January 14, 1991 Copyright (c) 1990 CE Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Welcome to CalendarMaker PC. Since the user manual was written, some changes have been made in the way CalendarMaker PC(tm) handles bitmap graphics. (These graphics can be used to add pictures to your calendars.) You can use COLOR bitmap (.BMP) picture files in your calendars. You can make and use INVERTED (negative image) monochrome bitmaps. You can change the colors and other styles of monochrome calendar pictures without losing the position or size of the framing rectangle or picture. You can vary the size of the framing rectangle and the area selected will stretch or shrink to fit the calendar picture area with minimal distortion. You can save an entire calendar as a color .BMP picture file in your choice of color formats. Using color bitmaps: -------------------- CalendarMaker will accept standard color or monochrome picture files ("bitmaps") having a filename followed by a ".BMP" extension. This is the bitmap format created by the PaintBrush program supplied with Windows 3.0 and supported by most Windows application programs. PaintBrush will convert other bitmap formats to ".BMP" format, including old Microsoft Paint files (having the ".MSP" extension). To convert other picture files to ".BMP" format, follow the instructions provided with PaintBrush. You can then use the converted file in CalendarMaker - giving you a wide choice of artwork for your calendars. CalendarMaker will also accept OS/2 ".BMP" format picture files without conversion. CalendarMaker supports all the color options available in PaintBrush, including monochrome, 16 color, 256 color, and 24 bit color picture files. You do not need to know the color option for a given file - CalendarMaker will automatically adjust the bitmap to your screen and printer as it reads the file. Reversing monochrome bitmaps: ----------------------------- You can select whether the foreground or background dots are colored in a monochrome bitmap. The default is set to color foreground dots, which results in a normal picture. If you "reverse" the image by coloring the background dots, the picture will resemble a photographic negative. By using this option, the intensity option described below, and selecting different picture colors (as explained in the manual), many interesting effects can be created on printers or screens capable of printing or showing only one color. To reverse a monochrome bitmap or to return it to normal after reversal, click on the "Design" option of the main menu bar, and select "Colors..." from the drop-down menu. The screen that will appear is somewhat different than that shown in the manual. Those items that are related specifically to monochrome bitmaps are boxed together in the lower middle part of the "Colors..." dialog box. At the lower right, you will find "Image style:" with two selections, one marked "Normal" and the other "Reversed". The default selection (chosen by CalendarMaker when you first start the program) is "Normal", indicated by a black dot within a larger circle. To select "Reversed", click on the empty circle next to it and the black dot will move to indicate your new selection. To change back, click next to "Normal". When you have completed your selection, click on the "OK" button. The "Colors..." dialog box will erase. If you have chosen the picture calendar style, and have loaded a monochrome picture, that picture will be redrawn in the style ("Normal" or "Reversed") you selected. If you have selected the picture calendar style but not yet loaded a monochrome picture, any future monochrome pictures you load into CalendarMaker will be painted in the style you last selected. Full color pictures, including any loaded at the time you changed monochrome styles, will be unaffected. Sizing and moving the framing rectangle: ---------------------------------------- CalendarMaker offers enhanced flexibility in selecting and sizing the area of a bitmap you want to use as your calendar picture. You can select a small detail from a bitmap and have it blown up to fill the calendar picture, or shrink a larger bitmap into the calendar picture area. CalendarMaker takes care of all the details - all you have to do is select a bitmap and tell CalendarMaker what part of that bitmap you want as your calendar. To do that, CalendarMaker first loads in the bitmap you selected (as explained in the manual) and reduces it so that you can see as much of it as possible in the picture window. CalendarMaker provides the "framing rectangle". The framing rectangle encloses an area that represents a one-to-one relationship between the area framed and the size of the calendar picture area. If you were to select the area within the default framing rectangle as your calendar picture, that area would exactly fill the calendar picture area without any stretching or compressing. To select a different area of the bitmap for your calendar picture, CalendarMaker has two movement options: moving the framing rectangle between the borders of the picture window, or moving the bitmap itself underneath the framing rectangle. To move the framing rectangle once a bitmap has been loaded, click and hold the right mouse button within the borders of the existing rectangle. Upon any mouse movement, the cursor will become a grabber hand. Move the framing rectangle to a new location (you will