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FAQS!
FACTS! FAX! 185 (04/11/99)
PORTABLE
POSER
I
recently downloaded an application form from a firm of consultants. It is in
PDF format. I would be most grateful if you could tell how to open it so that
it looks as it ought. When I use Word I get programming text. I am using
Windows 98 Edition 2 and Microsoft Office 97 Pro.
Kim Howat
A
PDF
stands for portable document format, the de-facto standard for on-line
documents, instruction manuals etc., with underlined 'hypertext' links. You
will need a piece of software called Adobe Acrobat in order to read the file.
You'll be glad to know it's free and downloadable from the Internet. You may
even have a copy of Acrobat somewhere, it's often included on CD-ROM
installation discs supplied with printers and other peripherals, failing that
the web site address is: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
CAPITAL IDEA
I seem to recall that in months past you have given a
tip on putting an enlarged initial letter at the beginning of a paragraph and
then working the text around it. I use Word 97. Though I keep all your F!F!F!s
in a scrapbook I cannot find the answer. Would you give me a clue please?
P. Cahill
A
The
feature you are looking for is called a 'Drop Cap'. Simply highlight the
paragraph, go to the Format menu, click on Drop Cap, select the style and it's
done.
SNAPPY
ENDING?
Some
time ago I read that a company was preparing to launch a digital pack that
could be inserted into a 35mm single lens reflex camera. This seemed a good
idea as the user would be able to use the good quality lens of the camera. Has
this ever reached the market or is it a candidate for your Technoturkey column?
Roger Horsfield
A
The
device in question was originally called the Irvine Sensor and prototypes were
shown at photographic trade fairs two years ago. Initially there were problems,
it appears that there are small differences in the distances between the film
plane and the lens in various makes of 35mm camera and it proved difficult to
design a 'universal' product. However, it has since been renamed and relaunched
as 'Silicon Film' and 'e-film' and several devices will apparently be coming on
to the market soon, you can find out more from: http://www.imagek.com/
DRIVE
DILEMMA
I hope you can help me with this query as I am at the
end of my tether. I don't have driver disk for my CD-ROM drive unit, which is a
Matsushita CR-585-B. I hope you can tell me where I might download this or
purchase it?
P. Patel,
Leicester
A
The
necessary driver is included in on the Windows 95 and 98 installation disc,
though obviously you can't access it. If you are using Windows 98 and you
followed the instructions and made an emergency start-up disc you'll find a
generic driver stored in the Edd.cab file. You can load it by booting your PC
from the floppy disc and you will be given the option to install the CD-ROM
driver. Otherwise the driver software can be downloaded from the Panasonic web
site at: http://www.panasonic.co.jp/corp/Download/cdromdriver_e.html
JUNIOR
FONTS
Do
you know where I can find a TrueType font in the style of handwriting taught by
infant schools? I'd like to recreate the letters my daughter is being taught:
these have leading and finishing strokes as a pre-cursor to doing joined-up
writing. Thank you.
Sarah
Verge
A
You will find several hundred shareware and freeware
fonts on the SoftSeek web site, (www.softseek.com/)
simply type 'handwriting font' into the search field and have a look at what's
on offer.
MAC
COLOUR
Like
N Pagett (F!F!F! October 21) I have imperfect colour vision, but happily the
Mac's operating system has everything I need to identify colours on screen,
without recourse to third-party utilities. Much the easiest, if you're happy
with RGB or Pantone descriptions, is Apple's DigitalColour Meter. If, however,
you want a description in English, or using CMYK, HLS or HSV, use the
eyedropper (Option key) in the OS's Colour Picker.
Different
applications may access the Colour Picker in different ways, but I find that a
useful catch-all method is to have the Appearance control panel permanently
open, then select "Other..." from the Highlight Colour pop-up menu
whenever I want to identify a colour. The only annoyance is Apple's
idiosyncratic names for colours, e.g. "obsidian" (black to you and
me).
William Perry
A
Thanks
for the advice
ALL
CHANGE
When opening a program from Explorer, if the program type is not recognized, we
are asked for the program to be used to open this file. The file is then
associated with that program for evermore and a program type name is allocated
to it. I have been unable to find a method by which these allocations can be
reset. Can you advise?
Les Bell
A
You
can change the association for all files of that types by opening Windows
Explorer, click on the View menu and select Folder Options. Choose the File Types
tab and scroll down the list to find the one you want to change. Click the Edit
button and in the Actions pane click on Open, then the Edit button and Actions
used to perform action field enter the path for the program that you want to
open files with that extension, click OK to finish.
THE
WRONG TRACK
About
a year ago I purchased a new P400 Pentium II PC. The 32x CD-ROM player
gives no trouble when I use CD intensive applications such as Microsoft
AutoRoute Express for Europe or games such as System Shock 2. The problem comes
when I wish to play audio CD's. The tracks skip, jump do everything but play
normally. Do I need a new CD or is it the Windows Multimedia CD Player at
fault?
Andrew G. Jacobs
A
Try
using a good quality CD/CD-ROM clreaner in the drive and make sure there are no
marks or scratches on your audio CDs.
It's unlikely to be a software fault but just to be on the safe side you
could try removing and re-installing the CD Player using Add/Remove Program in
Control Panel.
FREE
SAMPLES
I
have built up a collection of some 400 fonts and it takes quite a while to
search through for a particular style. You mentioned in a previous issue a
'font catalogue'. I have tried to list samples of each font using the font
selector in Word 97 but it is a very slow process. Is there some easy way of
listing out the name of each font and a sample of its style please?
Michael Cromey-Hawke
A
There's
a useful macro for Word that prints out a sample of every font on your PC, it
can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q170/9/70.asp
It’s
quite long so copy and paste it from the web page into a new macro field by
going to Tools > Macros, call it Listfont, then click on the Create.
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