This is a list of instructions for the Software downloaded from M8software. I wanted to put these together to share with people I have recommended this software to.
The software does save HTML and has an area for typing script. These pages cover only the graphic features of the 25-Clips Clipboard. |
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| The above image is what the Clipboard looks like with several temporary graphic files pasted to it. To get a graphic onto the Clipboard, you simply go to the image you want to copy and right click on the image. From the drop down menu click on "Copy". You will see the new Graphic added to your Clipboard. You cannot copy an image from your Pictures Folder. It should be from somewhere on the web. You can also make a screenshot by using Ctrl PrtScreen on your keyboard, and again you will see a new Graphic on your clipboard.
When you pass the mouse over the Clipboard the different images will show in a pop-up box. When you find the image you want to work on or save permanently, you should right click on that Graphic Clip. Now you will see a pop-up as below.
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Click on the word "Edit" and you will now be inside the 25Clips Graphic Tool Page. Your image will be in the center of the page. You can move the image by dragging it. The Menu on the right will appear on the top right corner of the page. Many of these features are intuitive, but for the run down. |
A thumbnail of your graphic
Size in pixels
True Size restores it to original size after resizing
Fit to Screen..Image larger than screen
Erase. This will remove an image from the Tool Page. Good for when you have 2 images on the screen to compare sizes, etc, and only want to save one. Click on the image you want removed first. Also good for removing an image you have cropped too much and you need to start over. You can reach the Clipboard from inside the tool to bring an image back in.
Size. Changes both width and height at once, larger or smaller
Width. Make Wider or Thinner.
Height. Make Taller or Shorter.
Bring to Front. When working on 2 images and you want to reverse the location of the clicked on image
Send to Back. Same as above in reverse.
Crop. This will bring up some red lines around your image, as shown. You can move the lines with the mouse. Or you can place the cursor outside the red line and use the arrows on your keyboard to move the lines. Click Crop again and the image is cropped.
>|< This will flop the image so that it is in the reverse order.
Transparent. Put a checkmark in the box to make part of the image transparent. Click on the color you want to remove. See a more detailed transparency study.
90 checkbox Deg..Type an angle in the box, check the checkbox and click Deg to rotate your image to that angle.
AntiAlias. When you have resized an image, especially a text graphic, this will restore some of the clarity that may be lost. Do not click this until you are sure you have the size you want.
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Copy Graphic. Click on this to make a copy and use with Paste.
Paste Graphic. Click on this after clicking on Copy graphic and it will drop the copy anywhere on the screen.
Paste Text. If you have made a text graphic as shown below in this tute, you can copy and paste it.
Change Color and Pattern are covered below.
Flood Paste Color to. Will recolor different shades of a color to a single color. If you copied a light blue and want to flood it to a dark blue, copy the light blue and click on the dark blue for the flood paste.
Copy Color. Grabs the color you want to copy from the image.
Paste Color. Changes the color of the area you click on with the copied color.
Edit Drawing. You can draw lines and curves with this tool, not covered in this tutorial.
| If you right click on the area of your image that you want to change, you will get the pop-up menu seen here.
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Patterns from the above menu will show this pop-up.
Click the button next to the pattern you want to use.
Line Color shows what color the lines will be.
Select color will be covered below.
Clipboard Color will change the color to the most recent color selected in the color chart.
OK will enter the pattern in the area on your image.
Cancel will remove the pop-up menu and do nothing to the image.
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 | Change Color or Select Color will bring up this Color Chart. Here you can either click on the color block you want to use, or you can type in your own custom color of red, green and blue (scale 0-255). If you made a custom color you can add it to your custom color box by clicking on Add to Custom Colors, so it will be there for future use. Once you have clicked on the Color or Custom Color box you want then click OK to add the color to your image. Cancel removes the Color Chart from the screen. |
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The Add Items box appears on the lower left hand corner of your screen.
Line Draw brings you to a screen where you can draw geometric shapes with the mouse and add them to your graphic.
Curve Draw brings you to a screen where you can draw curves with the mouse, on a grid.
Clip Art brings up a few graphics of arrows, balloons, etc, that you can add to your image.
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Shape will bring up the following menu. Here you can click on the shape you want. To choose the Background, Line and Fill color click on the Change Button beneath that option to be taken to the Color Chart. These particular settngs will draw a white shape with black outlines on a light blue background. Choose the line size from the radio buttons. The image is usually large and needs to be resized.
Color Blocks and Lines will bring up a page of square shapes and thick lines. Choose the shape closest to the one you want. You can then resize it and change it to any color. It also brings up a pop-up where you can choose from patters and gradients to color the block. For this section go to the Gradient Page.
Graphic from Clip brings up your clipboard where you can get a temporary graphic to work on.
Graphic from File brings up your Pictures File where you can open an image that is stored on your computer to work on. |  |
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Text from the Add Items Menu brings up the following pop-up. The font currently in use is shown in the top box. The blank box will show you where your cursor is as you start to write words on the box that also pop up on your screen when you click Text.
Transparent will make the background transparent.
Border will put a small black border around your banner.
Size will resize the background without resizing the font.
Font will bring you to a list of fonts to choose from as well as the font size.
Font Color will bring you to the color chart for the color of the words.
Back Color will let you change the background color.
Bring to Front or Send to Back will position it on top or under another image.
Erase will cancel the Text and remove the Text pop-up.
Make it Graphical will turn the Text into an image.
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Merge is a feature for merging 2 or more images together into one. If you have an image that you want to add words to with a text image, or merge with one or 2 other images, just place them where you want them and then place your cursor just outside the top right corner, right click and drag it to the lower left corner, until a box appears around the images. Let go of the cursor and this pop-up appears in the top right of the screen. There are buttons for alignment, which I have not found much use for. If you click on Merge your image will be locked into one image, so that you can no longer move them around as separate images. If you click on Unlock, then nothing happens and the pop-up disappears. |  |
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Save your images.
Clip name will let you change the name that appears on your Clipboard, from Graphic Clip to what you name it. Highlight color will highlight that particular box on the clipboard, for easy finding...but it can still fall off the board when the board is full. Click on Save for this option.
Save as a new clip, will save your manipulated image to the clipboard.
Save as File will bring up the pop-up below. Save as desired file type, name your image and it will be stores in your Pictures File.
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Transparent GIF will ask you to click on the transparent area before saving.
 | Exit will bring up the pop-up below.Exit withou save will exit.Save will save image to the clipboard as a new graphic clip.
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I have 25Clips set up so that the Clipboard icon appears on my Start tool bar. If I right click on the icon and click Show it will bring up the Clipboard. The words 25Clips also appears on the start tool bar. If I click on those words it will close the application and keep the icon intact on the tool bar. The icon also appears on my desktop. If it has closed by some error and no longer appears on my tool bar I can click the icon on my desktop to get it back. Errors are rare and usually only occur if I click Exit instead of Show when I right click the Icon. Cancel will just close the options menu. |