On 10 Jan, Gavin Crawford <gav@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > In article <4ea219c7fdArtworks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, > Richard Underwood <Artworks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > You have mentioned multi-page layout. This would be > > very welcome. If it were implemented I feel that it would be best to > > have the pages scrollable like Impression pages so that objects can be > > freely dragged around between pages, not like an "workbook" arrangement > > where you can only have one page showing at a time. > I don't feel that multipage handling is particularly an important > feature, as any ArtWorks document can be imported into Impression or > Ovation Pro to create a multipage layout. But if ArtWorks does receive > multipage capabilities I would NOT want to see it done as scrollable > pages in one view as the ability to use the scroll bars to navigate > around one page becomes more difficult when the vertical scrollbar > becomes small and it's sensitivity in relation to the page increases. > All this means is that you end up having to use the 'Move page' hand > tool which is generally less sensitive than the scrollbar is when > viewing a single page as is currently the case. The reason I would prefer a multipage layout using scrollbars is because if the multipages were in a "workbook" format then there seems little advantage in having a multipage layout at all as opposed to simply having a group of AW files stored in a directory. In a spreadsheet type programme (such as excel) distinctly separate pages of different dimensions connected mathematically within one file forming a "workbook" seems to be an ideal solution. In a drawing programme the requirements are different and there is most likely going to be a requirement to juggle bits around between pages. I guess the most likely use of multipage files is to produce consecutively printed pages of the same dimension, for duplex or pamphlet printing either directly or via pdf creation. I feel that these "DTP" type operations would be best presented on screen in a familiar DTP fashion, i.e using scroll bars. > > Artworks file import by drag and drop > > [Snip] > > This problem is exacerbated by the > > presence of the newer Artworks objects which cannot be preserved in > > Draw Files. > I wouldn't say that cut and paste is that difficult to use, and the use > of 'Paste in place' ctrl+Shift+V makes it easy enough to place things in > the correct position from one document into another. > But I don't understand your reference to draw files, are you exporting > ArtWorks objects to draw files just to transfer them to other > documents? I use artworks commercially -as I presume you do- and much of the work I do involves the constant use and re-use of a set images and text blocks created / assembled in Artworks. Many other drawing programmes have built in libraries to store such frequently used 'clips', sadly Artworks does not have such a library system (I forgot to mention that on my wish list!). In the absence of a built in library the next best thing would be to store the clips in a third party clip art programme, but they all work using the familiar riscos drag and drop fashion....and !Artworks doesn't, that is if the file is an !Artworks file. I am sure you appreciate that in a commercial environment software choices cannot simply be limited to "can it be done" but have to include "done more easily/better/quicker than". My experience is that if too many AW operations involve several steps then employees, not familiar with RISCOS tend to simply write off RISCOS/Artworks as being "too cumbersome/difficult to learn", and edge their way across the bench to Mac os/Win pc. BTW, I find the PDF export facility in !Artworks to be excellent, fast and reliable -far superior to any pdf creation I have encountered via !printers, well done Martin for that, but I only wish it could produce more than one page! Cheers, Richard -- Richard E. Underwood - Oakberry Farm