Q.I try to click inside a text box to get the cursor so that I can enter text, but instead I get black boxes around the text box and I can't enter text. What's going on?

A. First, a quick explanation of how text functionality works: single click inside of a text box to edit/add text, and double click inside of it or single click on the dashed line of the text box to select it for moving and resizing.

The specific example given above usually happens when the text box is too small to fit the mouse cursor into, and the click-able areas which bring up those black boxes, or 'handle boxes,' cover up the area which would allow you to get that text cursor. There are two solutions for this problem. One is to increase the size of the text box until you are able to click inside it, and the other is to increase the view from the View menu, Zoom option until the text box is large enough to fit the mouse cursor into.

Q.What is 'Mail Merge' and how does it work?

A. Mail Merge is a function which will let you automatically print a series of names, addresses, and/or other information onto multiple stickers, labels, envelopes, etc. The instructions given below use labels as an example:

NOTE: You must already have entered addresses in your program's Address Book in order to use Mail Merge.

1. Start the program.
2. Click on New.
3. Click on a Project.
4. Select a Design.
5. Go to the Virtual Card File menu and select Mail Merge.
6. Make selections on both tabs: what information you want merged, and what address records to use. Click on OK.
7. The codes representing the information you want to merge will display in a new text box on your design. Resize and move the text box to the desired location.
8. Make sure all text can be seen in the text box. Adjust the size of the text box and/or edit the font size and color.
9. Click in the gray area just outside of the text box. If you are working on a project that displays multiple design areas on one page (ex. Stickers, business cards), you must copy the text box with codes to the remaining spaces. With your cursor in the design area you want to copy, click on the right button on your mouse and select Copy Selected Item to All.
10. Go to File and click on Print. Your page should now print out with a different address on each document or label, one for each person you selected.

Q.When I try to scan images into my program, I get an error that closes the program, or everything seems to be working right, but the image never appears on the program screen. What should I do?

A. Check to ensure that your scanner is plugged into a power source and into your computer, and that the cables are tight. Next, verify that the software that came with your scanner is installed. (Go to Start>Programs and look for listing.)

If for some reason you can't successfully scan an image using the Scanner Acquire option under the Graphics menu, then you can scan the image outside the program by launching the scanner software. You can then import the image into the program. It is important that you use the latest drivers that came with your digital camera/scanner for best results. Often you will find these drivers on the website of the company that made the device.

Q.Can I use my address book in Dbase, Excel or other programs?

A. Yes, if your database can import comma- or tab-delimited text files we can export our address book in this format. Likewise, if your database program can create comma-or tab-delimited text files, its databases can be imported into your program. See the online help for more information.

Q.How do I back up my Address Book?

A. Once you have your addresses entered into the Address Book, you can back it up by making a copy of the address.txt file onto a floppy or into a Temp file. In Windows Explorer, on the drive where you installed ColorStore Print Projects, under the colors to folder find the Addrbook subdirectory. Click on the file addres.txt, go to File>Copy, then select your diskette drive (with a blank diskette in it) and go to File>Paste.

You can also back up your Address Book using the File/Export command from within the Address Book screen. Put a blank disk into your floppy drive, then choose File/Export, pointing the resulting dialog box to the floppy drive and naming the backup file. The program will save the Address Book as a text file (.txt) onto the floppy disk.

Note: If for some reason your address book files seem corrupt, you may need to recopy the files from the CD to the hard drive where the product is installed. A problem can occur if you copy blank address book files from the CD (instead of installing them with the SETUP.EXE program). What happens is that the "read only" properties are copied with the files. You must go into your Windows file manager and change the properties of all the address book files (found in the Addrbook subdirectory) so that you can both read and write to the files. See your Windows manual for details.

Q. Can I have more than a 1-page letter?

A. At this time, you cannot create projects with multiple pages.

Q. I'm trying to import a .tif /.gif (and other non-supported file formats) into the program and it is not working.

A. Go to the graphics menu and select Import Art. Click on the drop down arrow next to file type to view all of the valid file formats for importing. Note: We do not support LZW compressed .tif files. These files need to be uncompressed or saved as another file format prior to importing them into this program.

Q.With a text box selected, choosing Turn On Text Effects caused my text to enlarge and become unreadable. Why?

A. Text effects were designed to be special tools for making a heading or word stand out. They were not designed to be used on more than a few words. To correct the situation, delete some words from the box or click on the Turn On Effects button to turn them off.

