                    A USERS GUIDE TO "FLASH"
                          by Dave Tonks

In the following article, my aim is to show  what  can  be  done
with FLASH, and perhaps clarify some of the shortcoming  of  the
manual. It is not meant to  be  the  definitive  manual,  and  I
suggest that using this article as a guide, you  experiment  for
yourselves.
I shall take you through out the various menus and icons one  at
a time, and explain any extras that I have found on the way.

The controls that I shall be using are the default  ones,  which
are, Q=UP  S=DOWN  I=LEFT  O=RIGHT  M=SET  N=UNSET
The cursors can also be used  for  the  directions  and  I  will
explain the joystick option when I get to the relevant menu.

The other thing to mention is that I  shall  be  explaining  the
screen in MODE 4 only, even though FLASH can handle all 4 modes.
This will not only simplify the text, but most people will  want
to use MODE 4 as their main screen resolution.


                        THE TOP MENU BAR

Left to right this reads:-
FILE, PRINT, BLOCK, BLOCK 2, MODES, FONT, SCREEN

In all the options on the top menu bar, placing the  pointer  on
the option and pressing UP brings down a sub-menu.


                              FILE

DRIVE..
Highlight with the pointer and press M to change this  to  TAPE.
This specifies the Load/Save device.

LOAD..
This option gives you a directory of the current disc  in  drive
one and asks for an input. Input the name of the file  you  wish
to load and press RETURN. The file will be loaded and  you  will
be returned to the main workscreen.

SAVE..
As you would imagine, this has  the  opposite  effect  to  LOAD.
Again a directory is given, and you are asked for a  file  name.
Your screen is then saved under this name to disc.
On the standard FLASH, the screen is saved as a code  file,  but
there have been mods published in the mag that allow  a  SCREEN$
to be saved. (see COLOUR OK).

VERIFY..
Highlighting this and pressing M will verify that the screen has
been saved to disc correctly. I have had  myself,  occasions  on
which this didn't work, although the file was OK.

CAT..
This simply does a dir of the  disc  and  then  returns  to  the
program. In some versions the CAT has been changed to DIR.

ERASE..
Again a DIR is given and a file name requested. The file is then
erased from the disc.

QUIT..
Quits the program.
If you have used mods published in the mag, the QUIT option  may
have been changed to MENU. This gives a further sub-menu which I
won't go into here.


                              PRINT

FINAL..
DRAFT..
I've put these 2 items together as they are toggled from one  to
the other. When the menu is first brought down, the  DRAFT  will
be highlighted. Put the pointer on the word FINAL  and  press  M
and the word FINAL is now highlighted. This is the  control  for
the quality of the printout. Draft gives a fairly quick one pass
print, whilst Final gives  a  much  more  professional   2  pass
print, but of course takes longer.

LARGE DUMP..
SMALL DUMP..
These 2 printout options give the same effect, but in  different
sizes. Anything in pen 15 is left as white paper and  all  other
colours are printed as black. This has  limited  use  on  colour
pictures as a silhouette type picture usually results. They  are
more use when printing out a black/white line drawing.

GREY DUMP L..
GREY DUMP S..
These 2 dumps give 2 sizes of "coloured" dump. How it  works  is
that every pen is given a dot pattern, from a  plain  white  for
pen 15 to a solid black for pen 0. This means  that  a  coloured
picture will print out "shaded"  on  the  printer  to  give  the
effect of the colours used.

Using the large option will print the screen sideways on  an  A4
sheet of paper, whilst the small prints the right way up but not
as deep.

The print routine is set up for epson compatible printers, and I
have printed out on both the Amstrad 2000/3000 range as well  as
the Star LC200 and the epson FX/RX series. I'm  afraid  that  if
your printer is not compatible with FLASH,  there  is  little  I
have found that can be done to modify the program to  suit  your
setup.


                              BLOCK

This is the main and singly most useful section of the  program,
as it has most of the block move facilities within it.
A block is a section of screen that is user defined,  which  can
then be moved, copied, twisted etc.

WHOLE BLOCK..
Highlight this a nd press M and  the  whole  of  the  screen  is
defined as a block.

OPEN BLOCK..
Selecting this option takes the menu from the top of the screen,
and shows you the whole screen at once.
You will see a pulsating outline of a square  somewhere  on  the
screen. This can be moved in the following way:

Place your pointer where you want the top lefthand corner of the
block to be, and press N.  this  brings  the  square  into  this
point. You can now stretch the square with the  UP,  DOWN,  LEFT
and RIGHT controls, until it is in the position that you want.
At ant time you can press N again to reposition the square.

When satisfied with the position, then press M. This  will  take
you back to the main program, but your block will now have  been
remembered for future use. From now on I  shall  call  this  the
current block.

