The Tapestry control panel will only run on Macintosh computers equipped with Color QuickDraw. These color capable Macintosh computers include the Macintosh II line, Macintosh Quadra line, PowerBooks 140 or newer, Macintosh SE/30, Macintosh Classic II, Macintosh LC line and the Performa line. The original Macintoshes such as the Macintosh Plus, Macintosh SE, Macintosh Classic and the PowerBook 100 do not have Color QuickDraw and can not support large desktop patterns.
It is recommended that you use Tapestry with System 6.0 or with System 7.0. Since this product is a control panel, it requires the modular Control Panel desk accessory if it is to be used with System 6.0. When running under System 7.0, the Tapestry control panel can be run directly from the Finder without using the Control Panel desk accessory. In addition, the Tapestry control panel will take advantage of certain features found in System 7.0 to operate in a more efficient manner.
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* How to Install the Tapestry Control Panel *
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The Tapestry distribution diskette comes with four files and one folder — the Tapestry control panel, the Tapestry Switcher program, the patterns archive, a read me file and the tutorial folder. Insert the distribution diskette and double click its icon to open the window that displays the contents of the diskette. It should look like Figure 1.1. Copy the Tapestry, Tapestry Switcher and the Patterns.sea files onto your startup drive by selecting all three files and then dragging them onto your startup disk. If you wish to create your own patterns, you should also copy the Tutorial folder onto your startup drive.
You need to place the Tapestry control panel in the System folder in order for it to work properly. Select and drag the Tapestry file onto the System folder icon and drop it in. If you are running System 7.0, a dialog box will appear that asks you if you would like this item placed in the Control Panels folder. Click the OK button. System 7.0 users may also want to create an alias of the Tapestry control panel and then place this alias in the Apple Menu Items folder so that Tapestry will appear in the Apple menu. This is accomplished by opening the Control Panels folder within the System Folder, selecting the Tapestry control panel and then selecting ‘Make Alias’ from the Finder’s File menu. Next drag this newly created alias into the Apple Menu Items folder within the System folder. Tapestry should now appear in the Apple menu.
If you would like to have Tapestry select patterns for you at random then you will need to install the Tapestry Switcher program. This is a background application that will change your desktop pattern at random intervals. System 7.0 users should place this application inside the Startup Items folder within their System folder. System 6.0 users should place this application in thier System Folder. Under System 7.0 this application will automatically be launched each time you start your computer. System 6.0 users will first need to open the Tapestry control panel and then set the desired time interval from the Tapestry menu as described in the section Using Tapestry. The time interval should be something other than ‘Change Never’ or ‘Change only at Startup’. You will then need to launch the Tapestry Switcher program by double-clicking on its icon. With the Tapestry Switcher program running, you should then select the ‘Set Startup Applications’ command from the Finder’s Special menu. Select the ‘Use Opened Applications’ option in the dialog that is presented and then close the dialog.
You have now successfully completed the installation of the Tapestry control panel and are ready to proceed to the next chapter, “Using Tapestry.”
How you use the Tapestry control panel varies depending on whether you are running under System 6.0 or System 7.0. Operating the control panel is the same under both systems, but bringing up the control panel is different.
If you are running System 6.0, you must select the Control Panel desk accessory from the Apple menu. Scroll down the list of available control panels until you see the Tapestry icon. Select the Tapestry icon. The Tapestry control panel as illustrated in Figure 2.1 should appear to the right of the scrolling list of icons. When it is first opened, the control panel will display the pattern that is currently installed in the System as the current desktop pattern.
If you are running System 7.0 you can start the Tapestry control panel by double-clicking its icon in the Finder. It should normally be located in the Control Panels folder within your System folder, but can be located anywhere. If you have made an alias to the Tapestry control panel and have placed that alias in the Apple Menu Items folder, then you can also start the Tapestry control panel by selecting its alias in the Apple menu. When it is first opened, the control panel will display the pattern that is currently installed in the System file as the current desktop pattern.
The first time that you open Tapestry, you will be required to enter your name and the product serial number into a dialog box (Figure 2.2). The serial number is printed on the back of the diskette label and is printed on your registration form. Make sure you write this number down for future reference. The serial number is important because it is stored with new patterns that you create if you include a copyright notice. This prevents others from changing your copyright notice.
Operation of the Tapestry control panel is easy and intuitive. Most actions can be accomplished by clicking an icon or button on the control panel. Other actions are accomplished through the use of various modifier keys, such as <OPTION> and <SHIFT>, combined with mouse clicks or through the use of command-key combinations. The following sections describe how to exercise the functions of the Tapestry control panel.
