help with fonts and design

[earthbirth]

I am running Appleworks 6 on my Mac with 10.3

I have 2 questions:

1. Fonts. I am unable to see the preview of what the font looks like in my font menu. I have a book on Appleworks (I can't remember which one) and in it, it shows an example drop down menu with each font name in that particular font. I never knew this was possible, and it is one aspect I actually miss from my PC days running Microsoft (though one of the only things I miss of it!). How can I make this work on my computer?

2. I am in the process of creating MANY chart forms (I am a health care provider) and so far, I have been creating them as drawing document. However, I have run into a snag. I don't know how to create a check-box in a drawing document (or any document for that matter). Any help?

Thank you SO much!!! I really want to start loving Appleworks, but I still feel like I know so little about how to make the program really shine.

[Barry]

I am running Appleworks 6 on my Mac with 10.3

I have 2 questions:

1. Fonts. I am unable to see the preview of what the font looks like in my font menu. I have a book on Appleworks (I can't remember which one) and in it, it shows an example drop down menu with each font name in that particular font. I never knew this was possible, and it is one aspect I actually miss from my PC days running Microsoft (though one of the only things I miss of it!). How can I make this work on my computer?

AppleWorks > Preferences > General.... General. Check "Font menu in actual fonts.

2. I am in the process of creating MANY chart forms (I am a health care provider) and so far, I have been creating them as drawing document. However, I have run into a snag. I don't know how to create a check-box in a drawing document (or any document for that matter). Any help?

If you intend to fill the form (and check the checkboxes) on the computer, you could use the checkbox that's found in the Format>Paragraph dialogue. "Checkbox" is a Label that can be applied to a series of paragraphs. The label is a 'live' checkbox, which will show a red ? when checked. Unfortunately, the checkbox is small, about 2/3 the size of a lower case o in the font size you are using in the paragraph.

A better choice for forms to be filled on the computer might be to use a database document rather than a draw document. Checkbox fields provide a larger box which, when checked, displays a black X. Data entered into each form is saved in a single record, and many records may be saved in the same document. Your form would consist of one or more database layouts, with each layout limited to a single page in size.

If your document is to be printed, and the resulting printed form filled out and filed on paper, then a Draw document would be a reasonable choice. Your checkbox in this case needs only to be an open square, which can be created using the rectangle tool. Press the shift key while dragging the rectangle to restrict its dimensions to a square shape.

The square will be drawn as a floating object, fixed with respect to the top left corner of the document and unaffected by changes in the text. It can be converted to an inline object, fixed with respect to the line of text, and maintaining its position in the text as text is added or removed. To convert, select and Cut the square, click in the text where you want to place it to change to Text mode, then Paste.

Adjust the squares vertical position wrt the line of text by double clicking the square, then changing the 'Descend' value from 0 to a larger number (try 4 to begin with—the actual number will depend on the size of the font and of the square). To avoid having to make this adjustment every time you paste a square, select the square AND at least one adjacent character, then copy. The extra character is necessary to hold the Descend value, but may be removed after pasting th square into a new position with other adjacent text.

Regards,
Barry