.IF DSK3.C3 .CE 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^W-AGE/99 * NEW-AGE/ ^99 *NEW-AGE/99* N ^EW-AGE/99 * NEW-AGE ^/99 *NEW-AGE/99* ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^*by JACK SUGHRUE, Box 459, East Douglas, MA 01516* ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^#10 COMPRODINE, PART TWO One of the nicest features of JIFFY CARD ($15) its single-sheet manual. This includes pictures of its 68 graphics along with a sample of a card itself. The rest of the manual serves as a quick reference sheet. It's simple, direct, easy. No 40-page tutorials; no heavy-duty programming knowledge required. All you need is one drive, 32K, and a printer: a neat, compact, delightful piece of software that does exactly what it's supposed to quickly and well. JC takes about a minute to load from XB, but, once loaded, all borders, large fonts, and small fonts are awaiting your keypress. There are 8 prompts for you to follow step-by-step with active keys listed on screen at all times, so you are gently guided through all your creations. You first set up a location for your card-cover graphics; then you type the title and select a border by tapping the spacebar to cycle through. Next you choose the ONE graphic to be placed in those areas you designated in Step One. This same graphic may even be overlapped in repetition. Text is now entered. Say what you want to say. Next do the same for the inside of the card. Then choose one of 7 small fonts for the front and again for the inside. It's fairly easy to toggle between the different parts of the card to make changes. Finally, you may print the card. Before you do, though, you may opt to SAVE it for posterity, as previously made cards my be LOADed quickly and modified easily. Basically, that's it. For TI owners who wonder how the fun went out of computing, this is a program to get it back. In the three weeks I've had JIFFY CARD, I've already used it over a dozen times. Now I wish I had spent a few more dollars to buy the color version of my NX1000 printer, because there is also COLOR CARD ($25), the mouth-watering color version of JC. Both versions come with a template for xeroxing or just cutting exact-size envelopes for these cards. A thoughtful touch, that. CARDS 4ALL OCCASIONS ($10) is an "as is" or easily personalized collection of spiffy cards for easy JC loading. Once you've mastered JIFFY CARD, you should find JIFFY FLYER ($10) or COLOR FLYER ($20) a piece of cake. The commands are very similar for the making of an easy to read, easy to create, eye-catching one-pager for yard sales, announcements, pronouncement, mini-posters, whatever. These programs also use the same (CSGD) graphics which can be imported from everywhere or purchased in a maximum diskful (127 pictures) for $10 (CSGD GRAPHICS). A 50-file collection of borders and fonts may also be purchased for $10 (CARD/FLYER GRAPHICS). It's this sort of companion support that makes these inexpensive JIFFY programs even more valuable. That's why so many people are happy that COMPRODINE is also distributing Great Lakes Software (at an incredibly low $10 for each item): JOYPAINT 99, PAL, CLIPART DISK (which is a nice trio); CERTIFICATE 99, COMPANIONs 1 && 2, GRAPHIC COMPANION (which is a nice quartet). JOYPAINT is an excellent artist program, particularly with the PAL. CERTIFICATE 99 is, to date, the state of the art certificate maker for the TI. The support material for both programs make them extremely valuable tools (toys) for any owner. BANNERS 99 and EXTENDED BUSINESS GRAPHS are the other two Great Lakes products distributed by COMPRODINE. However, they have many more of their own products. PICTURE IT ($10) and PRINT IT && PLUS ($13) convert instances to banners, to Funnelweb, or to Extended BASIC for printing through your Writer files; prints incredibly professional disk catalogs, titles, labels, with excellent user-designed materials, including sprites. BINGO (just $5) not only lets you play two screen boards but allows the printing out of boards for everyone. Good graphics and speech. FORMSHOP ($15) permits very flexible creation of forms for business, hobby, or personal use with the same ease as the JIFFY programs. If you've gone to a TI fair recently and looked up at a gigantic computer-made poster, it was done with GIANT ARTIST POSTERS ($15) which lets you takeanyTI-ARTIST screen, whether acquired or created, and print it out in sizes from 10 by 14 inches to 5 by 8 feet! For these king-size jobbies I would recommend printing it out just before you go to bed and pull it off in the morning. Although the program works very fast (and easy), printing anything that size takes a considerable time. COMPRODINE also publishes a neat, professional date-tracking electronic calendar with lots of features. Similar to SCHEDULE MANAGER (Asgard) and REMIND ME (Genial), REMINDERS helps you to organize your life in positive, realistic ways. A good buy at just $10. But the new gem of the COMPRODINE treasure chest of software goodies is ARTIST PRINT SHOP. Written by Paul Coleman in fast and comfortable c99, this program uses TI-ARTIST graphics and fonts without conversion. So you could draw from the thousands of files already in user-group libraries, hidden in BBS listings, or ordered from commercial sources; or you could create your own in TI-ARTIST and use them directly. Basically, the 3-disk package ($25 - and an additional $10 for the not-required [but recommended] BORDER MAKER package) permits the creation of very dramatic signs, letterheads, banners, and flyers. Follow the 18-page manual through one full time, performing each of the easy tasks, and you will be immediately comfortable with all of the sections, as they have a very similar structure. After a couple creations the manual is no longer necessary. I used it only two days before I gave an hour-long demo of all its sections at the recent New England Fayuh. Most of you would have only needed two hours, but I tend to play with things for a while BEFORE using the manuals. My sisters Sonia and Pat both claim I was dropped on my head numerous times as a baby. In any event APS is an easy-to-use even for me type of program. And varied and useful and fun. The BANNERS section of this large piece of electronic wizardry is one of the most flexible I have ever used. It provides both text and graphic options rarely seen on most banner programs. The SIGNMAKER makes very dramatic signs, flyers, pages using a large and a small ARTIST font and 5 different graphics which can be mirrored, magnified, and/or multiplied for all kinds of flexible creations. The STATIONERY portion also offers some great flexibility with some exceptional results. In short, ARTIST PRINT SHOP would be a nice addition to your collection of super TI programs. Your best bet would be to write COMPRODINE for a catalog (or order any of the above adding $1.50 S&&H for one item or $3.00 for two or more) to 1949 Evergreen Ave., Fullerton, CA, 92635. [If you use NEW-AGE/99 please put me on your exchange list.] Հ