be confined to the picture window area) and release the right mouse button. The cursor will go back to its normal shape. Select "Preview" from the File menu. The preview window will show the new area as your calendar picture. To move the bitmap underneath the framing rectangle, click and hold the left mouse button anywhere in the picture window below its caption. Upon any mouse movement, the cursor will become a four-pointed arrow. Move the mouse in any direction the distance you want the bitmap to move (it will not move yet!). Release the left mouse button, and the cursor will return to normal. The bitmap will be redrawn in its new location. With practice, and using the arrow points as guides, it becomes easy to make precise adjustments to the bitmap placement. By combining the two movement methods, any part of the bitmap can be selected as your calendar picture. However, you are not limited to the default framing rectangle size. The framing rectangle can be made as small as 4 pixels (dots that make up the picture image) tall by 7 pixels wide or as large as the picture window will allow. The relationship between the height and the width (4 to 7) of the rectangle is maintained by CalendarMaker to prevent distortions in the final calendar picture, and so sizing the framing rectangle is quite simple. Double-click the right mouse button (or double-click the middle button if you have a three-button mouse). The cursor will become a crosshair. Move the crosshair to any of the four corners you want to be the new framing rectangle. Click and hold the left mouse button and the cursor will become a small double-pointed arrow. While holding the left button down, move the mouse in the direction you want the framing rectangle. You will see the framing rectangle enlarge and shrink as you move the mouse. This effect (called "rubberbanding") will continue as long as the right mouse button is held down and the mouse is moving. When the framing rectangle is the size you want, release the left mouse button. The standard arrow cursor will return. Remember that position of the framing rectangle is not important since you can easily move it where you want it after the size has been set. There is no limit to the number of resizes or moves that you can do. If the size of the framing rectangle is smaller than the 4 pixel by 7 pixel limit when you release the right mouse button, a dialog box will appear. You will be given the choice of restoring the default rectangle or the last properly sized rectangle that was shown. Simply click on the selection you want from the choices given by the dialog box, and then click on the "OK" button. Hint: You can use this feature to deliberately force a return to the default rectangle at any time. Simply double-click the right mouse button, then click and release the left mouse button without moving the mouse. This will bring up the dialog box and allow you to choose the default rectangle. By using the sizing and movement options, CalendarMaker makes it possible to select virtually any size of any portion of a loaded bitmap as your calendar picture. To see the how the selected areas will look in your finished calendar, use the "Preview" options as discussed previously and in the printed manual. Saving the calendar as a color bitmap ------------------------------------- To save your calendar as a .BMP picture file, select Print from the File menu as described in the manual. To save a calendar in full color, set the "Send Colors" checkbox on (with an "X" in the center). Set the "PaintBrush Bitmap" radio button on (with a dark center). Click the "OK" button. A dialog box will appear allowing you to select the color format for the saved picture file. Generally speaking, we recommend 16 colors for saving, other color formats take more memory and disk space. CalendarMaker will examine the calendar you wish to save and your display capabilities for you, and will set the radio button for the appropriate color format as a default. Note: Depending on your available memory, Windows setup options, other programs in memory, the size of the calendar, and system limitations, you may get memory error messages in some color formats. If necessary, select a lower color format. On some systems, particularly when running in real mode, saving calendars as monochrome bitmaps may be the only option available. Saving a bitmap in a higher color format does not increase the resolution or number of colors in the bitmap - those are defined by the pictures or color options you selected for the calendar and your system's display capabilities. SPECIAL NOTE: If you create a calendar on the screen having colored text, borders, pictures, or titles AND you use the "Print" menu selection to print to the printer, metafiles, or PaintBrush bitmap format WITH THE "SEND COLORS" BOX NOT CHECKED, some colors will drop out as Windows decides which colors to make black in the output and which colors to make white. Some colored items may appear to disappear entirely. Try printing with the colors box checked (Windows will then make all colors black and leave white untouched). If the output is still not acceptable, you will have to adjust your calendar colors to produce the output you want. CalendarMaker PC is a trademark of CE Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. CE Software, Inc. P.O. Box 65580 West Des Moines Iowa 50265 U.S.A. (515) 224-1995