Welcome to PageComposer 2 Help.

Choose a topic to get Help on it.

Mouse Operations

Explains the various Mouse operations, including creation of Text Blocks, making selections, resizing items, moving a single item or a selection of items together drawing of graphic elements, adding, removing and moving guides.

Menu Commands

Complete description of all the menu items

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use the Keyboard Shortcuts to do work faster and better. If you want to be a power-user, then do not miss the Keyboard short-cuts!

How do I ...

Learn to do the various operations of the PageComposer 2


How Do I ...

... Edit Text?

... Insert Text from other Files?

... Make Text Flow into Columns?

... Automatically Number the Pages?

... Compose Poetry?

... Compose Ads.?

... Compose Magazines?

... Compose Newspapers?

... Compose Books?

... Use Styles?

... Use Guides?

... Use OLE?

... Make Headlines?

... Draw Rectangles, Circles and Lines?

... Print Pages that are larger than the Printers Page Size?


Keyboard Shortcuts

Press F1 for Help.

Text Editing Short Cuts

While editing text, a blinking line (Caret) appears on the screen. It indicates where the text editing will take place.

Special Typing Sequences

To Switch between Scripts (from Urdu to English

 and visa-versa):	Alt + L

To add a page numbers 	Alt + N

To decrease space between words:	Ctrl + Backspace

To increase space between words:	Ctrl + Space

Moving the Caret

Move the Caret using Left, Right, Up and Down Keys:-

Go to the beginning of a line:	Home

Go to the end of a line:	End

Go to the word on the left: 	Ctrl + Left

Go to the word on the right: 	Ctrl + Right

Go to the next paragraph.:	Ctrl + Down

Go to the previous paragraph.:	Ctrl + Up

Text Selection, Cut/Copy/Paste

To select Text, hold the Shift Key Down, while moving the Caret with the Moving the Caret commands.

Select the complete Text Block:	Ctrl + A

Copy the selected text:	Ctrl + C

Cut the selected text:	Ctrl + X

Paste the selected text:	Ctrl + V

Remove text:	Delete

Text Formatting

Change font:	Ctrl + T

Left align:	Ctrl + Shift + L

Right align:	Ctrl + Shift + R

Center align:	Ctrl + Shift + C

Force justify:	Ctrl + Shift + F

Toggle justification:	Ctrl + Shift + J

Change paragraph. settings:	Ctrl + M

Change indents:	Ctrl + I

Flow paragraph. Left to Right:	Ctrl + Shift + Right

Flow paragraph. Right to Left:	Ctrl + Shift + Left

Undo

Undo last edit:	Ctrl + Z.

Styles

Define style:	Ctrl + 3

Style:	Ctrl + Y

Find, Replace and Spell Check

Find:	F3

Replace:	F4

Check spellings:	F5

Repeat find:	Ctrl + F

Repeat replace:	Ctrl + U

Layout Short Cuts

Open a document:	Ctrl + O

Save the current document:	Ctrl + S

Print the current document:	Ctrl + P

Go to a particular page: 	Ctrl + G

Go to the next page:	Page Down

Go to the previous page:	Page Up

Send the current item back:	Ctrl + B


Modes of Operation

The PageComposer 2 operates in two modes:-

1. Text Mode

Use the Text Mode to select with the Keyboard or the Mouse, Edit or Format Text.

To Change to Text Mode, Click on the T icon in the Toolbar.

2. Layout Mode

Use the Layout Mode to Move Size Cut/Copy/ Paste the Text Blocks, Circles, Lines, Rectangles, OLE Objects, etc.,on the page. To change to Layout Mode, Click on the Arrow icon in the Toolbar.


Mouse Operations

Selecting text

Creating a new Text Block.

Adding continuation Text Blocks.

Selecting an item on the page.

Selecting multiple items on the page.

Changing an items place.

Resizing an item.

Adding Guides.

Moving Guides.

Removing Guides.


Selecting Text

Move the Mouse to the first word to be selected and press the Left Mouse Button.

While keeping the Mouse Button Down, move the Mouse Cursor rapidly to the last word to be selected.

The selected text will appear in reverse.


Creating a New Text Block

Change to Text Mode(Mode of Operation).

Click anywhere on the page to create a  Text Block of a reasonable column width.

Alternatively, drag the Mouse Cursor. A Text Block of the marked rectangles size and position will be created on the page.

You can also re-size the Text Block, to the desired dimensions.


Adding Continuation Text Block(s) to an Existing Text Block

The Continuation Text Blocks are also called Linked Text Blocks.

To change to Layout Mode, choose the Text Block by Clicking on it.

Click on its lower Handle, to pick-up the Continuation Text. The Mouse Cursor now resembles a Text Column.

Create a Continuation Text Block by Clicking or drawing a new Text Block. For placing the Continuation Text onto another page, you may change the page by Page-Up or Page-Down Keys.

Hold the Shift Key Down, while creating a Continuation Text Block. A series of Continuation Text Blocks can be created in this manner. These will be linked.


Selecting an Item on a Page

Change to Layout Mode.

Click on the item to be selected.

The selected item appears, with Handles.


Selecting Multiple Items on The Page

Change to Layout Mode, if not already in it.

Move the Mouse Cursor outside all the items.

Hold the Left Mouse Button Down.

Drag the Mouse Cursor so that the drawn rectangle encloses the items to be selected.

Release the Mouse Button.

All the selected items will be highlighted by a dotted rectangular border around them.


 Moving an Item on the Page

Change to Layout Mode, if not already in it.

Move the Mouse into the middle of the item.

Hold the Left Button Down.

Drag the Item to its new place.


Re-sizing an Item

Change to Layout Mode, if not already in it.

Select the Item by Clicking on it.

Eight Handles will appear around the select item.

Drag any Handle to re-size the item.

