1.0 INTRODUCTION GraphTablet prints blank graph paper using your home computer and color printer. I originally wrote this program for my kids who were taking math and science classes in jr high school. GraphTablet will generate rectangular, polar, semilog graph paper or even notebook (horizontal lines) paper. An intuitive interface allows control over major and minor division, pen color and width (.1 mm, .25 mm, and .5 mm), and layout. "Layout" is a feature unique to GraphTablet which reflects its orientation to homework. You can choose 1, 2, or 4 separate grids per page. Helps the teacher and student to separate one problem from another. GraphTablet has also been used for designing needlepoint, arranging floor plans, graphic coloring paper for pre-school, etc. The most unusual use: outlining a book. I hope you find the program useful, and I always look forward to receiving email from users. It's due to the many and constructive criticisms from the needlepoint groups that I've added more control over major and minor divisions! GraphTablet makes no entries in the registry file, and contains no spyware or adware. The latest version can be found at http://www.graphtablet.com/ mike@graphtablet.com Michael Eve Renton, Washington +============================================================================================+ 2.0 SETUP Installation: Available in 2 download formats: -- a compact, zip file for experts (unzip, copy to directory, creat shortcut for execution) -- a larger, install zip file . Unzip and execute. Will install program in directory and create shortcut for execution. Can be removed with ControlPanel/Add-Remove Programs. GraphTablet is distributed in a zip file because of restrictions placed upon me by the server hosting my site. Many ISP based servers share this restriction so an unzip program is an essential utility program to have. If you need an unzip program, there are many free or low-cost programs available. One favorite is "FreeZip", available at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/ or use your favorite search engine to find "FreeZip" (but not "FreeZip!", another program entirely). +============================================================================================+ 3.0 HOW TO USE What you see is what you get! The best way to learn the program is to run it. Every time you click on an option, you see the result immediately. When you run GraphTablet, you will see the program screen featuring 4 dialog boxes, a page preview area, and 2 buttons. Page Preview: All selections you make are instantly shown in the preview area. The red outlined rectangle is a scaled-version of the printer page (as reported by the printer driver). Note that most printers will not print to the edge of the paper and have uneven margins. GraphTablet attempts to even the margins top,bottom,left and right as much as possible. Due to the limited resolution of the screen display compared to the actual printer page, this is only a crude approximation of the actual output. Format: Choose rectangular, polar, semilog or notebook (horizontal lines) format for the graphs. Divisions: Enter a numberic value for the spacing between major subdivision lines. Choose "in" or "cm" for the units for spacing. Use the up/down arrows to control the number of subdivisions per major division. Note that "1" subdivision will result in no minor lines being drawn. Similarly, if you specify "5" subdivisions, 4 minor lines will be drawn. Cycles is enabled only for semilog graphs. Use the up/down arrows to select the number of cycles/decades appearing on the logarithmic axis. Layout: Click one of the three buttons to choose 1,2, or 4 layouts per page. Pens: Click the "Major" or "Minor" button then click a color button to set the color for that line type. At each side of the color button array, you can click one of the 3 line width buttons to choose either .1,.25, or .5 mm line widths. ] Save .EMF: Click this button to enter a file dialog and save the graph to disk. The default extension is .EMF and should not be changed. This is a high- resolution image (equal to the printer resolution). Some drawing programs may not handle this resolution. Programs are available to convert the .EMF file to another format such as .BMP or .GIF . Print: Click this button to enter a printer dialog and print the graph. 