CLEAR..
Selecting this option will clear the  current  block  using  the
current PAPER. (See INK/PAPER settings).
INSERT..
This is quite a powerful command that lets you "merge" a part of
another screen with the one you are working on.

Imagine that the current block is a window through the  picture.
What INSERT does is  to  load  in  another  screen  "behind" the
current one and then allow you to scroll it around.

You will be given a DIR and asked for the filename of the screen
to load. The screen is  then  loaded  and  you  are  shown  your
current screen with part of the other screen showing  where  you
opened your current block.

Use the direction controls to scroll the block around until  you
have the part you want on view. Now press M to set  it  in,  and
return you to the main program.

Note that the INSERTED screen will take up the  palette  colours
of your current screen.

SCROLL..
You will be shown your full  screen,  and  using  the  direction
controls will SCROLL the current block around. This is done with
a wrap effect, so that what drops off one side of the block will
appear on the opposite side. Set the block  and  return  to  the
program with M.

TWIST..
Again this command works on the current block. Pressing  N  will
rotate the block 90 degrees  and  pressing  N  again  rotates  a
further 90 degrees. When the block is how you want it,  pressing
M sets it and takes you back to the program.

INVERT..
Using this option inverts the colours in the current block. E.G.
colour 0 becomes 15, colour 1 becomes  14  and  so  on.  If  you
select the option for a second time the colours will revert back
to their original state.

MIRROR..
This option simply mirrors the current block about the  vertical
axis. All colours remain unchanged. Use it twice to revert back.

THICKEN..
All lines within the current block are thickened by making  them
an extra pixel wide. Be careful with  this  one  as  it  is  not
possible to revert back by using  it  twice,  and  you  may  not
always get the effect you wanted. (see OK and UNDO).

SCROLL ATTR...
This option only works in MODE 1. (hence it is in green, meaning
that it is not available in your current MODE).


                             BLOCK 2

SET ATTRI
SET INK
SET PAPER
SET BRIGHT
SET FLASH
All the above options are in green and only apply to MODE 1  and
2 screens.

SWAP P/I..
This option works on the  current  block  and  makes  everything
within that block that is the current  paper  colour,  into  the
current ink colour and vice versa. Using it twice  reverts  back
to where you started.

REPL P/I..
Using this option will change everything in  the  current  block
that is in the current paper into the current ink colour.


                              MODES

INVERSE
OVER
COLOUR
PATTERN
All the above only apply to MODES 1 and 2
They are for some unknown reason, not in green, as are  most  of
the other MODE 1 and 2 options.

MOUSE..
This option was never implemented.

KEYBOARD..
When the program is first loaded this is highlighted, and  means
that the program is under keyboard/cursor control.

JOYSTICK..
Place the pointer on this and press M to highlight it. You  will
now have the  program  under  joystick  control.  Swap  back  to
keyboard by pointing at "KEYBOARD" and pressing M.

Whilst in joystick mode the M  key  is  simulated  by  the  fire
button, but the N key still has to be pressed on the keyboard.

MODE 1..
MODE 2..
MODE 3..
MODE 4..
These are the four screen modes of the Sam. Point at the one you
want and press M.
Note that if you change a MODE 4 screen to MODE 1, then changing
it back to MODE 4 will not repair any damage done to the screen
when it was changed to MODE 1.
Mode 1 screens usually go to MODE 4 with no problem, and MODE  3
and 4 interchange quite well.


                              FONT

This section of the top menu is  concerned  with  setting  which
font (type of text), that you want to use when  using  the  TEXT
option. There are 6 font options, the first five are true  fonts
and the "SPECIAL" is actually part of the fill patterns.
To select a font, point at the one you want, and press m.


                             SCREEN

GRAY COL..
Select this option by  pointing  and  pressing  M,  and  the  16
palettes will change into grey scale. This ranges from black  in
pen 0 to pure white in pen  15,  with  all  the  other  pens  in
between. There are not enough greys in the Sams colours to  fill
all the pens, so various shades of blue are used as well.

SPEC COL..
This is similar to the previous option, except that the pens are
filled with the default Spectrum colours. The first 8 being  the
normal Spectrum colours and the next 8 being the BRIGHT versions
of them.

Before using either of the above commands, the  COL  OK  command
should be used. (see COL OK and COL UNDO).

GRID..
Only used in MODES 1 and 2

VIEW..
As the name implies, the option removes the top menu part of the
screen and lets you view the whole picture at  once.  Whilst  on
view, pressing any key will take you back to the program.

Note that if you have the mouse interface connected to your Sam,
then as soon as you release the key after  selecting  VIEW,  the
program will drop straight back and put the top menu back again.
This can be overcome by either holding  down  M  when  selecting
VIEW, disconnecting to  interface,  or  using  the  WHOLE  BLOCK
option in the BLOCK menu to see the whole screen.