If Snap To Guides is ON, then the moved or re-sized item will automatically align itself with a guide, if there is one close to it.


Adding Guides

Change to Layout Mode, if not already in it.

Move the Mouse over either of the rulers.

Press the Left Button Down.

Keeping the Left Button Pressed, drag the new Guide from the Ruler onto the Page.

(The guide can be placed within the page boundaries only.)


Moving Guides

Change to Layout Mode, if not already in it.

Move the Mouse Cursor to directly over a Guide.

Press the Left Mouse Button Down.

Holding the Left Button Down, drag the Guide to the required location.


Removing Guides

Drag the Guide outside the Page.


Changing the View

The  PageComposer 2  allows you to flip between a Complete View of the current page and a Detailed View of a part of the page. To switch between the two views, Click the Right Button.

When switching from Complete View to the Detailed View, move the Mouse Cursor over that part of the page that you wish to see and then Click the Right Button.

Tip: You can rapidly move from one part of the page to another, Switch to the Complete View with one Click. Move the Mouse Cursor over the part of the page you wish to see and then Click the Right Button again.


Menu Commands

File::New

File::Open...

File::Close

File::Save

File::Save As...

File::Page Setup...

File::Print...

File::Print Preview

File::Printer Setup...

File::Preferences...

File::Exit

Edit::Undo

Edit::Cut

Edit::Copy

Edit::Delete

Edit::Paste

Edit::Paste Link

Edit::Paste From File...

Edit::Select All

Edit::Find...

Edit::Find Again

Edit::Replace...

Edit::Replace Again

Edit::Check Spelling

Edit::InsertObject...

View::Keyboard

View::Toolbar

View::Statusbar

View::Column Guides

View::User Guides

View::Lock Guides

View::200%

View::100%

View::50%

View::25%

Layout::Columns...

Layout::Size...

Layout::Insert Pages...

Layout ::Remove Pages...

Layout::Goto Page...

Layout::Goto Master page

Layout::Autoflow

Layout::Snap to Guides

Layout::Fill...

Layout::Line...

Layout::Text Wrap...

Layout::Send to Back

Layout::Bring to Front

Text::Font...

Text::Left

Text::Right

Text::Center

Text::Forced Justify

Text::Justification

Text::Para...

Text::Indents...

Text::Tabs...

Text::Define Styles...

Text::Styles...

Text::Left to Right

Text::Right To Left

Window::New

Window::Cascade

Window::Tile

Window::Arrange Icons

Help::Index

Help::Using Help

Help::About


File::New (Ctrl + N)

Creates a new document with standard settings. You can modify this to suit your requirements, by Page Setup option of File menu. When a new document is being created, it is the right time to setup all your Guides, Styles, etc..

It is also advisable to save an empty document, with all its Guides, Columns, Master Pages, etc. in place. Use it as a template It will be of help in creating other similar documents.

Creating a new publication does not close the current one.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+N


File::Open... (Ctrl + O)

Displays the standard Windows File Open dialog box. The  PageComposer 2  files have the extension.pc2. If OK is Clicked, after selecting a valid file, it is opened in a separate Child Window.

The  PageComposer 2  allows you to open a number of files, simultaneously. This is a great help for doing cut/copy/paste jobs, across the documents.

 Opening a publication does not close the current one.

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

List Files of Type

Select the type of file you want to open:

Drives

Select the drive in which PageComposer stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which PageComposer stores the file that you want to open.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+O


File::Close

Closes the Currently open publication. It also prompts the user to save the document, if it has been modified.

Note that, many documents may be opened simultaneously, but this command will close only the current document ( the one with the Window Active ).


File::Save

Saves the currently active document ( the one with the Window Active ). If the document is untitled as yet, then the File SaveAs dialog is presented to the user.

If the publication contains embedded OLE items, then these are also saved within the document file. In order to decrease the size of a document file, the OLE items can be linked, instead of being embedded. Refer to the discussion under Edit::Insert Object... for more details.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+S


File::Save As...

Prompts the user to give a name and a path for storing the publication file. The standard File Save dialog box is presented. If a file of similar name and path already exists, then the user is prompted to either overwrite the existing file or abort the file saving procedure.

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a document with a different name.  A filename can contain up to eight characters and an extension of up to three characters.  PageComposer adds the extension you specify in the Save File As Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the document.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the document.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File::Page Setup...

You can change the page size and margins of your publication, with the Page-Setup dialog.

It is preferable to set the Page Size before starting a new document.

Columns Left to Right / Right to Left : Sets the direction of the columns For Urdu/Arabic/Persian documents, the columns have to flow from Right-to-Left, whereas, for pre-dominantly English/Latin based documents, it should be the other way round.

Tall, Wide: Use the Tall/Wide Radio Buttons to change the orientation of the page.

Left, Right, Top, Bottom Margins: Margins from each edge of the page. The units displayed are the current units of measure. You can always type in any other Units of Measure (mm, ins or pc,etc.,)


File::Preferences...

The Preferences dialog gives you the facility to set the units of measurefor the Rulers and the Dialog items.

By Dialog items, we mean the units of measures being used to measure the items (like in Layout::Size  or Layout::Columns).

The units of measurement in the  PageComposer 2  can be inches, centimeters, millimeters, picas (6 picas = 1inch) or points (72.27 points = 1 inch). The preferences dialog allows you to set the units of measure of the horizontal and the vertical rulers as well as the dialog items. The dialog items always display the units of measure along with the value. For instance 2in or .75cm or 39.05mm.

Every measurement in the dialogs has the value followed by the units of measure. The units of measure are denoted  two letter combinations. These are in for inches, cm for centimeters, mm for millimeters and pt and pc for Points and Picas.

If you do not specify the units of measure and just type in a number, then by default, the units of measure set in the preferences dialog are used.


File::Print...

