The Albumeasy Examples Thread With Code

Thanks Mark, that is certainly getting there. Unfortunately PAGE_TEXT_RIGHT honours the ALBUM_PAGES_SPACING on the right so 10mm in from the border and this is another command that can only be used once in a file.

Any further ideas welcome?

Oof. Justification is a bear. I don't think there's a command to do absolute positioning on the horizontal axis, especially outside the bounds of standard padding.

I'm curious about your footer text. What does "CAL 09.5" represent? How do you want it to change from page to page?

Hi Mark - Lighthouse pages tend to number with year.seq, at least for the later issues.
These are appendix pages for issues they don't cover so I have called them CAL year.seq, CAL standing for Customised Advertising Labels which is what they are known as to collectors. Lighthouse themselves do the same for Ross Dependency (RD) and other back-of-the-book stuff. If I need to insert pages then I number them like 97.6a or similar. Not critical but it reminds me where to put them after exhibiting.

renowden and Mark (madbaker), thanks for sharing excellent examples :)

A bit of background:
When I first created AlbumEasy, it offered a somewhat restricted set of features, so setting the spacing using the ALBUM_PAGES_SPACING command seemed like a simple way to control the automatic placement of elements on the page for the whole album.

I later added the PAGE_START_VAR command, which allows one to override the page spacing per page to tweak the spacing when, for example, a row of stamps does not quite fit on the page.

Subsequently, as new features and commands have been added to AlbumEasy, ALBUM_PAGES_SPACING has often become more of a hindrance than a help.

For the most part, I now find it more convenient to set it to very low values, even 0.0 0.0. The tradeoff is that it sometimes requires a little more typing but offers more flexibility in return. For example, with 0.0 vertical spacing, I include a PAGE_VSPACE(6.0) between rows of stamps.

I also often use the PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_START command in place of the PAGE_TEXT commands when I need a little more flexibility.

For example, renowden's issue with PAGE_TEXT_RIGHT placing the text 10mm in from the righthand border can be overcome by using the PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_START because it accepts a right-padding parameter.
Because this can be a negative value, setting it to -8.0 will pad the right-hand end of the text 2mm in from the border.
e.g

PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_START(HN 16 RIGHT 0 0 -8.0)
Abcdefghijklmnop
PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_END

As you have noticed, many commands, such as the ALBUM_PAGES_SPACING, ALBUM_PAGES_MARGIN_TXT, ALBUM_PAGES_HEADER, and ALBUM_PAGES_FOOTER commands, set parameters that persist for the whole album, regardless of where the commands are placed in the album file.

If more than one of these commands is given in the file, then the parameters set by the last instance of the command take precedence.

I think it would probably be worthwhile to offer more flexibility for some of these commands for the next release of AlbumEasy (likely not before March or April). My overriding concern is ensuring strict backwards compatibility when I add any changes.

Clive

Thanks Clive, I appreciate your efforts. I have now got a solution that will work in 99% of the pages I create. As you pointed out I will need to make extra effort in cases where more room is required for the occasional page.

This is what I now have...

PAGE_START_GROUP_BEGIN
PAGE_VSPACE (12.0)
PAGE_TEXT_CENTRE (OPTIMA 24 "NEW ZEALAND" 10.0)
# Only one ALBUM_PAGE_FOOTER command is recognised so an alternative method must be used
# ALBUM_PAGES_FOOTER (HN 7 R $$2)
# Move down to the bottom of the page below the border
PAGE_SET_VERTICAL_POS (280.2)
# Insert the text 10mm to the right to counter the ALBUM_PAGES_SPACING
# However BEWARE, if you change the horizontal spacing using PAGE_START_VAR then this
# will move the footer.
PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_START(HN 7 RIGHT 0 0 -10.0)
$$2
PAGE_TEXT_PARAGRAPH_END
# Head back up to the top of the page to continue
PAGE_SET_VERTICAL_POS (50)
# Now insert the year. Additional spacing to centre the page can be added afterwards
PAGE_TEXT_CENTRE (HN 6 $$1 3.0)
PAGE_START_GROUP_END

I can now after some years create more than one page per file!

Having been a software developer myself I am fully aware of problems that arise when the specification changes during the life of the project, even when fully justified. Even with added flexibility it is heaps easier to use than Word, Publisher or graphics programs. The only thing that came close was a program my father used on his Amstrad PCW in the 80s - I think it was called LocoScript or similar - but he had a distinct advantage as he only collected Machins so all the boxes were the same size :)

renowden,
That brings back happy memories. Personal computing in the late 70's and early 80s was an exciting time to be involved in the tech industry,
Not many of the increasing range of computers made it to South Africa, thanks to a combination of sanctions and the small market, but I enjoyed reading the reviews in various computer journals as each new machine came out.
Clive

First of all, thanks for these great examples I have learned a lot about Album Easy just by reading through them a first time. I have copied many of them over to keep and use later. They have given me quite a few new ideas for my albums.

Unless I missed it, I didn't see anything about rotating a square (which was my original search that led me to this page). There are many stamps out there that are square that needs to be rotated 45 degrees to position the image on the stamps as they should be.

Is there a command or set of commands to position a square with one of the points pointing upward, e.g. a square rotated 45 degree? Thanks in advance.

Hi sluggo63,


One option would be to use the STAMP_ADD_DIAMOND command to add these stamp boxes.

Another option would be to use the PAGE_ADD_BOX command to add a box anywhere on the page rotated to a specified angle.

Clive

Thanks Clive. I certainly did miss that one. I was so focused on looking for 'square' that I didn't even think about anything else. Guess that rattlesnake would have bit me.

Thanks again for your help. PS. I'm really enjoying playing around and learning more about this program. I now have several stamps on album pages that otherwise would still be in envelopes.