this
         message reappears.  We recommend that you add NO MORE THAN A
         CURVE OR TWO after the "CURVE SPACE FULL" message appears
         for the first time, because if you run over the memory
         limits, memory is overwritten and program behavior can
         become UNPREDICTABLE! In short, you should SAVE YOUR DRAWING
         AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER SEEING THE "CURVE SPACE FULL"
         MESSAGE. (Note that you may see these messages repeatedly
         while a object is being manipulated (moved, copied, etc.).
         Just keep pressing a key until the messages stop.
         PictureThis will NOT let you manipulate an object if there
         is not enough memory. However, save your drawing as soon as
         the copy is complete!)
           If the memory limits are approached for curves, endpoints
         or objects, saving the drawing and then retrieving the saved
         drawing file reduces the number of curves, endpoints, and/or
         objects, IF any were erased (or cut) during the drawing
         process. (Object manipulations can create large numbers of
         erased endpoints.) If you continue to have problems, restart
         PictureThis with a "higher" letter (for example, B instead
         of A).

         31.3 TEXT BACKGROUND SAVE

           Text, especially a page full of small-point-size text uses
         a lot of pixel memory. There frequently isn't enough memory
         to display a full page of small text on the screen. To solve
         this problem, we have added the ability to turn off the
         background save FOR TEXT ONLY. To do this, press F9 to enter
         the Miscellaneous menu, and then press B. You can choose S
         for saving the text background or N for NOT saving the text
         background. With either selection, the program functions
         essentially the same. When NoSave is chosen, there are only
         minor differences:

         a. When any text is erased, a hole is left in the
         background. Press D to redraw and get rid of the hole.

         b. Where text is normally dashed-and-dotted (e.g., for
         grouping an object), it is dashed with NoSave.

         c. Dashing and erasing of text is slower.

           For normal drawing with only small amounts of text, use
         the Save option (the default). If you are doing a full page
         of text, it is probably preferable to use the NoSave option
         and/or to "greek" the text (on the drawing screen only). If
         you save a drawing, the current Save/NoSave option is saved
         with the drawing and is used when the drawing is imported.

         31.4 INSUFFICIENT MEMORY ERROR MESSAGES

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           When you are setting text from the editor, you might see a
         message: NOT ENOUGH MEMORY FOR TEXT - SavDRW & GetDRW. Don't
         panic. Save your drawing. Import it again. Then go back into
         the editor and check whether you have placed an END-OF-TEXT
         marker (Ctrl Q) in the appropriate place (you might have
         been trying to set the contents of the entire editor, which
         could be much more than will fit on the page); if not, put
         one in. Press F5 to try setting the text again. If it
         doesn't work this time, you will have to "greek" the text on
         the drawing screen or switch to NoSave for text background.
           For any other "NOT ENOUGH MEMORY" error message, do some
         or all of the following (usually in the order specified):

         1. Save your drawing and get it again without leaving
         PictureThis.

         2. If you have a lot of text, "greek" the text by pressing
         J.

         3. If you are in Kartoons mode, press C to exit Kartoons
         mode, then K to reenter Kartoons mode where you left it, but
         with extra memory available.

         4. If you have a lot of text, switch to NoSave text
         Background save setting.

         5. Save your drawing, exit PictureThis, and reenter it with
         a lower curve letter (e.g., B instead of F).

         6. Exit PictureThis. At the DOS prompt type:

            SET RTVMCONV=0

         Restart PictureThis. This causes PictureThis to use the
         least possible amount of memory for program execution,
         leaving more for data. This will only have an effect if you
         do not have extended or expanded memory that PictureThis can
         use for swapping. PictureThis will now need to swap parts
         of PICTHIS4.OVL from disk more frequently. This is fine if
         PICTHIS4.OVL is on a fast hard disk or a RAM disk, but could
         slow it down unacceptably if it is on a floppy. If the
         slowdown is unacceptable, reset it by typing (at the DOS
         prompt):

            SET RTVMCONV=25.%

         (Don't forget the period before the percent sign.) If the 0
         setting has a desirable effect, you may want to place this
         line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or another batch file. (See
         your DOS manual.) See Section 32 for more information on
         program swapping.

         7.  One other step can be taken if you are under severe
         memory limitations: before you use the editor, and before
         you bring in any drawings or clip art containing text, press
         J one time. This prevents the screen fonts (which take
         considerable memory) from loading; unfortunately you then
         are unable to see the characters, even on the Quickshow
         screen.

