| Montage is available with EasyCopy Gold |
The Montage package extends EasyCopy to a tool for markup, annotation, and slide preparation. You can add text and graphics to your image files or screen captures, and you can mount several images on one page.
in EasyCopy's toolbar or by means of the Montage command in the File menu.
You may have an open image or screen capture in EasyCopy when you switch to Montage;
this image will then be present on the Montage canvas. You can, however, treat this image like
any other object on the canvas. You may, for example, delete it, and it will disappear from
the canvas, but it will still be open in EasyCopy when you switch back.
How to Close Montage
The main window contains these items:
The File menu contains these commands:
You can use the New Layout toolbutton
The new layout will be created with the same page size as the previous layout.
You can change the page size of the canvas at any time by means of the
Page Setup command.
If your existing layout is unsaved when you ask for an empty canvas you get a reminder:
Say Yes to open the Save Layout dialog, say No to continue
and accept that the previous layout is lost, or say Cancel to interrupt the creation
of a new page and return to the previous layout.
You can use the the keyboard accelerator CTRL+O as equivalents to this command.
The command opens the Open Image dialog to let you select an image.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+L as equivalents to this command.
The command opens the Open Layout dialog to let you select a layout.
The result of inserting a layout depends on the current state of the canvas:
You can use the Save Toolbutton
The command opens the Save Layout dialog to let you
specify the layout file.
You can use the keyboard accelerator F12 as an equvalent to this command.
The command opens the Image Conversion dialog to let you
specify the image file, then image file format, its options, and the size of the image.
The image includes the complete canvas area, including the background space
around the objects.
Use Selected Objects if you only want to save
selected parts of the canvas.
The command opens the Image Conversion dialog to let you
specify the image file, then image file format, its options, and the size of the image.
The image includes only the currently selected objects (as opposed to the
Save > Save As Image
command which takes the whole canvas).
The command opens the Print dialog in which you get pre
of the print page. It also allows that you modify the page layout and color options before
you start the print job. to let you specify the number of copies.
The printed image includes only the currently selected objects (as opposed to the
Print command which takes the whole canvas).
The command opens the Send Image dialog to let you
specify the image file format, its options, and the size of the image.
The image includes only the currently selected objects (as opposed to the
Send command which takes the whole canvas).
The command opens the Page Setup dialog.
The command opens the Printer Selection dialog.
The command opens the Printer Setup dialog in
which you can specify the printer specific options.
You can use the Print Toolbutton
The command opens the Print dialog in which you get preview
of the print page. It also allows that you modify the page layout and color options before
you start the print job. to let you
specify the number of copies.
The image includes the complete canvas area, including the background space
around the objects.
Use Selected Objects if you only want to save
selected parts of the canvas.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+E as an equvalent to this command.
The command opens the Send Image dialog to let you
specify the image file format, its options, and the size of the image.
The image includes the complete canvas area, including the background space
around the objects.
Use Selected Objects if you only want to send
selected parts of the canvas.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+Q as an equvalent to this command.
If your existing layout is unsaved when you want to close Montage you get a reminder:
Say Yes to open the Save Layout dialog, say No to continue
and accept that the layout is lost, or say Cancel to interrupt the command and stay in Montage.
The Edit menu contains these commands:
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+Z as an equvalent to this command.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+G as an equvalent to this command.
The command is only available when you have at least two objects selected.
The group is treated as one single object. This means that you can no longer select its
member objects individually.
Use the Ungroup command if you want to break down the group
and get the individual objects back.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+U as an equvalent to this command.
The command is only available when you have selected one group and no other objects.
The group members are no longer treated as one object. You can now select its
member objects individually.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+D as an equvalent to this command.
The command is only available when you have at least one object selected.
The duplicates are created with a small offset relative to the original objects.
The original objects are no longer selected. In stead the selection is changed to
include the duplicates. This makes it easy to produce multiple duplicates:
just press CTRL+D as many times as you want another duplicate.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+C as an equvalent to this command.
You can use the keyboard accelerator CTRL+V as an equvalent to this command.
You can use the Del key as a keyboard accelerator for this command.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected.
Hidden and locked objects are not selectable.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected (otherwise use
Select All).
