Illminatus3 Quick start

The Welcome Screen of Illuminatus allows you to go straight to where you want to begin work. Simply click on the button for the starting place you require...

Will open a File Open dialog to let you open an existing publication or to load a sample or tutorial file.
Will open a New and entirely blank publication.
Will open a skeleton publication known as a Publication Template.
(at the bottom of the dialog) will open the last file you used which is given in the box alongside.

If you are starting a New publication you are asked what size you want it to be. Choose from 640x480 (standard VGA), 800x600(Super VGA) or 1024x768 by clicking the appropriate radio button.

The Illuminatus Editor starts up in Publication View in which the main editor window contains a publication window within it which provides an overview of your publication with all the pages displayed as icons or thumbnails. For a new publication it will be empty and waiting for you to add pages.

If you open an existing publication it will contain pages;

You can build your publication from any combination of pages and page templates which you can insert from those options on the Publication Menu or using the relevant buttons on the toolbar. You then click in your publication window at the point where you want the pages inserted. You can insert blank pages and draw in the frames and buttons you need or choose from a wide selection of skeleton pages (page templates) is provided for you if you prefer.

Double click on any page to edit it. This takes you into Page View where each page of your publication is displayed as a rectangle (or part of it depending on the size of your screen and your Zoom setting)

Double click on the background to edit the basics of the page, its colour or background picture, to attach a sound or music, to display it with a special effect or for a certain length of time.

Page Options

To add frames or buttons select Add|Frame or Add|Button from the Edit menu or click the appropriate button on the toolbar. Click on your page where you want the top left corner of your frame or button and then drag down and right to create the object.

To reposition a frame or button simply drag it to where you want it to be. To reshape and resize a button or frame drag one of the eight handles which appear around it when selected to create the shape required.

Editing Page Elements

Double click on a frame to load its contents, colour, picture, animation, slideshow, text etc, to alter its precise size and location and its border style.

Frame Options

Double click on a button to give it a caption and connect it to an event (launching a video, slideshow, animation or moving to another page, etc.) and to alter its precise size and location.

Button Options

Preview

Preview the complete document using the Preview button.

Save

Save your publication to disk using Save Publication As from the Save submenu of the File menu or use Consolidate Project to save your publication and copy all the files it needs into the same directory for convenience.

Once you have completed your document you can produce an independent program by compiling it on to your hard disk or publishing it onto floppy disks (from the Publication menu). Set your Installation Setup and Publication Options to specify a title for your publication and the details to build it into a distributable form. You can choose an icon for your publication and create it in mono, sixteen, 256 or 16.7million colours and Illuminatus will handle any colour changes automatically.

Suitable for:

Electronic versions of almost anything they can do on paper with greater pizzazz and with the advantage of being able to add sound and moving pictures too.