Notator IMG printing and Mac/PC file transfers This document covers the following: Saving scores as graphic files File transfers (Mac-Atari ST, Windows-Atari ST) Converting IMG files into PNG or GIF Creating PDF files out of your score 1. Printing IMG files Notator not only prints scores to paper but to image files. Transfer the files to your Mac/PC (see section 2) and import them into other documents, publish them on the Internet, edit them further with a graphic program such as Photoshop, Gimp or Paintshop Pro, save them as a PDF file (see section 4) or just print them with your Mac/PC printer. IMG files usually need to be converted to PNG or GIF on the Mac/PC (see section 3) 1.1. Printer setup If you save your printer setup in AUTOLOAD.SON you don't have to bother with the printer setting each time you want to use it. 1. Load AUTOLOAD.SON. 2. Press E (to enter the edit page). (press the OK button when asked if you want to create a new track). 3. Go to the Edit - Printer menu (to open the printer setup window). 4. Press LOAD Printer Adaption and choose the one named IMG300_0.PRT (300 DPI, laser printer quality). It's located in Notator's \PRINTER\IMAGE\ folder. 5. The adaption defaults to saving a file named TEST300.IMG to the floppy disk drive (A:\TEST300.IMG). 6. If you want to save the IMG file on your hard drive, with a different name or within a specific folder click in the text area entitled Adaption. Set the path and/or file name as needed. * For instance: F:\PRINT.IMG (saves PRINT.IMG to drive F) D:\NOTATOR\SCORE.IMG (saves SCORE.IMG inside the NOTATOR folder on drive D) *** A:\PAGE1.IMG (saves PAGE1.IMG to a floppy disk) 26-02-08 09:02 1 of 10
7. Set the Width and Length of the IMG file. (Press the EDIT printer adaption button). (A longer file will allow for more staves to be displayed. A wider IMG file will allow for wider staves). 8. Press the EXIT button (returning to the printer setup window). 9. Press the EXIT button (to exit the printer setup window). 10. Press E or RETURN (to return to Notator's main page). 11. You'll see that a track named * New * has been created. Select it (click on it once), then press the Backspace key to delete it. 12. Save AUTOLOAD.SON (File - Save SONG). From now on, every time you tell Notator to print it'll do so to an IMG file. * Note that the Atari file-selector will not appear. You have to type the correct path and file name in by hand. Existing text will be overwritten unless you press INSERT for each character. Press BACKSPACE to remove the character to the left and DELETE to remove the character to the right of the cursor. *** The folder(s) must already be present on the hard drive. Notator will otherwise complain about "Bad filename". 26-02-08 09:02 2 of 10
1.2. Printing Once configured, printing an IMG file is almost as easy as printing to paper. or... 1. Press E (the edit page). 2. Press Edit - Printer (the printer setup window). 3. Make any adjustments if needed (header on/off, print track names, bars per line etc.). 4. Give the file a suitable name (e.g. A:\PAGE1.IMG) if not already set. (A descriptive name can prevent a lot of confusion). 5. Press the Page Preview button. (You can make final changes here before printing. The miniature preview gives you a rough indication of how the printout will look like). 6. Press P (or the P-print page button) to print the page as an IMG file. (This might take a while (a minute or more) if saving to floppy disk, depending on the size of the score etc.) 7. Press Exit (returning to the printer setup window). 8. If the score has more than one page: a. Change the file name (e.g. A:\PAGE2.IMG). (if you don't give it a new name your previous IMG file will be overwritten). b. Press the Page Preview button. c. Type the number of the page you want to print (or click on the number next to Page:) to see your next page. (You can also use the ( and ) buttons on the numeric keypad). d. When you're ready, press P (or the P-print page button) to print out your second page. e. Go back to step a and repeat if you have any more pages to print. f. Press ENTER, RETURN or the Exit button (to return to the printer setup window). 9. If you're done printing press the EXIT button (returning to the edit page). If you just want to print right away: 1. Press E (the edit page). 