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* Viewing Pattern Files *
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Tapestry stores its patterns in a Tapestry pattern file. The file that is used by Tapestry as the user pattern file can be specified through the ‘Use Pattern File…’ command found in Tapestry’s pop-up menu. This menu is activated by clicking and holding the mouse button down on the small downward pointing triangle under the Tapestry logo. The standard directory dialog will be presented so that you may select the pattern file to use (Figure 2.3). The file that you have selected will then be opened and used by Tapestry until a new pattern file is selected. Even if you close Tapestry, it will remember which pattern file you selected and reopen that file the next time you open Tapestry. This pattern file will also be the one used by the Tapestry Switcher application.
By default, Tapestry will use the pattern file ‘Tapestry Patterns’ in the Patterns folder within the Extensions folder in the System folder under System 7.0, or within the Patterns folder within the System folder itself under System 6.0. If the ‘Tapestry Patterns’ file does not exist, it will be created automatically when needed. You will be better able to follow the instructions in the remainder of this section if you open one of the sample pattern files that were decompressed earlier. To open a pattern file use the ‘Use Pattern File…’ command.
You can view the patterns stored in the current user pattern file by clicking the left or right facing triangles positioned on either side of the pattern display box. Those who have keyboards with cursor arrow keys can also use the left and right arrow keys. After clicking one of the two direction triangles or after pressing the arrow keys, the next pattern will be displayed in the pattern display box in the middle of the control panel, and the name of the pattern will be displayed just above the pattern box. Since the patterns are stored in alphabetical order, clicking the right triangle will display the pattern whose name alphabetically follows the current pattern. Clicking the left triangle will display the pattern whose name alphabetically precedes the current pattern.
Storing the patterns by name in alphabetical order also allows you to go directly to any pattern just by typing the first few letters of its name. The setting of the double click time in the Mouse control panel determines how quickly the letters need to be typed before they register as one word. Longer delay times will allow you to type the names more slowly. You can also use this technique just to get near the desired pattern. For example, just typing the <R> key will take you to the first pattern whose name begins with the letter R.
Tapestry is shipped with only one pattern stored in the control panel itself, ‘Gray 50%.’ It will always be present regardless of which file is being used as the current user pattern file. It can not be deleted or edited directly. Other patterns can be imported into the current user pattern file by using the import feature.
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* Importing Patterns *
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Tapestry comes with a self-extracting archive of additional patterns. After you unpack the archive, as per the instructions in the first chapter, you should have a folder with several pattern files. Each of these files can be opened directly by Tapestry or can be used as a source of patterns that can be imported into a new Tapestry pattern file. You can create a new Tapestry pattern file through the ‘New Pattern File…’ menu command. After the new file is named and created, it is then opened and used as the current user pattern file. Now you can import patterns from various sources to create your own personal pattern file.
Importing patterns is accomplished by selecting the ‘Import Patterns…’ menu command. The directory dialog will appear (Figure 2.3) so that you can navigate to the pattern folder and select a pattern file. Only files that Tapestry knows how to import patterns from will be displayed, such as resource files (file type ‘rsrc’), picture files (file type ‘PICT’), startup screens (file type ‘SCRN’) and Wallpaper™ files (file type ‘WPat’) by Thought I Could. Once you select a file, the patterns or pictures in that file will be imported into the current user pattern file.
If there is more than one pattern or picture in the file, a status window, as shown in Figure 2.5, will be displayed during the processing of the file. It contains a ‘Stop’ button which will allow you to terminate the operation at any time. If you click the ‘Stop’ button, only patterns that were imported before you pressed the button will be stored in the current user pattern file. If the pattern has a valid name, that name will be used to name the pattern in Tapestry. If the pattern has no name, then the default name ‘Pattern #??’ will be used, where the question marks are replaced by the resource ID of the pattern. This ensures that the pattern name is unique.
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* Importing from Resource Files *
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Pattern files for Tapestry are stored as pure resource files, but many other applications can create pure resource files that do not contain any patterns. Opening a resource file that does not contain any patterns will not cause any problems but no patterns will be imported, of course. If you open a resource file that does contain pattern (‘ppat’) or picture (‘PICT’) resources, those resources will be imported one by one into the current user pattern file. If you need to import from the resource fork of a file that does not have the file type ‘rsrc’, you can do this by holding down the <OPTION> key while selecting the ‘Import Patterns…’ command. Now when the directory dialog is displayed, all files will be displayed regardless of their type.