The PageComposer 2 provides the standard Windows Print Dialog Box. You can print any range of pages or the whole document. As the print dialog box is standard, you can refer to the Windows document for further explanations about it.

The following options allow you to specify how the document should be printed:

Printer

This is the active printer and printer connection.  Choose the Setup option to change the printer and printer connection.

Setup

Displays a Print Setup dialog box, so  you can select a printer and printer connection.

Print Range

Specify the pages you want to print:

All	Prints the entire document.
Selection	Prints the currently selected text.
Pages	Prints the range of pages you specify in the From and To boxes.
Copies

Specify the number of copies you want to print for the above page range.

Collate Copies

Prints copies in page number order, instead of separated multiple copies of each page.

Print Quality

Select the quality of the printing.  Generally, lower quality printing takes less time to produce.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+P


File::Printer Setup...

Use this command to select a printer and a printer connection.  This command presents a Print Setup dialog box, where you specify the printer and its connection.


Print Setup dialog box

The following options allow you to select the destination printer and its connection.

Printer

Select the printer you want to use.  Choose the Default Printer; or choose the Specific Printer option and select one of the current installed printers shown in the box.  You install printers and configure ports using the Windows Control Panel.

Orientation

Choose Portrait or Landscape.

Paper Size

Select the size of paper that the document is to be printed on.

Paper Source

Some printers offer multiple trays for different paper sources.  Specify the tray here.

Options

Displays a dialog box where you can make additional choices about printing, specific to the type of printer you have selected.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File::Print Preview

Print Preview offers an on-screen preview of the actual print-out expected. Print Preview uses the attributes of the currently selected printer to simulate the printers output on the computer display. This is of use when the printer capabilities are different from the displays. For instance, if the printer doesnt support color printing, then previewing the print-out is useful in finding out how exactly the print-out will look in black and white.

The print preview toolbar offers you options to view either one or two pages at a time; move back and forth through the document; zoom in and out of pages; and initiate a print job.


Print Preview toolbar

The print preview toolbar offers you the following options:

Print

Bring up the print dialog box, to start a print job.

Next Page

Preview the next printed page.

Prev Page

Preview the previous printed page.

One Page / Two Page

Preview one or two printed pages at a time.

Zoom In

Take a closer look at the printed page.

Zoom Out

Take a larger look at the printed page.

Close

Return from print preview to the editing window.


File::Exit

Use this command to end your PageComposer session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu.  PageComposer prompts you to save documents with unsaved changes.

Shortcuts

Mouse:	Double-click the application's Control menu button.

Keys:	ALT+F4


File 1, 2, 3, 4 command

1, 2, 3, 4 command (File menu)

Use the numbers and filenames listed at the bottom of the File menu to open the last four documents you closed.  Choose the number that corresponds with the document you want to open.


Edit::Undo  (Ctrl + Z)

Will reverse the effects of the last operation. Not all the operations are undo-able. For instance, when you delete a frame, it is placed on the Clipboard. To undo the deletion of the frame, you can select Paste from Edit menu to place it back on the page.

The Undo operation are only applicable to Text-Editing operation in this release.


Edit::Cut  (Ctrl + X)

Removes the Current Selection and places it on the Clipboard. To place the Current Selection on the Clipboard, without removing it from the Current page, use Edit::Copy.

In the Layout Mode,  the selection can be of one or more items. You can paste the items you have cut into another documents opened inside the  PageComposer 2  or in another document of another program. If you have placed it in another program, the selection will be pasted as a picture (Metafile format or Bitmap format).

In the Text Mode, the text selection will be placed on the Clipboard and removed from the page.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+X


Edit::Copy  (Ctrl + C)

Copies the current selection to the Clipboard. To remove the current selection while copying it, refer to Edit:: .

In the Layout Mode,  the selection can be of one or more items. You can paste the items you have copied into other documents opened inside the  PageComposer  2 or in any other document of another program. If you have placed it in another program, the selection will be pasted as a picture (Metafile format or Bitmap format).

In Text Mode, the text selection will be placed on the Clipboard .

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+C


Edit::Delete  (Delete Key)

Removes the current selection (either text or item(s)) and places it on the Clipboard. To place the current selection on the Clipboard, without removing it from the current page, use Copy.


Edit::Paste  (Ctrl + V)

Inserts the current  Clipboard contents onto the current page.

To paste text, you first need to position the Caret on the Text Block where you wish to paste the text and then choose the Paste command.

To paste items Copied/Cut from other programs or other  PageComposer 2  documents, change to the Layout Mode and then choose Paste.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+V


Edit::Paste Link

Inserts an OLE object as a linked item (See How do I ... Use OLE?).

When you choose Paste Link, instead of Paste command, the contents of the  Clipboard are not included in the saved document file (only a reference to the file that actually contains the  Clipboard data is saved in the document file). This substantially reduces the size of your document files.

The disadvantage of pasting an OLE item is that, if the file referred to is missing (for example you copy the document to another machine without copying the linked files along with it), then the OLE items will not be displayed.


Edit::Paste From File...

Pastes the contents of a plain ASCII file or a Urdu Composing System (UCS extension file) at the current  Caret position, using the current font, paragraph and indents settings.

Position the Caret and then choose Paste From File command.


Edit::Select All  (Ctrl + A)

The Layout Mode, chooses all the items of the current page.

In  Text Mode, chooses the entire.text of the current block.

Note:Make a block current, by Clicking inside it.


Edit::Find... (F2)

Locates the occurrence of a particular sequence of letters (words) in the document, commencing from the current position of the Caret. You can enter, both, Urdu and English words. Use the Radio Buttons to choose either Urdu or English Find.

This commands places the Cursor on the first occurrence of the given sequence of letters. To find the next occurrence, use Find Again command


Edit::Find Again  (F3)

Locates the next occurrence of the sequence of letters specified in the previous Find.. operation.


