Version 1.tree             9th January 1994

INTRODUCTION
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StudioCraft is a drawing tool for the rest of us. Its many applications range from slide presentations to training courses, from leaflets to brochures.

 

StudioCraft offers a wide range of facilities. It enables you to work:

• freehand without the restrictions of many drawing programs
• using the full range of up to 32 million colours
• on a page up to nine by nine feet
• on an unlimited number of pages
• using a common background
• shaded backgrounds, graduated colours, shadows, "creative" duplication, etc.

 

StudioCraft also contains features to speed up or simplify the development of a design. For example you can:

• Create Style Pads - rather like templates - so that backgrounds, logos, trademarks, or other designs can be used again and again.
• Save single objects that are to be used regularly thus building up your own library of useful objects.
• Work on up to 100 layers (overlays).
• Import PICT files - for example forecasts - which update as you make changes to the original PICT files.
• And much, much more.

 

All you need in order to run StudioCraft is a Macintosh with Color QuickDraw and a colour or grey-scale monitor attached

And all I would like is for you to plant at least one native tree in your area if you decide to use StudioCraft. (ShareWare details below)

HOW TO USE STUDIOCRAFT
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The StudioCraft application is self-contained and needs no additional support files to run. It will, however, create a preferences file in your System Folder in which it will store your own personal details. I have included with this version an on-line interactive Help file, personalised preferences file and even a few sample documents.

 

StudioCraft has been described as a cross between MacDraw, Canvas and Persuasion but I think that's selling it a bit short. I have aimed for an application as simple in form and complex in effect as humanly possible. Assuming you are comfortable with the rudiments of the Macintosh interface, with perhaps some slight exposure to any Macintosh drawing application you should feel at home with StudioCraft almost immediately although it should take quite some time for you to explore some of the more esoteric aspects of the program.

 

As mentioned above, StudioCraft needs a Mac II, SE/30, LC or better to run and is quite uncomfortable without either a grey-scale or colour monitor. You will also need to be running System 6.xx or System 7 (which everyone is using anyway, right?).

 

A few points to note here:

• PICT files are hot-linked to StudioCraft documents. In other words you get the benefits of having your PICT file updates reflected in your StudioCraft documents and saving a lot of disk space. However, you must remember to copy the PICT files along with the documents if you are giving slides to a slide bureau for imaging, copies to friends or whatever. If you want a PICT file permanently included in a document you should select the PICT, double-click on it to open the Edit Object dialog, change the object type to PICT Object from PICT File then click OK.
• Images printed directly from StudioCraft will almost invariably be of a superior quality to images saved as PICT files and imaged from another application.
• Ungrouping of PICTs is not fully implemented in this version.
• Colour Separation, Print Effects and Export File Formats have been removed from this version. This is due to the hassle involved in supporting these features.
• If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem plant a tree!
• The EC wants to take Russia's place as another useless superpower but Japan will probably beat it to the post by buying 51% of the States.
• Ireland is not as green as many imagine it and not yet as deathly grey as the EC has zoned it.

SHAREWARE DETAILS
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StudioCraft was written by an individual to be used by individuals. It was, however, written before I had the fortunate experience of "seeing the light" (and I don't mean becoming a born again Christian). Since writing it I have bought a large area of wild and windswept bog and mountain on the South-West coast of Ireland with the aim of returning it to it's original Oak forested state. I have a wife and two young children who would, I am sure, be delighted if we did NOT turn out to be "The Audience at the End of Time". We are, therefore, aiming towards a minimalist, productive and rewarding future of farming.

 

There are many proposed futures for our world, unfortunately the prevailing attitudes point towards an assumption that Earth is expendable, merely a stepping stone to a future world. I have personally concluded that it is safer to assume that the 'here and now' is our lot, rather than to chase some ephemeral Holy Grail. I had formed the opinion (whilst living just outside London during the Eighties) that Nature was being beaten everywhere. This led to an entirely defeatist frame of mind. A few years ago I met an Australian adventurer/journalist, Byron Harvey. Amongst his many stories he told me of his journies through central Africa. Expecting to hear of more examples of man's conquest over Nature I was surprised to hear that many countries have reverted to pre-Empire conditions since the English and French withdrew. Elaborate Government buildings returned to the jungles, poisoned rivers now running clear and supporting growing villages. He also spoke of poverty, starvation and discontent but these conditions usually coincided with European-type settlements, towns and cities.