2. Press SHIFT P. (printing starts without awaiting any confirmation, then returns to the edit page). 1.3. Problems and solutions 1.3.1. Bad filename This indicates a problem related to the file name or path: Solution: The path is incorrect (e.g. pointing to a non-existing drive). The path syntax is incorrect (e.g. leaving out the colon, using a / instead of \ etc.) The file name is incorrect (e.g. using special symbols and characters). The path points to a non-existing folder. 1. Only enter drive names (e.g. A:\) that are actually available on your computer. 2. Use the correct path syntax (e.g. remember to use A:\ instead of A:/). 3. Don't use special characters (# $! & / ' \ = *? ") for your file names. 4. Examples of correct names and paths: A:\SCORE.IMG (saves SCORE.IMG on a floppy disk). D:\IMAGE.IMG (saves IMAGE.IMG on hard drive D). G:\TEST300.IMG (saves TEST300.IMG on hard drive G). E:\SCORE\PRINT1.IMG (saves PRINT1.IMG inside the SCORE folder on hard drive E). 26-02-08 09:02 3 of 10
5. 6. Don't enter a folder which doesn't yet exist. Create the drive's folder (from the Atari desktop) first. Check that the folder's name and path is correct. 1.3.2. Unavailable floppy disk You don't use floppy disks any longer as your Atari ST has a hard drive. But the floppy disk drive spins when you start printing the IMG file and complains about not finding any disk. This happens if you've forgotten to change the IMG printer adaption's path (which is set to A:\TEST300.IMG by default) which means that Notator will start saving to the (missing) floppy disk. The problem: Solution: An error message with a Cancel and Again choice appears. However, there's no mouse-pointer available, so you can't press the Cancel button. Pressing RETURN or ENTER selects Again (because it's the default). There's no keyboard shortcut for the other choice. There seems to be no way out except resetting the computer (and losing all your work). 1. Insert a (formatted) floppy disk into the drive. 2. Press ENTER or RETURN (the IMG file will be saved to the floppy disk). Press any key (RETURN, SPACE, ESC etc.) to cancel printing to the floppy disk. 3. Press ENTER, RETURN or the Exit button (to return to the printer setup window). 4. Set up the correct path to your hard drive (e.g. D:\PAGE1.IMG). 5. Print the score. The IMG file will be saved to your hard drive. 1.3.3. Stuck preview window Sometimes, when you enter the print preview window there's no mouse pointer and seemingly no way to exit from that window. Just press RETURN or ENTER to exit. 1.3.4. Incomplete or damaged IMG file Sometimes an IMG file will be displayed incomplete or not at all. This is because Notator won't warn you when a disk is full, but instead writes whatever it can. Use empty (but formatted) floppy disks instead of partly filled up ones. (it's not hard to fill up a 720 KB floppy disk). Don't assume the IMG files are OK. Have a look at them (with Graphic Converter, XNview etc. on the Mac/PC) before you turn off the Atari ST. If you need to redo a printout you'll be glad you waited. Copy the files over to your Mac/PC once in a while instead of filling up the disk too much. Once transferred and checked on your Mac/PC, erase the files from the disk and transfer some new IMG files. 1.3.5 Useful tips Set left and right margins to 0. Margins make sense when printing directly to paper, but not when working with graphic files. An image's contents 26-02-08 09:02 4 of 10
plays no role in regarding it's height/width, and because the total size might extend beyond what is acceptable for your Mac/PC printer (which has its own margins), web page or document it might have to be scaled down. Print the whole score as one IMG file. By adjusting the Length (see 7. in section 1.1) you can control how much of the score will fit into the IMG file. Experiment with different values and check with the printer preview until you get it right. Instead of printing 4 or 5 individual IMG files you can fit your entire score into one long IMG file. Chopping up long scores. An IMG file with the entire score might not be suitable for printing (on your Mac/PC's printer) because it's simply too long. Convert it to PNG or GIF, then open it with a graphic application (Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Gimp etc.) and divide