Edit::Replace... (F4)

Finds a sequence of letters (words) in the document and replaces them with another specified sequence. Enter the sequences of the letters to be found and the sequence to be substituted with. You can specify the script by choosing either Urdu or English Radio Button.

The PageComposer 2 prompts the user before the actual substitution.


Edit Replace Again... (F5)

Replaces the next occurrence of the letters as specified in the previous Replace operation.

The PageComposer 2 prompts the user before the actual substitution.


Edit::Check Spelling... (F6)

Checks the spellings of the document starting from where the  Caret  is placed. For each word not found in the internal dictionary of the PageComposer 2, the user is prompted to either skip the word, add the word to the dictionary or end Spell Checking.


Edit::Insert Object...

Inserts an OLE object on the page. Read the article (How do I use ... Use OLE?).

The standard OLE Insert Object dialog is presented.

There are two ways that a user can place an OLE object on the current page.

First, a new object can be created by choosing one of the several OLE servers listed in the dialog box.

Second, an existing OLE objects file can placed on the page by first choosing Create From File and then choosing the filename for the OLE object (like a BMP file) from the existing files on the system.

If you choose to place the object as a link, then the actual objects data is not stored by the document file.

PageComposer 2. Instead, only its reference (as a filename) is stored. This cuts down on the storage requirement of your  PageComposer 2  files. On the other hand, if you forget to copy the linked files, while moving your PageComposer 2 files, from one system to another, you will not be able to display the linked items on the page.

To edit an OLE object on the page, just double-Click on it.


View::Keyboard

Displays the current Keyboard Press Ctrl+K


View::Toolbar

Use this command to display and hide the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in PageComposer, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.

See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.


Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in <<YourApp>>,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

Click	To

Open a new document.

Open an existing document.  PageComposer displays the Open dialog box, in which you can locate and open the desired file.

Save the active document or template with its current name.  If you have not named the document, PageComposer displays the Save As dialog box.

Remove selected data from the document and stores it on the clipboard.

Copy the selection to the clipboard.

Insert the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point.

Print the active document.

 	Displays the about the author details.

Click this icon for help.

Select the Arrow Cursor to Select the item on the page.

Select the I-Cursor to Edit.

Create line with this icon.

Create rectangle with this icon.

Create circle with this icon.

Create rounded rect with this icon.


View::Statusbar

Displays or hides the Status Bar. The Status Bar displays the current Page number, Font and Style.

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.

See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the PageComposer window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.

The right areas of the status bar indicate which of the following keys are latched down:

Indicator	Description

PAGENO	Display Page No.

FONT	Display current Font size and Font name.

STYLE	Display current style.


View::Column Guides

Displays or hides the Column Guides. The Column Guides are created by Layout Columns


View::User Guides

Displays or hides the User Placed Guides. The User Guides are created by dragging them out of the rulers.

To remove the User Guides, drag them outside the page outline.


View::Lock Guides

Locks Guides so that the user does not move them by mistake. You should lock the guides if your page layout is going to remain constant.


View::200%

Sets the detailed view to 200% of the actual size. Use this for fine alignment and text placement.

Change to  full page view  by Clicking the right Mouse Button in the detailed view.

To see a particular part of the page in detailed view, move the Mouse Cursor over that part and right Click the Mouse Button again.


View::100%

Sets the detailed view to 100% . This is approximately the size of the physical page on a 14 display of 1024 by 768 resolution. The actual view will vary, depending upon the display size, etc.

Change to full page view by Clicking the right Mouse Button in the detailed view.

To see a particular part of the page in detailed view, move the Mouse Cursor over that part and right Click the Mouse Button again.


View::50%

This is the default detailed view settings. Use it for most of your text editing work.

Change to full page view by Clicking the right Mouse Button in the detailed view.

The see a particular part of the page in detailed view, move the Mouse Cursor over that part and right Click the Mouse Button again.


View::25%

Sets the detailed view settings to 25% of the actual size. Use this for placement/viewing of bigger objects.

Change to full page view by Clicking the right Mouse Button in the detailed view.

The see a particular part of the page in detailed view, move the Mouse Cursor over that part and right Click the Mouse Button again.


Layout::Columns...

Sets the Column Guides on the page. Specify the number of columns to be created and the amount of gap to be left between the columns. Creates equally spaced column guides on the current page.

To create columns of uneven widths, first create the columns as above and then drag the column guides to create unevenly spaced Columns.

If columns are created on the master page, then every new page inserted will also carry the same column settings.

To edit text in a column, switch to Text Mode, by Clicking on the T icon, and Click inside the column. Now you can type/edit the text inside that column. If the Layout::Autoflow is ticked ON, then, once the text in one column is full, it will overflow to the next column. (Additional pages are created if the text flows beyond the last column of the last page.)The units of measure are displayed as a number followed by the units of measure


Layout::Size...

See and modify the size of a selected item on the page. The measurement appear in the units selected in the dialog of File::Preferences.

The units of measure are displayed as a number followed by the units of measure.

These units of measure can be inches, centimeters, millimeters, points or picas. You can override the current units of measure by suffixing the measurements with its units. Certain examples of entering the units of measurements in the  PageComposer  2 are:- 2.5in, .5pt, 23.43cm, 20.8pc, 34mm . The invalid ones being:- in1.2 (the in should appear after the number), 27 mm (there is a space between the number and the units of measure).

The valid units of measure are:-

in 	Inches

cm	Centimeters

mm 	Millimeters

pc	Picas (1/6th of an inch)

pt	Points (1/72th of an inch


Layout::Insert Pages...

Inserts a number of pages either before or after the current page. You can add any number of pages (upto a maximum of 999). Add pages as and when required. Unnecessarily adding empty pages may slow down the  PageComposer 2s  performance.