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         32. OPTIMIZING OVERLAY SWAPPING

           To allow for more memory for data, the PictureThis program
         is contained in two files, PICTHIS4.EXE (the root section
         which is always loaded) and PICTHIS4.OVL (the overlay
         section, only parts of which are loaded at any time). Here's
         how the overlayed program works. PICTHIS4.EXE loads and
         looks for PICTHIS4.OVL. If it doesn't find PICTHIS4.OVL in
         the default directory, you'll be prompted to provide a path
         to it. As you use the program, parts of the overlay file are
         loaded into RAM from disk, as required. After a part has
         been loaded, it remains in RAM (no further disk accesses
         needed) unless it is displaced by another part loaded in (if
         there isn't enough room in RAM for both). If you have a
         reasonably fast hard drive, the "swapping" should be barely
         noticeable most of the time, but if you have a slow hard
         drive or only floppy drives, you can make the "swapping" of
         overlay parts instantaneous as follows:

           1. If you have extended memory with an XMS v. 2 device
         driver loaded (typically called HIMEM.SYS, this comes with
         WINDOWS, DOS 5.0, and other software, and is also available
         from some BBS's; it must be installed as a device driver in
         your CONFIG.SYS file--see the instructions that come with
         it), or expanded memory (EMS 3.2+) hardware or software
         emulation, then the overlay parts are automatically cached
         in extended and/or expanded memory, respectively, and won't
         need to be read from disk the next time they are needed. (Of
         course, this assumes that you have enough free extended or
         expanded memory to store the parts.) NOTE: Some EMS
         emulators may not work correctly, since the overlay parts
         are not just cached in expanded memory, but actually run
         from it.

           2. If you have extended memory, but no XMS v. 2 driver and
         no expanded memory, then you can set up a RAM disk (using
         DOS's VDISK or RAMDRIVE or a proprietary driver) and copy
         PICTHIS4.OVL to it BEFORE you load PictureThis. Make sure
         that there is NOT a copy of PICTHIS4.OVL in the directory
         from which you run PICTHIS4.EXE, or you won't be prompted
         for the path of the overlay. When prompted, give the drive
         designation for the ram drive containing PICTHIS4.OVL (most
         likely, D:). The RAM disk must be at least 234KB to hold
         PICTHIS4.OVL.
           You need to carry out the following steps:

         a. Put the device driver for the RAM disk in your CONFIG.SYS
         file (see your DOS manual).
         b. Rename PICTHIS4.OVL to PICTHIS4.OV in your PICTHIS4
         directory (REN PICTHIS4.OVL PICTHIS4.OV).
         c. Copy PICTHIS4.OV in your PICTHIS4 directory to
         PICTHIS4.OVL in your RAM disk (COPY PICTHIS4.OV
         D:PICTHIS4.OVL).
         d. At the DOS prompt type: SET RTVMCONV=0.

         This reduces the amount of conventional memory used for
         overlays to the least possible amount and allows more room
         for data. e. Run PictureThis.

         If you want to do this all of the time, you should use a

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         batch file that carries out the last three steps. A sample
         batch file named PICTHS4B.BAT is included on the
         distribution disks (you may have to change it slightly).

         3. If you only have floppies and no extended or expanded
         memory, you can set up a RAM disk (in "lower" -- 640KB --
         memory) and put PICTHIS4.OVL there for quick swapping -- but
         you'll have less room for your drawing. As an alternative,
         there is a compressed version of PictureThis with program
         parts called PICTHS4C.EXE and PICTHS4C.OVL included on the
         distribution disks, which can be used to minimize the memory
         required (the RAM disk need only be 122KB), but swapping
         will be slower, since the overlay parts must be decompressed
         each time they are read from disk. If you do this regularly,
         you should use a batch file as in number 2 above, but
         modified to work with PICTHS4C. You will have to experiment
         to see which setup is the best for your individual
         situation.

         NOTE: If you are running PictureThis on a "slow" computer
         (PC or XT), you can gain quite a bit of speed, and also some
         pixel memory by switching to CGA mode (see Section 30). CGA
         mode doesn't look as good on the screen, but you can do
         everything in CGA mode that you can in the other modes, and
         the printed output has the same high resolution.

         33. INCOMPATIBILITIES AND "BUGS"

           Please let us know about any problems you encounter with
         PictureThis and/or CaptureThis. In particular, we would like
         to know about incompatibilities with certain kinds of video
         boards so we can try to make the programs as widely useful
         as possible. Very few non-trivial programs are "bug"-free,
         and we expect users to find some "bugs" in PictureThis. In
         exchange for your "bug" report (assuming that you've found a
         real "bug"), we'll send you a free copy of the next Release,
         with the "bug" fixed. Also, we'd appreciate hearing your
         suggestions on how PictureThis might be improved. Thanks for
         helping us improve the performance of our programs!

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