You can use the Tab key as a keyboard accelerator for this command.
If no object is selected when you use this command the first object (the one with top priority)
will be selected. Otherwise the command will select the object after the one with highest priority
among the selected objects. The sequence is cyclic, so of the last object (the one with bottom priority)
is selected the next object is the first object.
You can use SHIFT+Tab as a keyboard accelerator for this command.
The command works like Select Next,
except that it steps backwards through the objects.
They are available when there is only one selected object.
Put the mouse on the command, and the side menu is unfolded:
You can use the keyboard accelerator ALT++ (press the
keys ALT and + simultaneously) as an equvalent to this command.
(You may use ALT and the + key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
The object on the top is drawn last.
You can use the keyboard accelerator + as an equvalent to this command.
(You may use the + key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
You can use the keyboard accelerator - as an equvalent to this command.
(You may use the - key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
You can use the keyboard accelerator ALT+- as an equvalent to this command.
(You may use ALT and the - key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
The object at the bottom is drawn first.
They are available when there are at least two selected objects.
Put the mouse on the command, and the side menu is unfolded:
These commands are only available if you have one or more objects selected.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected.
The command is available if you have selected a single object (not a group).
The command opens the Transparency dialog
in which you can specify the transparency.
Refer also to the topic Transparency.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected.
Hidden objects are no longer visible
on the canvas, they are not printed,
they are not visible if you save
or send the
layout as an image. They are, however, saved if you
save the Layout,
but still invisible when the saved layout is restored.
Use Show Hidden to make the
hidden objects visible (and selectable) again.
Note, that there is no way to select just one hidden object and make that object visible.
This is because a hidden object cannot be selected as long as it is hidden.
It may be a good idea to group objects before they are hidden.
This makes it much easier to manage the situation if you need to make only some of the hidden
objects visible: Use Show Hidden, select the group you want,
use Invert Selection, and then
hide the unwanted groups.
The command is only available if you have one or more objects selected.
Locked objects are visible, but not selectable.
Use Unlock All to make the locked objects selectable.
The purpose of locked objects is to secure them against being selected and modified
by mistake. If you want to make a sequence of layouts with a common "template" you can first
create the "template". Then Select All, Lock,
and Save Layout.
You can now add the objects that you want for the first layout. When you have
saved the first layout you can
use Select All
and Delete to wipe out everything
except the common "template". You can also create new layouts to the sequence
in a later Montage session if you start by selecting the saved "template" in
Open Layout.
You can also use a saved layout with locked objects as a fixed overlay that
you add as a "top layer" by inserting it before you
print your canvas.
There is no way to unlock just one locked object. This is because a locked object
is not selectable, so when an object is locked the key is thrown away. Unlock All
is the only option for unlocking. The remarks given for
Show Hidden are also
relevant for Unlock All.
The View menu contains these commands:
You can use the Pan tool
You can use the Zoom In toolbutton
When you have a zoomed view there will be scroll bars at the bottom at to the right of
the canvas, so you can still navigate to any point of the canvas.
There are two modes of zoom: stepwise or area zoom.
Stepwise Zoom:
This will zoom in by a factor of 2:
Area Zoom
Press the left mouse button, and keep it pressed as you drag a rectangle.
When the mouse button is released you zoom into the selected area:
The zoom factor depends on the size of the rectangle.
You cannot zoom in by a factor > 16.
This is because larger zoom factors would require so much system memory that it might
slow down your system to an unacceptable level, or even kill it.
You may zoom in in succesive steps, but the net zoom factor must still not exceed 16.
You can use the Zoom Out toolbutton
This command is only available if you have a zoomed view.
You can use the No Zoom toolbutton
This command is only available if you have a zoomed view.
Put the mouse on the command, and the side menu is unfolded:
When a tool bar is hidden you must use the menu command(s) for which the
desired tools are shortcuts. Refer to the description of the tool bar.
Put the mouse on the command, and the side menu is unfolded:
When a tool box is hidden you must use the menu command(s) for which the
desired tools are shortcuts. Refer to the description of the tool boxes.
It is hidden by default.
This display may be useful if you have many objects and the canvas behaviour is
different from what you expect. The explanation might be that some objects are locked
or hidden, or you may have grouped objects.
