hill@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu (03/28/91)
Another suggestion about making boxed alignments is to do it in two stages: use an alignment program to do the alignment and a graphics program/word processor to make the figure. My standard procedure is to create the alignment (on the VAX using the GCG programs or on a DOS machine using PC/GENE but any method that produces ASCII files would work), transfer it to the Mac, and use Nisus (3.05) on the Mac to create the final figure. Nisus works particularly well because it is a word processor with both powerful text editing capabilities and graphics capabilities, but other programs will work. One thing to remember is that most Macintosh word processors use a proportional font as the default. Thus, when you open your ASCII alignment on the Mac, the sequences will not appear aligned. Select the entire alignment and change the font to Courier or some other monoproportional font (plus you may have to change the size of the font and/or the margins), and everything will be aligned again. I realize that this solution is not as elegant as one program that does it all, plus it requires transferring the file betweeen computers. In balance, however, it means that you probably already know how to do the graphics on your Mac or PC and you may be able to do more sophisticated figures by capitalizing on the strengths of each program. Disclaimer: my only connection with Nisus, GCG, or PC/GENE is as a very satisfied user. In the case of Nisus it extends to the great educational pricing for the individual user. John ___________________________________________________________________________ John Edward Hill, Ph.D. | Department of Cell Biology Internet: HILL@MCCLB0.MED.NYU.EDU | New York University Medical Center EARN/Bitnet: HILL@NYUMED.BITNET | 550 Fifth Avenue 212-263-7135 FAX: 212-263-8139 | New York, New York 10016-6402 ___________________________________________________________________________