Layout ::Remove Pages...

Remove a number of pages either before or after the current page. All the items of the pages that are being removed are deleted, except for the text in the linked Text Blocks The text of the removed linked blocks is automatically pushed into the nex linked Text Blocks of the following pages.


Layout::Goto Page... (Ctrl + G)

Changes the current page. The current page number is also displayed on the bottom status bar.


Layout::Goto Master Page

Makes the Master Page your current page. All items placed on the master page are printed on every page of the document.

The Master page is a special page. Its contents are visible and printed on every page of the document.

It is preferable to place the Headers, Footers, Page Numbering markers, etc. on the Master Page, as well as Guides on the Master Page, for achieving consistent layout of all pages.


Layout::Autoflow

Autoflow enables the  PageComposer 2  to automatically place text in Multiple Text Blocks , forming Columns on each page and adding on pages as necessary. The multiple Text Blocks will be linked to each other as a running text.

To manually create Text Blocks linked to an existing Text Block, choose a  Text Block in the Layout Mode and Click on its Lower Handle. The Mouse Cursor will turn into a Column Shaped Cursor. With this Column Cursor, Click inside the column guides to create continuation columns.The Column Cursor will disappear after each operation.

With the Column Cursor, you can also draw a rectangle, of any size/shape anywhere on the column(s) to mark the area of the  Continuation Linked Text Block.

To create multiple Text Blocks, hold Down the Shift Key. Then move the Column Cursor on to the any column and Click. Text will flow into that column. Similarly, multiple Text Blocks can be created, till such time the Shift Key remains pressed.( The Column Cursor will be retained, till such time the Shift Key remains pressed).


Layout::Snap to Guides

Turn on the Snap to Guides, if you wish to automatically align all your items to User Guides and Column Guides.


Layout::Fill...

Select the Fill settings for a selected Rectangle, Circle or Rounded Rectangle and Future Drawing.

The Fill setting consists of a pattern and a color.

Choose -none as the pattern, if you wish to keep the shape hollow. (Which means it will be transparent and the item behind it will be visible).

If you choose a color, the Pattern setting is automatically taken to be Solid. You can specify a pattern as well as color.

On Clicking OK on the Fill Dialog box, the attributes of the shape, if already selected, will change to that of the new setting.


Layout::Line...

Select the Line Drawing settings for a Selected Line, Rectangle, Circle or Rounded Rectangle and Future Drawing.

The Line setting consists of specifying widths of two lines, the intervening space and the line color.

To draw a simple line, keep the second line width zero.

To draw a double line, make the second line width and the spacing a non-zero value.

The lines widths and spacing are best specified in Points sizes

On Clicking OK on the Fill Dialog, the attributes of the shape, if already selected, will change to that of the new setting.


Layout::Text Wrap...

Make the text of the page wrap around the selected item. When an items text wrap is switched ON, then text of the page doesnt flow over the item.

Specify a stand-off margin so that the text flow stops some distance from the edges of the item.

When you move a text-wrapped item on the page to a new location, the text doesnt automatically reflow. To trigger the text flow of a particular  Text Block around the text-wrapping item, change the  Text Blocks size slightly. By manually triggering the text flow, you can choose the text which should avoid the item or be wrapped.


Layout::Send to Back  (Ctrl + B)

Sends the selected item to the back of the page. All the other overlapping items appear on top of that item.


Layout::Bring to Front  (Ctrl + F)

Brings the selected item to the front of the page. All the other overlapping items appear under that item.

Whenever you select a frame, it is automatically brought to the top. This command is included basically for compatibility with the other software.


Text::Font... (Ctrl + T)

Changes the current fonts settings.The font setting can be changed either for the text to be entered, after effecting the font change or only the selected portion.  In the latter case, the new font specifications will apply to the highlighted text only.

Two typefaces, one in Urdu and the other in the English, can specified in the font settings. Both the typefaces can have individual type sizes. This is to facilitate working with fonts as a pair of Urdu/English combination

The PageComposer 2 does not accept the non-TrueType Windows fonts.

The TrueType fonts can be specified as - bold, italics or underlined. The Urdu fonts can also be specified by their width and slant.

The Urdu Fonts cannot have Bold and italics as attributes. This is, because the calligraphic content will suffer if the fonts are made bold or italicised. The compositor is, nevertheless, called upon to set the text in in a condensed or slanted form . For such purposes, use Slant and Width attributes of the Font dialog.

 A width and slant of 100% is the normal recommeded setting. To make the font look narrower or broader, the width maybe varied between 1 and 250%. Similiarly, the font maybe slanted by +100 to -100 (toward left and right espectively).

A color can also be specified for each font


Text::Left  (Ctrl + Shift + L)

Aligns and sets the current paragraph and alignment to the Left. If text is selected, all the paragraphs within the text selection are Left aligned.


Text::Right  (Ctrl + Shift + R)

Aligns and sets the current paragraph and alignment to the Right. If text is selected, all the paragraphs within the text selection are Right aligned.


Text::Center  (Ctrl +Shift + C)

Aligns and sets the current paragraph and alignment to the Center. If Text is selected, all the paragraphs within the Text selection are Center aligned.


Text::Forced Justify  (Ctrl + Shift + J)

Sets the current alignment to Force Justified. This aligns the current paragraph to expand every  line to both the edges of the selected Text Blocks. It also sets the current alignment to Force Justify.


Text::Justification  (Ctrl + Shift + J)

Turns Justification ON/OFF. Toggles the current and paragraph Justification setting. If the Justification is turned ON, then all lines of the paragraph entered but the last line of the paragraph, are justified. If text is selected, justification for all the paragraphs within the selection is toggled.


Text::Para... (Ctrl + Shift + M)

Sets the current paragraph attributes in Text Mode and that of the selected paragraphs.

