.IF DSK1.C3 .CE 2 *IMPACT/99* by Jack Sughrue PUBLISH .IF DSK1.C2  DESKTOP PUBLISHING Did you ever really dream some day that you'd be able to make professional-looking labels and letterheads with your TI? Not just the stuff you get when you discover how to access your printer's italics or enlarged or condensed. But real professionalism. Think back a year or two. What were the chances of something like this column header being done on our machine? Seemed like nil then. But not any more. CSGD III is a wonderful edition to your text/graphic library. It is unquestionably graded "A" by this reviewer. It is the next excellent step in desktop publishing. Character Set and Graphic Designs III is ingenious and (for the TI) easy to use . Dave Rose, the program designer, is one of those geniuses like Tony McGovern, Chris Bobbit, Barry Traver, Peter Hoddie, Craig Miller, Rodger Merritt, Mack McCormack who have risen to our TI needs. He has given us an extraordinary creation. CSGD III comes with an overwhelming amount of good documentation (which includes superb keystrips for relative ease of use), loads automatically in XB. A menu offers 0)CONFIGURATION 1) PRINT LTTR,LBL,MSSG 2)DOCUPRINT 3)EXIT. My complaint here is that 0) should be 3 and EXIT 4). I look at the second line of ANY menu and press 2. [That's the way most menus are set up and that's the way I do it. I must have inadvertently pressed 2 instead of 1 at least 40 times in the past month. (I am a slow learner.) Also, once you configure your system, you probably won't change it often enough to warrant that being your first menu choice.] The next menu is okay. It starts with 1). You can load LABEL or LETTERHAD or MESSAGE or RETURN TO MENU. If you choose LETTERHEAD, for example, you have a pile of decisions to make in this design. You can decide if you want your pattern at the top only, bottom only, or top and bottom. You can choose to have graphics to the left and right (either, neither, both). If you choose both sides, the graphics may be different. They may also be completely different - along with new fonts - for the bottom. These are unique features which I really like. The graphics take a bit of explaining. There are graphics in CSGD I and II and on some user disks. (I use #2 here for samples.) Even though User Disk #2 has over 100 graphics and fonts the larger graphics can only be used if you own CSGDI. However, with CSGDIII (the latest) and User Disk 2 there are still have well over 100 usable fonts and small graphics to draw from. TI ARTIST allows conversions of everything but CSGD, but FONTWRITER converts CSGD files to TI ARTIST files for printouts and changes, so customizing is possible with multiple software items. (And TI ARTIST converts GRAPHX graphics into TI ARTIST graphics. So there has become a roundabout standard pulled together in FONTWRITER and TI ARTIST. We'll discuss these further when reviewing FONTWRITER.) Back to CSGDIII and the LETTERHEAD. Have a bunch of formatted blank data disks handy when working with any of these graphic/text programs. First, you must give Command 1 (which you can't get out of if you make a mistake - thus slow reloading) when beginning a new design. Next, you'll be asked to give a filename to this LETTERHEAD (as you will SAVE it later for permanent use). Next, Graphics / 1 (yes), 0 (no); then Top and Bottom, Top only, Bottom only; then Dashed Line to separate head from body. Now you'll go back and choose the left graphic (and decide if you want it reversed and/or its negative: these choices are excellent if you're looking for a certain kind of balance) and then the right. The large character set comes next (such as the IMPACT-99 above). You are given the opportunity here to enter normal or condensed width and the amount of spacing you'd like between characters. Your message (clearly marked as to total number of characters permitted for the chosen font) can then be typed and changed and typed until satisfied. The smaller font for the next three lines go through the same formatting procedure. When satisfied with each item you give the okay. When all items are complete, put a blank disk in your designated drive (designated in the original Configuration section) and SAVE. You cannot reload and change this file. You may only print it out at this point. It does this well. But... Complaint #2: I wish the letterhead would print out without running a *%##!% formfeed automatically. This is really annoying. If you want to load up TIW and write a letter, the sheet must be rewound after shutting off the printer. An option would be nice at this point. I may as well do Complaint #3 while I'm at the cantankerous part of this essay. I wish an escape to the previous input could be devised. It's terrible to go through all the long paths to your goal only to find out you don't have lowercase letters or punctuation and you can't change anything. When you print out and discover you really needed dot spaces between the letters on the second and third lines, you must begin all over. Or if you pressed 1 (start new) instead of 8 (print) at the outset, there's no way to make a change without reloading the entire shebang. Maybe the docs (which have all the graphics printed out) could also give limits to the fonts, telling whether punctuation is available or lower case or dots [for readability]. But an escape would be the very nicest change. CSGD is one of those programs that get better the more you use it. Once you get comfortable with it, you can really get creative with messages and labels and even (thanks to two-column and upside-down printing) unusual greeting cards. There's even a program that will let you use files created on TI WRITER (or the various improved versions) in any of six interesting and larger fonts. Even in two columns, if you wish. This III is a neat program. So were I and II, though not nearly as friendly or profound. In addition to having some very practical applications (labels and letterheads and special notes - all done professional), the program has a lot of fun built into it. The ice-covered font, for example, or the font written on movie film. And any graphic program that would include a fat lightning bolt with "SHAZAM" above it has to be doing a lot right. The manual is WAR AND PEACE size. If you are at all familiar with graphics programs for the TI, go immediately to the QUICK START very condensed manual. That's only four pages. Start right in. Letterheads (top only) might be the best way to start. After you've made two or three you'll really get the hang of it. The rest is fun. Excellent program. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'd recommend the USER DISK #2 package also. There are another 22 interesting fonts and 86 graphics you can use (and 28 you can't unless you buy #1) to really extend your professional and recreational computer activities. Now that so many other artist programs (like MAX-RLE, ART-CONVERT and so on) allow conversions from one artist program to another AND with so many new packages of CSGD fonts and pictures available commercially and through Fairware and Public Domain (such as LABELER which depicts ON THE SCREEN the CSGD graphics and text design), the CSGD Connection is made firmly in out TI World. CSGD packages are a must for any serious 99ers with a printer. [JACK SUGHRUE Box 459 E.Douglas MA 01516] If any newsletter editor prints these articles, please put me on your mailing list. Thanks - JS Հ