Category : Printer + Display Graphics
Archive   : GRIDDESG.ZIP
Filename : GRID.PRN

HOW TO USE GRID DESIGNER
------------------------------



TABLE OF CONTENTS



Section Page
------- ----

A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS . . . . . . . . . 1

B. GRID DESIGNER IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Getting Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

C. WORKING WITH GRID DESIGNER . . . . . . . . . 3

Selecting and Printing a Design . . . . . . 3

Creating and Saving a Custom Design . . . . 5

Editing a Custom Design . . . . . . . . . . 8

Deleting a Custom Design . . . . . . . . . 9

Printing Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

D. EXITING GRID DESIGNER . . . . . . . . . . . . 11














Copyright (c) 1986 Channelmark Corporation












A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS

First, be sure to read the material in the Read Me First card
packaged with your diskette. Follow the printed directions under
Getting Started before you proceed further in these instructions.
Getting Started guides you in running Install--a separate program
that lets you copy DOS onto your Grid Designer program disk and
install Grid Designer on a hard disk. Both the box sleeve and
the diskette label give the minimum system requirements needed to
run Grid Designer.

These instructions are loaded into memory each time you call for
them by pressing F2 while working with Grid Designer. Once in
memory, the instructions remain on-line until you exit them and
return to the Grid Designer program. You can go directly to a
specific section or page whenever you're viewing any part of the
instructions. Just type the section letter or page number you
want, press Enter, and the appropriate material will appear. To
see the Table of Contents, press Home. To page through the
instructions, use the PgUp and PgDn keys. PgDn advances you one
page; PgUp returns you to the previous page.

To print these instructions, press F3 when they are displayed on
your screen. Your printer must be connected to LPT1 (or
redirected to LPT1 using the DOS MODE command). Use continuous-
feed paper, as the program does not pause between pages during
printing. The printed instructions are 12 pages long. To return
to the Grid Designer program, press F10.


B. GRID DESIGNER IN ACTION

Gridded and ruled paper is indispensable for countless business
and personal applications. Grid Designer lets you print all
kinds, including paper you design yourself. It eliminates trips
to the office supply store and tedious hand layout. Choose among
dozens of ready-to-go formats or design your own, then print it
out. Grid Designer gives you the pattern you need, whenever you
need it.

The Main Menu lets you select ready-made paper in more than 200
styles, including 24 varieties of standard quadrille graph paper,
accountant's paper in 12 formats, quadratic coordinate paper in
six scales, and three kinds of ruled paper. The menu includes
staff paper for musicians, coding forms for computer programmers,
and calendars for scheduling. There's even a bonus for the
sports-minded: score cards for baseball, golf, bridge, and
bowling.

When you need a special layout, use Grid Designer's Custom Grid
Design screen to specify line placement and grid location to suit
your needs--it's as easy as setting tabs on a typewriter.





Page 1








Once you have a design you like, save it, and the name you give
it will appear on Grid Designer's Custom Grid Paper Menu.
Thereafter, you can call up the design quickly and easily.


GETTING HELP

If you need help while using Grid Designer, press F1. A help
screen will appear, with a brief explanation of the screen
currently displayed. For a more detailed explanation, press
F2, and these on-line instructions will appear on your screen.
To return to Grid Designer, press F1 again.


GETTING AROUND

Grid Designer is easy to use--almost self-explanatory, in fact.
The bottom line of your screen always displays the currently
available function-key options. Keep an eye on this status
line: it's your best guide to what to do next. Here's a
summary of the basic keys you'll use as you put Grid Designer
through its paces:

PgDn/PgUp Moves to the next/previous menu screen.

F10 Accepts the current menu entries and
moves ahead one step in the program.

Esc Moves to the previous step in the
program without accepting the current
menu entries.

Enter Accepts the current menu entry and
moves the cursor to the next menu item.

Tab Same as Enter.

Shift-Tab Moves the cursor to the previous item.

Space bar Moves the cursor to the right. The
cursor erases any characters it
encounters.

Backspace Moves the cursor to the left. The
cursor erases any characters it
encounters. (Don't confuse this key
with the left arrow key.)