The following attributes can be set/changed for every paragraph :-

Alignment: The text can be aligned Left, Right, Centered or Forced to Justify.

Justification: Line justification  can be turned ON/OFF.

Right to Left/Left to Right flow: Set the overall flow direction of the text.

Always on the Top: With this attribute ON, the selected or current paragraph(s) will always appear at the top of a fresh  Text Block(s).

Always at the Bottom: With this attribute ON, the selected or current paragraph(s) will always appear at the bottom of the subsequent Text Block(s).

Space Above the Paragraph: The vertical space to be left above the paragraph.

Space Below the Paragraph: The vertical space to be left below the paragraph.


Text::Indents... (Ctrl + I)

Sets / changes the indents of the current paragraph in Text Mode  or the selected paragraphs, if text is selected.

The following indents can be specified:-

First Line: The space to be left before the first word of the paragraph(s).

Left: The space to be left on the left hand side of each line of the paragraph(s).

Right: The space to be left on the right hand side of each line of the paragraph(s).

Units of measurments

These units of measure can be:- inches (in), centimeters (cm), millimeters (mm), points (pt) or picas (pc). You can override the current units of measure by suffixing the desired one; enter the number, followed by the unit of measure, without space. For instance, the following are valid measurements:- 2.5in, .5pt, 23.43cm, 20.8pc, 34mm, but not : - in1.2 (the in should come after the number) or          27 mm ( there is a space between the number and the units of measure).

The valid units of measure are:-

in 	Inches

cm	Centimeters

mm 	Millimeters

pc	Picas (1/6th of an inch)

pt	Points (1/72th of an inch


Text::Tabs...

Sets / changes the tabs of the current paragraph in Text Mode  or the selected paragraphs, if text is selected.

Upto eight tabs can be specified. The  PageComposer 2  will assign a default tab setting, otherwise. The default setting is quite adequate for most of the tabulation work.

Each tab is specified as a width in the current units of measure.


Text::Define Styles... (Ctrl + 3)

You can define a number of text Styles. Each text style has to be assigned a user defined name. Each style defines the exclusive attributes of the text, such as the Font, point sizes, Paragraph attributes, Indents, etc., for English and non-English typefaces .

By defining the settings of a style, you automatically affect the format, font,indents, and paragraph settings of all the paragraph(s) which the style was applied to.

A style can be applied to a paragraph in the manner similar to that of the font.

To create a new style, select an existing style name and Click on  New  Button. Enter the name of the  New Style  in the Add New Style  dialog. The New Style name will appear in the  Styles List  box., but with the settings of the previous one being retained.

To modify the existing style settings, select the New style name from the list box and choose Font, Paragraph and / or Indents, to edit the respective aspects of the Style.


Text::Styles... (Ctrl + Y)

Select a Style from the style dialog. The selected style is made the current style. It will be applied to the current paragraph, if in Text Mode and to the current selection, if text is selected.


Text::Left to Right  (Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow Key)

Sets the overall paragraph text direction, from left to right. Use it for English text or English text with Urdu/Arabic/Persian in it.

Applies to the current paragraph, if in  Text Mode and the current selection, if text is selected.


Text::Right To Left  (Ctrl + Shift + Left arrow Key)

Sets the overall paragraph text direction, from right to left. Use it for Urdu/Arabic/Persian text.

Applies to the current paragraph, if in  Text Mode and the current selection, if text is selected


Window::New

Use this command to open a new window with the same contents as the active window.  You can open multiple document windows to display different parts or views of a document at the same time.  If you change the contents in one window, all other windows containing the same document reflect those changes.  When you open a new window, it becomes the active window and is displayed on top of all other open windows.


Window::Cascade

Arranges all the windows of the  PageComposer 2  in a neat, overlapping manner. The title bars of each window will be distinctly visible.


Window::Tile

Rearranges all the windows of the  PageComposer 2. None will overlap the other. All the windows will be of the same size.


Window::Arrange Icons

Use this command to arrange the icons for minimized windows at the bottom of the main window.  If there is an open document window at the bottom of the main window, then some or all of the icons may not be visible because they will be underneath this document window.


1, 2, ... command (Window menu)

PageComposer displays a list of currently open document windows at the bottom of the Window menu.  A check mark appears in front of the document name of the active window.  Choose a document from this list to make its window active.


Help::Index

Displays a list of Help topics. You can find information about any of the listed topics by Clicking on it.


Help::Using Help

Provides Help in how to use the help facility of PageComposer 2


Help::About

Displays the Copyright information and other details on  PageComposer 2


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of <<YourApp>>.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the <<YourApp>> window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Title Bar

The title bar is located along the top of a window.  It contains the name of the application and document.

To move the window, drag the title bar.  Note: You can also move dialog boxes by dragging their title bars.

A title bar may contain the following elements:

Application Control-menu button

Document Control-menu button

Maximize button

Minimize button

Name of the application

Name of the document

Restore button


Scroll bars

Displayed at the right and bottom edges of the document window.  The scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.  You can use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the document.


Size command (System menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Drag the size bars at the corners or edges of the window.


Move command (Control menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F7


System Minimize Command
Minimize command (application Control menu)

Use this command to reduce the PageComposer window to an icon.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the minimize icon [image] on the title bar.

Keys:	ALT+F9


Maximize command (System menu)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the maximize icon [image] on the title bar; or double-click the title bar.

Keys:	CTRL+F10 enlarges a document window.


Next Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the next open document window.  PageComposer determines which window is next according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F6


Previous Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the previous open document window.  <<YourApp>> determines which window is previous according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+CTRL+F6


Close command (Control menus)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single document, the Close command on the document Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.