CLEAR ANI..
This clears all animations in memory, after using the  animation
options.

COL OK..
COL UNDO..
These options work together to save and retrieve your colours.
If you think that you want to try a different colour in  one  or
more palettes then point at COL OK and press M. If you  find  at
any time that you want to go back to your original  colours  you
can point at COL UNDO. COL UNDO will change the palettes back to
what they were the last time COL OK was used.
This is easier  than  trying  to  remember  what  your  original
colours were.

The only other information on the top menu bar is the  X  and  Y
symbols. These will tell you where  your  pointer  is  in  pixel
positions. They only shown this info when the pointer is in  the
work area of the screen.
Flash uses the extra 16 pixels at the bottom of the Sam  screen,
so the top of the screen will read 191, NOT 175 as you expect.


               SETTING AND USING THE PAPER AND INK

This section deals with the actual use of colour in  FLASH,  and
is mainly concerned with the left hand side  of  the  main  menu
section,  plus  the  bar  the  runs  the  width  of  the  screen
underneath the icons.

The extreme left hand section is the  RGB,  palette  colour  and
cycling section of the program, and I shall return to  these  in
more detail later.
I shall first deal with the bar that runs the full width of  the
screen, underneath the icons.  This  bar  has  a  large  section
either end, with the centre section being split into 16 sections
numbered 0 to 15. You will also see that there are  the  letters
"I" and "P" somewhere on the bar. Above the bar are the  numbers
0 to 15 and 2 of these are highlighted in green.

The "I" signifies the current ink colour and the "P" the current
paper colour.

These can be moved in two ways. First you can put the pointer on
the bar and press M or N. This will make the "I" or "P" jump  to
that colour respectively. The other method is to use keys 1  and
2 to move the "I" along the bar and key 3 and 4 to move the "P".

Once set, these are the colours that the program  uses  to  draw
with until changed by the user. Take the  pointer  to  the  main
drawing area and move it  around  with  the  direction  controls
whilst holding down key M. Yoy will see that  it  draws  in  the
current ink colour. Change the current paper colour as described
above and again move the pointer, but this time hold down N, you
will see that the current paper colour is used for drawing.

Now that we can use the pen and paper options  we  now  need  to
know how to make each of the 16 pens the colours that we want.

By far the largest section of the top left screen is the  colour
grid/magnify area. Take the pointer  to  somewhere  in  the  top
section and you will see the section on the left showing all 128
colours of the Sam. Now bring  the  pointer  back  down  to  the
drawing area and the colour area now acts as  a  magnifier.  Use
the M key to draw a line  or  something,  and  you  will  see  a
magnified section of the part of the screen that your pointer is
in. This will scroll to follow the pointer, and is  very  useful
for adding fine detail.

Use the pointer and  key  M  as  described  above  to  select  a
palette, (not palette 0 please). Now take the pointer up to  the
colour grid and select a colour from it and press M  twice.  The
palette that you chose will change to the colour you chose,  and
you can now use the colour to draw in. This can be done with any
of the 16 palettes along the bar, so you can have any 16 colours
to draw with out of the 128 colours available.

If you change a palette that has already been used to draw with,
everything on the screen using that palette will change  to  the
new colour.


                        CLEARING A SCREEN

We can now clear the screen  of  everything  and  you  can  play
around changing palettes and drawing  in  them.  First  put  the
pointer on one of the palettes and press N to bring the  "P"  to
that palette. It is usual to use palette 0 as the background but
not essential. When you have done this go up and pull  down  the
BLOCK menu as described earlier. Select WHOLE BLOK and press  M.

This makes your current block the whole  screen.  Now  pull  the
BLOCK menu down again and select CLEAR and press M.  The  screen
will now clear to the paper colour you selected.
This is how you can clear the screen (or part of it). Note  that
the CLEAR command uses the current paper colour NOT the  ink  to
clear a block.


            RGB NUMBERS AND PALETTE NUMBER SELECTION

First a word about what RGB is. The letters R G B stand for  the
colours RED, GREEN and BLUE and on a computer  all  colours  are
made up of a mixture of these 3. As you would expect the  colour
number consists of  3  digits  signifying  red  green  and  blue
respectively. So RGB number 123 would mean that  the  colour  is
made up of 1 part of red to 2 parts of blue to 3 parts of green.

On the Sam each number can be from 0  to  7  inclusive,  but  in
flash this is split into 2 parts.