Q. I chose the Internet Connection button and I'm getting an error message. Why?

A. The Internet Connection button makes a call to your default browser and specifies a specific URL (www.software.canon.com). For best results, go to the Start menu and connect to your dial-up. Then go to the Start Menu to launch your browser. Alt+Tab back to the ColorStore application or launch it if you are not currently running and then select the Internet Connection button. If you are using AOL, connect to AOL and choose the Internet button. Go to the AOL home page, then Alt+Tab back to the ColorStore application or launch it if you are not currently running and then select the Internet Connection button.

Q.I'm trying to click on and select a graphic that is part of a pre-made design. I'm clicking on the graphic and the black handles aren't surrounding it. Why?

A. You have inadvertently selected the background of the pre-made design, instead of the individual image. Choose the UnSelect button on the toolbar to clear the selection. You can then single click in the middle of the specific image you want to select. If this doesn't work, it means that specific image isn't a separately selectable item-its fixed to the background. (Note: clicking in the gray space around the workspace achieves the same result as selecting the UnSelect button.)

Q. Graphics are shifting colors on my screen. How can I fix this?

A. The program was designed for 16 bit color. You need to change your computer's display settings.

1. Right click with the mouse on your Windows 95 desktop.
2. Click on Properties. A Display Properties window will appear. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Change Display Type.
4. Take note of the name in the Adapter Type window.
5. Click on Change. The Select Device window will appear. Show Compatible Devices should be selected. Under Models will be the compatible devices available. Select one of these and click on OK. Click on Close on the Change Display Type window, and Apply on the Display Properties window.
6. You will be prompted to restart Windows; click on Yes. When the computer restarts try the application, if you are still having a problem, go through steps 1- 5 and try another type listed under Models. If there are no others, click on Show all devices.
7. Under Manufacturers scroll up and click on (Standard display types), under Models choose Standard Display Adapter (VGA) and click on OK. Click on Close on the Change Display Type window, and Apply on the Display Properties window.
8. You will be prompted to restart Windows; click on Yes. When the computer restarts try the application; if you are still having a problem, go through steps 1 - 5 and change the driver back to your original setting, previously noted.

Q. The printer output does not match the screen color. How can I get the printed colors to match the screen?

A. Depending upon the printer, the "Properties" selections you make will affect this. Choose the settings for highest quality graphics, not text. Make sure that you are using the Diffusion or Scatter mode for half-toning. Also see if 'Screen Match' color or Color Matching is enabled.

The text displayed on the screen does not match the text when printed. Sometimes the lines end on different words. What's wrong?

We use the exact same file to display text on the screen as we do to print. We send the same information to both. The screen driver and the printer driver may interpret the information differently. The display and the printer may show different things. It is a good idea to ensure you have some space between the words in a text box and the dashed line of the text box itself. Resize the text box if needed. Also, make sure that you are using the Diffusion or Scatter mode for half-toning. Another option for this problem is to delete the text box in which the text appears, add a new text box, reenter the text, make whatever font changes you want, and then (after the changes are made but before you take any other actions) clicking in the gray area outside the project you've designed.

Also see if 'Screen Match' color is enabled. Changing the video driver may help, see your Windows and Video board manuals for details and cautions about switching video drivers.

Q.Some parts of the program are not completely visible onscreen. Why?

A. There are two reasons for this occurrence, both of which are related to your Windows display settings: the Display (or Desktop) Area and the Font Size. The program was optimized for a 800x600 display setting with Small Fonts. If your display is set to 640x480, your taskbar set to always on top and you have extended the size of the taskbar by dragging on it, you may have some of the program workspace cut off.

In Windows 95, you may access these settings in order to change them by right-clicking in the middle of the Windows desktop (away from any icons or the Windows taskbar), then left-clicking on Properties in the menu which subsequently appears. Click on the Settings tab. Now look at the Display or Desktop Area box. If your display area is less than 800 x 600 (640 x 480, for instance), we recommend you change it to 800 x 600. You can do this by clicking on the indicator on the 'Less/More' bar within that box, and dragging it towards 'More' until it shows at least 800 x 600 screen resolution, then clicking 'Apply.' You may get a prompt from Windows 95 saying that it needs to restart the system or that the screen may go blank for a few seconds; follow the instructions and let Windows restart or blank the screen. Then will follow a message asking if you want to keep the new settings. Click 'Yes' before the dialog box disappears; if you're not quick enough, Windows will reset the display to your previous settings. Also on the Settings tab is the Font Size setting. Make sure that the selected size is Small Fonts; if it's not, select Small Fonts and click on 'Apply.'

