Graphic Converter 5.9 Basics

Graphic Converter Basics | Viewing Art History Images| Presenting a Slide Show

Table of Contents

What is Graphic Converter 5.9?
Where to find this software at Wellesley
Getting Started
The Menubar
The Toolbar
Creating a New Image
Saving an Image
Setting up Graphic Converter for most efficient use

Graphic Converter 5.9 is an image manipulation and conversion program. It allows you to convert images among various file formats for use on both Macintosh and PC computers. You can also manipulate pictures for desktop and web publishing. Graphic Converter 5.9 can only run on Intel Macs.

Where to find this software at Wellesley

Graphic Converter 5.9 is installed on all public and classroom Intel Macintosh computers at Wellesley College. To install Graphic Converter, follow these directions:

1. Download the Graphic Converter installer.
2. When the download is finished, a .dmg file and a GraphicConverter installation folder will appear on your Desktop.
3. Double-click on the GraphicConverter installation folder to open it.
4. Drag the GraphicConverter icon from the GraphicConverter installation folder to your Macintosh HD > Applications folder so it is copied there.
5. Drag the .dmg file and the GraphicConverter installation folder to the trash.

Getting Started

1. To launch Graphic Converter in OS X from the Go menu choose Applications.
2. Double-click on the GraphicConverter icon to launch the application.
3. You may be prompted to enter a license code. Instead, click Try It.
4. The first time you launch Graphic Converter, you may get an advertisement. Check the Don't show this again box and click OK.

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The Menubar

Click on the name of the menu to open it. Move the mouse over the menu to highlight the desired option, then click the mouse button to select it.

Note: Menu selections that are "grayed out" cannot be selected because they are not currently available

You can also use keystrokes to perform some actions. For example, to open a new document, you can press Apple-N. The keystrokes for various actions are listed alongside the option they correspond to in the menu.

Some of the most common menu selections are listed below. If there is a corresponding keystroke for the action, it has been noted:

• In the File menu

  • New Image (Apple-N) - opens up a new image.
  • New Layout (Option-Apple-N) - opens up a new layout.
  • Open (Apple-O) - opens existing files or documents.
  • Close (Apple-W) - closes the document currently open.
  • Save (Apple-S) - saves the current document to the same name and place it was saved to last.
  • Save as (Shift-Apple-S) - saves the current document under a different name and/or to a different place.

    Note: When editing your picture, it is a good idea to use "Save As" to save different versions of your work under different names. This way, if you make changes you later decide you don't like, you can open up a previous version of the image and work from there rather than starting from scratch.

• In the Edit menu
• Undo (Apple-Z) - undoes the last step performed.

 

• In the Picture menu
• Zoom - changes the size of the view of the image, but does not change the actual size of the original image.
• Size > Scale (Ctrl-Apple-Y) - changes the actual size of the image.

 

• In the Window menu

You can see what Graphic Converter documents are active by looking at the bottom part of the Window menu. The document you are working on will have a checkmark next to it. If you have a lot of documents open at once, the easiest way to select a window that is buried under others is to click on its name in the Window menu.

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The Toolbox

Below is the Toolbox in Graphic Converter. If you don't see it, you can open it by going to the Window menu and selecting Show Toolbox. Tools with an orange upside-down triangle in the lower left corner indicate a supplementary dialog box for you to customize the tool. To open the dialog box for a tool, double-click on the tool if it is unselected.

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Creating a New Image

1. From the File menu choose New > Image.
2. Enter the approximate width and height of the graphic in the appropriate fields. You can always adjust the size of the image later.
3. If you are going to use the image on the web, keep the resolution at 72 ppi.
4. Leave Depth at 256 Colors (8 bits) and Palette at System Color Table.
5. Click New.

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Saving an Image

Graphic Converter gives you the option of saving the graphic in a variety of formats. The most popular formats for graphics used on the web is jpeg and gif.

1. From the File menu choose Save As.
2. In the Save As field, type in the name of the graphic, adding the appropriate extension at the end (i.e., .gif for gif format).
3. In the dialog box that opens, navigate to where you would like to save the file.
4. Select the desired format of the graphic in the Format pull-down menu.
5. Click Save.
6. In some formats (e.g. jpeg) you may be asked to set the quality level. Set the level and click OK.

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Setting up Graphic Converter for most efficient use

1. From the Graphic Converter menu, choose Preferences.
2. Scroll to the Save section on the left and click the General subcategory.
3. Uncheck the boxes next to Create Custom Icon and Create Preview.
4. On the right side of the dialog box, under Default destination file format, select Last Format.
5. Under the Save section on the left, click the Settings subcategory. In the right window, check Hide Extension (active wih Mac OS 10.1 or later) near the bottom .
6. Click OK.
7. Open a new file, then go to the File menu and choose Save As.
8. Under Format, select PICT(*.PICT).
9. Click the Options button, and under Compression select QuickTime, then click OK.
10. Click Cancel to close the Save dialog box.

Note: It is necessary to do this once. After that, Graphic Converter is set to compress most efficiently. You do not need to repeat this each time you use Graphic Converter.

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• David O'Steen
• Information Services
• Date Created: December 1, 2006
• Last Modified: December 5, 2006
• Date Expires: June 1, 2008