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Wizard : What's New
What's New in Neon Wizard 6.5
Neon Wizard 6.5 has been enhanced from
top to bottom to be more capable and more efficient. New features
have been added and existing features have been improved to give
you more design and production power. The core neon layout tools
have been updated with new options, the neon editing tools have
been refined and streamlined, and the Plot Manager has been redesigned.
The import and export filters have been updated, and there is
a new emphasis on data integrity to ensure smoother operation
with neon features.
What's New in Version 6.5?
Here is a list of the improvements since 6.0:
- Neon Preview now works with groups, allowing your entire layout to be previewed
- PDF import and export support
- Optional LED Wizard module
- Improved AI/EPS importing
- Import any Adobe Type1 and OpenType fonts
- High Quality Anti-Aliased Rendering mode
- Anchor points feature, which lets you choose from 9 anchor points about which numeric settings apply, such as the x,y position or the rotation angle.
- Move to Layer command, which makes it a snap to move objects between layers in very large and complex layouts.
- The Text Notes feature is enhanced with titles and fields on the left side.
- You can now use the alpha keys (A instead of Ctrl+A) when customizing the keyboard accelerators.
Neon Design Tools
The venerable Auto Tube Layout feature, the
heart of channel letter layouts, now has an Auto Tube
Spacing capability for double tube layouts, and Auto
Tube Count for larger letters. There is also a new Property
Bar that contains all of the options and lets you see a Preview
before committing to the layout. Neon Preview
has been totally redesigned to give a much more realistic neon
glow and a number of options to get it just right, including centerline thickness, glow on the background, color of the tube
and the background, and a quality setting. Neon Summary
is a great new reporting tool that gives you a summarized table
of all letters and their tube lengths. Tube End Gap
lets you set the default distance (as a percentage of the stroke
width) between the end of a tube and the edge of a channel letter.
Fonts and Text
We have continued to add new capabilities to our world-class
text editing features. The new Styles feature
lets you save all the text properties of a given job, such as
font, size, color, etc., so that you can easily recall them next
time you have that job. The Font Wizard enables
you to match the font of scanned text so that you can type in
a high quality Sign Wizard font instead of vectorizing the text.
And of course, the new Text Property Bar shows
all of the relevant information about your text at all times,
without cluttering up the screen. Text Notes
lets you add relevant information about the job like the little
sticky notes on your desk. Finally, there are Full Color
Animated Previews for all text transformations
Design Tools
A number of new design tools have been added, and several others
have been improved, giving you more tools to do design work in
Neon Wizard. The Nested Grouping capability means
that you can have groups within groups in a heirarachy for much
greater design flexibility. You can see everything in your layout
in the improved Layers Palette, where you can
arrange, edit, and view information about the various objects
of your layout. The History Window, along with
Undo and Redo, shows all of
your actions and lets you go back and forth through them as you
design. The new Distribute tool, and improvements
to Step and Repeat, Guidelines,
Shapes, and the Border Tool
will keep you feeling like an artist.
Effects and Distortions
Neon Wizard has several new and improved effects for greater
design capabilities. Text on a Path enables you
to define a complex path for the text and adjust the letter spacing
according to the path. Outline now has an option
for a second outline, and Weld has a new option called Common
Weld. The Soft Shadow has been completely
redesigned and is a great feature for printing job proofs and
previews. You can also now save your favorite Warp
templates for future use. Neon Wizard does a lot more than just
create neon layouts!
Vector Graphics Tools
Since many designs are imported or scanned into Neon Wizard,
and given the wide array of originating programs, formats, and
quality of original artwork, we have created a feature called
Optimize Vectors (which has replaced Smooth Vectors),
to clean up the quality of these designs. In addition,
we have updated the Import/Export filters so
that you can more easily move your layouts between programs as necessary.
Vector Editing has been improved with a new Property Bar,
Sharp Corner Tool, and improved Bezier
curve digitizing and editing.
Image Manipulation Tools
To further enhance the ability to create realistic previews of
neon signs, we have added some additional capabilities for handling
images in Neon Wizard. The new Image Property Bar
contains basic image manipulation options such as Brightness,
Contrast, and Saturation adjustments,
as well as Cropping, Flipping,
and Rotating images. You can also import and
export in a variety of bitmap formats. More advanced options can
be added with the higher levels of Sign Wizard 6.5.
Productivity Tools
A major part of Neon Wizard's productivity benefits come from
the superior design of the program. Functions are quick and easy
to use, with Real Time Animations, Previews,
Property Bars, and Online Help.
Most features have a graphical design option with a numeric display
as well. The new user interface also includes a series of palettes
on the right side of the screen that display the Layers,
History, Job Info, and Color
palettes. Of course, the workspace can be completely customized
to suit your needs.
Plotting/Cutting and Printing
The Plot Manager has been given a re-design
for quicker access to common functions, such as Rotate,
Mirror, and Step and Repeat.
Furthermore, you now have the ability to plot using the Windows
Printer Driver architecture, meaning that all of your
plotters are available on your whole network just like printers.
Speaking of printers, the Print dialog box has
been improved with a better Print Preview and more options for
making proof prints of your neon jobs. Neon Wizard 6 also adds
the Channel Letter Return Patterns feature, which
was only available previously as a separate module.
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