Take the pointer up to the top left section  of  the  menu  just
under the letters RGB. You will see the 3 figure RGB number  for
the current pen colour. Put the pointer on one  of  the  figures
and press M. You will see that the number is odd, and  when  you
press M it jumps to the next odd number. This  means  that  each
figure can be 1, 3, 5 or 7. You will also notice that the  large
strip of colour at the end of the palette  bar  changes  as  you
change the RGB number. This is showing you what the  RGB  number
looks like as a colour.
Under the RGB number is the palette number of the  current  pen.

This relates to page 68 in the Sam manual, where every colour is
given its own palette number. These have nothing to do with  the
RGB numbers. Put the pointer on the palette number and  press  M
and the number will go up one, pressing N will make  the  number
go down one. You can select colours for your  palettes  in  this
way if you wish.

Under the palette number is a 1/2 symbol. This is the other part
of the RGB numbers.  Point  at  it  an  press  M,  and  it  will
highlight. Now you will find that the RGB numbers are  even  and
will range from 0 to 6. This gives  you  an  extra  set  of  128
colours that are slightly different shades to the first.


                         COLOUR CYCLING

Just above the palette colour bar on the left of the screen  are
the letters C Y C with plus and minus signs under them. This  is
used for rotating the palette colours.

Then colours to be rotated are defined be the highlighted  green
numbers above the palette colour bar. To alter these, place  the
pointer on the number that you want and press N to move the left
hand highlight and M for the right.

To explain more clearly, lets do an example:
First clear the screen and select palette 1 as your pen. That is
put the "I" into palette 1.
Now draw a line or something on the screen.
Change the current pen colour to  2  by  putting  the  "I"  into
palette 2.

Now draw something with this colour.
Carry one doing this using palette numbers 1 to 6 to draw with.

When you have finished, use the M and N keys and the pointer  to
put the 2 green highlights on number 1 and number 6. This  tells
the program that palettes 1 to 6 are the ones to cycle.

Now put your pointer on the plus sign below the C Y C  and  keep
pressing M until the number by it reads "6". This is  the  speed
of the cycle, with "1" being  the  highest  speed  and  255  the
lowest.
Now put the pointer on the first "C" of CYC  and  press  M.
You will see that the palettes 1-6 are rotating  and  the  lines
that you drew are also rotating.
To stop it, use the minus sign and M to bring the  cycle  number
down to "0". Using the "Y" will ping pong the palettes and using
the other "C" will reverse to rotation.


                            THE ICONS

Under the top menu bar and above the  palette  bar  are  the  14
icons. Icons are just graphical representations  of  the  option
and these comprise of the main drawing tools.

I shall describe these in detail from left to  right  describing
each icon in turn plus what it does.

To active each icon, put the pointer on it,  and  press  M.  The
icon will highlight, and in most cases all other icons will have
their highlight turned off.

SPRAY CAN..

This puts your pointer into spray brush mode. If you now  go  to
the drawing screen, you will notice the the pointer has  changed
shape. Try drawing with it, by holding down M. You  will  get  a
spray effect. You can select other  sprays,  and  this  will  be
covered later.(see SPRAY SELECT).

A PAINTBRUSH..

This puts you into BRUSH mode. If you use the direction controls
and M, you will see that your brush is 1 pixel  wide,  and  that
this is the width of line that is used when  drawing.  Like  the
sprays, you can select different brushes. (see BRUSH SELECT).

A CROSS WITH "UNDO" ABOVE IT.

This is the UNDO command, and works in conjunction with  the  OK
icon. If selected, if will briefly highlight, and the picture is
taken back to where you pressed the last "OK". If "OK"  has  not
been used, you may find that you end up with a blank screen,  or
the screen that was in Flash when loaded.

A TICK WITH "OK" ABOVE IT..

This is the OK icon, when selected it will briefly highlight and
then go out. This is used in conjunction with the  "UNDO"  icon,
and what it does is to "remember" the screen as it is,  so  that
by using "UNDO", you can come back to it should you make a  mess
trying out a new idea.

A DOTTED SQUARE WITH "BLOK" ABOVE IT..

This is the main CUT and PASTE icon. It works in the same way as
"BLOCK" described earlier, but not only does it open a block, it
also cuts it out and places it in the top  left  corner  of  the
screen.
First set the corners of the block you want, the same as in  the
"OPEN BLOCK" that was described earlier. When you have done that
and pressed M, you will find that the area that  you  have  just
marked is cut out and put in the top left  hand  corner  of  the
screen. From here you can move the block around using the normal
direction controls to position it on the screen. Pressing  M  at
any time, will set a copy of the block in position, but you  can
still move the copy around to set it as many times as you  wish.
When you have set the block where you want it N will return  you
to the main program.

There are a few things that can be  done  with  your  cut  block
before you set it, and these are achieved using keys 1-5  whilst
the block is in the top corner.

