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Calamus Secrets

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This "have a nice day" column is NOT a good-bye to Atari software, nor even Atari Hardware. I expect my present machine to be competitive if not cutting edge for quite a while. Since I own a Mac and MagiCMac I expect to make full use of many of my Atari programs for the foreseeable future. Since this is the Calamus Secrets column I will take the time to mention what some of the available options are, and how they make Calamus SL worth investing in. Keep in mind that Calamus is STILL being supported and updated.

The VDI Printer Option

The VDI Printer driver allows Calamus users to take advantage of any driver supported by NVDI or versions of GDOS. In other words you are not dependent on specific Calamus printer drivers - You can print via NVDI!

The Mac Print Driver

The Mac print driver allows owners of Calamus (only the latest release, Calamus 99) to access the Mac Printer Driver. Thus if you have a Mac and MagiCMac you can make use of any Mac driver which you selected in the Chooser. I can say it works flawlessly! It even allows overriding some Mac controls to allow the user to make use of Calamus Screens! Oddly enough if you make use of the Epson line of printers and wish to print Star Screened images, produced at 720 dpi you MUST select 1440 mode on the Mac side.

Other support options

To be competitive in this world you must be able to import files from other platforms and programs. So Calypso is a Calamus Module which allows the import of PS, EPS and WPG documents directly into Calamus. Once imported you can work on them as one would work with any Vector file. Calypso comes in two flavours: A light version which imports only EPS files and the full version which imports all sorts of PS files. Ask your client or friend to save the file from Quark or Pagemaker as an EPS document or export it as Postscript and you will be able to load (and work on it) in Calamus.

Bridge 3 allows exporting Calamus documents as PS or EPS documents (besides its many other capabilities). Bridge 4 is already out in Beta form and will allow exporting documents WITH THE FONTS! As you can see Calamus is still being developed and supported.

Image processing capabilities include the optional Paint, Merge and Filters Modules as well as the standard Histogram, Mask and CLUT controls. All are quite powerful and allow Calamus users to alter or correct photographs and other images directly in Calamus SL. There is a complete optional Vector program, the Line Art Module, or the standard Vector Module, which despite being free has powerful capabilities of its own.

Included with the latest release of Calamus (which I recommend highly) is a Bar Code Module, a light version of their text editor, Eddie (although the older PSK Write still works), A curve editing module, Franklin Light, which allows users to edit histograms, using bezier curves, as well as color depth and contrast and the curves of the Color Separation Module.

With the latest release of Calamus 99 it is now possible to make FULL use of Postscript Type 1 Fonts! You are no longer dependent on the (better if harder to get) CFN format. Calamus now directly imports JPEG files and Kodak CD as well as a host of others.

It impossible in this space to list, let alone describe the enormous number of standard let alone optional capabilities of Calamus. It is by far the best DTP program available. As with all comparisons, no doubt there are things Quark can do that Calamus cannot. However, as a Quark user, I know of what I speak. The fact that Calamus runs as well on a Mac as it does on an Atari is enough reason to take it seriously. The Mac Print Driver which allows access to Mac drivers eliminates the single largest problem for Mac users and the VDI driver should be of help to many Atari computer owners. Its incredible power make it easily the program of choice for any serious user.

Contact Inverse at: sales@calamus.net

Its a shame the Atari platform has so little support. It makes a lie of the statement that "If you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door." Instead marketing in this new field of computers has made the worst platform the most popular. Well, I've enjoyed and continue to enjoy my hardware and software. I hope I've added somewhat to your enjoyment. I certainly haven't been doing this for the money. So let me say good-bye to all you fans of Calamus. Health and a long and happy life...