Rockford! 4.0 Help For Complete Instructions, see ROCKFORD.WRI NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 4.0 Click and Drag to Position Text Instantly Use Custom Colors for Text and Line Art Now supports WMF Clip Art files Undo for Most Commands Custom Card and Card Stock Sizes (European Too) Transparent Screen Graphics Show Underlying Text Improved Printing Speed and Error Handling LICENSE INFORMATION This is the UNREGISTERED version of Rockford! 4.0. You may use this version for a trial period of up to 30 days. After that time, if you continue to use the program, you must pay for your copy and register. To access an order blank, select OsoSoft Program Info from the Help Menu. Rockford! and all associated files and documentation are Copyright 1991-1995, by OsoSoft. All Rights Reserved. SUPPORT INFO OsoSoft 1472 Sixth Street Los Osos, CA 93402 Voice: (805) 528-1759 OsoSoft BBS: (805) 528-3753 OsoSoft FAX: (805) 528-3074 CompuServe: 74774,442 On CompuServe, visit the OsoSoft Support Section. Just GO OSOSOFT. INTERNATIONAL NOTES Due to a flaw in Windows 3.x, you must use U.S. style numerical notation when using Rockford! . Otherwise dimensions will be lost when card files are saved, then reloaded. To change to this notation, double-click the International icon in the Windows Control Panel, click the Number Format button, then change your settings to use a comma (,) as a thousands separator and a period (.) as a decimal separator. EDITING AND DISPLAY WINDOWS You'll see two windows on the screen. At the top is the text-editing window. Here, you'll enter and edit all the text to be included on your card. Just below it is another window, where a WYSIWYG display of your card appears. You can't edit directly in this window, although many functions operate by clicking in this window. EDITING TEXT Rockford! 's text box works much like your Windows word processing program. You can simply type your text in the box, pressing to move to a new line. To position the cursor in your text, use the cursor keys or click the mouse pointer where you want to type. If you select text by dragging with the mouse, new text you type replaces the selected text. The WYSIWYG display updates when you press or perform any formatting command. When you're entering text, all attributes continue from line to line when you press the key. When you delete lines, remaining text maintains its formatting. You are limited to 80 lines of text in Rockford! . NOTE: Rockford! depends on the selected text line for all formatting. Before performing any formatting operation, select the line of text you want to format by positioning the cursor on that line in the text window. COMMAND REFERENCE LEFT SIDE COMMAND BUTTONS THE TEXT GROUP [Edit]--This button returns the cursor to the text editing box. Since Rockford! normally returns control to this box, you'll rarely, if ever, have to click this button. [Click to Move Text]--This command lets you move text instantly to any position. To use this check box, position your cursor in the text box on the line of text you want to move. Then click this command. Now, click in the WYSIWYG display and drag the resulting box to the location where you want the text to appear. NOTE: with some line formats, like rotated text, the box will not reflect the actual angle or size of the text, but the upper left corner will be accurately positioned. Also, you cannot click inside a graphic image to move text, although you can later drag the text over the image. [TextColor]--Rockford! 3.5 can now print text in color on color printers. To choose a color, first place your text box cursor on the line you want to change. Then click a color bar. [Custom]--Click this button to use the Windows standard custom color dialog box, choose one of the color selections or click Define Custom Colors to create a new color. Depending on your monitor setup, custom colors may not appear on the screen exactly as they will print. Experiment with sample printouts to get just the color you want. THE CARD GROUP [Update]--This button updates the WYSIWYG display. To improve performance, some commands used in Rockford! do not automatically update this display. If you carry out a command and the screen does not update properly, simply click this button. [Clear]--This button clears your current card from the screen and from memory. You'll be asked to confirm this command in a dialog box. [Grid]--This button overlays a grid on the WYSIWYG display, to help you position text and graphics. The grid has divisions of .1-inch, with full inch lines in bold. Click the button again to remove the grid. Use this feature with clip art and when using custom alignment. [Print Sheet]--Use this command to instantly a sheet of cards. It's the same as the Print Sheet command in the File Menu. [Print One]--This command prints a single test card for layout checking. RIGHT SIDE COMMANDS TEXT ATTRIBUTES [Line]--Displays the current line number, as determined by the position of your cursor in the text editing box. [Dupe Previous]--This button allows you to repeat the formatting of the line above the current line. This is useful whenever you want duplicate formats on several lines. Just format any line, then move to the next line and click this button. All line formatting attributes will be duplicated. When typing, pressing automatically copies the previous line's formatting. [Font]--This drop-down list box displays the current font, and allows you to change a line to another font. Click on the arrow to drop down the font selection list. Scroll through the list, then click on your font selection. [Size]--Displays the current size for the text on the current line. Click the arrow to drop down a list of available font sizes for the line. Sizes range from 4 to 72 points, in