Pens Menu
COMMAND: PEN PURPOSE:
Deposit a patch of the current color in a pen mode.
PROMPTS:
none EXIT:
none needed PROCEDURE:
1. Press PEN. Move into the image area and press while drawing.
EFFECTS:
The PEN mode allows drawing a continuous line as long as the cursor is in the image area, the pen is depressed and no command is pending. It is ideal for freehand drawing since it offers the greatest freedom of movement along with the finest line size. Although a PEN line is always continuous, very rapid movement of the digitizing pen will result in a squared off rather than a smooth line, as the computer tries to catch up with the stylus movement.
Change pen size by positioning the cursor over the size number in the Status Box, pressing down on the digitizing pen and moving it left until the desired size appears.
RELATED COMMANDS:
BRUSH (PENS MENU)
The main differences between PEN and BRUSH are these:
PEN deposits a rectangular block of color, while BRUSH deposits an rounded patch.
If you move the digitizing pen quickly, a BRUSH line will be broken or dotted, whereas a PEN line will always be continuous.
COMMAND: R-SAND (rubber-band line) PURPOSE:
Draw a line of the current color, displaying each new line segment in a temporary mode before drawing.
PROMPTS:
2. Position the cursor where the line should begin and press down briefly on the pen. Keeping the pen in contact with the tablet, move it around.
A temporary line connects the initial point with the cursor.
3. To set the line, press down briefly on the pen. As you glide the pen to the next point, a temporary line connects the cursor with the previous point.
To discard a line without setting it, or to terminate a run of line
segments, move the cursor into the menu area. (Lifting the pen off the tablet also breaks a run of line segments.) The next time the pen is pressed in the image area, a new run of rubber-band line segments will begin.
Change line WIDTH by putting the cursor over the size number in the STATUS AREA, pressing down on the pen, and moving the pen left until the desired size number appears.
EFFECTS:
This command gets its name from the action of the temporary line, which appears to be a rubber band with one end tacked down at the last-selected point and the other end at the cursor. As with LINE, the end point of the last line becomes the beginning point of the next line, until the run of line segments is broken.
Note that the size, or width, of the temporary line is always the same; the size of the actual rubber-band line will not be apparent until the line is set.
COMMAND: Q-LlNE (quantized line) PURPOSE:
Draw a horizontal or vertical line of the current color. This command quantizes endpoints to 90 degrees.
PROMPTS:
2. Position the cursor where the line should begin and press down briefly on the pen.
3. Glide the pen to the approximate end point for the line and press down.
Q-LlNE will quantize the position of the endpoint to 90 degrees and draw a horizontal or vertical line.
To discard a line without setting it, or to terminate a run of line
segments, move the cursor into the menu area. The next time the pen is pressed in the image area, a new run of line segments will begin.
Change line width by positioning the cursor over the size number in the Status Box, pressing down on the pen, and moving the pen slowly left until the desired size appears.
EFFECTS:
This command always draws lines that are exactly horizontal or vertical.
As with LINE, the end point of the last line becomes the beginning point of the next line segment unless the run is broken.
RELATED COMMANDS:
GRID, GRAV (GRIDS MENU)
For help in making vertical or horizontal alignments of elements in an image, use GRID or GRAV in the GRIDS MENU. Lines displayed by those commands act as guides and can be removed without affecting the image. Use Q- LINE only to draw lines that are meant to be part of the image.
COMMAND: GETIO (getbrush/options) PURPOSE:
Get, in a drawing mode, the image in the Put buffer.
PROMPTS:
none EXIT:
Initiate another.command.
PRELIMINARY COMMANDS:
P (GENERAL MENU COMMANDS)
Store an image in the buffer through P (put) in the PSG command.
PROCEDURE:
To reveal the image exactly as it appears in the buffer:
1. Press GET. Move the cursor into the image area and pr~"ss down to draw.
To change the buffer image as you reveal it:
2. Press 0.
The menu is replaced by a menu of options:
BRUSH gives a brush that does not carry background.
BLOCK gives a brush that carries background.
FLIP turns the image upside down.
XOR, NXOR, OR, NOR, AND and NAND give a variety of color changes and texture.
RESET returns the command to its default mode. (For GET brush, this is a brush that carries background color.)
3. Press one of the choices.
The PENS MENU returns to the screen. You can now draw with a pen that reveals the buffer image according to the selected option.
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GET/O (getbrush/options),
cont.
EFFECTS:
Wherever you draw, the image in the buffer will be revealed according to the option selected.
This command can be used to restore an image to an earlier state.
For this use press, P (in the PSG command box) from time to time while you are working on an image. This stores in the buffer the current version of the image, and you can continue making changes onscreen. Then, if any of your changes are unsatisfactory, use GET (in its default mode) to "erase" the changes. That is, draw over your changes with GET, and the picture in the buffer (the earlier version of your picture) will come back to the screen.
If the working screen is blank, the picture in the buffer will dramatically appear as you d raw with GET.
XOR, NXOR, OR, NOR, AND and NAND in the menu of options give a variety of color changes. How the color changes are determined is explained in Appendix C, but the effects of these commands are best discovered through experimentation.
Any option selected remains active until you make another choice or until you leave this menu.