it into smaller vertical sections which can be printed out individually. Various uses, various sizes. For a website or as an email attachement it might not be a problem to scroll up/down a long score, but take care that it isn't too wide (most people don't like scrolling left/right). If it's to be printed out you shouldn't make the score bigger than what's possible to print in one page. 2. Mac and PC file transfers You may want to transfer files between your Mac/PC and your Atari ST for a variety of reasons: Download Notator updates on your Mac/PC, transfer it over to your Atari ST. Transfer your song files over to your Mac/PC, burn backup copies on CD/DVD. Save Notator scores as IMG files, transfer them over to your Mac/PC for printing or further editing in Photoshop etc. The Atari ST can read MS-DOS formatted disks, but because the Atari desktop formatter doesn't always make them fully MS-DOS compatible it's best to use a program such as Hcopy. 2.1. Mac-Atari file transfers Current Macs no have floppy disk drives, but external USB disk drives can used. Macs can read/write/format MS-DOS compatible disks. Macs store invisible files (DS_store) which can cause problems for the Atari ST. This can easily be solved with a small Mac utility (read on). Formatting 1. On the Mac: insert a 720 KB (DSDD) floppy disk into the Mac's USB disk drive. *** 2. Open Disk Utility (located within /Applications/Utilities/). 3. Select the floppy disk (from the menu on the left), click on the Erase tab, choose MS-DOS file system and press the Erase button. 26-02-08 09:02 5 of 10
or... 1. On the Atari ST: insert a 720 KB (DSDD) floppy disk into the Atari ST disk drive. 2. Start Hcopy and press the Format button. +++++ (This will create an MS-DOS compatible disk). *** The Mac might sometimes refuse to mount or format a floppy disk. This can happen if the disk has been used with a sampler or a computer that uses a non-standard disk format (which the Mac won't recognize). Just format the disk on your Atari ST (using Hcopy) +++++ or a PC (see section 2.2). This will make it readable on the Mac, the Atari ST and PCs. +++++ http://www.notator.org/html/software.html#hcopy 26-02-08 09:02 6 of 10
Transferring files: Mac to Atari ST 1. On the Mac: download and install a free program called Clean Up Non Mac Disks * Place it in the Mac's Dock. 2. On the Mac: copy your files over to the floppy disk. 3. Drag the floppy disk icon to Clean Up Non Mac Disks in your Dock (this will remove the DS_store files and unmount the disk) *** 4. 5. Eject the floppy disk from the USB disk drive. Insert the floppy disk into your Atari ST. * http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19044 *** The disk will still contain a folder named TRASHE 1. Skip it when copying the contents of the disk, or delete it from the disk first. It will however be recreated the next time the disk is inserted into the Mac's disk drive. Transferring files: Atari ST to Mac The following applies for any Atari ST floppy disk that isn't copy-protected. 1. If your Atari ST software is on the Atari ST hard drive: Insert the newly formatted floppy disk into your Atari ST disk drive Mark the files/folders on your Atari ST hard drive, then drag and drop them over to the floppy disk icon. or... 2. If your Atari ST software is on a (non-copy protected) floppy disk (and you have an Atari ST hard drive), but the floppy disk isn't directly readable on the Mac (it doesn't conform to MS-DOS standards): Insert the original floppy disk in the Atari ST disk drive and double-click it to see it's contents. Create a new folder on your hard drive (and give it the name of the software on the floppy disk). Drag the files/folders from the floppy disk over to the empty folder. Close the floppy disk window on your desktop and eject the original floppy disk or... just eject the floppy disk with its window open. Insert the newly formatted floppy disk If the disk drive window is still open on the desktop, press ESC. (This will update its contents). If the disk drive window isn't available then double-click the disk drive icon. Drag the files/folders from the folder on your hard drive (or the folder itself) over to the floppy disk. 3. If your Atari ST software is on a (non-copy protected) floppy disk (and you don't have an Atari ST hard drive), but the floppy disk isn't directly readable on the Mac (it doesn't conform to MS-DOS standards): Insert the original floppy disk into your Atari ST disk drive. Drag the "Drive A" icon over to the "Drive B" icon or... ### Double click the "Drive A" icon (this will show the contents of the floppy disk), mark the files/folder you want to copy, then drag those over to the "Drive B" icon. 26-02-08 09:02 7 of 10