1..will invert the colours of your block.
2..gives a mirror image in the vertical axis
3..rotates the block through 90  degrees,  pressing  again  will
   give another 90 degree turn and so on.
4..This is a little difficult to explain, but what it  basically
   does, is to add the colours of your block with anything  that
   is underneath it. This is called ORing.
5..similar to option 4, but this time XORing  is  used  to  give
   different effect.

The best way to find out what these last  2  option  do,  is  to
experiment, and see what happens.

A PAIR A SCISSORS WITH "CUT" ABOVE THEM..

This option is very similar to the BLOK option, except that BLOK
only cuts out rectangles, and CUT will let you  cut  around  odd
shapes.

The workings seem at first to be very complex,  but  it  just  a
matter of pressing M and N at the right time.
The simplest way to explain, is to  go  through  it  step  at  a
time:-
1. select the cut mode from the main menu with M.

2. Press M to start the cut out. A flashing dot will appear.

3. Continue to press M until the outline you want is complete. A
flashing dotted line should surround this cut out.

4. Press N. A white unflashing line now  replaces  the  flashing
line.

5. Put the arrow inside the cut area using the cursor keys.

6. MOST CRUCIAL press F8. A pattern from  the  patterns  section
will appear at the top left corner of the screen. press F8 until
this reaches the totally black choice. F7 will take you back  if
you overshoot.

7. press M. The chosen area now completely whites  out.
Don't panic you have'nt lost it!

8. press N. Nothing happens for a fraction of a  sec.  then  the
chosen area flashes up while the rest of the screen  blanks  out
briefly.

9.The screen goes  back  to  where  you  started  with  no  area
outlined! Again don't panic its still there. Use the cursor keys
and you will see the area start to move. Its slow at  first  but
then picks up speed.

10. When you have moved the cut out area to where  you  want  it
press M to fix it. You can now  move  another  copy  to  another
place with the cursor keys again.  Fix  it  with  M  again.  Any
number of copies are possible - but always fix with M.

11. Escape back to the main menu with N with your work complete.

A PIECE OF PAPER WITH "TEXT" ABOVE IT..

This is the TEXT mode icon, and it allows you to print text onto
your picture.
When selected, the pointer will change  to  what  looks  like  a
capitol "I". Position this where you want your  text  to  start.
Make sure that the paper  and  ink  are  set  correctly  on  the
palette bar, as this is what your text will be printed in.
When the cursor is in position, press M and it will change to  a
coloured character square. Now every key that you press  on  the
keyboard will be printed out on the screen. This includes M  and
N, so don't try and use them to get back to the main program.
Delete will delete the text backwards, and the  SHIFT  key  will
give the normal shifted symbols. To  escape  back  to  the  main
program, press RETURN. This will give you your text cursor  back
and allow you to reposition it if needed.

The character set that is used for text printing, is  selectable
using the FONT option on the top menu bar. (see FONT).

A PAINTPOT WITH "FILL" ABOVE IT..

This is the FILL icon, and it enables you to fill areas  of  the
screen with  various  colours  and  patterns.  Select  the  fill
pattern that you require, (see FILL PATTERNS). Select the  paper
and ink colour from the palette bar and  then  put  the  pointer
within the area to be filled, and press M.
The fill command uses the colour of the pixel that you pressed M
on as the area to be  filled,  and  any  other  colours  as  the
boundary.
If you find you have a gap in the boundary, and the fill "leaks"
out, press N to unfill the last area to be filled.

A PENCIL WITH "FONT" ABOVE IT..
A STRIP OF FILM..
These 2 icons are the font designer  and  animation  section  of
Flash, and because of their complexity, will be dealt with in  a
separate section, (see ANIMATION, FONT DESIGN).


                        THE DRAWING TOOLS

To the right of the main icons are 4 boxes which form  the  main
drawing tools of Flash. Each box is split into 2 halves,  and  I
shall explain each one in turn.

WHITE CIRCLE WITH BLACK CIRCLE UNDERNEATH..

This is the circle option, which as the name implies, allows you
to draw circles.

The white and black circles can be selected separately, and give
a plain circle or a filled circle respectively. In the  case  of
the filled circle, the current pen and fill patterns are used.

To use the circle option, first point at one of the circle icons
and press M. For this example I shall assume that you are  using
the white (unfilled) circle. Now place the pointer on the screen
where you want the center of the circle to be and press N.

Now move then  cursor  left  or  right,  and  you  will  see  an
expanding circle appear. The up/down controls have no effect  on
the circle size, only left/right.

When you have the size of circle that you want, then press M  to
set it. You can now carry on with more circles  using  the  same
center, or move the center to a new position with N  as  before.
You can also change the ink colour at any time, the program will
remember the last center you defined.