one-point intervals for the smaller fonts. HINT: Changing the font size of a blank line affects line spacing. Use this trick to adjust line spacing in 1-point intervals. NOTE: Due to the way Windows operates, TrueType fonts smaller than 8.75 points may display in a different font and show incorrect spacing. These fonts, however, will print in the correct font and size. Use a sample printout for testing. [Align]--This control affects the alignment of the selected line. To change, click the arrow, then select your option. You can choose left or right aligned, centered, split lines, or set a customized horizontal and vertical position. HINT: When using customized line positions, apply these to lines at the bottom of the card's text to avoid later misalignments in normal lines. NOTE: For split lines, insert a tilde (~) in the text box where you want the line to split. Rockford! will automatically separate the two halves of the line. You cannot insert internal formatting codes in split lines. Lines are split with the left half aligned with the left margin and the right half aligned with the right margin. [Style]--Four check boxes control text attributes for the entire line. You can select more than one style for any line. Clicking [Normal] removes all other style settings. [Rev.]--This option prints the current line in white type on a black background. You cannot use this option on split or rotated lines or when using inserted formatting commands. You can, however use any of the other text attributes with this feature. NOTE: Print a test card to make sure you're getting what you want. [Rotate]--Rockford! now lets you rotate text up to 90 degrees in either direction. Start by selected the line to rotate, as you normally do, then click this button. Use the scroll bars in the dialog box that appears to set a rotation angle, then click [Accept] to apply the rotation. You can also click [No Change] to keep the current rotation or [Default] to return to normal alignment. TIP: Combine rotation with the [Click to Move Text] feature to position rotated text wherever you want it. THE CLIP ART GROUP [AddArt]--Opens a dialog box for loading .BMP, .WMF or .PCX clip art images. Rockford! supports black and white or color images up to 256 colors. To see a preview of an image, click once on the filename. To load the image, double-click the file or click OK. Rockford! will automatically select either the first or second clip art image, and position it in the WYSIWYG display. TIP: If your desired clip art image appears much too large or small, edit it in a graphics program to make it approximately the correct size before importing it into your card. [HideArt]--A new command, this button temporarily removes all clip art and line drawing art from the WYSIWYG display. Since Rockford! can overlay text on a graphic or line art object, use this command to help you see text position better if it is obscured by a clip art image. When clip art is hidden, a dotted box shows its location for alignment purposes. When you click this command, its caption changes to [ShowArt]. Clicking it again will redisplay your graphics. [Delete]--Removes the currently-selected clip art image. [Option Buttons]--Selects one of the two clip art images. You may select by clicking the button, or by double-clicking on the image itself. You must select an image before acting on it. Options are PIC 1 and PIC 2. Normally, PIC 1 is on the left side of the card, and PIC 2 is on the right side of the card. When selected, a thin border will appear around the image. [Scale]--Use this control to resize a selected clip art image. Remember, the command only affects the image selected with the option buttons. For small changes, click the arrows. Click between the arrows for larger changes. The image always stays in proportion. You can scale images between 10% to 500% of the original size. Moving a Clip Art Image You can move a clip art image by dragging it around the screen with the mouse. To do this, first select the image you want to move by clicking the appropriate option button in the Clip Art Group, or by double-clicking on the image itself. When the image is selected, a thin border appears around the image. With the image selected, click the left mouse button somewhere outside of the image. The image will instantly move, with its upper, left corner at the position where you clicked. Then, with the mouse button held down, you can drag the image to a new location. The new location is stored with the card when you save. If you try to drag the image by first clicking on the image, a message will appear telling you to click outside the image. For precise positioning, try turning on the [Grid] display before positioning the image. THE LINE DRAWING GROUP [Object]--This drop-down list box allows you to select an individual object for editing. If you do line drawings, each line, box, or circle gets an object number, which appears near the object. Select the object you want to modify in this list box. [Width]--This box controls the width of line drawing elements. Widths range from 1 to 24 pixels on the screen, which translates roughly to point measurements on the printer. If you change the current setting, it will affect the current object, if present, or the next object you draw. [Draw]--This check box enables line drawing. Click it before creating an object. Rockford! will automatically select the first available object number. [Filled]--This check box appears only when you've drawn or selected a box or circle. If you check it, the box or circle will be filled with the same color used to draw the box. Uncheck it to remove the fill. NOTE: Some printers always draw a solid black box around the object. This can't be prevented, so test your work by printing a sample