Page Layout How-To For WYSIWYG People

[KitchM <tech frontrowcomputer com>]

I am writing this in the hopes of helping someone else use the
program.:working:  We recognize that there is a difference in the ways
things are accomplished in Dia from normal page layout programs, such as
word processors and desktop publishing.  So one needs a good start.:-)

Please remember that these specific steps help the new user practice a
mental method of doing things that may well help them translate from WYSIWYG
environments.  I have also found that the following works for those of us
who use Imperial measurements.


I suggest that one begin by setting the program preferences.  The first area
is User Interface.  Make sure you have plenty of undos; something like 15. 
Change the units of length and font size to something like inches and
points, respectively.

Under View Defaults I played around with new window width and height by
selecting 800 and 950 respectively.  This will give you a space on the right
for the tools window.  Under Grid Lines, I selected to uncheck Dynamic Grid
Resizing.  I usually usually like to make everything snap to gridlines, so I
can automatically keep things aligned.

At this point a new window could be opened, showing the top left corner at
0,0, with the size specs you set.  Now you have something that works fairly
well for portrait.

Next I go to Page Setup and select landscape, change the margins to
something you like to see printed such as 1/2 inch all around, and Fit to 1
by 1.  Then I manually resize my window to show the whole page.  This
exercise shows how to get the clear limits displayed by the blue lines
without wasted space.

If necessary, now I use the zoom shortcut keys, Ctrl -  and Ctrl +, to zoom
until I see my page as close to 0,0 in the top left corner.  (Don't forget
to move the darn scrollbars to top and left to see the focus remain at 0,0.) 
Now I should see the workable area, minus the margins, defined by the
default blue lines.  At 1024 x 768, you will see all of your page with extra
space at left, right and bottom.  The top will be at 0.  I'm sure this
should work at other resolutions as well, although I have not tried it.

All you have to do is keep your diagram within that space.  Once you
understand this easy-to-see setup display, you may then switch to another
format, and other different settings to note the changes, one by one.  (Each
different page format will require dragging the window corner to resize it
and then move the scrollbars to zero them out again.)

Remember to zoom in to do more detailed work.  Use the scrollbars to keep
yourself in a mental relationship to the whole as you go along.

This is the one great way to become familiar with what you need to learn to
expect on the canvas, or window space, especially if you come from a WYSIWYG
environment.

Good Luck!  =)
-- 
View this message in context: 
http://old.nabble.com/Page-Layout-How-To-For-WYSIWYG-People-tp32075994p32075994.html
Sent from the Gnome - Dia mailing list archive at Nabble.com.