Shortcuts

Keys: 	CTRL+F4 closes a document window

ALT+F4 closes the <<YourType>> window or dialog box


Restore command (Control menu)

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Switch to command (application Control menu)

Use this command to display a list of all open applications.  Use this "Task List" to switch to or close an application on the list.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+ESC

Dialog Box Options

When you choose the Switch To command, you will be presented with a dialog box with the following options:

Task List

Select the application you want to switch to or close.

Switch To

Makes the selected application active.

End Task

Closes the selected application.

Cancel

Closes the Task List box.

Cascade

Arranges open applications so they overlap and you can see each title bar.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Tile

Arranges open applications into windows that do not overlap.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons of all minimized applications across the bottom of the screen.


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.


How do I Edit Text ?

Creating  Text Blocks

The PageComposer 2 organizes text into  Text Blocks.

The create a  Text Block, change to  Text Mode and Click at any point on the page.

A blinking  Caret will appear. Now, you can start typing.The text will appear following the  Caret.

The standard  Text Blocks are created as Columns between the Column guides of the page.  To create a  Text Block of a particular size, instead of Clicking, draw a rectangle with the Mouse Cursor in  Text Mode.

Typing text in English and non-English scripts (e.g. Urdu/Arabic/Persian, etc.)

Use Alt + L to switch between the scripts.

Although each script follows its own direction of writing (for instance, Arabic is written from right to left and English, left to right), it is essential to manually set the direction of overall text flow. This will indicate to the  PageComposer 2  whether English is being mixed in an Arabic text or vise-versa.

Set the over-all paragraph direction by choosing either Left to Right or Right to Left options in the Text menu.

Note: The respective Keyboard short cuts are: Ctrl+Shift + Right and Ctrl + Shift + Left.

Choosing Fonts

The PageComposer 2 provides you with a powerful facility for choosing English and a non-English typefaces as a combination, as if for a single font. For instance, you may wish to work with Mukkaram in 13pt (Arabic) font, with  the English text being in Arial - 10pts. This gives you a powerful way choosing any combination of the typefaces of the two languages in use

.

Choose Fonts  from Text menu or use Ctrl + T to access the fonts dialog box.

Also see

Text::Left,

Text::Right,

Text::Center,

Text::Force Justify

Text::Justification,

Text::Para,

Text::Indents,

Text::Tabss,

Edit::Copy,

Edit::Cut,

Edit::Paste,

Edit::Undo,

Edit::Replace,

Edit::Find.


How do I Insert text from other files ?

PageComposer 2 has two simple ways of inserting text from other files.

1. Using the  Clipboard.

Open the file in whichever program you had originally created it in and copy all the text to the  Clipboard; by using that programs Copy command. Place the  Caret wherever you wish to begin inserting the text in the PageComposer 2 document and choose Paste from the edit menu (Ctrl + V).

2. Paste From File

PageComposer 2 allows you to directly choose plain ASCII text files and files created by Computer Corporations  Urdu Composing System/1  or its clones (for Urdu/Arabic/Persian software).

Place the  Caret where you want the text to be inserted.

From Edit menu, choose Paste from File.

From the files dialog box, choose the file to be placed.

Click on OK.


How do I Make Text Flow into Columns ?

PageComposer 2 makes it very easy to flow text into columns.

Automatically Flowing Text into Columns and Pages

To type text that should flow into one column after another, proceed as follows:-

Turn on the Autoflow option in the Layout menu, by choosing it once

Click inside any column on the page.

Type or paste text. The text will automatically flow into multiple columns, creating  Text Blocks in each one. Additional pages are automatically added, if necessary.

Manually Flow Text into Multiple Columns and  Text Blocks.

Turn Off the Autoflow option in the Layout menu (the check mark against it should disappear).

Switch to Layout mode.

Select the Text Block by Clicking inside it.

Click on its lower Handle. The Mouse Cursor will now resemble a text column.

Move the Mouse Cursor to where-ever you want the next column to be created and release the text column Cursor, by Clicking again. You could also change the page by Page Up or Page Down Key to place the next column onto another page).

To create more than one column, hold the shift Key Down, while Clicking with the text column Cursor. In this manner, you can create multiple  Text Blocks., without releasing the text column Cursor.


How do I Automatically Number the Pages ?

Position the caret at the exact point on the page where you wish to place the page numbers.

Type Alt + N to invoke the  Page Number Marker. The current page number will be displayed.

The page numbers will be printed at the designated location on each page of your document.


How do I Compose Poetry ?

Poetry is one of the toughest jobs for a compositor. Aesthetics play a major role in. formatting it.

.

Poetry requires lines of equal length. You can do this by changing the alignment of the whole poem to Forced Justify. Further, you may also wish to place the couplets on the left and right side, alternately. This is easily done, by indenting the alternate couplet, to left and right side, equally.

At times, a particular line may not fit all the words. Some words may spill over to the next line. To remedy this, either increase the Text Block size, by dragging its Handles, or decrease the overall font size.

There is a special character which you can use for the Takhallus ( poets pseudonym ). This differs from Keyboard to Keyboard. Check your Keyboard layout for this special character.


How do I Compose Advertisements ?

Advertisements are more complicated than regular composing work.

An advertisement. is an arrangement of :-

1. Various  Text Blocks

2. Pictures (which you can paste from the Clipboard or Insert).

3. Shapes and figures - Lines, Rectangles, Circles

Alignment and proper layout are very important in an advertisement. To achieve this, it is better to create advertisements as a separate document and then Copy and Paste it to where-ever required.

Extensively use Guides to suitably align all the items of an advertisement.

Should you wish to to create complex layouts, it will be possible to overlap items, one  over the other.

To copy a complete advertisement:-,

1. Change to Layout Mode.

2. Select the entire advertisement, by drawing a rectangle, enclosing all the items of the advertisement.

3. Choose Copy from Edit menu.


How do I Compose Magazines ?

