[QuickTacBeta] QuickTac 4.0 documentation

[Roger Firman]

Dear David,
 
Peter might have a view on what follows as some of it relates to the
program itself, as well as the documentation.
 
In my very limited experience of using the program, I wonder if it might
be helpful to add something about embossing directly from Quicktac
itself rather than via DBT. When trying this out, I found that it was
not quite the same as embossing from DBT.
 
When I loaded a previously created file into Quicktac, ctrl-E gave me an
error message that no embosser had been selected although I had set one
up, or was pretty convinced I had done so. By selecting it, by linking
the JAWS cursor to PC and managing to locate Index, in my case, it was
then possible to emboss directly.
 
If there is an easier way of accomplishing the embossing process
directly from Quicktac, do let me know.
 
While writing, has any thought been given as to how users with access
technology might use Quicktac to use the drawing tools? Given some
pre-defined information, this should be possible, I would have thought.
Perhaps others on this list might say if they envisage situations where
this could be useful, I am thinking of students, or, possibly, artists.
 
Regards,
 
Roger.
 
 
 -----Original Message-----
From: quicktacbeta-bounces at duxsys.com
[mailto:quicktacbeta-bounces at duxsys.com] On Behalf Of David Holladay
Sent: 21 March 2007 18:09
To: quicktacbeta at duxsys.com
Subject: [QuickTacBeta] QuickTac 4.0 documentation



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. Click
<mailto:caryn at duxsys.com?subject=Please Send me help importin QuickTac
4.0 files into MegaDots&body=Thanks for your help!> here and send an
email requesting instructions on importing graphics into MegaDots 





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