The display only counts "top level" objects. This means that a group of objects
count as one object, no matter how many objects or nested groups are in the group.
You close the Montage session and return to EasyCopy by means of the
Close Montage command
(or by closing the window 
).
The Main Window in Montage
Menu Bar
The menu bar in Montage contains these menus:
Montage File Menu
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL+N as equivalents to this command.
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL+S as equvalents to this command.
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL+P as equvalents to this command.
Montage Edit Menu
Montage View Menu
to pan in the view.
as an equivalent to this command.
to zoom in the canvas view.
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL++ (press the keys
CTRL and + simultaneously) as equivalents to this command.
(You may use CTRL and the + key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
When you have selected the zoom cursor move it to
the position you want as center for the zoomed view and click the left mouse button.
When you have selected the zoom cursor move it to
the position you want as one corner of the zoomed view.
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL+- (press the keys
CTRL and - simultaneously) as equivalents to this command.
(You may use CTRL and the - key in the numeric key pad in the right side of the keyboard
if you have enabled the NumLock key).
or the keyboard accelerator CTRL+* as equivalents to this command.
Keyboard Accelerators
The Montage package supports these keyboard accelerators:
| Left Arrow | Move the selected object(s) to the left | |
| Right Arrow | Move the selected object(s) to the right | |
| Up Arrow | Move the selected object(s) upwards | |
| Down Arrow | Move the selected object(s) downwards | |
| Delete | Delete the selected objects | |
| BackSpace | Delete the selected objects | |
| F1 | Display Online Help for the Montage dialog | |
| F12 | Save the canvas as image | |
| Tab | Select Next object | |
| SHIFT | Tab | Select Previous object |
| + | Increase priority of the selected object | |
| ALT | + | Give top priority to the selected object |
| CTRL | + | Zoom In (select Zoom cursor) |
| - | Decrease priority of the selected object | |
| ALT | - | Give bottom priority to the selected object |
| CTRL | - | Zoom Out |
| CTRL | * | No Zoom |
| CTRL | A | Select All |
| ALT | B | Bottom align the selected object |
| CTRL | C | Copy an object to the clipboard |
| ALT | C | Center align the selected object |
| CTRL | E | Send the canvas as E-mail |
| CTRL | D | Duplicate the selected objects |
| CTRL | G | Group the selected objects |
| CTRL | I | Open an image |
| CTRL | K | Adjust image colors |
| ALT | L | Left align the selected object |
| CTRL | L | Adjust image layout |
| ALT | M | Middle align the selected object |
| CTRL | N | Open a new layout |
| CTRL | O | Open a layout and add it to the canvas |
| CTRL | P | Print the canvas |
| CTRL | Q | Close Montage |
| ALT | R | Right align the selected object |
| CTRL | S | Save the layout |
| ALT | T | Top align the selected object |
| CTRL | U | Ungroup the selected group |
| CTRL | V | Paste an object from the clipboard |
| CTRL | Z | Undo previous change to the layout |
It is divided into these sections:
| File tools | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
|
File > New Layout | CTRL+N | Create a new, empty canvas. |
 |
File > Open > Open Layout | CTRL+O | Insert a previously saved layout on the canvas. |
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File > Open > Open Image | CTRL+I | Insert a previously saved layout on the canvas. |
|
File > Save > Save Layout | CTRL+S | Save the current layout. |
|
File > Print | CTRL+P | Print the current layout. |
 |
File > Capture > Repeat | Repeat previous capture. | |
| Draw tools | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
 |
Draw > Pick | Select pick mode to select one or more objects. | |
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Draw > Rotate | Select rotate mode to make freehand rotation of one or more objects. | |
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Draw > Line | Draw a polyline. | |
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Draw > Open Curve | Draw an open curve. | |
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Draw > Box | Draw a rectangular (or square) box. | |
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Draw > Ellipse | Draw an ellipse (or a circle). | |
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Draw > Polygon | Draw a closed polygon. | |
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Draw > Closed Curve | Draw a closed curve. | |
| Zoom tools | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
|
View > Zoom In | CTRL++ | Select the zoom cursor to drag a zoom area. |
|
View > Zoom Out | CTRL+- | Return to the previous zoom level. |
|
View > No Zoom | CTRL+* | Return to the original unzoomed canvas view. |
| Crop tools | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
 |
Draw > Rubberband | Select the cross cursor to drag a rubberband to be used for image crop. |
|
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Image > Crop | Crop the selected image to the area within the rubberband. | |
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Image > Uncrop | Restore the full image after it has been cropped. | |
| Text tools | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
 |
Text > Add Text | Draw a text. | |
| (font) | Text > Font | Select the text font. | |
| (size) | Text > Font | Select the point size. | |
| (color) | Text > Color | Select the text color. | |
 |
Text > Font | Select bold text. | |
 |
Text > Font | Select italic text. | |
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Text > Font | Select underlined text. | |
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Text > Adjust > Left | Select left adjusted text. | |
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Text > Adjust > Center | Select centered text. | |
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Text > Adjust > Right | Select right adjusted text. | |
| Help tool | |
||
| Menu command | Keyboard | ||
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Help > Help Topics | CTRL+H | Display online help about the Montage Dialog. |
If your display is less than 900 pixels wide the text tools will be placed below the other tools.