 

Since buying our farm three years ago, my wife (Dawn) and two daughters (Aislinn 7, Oisín 5) have helped me to create a very positive future. We have planted about 75,000 trees, restored an old farm-house and learned a lot about the land. We are quite a few strides closer to being self sufficient, we dispose of ALL of our own rubbish ourselves on our land, our children are healthy and bright (even without a TV) and rather than living a harsh existence we are far more comfortable and content than we were living our stressful previous lives.

 

Having got all of that off my chest I'll explain the ShareWare details of StudioCraft

• This is the final version of StudioCraft.
• If you use it I would be most grateful if you would plant at least one tree NATIVE to your area in your area. (Native means that its forefathers were there before yours were).
• If you think others could use StudioCraft then please spread it around.
• This version outdates version 1.3 which is identical apart from this request for trees in lieu of a ShareWare fee. I would therefore appreciate it if you could update any bulletin boards or other sources you come into contact with.
• Version 1.3 was out for about two years in which time it returned about £2,000 in ShareWare fees. These cheques were gratefully received and were put into our tree planting account. They have paid for the planting of about 3,000 native Oak trees.
• Any programmers interested in the source code for StudioCraft (written in MPW C) can write to me enclosing two HD floppies. I would ask in payment that they either plant £100 worth of trees or donate £100 to a tree planting charity.

I hope you enjoy using it

Seán Bergin
Gortdromagh,
Sneem,
County Kerry,
IRELAND

HOW TO PLANT TREES

• Keep fine root fibres moist at all times. If bare roots are exposed to the air on a hot, sunny or frosty, windy day, the root fibres can be killed within a minute or so. Even on a rainy day the trees' survival chances are greatly reduced if bare roots are exposed for more than a few minutes.
• Make planting holes big enough for the roots, as otherwise the trees grow poorly and develop weak root systems. Trim excessive long roots with a clean cut before planting, or make the holes deeper.
• Plant trees to the same depth at which they were growing in the nursery, shown by the soil mark on the stem. Trees planted too shallowly may dry out or be loosened by the wind. Those planted too deeply may rot.
• Plant trees with the stems vertical, as otherwise they tend to grow weak near the base and have poor form.
• Firm the soil around the plants by treading in with the heel. This fills in any air pockets and firmly anchors the roots. Take care not to scrape the bark when treading in, and be sure the trees stay vertical. Avoid leaving a depression around the stem where water can collect. Test for firmness by tugging the stem; the tree should not shift. Check the trees again for firmness at least once in the first weeks after planting, and more often if there are heavy frosts or high winds.
• Protect and care for the tree after planting and through the first few years of its life.

Finally, I have discovered many things in the last few years, some of the most important are

• Boiled linseed oil in gallon containers costs me £11 at the local hardware shop. It is 100% organic and unadulterated coming from the pressed seeds of the flax plant (also used for making linen). It is a perfect oil, varnish and paint for indoor and outdoor use. Its use was universal until marketing swamped us with "cheaper, quicker, smarter, etc." alternatives. IT IS BETTER THAN THE COMPETITION, it just doesn't have the marketing power of the competition.
• Borax is a naturally occuring salt available cheaply in most hardware shops. When diluted in warm water and painted onto bare wood it is a very effective fungicide, fire retardant and stops initial infestation by woodworm.
• Television is the strongest drug I have ever encountered. It consumes those little half hour gaps between major activities that might otherwise see you patching your jeans, making Christmas presents, talking to your spouse or children or even just thinking. It also brings you the News, not your local news about issues you might be able to affect but national and international news on issues that will get you worked up, about which you are powerless to act.
• Children could change your life if you give them a chance. All the books fail to tell you that you already know how to "bring up" children. The books will tell you how someone else would bring up your children if given the chance.
• Use local timber for both building and burning. If it is noticeably depleted what better incentive to plant more?
• Our lives are monitored and influenced by Government. Government is an institution peopled by politicians. To succeed as a politician depends on ones ability to attract votes. If you can, read E.F.Schumaker's Small is Beautiful, it might change your world.
• Try disposing of ALL your waste yourself. It might also change your world.
• The world you live in is different to that of your neighbour. We all make our own lives and build our own futures. Earth needs enough positive futures to sway the balance, what a lot we have to lose and what an immense amount of guilt those alive today might carry into eternity.

PLEASE DON'T JUST BE ANOTHER CONSUMER