The black circle icon works in exactly the same way, except that
when M is pressed to set the circle,  there  will  be  a  slight
pause, and then the circle will  fill  using  the  current  fill
pattern and ink.

Circle mode stays in operation until another mode  is  selected,
e.g. BRUSH, SPRAY, FILL, etc.

WHITE RECTANGLE WITH A BLACK RECTANGLE UNDERNEATH..

This is the BOX option, and, like the circle can give  either  a
filled or unfilled box depending on which icon you select.

Point at the white box and press M. Now put the cursor where you
want the top left hand corner of your rectangle to be and  press
N.

Now use the direction controls to "stretch"  the  rectangle  out
from that point. When satisfied , press M to set the box. At any
time N can be press to reset to top corner of the box.

Again the filled version uses the current fill pattern  and  ink
to fill the rectangle after setting.

ZIG ZAG LINE WITH FORKED LINE UNDERNEATH..

This is the LINE option,  which  give  you  2  ways  of  drawing
continuous lines. Point at the zig zag line and press M. Now put
your cursor where you want your line to start and press N. Using
the direction controls will now "stretch" an elastic  line  from
the start  position  to  where  you  cursor  is.  When  you  are
satisfied with this, pressing M sets the line  in  position  and
automatically put the start at the cursor position.  This  means
that if you now move the cursor again,  the  line  will  stretch
from the end of the last line to your cursor position.  You  can
continue doing this for as long as you like.  To  end  the  line
option simply select another draw tool, FILL, SPRAY, BRUSH etc.

The forked line icon works in much the same way, except that the
start of the line is not moved to  a  new  position  when  M  is
pressed to set a line.  This  means  that  you  can  have  lines
radiating out from a single point. You can press N at  any  time
to move the starting point to a new position.

Like the other drawing tools, this will stay in operation  until
a new option is selected.

WHITE OVAL WITH BLACK OVAL UNDERNEATH..

This is the oval tool, and it works  in  the  same  way  as  the
CIRCLE tool, except that after setting the center  of  the  oval
with N, you can stretch the oval in both  directions  using  the
left/right AND the up/down controls.

The black oval gives you a filled version, exactly like BOX  and
CIRCLE, using the current fill pattern and ink.


          FILL PATTERNS, SPRAY PATTERNS AND BRUSH SIZES

There is a choice of  various  fills,  sprays  and  brush  sizes
within Flash, and these are contained within the 3 icons to  the
right of the drawing tools.

From top to bottom, these are FILLS, SPRAYS, BRUSHES.

FILL PATTERNS..

Put the pointer onto this box and press M. you will be taken  to
a screen that displays all the fill patterns in a block  at  the
top of the screen. One of the patterns will be highlighted,  and
this highlight  can  be  moved  around  the  patterns  with  the
direction controls.
When you have highlighted the pattern of your choice, press M to
select that pattern as the current one. You will now  return  to
the main program, with the pattern box now displaying the chosen
pattern.
This pattern is the one that is now used for the FILL command.

You can take a shortcut to this by using keys F7 and F8 while in
the main program. This will scroll through  the patterns in  the
pattern box making the one on view the current fill pattern.

SPRAY PATTERNS..

Put the pointer into the spray pattern box,  and  press  M.  the
display will change to show you a selection of  spray  patterns,
with one highlighted. Used left/right to move to  highlight  and
press M to make the selection. You will now be back in the  main
program, with the selected spray  pattern  shown  in  the  spray
pattern box.
Like the fill patterns, you can shortcut this by using  keys  F4
and F5 to scan through the patterns, each pattern being shown in
the pattern box in turn.
The displayed pattern is the one used when the SPRAY  option  is
used.

BRUSH SIZES..

This is exactly the same as the spray pattern  selector,  except
that the selected pattern is used when BRUSH mode  is  selected.
Again you can shortcut by using keys F1 and  F2  to  change  the
current brush whilst on the main screen.


                     THE SCREEN MOVEMENT BAR

On the far right of the menu, there is a vertical white bar with
pointed ends and a hatched section in it.  This  is  the  screen
movement bar.

Because the menu in Flash "hides" part of the screen,  you  have
the facility to move your screen up and down, so  that  all  the
screen can be used to draw on.

If you put the pointer on the points at the ends of the bar, and
press M, the screen can be moved in small increments  either  up
or down. This is shown by the hatched area of the bar moving.

Alternatively, you can put the pointer on the hatched  area  and
press M, which will move the screen fully up or  fully  down  in
one movement. Anything that goes out of view, is not  lost,  and
will still be there when the screen is again moved.


                          FONT DESIGNER

To activate the font designer, put the  pointer  onto  the  icon
that has a pencil with the word "FONT" above it, and press M.

The screen will clear, and you will be  shown  the  font  design
screen. This is in the form of 3 main sections which run  across
the screen.

