GarryP

I use NexusFont - not to install fonts, as Windows does that quite nicely by itself - and have not encountered this issue. The fonts requested by the online help are Lucida Grande, Segoe UI, Helvetica, and Arial and I've no reason to think the help system uses anything different. Lucidia Grande and Helvetica are standard OS X system fonts and their "equivalents" in Windows are Segoe UI and Arial. If either of these fonts has a problem then you would probably be having way more trouble with your system than you are so my guess is that the fonts themselves are okay (if these are the fonts being used). I seem to remember encountering a similar problem on OS X a while back when - I think - I was exporting something to a PDF; the same italicising of text combined with a narrow character spacing and the bottoms of curves "going light". Unfortunately I can't remember what the problem was or how I fixed it (which isn't much help). I think it was something to do with the "embedability" of the font but I have no idea why this could be the same problem. You could try making sure there's no weird language mismatch between your machine and AD (unlikely but worth looking). And you could try updating your video drivers (or switching video card if you have more than one installed).

Weird, but nice. The second one looks like leaves on marble. The bottom of the third one looks like a menacing emu face. Good stuff.

I can understand that some companies (like to) have big launch days where something has to be ready on a specific day because: * the hall has to be booked; * the media have to be notified; * the posters have to be printed; * the adverts have been booked for certain TV slots; * stuff has to be in the shops; * etc. etc. This is quite normal for hardware, movies, cars, AAA-title games, and things like that. What I don't understand is when a company doesn't have all of this to do but sets an arbitrary date anyway. I once worked for a - very large, international - company where the management/board set a "launch date" for a large family of IT systems as January 1st. Everyone in IT was exceptionally busy, especially over the final Christmas period, and managed to "launch" on time but with the knowledge that users wouldn't be actually using the systems for another few months. They just sat there for ages not being used. Needed changes and known bug fixes couldn't be applied because "If you said it was okay to be launched then it should be working, yes?" A very frustrating process. It's just one of those things that presses one of my many buttons. I'm glad Serif don't work this way, both for the customers and developers. "It will be ready when it's ready, you just have to be patient."

The only reason I found it was that I was looking closely with my sceptic's hat on, thinking "This is just a touched-up photo isn't it?".

@R C-R I remember being told that the shorter length of tape in data cassettes meant less "stress" on both the tape itself and the machine which gave a better chance that the recording would have more fidelity which is more important when you're recording and playing back encoded bits rather than just music. I have no idea if this is correct or not. Maybe someone was just trying to get rid of a job-lot of C15s they were stuck with. "@alfred"40- or 80-track? Single- or double-density? We had to worry about so much back then.

Wonderful, I've learned something. Now if I could just try and remember it...

I've no idea, sorry. Serif seem - from what I have observed - to follow the very sensible (in my opinion) path of only releasing things when they are ready to be released instead of rushing to publish on arbitrary dates whether it's all good or not. I, for one, would prefer to wait and get something brilliant rather than get something disappointing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment

Ah, so the global colour is just the "base" colour to which the tint, opacity and noise settings apply local changes. Or, to put it another way, the tint, opacity and noise settings are "effects" that have been applied locally to the unchanging global colour. Is that a reasonable analogy?

There are loads of really great things going into 1.7 so hopefully this will be one of them.

That explains it Gabe, thanks, but there's still the problem that AD says it is still using the global colour, which is confusing. Changing the noise/opacity setting removes the "link" between the "new" colour and the global colour but the "Edit Global Colour" button is still there as though the global colour is still being used. The same thing goes for changing the tint. Clicking away from the selected layer and then clicking back takes me to the situation where the colour being used is nothing like the global colour but AD still seems to think it is being used. See the attached - very crudely made - video. I didn't want to put this down as a bug or feature request until I knew I wasn't doing something wrong but it still looks a bit weird to me. P.S. This is something that's probably best mentioned in the documentation - maybe the Colour Panel page.

One thing I didn't realise about the Mighty Mouse, until I read the article, was that: "The mouse emits a sound when the scroll ball is rolled, but this is not a direct product of the ball moving; the sound is actually produced by a tiny speaker inside the mouse. There is no way to disable this feature other than physically disabling the speaker inside the mouse." I thought this was a wind-up until I booted up my old system, and it's actually true.

I can't find any way to change either the noise or opacity setting of a global colour. The "Edit Global Colour" pop-up doesn't have these options and changing the noise/opacity just sets it for the currently-selected layer. I've tried double-clicking in various places and different menus but can't figure out what to do. Am I overlooking something obvious, or is this a trick that has been missed?

