Headliner
The Designer
For 48k, 128k, +2
and
Spectrum +3 Computers
P.C.G. Computer Software
Contents
Introduction 1
Main Menu 2
Screen Designer 3
Enlarge Function 6
Fonts 7
Colours 9
Extension Programs 9
On the Cassette or Disk:
Main program: headliner! (+3) HEAD.EXE
Fonts: Light LIGHT.FN6
Bold BOLD.FN6
Outline OUTLIN.FN6
Data DATA.FN6
Roman ROMAN.FN6
Stadium STAD.FN6
Extension Progs.: convert! CCON.EXE
pattern! PATTN.EXE
print! PRINT.EXE
slideshow! SLSHOW.EXE
Microdrive and disk users should make a back-up by loading each file individually from the
cassette, saving it to disk, deleting it from memory and then loading the next file. Retain the
cassette as a back-up.
Introduction
HEADLINER is a graphics and text design package written specifically for use with WordMaster
and Typeliner. A full range of drawing and plotting functions are provided, though since
the main function of the program is to produce titles, headlines and logos, you may find these to
be less flexible than those of a more comprehensive design package.
Six giant size fonts are provided. These can be used in various combinations of width, height,
bold and italics, allowing great variety in design. Also included are a range of useful extension
programs, including a print facility for graphic files and a utility that allows you to use your own
designed character sets within HEADLINER.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Headliner (c) Copyright B M Parkinson & Paul Sneesby 1987
All rights reserved. This manual & software may not be reproduced, let for hire or in any way duplicated
without the express consent of the copyright holders.
1
Main Menu
Keys:
[Q] Quit
[GRAPH] Load Screen$
[A] Alter Screen
[S] Save Screen$
[G] Get File From Memory
[C] Create File In Memory
[K] List Files In Memory
After 'getting' HEADLINER from the file-handling menu, the screen will be cleared to the
current default colours and the main menu of HEADLINER displayed. Pressing [Q] from this
menu will first ask 'Yes/No?' then quit back to file-handling. Note that when you quit
HEADLINER, the displayed screen and stored screen are both lost.
Pressing [A] will take you through to the SCREEN DESIGNER menu described in detail later.
Files
Graphic files in memory can be altered by pressing [G] and inputting the name of the file
required. The file will then be displayed and can be altered with the SCREEN DESIGNER.
To create a new file, press [C] and you will be asked to 'Enter fllename', after which any portion
of the display can be stored in the usual way. Remember that whenever you create a file, you are
using up memory and may well overwrite the stored screen (see later).
The files in memory can be listed by pressing [K]. Since listing will destroy the displayed
screen, again the 'Yes/No?' prompt is used.
Save & Load
SCREEN$ can also be SAVED or LOADED from tape, disk or microdrive. The drive number
specified on the file-handling menu will determine the source/destination for saves & loads. If
you want to change the drive number you will have to return to file-handling to do this.
 2
Screen Designer
Keys:
[INV VIDEO] Quit to File Handling
[ENTER] Store Screen
[EDIT] Restore Screen
[S] Swap Screens
[O, A, O & P] Move Pointer
[X] Reset Origin Pointer
[4] Exchange Pointers
[CAPS SHIFT] Slow Down Pointer Movement
[1] MODE 1: Radial
[2] MODE 2: Follow
[3] MODE 3: Parallel
[I] Inverse
[N] Over
[D] Draw
[C] Circle
[B] Box
[R] Arc
[F] Fill
[GRAPH] Select Fill Pattern
[SPACE] Plot
[CURSOR RIGHT] Scroll Right
[CURSOR LEFT] Scroll Left
[CURSOR UP] Scroll Up
[M] Mask
[V] Clear Screen
[E] ENLARGE:
[Q, A, O & P] Move Box
[SPACE] Quit
[ENTER] Enlarge Box
[INV VIDEO] Quit
[O, A, O & P] Move Cursor
[CAPS SHIFT] Reset Point
[SyShft/SPACE] Plot Point
[TRUE VIDEO] FONTS
[K] COLOURS
3
The Stored Screen
HEADLINER works with two screens, one being displayed and the other stored in memory in
the file space. This facility enables you to STORE versions of the design as you work on it and
RESTORE the saved version to remove mistakes.
If the memory is nearly full with files there will be no room to store a screen and the " No
Room" message will flash upon entry to this menu. This means that certain functions;
ENLARGE, STORE, RESTORE and SWAP, cannot be used unless you delete some files to
make more room.