Q.Whenever I try to load a previously-saved design project in ColorStore, I get an error message saying, 'Art file(s) missing...' What should I do?

A. This is usually caused when you created a design with an imported image that is no longer in the location it was when you imported it. Copy the missing file to the BMPS folder on your hard drive under the ColorStore directory, then reimport the image.

Q.My program causes an 'Illegal operation error' when I try to launch it or when I try to print a project. Help!

A. In most cases, these types of errors are a result of a lack of available conventional memory. There are a number of ways in which you can free up more memory.

Windows 95: First, disable any screen savers that are installed on the system. You can do this by going to Start/Settings/Control Panel, then by double-clicking on the Display icon. When the Display Properties dialog box appears, click on the Screen Saver tab. If the highlighted name within the Screen Saver section is anything other than (None), click on the down arrow next to that name, scroll up to the top of the menu that appears, and choose the first selection, (None). Then click on the Apply button at the bottom of the Display Properties dialog box and close the box.

Next, its a good idea to disable any anti-virus programs which are running. You can check for such programs on the Windows taskbar. They will appear as icons placed next to the time in the lower right corner of you screen. If you are uncertain as to what each icon represents, simply place your mouse cursor over each icon for a second or two and a title for that icon will appear. Once you have found the icon for your anti-virus program, right-click on it and a menu will appear. Most such programs will have a Disable option placed on that menu, which you should select. If not, refer to the program's manual or help files to learn how to disable it. [Once you have finished using the program, you may want to re-enable your anti-virus software. If so, and you disabled it by selecting Disable from the right-click menu, simply right-click over the icon again and that option will have changed to Enable, which you should then select. Otherwise, refer to the program's manual or help files to learn how to enable your anti-virus software again.]

After you have removed these two types of applications from your computer's memory, you should check the configuration of your startup files. You can do this by going to Start/Run and entering 'Sysedit' into the Open line, then clicking OK. When the System Configuration Editor window appears, close the front file, Autoexec.bat. Check the next file, Config.sys, for these lines:

FILES=x or FILESHIGH=x

BUFFERS=x, BUFFERSHIGH=x, BUFFERS=x,y or BUFFERSHIGH=x,y

If one or both of these lines appear, and x is less than 50, change x to 50. If you have a FILES= or FILESHIGH= line and no BUFFERS= or BUFFERSHIGH= line, add this line immediately after the FILES= or FILESHIGH= line: BUFFERS=50. If neither of these lines appears within your Config.sys file, you probably don't need to add them, though you might try doing so as a last-ditch effort to get the program to run correctly. Now go to the File menu and click 'Save'. Then exit the System Configuration Editor and restart your computer so that your changes will take effect.

Next, check your system's conventional memory. Go to Start\Run and enter 'Mem' into the Open line. A window should appear listing modules loaded under 1 MB. At the bottom of this list is a line titled 'Free'. Note the number of K in parentheses where the 'Free' line intersects with the 'Conventional Memory' column. While most of our programs will run with 520K free conventional memory, they work more efficiently the more conventional memory that is available. Also, printing projects which involve graphics is a very memory-intensive operation. For best and fastest results, you should have 600K or more free conventional memory.

If you don't have enough free conventional memory, there are a number of ways to increase it. Try running 'Memmaker', a DOS application, which will attempt to optimize the way that your startup programs are loaded into memory. For more information on this program, go to the DOS prompt and type 'Memmaker /?'; you can also find out more about it by running it. Also, remove any unnecessary programs from your Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files (again, using Sysedit) by placing 'REM' at the beginning of each line which loads these programs. If this affects system operation in other programs, you can simply edit your startup files again, removing the 'REM' from each line that you added it to. [Note: do not remove 'REM' statements from lines which also say they were removed by Windows 95.]

Q.When I try to print a project, I get an error message saying, 'Windows 95 cannot write to the printer spool file. Free up more hard drive space.' What's going on?

A. This usually occurs when you are printing a project which contains many graphics files or very large ones. When Windows 95 runs out of space in your computer's memory, as it commonly does when printing many or large files, it uses what is called a Virtual Memory Manager to write to hard drive space as simulated computer memory (though this is a much slower process than using actual computer memory). This message will appear if your computer's memory is already full and there is insufficient hard drive space for Windows 95 to write everything it needs to onto the hard drive.

There are several ways to remedy this situation. First, try restarting Windows 95. Sometimes unnecessary files will be left in memory from other programs which were run during the same session, or period between system boots. Restarting will eliminate these excess files from memory and possibly take care of the problem.

