*** comp.binaries.cbm is a moderated binaries- *** *** only newsgroup (no discussion or *** *** crossposting allowed) for Commodore 8-bits *** *** *** *** For information on comp.binaries.cbm visit *** *** http://www.concentric.net/~cdkaiser/cbc/ *** *** *** *** This file is also available via FTP from *** *** ftp://videocam.net.au/cbm/incoming *** *** (allow time for submission to be received) *** Originally published in CEE64 Alive! in 1992. As the author and creator of the template files, I release this article and the template archive (cassleev.lnx) to the public domain. Gaelyne Gasson, 1999 The Frugal Audiophile Does GEOS (Geos Cassette Sleeve) By Gaelyne R. Moranec Copyright 1992 A while back, I started a new music collection. Compact disks now line another shelf in my livingroom, right along side all my cassettes. I like compact disks. The only thing I don't like is the fact that my junk heap of a car only has an old tape player in it, instead of a CD player. I'm not about to go spend more money on a car cd player. Maybe when the subscriptions start rolling into C64 Alive!, I might be able to, but for the moment, I'm as frugal as the next person. I made "archival" back up tapes of my new compact disks. Now I can listen to the new music, even in the old junk heap of a car. I really hate writing in the tiny lines on the cassette sleeves. My handwriting isn't what it used to be, and my hand gets cramped up trying to write that small, making the writing worse. My newly made tapes blended right in with the old tapes. I couldn't distinguish the new ones from tapes made 5 years ago. When I made a tape of one of my favorite artists, whose album was very ornate with an unusual font, I drew the line at scribbling my song list on the cassette sleeve. In fact, I drew quite a few lines, using geoPUBLISH. After months of making fine adjustments, my GEOS cassette sleeve design is ready for C64 Alive! Magazine. The first few sleeves I made were hit or miss, but now I have a system for creating sleeves that have eye appeal and style. They're readable, and I can change the font to match the style of music on the cassette. There are, after all, thousands of fonts available for GEOS. The only limitation is the size of the font; it has to fit in a very small area for the side of the cassette sleeve. Even with this limitation, there are ways around it, such as using FONT EDITOR 2.2 to scale the font down to a size that will fit. I have the geoPublish file arranged in a logical order. In the Master Page mode, I have a template of the sleeve outline. In Page Layout mode, there are four small text areas, (geoWRITE files), one for the side, one for the back, and two song list areas, one for side A and one for side B of the tape. All are marked, so that it's easy to tell what information needs to fill the area. To change it, simply click on the area, and then click on EDIT from the mode menu. If the font you are trying to use is too big, you will know immediately, as some or all of the text will disappear onto the mysterious next page. To get it back, highlight the area and choose a smaller font or point size. In the Graphics Mode, there is another outline of the sleeve, both for reference, and so that it will print correctly. I added a few comments about how to use the file, which, after you make a backup copy, can be deleted. So you can see how it is arranged, I left in the last cassette sleeve that I made, and included in the file archive the font that I used to create the sleeve. One of the things this particular sleeve illustrates is how to deal with long song lists that go beyond the fold line for the cassette sleeve. All it takes really, is popping into Graphics Mode to zoom into the area to see if the fold line goes across the text. If it does, go back to editing the song list in Page Layout mode, and add a blank line in the area where the fold line goes across the text. This usually solves the problem. Because I created a template in Master Page Mode, if I had several sleeves I wanted to make in one session, I could do so by adding another page and then use the template to set up the page layout area for new text files. To create a label for the tape using the same font, I use MLABELV2.5 which is available on Q-Link (uploader: Dibief). Side A and B can fit on one mailing label, if you only use two lines total. After printing the label, cut it down the middle, trim the end of it about a quarter inch, and you have a cassette sleeve with matching labels. Eventually I'd like to get my entire tape collection "GEO-ized" by creating a great looking cassette sleeve with matching labels, and updating my music data base at the same time, since I can use the information from the geoWRITE song lists to in geoFILE. I've been enjoying my tapes, even in the old beat up clunker car. The great looking sleeves don't make the music sound any better, but it sure beats trying to read my cramped scrawl on the side of the tapes. Not to mention that some music groups just need a cool font to go on the sleeve. Iu gives my tapes a very professional looking appearance. The cassette sleeve files are packed together using geoPACK. If you already have this gem of a program, copy the lynxed file over to a GEOS work disk and use geoPACK to both unpack and convert them into GEOS format at the same time. If you don't already have this program, don't despair. We've included it on the disk for you, along with Convert2.5da to put it into GEOS format. In case you've never run across the problem, GEOS programs can not be copied by regular Commodore DOS. It just doesn't work right. So GEOS users convert their files into regular CBM files that can be uploaded with a modem or copied onto disks using Commodore DOS. Then later they convert the files back to GEOS format. It's an extra step, but at least the process is available. Otherwise there wouldn't be any new GEOS files on BBS's around the country. If converting GEOS files is old hat to you, you can skip this brief little tutorial, but if you've never done it before, this is how you go about it. First, copy the files "cassleev.lnx", "convert2.5da", and "geopack" onto a GEOS work disk. Before loading GEOS, load "convert2.5da",8,1 from Commodore BASIC. It will take awhile for this to do its' thing, so go have a cup of coffee or visit with your family (remember them?). What it is doing, is converting itself into a GEOS format file. When the ready prompt appears, boot GEOS, and put your work disk into the disk drive. Double click on convert to load it, and tell it you want to convert geoPACK. After much clicking of the mouse to answer the prompts, you will have geoPACK in its GEOS form. Double click on geoPack from the deskTop to unpack and convert the cassette sleeve files. Now you're ready to load geoPUBLISH and start creating your own custom made cassette sleeves! Just for beginners - you've made your C64 work out while converting the Convert2.5da program, so be sure to make a backup copy of it for your GEOS arsenal and you'll never have to run it from BASIC again. If using geoPACK seems to work out well, you may see more GEOS files on future C64 Alive! disks. GEOpack is shareware. The author is Seth Dethman, and he asks $5.00 for the shareware fee. If you use it for more than unpacking the cassette sleeve files, please be sure to send him his payment. ********************* Credits: GEOS version 2.0, geoPUBLISH, geoWRITE, and geoFILE are all trademarks of GEOworks, formerly Berkeley Softworks, inc. FONT EDITOR 2.2 is copyright 1988 by Jim Collette (shareware $10.00) MLABELV2.5 was written by David B. Ferguson, (shareware: $5.00 to your favorite charity). A commercial update to this program, Dweezilabel, is available from: David B. Ferguson, 3729 Terneuzen Ave, Modesto, CA 9356 CONVERT2.5da routines are copyright 1989 by William Coleman geoPACK is by Seth Dethman, shareware $5.00) The convert routines within geoPACK were written by William Coleman The lynx routines within geoPACK were written by Will Corley. This article and the cassette sleeve files were written and created by Gaelyne R. Moranec. The article is copyright 1992. If you distribute the lynxed cassette sleeve files, please do not change the original files, and please do not remove my name or 64 Alive!s name from them. ------------------------------------------ Required files: CONVERT2.5da (to convert GEOPACK if it's not already in GEOS vlir format). CASSLEEV.LNX GEOPACK (use this to unpack cassleev.lnx) ***************************************************************************