[comp.sys.next] Frame questions

FUCHS@pucc.Princeton.EDU (Ira Fuchs) (10/23/89)

Can someone who has used Frame (and maybe even seen the documentation) answer
any of these questions?

1. It appears that Frame (like Writenow) still uses Printer Font spacing
on the screen. This results in spacing which looks different on the screen
from what is printed. Is this true? If so, is Frame changing to use different
widths for each?

2. Is there a way to apply a Postscript "special effect" to a portion of text
in a Frame document? Say for example one has some PS code which tilts a font
or some such. Is there a way to embed this in a document and see the result
on screen?

3. Does Frame support variable kerning? That is can I select a piece of text
(part of a word, part of a sentence, etc.) and ask Frame to "tighten it up",
a little, a lot, or whatever?

4. Can Frame be used in a mode where you create a template and only have
pointers to files which are read in when the document is constructed? In other
words can I keep the text of a document and the formatting separate so that
I can go on making changes to a set of separate files which constitute the
final document? I believe that Ventura Publisher can work this way (Pagemaker
cannot). As an example, imagine a newsletter "template" which describes
the basic layout (editorials, events calendar, etc.) but where these pieces
are kept in files which are edited outside of Frame. I would like Frame to
construct the document by reading these files in and formatting based on the
template each time. Frame would not store the entire formatted document unless
requested to do so. Can do?

langz@asylum.SF.CA.US (Lang Zerner) (10/25/89)

In article <9977@pucc.Princeton.EDU> FUCHS@pucc.Princeton.EDU writes:
>Can someone who has used Frame (and maybe even seen the documentation) answer
>any of these questions?

I can't answer with certainty your first, second and fourth questions, but...

>3. Does Frame support variable kerning? That is can I select a piece of text
>(part of a word, part of a sentence, etc.) and ask Frame to "tighten it up",
>a little, a lot, or whatever?

Frame has excellent kerning control.  There are keyboard shortcuts for really
tiny movements, but in general I have found the Point Spread item in the Fonts
requestor to be sufficient.  Here's how it works:

1. Highlight the text whose spacing you wish to alter (can be as little as one
   character).

2. Bring up the Fonts requestor, either through the menu or with ESC-f.

3. Click in the Point Spread entry field.

4. Enter your desired point spread.

The point spread is an offset applied to inter-character spacing in the
selected region.  It can be positive (letters spaced more widely), negative
(tightened up), or zero (default spacing).  I don't know if you can use
fractional amounts, since integral spacing adjustments have been sufficient for
my needs to date.
-- 
Be seeing you...
--Lang Zerner
langz@asylum.sf.ca.us   UUCP:bionet!asylum!langz   ARPA:langz@athena.mit.edu
"...and every morning we had to go and LICK the road clean with our TONGUES!"