card. [Line], [Box], [Circle]--These options determine the type of object you want to draw. [LineColor]--This set of color bars lets you set the line and fill color for either a new object or for an existing object picked from the object list. Select the object, then apply a color. The same color is used for both the lines and fill. [Custom]--As with text, you can apply custom colors to your lines, using this command to call the Windows Custom Color dialog box. DRAWING AN OBJECT To draw an object in the WYSIWYG screen, first select the type of object ([Line] [Box] [Circle]), then set the width for the lines used to draw the object, and the color for that object. Next click on the [Draw] checkbox. Move the mouse pointer inside the WYSIWYG display. While holding the left button down, drag the mouse pointer to a new location. A rubber-band image of your object will appear as you draw. Draw slowly for best results. When the object is approximately the right size, release the left mouse button to place your object on the screen. A number will appear next to the object to identify it. You can move or size any object later. TIP: Rockford! automatically converts all lines drawn at small angles to either horizontal or vertical straight lines. Lines drawn at other angles will maintain their angle. [Move], [Size] Options--These two options determine whether the scroll bars (see below) move or size the current object. [Scroll Bars]--Horizontal and vertical scroll bars control positioning of graphical elements. Depending on which of the option buttons above is selected, you can move or scale all graphical objects in .005 inch increments. MOVING AN OBJECT Start by selecting the object in the [Object] list box. Next, click on the [Move] option button. To move the object in .005" increments, click on the [Up], [Down], [Left], or [Right] arrows on the appropriate scroll bar. To move the object in .05" increments, click the scroll bar regions between the arrows and the position button on the scroll bar. To move the object in larger increments, click and drag the thumb on either scroll bar. SCALING A LINE DRAWING OBJECT First, select the object you want to resize, then click the [Size] option button. Then use the scroll bars as described above to alter the size of the object. ERASING LINE ART [Erase Selected]--This button erases the current image, as identified in the [Object] list box. This erasure is permanent. [Erase All]--This button removes all graphical elements from the screen. MENU COMMANDS FILE MENU New Card Design--Clears the current card and sets up for a new design. If a card is already on the screen, you'll be prompted to clear it or abort. Open Card File--Opens an existing .CAR card design file. For simplicity, store your cards in the Rockford! home directory. Save Current Card--Saves the current card with the current filename. The current file will be overwritten without warning. If you're making a different card, use the Save As... command. Save Current Card As...--Lets you save the current design under a different filename. Print Sheet(s) of Cards--This command prints your current cards on the selected card stock. You'll get a full sheet of identical cards or a sheet of cards with different text if you're using the Merge commands. Print Single Test Card--This command prints a single card on plain paper. The card will appear in the top left card position for your card stock. Use this command for fast checking of your design as it will appear when printed, and to test alignment on your printer. Print Color Sample--Every printer handles color differently. Use this command to print samples of text in all the colors shown on the color bar chart. For black and white printers, this will produce shades of gray in most cases. NOTE: If some of the colors print as black on color printers, change the Dithering setting in your Printer Driver, using the Printer Setup command, or add a mark to the Print TrueType Fonts as Graphics in Printer Setup. Printer Setup--Use this command to alter printer settings or to change printers. You'll see the normal Windows Printer Setup dialog box for your printer. When you return to the program, you'll be asked if you want to update your font list. If you changed printers, you should answer Yes to avoid font conflicts. Update Font List--Rockford! handles fonts very well, but there may be times when you need to relist your currently available fonts. This command does that. You probably will never need to use it, since the program rebuilds its font list, if necessary, each time it starts. Exit--Quits Rockford! , with a confirmation box. Click [Yes] to save the current card and exit. Click [No] to exit without saving. Click [Cancel] to return to Rockford! . If you've changed printer settings during your session, you'll be asked if you want to reset printer options. EDIT MENU Undo--Most commands in Rockford! which require more than a single click, can be undone with this Undo command. If you make a change, then decide to go back to a previous state, check this command. If it says Can't Undo, then change back manually. Otherwise, the command will tell you what will be undone. Cut--Removes selected text from the editing box, then stores it in the clipboard. Copy--Sends a copy of selected text to the clipboard. Paste--Copies text from the Windows clipboard to the current cursor location. Insert Special Character--This new command pops up a grid showing all the special, foreign, and symbolic characters available in the currently selected font. Hold down the left mouse button over a character to see an enlarged view. Double-click on a character to add it to the box at the top of the screen. When you click the Insert command, all characters in the box will be inserted at the current cursor location. LAYOUT