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* Importing from Picture Files *
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Tapestry can also read and convert picture files. Picture files are files generated by graphics programs and saved in the ‘PICT’ format. When you select the ‘Import Patterns…’ command, it will display not only pattern files (file type ‘rsrc’), but also picture files (file type ‘PICT’). If you select a picture file, the contents of that file are read into Tapestry and converted into a pattern.
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* Importing from Wallpaper Files *
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In addition to resource and picture files, Tapestry can also read and convert pattern files created by Wallpaper™ by Thought I Could. Importing a Wallpaper file automatically converts it to a pattern that Tapestry can use. The original name and author of the pattern will be used to generate the new name of the pattern. The pattern that was just imported will not necessarily be the pattern that is displayed. You will need to press the first few letters of the pattern’s name to display the imported pattern. You can also use the left or right arrows to scroll through the patterns until you find the pattern that was imported.
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* Importing Entire Folders *
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In addition to importing a single file, Tapestry has the capability to import from all files in a given folder. When presented with the directory dialog after selecting the ‘Import Patterns…’ menu command, simply hilight a folder and then click the ‘Import ƒ’ button. A progress dialog will be presented to show which files are being imported.
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* Installing Patterns onto the Desktop *
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To install the currently displayed pattern onto the desktop of your Macintosh, merely click within the pattern display box or select the “Install onto Desktop” command from Tapestry’s menu. This will immediately change the desktop of the Macintosh. It WILL NOT generally store the pattern in the System file or make any other changes to your System file. Hitting the <RETURN> key will also install the pattern onto the desktop. Older versions of Tapestry did modify the ‘ppat’ resource with ID=16 in the System file. If you are upgrading from an older version, make sure that you use either version to install the ‘Gray 50%’ pattern before removing it from your hard drive.
Depending on the depth to which your monitor is set, the depth of the pattern and the size of the pattern, certain patterns may display incorrectly. Large, deep patterns typically will not display correctly on Macintoshes set to 16 or 24 bits per pixel. This is because the Macintosh tries to expand the pattern to the depth of the monitor so that it can be drawn quickly. If the size of this expanded data becomes too large, problems result. While trying to install these patterns should not cause any problems, it is best not to use patterns that do not display correctly on your system. An alternate solution would be to reduce the depth setting of your monitor to eight bits or to copy the pattern and then use the ‘Paste Special…’ menu command to reduce the size of the pattern.
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* Copying and Cutting Patterns *
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You can copy the currently displayed pattern into the clipboard by typing <CMD><C> or selecting ‘Copy’ from the Edit menu. This places a number of items in the clipboard so that they can be pasted into other applications, such as paint programs, the Scrapbook, ResEdit, etc. The pattern is placed in the clipboard in picture format (‘PICT’) and in pattern format (‘ppat’). The picture version can be used by paint programs and most other applications. The pattern format is used by programs such as ResEdit that can edit patterns directly. In addition, the name of the pattern is placed in the clipboard in text (‘TEXT’) format. This is done so that when pasted to and from the Scrapbook, patterns will retain their names. The copyright information along with your serial number is coded directly into the pattern in both the ‘ppat’ and ‘PICT’ formats.
Just as patterns can be copied into the clipboard, they can also be cut (copied to the clipboard and then deleted) by typing <CMD><X> or by selecting ‘Cut’ from the Edit menu.
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* Pasting Patterns and Pictures *
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Patterns and pictures can both be pasted into the Tapestry control panel by typing <CMD><V> or by selecting ‘Paste’ from the Edit menu. If the clipboard contains pattern data (‘ppat’ format), that data is used to create the new pattern. Data in the pattern format can be created using ResEdit or when existing patterns are cut and pasted back into the control panel.
If the clipboard does not contain any pattern data, Tapestry will look for picture data. In this way, any picture created in a graphics program can be pasted into Tapestry and converted into a pattern. Since the height and width of patterns must conform to certain values (8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 pixels), the control panel will center the picture within a pattern of the nearest size. The pixels around the edge of the picture will be used to fill the area surrounding the picture if necessary.
Color pictures can take up quite a bit of memory, and problems can arise when creating and storing large patterns. For this reason, Tapestry generally limits the amount of memory that patterns can occupy to 32767 bytes. If you paste a picture that will create a pattern that exceeds this limit, the control panel will scale the picture to a smaller size so that this limit is not exceeded. The scaling is always done proportionally to preserve the relative sizes of objects within the picture.