The top green strip has the words FILE  FONT  CHR  ALL  QUIT
I shall come to these in a moment.

The main center  section  displays  the  whole  of  the  current
character set, with 8 of the set  highlighted.  Of  this  strip,
there is one of characters which has a different highlight.

The lower section contains a magnified view of the 8 highlighted
character.

If you put your pointer onto a  character  in  the  main  center
section, and press M, that character plus the 7 surrounding ones
will be brought down into the lower magnified section.

The work on a character, use the direction keys to point at  the
magnified characters, and M to set (put) pixels and N  to  unset
(take away) pixels. This can be done with any of  the  magnified
characters in the lower section.
At any time, you can point at a new character  in  the  set  and
press M to bring it down for editing.

Now we come back to the top green strip. This is used in exactly
the same way as in the main program, by pointing at a heading to
open up that particular menu.

The menu description is as follows:

FILE..
This is used to save/load/erase character set file to  and  from
the disc. It is identical to the file menu in the main  program,
except of course that you are saving and loading character  sets
and not screens. When saving, the  program  automatically  saves
the current set that is displayed in the designer.
This is true when loading a new font, as it will load  into  the
current set, thus overwriting the set that is already there.

FONT..
Pulling down this menu, you will see a copy  of  the  font  menu
that is in the main program. Pointing at a new set, and pressing
M will bring that set into the  designer,  also  making  it  the
current set.

CHR..
This is where the single highlighted  character  comes  in.  Any
character in the current set can be highlighted  in  white,  and
this is the character acted upon in this section.
You will find 3 option in the CHR menu.

INVERT  will make the character into a negative image. Selecting
this again revert back to normal.
MIRROR  will mirror the character about the vertical axis (left
to right), again, selecting it again goes back to normal.
TURN This turns the character  90  degrees,  further  selections
will of course turn it in further 90 degree jumps.

ALL..
This is and identical menu to the previous CHR menu, but in this
case, ALL the characters are acted upon at once.

QUIT..
This takes you back to the main program.

Character sets are saved as a code file of 1096 bytes long. This
is because the Sam has the ability to use more characters in its
set than the Spectrum. The Spectrums character  sets  were  only
768 bytes long, but Flash  will  happily  load  these  into  the
designer. There have been a few such ready done  sets  published
in Sam Supplement, but if you have some Spectrum ones left  over
on tape, then set the Load/Save device to TAPE and these  should
load into the designer OK. They can then be saved to a disc  for
future use.


                    DESIGNING A FILL PATTERN

This option is  not  mentioned  in  the  manual,  but  there  is
actually a fill pattern designer built into  Flash.  To  trigger
it, point at the fill pattern icon near the  top  right  of  the
screen, and press M. This will take you to the FILL SELECT menu,
which has been covered earlier. Use the direction  keys  to  put
the highlight onto the desire pattern but, instead  of  pressing
M, press N. This now takes you to the designer.

The designer takes the form of a rectangle in the center of  the
screen. The rectangle is divided into 3 main section.  The  main
top section shows you the current fill pattern magnified.  Below
this and to the left, there is  an  actual  size  piece  of  the
pattern, and to the right of this a list of options.

The magnified area is where you  actually  change  the  pattern.
Point at any part of this and press  M,  and  a  pixel  appears,
whilst pressing N makes the pixel disappear. This  is  shown  in
actual size, on the lower left piece. The pixels can be set  and
reset until you are happy with the pattern.

The list of options let you do various thing  to  your  pattern,
plus load a save patterns to disc.
Just put the pointer on the option you require, and press  M  to
activate it.

INVERT..
This option will change  all  pixel  that  are  lit  into  unlit
pixels, and vice versa. This gives a negative image.

MIRROR..
The pattern is mirrored left to right about the vertical axis.

TURN..
This option turns the pattern 90 degrees every time it is used.

SCROLL..
After pressing M, use the  direction  controls  to  scroll  your
pattern within the square. Any part of the pattern  that  "falls
off" the edge come back onto the opposite side,  giving  a  roll
effect. To end the scroll, press M.
END..

This option takes you back to the main program.


                 USING A FILL PATTERN AS A BRUSH

It is possible, while in the main program  to  use  the  current
fill pattern to draw with. Press F9 once, and you will find that
all drawing tools, BRUSH, CIRCLE, BOX etc,  will  use  the  fill
pattern.

Pressing F9 again, take you back to standard.
There is no indicator to show when this has  be  activated,  you
must remember which mode you are in.


                      ANIMATION WITH FLASH

Within Flash there is a very  useful  animation  section,  which
lets you see what your animations look like before you save  off
the screen.

I think that the first thing I must  do,  is  explain  a  little
about what "ANIMATION" is, and what it does.