Ins Alternates between insert (block
cursor) and overwrite (underscore
cursor) modes.

Del Deletes the character at the cursor
position.



Page 2








C. WORKING WITH GRID DESIGNER

When you first start the Grid Designer program, the Main Menu
appears on your screen. Choose a paper style from the Main Menu
or press F3 to go to the Custom Grid Paper Menu to select a
design you've previously made and then saved. (This menu comes
with two sample designs already in place; you will eventually add
others.) To design your own paper, press F3 again to go to the
first of the two Create Grid Design screens. These screens
control the horizontal and vertical lines, and make it easy to
design grid paper that exactly suits your needs. Each Create
Grid Design screen features a unique computerized ruler: your
entries on these rulers tell your graphics printer where to draw
any of five types of lines neatly and accurately. The sections
that follow explain each of Grid Designer's modes of operation.


Selecting and Printing a Design

The first page of the Main Menu lists 24 kinds of gridded and
ruled paper. To see additional menu pages, press the Pg Dn
key; to back up to a previous page, press Pg Up. The Home
and End keys take you to the first and last menus pages,
respectively. There are 10 menu pages in all, offering more
than 200 ready-made designs.

The ready-made designs are grouped by type. Entries marked
(WIDE) are for wide-carriage printers only. Use the following
descriptions as a guide when you make your menu selections:

PAGE READY-MADE DESIGNS

1 Wide, college, and narrow ruled paper. These
correspond to the familiar notebook paper used in
offices and schools. Page 1 also lists
accountant's paper in 12 different column formats,
three ready-made calendars, vacation and
conversation logs, and an appointment sheet.

2 Square-grid paper. Design titles give the number
of divisions on each axis of a one-inch square.
Bold lines and their position are also indicated.

Example: "8 Squares/Inch: Bold 1/2" describes
graph paper with eight divisions per inch and
bold lines every half inch.

3-5 Rectangular-grid paper. Designs are listed by
number of rows and columns (rows run horizontally,
columns run vertically). Entries marked +REF also
have a single, wider "reference" column at the
left.





Page 3









Example: "35 Row: 4 Column +REF" describes a
sheet with 35 rows divided by four columns, plus
a reference column (an excellent sign-up sheet,
by the way, for a 35-person, 4-course potluck
picnic).

6-9 Time grids. Rows represent months, weeks, or days.
Months are indicated by name, weeks and days by
number. Many column formats are available.

Example: "36 Month: 12 Column" describes a 3-
year calendar with three groups of 12 rows
(January-December), divided by 12 equal columns.
"31 Day: 8 Column" is a grid with 31 numbered
rows divided by 8 equal columns.

10 This final page lists numerous specialized grid
designs, including six quadratic (X-Y axis) graphs,
COBOL and FORTRAN computer-programming charts, a
programmer's flowchart, a CRT screen layout chart,
four scorecards, an inventory sheet, and staff
paper for musicians.

To proceed, type the number of your selection at the Make
Selection prompt. Press F10, and the Print Selection menu
appears. Your responses to the prompts on this menu tell Grid
Designer how to print the design you've chosen. Here's how to
respond to each prompt:

PROMPT RESPONSE

Printer selection From the displayed list, choose and
enter the number that corresponds to
your printer.

Print to Type the name of the port your printer
is connected to. Valid entries
include LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2,
and PRN. Try LPT1 first if you are
uncertain.

Number of copies Type a number, 1-99. (Your printer
will be operating in graphics mode,
which is slower than text mode, so
you'll probably prefer to use a copy
machine when you're making many
copies.)

Pause between pages Type Y for yes, N for no. Answer yes
for single sheets, no for continuous-
form paper.

Standard or wide Type S for standard (8.5 inch wide),



Page 4








paper W for wide (14 inch wide) paper.
The design name is always displayed at
the top of your screen. Since some of
the ready-made designs require wide
paper, be sure to double-check this
display.