If the clipboard contains any text data, that data will be used to name the new pattern. If no text data exists, the default name ‘Pattern #??’ is given to the pattern. The question marks are replaced by the resource ID number of the new pattern.
Normally Tapestry reduces the size of pictures while leaving the depth of the pattern at eight bits per pixel. It also scales pictures proportionately. If you prefer, Tapestry can reduce the depth of the pattern or scale the picture in other ways using the ‘Paste Special…’ menu command.
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* Paste Special *
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See complete manual.
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* Image Grabber *
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Tapestry can grab an image from anywhere on the screen using the ‘Grab Pattern…’ menu command. A rectangle appears to show what part of the screen will be captured and made into a pattern. You can enlarge or reduce the rectangle using the arrow keys on the keyboard. Clicking the mouse button grabs the image in the rectangle and pastes it into Tapestry.
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* Editing Pattern Names and Copyright Notices *
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See complete manual.
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* Adjusting Patterns *
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See complete manual.
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* Deleting Patterns *
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Deleting the currently displayed pattern is easily accomplished by hitting the <DELETE> key or by selecting ‘Clear’ from the Edit menu. The confirmation dialog illustrated in Figure 2.14 will be presented, warning that deleting a pattern can not be undone. If you wish to delete the pattern, simply click the ‘Delete’ button. Otherwise click ‘Cancel’. If you click the ‘Delete Marked’ button, the control panel will delete all patterns that have been marked. Patterns are marked by clicking the check box above and to the left of the pattern display box (See the Tapestry Switcher section for more details). Likewise, clicking the ‘Delete Unmarked’ button in the confirmation dialog will delete all patterns that have not been marked. If you wish to delete the currently displayed pattern and want to bypass the confirmation dialog, hold the <OPTION> key down when you type <DELETE> or select ‘Clear’ from the Edit menu. The ‘Gray 50%’ pattern can not be deleted.
If there are multiple patterns to be deleted, a status dialog (similar to the one used for importing and exporting) that shows the progress of the delete operation will be displayed. This dialog will give you a method of stopping the operation any time before it is completed.
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* Exporting Patterns *
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See complete manual.
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* Tapestry Switcher *
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Tapestry Switcher is a background application that can randomly select and install a pattern on your desktop periodically. When running, this application selects one of the patterns stored in the user pattern file that have been marked for use by Tapestry Switcher. Patterns are marked by clicking the small box above the pattern display box and immediately to the right of the left triangle. A small X will appear in the box to indicate that this pattern is marked. Clicking the box again will remove the mark. Alternately you can hit the <ENTER> key on the numeric keypad to toggle the state of the mark box. If you hold down the <OPTION> key while clicking the mark box or when typing <ENTER>, all patterns will be unmarked. This is a quick way to start fresh or to disable the pattern marking function. Pressing <SHIFT><OPTION> and clicking the mark box will cause all the patterns in the file to be marked.
During the startup sequence, the Tapestry Switcher application will automatically be launched only if the Tapestry Switcher program has been placed in the Startup Items within the System folder under System 7.0 or has been selected as a startup application under System 6.0 by using the ‘Set Starup Applications’ menu command in the Finder’s Special menu. You can prevent the Tapestry Switcher application from running by holding down the <SHIFT> key during the startup process or by removing it from the Startup Items folder under System 7.0 or by using the ‘Set Startup Applications’ command in the Finder’s Special menu under System 6.0.
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* Displaying Pattern Information *
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If you click on the pattern display box while the <OPTION> key is down or if you select the ‘Info…’ command from the pop-up menu, Tapestry will display a dialog that lists some of the important attributes of the currently displayed pattern. These attributes include the pattern’s name, the file it is stored in, its pixel depth, its size in pixels, and its total storage size. Clicking the ‘Continue’ button will dismiss the dialog.
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* About Tapestry and Tapestry Help *
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You can request on-line help for Tapestry by clicking the help box (the small box with a question mark) above the pattern display box and immediately to the left of the right triangle. This action will display a summary of the operating instructions for the control panel. Clicking anywhere or pressing a key will cause the instructions to disappear. You can also request additional information about Tapestry and Calico Publishing by clicking the upward pointing triangle at the bottom of the control panel. Clicking the Calico logo or the Tapestry title will also display this information.
