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CrystalMaker 6.2 for Mac OS X Major Update Brings Pro-Quality Annotation |
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9 June 2003. We are very pleased to announce the release of a major update to our acclaimed CrystalMaker 6 program, representing the biggest set of changes to the program since it was released in September 2002. CrystalMaker 6.2 includes professional-quality annotation with Unicode-savvy extended textboxes, new line and scalebar objects, plus live selection and resizing, improved graphics export, mouse-driven scaling, long filename support and much more... |
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Highly-Annotated Textboxes, lines and arrows (new design) are now drawn using Quartz Graphics, giving a smooth, elegant appearance - with the option of shadows to make your annotation really stand out! New, unicode-savvy extended textboxes can display multi-byte characters (e.g., Japanese text), with no limit on the maximum number of characters (previous versions of CrystalMaker limited textboxes to no more than 255 characters). Scalebars An extension of the Annotation tool lets you draw "scalebars", with live distance display: a distance, in Angstroms or nanometres (depending on the current screen ruler units choice) is displayed at the centre of a line which can be moved or resized - with the distance automatically updated. |
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Interactive Annotation
Individual or multiple annotation objects (textboxes, lines or
scalebars) can be selected, using the
Arrow tool (shift-click for multiple selection) or other selection tools.
Multiple items can be moved, edited or deleted. Selected annotation
objects can be duplicated by option-clicking and dragging them.
Text size, style, font and colour settings can be changed using
the main Text menu.
Interactive resizing of textboxes is now possible. Selection handles are displayed for any selected annotation object, permitting resizing and moving of line tips with either the Arrow tool, or the Annotation tool. Text is now automatically wrapped to fit into the textbox. Further Refinements A new double-arrow line style allows easy labelling of distances and ranges of atoms in a structural plot - and arrowheads are drawn using an elegant new design. A totally reworked method of exporting graphics means that annotation objects are now scaled precisely to the output plot size - giving consistent and predictable graphics export. |
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| What you see on the screen is what you get out of the printer. (This PDF image was printed from the structure seen at the top of this web page.) |
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Editing Annotation A new, floating annotation window, replaces the old Edit Annotation dialog. The new window provides rapid editing of textbox, line or scalebar settings for selected objects. You can edit other objects simply by clicking on them: the Edit Annotation window is automatically updated and you can change settings and Apply them right away. A popup menu at the top of the window lets you change between the three annotation object types: textbox, line or scalebar. |
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| The new Edit Annotation window makes it easy to create new annotation objects - and switch between them in a breeze. |
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Long Filename Support Mac OS X allows for long filenames (up to 255 characters) which can contain Unicode characters. Many programs truncate these filenames to the old 31-character limit used by "Classic" system software. CrystalMaker 6.2 now includes full support for the extended filenames, including Unicode character display. 
Mouse-Driven Scaling A major productivity feature is the ability to rescale a structure using the mouse, during interactive manipulation. Here's how it works: with the Rotate tool active, hold down the command key and then click and drag your structure. Dragging down or to the right increases the scale; dragging up or to the left reduces the scale. You can therefore rotate and scale a structure easily, without even having to release the mouse button - just press the command key and rescale, then release the button and continue rotating! |
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More Features
"Blank" documents which have no file type/creator information and
which do not even have a file extension, can now be opened
by CrystalMaker (previously, only files with file type/creator
information or a file extension could be opened).
CrystalMaker 6.2 can now auto-detect crystal and molecule binary files
(created by program versions 2-6), as well as text files.
Other changes include choice of Angstrom or nanometre units for screen display, easy control over grid display (click the screen ruler), use of smoothed graphics for atom labels, a cool new Zapper animation - and much more. |
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© 2008 CrystalMaker Software Limited. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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