lbotez@pro-sol.cts.com (Lynda Botez) (03/11/90)
Well, I have this program, and I had to admit I'm pretty impressed with its capabilities. I've used Aldus Pagemaker for the Mac, and while it's not exactually as powerful a program as Pagemaker, I am quite satisfied with it for the Apple IIGS. The documentation is okay, but I consider the guided tour that's included rather sketchy. However, it's adequate, and will get you up and running in a few hours. It comes with it's own driver for the Imagewriter. You select their driver from the control panel -- which is incredibly better than the one that comes with your system disk. The output is quite remarkable. I would say it's the best looking output I've seen on an Imagewriter. I had to whip up a one page flyer for my office. I had to import a graphic (I chose a Print Shop GS graphic for simplicity's sake). It came out incredibly good. Basically, you have to load in the fonts you wish to use (the computerese for this is "Customizing the Font Menu"). You get something that resembles the Font/DA loader for the Mac. Real easy. Then you specify stuff for page setup (such as paper size, margins, "orientation" (another one of those buzzwords for what direction your paper is facing); and number of pages. If you're writing a newsletter, you need to set up Master Pages (for stuff you'll be repeating on other pages, such as page numbers, justification, what have you). When you open the document window, you can select various ways to view your document. One is Actual Size (guess what that is?)... another is Tall Text View (where you can actually read what's on the screen ... it's a little squeezed but visable); the other is Fit in Window (where you can see the whole document, but only god knows what it says...). In order to type (or import) anything (text, graphics, etc) on the screen, you first have to create a frame (using the arrow tool). You just click the mouse, and drag until you have the frame you want. When you click it into place, you'll see funny looking top and bottom handles on the typing frames. For those who are still reading this; you can adjust the frames by grabbing one of the corners of the frame; or lengthen the frame by grabbing the big handle on the bottom. It's very simple to place a thick (or thin for that matter) line around any frame, or around the entire document. Importing pictures is relatively simple, except for a full page SHR picture, which has to be imported in two parts and connected together somehow (I didn't get that far, but then I didn't think I'd be doing that anyway). For newsletters, you set the number of columns you want, and voila; they appear. Then you make frames for your text or whatever. You can adjust the text to be ragged left, right, centered, justified, etc. etc. You can use all kinds of fonts, sizes, outlined, bold, etc. etc. Importing text: there are translators for Appleworks files, Applewriter, Bank Street Writer, Mousewrite, and one that's called "Univeral" (catch-what-catch-can). You just select "import text"; place it in the frame, and it gets moved over. There's a text wrap option when you insert a picture (skip over, wrap around, wrap to or none if you want the text to run over or under an object). Importing graphics: there are translators for Print Shop Graphics, and single, double and super hires. Graphicwriter uses dithering; the program tries to match the colors are good as possible more later Lynda
lbotez@pro-sol.cts.com (Lynda Botez) (03/12/90)
I was discussing importing graphics for Graphicwriter 3. Resizing a painting frame is relatively simple (as is resizing text frames); you more or less drag on the handle and shrink or enlarge the drawing area. You can also move the painting within the frame (which is pretty neat actually... you can recenter your graphic) by selecting the option key. Graphicwriter 3 comes with all the features of a paint and word proces- sing program; there also is a spelling checker included. In actuality, there are so many exciting features that are packed into this one program that I couldn't possibly list them all; however, a few that come to mind are kerning (increasing or decreasing the spaces between letters); Tab Leader Settings, scaling features, layering objects, colorizing B&W graphics with one step, lots of capabilities with objects; and all the standard stuff you see like clipboard, copy, paste, etc. One of my favorite things are the "Snap To" Guides. These are some little boxes located at top left of the vertical ruler that you touch with the mouse, then drag to where you want to locate them (both horizontal and vertical guides... shown as orange lines). When you set up the guides, you can create a frame, then select "Snap to" and the frame snaps into place right where it belongs. Laserprinter capability: there is laserprinter capability with Graphic- Writer 3; however, I can imagine how many Apple II users have access to a laser printer. However, there are instructions for those who have access to a Macintosh and a Laserprinter (or access to a printing place that have laser printers hooked up to Macintoshes). Basically, they suggest you use only fonts that exist in Apple LaserWriters. Second, that you set up your Apple IIGS as if you were using Appletalk; then choose Print and do a couple of things that will create a PostScript file. Then transfer the file via Apple File Exchange to a Macintosh computer. Then use a Macintosh program to download the PostScript file to the LaserWriter. I really think this is one of the most innovative programs ever for the Apple IIGS; I highly recommend it if you are considering a desk top publishing program for your computer. The program is published by Seven Hills Software, 2310 Oxford Road, Tallahassee, FL 32304-3930. You can also contact them on their 800 number (800) 627-3836 or (904) 575-0566. They also have accounts on America Online and GEnie: SevenHills; and AppleLink Developers: D0850. Lynda (I have no connection with Seven Hills Software. The above are my opinions only.)