Heading & Footing You can add optional two-line headings
and footings to the paper you produce.
Type L, C, or R to specify left,
center, or right alignment, and then
type your text (up to 70 characters a
line). (Headings and footings are not
saved with your design, so you can
change them easily each time you
print.)

Respond to each prompt in turn, pressing Tab or Shift-Tab to
move between items. To accept default entries, just leave them
as they are. Finally, check that your printer is on-line, with
paper in position, and then press F10 to begin printing.
That's all there is to it.

The Custom Grid Paper Menu is a source of design-it-yourself
grids. The menu is furnished with two sample designs; the
collection will grow as you add your own designs.

To print a custom design, go to the Main Menu, press F3, and
the Custom Grid Paper Menu will appear. Select a design, press
F10 to go to the Print Selection Menu, and then follow the
printing instructions above.


CREATING AND SAVING A CUSTOM DESIGN

To design your own paper, follow these steps:

1 At the Main Menu, press F3 to go to the Custom Grid Paper
Menu.

2 At the Custom Grid Paper Menu, press F3 again, and the
Create Grid Design screen for vertical lines will appear.

Using the grid design screens is very much like laying out
lines on a sheet of paper. The first of the screens lets you
specify the locations of the vertical lines on the paper; the
second lets you specify the locations of the horizontal lines.
Each Create Grid Design screen has a diagram that shows you the
direction the lines will run. The next sections describe the
features of the Create Grid Design screens.

THE RULER. At the bottom of each screen is a ruler. You enter
symbols along the ruler to indicate the type and position of
each line you want. Lines can be single, double, bold,



Page 5








dotted, or hyphenated: the type corresponds to the line
symbol you choose; a key at the center of the screen lists
the symbols. Your computer and printer take care of the
actual drawing.

A cursor moves along the ruler as you work, so you always
know where you are. The distance of the cursor from the left
end of the scale is also displayed numerically on the body of
the ruler. Use the left and right arrow keys, the spacebar,
and the backspace key to move the cursor. The Home and End
keys move the cursor to the left and right ends of the ruler,
respectively.

SETTING THE SCALE. Three ruler scales are available: 1/16-
inch, 1/12-inch, and 1/10-inch. Press the F6 key to change
scales. The scale you set is always shown on the ruler. It
is this scale that determines the minimum interval between
lines on your grid, and how far the cursor goes each time you
press a cursor-movement key (other than the tab key).

Only one scale can be used in a single design; be careful to
set the same scale on each axis. The default scale is 1/16
inch; this scale is in effect each time you start Grid
Designer.

Note: if you change scales after entering line symbols, your
entries will be lost.

QUICK ENTRY. Grid Designer has a convenient quick-entry
feature. Using the Tab and Shift-Tab keys, you can move the
cursor in predetermined jumps along the ruler--great for the
repetitive entries you typically make while designing gridded
paper. Tab moves the cursor from left to right, and Shift-
Tab moves it from right to left. The distance moved in each
jump is shown at the top of the screen. Use the + (plus)
and -(minus) keys to adjust the interval in 1/16, 1/12, or
1/10-inch increments, according to the ruler scale you've
selected.

Note: the tab setting indicates how far the cursor moves
with each press of the Tab and Shift-Tab keys. If you type a
symbol at the cursor location, the cursor moves one
additional scale increment (1/16, 1/12, or 1/10 inch) to the
right. This means that if you press Tab, then type a symbol,
press Tab, then type a symbol, the symbols will be spaced one
tab interval PLUS one scale increment apart. When you want
to space lines evenly across the paper, set the tab interval
one scale increment short of your desired line spacing. Then
it's simply a matter of alternating keystrokes to lay out an
evenly spaced grid.

Example: To space bold lines an inch apart, set the tab
interval at 15/16, 11/12, or 9/10 inch, depending
on the scale, then alternately press the B and



Page 6








tab keys.
LAYING OUT VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL LINES. Use the first Create
Grid Design screen to set the positions of the vertical
lines:

1 Press F6 to pick a scale.

2 Using the left and right arrow keys, Tab, or the space
bar and backspace key, move the cursor along the
horizontal ruler, typing line symbols where desired: 1
for a single line, 2 for a double line, B for bold (a
heavy single line), D for a dotted line, and H for a
hyphenated (dashed) line.

