================================================================= AVANT VECTOR¾ 1.2 DEMO VERSION Software ½ 1991 Max B”hm Notes ½ 1991 Roger Davies All rights reserved. The program, supporting example files, and these notes are copyright. The suite of files comprises AV__DEMO.PRG, DESIGN.IMG, OASIS.CVG, DOODLE.CVG, and AV_HELP.TXT. None of these files may be distributed commercially in any form without the express written consent of Brandt Fernandes (Europe) Ltd trading as System Solutions or (in North America) Codehead Software. They may only be distributed as a complete suite of files and providing they are not modified or amended in any way. PD libraries and Bulletin Boards may distribute them without prior consent providing no charge is made other than a reasonable charge for connect time and/or the direct cost of disks and postage. ================================================================= Avant Vector has just one menu bar and one icon board. A lot of effort has gone into keeping Avant Vector simple to use, and this camouflages the sheer power and elegance of the program. Avant Vector is about as "state of the art" as you are likely to get. In a recent comparison of seven vector graphics programs for the ST, the PC and the Macintosh, Avant Vector came out tops. For speed. For power. And for ease of use. Avant Vector needs one megabyte of memory and runs in ST High, TT Medium and TT High resolutions. This demo version has had the "Save" routines completely removed (though you can print out from it) and some of the other functions have been cut down. The last page of this document tells you where you can order yours. WHAT DOES AVANT VECTOR DO? Avant Vector takes a raster image and automatically turns it into a vector graphic. It is also a vector graphics package enabling you to create illustrations. Later in these notes, we talk you through, step by step, some of the auto-tracing and drawing features so you have hands on experience of how it works. No matter which DTP package you use you will find Avant Vector helpful. It creates .CVG vector graphics for use in Calamus, Repro Studio or Genus, and .GEM/3 Metafiles for use in other DTP packages for the ST, PC or Macintosh. With .EPS on the Plotter version, you can print to a PostScript printer or you can save files in HP-GL or GP-GL format for use with plotters and cutters. AUTO-TRACING IMAGE FORMATS Avant Vector is perfect for producing logos, and vector art. There are two big advantages of Vector graphics. The first is that they can be enlarged to any size with little loss of quality: the second is that vector graphic files are very small and compact. You can use existing clip art or specially scanned in images for auto-tracing. These can be .PI3, .PC3, .IMG, .BLD, .PIC or .PAC formats as well as .IMG, .TIF, or .IFF (for Macintosh, PC or Amiga computers). The Plot version imports and exports .EPS files too. USE THE BUILT-IN HELP! Avant Vector has extensive built-in help. The help messages are accessed from the "Help" menu at the end of the drop down menu bar. The help available is as follows: - "Menus help" Select this and you get a help message when you click on any of the drop down menus. - "General help" is just a brief message to get you going. It explains that you can help for any icon function by right- clicking on the icon. - "Mouse help" explains the functions you can perform using the mouse in combination with Shift, Control and alternate keys. - Additionally, a message appears in the top right hand corner of the screen, with a brief description of the icon function. GETTING GOING WITH THIS DEMO VERSION Avant Vector is driven by drop down menus and the icons on the icon board. You can use the icon functions either by left clicking on them with the mouse, or by typing the keyboard shortcut (letter shown in the bottom left hand corner of each icon box). Because we can't show you a picture of the icons in this tutorial, we describe operations using a mixture of keyboard shortcuts and mouse operations. This is ideal for two-handed operation. One hand using the keyboard, the other zipping about with the mouse. HOW TO AUTO-TRACE A BIT IMAGE 1. Select "Load Bit Image" from the "File" drop down menu bar. 2. Use the file selector to load "DESIGN.IMG". The image will be displayed in greys. 3. Go to the "Vector" drop down menu and select "Medium". (Use "Coarse" to create a less detailed vector graphic, or "Fine" to create a more detailed one.) 4. Type "U" (or left mouse click on the icon displaying "U" in the bottom right hand corner). This turns on auto-vectoring. 5. Click and hold down the left hand mouse button then drag the "rubber band" that appears across the image. 6. Release the mouse button and auto-vectoring starts. This takes a few minutes. As the vectoring takes place you will see lines being drawn by the program around the bit image. (Avant Vector has two modes: line-and-curve is called "Edit" mode; filled-in is called "Display" mode.) 7. Display the result as a graphic by typing "O". This will show you the vector graphic as it will appear in DTP packages. If you have a printer hooked up you can print the graphic (but you can't save in the "Demo" version). 8. Let's manipulate the vector graphic a bit. Firstly, go back into Edit mode (type "E") and turn off the background image (press "P"). 9. Now left mouse click on any one of the points (small squares) in the "DESIGN" graphic. The point is now selected and appears as a bold square. Grab it by left clicking on it again and drag it to a new position. Using this click and grab routine, you can edit the shape of the vector freely. 10. Use the plus (+) and minus (-) keys from the numeric keyboard of your computer to reduce or enlarge your view of the graphic. Next, we'll add some extra graphics. Nothing sophisticated: just a rectangle and a circle. 11. First, type "D" to deselect all the points. Then type "L" to start drawing a line. You'll see a small box appear under the mouse pointer. Left click to make the first point of the rectangle. Then make three clicks in the positions where you want the corners of the rectangle to be, with the final click over the very first point you drew to close the rectangle. 