[ENTER] Store Screen
[EDIT] Restore Screen
[S] Swap Screens
The Pointers
Two pointers appear in the display; the large RELATIVE pointer and the smaller ORIGIN
pointer. The way the two pointers move about the screen depends on the MODE setting.
The [Q, A, O & P] keys are used to move the pointers. The pointers move quite fast, so to home
in on a point press [CAPS SHIFT] while moving the pointer and this will reduce the speed of
movement.
The shape of the pointers can be altered with the 'pattern!' extension program.
[Q,A,O & P] Move Pointer
[X] Reset Origin Pointer
[4] Exchange Pointers
[CAPS SHIFT] Delay
Mode
This is set by pressing keys [1, 2 or 3] and determines the way the origin pointer interacts with
the relative: Mode 1 is the RADIAL mode. The position of the origin pointer remains stationary
and permits the drawing of lines radiating from this point, or equally as useful the drawing of
concentric circles. Mode 2 is the FOLLOW mode, where if a line is drawn the origin pointer
follows this line to the position of the relative pointer. Mode 3 is the PARALLEL mode, where
both pointers are moved in a parallel fashion maintaining the same relative position on the
screen.
[1] MODE 1: Radial
[2] MODE 2: Follow
[3] MODE 3: Parallel
 4
Inverse & Over
These functions duplicate the INVERSE and OVER settings in Sinclair BASIC. Inverse can be
used to delete pixels set to INK colour by drawing over them. If both inverse and over are set
then drawing or plotting has no effect on the display.
These functions affect all output to the screen with DRAW, CIRCLE, BOX, ARC and PLOT.
[I] Inverse
[N] Over
Draw
On pressing [D] a line will be drawn from the origin pointer to the relative pointer. If MODE 2
is set then the origin position is updated to the relative position. You can draw at the same time
as moving the pointers, allowing you to cover or delete large areas of the screen.
Circle
On pressing [C] a circle will be drawn centered about the origin pointer and passing through the
relative pointer.
Box
On pressing [B] a rectangle will be drawn whose diagonals are determined by the two pointer
positions.
Arc
On pressing [R] a third pointer will appear. This may be moved to the required position of the
arc. Pressing [ENTER] draws an arc between the origin and relative pointers and passing
through the third pointer. Pressing [SPACE] at any time will abort this.
Fill
Pressing [F] will result in the area pointed to by the relative pointer being FILLED with the
current PATTERN. The area to be filled should be totally enclosed by INK pixels, otherwise a
large area of the screen may be filled.
Pattern
Pressing [GRAPH] and selecting one of the UDG-type patterns displayed selects the pattern to
be used for FILL and PLOT. There are twenty-one patterns available, from [A] to [U]. The
patterns themselves can be altered with the 'pattern!' extension program.
5
Plot
Pressing [SYMBOL SHIFT] or [SPACE] will plot, depending on the current PATTERN,
OVER & INVERSE settings, a pixel or inverted pixel to the screen. As well as for simply
plotting points, this can be used to produce paintbrush type effects when used with some fillpatterns.
Scrolling
To reposition an object in the centre of the screen, the CURSOR keys can be used to scroll in
UP, LEFT and RIGHT directions. The scrolled screen wraps around to the other side of the
display, so continuing the scroll will bring the object Icack to its original position.
[CURSOR RIGHT] Scroll Right
[CURSOR LEFT] Scroll Left
[CURSOR UP] Scroll Up
Mask
Pressing [M] will colour the attributes in a grid pattern so that careful planning of line positions
may be done. As this is potentially destructive you are prompted with "Yes/No?".
CLS
Pressing [V] will as above ask "Yes/No?" and then clear the screen. Remember that
the STORED screen is unaffected by this.
Enlarge
 [E] ENLARGE:
[Q, A, O & P] Move Box
[SPACE] Quit
[ENTER] Enlarge Box
[INV VIDEO] Quit
[Q, A, O & P] Move Cursor
[CAPS SHIFT] Reset Point
[SyShft/SPACE] Plot Point
On pressing [E] a box appears which may be moved with the [Q, A, O & P] keys until the part
of the screen required for closer examination is covered by the box. Pressing [SPACE] at any
time will abort this, otherwise pressing [ENTER] will enlarge the area and allow fine detail to
be added.
Pressing [SYMBOL SHIFT] or [SPACE] will now plot a pixel and [CAPS SHIFT] will erase a
pixel. Pushing the cursor against any of the four edges results in a scroll of 8 pixels in that
6
direction. [INV VIDEO] returns to the amended full sized screen.
