[QuickTacBeta] QuickTac 4.0 documentation

[David Holladay]

As some of you may have noticed, I have tried to capture some of the issues 
discussed on this e-mail forum and combined them into a sort of starting 
documentation for QuickTac 4.0. Here is the URL: 
http://www.tactileaudio.com/doc.htm

Here is what the file looks like today:



Some Notes on QuickTac 4.0




What does QuickTac Do?

QuickTac is a paint program building a grid of dots. Once an object is 
drawn, it may be "undone" but otherwise it is no longer an object but just 
existing dots. These dot pattens can be directly embossed, or saved into a 
file that can be read into Duxbury DBT or MegaDots.

Embosser Setup

Embosser setup works like it does in Duxbury DBT, except that it is 
accessed through File, Page Setup in QuickTac instead of Global, Embosser 
Setup as in Duxbury DBT. One difference between embosser setup in QuickTac 
and in Duxbury DBT is that in QuickTac, you only see embosser models that 
can produce graphics.

Drawing Tools

Drawing tools all appear on the toolbar and also in the Tool menu. Once any 
tool is selected, it displays its own step-by-step instructions to the 
right of the image. What has confused people most to date is the meaning of 
certain terms in the list of fills. QuickTac says "remove internal dots" 
for fill when it means that drawing a new shape will "white out" the 
interior. "No fill" means that the interior will retain whatever dots were 
already there before you began to draw. Please note that one of the line 
patterns available for all drawing tools is "remove bounding dots". That 
just means the dots for the object are removed rather than drawn.

Cut, Copy and Clear

Cut, copy, and clear all work as they do in a basic "Paint" program. But 
you must remember that you are cutting, copying, or clearing a rectangular 
collection of dots, not an "object" as such.

Paste, however, is a bit odd. When you paste within QuickTac, the pasted 
dots will show up somewhere on your image. If they show up where you don't 
want them, then you must be sure that your next click is within the area 
that was just modified by the paste. Click and hold to drag the pasted dots 
around to where you want them. If you don't think to do that, and click 
somewhere else instead, then all is lost except to Undo.

Cutting and pasting between QuickTac and other applications is not 
presently supported.

There is one hidden feature. Shift-click any place, regardless of what tool 
is selected, to toggle a single dot. Any other "hidden features" that you 
might find are likely to be bugs.

And there is one "power feature" that does appear on the menus. If an area 
is selected, then you can choose "Save as Fill" from the Edit menu to save 
the selected pattern of dots for future use in filling new shapes that you 
create.

Importing BMP files into QuickTac

    * Draw a BMP in say Paint. The BMP may need to be small in size to work 
with your embosser.
    * Save in the QuickTac folder
    * Open QuickTac and select Fill. The BMP will be listed under the 
fills. The BMP will repeat as a fill if too small for page, but if it is 
large enought will only get one version of it.
    * If you make a new fill. Open a new page or else the fill wont show in 
the drop down menu.
    * To get an idea of how large the drawing area for the BMP should be. 
Make a new fill in QuickTac. Go to Paint and open the fill up in it. That 
is the drawing area available.

Another approach is a direct import of an already made BMP. (Copy it to 
QuickTac folder). That worked too, but size seems to be important and which 
embosser you use. You can see the effect of if with the picture open in 
QuickTac (open Page set up and click on the different embossers). Changing 
orientation (portrait, landscape), can change how much you get in of the 
picture.

To reverse the procedure you can export:
    * Draw in QuickTac.
    * Select and make a fill.
    * The fill will be the BMP of your drawing.


Importing and Exporting SIG files

The .DXG is the default format when you save a file in QuickTac. (DuXbury 
Graphic) You can also "Save As" and select the alternative .SIG format. At 
the current time, Duxbury DBT itself has not been modified to accept the 
import of DXG files, hence you need to save your QT files as .sig files to 
import into Duxbury DBT.

Q and A

Q: How do you do a raised line grid?
A: This is best done by hand, with the line tool, assisted by guide lines 
available through "View Grid".

Q: If you import a .sig file into DBT, does one need to change any of the 
controls or does DBT work out automatically what to do?
A: You do need to make sure that you are importing a file which is 
correctly sized. In other words, if you have designed something for let's 
say "11 inch Wide" paper, you will have a problem if you try to import it 
in to a "11 inch narrow" DBT document.

Q: How do you control the graphics resolution when you import a SIG file 
into DBT?
A: DBT "infers" the resolution at which to emboss the image from the image 
size. However, it sometimes infers something other than what you intend. In 
this case, position your cursor at the graphic and select Layout, Picture, 
and then the resolution you want. (The menu items are listed as for Index 
embosser resolutions, but also work for ET embossers.) The hard part of 
this procedure is positioning the cursor at the graphic. Ironically, this 
is most easily done in coded view. Place the cursor just before the [gd] 
code. If your image occupies the full page, you may also need to disable 
headers, footers, and page numbering in DBT. These can be re-enabled 
following the picture. DBT does not automatically suppress headers, 
footers, and page numbering to make room for a large graphic. Instead, it 
might omit the graphic. Carefully review your file before you emboss.

Q: What about BRG and BRF files?
A: These are imported and exported just like SIG files. Follow the 
instructions above for SIG files.

Q: Can I import a QuickTac SIG file into MegaDots?
A: Yes, but it helps to use the latest MegaDots software. Caryn has made 
some modifications to make this practical. 
<mailto:caryn at duxsys.com?subject=Please Send me help importin QuickTac 4.0 
files into MegaDots&body=Thanks for your help!>Click here and send an email 
requesting instructions on importing graphics into MegaDots



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