3 Review your work. When all is in order, press F10.
(To clear all entries on the ruler, press F5.)

Pressing F10 takes you to the second Create Grid Design
screen. Use this screen to enter the type and position of
each horizontal line, following the directions above. Note
that the ruler is still horizontal; it's as if you had
rotated the paper beneath it. As you set your horizontal
lines, remember that the top of your paper is at the left of
your screen. Grid Designer's reminder diagram shows you the
way the lines will run, relative to your paper. With custom
designs, horizontal lines always end at the outermost
vertical lines, and vertical lines always end at the top and
bottom horizontal lines.

Don't forget the paper size you are printing on, otherwise
you may overshoot the boundaries of your paper when
specifying line placement. With standard 8.5 by 11-inch
paper, you can print grids within an 8 by 10-inch area; with
wide (14 by 11-inch) paper, the maximum printing area is 13
by 10 inches. Grids can fill all or part of the available
area.


SAVING YOUR DESIGN. When all your line entries are complete,
press F10. Enter a name for your design (up to 28 characters
long) on the screen that appears next, and then press F10 to
save the design and add it to the Custom Grid Paper Menu.
Note: Use the (WIDE) notation for custom designs that
require 14 by 11-inch paper; this reminds you later which
paper is required for a given design.

PRINTING YOUR DESIGN. When you press F10, Grid Designer
displays the Custom Grid Paper Menu, with your design added
to the list (there are two sample designs included with the
program). To print your design (or any other on the menu),
follow the directions given under "Selecting and Printing a
Design," above.






Page 7









EDITING A CUSTOM DESIGN

Sometimes when you're designing a grid you'll want to edit it
as you work--perhaps stop to make a test printout, then go back
and change line positions. Or perhaps a custom design that's
served you well will need revision when requirements change.
The first step in editing is to display the design's line
entries for each axis on your screen:

1 At the Main Menu, press F3 to go to the Custom Grid
Paper Menu.

2 At the Custom Grid Paper Menu, type the number of the
design you want to edit, and then press F3. The first
Create Grid Design screen will appear, displaying the
symbols for the vertical lines.

3 Type new line symbols where desired, or erase old line
symbols by using the space bar and backspace key to
move the cursor over them.

4 Press F10 when you have finished editing the vertical
lines. The second Create Grid Design screen will
appear, displaying the symbols for the horizontal
lines.

5 Press F10 when you have finished editing the horizontal
lines. On the screen that appears, type the name of
the new design. Use the old name if you want to
replace the original design; use a new one if you want
to save both the original and the edited design. Press
F10 to save the design and add it to the Custom Grid
Paper Menu.

The most common editing tasks usually involve adjusting column
and row dimensions. Here are some tips for getting the results
you want quickly and easily:

TASK PROCEDURE

Widen a row On the appropriate axis, use the tab or
or column left and right arrow keys to place the
cursor within the row or column you want
to make wider. Press the Ins key to
change the cursor to a block, indicating
insert mode. Press the space bar once
for each unit of space you wish to add.
All line entries at and to the right of
the cursor will move right, and the
chosen row or column will get wider.
The size of all other rows or columns
will stay the same.




Page 8









Narrow a row On the appropriate axis, use the tab or
or column left and right arrow keys to place the
cursor within the row or column you want
to make narrower. Press the Del key
once for each unit of space you wish to
remove. All line entries to the right
of the cursor will move left, and the
chosen row or column will get narrower.
The size of all other rows or columns
will stay the same. Be careful: line
entries at the cursor position will be
erased.

Reposition a grid First, determine how far and in what on
the paper direction you want to move the grid:
count the spaces if you can. Next, for
each axis, place the cursor on the
leftmost line symbol. Press the Ins key
to change the cursor to a block,
indicating insert mode. Press the space
bar to "push" or the backspace key to
"pull" the line symbols in the desired
direction. All the line symbols will
move as a unit.

When your editing is done, save your work, following step 4,
above.

