(To run ColorKnit in black & white on a color monitor set the “Monitors” control panel to black & white mode. Black & white patterns are substituted for colors when running without color.)
• There is now a floating colors palette that can be moved around to a convenient location on the screen.
• Balloon Help is available for system 7 users for all menu commands and dialogs.
In addition, there is online help available for system 7 users under the Balloon Help menu and for system 6 users under the Apple menu.
• Grid lines and guide lines can now be adjusted from the floating palette and with the arrow keys on your keyboard.
• A brush tool and an eraser have been added.
• You can now adjust the offset of the guide lines.
• Position (Row#/Stitch#) is now displayed at all times in the lower left part of the horizontal scroll bar.
1. Double click on the application, which will open up to a new file. Use the Knit Gauge dialog (select from the Grid menu, or use Command-G) to set the grid size. This allows you to customize the grid to match your knitting style, needle size, yarn weight, etc. Type in your measurements for rows per inch and stitches per inch. Then specify the guidelines you would like to use. (All these specifications can be changed as you work, by the way.)
2. Click the OK button to close the dialog box. The new grid will redraw on the screen. Select a color or pattern from the floating palette and start drawing your design!
3. Change a color in the palette by double-clicking in it. (This only works when color is available.) Then chose a new color from the Color Picker dialog. There are also 3 sets of Alternate Colors available under the Colors Menu.
4. You can change the background color from white to any other color by using the Background Color command under the Colors menu.
5. To preview your design as a knitted fabric, use the Stitches/Squares command (Command-E, or select from the Grid menu). This changes the rectangles of your grid into stitch-shaped units. You can continue working on the design as stitches, or convert back to squares by using the Stitches/Squares command again.
The Colors palette allows you to select a color to draw with, change that color, choose the camera or pencil tool and change the grid and guide lines.
You can hide the palette by clicking in its close box. Choose Show Palette (under the Grids menu) to bring it back.
• The Arrow Buttons:
The arrow buttons allow you to change the grid/guide lines: Click in the up arrow (while holding down the option key) to increase the number of rows per inch; click in the down arrow (while holding down the option key) to decrease the number of rows per inch. Hold down the command key while clicking in an arrow to decrease or increase the spacing of the guide lines. Click in an arrow to offset the guide lines by one. Hold down the control key while clicking in an arrow to bring up the Grid dialog. (All of these commands work with the corresponding arrows on the keyboard.)
Arrow alone changes guide line offset,
Arrow + command changes guide line spacing,
Arrow + option changes the spacing of the grid,
Arrow + control brings up the Knit Gauge dialog.
• Camera/Stamper Tool (to cut and paste within a design):
This tool copies whatever is drawn within a guideline square, and then pastes it into another square.
You can change the spacing of the guidelines with the Knit Gauge command: The two fields called “Vertical guide lines” and “Horizontal guide lines” in the dialog control the spacing of the guide lines. There is also a command to change the darkness/lightness of the grid lines. This is helpful when using a dark background color. You can also change the guide line spacing with the arrow buttons as described above or the arrow keys on your keyboard.
When you've developed a pattern unit that you want to copy, make certain it is completely contained within a single guideline square. (Don't forget that you can change the size of the guideline squares at any time while you're working.)
Click on the camera icon on the end of the patterns palette. The cursor will turn into a camera. Click on the square you want to copy, to take a “picture” of it.
The cursor will then turn into a stamper. Click the stamper anywhere within another guideline square, and the program will “stamp” the design within the square.
The cursor then turns into a camera again, and you can continue cutting and pasting design units. To stop the Camera/Stamper function click on the pencil icon or in any of the palette colors. The cursor will turn back into the pencil, and you can start drawing again.
• The Brush and the Eraser
The brush allows you to paint larger areas more quickly (with a maximum brush size of 5X5 squares) Pressing the 'b' key turns on the brush. Pressing '1' through '5' changes the brush size to that size. The Eraser uses the same brush size as the brush. Pressing the 'e' key turns on the eraser.
• The Colors:
Click on a color (or pattern in black & white mode) to select it for drawing.
Double–click on it to select a new color from the Color Picker dialog. (Sorry, you can’t edit black and white patterns.)
The patterns function "grows" geometric patterns out of what you've drawn on the screen. Draw a small square or cross with the eigth color from the top and try a pattern command from the menu to see how it works. Applying different commands over and over can develop some very elaborate, almost Fair Isle-ish designs.
ColorKnit 2.0 features the ability to print an 8" X 10" page.
All of the printing–related commands are located under the File menu.
Scroll to the page you wish to print. (The upper left corner of the window sets the upper left corner of the page.)
Choose Print Preview from the File menu to see the area of the document that will be printed. (The print preview page also defines the area of the drawing that is exported as a PICT type document.)
Choose Print to print the page. If you are using a laser writter choose the Color/Grayscale option from the printing dialog. This will allow you to print in grayscale if you have a Mac that can display 256 colors/grays. For black & white Macs