A special kind of media indeed. That obviously stops people from using it for anything else. (I hope they knocked the record tabs out. "We lose a lot of good software that way.") I was going to say blank C12 but guessed that someone would probably point out that, if there was software on it, it wouldn't actually be blank.

You're welcome. You just need to use the correct snapping tools and options for your current situation. For instance, the answer to the question in your previous post is to turn "Snap off-curve nodes" on (far-right snap tool). And snapping to the grid can be controlled via "Snapping" on the main toolbar.

Nice, although the cable coming out of the back - rather than the front - seems a bit strange compared to nowadays. (And the software coming on a standard C12 with a sticker over it. Those were the days.)

If you're not bothered about total accuracy you could try this: Pen Tool Pen Mode Click Click Drag Click Click Close Once we can snap to the grid while dragging in this mode we can be more accurate.

Very nice work. At first I thought "Why are they sharing a photo of their PDA?" My only - very slight - issue is with the clock on the left-hand button: Should the hands be black? Anyway, great stuff.

The mouse - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Mighty_Mouse - that came with my iMac in 2008 was horrible. I never knew which actual button I had pressed until it was done. I used it for a couple of days before getting something else. And just for fun: This was my first mouse: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/36624/BBC AMX Mouse/ Not particularly ergonomic but it had three buttons and the art software was amazing for its time. You could even use it in your own programs if you read the manual.

@R C-R Thanks for the tips about the older models of trackball. Useful to know. Thanks also @Gear maker The MX620 doesn't seem to be available anymore in the UK, unless someone wants to pay over the odds: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logitech-MX620-Cordless-Laser-Mouse-Black-910-000240/152935886454?epid=92384992&hash=item239bb06e76:i:152935886454 The current MX Master seems to be similar spec' but with different styling. I think my choice is now between: * LOGITECH M330 Silent Plus - no bells and whistles but it really is almost silent in use; * LOGITECH G402 Hyperion Fury - some bells and whistles but not sure how it will feel in my hand. Thanks to everyone who has chipped in with suggestions and information. I've got a coin to toss now.

Understood. I would like to be able to sit down - not stand up, like in a shop - and have 10-15 minutes or so of just trying things like selecting text, using menus and drop-downs, browsing the web, dragging files, etc. Boring day-to-day stuff but the sort of thing I do thousands of times each day without giving it much thought with a mouse. If, after 10 minutes, it still feels totally alien to me then I can probably give the idea up. On the other hand, if I start to think "Yeah, I could get used to this", then it might be worth putting more thought into it. And if, as you say, they are generally long-lasting and sturdy I could even look at getting a second-hand one to try and keep the initial outlay down, for example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kensington-Expert-Pro-Trackball-Mouse-64213/273261156507?hash=item3f9fa2589b:g:KaAAAOSwCmRa2Jf~ (I don't do freehand sketching so that's not an issue for me but it's worth pointing out for anyone else reading this.)

A really fine piece of work. And you did all of the machinery/circuits too instead of using a stock image. As Patrick said, Wow. I'm not surprised you're happy with the results. I'd be doing - assisted - cartwheels.

The stars are lovely. I'm jealous that you can see so much in the night sky. Where I live, we're lucky if we can see all of the main stars in the major constellations. Light pollution is so bad that the first 20-30 degrees or so above the horizon is just a fuzz of yellowy-grey light and you can almost - but not quite - read a book at midnight, and that's when the moon isn't even in the sky. It never gets properly dark here, just darker.

@Rocketdrive I'll have another look at the MX Master, thanks. @- S - Lots of good suggestions and info' there. The Intellimouse looks interesting. I think part of the problem is that I don't actually know what I want. I have some ideas about what I might want but until I have the facility I don't really know if they are things I would really want. For instance, I could buy a new car whose driver's door automatically opens when I get near to it. Sounds useful at first - especially if it's raining - but probably a bit of a pain if it keeps denting the vehicle next to it in a car park. I'll probably go for something middle-spec' and take a chance that the bells and whistles don't get in the way of what I want to do if I don't use them. @R C-R You're making trackballs more and more like something I want to try. Maybe I can find somewhere I can get a decent demo. Cheers all.

The general gist of things seems to be either (1) get a trackball, or (2) go cheap. I've had to go back to my old Logitech Laser something-or-other which I like better than the M185 but the batteries keep unseating themselves (which is why I changed over previously). I'm not sure I would use the programmable buttons much but I think it would be nice to have them just in case they came in handy.

I've been using a Logitech M185 - as far as I know, one step up from the M100 because it's wireless - but the clicking has been sending me barmy it's so loud. That's why I'm looking for a replacement. (I tried a Logitech M330 Silent Plus in PC World and it's so wonderfully quiet but it doesn't have any extra buttons or features.)