NewDeal Technical Support Document 226

DEFUSING GEOS 1.X CLIP ART


Questions and answers about defusing Geos 1.0 or 1.2 clip art for use with NewDeal software

I have clip art from Geoworks version 1.0 or 1.2 products. Should I defuse it before I upgrade to NewDeal software?

Most customers will never need to Defuse any of their clip art images. If you have never defused clip art in Geoworks Ensemble 1.2 or Geoworks Pro, chances are you won't need to defuse any clip art in NewDeal software, either. If you have Defused clip art while using your previous version of Geos, or if you expect to do so in NewDeal, then you will need to Defuse the images using the older version of the software before you update the files to NewDeal format.

What does "Defuse" mean?

If you have to ask, then chances are good that you don't need to bother with Defusing your art work. However, here is a simple explanation. In GEOS version 1.0 and 1.2, GeoDraw provides a feature called Fuse which joins individual elements of your drawing together so they can be manipulated as if they are all one object. Defuse reverses the process so that the individual elements of the drawing can be modified or used separately. If you update the clip art to NewDeal format without first defusing it, you will not be able to Defuse it in NewDraw.

Why can't I just upgrade the clip art, then Defuse it?

If images are fused together when a document is upgraded to NewDeal format, the images are treated as one solid object by NewDraw. NewDraw cannot recognize the separate objects that were created in the older version, because one solid object was converted to the new format.

Is there any other work around besides Defusing the clip art before upgrading it to NewDeal format?

In NewDraw, you can convert images to bit map format and edit them with bit map tools, including an "eraser" and a "pixel editor." While this does not give you the same kind of control over the individual elements of a picture as Defusing would, some users find it is enough to suit their needs.

Okay, I've decided I want to Defuse some of my clip art images, so that I can access the individual elements in NewDeal. How should I proceed?

You must use GeoDraw in Geoworks Ensemble 1.2, Geoworks Pro, or Quick Start to Defuse clip art. If the clip art is in a Scrapbook document, you must first paste the image into a GeoDraw document, because Scrapbook has no Defuse feature. To save time, you can copy as many clip art images as will fit onto one GeoDraw page to defuse them. You can even use a very large Page Size to hold more images.

How to defuse your Clip Art

Here is a step-by-step procedure for defusing clip art that is stored in Scrapbook documents:
  1. Launch Geoworks Ensemble 1.2, Geoworks Pro, or Quick Start and open the Scrapbook document containing the clip art you want to defuse. Don't change the View % - if you want to see more of the clip art image, resize the window by dragging one of the corners.
  2. Click on the Next button until you find the first piece of clip art that you want to Defuse.
  3. From the Edit menu, choose Copy (or Cut). Do not use Copy at View %.
  4. Open a GeoDraw document.
  5. In GeoDraw, choose Paste from the Edit menu.
  6. Use the pointer (arrow) tool to position the clip art on the page.
  7. Go back to Scrapbook. Find the next piece of clip art you want to defuse.
  8. From the Edit menu, choose Copy (or Cut).
  9. Go back to GeoDraw. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. Now you have two pieces of clip art on one GeoDraw page. Use the pointer tool to move the second one so it's not overlapping the first.
  10. Continue Copying and Pasting from Scrapbook to GeoDraw until all of the clip art you want to Defuse is on one GeoDraw page, or until the GeoDraw page is full.
  11. In GeoDraw, click on an image to select it. Then click on Defuse in the Edit menu.
  12. Next, select the various elements of the image that you Defused and check the Edit menu to see if the Defuse item remains gray (unavailable) or if it becomes dark (available). You may wish to pin the Edit menu so you can easily keep an eye on it. If Defuse becomes available when you select an object, then you can defuse that object even further. If you wish, click on Defuse to do so.
  13. When the first piece of clip art has been Defused, select the next image and Defuse it. Remember to check the individual elements of the image to see if they can be Defused further. Repeat this process for each clip art image on the page.
  14. When all the clip art has been Defused, Save the GeoDraw file. Update this GeoDraw file to NewDeal format. Do not paste the images back into a Scrapbook in Geoworks Ensemble 1.2, Geoworks Pro, or Quick Start. If you wish to put them back into a Scrapbook, do so in NewDraw.
Note: Equivalent features to Fuse and Defuse are called Group and Ungroup in NewDraw, and are found on the Arrange menu instead of the Edit menu.
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Last Modified 17 Feb 1999