A third option exists which will slow the printing process but which will also eliminate the error message: go to Start/Settings/Printers, click once on the icon for your printer so that it highlights, go to the File menu and select Properties, click on the Details tab in the window which then appears, and click on the Spool Settings button. In the Spool Settings dialog box, select 'Print directly to the printer,' click on 'OK', and then click on 'Apply' at the bottom of the Printer Properties box. This will disable Windows' use of a spool file, which will obviate the need for extra hard drive space in which to print it.

If this doesn't work, you need to free up more hard drive space for Windows 95 to write its spool file. You can either remove software from your hard drive until the error message stops appearing, or (as a last resort, not recommended) compress your hard drive using one of various programs currently available. One of them, Drvspace (previously known as Dblspace), comes with Windows 95. Before using any such program which will make fundamental changes to your system, you should read associated help or readme files and the program manual to help head off problems which might occur on your system due to that compression program. Drvspace, for instance, can take an hour or more to complete its operations, depending on the size of your hard drive. Also, it can cause degradations in your system's performance (primarily with older systems) because it needs to recompress or decompress a file each time it is read from or written to the hard drive. However, it also will effectively make your hard drive approximately twice as large as it was before Drvspace was used, usually freeing up more than enough space for Windows 95 to write to.

Q.I received a message saying that I don't have enough memory to complete this operation. What can I do?

A. First, free up memory by closing any other applications that you have running. Next, try restarting Windows. Next, check to see if you have enough memory resources to run a graphics intensive program. First, increase the number of BUFFERS and FILES by 5 or 10 in your DOS CONFIG.SYS file then reboot your computer. See your DOS manual or Help file for details. If this does not work, use the DOS "MEM" command to see how much "free conventional memory" you have available. Depending on what else is running, you may need more than 520KB of "free conventional memory". If you don't have that much available, try running the DOS "MEMMAKER" command to optimize your conventional memory. Also, be sure you have sufficient virtual memory available to your Windows applications. We like to see at least 8MB of RAM and another 8MB of virtual memory. (You can run with 4MB if you set up more virtual memory, but the program will run very slowly.) Of course, more is better and if you have enough hard disk space available, you can increase the virtual memory to whatever your system allows; 20MB is usually recommended by Windows 3.11. Windows 95 generally prefers to have much more virtual memory available, so you may want to make sure that you have at least 60-80 MB of free hard drive space. See your DOS and Windows user's manuals for information on the above procedures.

Q.How do I reverse my design so when I iron it on a T-shirt it comes out right?

A. On the print dialog in the product, select the Properties button next to the printer listing. Depending on what printer you are using, there will be an option to Reverse Print or Flip Horizontally. If there is a Media selection area and a listing for T-shirt Transfer or Backprint Film, choose that option.

If there is no such option available with your printer drivers, there is a workaround which will allow you to print the image both in color and reversed: using the 'Save as Bitmap' function (usually found under the File menu), you may save your design as a graphic file in the bitmap (.bmp) format, then import it into a graphic editing program such as Paint (a standard accessory which comes packaged with Windows 95). Once the image is loaded into the graphic program, find a function called 'flip,' and apply it to the image, whether you are doing so horizontally or vertically. This will reverse the image. Then you can save that image, reimport it into our program, and print it in Normal Mode.

Q.Text does not print but the graphics seem to print okay. What's wrong?

A. Check your black ink supply. The black found in the graphics portion of the card or letter is made up of a combination of the other ink colors (yellow, cyan, and magenta) but the black for the text comes from the black ink supply on many ink jet printers. Some printers let you know if you are out of ink, but many printers don't. You may have to run the printer's test output diagnostic. Some cartridges have indicators which show the level of the ink within the cartridge as well, so check for that too, and if the cartridge appears to be empty or nearly empty, replace it. You should also try cleaning the print heads of the printer following the instructions inside the lid of your printer.

Known Issues:

Italicized text with some fonts (bolder ones-ex. Arial Black) sometimes gets cut off when printing or saving.

Re-docking the drawing tools toolbar is very tricky.

Q. I designed a label/sticker/business card I like, but I'm not sure how to copy the design to all of the spaces on the workspace. How do I do this?

A. Click in the specific label/sticker/business card that you would like to copy to the rest of the page. Click on your right mouse button, and select Copy Selected Item To All from the drop down menu. Select Yes when asked if you want to replace existing designs. You can also choose the Copy Selected Item To All from the Edit Menu.