3.1 ADVANCED The pen color selections can be modified by creating a text-file (8-bit) named GT.txt in the same directory as the program file. Each line of the file has 4 numbers. The first number is the button number of the color to replace. The next 3 numbers are the RGB value (in decimal, ranges from 0 to 255). The buttons are numbered from 0 to 4 (first row),5 to 9 (second row), 10-14 (third row). For example, to change button 4 to light red and button 6 to dark gray, place the following 2 lines of text in GT.txt: 4 192 0 0 6 80 80 80 I'm adding this capability instead of the standard "Custom Color Dialog" box that is available in other programs. Let me know which approach would work best for you (and your students if you are using this in a classroom setting). +==============================================================================+ 4.0 Distribution GraphTablet is freeware. That means I own the copyright, but give you permission to use the program without charge. You may use it for home, school, work. I also give you permission to distribute the program to others. You may install the program on servers, give copies on disk to others, include the program in shareware collections on CDROM. You may not charge for the program. If in doubt, email me. +============================================================================================+ 5.0 FAQ Q: Why did you write GraphTablet? A: Have you ever had one of your kids tell you at 8 pm, "I need some graph paper for my homework" ? Besides, try to find polar graph paper at your local office supply store. Q: Can I install the program on a school server for all to use? A: Sure. The more, the merrier; no fees required. See "Distribution", above. Q: Why don't the colors from the printer match the screen colors? A: Depending on your printer, the colors may not match. I even have an old color printer that will print out the primary colors but shows all shades of gray as white. If a color doesn't print for you, try a different color. Q: Great! I've got my grid setup, now how do I enter my data into the computer for automatic plotting? A: You don't! GraphTablet's sole purpose is to generate blank grids so that you can plot the data by hand. There are many programs (shareware, commercial) that will let you enter data into a table or a spreadsheet and then plot the data. But these programs are also much bigger, and awkward for generating blank grid paper to meet students' needs. Q: What is the maximum paper size? A: GraphTablet uses the finest resolution available for drawing. Under Win95, this is .01 MM and results in a maximum page size of 32.7 cm x 32.7 cm. This limitation has been addressed in Win XP, but will require programs to be rewritten to take advantage of the larger size. If your paper is larger than 32.7 cm, GraphTablet will truncate the size down to 32.7, display a warning message, and work with the truncated size. Q: For semilog plots, how do I get the logarithmic axis along the long edge of the page? A: Before entering GraphTablet, go to Start/Settings/Printers and change your printer orientation to Landscape. In the on-screen preview area, you will see that the page orientation has been used to generate the plot. Q: Why is GraphTablet so small? A: Yes, it is, isn't it! GraphTablet is small because it is limited. Limited can be a good thing. I hope I've created a program which has sufficient options to meet most needs and even somewhat fun (in a nerdy way). Q: Do you accept suggestions? A: Yes, BUT... My primary focus at this time is developing GraphTablet as an aid for math and science students and teachers. I am also interested in slight modifications which can help other users (like crafters). I will probably not implement specialized formats unless I come out with a Pro version. Q: Where is the software license? A: I think the world has enough software licenses, but, just in case, see the "Distribution" notes, above! +============================================================================================+ 6.0 REVISION HISTORY Version 4.04.1 May 24,2002 Added minimize,maximize buttons per user request. Version 4.04 May 18,2002 Fixed problem with preview under WinXP. Version 4.03 April 26,2002 Added notebook format and user-defined colors via GT.txt . Version 4.02 April 24,2002 Fixed problem with legal size paper. Will now truncate drawing area to the max allowable for bounding rectangles under Win98/HIMETRIC (32.767 cm). Version 4.01 April 12,2002 Fixed minor problem with extent of semilog drawing at certain resolutions. Version 4.0 April, 2002 Complete rewrite. Now smaller, but more capable! Take that, Microsoft! Includes control over major/minor spacing, pen width, saving .emf . Version 3.0.1 Sept, 2001 Updated email and website references. Version 3.0 Sept, 2000 Corrected scaling so circles are always circles, not ellipses. My new HP printer had a slightly different aspect ratio than the Epson I used in previous revisions. Version 2.2 May, 1999 Added 10 minor divisions as an option. Version 2.00 December 28,1998 Added semilog, increased whitespace at left and right for scaling,titles. Version 1.00 November, 1998 First release +============================================================================================+ 7.0 CONGRATULATIONS You are probably the third person to read this line (besides me and bob j. ;).