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... Next I will try to cover the basics of using dingbat fonts such as how to find out the characters, and positioning... you should already have a dingbat font file unzipped and transloaded by the time you are here but if you've ended up here by some other way and need to learn how to grab a dingbat font file and unzip it you can go Back Here...
... ok.. I fibbed... before you can begin using the dingbats and playing, there are a few things you need to know and find out about the dingbats.. one is.. even though you may do EVERYTHING right and all seems well as you grab your dingbat file, unzip it and transload it... you may still run into problems and the dingbat file may not work .. don't ask me why but this does happen.. some reasons why may be because a server is experiencing problems (one of many you will be dealing with) or the tool you are using is being used by too many people at the same time or the dingbat you are trying to use just has an attitude and creates odd results (believe me some definately have attitudes)... also.. some dingbat zip files have some of kind of error and cannot be uzipped.. although this all sounds discouraging don't give up... either try again later or try something different... remember this is suppose to be fun and it will be as soon as you get the hang of things :-) What the Characters Represent... when you use a regular font for a banner you know all the characters used because it is the same but when you use a dingbat font those same letters, numbers and symbols on your keyboard represent a certain picture.. keep in mind that not all dingbat files use EVERY single letter, symbol and number on your keyboard.. if you run into a hollow blank square then that usually means there is no picture for that particular letter, symbol or number you tried to use.. ... some websites will give you the entire character map of the dingbats.. that means they will display the entire dingbat pictures along with the character that represents it... some will only show you a few pictures on a banner type strip just to give you an idea what the dingbat has to offer (like a sample)... some dingbat files only contain a few characters only and only have a few pictures... to see an example of an entire character map for a dingbat file go HERE to see an example for a sample banner type character map go HERE when you have the dingbat pictures (or maybe just a few of them) but do not have the characters displayed with them you will have to play with it a little and see what letter, symbol, and/or number represents what and WHERE they are... (not all dingbats will start a,b,c,d,e and so on, some will be for example maybe only characters g thru n or maybe just all upper case letters or just lowercase--- I found many different ways, some even skip every other letter) generally I start with lowercase letters, then uppercase letters, then numbers, then symbols but not all dingbat files follow this general rule and sometimes you may have to try different things.. the quickest way I could find out WHERE the dingbats were and WHAT they were was to place the following in the text field when annotating for the first time with any dingbat... keep in mind a hollow frame type image means there is no picture for that particular letter and/or symbol or number you tried to use... aA1 try those characters FIRST and by seeing what those pictures create it will show you a starting point and give you an idea where to start to be able to use the dingbats... (if you have a printer you will love this, it makes things so much easier---you may want to turn it on now if you don't already have it on) if you have only seen a few pictures on a banner type strip, you will want the entire set --you can accomplish that easily by doing the following: take your transloaded dingbat file and a blank white base to Image Magick, click "view" (sometimes when you click "view" you will get an error, it will say something about your file having characters not allowed or something like that but all that is, is our imfamous WebTV bug and all you need to do is reload the page BEFORE using Image Magick--even IF you think you don't have the javascript bug that we Webtver/Msntvers get, you may still in fact have it--no matter if there are words in your status bar or not~ this started happening to me while I was trying to use different tools just after our switch to Msn ~lovely huh?~) now click "resize" and resize the base to 560x400! don't forget that "!" exclamation mark after that size! click "resize" now click "Annotate" depending on the shape and size of the pictures I generally try these attributes first Pointsize: 40 Location: 0+ 140+ Gravity: NorthWest Fill Color: gray20 Text: abcdefg hijklmn opqrstu vwxyz (make sure and type the letters EXACTLY in this fashion) now click "Annotate" your result should look something like THIS (I'm not placing it on the page because it's too large and will download slow) ... as you can see now there is all the pictures that the lower case alphabet letters can make.. now without even transloading this gif you can print out the page (notice there is plenty of room to write what characters they are and the name of the dingbat on it once it's down on paper) once you have it printed out press your back button and repeat the process with the UPPER case letters.. once you have those printed out you can try the numbers and symbols on your keyboard.. please REMEMBER not all dingbats will have ALL characters and/or numbers and symbols... *If you do not have a printer or you are just too anxious to try and use the dingbat I would suggest to resize the small base to 560x150, click "Annotate", place the dingbat file just under the gray font menu box, do one line of dingbats at a time until you see something you like.. in the Text box put the letters a,b,c,d,e,f,g (without the commas of course) click "Annotate" ...see if there's something you would like to use, if not press your back button and delete those letters and add another line of letters in the Text box h,i,j,k,l,m,n and keep doing this until you find something you want to use.. I usually only place 7 letters at a time and use the Pointsize of 50 or 60.. that way there's only 7 characters to remember at a time and most dingbats are clearly seen at that size... now are you ready for a small lesson on positioning? Positioningthe Gravity and Location attributes are easy to work with once you get use to themmost of the time I leave the Gravity on NorthWest and play with the numbers.. that way I can always place text and/or dingbats EXACTLY where I want them.. center doesn't always center like it's suppose to.. at NorthWest 0+0+ you will see nothing.. the picture or text are up high and to the left and out of your viewing range the FIRST number will move your picture or text from left to right in pixels.. starting at the furthest left side point moving towards the right.. (I just think of pixels as internet inches in size-- of course they aren't but I always relate unfamilar things to familiar things~ it's easier for me that way) ... the SECOND number will move your picture or text from top to bottom in pixels.. starting at the highest point and moving downwards... I let the Pointsize be my guide.. if the Pointsize is 50 then I at least begin with 50+50+ in order to at least see it and work with it from there... I generally move the numbers (whether up or down) by 10 pixels at a time.. that way you can see which way it's moving and continue to increase or decrease the numbers until you have the picture or text where you want it.. after you get use to things it will become much easier and after awhile you'll be able to judge about how much you need to increase/decrease the numbers and things will become allot quicker for you... now that you know what, where, and how to move them you can get busy... go get that blank base and play a little at Image Magick.. Dingbat charset from House of Lime Dingbats |