Hiding the Tool Bar or Some of its Sections
You may hide the tool bar or some of its sections. This means that these parts do not occupy space
on your desktop, but also that you can no longer use the hidden tools. You must then use their menu
command or keyboard equivalents (if any).
Tool Boxes
The tool boxes in the left side of the Montage dialog
provide shotcuts for common tasks.
You can setup which toolboxes are shown by means of the Tool Boxes commands in the View menu.
By default all toolboxes are shown.
If you have hidden a toolbox you must use the corresponding menu commands.
Edit Text
When you add a new text or select
a text object the contents of the text string is shown in the edit box.
To edit the contents of the text you can do this in the edit box.
The edit box corresponds to the
Text Edit dialog, except that
it is smaller and not so well suited for large amounts of text. You can set line options for one or more selected lines or curves
by means of this tool box.
You can set the line width.
the line style,
the line color. and you can set
arrow head and tail.
These options can also be set in the Line Options dialog in
which you also can select line cap
and line join options.
This tool box allows you to set options for area fill. You can set
the fill style
and fill color.
These options can also be set in the Fill Options dialog in
which you also can choose fill rule.
This tool box allows you to do color replacement in an image.
Use this tool to make an obejct semi-transparent.
A more fine adjustment can be made by means of the Transparency dialog.
The default canvas contains the current image open in EasyCopy scaled and positioned according to the settings
in the Layout dialog.
If you start Montage without an image you get an empty canvas.
The initial size of the canvas correspond to the current page size; this means, that it depends on the current printer and the printer setup.
The orientation of the canvas corresponds to the setting in the Layout dialog.
Use the Grid dialog to specify the distance between grid points,
and to enable or disable the "snap to grid" function.
The grid may be visible or invisible. You can set View Grid on or off either in
the Grid dialog or in the View menu.
When "snap to grid" is enabled it means that when you draw, move,
resize, or edit an object, the mouse will
snap to the nearest grid point when you press or release a butten. Also, when you move objects
in steps by means of the arrow keys, the object(s) will move to the nearest grid point in the
desired direction.
When you enable "snap to grid" or if you change the grid distance it will not affect any
previously drawn objects (until you move, resize,
or edit them).
This will also be the case when you import a previously saved layout.
If you enable Set from Printer in the Page Setup dialog the
canvas size will also change
You can change the canvas orientation in two different ways:
To see the chosen font in the edit box toggle on the 'Show Font'.
Line Options
Fill Options
Image Options
Transparency
Montage Canvas
Rulers
The canvas is shown with rulers to assist you when you position and resize objects.
The rulers are shown using the unit you have chosen in
the Preferences menu.
You may choose to hide the rulers by disabling Rulers in
the View menu.
Grid
You can specify that the objects you place on the canvas should snap to a grid:
How to Change Size or Orientation of the Canvas
You set the canvas size and orientation in the Page Setup dialog.
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When you change size or orientation of the canvas it may also change the relative size and position
of all the objects on the canvas, and you may have to rearrange the complete layout.
Use the "Scale objects ..." toggle at the bottom of the Page Setup dialog to get control over what happens when you change the canvas size. |