12. Now type "D" again to deselect the points in the rectangle you've just drawn. Now type "0" (zero) to draw a circle. A dialogue box appears showing the default size of 50mm and 4 points. Edit this using the keyboard to 10mm and 3 points and click on the "OK" button. A circle is drawn in the middle of the graphic: grab one of its points and drag it to where you want. Now type "O" to show the graphic in "Display" mode. 13. The last thing we'll do is look at some vector files that were done earlier. Open a new window (type "N" or click on "New Window" from the "Files" drop down menu). Now type "I" (or click on "Load CVG" on the "Files" drop down) and a file selector will appear. Use this to select either OASIS.CVG or DOODLE.CVG. These rely heavily on tints to create an effect (see "CREATING TINTS" below). BASIC DRAWING SUMMARY Before you start drawing, you need to open a work window to draw in (you can have up to seven windows open at once). You can open a window either using "New Window" from the "File" drop down menu, or by typing "N". What follows is a summary of the drawing commands for creating art using Avant Vector. Type "L" and mouse click to draw a line. Type "B" and mouse click to draw a b‚zier curve. (Drag the little crosses that appear on the line into position to create the curve.) Hit the space bar to toggle between line and b‚zier curve drawing. (And to change from "Display" to "Edit" mode.) Type "X" to delete the last point drawn. Use the Hammer (type "H" and left mouse click) on an existing line or curve to insert a new point into it. Use the Pliers (type "Z" and left mouse click) to delete any individual points. Type "Delete" to delete complete selected paths. SELECTING POINTS/SHAPES You can select points in a number of ways. They are: Left click selects one point. Hold down the left Shift key and a left click selects a new point without deselecting the previous one. Hold down the Alternate key and left click to select an entire path. Hold down the left Shift key and the Alternate key and left mouse click to select a new path without deselecting the previous one. Holding down the left mouse button and dragging a "rubber band" across points, select them. Type "A" to select all points. Type "D" to deselect them. BUILT-IN EFFECTS Avant Vector also has some built-in effects. They are: "1" reduces/enlarges the entire graphic proportionally "2" reduces/enlarges the graphic's width "3" reduces/enlarges the graphic's depth "4" rotates the graphic "5" skews the graphic In each case, you can either grab a point with the mouse and "pull" the graphic into the shape you want, or enter the percentage/degree value into the dialogue box at the foot of the icon board. CREATING TINTS You can fill shapes either with white, or black or with a percentage tint. The way you do this is easy: 1. Select the path you want to fill by holding down Alternate and left clicking on one of the points (little boxes). You can select more than one shape by holding down left Shift and Alternate, then left click. 2. Once the points are selected, they are displayed in bold. Then type "D" for "Display" mode and you'll see a thin box around the selected shape. (You can also select a shape by Alternate left-clicking on it in "Display" mode. But for complicated or overlapping shapes, it's easier to do this in "Edit" mode using the method described.) 3. Type "?" and a dialogue box appears. Make sure the "Tint infill" button is selected (black background), then enter any percentage value between 0% and 100% in the "Greyvalue" dialogue. If you just want an outline to appear, deselect "Tint Infill" (white background) and select "Outlines". Then enter an outline thickness in the "Thickness" dialogue. The line thickness is not displayed in Avant Vector but is added when the vector is printed, or displayed in a DTP program. 4. You can mix outlines and tint infills, by giving different values and settings to each shape within the graphic. Simple geometric shapes can be made to look interesting like this (see OASIS.CVG and DOODLE.CVG). HINTS ON TINTS AND AUTO-TRACING Vector graphic tints are built up on different levels or planes. They are not transparent, so 0% is white and 100% is black. If a small grey shape is OVER a larger black (or white) one you will be able to see it, but if the shape is UNDER the larger one, it will disappear. Use the "Object to the Front" (type "V") and "Object to the Back" (type "J") functions to build up layers in the right order. The direction in which the path of a vector shape is drawn is important. If you are drawing two circles, one within the other, the direction of the inner circle should run in the opposite direction to the outer one. Use "Reverse Path Orientation" (type "R" then left click on one of the points on the path to be reversed) to achieve this. Remember the "GIGO" principle: "Garbage in, garbage out". So don't try to get good results from auto-tracing very small bit images. In particular, the "sheets" of clip art in Degas PI3 or PC3 format, with up to 20 images per file, are unsatisfactory. Also, if the bit image is blurred or fuzzy, a poor vector will result. You will get best results from high contrast black and white images scanned at 200 dpi (most scanners create 400dpi by electronically processing a 200dpi scan and this can result in blurred edges). Grey-scale images cannot be auto-traced. Use "Medium" setting to start with: you can always change to "Coarse" or "Fine" if necessary. WHERE TO GET AVANT VECTOR The English language version of Avant Vector is available from: Europe/Commonwealth USA/Canada System Solutions Codehead Software Windsor Business Centre P O Box 74090 Vansittart Road Los Angeles Windsor, Berks California GB-SL4 1SE USA CA 90004 Tel: +44 (0)753 832212 Tel: 213-386 5735 Fax: +44 (0)753 830344 Fax: 213-386 5789 Send a reply paid envelope and two double-sided formatted disks for latest demo programs. Demonstration version of Avant Plot is also available.