The stored screen is overwritten by the displayed screen when this function is used. If there is
no room to store the displayed screen, then this function is disabled.
Fonts
This menu is reached from the SCREEN DESIGNER menu by pressing [TRUE VIDEO]. As
with other menu options, [INVERSE VIDEO] will quit this function.
Keys:
[INV VIDEO] Quit
[ENTER] Store Screen
[EDIT] Restore Screen
[EXTEND MODE] Swap Screens
[TRUE VIDEO] Select Font
[CURSOR EEYS] Move Cursor
[DELETE] Delete
[SyShft & W] Width
[SyShft & D] Depth
[SyShft & E] Emphasised
[SyShft & I] Italics
Stored Screen
The STORE, RESTORE and SWAP functions work as described in the SCREEN DESIGNER
section, with the exception that now [EXTEND MODE] is used to SWAP screens rather than
[S].
Select Font
Pressing [TRUE VIDEO] accesses the 'Font?' input. You are asked for the name of a font
currently residing in memory. Two font sizes are available and are prefixed in the files listing by
>Fnt 1 or >Fnt 6. These refer to normal size Spectrum fonts and the special HEADLINER fonts
that are six characters high. Inputting an empty filename will select the normal Spectrum font
which is always present in the ROM.
Once a font has been selected, a line cursor appears and can be moved about the screen with the
standard cursor keys. Typing a character results in the character being printed to the screen. If
you wish to change the font at any time, pressing [TRUE VIDEO] again returns you to the
'Font?' input.
7
Selection of a >Fnt 6 type font accesses a further menu where the following options are
available:
Width
Pressing [SyShft & W] toggles this function between l and 2. The '1' setting prints the characters
in half-width and with some distortion, though this can be tidied up with the ENLARGE
function.
Depth
Pressing [SYShft & D] toggles the depth of the characters between 1 and 2. The depth of the
cursor also alters when this is altered.
Emphasised
This is indicated by BOLD on the lower menu and is toggled between on and off by pressing
[SyShft & E].
Italics
This is toggled between on and off by pressing [SyShft & I]. If italics are on, the cursor will be
displayed as a slanted line.
Delete
Pressing [DELETE] will erase the line of pixels behind the cursor line and move the cursor back
one pixel.
Headliner Fonts
It should be noted that the HEADLINER fonts are not complete. To save on memory, rarely
used characters such as {, }, %, $ and = have not been incorporated. If you need these
characters, the best way to produce them is to use a similar character and modify it with the
ENLARGE function.
User's Fonts
Your own fonts (of the normal Spectrum character set type) can be loaded after conversion with
the 'convert!' extension program. This will load the character set code and convert it into a >Fnt
1 type file. You should not attempt to load unconverted character sets into WordMaster.
8
Colours
Keys:
[INV VIDEO] Quit
[ENTER] Store Screen
[EDIT] Restore Screen
[S] Swap Screens
[Q, A, O & P] Move Cursor
[X] Ink Colour
[C] Paper Colour
[SyShft/SPACE] Set Colour
[F] Fill Screen
This menu is reached from the SCREEN DESIGNER by pressing [K]. Pressing [INVERSE
VIDEO] will quit.
The colour of any single attribute square can be set by pressing [SYMBOL SHIFT] or
[SPACE]. The ink and paper oolours are displayed in the lower menu and are incremented by
pressing [X] or [C]. Ink 8 refers to the standard Spectrum 'INK 8' setting, in which the ink
colour of an attribute is 'transparent' (unaffected by any paper colour changes). The whole
screen can be filled with a colour by pressing [F].
As with the SCREEN DESIGNER menu, [ENTER], [EDIT] and [S] are used to store, restore
and swap the displayed and the stored screen (if space permits).
Extension Programs
convert! enables you to load your own user-defined character sets into WordMaster. At the
prompt "Load Character Set & Convert to File:", type in the name of a character set on disk or
tape. The code will be loaded and converted into a
>Fnt 1 type file usable by Headliner. If you input an empty filename the procedure will be
aborted.
pattern! allows you to alter the shape of the pointers and fill patterns. This program will only
run if Headliner is in memory.
print! enables you to print out any graphic file without having to create a document file and
print it from within that. You can stop the printing by pressing [BREAK].
slideshow! produces a 'slideshow' type display with a delay (in seconds) between each
graphic. The graphics in memory are displayed in the order they are listed.
Note: print! should not be used with the Brother HR-5 printer or any other printer which does
not have the ESC "J" function to line feed in 216th's of an inch.
9
Headliner Fonts:
Advertisement