Magazines typically have between 20 to 200 pages.  They are usually printed in sizes between demi and A4, with either a two or three column format. Each magazine has a typical text and heading style.

With these aspects in mind, it is better to determine the style first and then create a blank document, with the page size, page margins and columns. Also create the Text Styles for the body text and standard headings.  Setup the headers, footers and Page Number Markers  on the Master Page of the blank document. Creat a file of this doc.for future use

We suggest that, for each issue of your magazine, you can open this blank file, save it under a different name for each issue, and compose your magazine in it.

The ads can be stored in separate files, and from there, Pasted into the document being composed. This will save on time, obviously.

You will have to separately compose the list of contents, once the rest of the magazine is ready.This is  because, until then, you would not know the page wise location of the various articles.


How do I Compose Newspapers ?

Newspapers are required to be composed quickly and with ease.

With these aspects in mind,we suggest that, it is better to determine the style first and then create a blank document, with the Page Size, page margins and Columns (usually 8 columns of 45 mm each.) Also create the Text Styles for the body text and standard headings. of a single, double and triple column news. Setup the  headers, footers and Page Number Markers on the master page of the blank document. Create a file of this document for future use

We also suggest that, for each issue of your, news paper, you can open this blank file, save it under a different name for each issue, and compose your news paper in it.

The advertisements can be stored in separate files, and from there, Pasted into the document being composed. This will save on time, obviously

Use the Urdu Text Editor, especially provided for editing stories, as a separate UCS file.

Keep the AutoflowOFF and Manually Flow each news item.


How do I Compose Books?

Each book will require a different font, size, etc. Books are generally published in a single column format, unless the page size is close to  A4. In such cases, it would be better to split the page into two columns. Otherwise, the columns will be too wide for comfortable reading.

Sets-up the Styles for body text, sub-headings and headings. Use the Paragraph Setting - Always on Top of the Column, to break the text into chapters.

Set up the Master Page to display the book name and the Page Number on each page of the book.


How do I Use Styles ?

You can optimally exploit the potential of the  PageComposer 2,  by learning to use  Styles. You can then achieve a consistent and a clean layout of all your publications.

We suggest that, you classify the text into various categories, such as, the Headlines, Body Matter, Sub-headings, etc., and then create Styles for each category. By applying a typical style to the respective part of your document text, you can change the respective Format, by modifying its Style setting.

See Also Text::Style, Text::Define Styles


How do I Use Guides ?

Guides are non-printing lines on the page that help you align the various items on it.

There are two types of guides:

1. Column guides: These guides are created by Columns option of Layout menu. You can move the column guides by dragging them with left Button on the Mouse.

2. User Guides: These are created by dragging them out of the Horizontal or Vertical Rulers. You can remove these Guides by dragging them outside the page.

If the Snap to Guides option of the Layout menu is ON, then the items align themselves to the guide that is closer.


How do I Use OLE ?

OLE is a very powerful way of using the PageComposer 2. With OLE, you can insert items created by any of the thousands of OLE compatible programs. Almost all the standard Windows programs now support OLE.

To a create new item using any of the OLE programs, proceed as follows:-

Choose Insert Object from the Edit menu. Choose an OLE program that you wish to use. For instance, you can choose MS-Word to create an English text item or PaintBrush to create a simple picture. The PageComposer 2 will automatically launch the OLE program chosen. Once you have completed editing the new OLE item, select File::Exit to get back to the  PageComposer 2.

The OLE item will now appear on the page; approximately two inches from the top left hand side of the page. Move the item where you wish to place it .Re-size it, by dragging its Handle.

To further edit the OLE item on the page, double Click on it.This will launch the program which originally created the OLE object.

You can also place files that were created by OLE server programs.

To place a file as an OLE item:-

1. Choose Insert Object from the Edit menu. Choose Create from file in the dialog.

2. From the list of files displayed, choose the file to be placed on the page and Click OK.

The files contents will now appear on the page (approximately two inches from the top left hand side of the page).


How do I Make Headlines ?

Headlines require a more precise word and letter placement than the regular text.

To create a headline, first mark a new  Text Block. Type in the text using the required font and size.

To move words closer to each other, use Ctrl + Backspace

To move words away from each other, use Ctrl + Space.


How do I Draw Rectangles, Circles and Lines ?

You can use the Drawing tools available in the toolbar just below the menu.

Choose the correct Line and Fill settings before drawing them.


How do I Print Pages Bigger than the Printers Page Size.

A page size that is bigger than that of the printer, cannot be printed as a whole.The problem can be solved by printing one part at a time and then sticking.

To print only a part of the page at a time:-

1. Switch to Layout mode.

2. Select a part of the page by drawing a Rectangle with the Arrow Cursor     around that area of the page. (Be sure that all the elements of the page are selected.)

3. Choose Print from File Menu or Click on the printer icon.

4. Choose Selection Button in the Print dialog. Click on OK.


Modes of Operation

The PageComposer 2 operates in two modes:-

1. Text Mode

Use the Text Mode to select with the Keyboard or the Mouse, Edit or Format Text.

To Change to Text Mode, Click on the T icon in the Toolbar.

2. Layout Mode

Use the Layout Mode to Move Size Cut/Copy/ Paste the Text Blocks, Circles, Lines, Rectangles, OLE Objects, etc.,on the page. To change to Layout Mode, Click on the Arrow icon in the Toolbar.


How do I Draw Rectangles, Circles and Lines ?

You can use the Drawing tools available in the toolbar just below the menu.

Choose the correct Line and Fill settings before drawing them.


How do I Draw Rectangles, Circles and Lines ?

You can use the Drawing tools available in the toolbar just below the menu.

Choose the correct Line and Fill settings before drawing them.


How do I Draw Rectangles, Circles and Lines ?

You can use the Drawing tools available in the toolbar just below the menu.

Choose the correct Line and Fill settings before drawing them.