Canvas 5

This list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) was compiled from customers' questions about Canvas 5.

Installation

Q: I'm a Canvas 3.5 user who purchased the Canvas 5 upgrade. I installed the upgrade and entered my old serial number. An error message said the serial number was invalid. I tried the number printed on the Canvas 5 floppy disks, but this didn't work either. The upgrade package says that a previous Canvas serial number is required. What should I do?
A: Every Canvas 5 package (new products and upgrade packages) includes a License Agreement/Registration Card. Your Canvas 5 serial number is printed on the card. This is the serial number you should enter when you install Canvas 5.

The upgrade package sticker, which says "previous Canvas serial number required," refers to the fact that you must be a registered user of Canvas 3.5 to be eligible to purchase a discounted Canvas 5 upgrade package, not that you should use an "old" (Canvas 3.5) serial number when you install Canvas 5. Also, the number printed on the Canvas 5 floppy disks is just a control number, not a product serial number.

Running Canvas

Q: I used to use the Tool Loader in Canvas 3.5 to load tools "on the fly" when the program was running. Why isn't the tool loader included in Canvas 5? A: The program core, and all the external tools, were completely rewritten for Canvas 5. Because of fundamental changes in the program's architecture, it's no longer possible to load tools after the program has been launched. You can still create custom sets of tools for specific projects, and you can select the tools you want to use when you start up Canvas by pressing and holding down the Spacebar immediately after you double-click the program icon.

Image editing

Q: How can I make transparent areas in a raster image (bitmap) in Canvas 5?
A: You can use the "null" fill color to make pure white areas of an image transparent, using the following procedure:

1. Select the image object (don't double-click it to enter edit mode).

2. Press the fill ink icon (the bottom icon in the toolbox) and select the "null" color tile with a diagonal line. This assigns the null color to all pure white pixels in the image. In Windows 95, a display problem causes the entire image to appear partly transparent even though the effect should print correctly.

Note: You can also use vector objects to mask, or selectively display, parts of an image. For more information, refer to the Mask submenu commands in the on-line Help system.

Q: When I make a selection in an image, how can I leave out the background color? A: A new option that lets you exclude a background color has been added to the dialog boxes for the Marquee and Lasso selection tools in Canvas 5.0.1. Double-click the tool's icon to open the dialog box, and turn on the "Omit Background Color" option. When this option is active, any pixels that match the current background color (as shown in the background color icon at the bottom of the toolbox) will be eliminated from a selection made with the tool.

Q: Can I rotate a floating selection in an image the same as I can rotate a vector object, by dragging a handle?
A: Yes. When you have a floating selection in an image, you can choose the Freeform command in the Effects menu to make rotation and skew handles appear at the corners of the selection's bounding box. Drag a corner handle to rotate the floating selection, or a midpoint handle to skew it. Click inside the selection to set the effect.

TIP: You can also stretch the floating selection in this mode by pressing Ctrl and dragging a handle.

Object editing

Q: When I use the Move command, objects don't move in the direction that the User's Guide says they should. Do positive numbers move objects upward or downward in a document? A: When you use the Move command, you can enter positive numbers to move objects down and to the right; use negative numbers (preceded by a minus sign) to move objects up and to the left. This information is incorrect in the description of the Move command in the User's Guide.

Q: How can I position the anchor points in a vector object path by entering numeric values, rather than just dragging them when the path is in edit mode? A: When a path is in edit mode (its anchor points are visible), click an anchor point to select it. Then, choose the Object Specs command in the Object menu. You can enter new coordinate values in the X and Y text boxes, and then click apply to reposition the selected anchor point.