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Alpha Plot - brought to you by MasterDisk
TYPE & DRAW SWITCHES
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CTRL-T WILL DIRECTLY ENTER THE TYPING MODE FROM DRAWING MODE.
CTRL-D WILL DIRECTLY ENTER THE DRAWING MODE FROM TYPING MODE.
EXITING ALPHA PLOT
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CTRL-@ HAS BEEN ADDED AS A QUIT-KEY. <RESET> AND CTRL-C ALSO WORK,
BUT COULD LEAVE A CURSOR IMPRINT ON YOUR PICTURE. ALWAYS SAVE BEFORE
QUITTING ALPHA PLOT.
DRAWING WITH PADDLES
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A PDL-0 BUTTON-PRESS CAUSES ZERO OFFSET (SAME AS <RETURN> IN KEY
MODE).
A PDL-1 BUTTON-PRESS DRAWS A LINE & CANCELS OFFSET (SAME AS "-" IN KEY
MODE).
APPLE COLOR BUGS
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COLOR LINES (NOT SOLIDS) ON COLOR BACKGROUNDS OFTEN PRODUCE STRANGE
EFFECTS DUE TO APPLE'S COLOR-GRAPHICS HARDWARE. RESULTS DEPEND ON
WHICH COLORS YOU ARE ARE USING...
GREEN-ORANGE OR VIOLET-BLUE COMBINATIONS WILL MAINTAIN TRUE COLORS,
BUT LINES WILL BE THICK AND STAIR-STEPPED. OTHER COMBINATIONS WILL
PRODUCE A MIXTURE OF COLORS.
FOR MOST APPLE GRAPHIC APPLICATIONS, BLACK IS THE BEST BACKGROUND
"COLOR".
RELOCATING COLOR SECTIONS WILL PRODUCE INACCURATE COLORS IF YOU MOVE
OTHER THAN 14 PLOTS LEFT OR RIGHT (ARROW KEYS). MOVING SEVEN PLOTS
LEFT OR RIGHT WILL PRODUCE COMPLEMENTARY COLORS!
TYPING NOTES
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CTRL-E PRINTS A LEFT SQUARE BRACKET ([). CTRL-F PRINTS A BACKSLASH
(\). CTRL-I PRINTS AN UNDERSCORE (_).
LOWER CASE VERSIONS OF THE THREE SPECIAL CHARACTERS ABOVE, AS WELL AS
@, ] AND ^,WILL PRODUCE SOME NICE ASCII CHARACTERS YOU MAY NOT BE
FAMILIAR WITH. ALSO...
CTRL-B PRINTS ALPHA PLOT'S CAPS CURSOR. CTRL-P PRINTS THE LOWER-CASE
CURSOR.
THE LAST NORMAL CHARACTER TYPED ON A NON-BLACK BACKGROUND MAY APPEAR
INCOMPLETE. TYPE A SPACE OR CTRL-J TO FIX IT.
TO INCLUDE DESCENDERS, ALPHA PLOT'S INVERSE BLEEDS AT THE TOP INSTEAD
OF THE BOTTOM. IF YOU WANT, ADD A WHITE LINE TO THE TOP OF YOUR
INVERSE CHARACTERS.
AND WE SHOULD MENTION...
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IF YOU ARE USING ALPHA PLOT AND WANT TO EXECUTE A DOS COMMAND (FOR
EXAMPLE, UNLOCK A PICTURE FILE), YOU MUST EXIT ALPHA PLOT (CTRL-@ OR
<RESET>), TYPE THE COMMAND, AND THEN 'RUN ALPHA PLOT'.
SCRUNCH WILL SAVE THE MOST SPACE ON IMAGES CONTAINING MUCH BLACK OR
WHITE.
THE X & O OF THE XO CURSOR WILL BECOME DOTS AT THE EDGE OF THE
SCREEN.
R WILL NOW ROTATE THE DRAWING CURSOR FROM DRAWING MODE.
SIDEWAYS PICTURES MAY BE EASILY CREATED WITH ALPHA PLOT BY TURNING
YOUR MONITOR ON ITS SIDE (LEFT OR RIGHT OPTIONAL).