Movement of objects, either on TV or film, is actually a  series
of still pictures, which are displayed for a brief  moment,  one
after the other. Each picture, or  FRAME,  as  it  is  know,  is
slightly different from the previous one,  and  this  gives  the
illusion of movement.
The human eye/brain, is fooled into seeing movement  from  still
frames at any speed above about 25 frames per second. You can go
lower that this, but you will start to get a "jumping" effect as
the brain has more time to see the separate still pictures,  and
register them. TVs in this country work at 50 frames per second,
and this is more that adequate for the display of frames.

Flash  gives  you  the  opportunity  of  seeing  any   animation
sequences that you have drawn, running as an animation, so  that
any alterations can be made.

For the following example I shall assume that  we  have  draw  4
small pictures on the Flash work screen, each one a FRAME of  an
animation.

The pictures can be anywhere on the  screen,  but  I  find  that
starting  at  the  top  left  keeps  things  neat.  The   frames
themselves don't have to be complex, a small match stick man who
is waving will animate quite well.

So the first thing to  do  is  draw  a  simple  matchstick  man,
standing facing you, at the top left of the screen.  He  is  for
this example about 20 pixels high, and 16 pixels across.
The first frame will have him with his arm raised.
Now, using the BLOK command, take a copy of him  and  place  him
next to the first one. Now you can delete his  raised  arm,  and
re-draw it in a slightly different position.
Now copy this frame and do the same again with his  arm.  repeat
this for a third time, and you should end up with four men along
the top of the  screen,  each  with  their  arm  in  a  slightly
different position. These are you FRAMES.

Now point at the icon with the strip of film on, and press M.
You will see that the draw tool icons, have now been changed  to
six new "animation" icons.

Now we'll animate our man..

Point at the "MARK" icon, and press  M.  This  will  remove  the
menu, and take you to a screen that is very much like  the  OPEN
BLOCK screen. There is a pulsating rectangle, and just like  the
BLOCK option, you use N to set the corner of the rectangle,  the
direction keys to stretch the rectangle and M to finally set the
rectangle.
What you must do is "outline" the first frame  using  the  above
method. Making sure that the outline does not  cut  through  the
frame at any time.
Once you have pressed M to set the outline, you are  taken  back
to the main menu.

You will see that the box under "MARK" has the figure "1" in  it
and the number under  the "F" is also "1". This tells us that we
have 1 frame in memory.

Now point at the right hand arrow next to the "F" and  you  will
again be taken to the BLOK grabbing  screen.  Grab  your  second
frame in exactly the same way  as  your  first,  and  finish  by
pressing M.

The number under the "F" and the MARK will now read "2".

Repeat another twice, for the other 2 frames, and you should end
up with 4 frames in memory, denoted by the figure "4" under  the
"F" icon.

A quick word about how big to grab your  frame.  Think  of  your
animation as being on a small TV screen. When you grab a  frame,
make sure that the box you grab  is  big  enough   to  hold  the
biggest of your frames. For instance, if you had 4 frames  of  a
bouncing ball, you must grab a box that is tall enough  to cover
the lowest frame and the highest frame of the ball.


                       MOVING YOUR FRAMES

This is where we use the other 3 icons, marked. "S", "B" and "E"

First of all make sure the number shown under the "B" is "1".
This is the start frame or beginning
                                   .
If it isn't point at the left hand arrow next  to  the  "B"  and
press M until "1" is shown.

Now set the END, using the right hand arrow next to the "E". Put
the pointer on in and  press  M  until  it  shows  "4".  If  you
overshoot, point at the left hand arrow, and press  M  to  bring
the number back down.
Now we have to set the speed that our  animation  will  run  at.
This is done using the "S" icon. The higher the number below the
"S", the slower the frames will run. For a small animation  like
our example, around 100 is a good start.

Point at the right hand arrow next to the "S" and press M.  This
will increment the number below by one. If you have to do a  lot
of increments this way,  you  can  actually  do  it  quicker  by
pressing N, as this will take the number up/down in 10s.

When you have set the speed, you are ready to animate. Point  at
the green section below the "S" and press  M.  The  screen  will
clear, and you will see your frames running. Press  any  key  to
get back to the menu. You can alter  the  speed,  and  start  it
again, as many times as you like.
You can add a frame at any time by pointing at right hand  arrow
next to "F" and pressing M. But don't forget  to  increment  the
"E" counter to take into account the new frame.
By setting the "B" and "E" counters, you can show just  some  of
the frames of animation, but of course these run consecutively.
The return to the main Flash program, point at the icon with the
small boxes and circles, and press M.

When you return to  the  main  program,  your  animations  still
remain in memory, unless the CLR  ANI  option  is  used  in  the
SCREEN pull down menu.