MENU Rotate Current Line--Like the [Rotate] button, this command displays the text rotation dialog box for the current line. Show Grid--Like the [Grid] button, this overlays a grid on your WYSIWYG display. The grid disappears when you give the command again. Horizontal Card Formats--Displays a menu of horizontal card formats. To select a card format, click on the submenu item which matches the stock you're using, or choose one of the camera-ready options. The WYSIWYG display will change to match the selected format. Vertical Card Formats--Displays a menu of verticall card formats. To select a card format, click on the submenu item which matches the stock you're using, or choose one of the camera-ready options. The WYSIWYG display will change to match the selected format. Custom Card Formats--Rockford! can also create cards in other sizes than 2 x 3.5 inches and on other paper sizes. Use the commands in this menu to create, save and load custom layouts. Commands you can use here are: Show Current Format Settings--Displays the current card format dimensions in inches. If you aren't happy with these settings, you can change them. Create Custom Format--If you want to create a custom format, use this command. Answer the questions in the dialog boxes, measuring accurately. As with all measurments, you may use any measurement system you wish to specify values (see below). Save Custom Format--Once you have a custom formal you like, use this command to store it on disk. Give the format a distinctive name, so you'll be able to load it again later when you want to design new cards. Note that this file stores only the dimensions of the layout, not the contents of the card. You needn't supply a file extension, since Rockford! will add one automatically. [[DISABLED IN SHAREWARE VERSION]] Load Custom Format--This command lets you load a saved custom format. Two custom formats are included with the program, designed to print on the folding card stock sold by Paper Direct and others. When using these, experiment on plain paper to establish the order of printing, etc., to get the effect you want on folding cards. Make notes on the order of printing to avoid confusion later. [[DISABLED IN SHAREWARE VERSION]] Measurement Systems: Normally, you'll enter dimensions in inches (1.5, 2.33, etc.), but you can use any system of measurement by adding an abbreviation after the measurement. This is true any time Rockford! asks for measurements. The abbreviations are, mm for millimeters, cm for centimeters, pt for points and pi for picas. abbreviations can be in upper or lower case, but must follow the number, with or without a space. Valid Examples: 2mm, .21 cm, 2PT, .5 PI Margins--Sets left or top margins separately for text. Choose the appropriate subcommand. Small changes have big effects, so start with small margin measurements. The default is .1 inch. You may use any measurement system, as described below. NOTE: Margins affect only text, and can be overridden by either the Click to Position Text or Custom Alignment options. Use this command to set margins to compensate for pre-printed areas on cards or other stock. Fudge Factors--This command displays a submenu you can use to alter the dimensions of your printouts slightly. Use it to compensate for slight differences between printers. In the submenu, select the option you want to change, then enter a value in the resulting dialog box. Both positive and negative numbers are allowed, and all measurements should be in decimal inches or in another system as described above. Measurements are added to or subtracted from the current settings. Use the Save Offsets as Defaults to make your changes the defaults, once you're satisfied. This way, you'll only have to perform these operations once for your printer, since the default offsets are loaded when the program runs. Left Align All Lines--Sets all lines on a card to the left margin. You can override this setting or any of the other All Lines settings, by using the Align list box. Center All Lines--Centers all lines on the card. Right Align All Lines--Sets alignment for all lines to the right margin. Insert Formatting Codes--The commands in this submenu insert special codes in your document which allow you to alter the appearance of just part of a line. Whenever possible, use the whole line formatting tools instead. Normal--Inserts in the line. This code returns the line to normal text. Bold--Inserts in the line, boldfacing the following text. Ital--Inserts in the line, italicizing the following text. Underline--Inserts in the line, underlining the following text. Superscript--Inserts in the line, superscripting the following text. Subscript--Inserts in the line, subscripting the following text. NOTE: You cannot use inserted codes in Rotated Text or in lines which have their alignment set to Centered, Right-Aligned, or Split at Tilde. This would cause misalignments. CLIP ART MENU Insert Clip Art File--Lets you choose clip art files, just as with the [AddArt] button. Position Current Image--With either the PIC1 or PIC2 option buttons selected, this command will allow you to specify a precise position for either clip art images. When prompted, enter dimensions in any measurement system, as described elsewhere in this manual. Edit Current Picture--Starts Windows PaintBrush and loads the picture selected with the option buttons for editing. When you exit PaintBrush, you'll return to Rockford! . To use the altered image, delete the current image, then use [AddArt] to reload the image from disk. OPTIONS MENU Make Current Font Name Default--This command sets the current font, as highlighted in the font menu, as the default for all blank lines in your card. It's best to use this command before entering any text. Make Current Font Size Default--As