Note: Take time to look at the two custom design examples on
the menu. First print them, and then use the Edit function to
see how the line symbols were placed. The Lab Report example
shows you how to position a grid within the available printing
field; the Vacation Schedule shows you how to make a grid print
"sideways" on your paper.


DELETING A CUSTOM DESIGN

When a custom design is no longer useful, it's best to remove
it from the Custom Grid Paper Menu. To delete a design, follow
these steps:

1 At the Main Menu, press F3 to go to the Custom Grid
Paper Menu.

2 At the Custom Grid Paper Menu, type the number of the
design you want to delete, and then press F4. A
message will appear, asking you to confirm your
selection.

3 Type Y (yes) to delete the design; type N (no) to
abandon the delete function. When you delete a design,
its name and number are removed from the Custom Grid



Page 9









Paper Menu. Names that appear below the deleted design
are moved up and renumbered.


PRINTING PROBLEMS

If you have a printing problem when working with Grid Designer,
check the items in the list that follows. Always begin with
your equipment, then analyze your printout. Here are some
possible problems and their solutions:

PRINTER REFUSES TO PRINT. If your printer refuses to print,
check the following, then turn your printer and computer off
for a minute and try again:

1 Make sure your printer cable is tightly plugged into
both the computer and the printer and that the printer
is on-line and is not out of paper or ribbon.

2 Make sure you've specified the right printer selection
and that your printer has any required options.

3 Make sure that all printer switches are properly
configured to print graphics (see your printer manual
for details).

4 If you are using a serial printer, make sure the COM
port has been properly configured with the DOS MODE
command. (See your DOS manual for details.)

GRID IS ENLARGED, CONDENSED, OR "BROKEN." Turn the printer
off, wait a moment, and then turn it on. Try printing again.

GRID IS CUT OFF. When you print a custom design that requires
wide paper, and you have indicated standard-width paper on
the Print Selection menu, Grid Designer automatically cuts
off any part of the design that falls outside the 8 by 10-
inch printing field. If your design is cropped in this
manner, edit it to fall within the allowed area, or use and
specify a wide-carriage printer.

GRID APPEARS "SCRAMBLED." When printing, Grid Designer
automatically fills standard or wide paper according to your
specification at the Standard or Wide Paper prompt on the
Print Selection menu. Be sure your entry at this prompt is
correct; if it's incorrect, you may get confused results.

GRID IS UNEVEN. Although Grid Designer works with all of the
graphics printers listed on the package, some printers will
produce slightly inaccurate results with some grid designs.
This is because printers have different "dot resolution"
capabilities. Dot resolution is the number of dots per inch
the printer produces, measured both horizontally and



Page 10








vertically.
Printers tend to fall into two dot-resolution groups: those
with dot resolutions divisible by 10, and those with dot
resolutions divisible by 12. Some printers fall into one
group for horizontal dot resolution, and the other group for
vertical dot resolution.

Grid Designer always places lines at each inch as accurately
as possible, and adjusts the spacing of intervening lines
when a printer's horizontal or vertical dot resolution makes
it necessary. This adjustment is noticeable only with fine-
scale grids. For example, if your printer has a resolution
of 72 dots per inch on each axis, it won't give perfect
results on a 10 x 10 grid; this is because 10 cannot be
divided into 72 evenly. Such a printer will do a fine job on
a 12 x 12 grid, however.

If you frequently print fine-scale grids, look up your
printer's horizontal and vertical dot resolution in the
instruction manual--the information is probably in a
technical specifications appendix.

Thereafter, choose (or design) grids that are compatible with
your printer's dot resolution. If your printer uses
different dot resolutions for each axis, fine-scale grid
accuracy may be better on one axis than the other.

D. EXITING GRID DESIGNER

To exit to DOS from Grid Designer, press F7 while the Main Menu
is displayed. This brings up the message: "Exit to DOS (Y/N)?"
Type Y (yes) or N (no). When you enter Y, you exit Grid Designer
and the DOS prompt appears; N returns you to Grid Designer.






--- End of Instructions ---

















Page 11