4. (choose NOT to format if asked about that. We've already formatted the disk to MS-DOS standards) You will be asked to insert the newly formatted floppy disk (disk B) into the drive. Next you'll be asked to insert the original floppy disk (disk A) into the drive Depending on how many files/folders are on the disk and your computer's memory you may have to exchange disks many times before you're done. Eject the disk and place it in the Mac's USB disk drive.!!!! Drag the files/folders over to the Mac desktop.!!!! Empty the Mac's trash before ejecting the floppy disk (or those deleted files will still take up room on the disk). As always: unmount floppy disks using Clean Up Non Mac Disks (don't drag it to the trash/eject icon as you would normally do on a Mac -even if the floppy disk is empty). This will ensure that you don't have to deal with those Macintosh DS_store files on your Atari ST. ### If your desktop only contains one floppy disk icon (drive A) you need to add a drive B icon: TOS 1.x: Click once on any existing drive icon. Go to the Options-Install disk drive menu. enter B as the missing drive letter, then press the Install button. TOS 2.06: Go to the Options-Install devices menu. Any missing drive icon will be installed, including drive B. 2.2. PC-Atari file transfers Windows PCs read/write/format MS-DOS compatible disks by default, but the option to format 720 KB floppy disks has been removed in Windows XP and beyond. A downloadable batch-script solves this problem. Formatting 1. 2. 3. On the PC: insert a 720 KB (DSDD) floppy disk into the PC's disk drive. Windows (earlier than XP): a. double-click My Computer (to gain access to the floppy drive). b. right-click on the floppy disk (drive A), then select Format. c. In the format window choose 720 KB (3.5"). Windows (XP and beyond): a. Download the 720 KB formatter batch file. b. Unzip the file, then double-click it. c. The MS-DOS command console window will open and ask you to confirm if you want to format the floppy disk. When finished it will automatically close. or... 1. On the Atari ST: insert a 720 KB (DSDD) floppy disk into the Atari ST disk drive. 2. Start Hcopy and press the Format button. +++++ (This will create an MS-DOS compatible disk) +++++ http://www.notator.org/html/software.html#hcopy Transferring files: PC to Atari ST Once a 720 KB (DD) disk has been MS-DOS formatted you can freely read/write/delete files without any special concern. Transferring files: Atari ST to PC The following applies for any Atari ST floppy disk that isn't copy-protected. 26-02-08 09:02 8 of 10
1. If your Atari ST software is on the Atari ST hard drive: Insert the newly formatted floppy disk into your Atari ST disk drive Mark the files/folders on your Atari ST hard drive, then drag and drop them over to the floppy disk icon. or... 2. If your Atari ST software is on a (non-copy protected) floppy disk (and you have an Atari ST hard drive), but the floppy disk isn't directly readable on the PC (it doesn't conform to MS-DOS standards): Insert the original floppy disk in the Atari ST disk drive and double-click it to see it's contents. Create a new folder on your hard drive (and give it the name of the software on the floppy disk). Drag the files/folders from the floppy disk over to the empty folder. Close the floppy disk window on your desktop and eject the original floppy disk or... just eject the floppy disk with its window open. Insert the newly formatted floppy disk If the disk drive window is still open on the desktop, press ESC. (This will update its contents). If the disk drive window isn't available then double-click the disk drive icon. Drag the files/folders from the folder on your hard drive (or the folder itself) over to the floppy disk. 3. If your Atari ST software is on a (non-copy protected) floppy disk (and you don't have an Atari ST hard drive), but the floppy disk