above, but sets the current font size as the default for blank lines in your card. Save Default Settings--Stores the Font, Size and card size and layout settings made earlier in a file which is loaded each time Rockford! runs. Use this command if you want to save these settings for use in most cards. Delete Default Settings--Deletes the default settings file. Use this command if you want to make a permanent change in your default settings. HELP MENU Help with Rockford! --This command opens a new window. On the left is an index of topics. To get help on a topic, just click on the topic's name. You can scroll through the list or type the first letter of your topic. Once the program finds the topic, the index name will appear at the top of the screen to the right, with the help information below. In some cases, a topic will have more than one entry. About--Displays information about Rockford! , including the current version number and support information. OsoSoft Program Information-- This screen lets you register your copy of Rockford! OsoSoft also offers several other programs which may interest you. This command displays a window that lets you learn about these other programs and lets you order OsoSoft products. To view information on a program, click the [Info] button next to that program's name. To order, enter the quantity desired for each product. Then fill out your name and address information and mark the appropriate disk size box with an X. Click the [Print] button to print the form or the [Cancel] button to return to Rockford! . NOTE: You can always order OsoSoft products with your Visa or MasterCard as well. Just call (805) 528-1759 to order. EDITING YOUR DESIGNS Editing Text The easiest way to replace existing text with new text is to highlight existing text by dragging over it with the mouse, one line at a time. Once the text is highlighted, just type your new text, which will automatically replace the highlighted text. Controlling Line Spacing To make fine changes in the spacing between lines of text, make sure there's at least one blank line between the lines you want to change. Then, position the cursor on a blank line and change the font size for that line. When you update the display, you'll see the changes on your screen. You can make changes in 1-point (1/72") intervals. If you need a font size smaller or large than those offered in the font size list, simply type it in the display area of the list. Rockford! does not accept fractional font sizes. Placing Text Beside Clip Art You'll often want to position text next to or around clip art images. To do this, use the [Alignment] options or the Click to Position Text check box.. For example, to position text to the right of an image, choose the Right Aligned alignment option, then add spaces after the text to move it to the position you want. Similarly, use the Left Aligned option to position text to the left of an image. This time, however, place your spaces to the left of the text. To wrap text on both sides of an image, insert a tilde (~) where you want the text to break, then choose the Split at Tilde alignment option. Once again, pad the text with spaces to achieve the position you need. Don't forget the Custom Alignment and Click to Move Text options for even more precise positioning of lines. Overlaying Graphics with Text You can print text on top of clip art graphics, but this text may be partially obscured on the screen. To see text which will overlay a clip art image, click the [HideArt] button. A dotted box will appear to show where the graphic is located. Use overlaid text with caution, since it may obscure part of a clip art image. HINT: Try using a contrasting color for text which overlays a graphic. Working with Split Lines Rockford! 's ability to split lines is very powerful, letting you position blocks of text on both sides of the card. Normally, the left half of the line is flush with the left margin, while the right half is right-aligned. Often, however, you'll want to center blocks of text or manipulate the alignment in other ways. As described above, use spaces to pad the text until it's aligned just the way you want. Creating Columns in Rockford! It's easy to create columns for text. To do this, select a custom alignment or use the Click to Move Text command for the first line in the column, positioning it exactly where you want it to appear on your card. Then, either enter new text on subsequent lines or click the [Dupe Prev] button on subsequent lines. All lines will line up with the first line. TIP: When creating columns of text, it's best to place this text at the bottom of the text in the text window. This helps prevent misalignments of other text. Working With Rotated Text If you want to use rotated text on a card, it's best to add the text to the bottom of the text box text. This helps prevent misalignments of other text on the card. Before typing the text to be rotated, click the Click to Move Text check box, then click in the WYSIWYG window where you want the top left of the text to appear. Then type the text and click [Update]. You can use the Click to Move Text as often as you like to get just the right positioning. Printing Samples When working with complex card designs, it's a good idea to print occasional samples of your design for checking. After printing a sample, you can make changes to correct slight misalignments. For speed, use the Print Single Test Card command. REMEMBER: This sample card prints in the top left location on the card stock you're using. Use this command to check alignment if you're using Fudge Factors. Precut Card Stock Suppliers Paper Direct 1-800-APAPERS BeaverPrints 1-800-9BEAVER KMAK Industries 1-203-239-3372 Premier Papers 1-800-843-0414 Viking Office ducts 1-800-421-1222