isn't directly readable on the PC (it doesn't conform to MS-DOS standards):: Insert the original floppy disk into your Atari ST disk drive. Drag the "Drive A" icon over to the "Drive B" icon or... ### Double click the "Drive A" icon (this will show the contents of the floppy disk), mark the files/folder you want to copy, then drag those over to the "Drive B" icon. (choose NOT to format if asked about that. We've already formatted the disk to MS-DOS standards) You will be asked to insert the newly formatted floppy disk (disk B) into the drive. Next you'll be asked to insert the original floppy disk (disk A) into the drive Depending on how many files/folders are on the disk and your computer's memory you may have to exchange disks many times before you're done. 4. Eject the disk and place it in the PC disk drive. Drag the files/folders over to the Mac desktop. ### If your desktop only contains one floppy disk icon (drive A) you need to add a drive B icon: TOS 1.x: Click once on any existing drive icon. Go to the Options-Install disk drive menu. enter B as the missing drive letter, then press the Install button. TOS 2.06: Go to the Options-Install devices menu. Any missing drive icon will be installed, including drive B. 2.3. The HD/DD floppy disk trick In the absence of DD (720 KB) floppy disks, some people turn to a well known trick of fooling the computer into thinking that a HD (1.44 MB) floppy disk is in fact a DD disk. Although this usually works fine there's always a risk of corrupt data. 1. 2. 3. With a HD (1.44 MB) floppy disk facing toward you, the metal shield down, cover the left hole with a piece of tape. Make sure the tape covers both the upper and lower side of the hole. Note: this is not the write-protect hole (which has a movable tab). Format the disk as 720 KB and use as a normal DD floppy disk. When you want to use it as a normal HD floppy disk again, just remove the tape and format it as 1.44 MB (HD). In case of read/write error messages reformat or try another floppy disk. Also keep in mind that you should never store important data (such as your songs) on modified disks like these. Just use them as a transfer method between the computers. Store all important data on other media (hard drives, CDs, DVDs etc.) and make (several) backups! 26-02-08 09:02 9 of 10
3. IMG converting The Atari IMG format isn't very common on other platforms so you usually have to convert them to some other format (for best possible quality and lowest file size you should select PNG or GIF). Once converted you can import the score into a word processor (Word, Open Office etc.), upload it to your website, send it as email attachements to your music buddies, print it out on your Mac/PC printer, convert to PDF... 3.1 Mac IMG converting Graphic Converter (http://www.lemkesoft.com/) can display and convert IMG files on the Mac platform. While being shareware you can do almost anything with it before registering. (don't double-click on Atari IMG files to display them. IMG is used natively on the Mac platform for disk image files, so drag/drop them to the Graphic converter icon or open them from the Graphic converter file menu instead). 3.2. Windows IMG converting XNview (http://www.xnview.com/) is free and can display/convert IMG files on the Windows platform. 4. Scores as PDF files PDF is a practical and common cross-platform format. 4.1. Mac PDF printing Double-click your converted score file (PNG or IMG ). Apple's Preview will open and display it. You can also open the files in another application if you like, or open a file where the score has been imported (e.g. Word, Open Office etc.). Go to File - Print. Press the PDF button and select Save as PDF. 4.2. Windows PDF printing Download and install a free PDF utility such as Primo PDF (http://www.primopdf.com/) or Cute PDF Writer (http://www.cutepdf.com). Double-click your converter score file (PNG or JPG). It will be opened by the program which Windows has been assigned to open such files. You can also open the files in another application if you like, or open a file where the score has been imported (e.g. Word, Open Office etc.). Go to File - Print. In the printer dialog, change your existing printer to Primo PDF or Cute PDF writer. Press OK to print the score as a PDF file. 26-02-08 09:02 10 of 10