Preferences

The Chartsmith Preferences panel is accessed from the Chartsmith->Preferences menu item. There are five Preferences sub-panels which are accessed through the tab list at the top of the Preferences panel. For any changes in preferences to take effect, you must store these settings by clicking the Set button.

Setting the Preferred Series

When a new document is created, it contains a new chart with one series. The type of this chart series is specified using the Preferred Series preferences setting. The Preferred Series Type is also used when creating a new series in a chart using the ENTER key from the Data View; with this action a new series column of the preferred type is added.

The preferred series type can be set simply by clicking the icon representing the series type you want.

Setting the Default Series Colors

The default series colors are used as the default fill colors for all series added to a chart. Seven color slots are provided for the first seven series in a chart; beyond seven series the color set repeats. Series colors can include transparency.

Specifying New-Chart Templates

New-Chart Templates allow you to specify a template for each chart type. When a template is specified and activated for a chart type, the attributes stored in the template file are applied to any newly created chart of that type. This is the same as creating a new chart using the Chart->New_From_Template menu item, but the template is specified in the Preferences only once.

To set the New-Chart Template, select the chart type for which you wish to specify a template. Then set the template path by dragging a template file to the file well, or by using the Set button. By default, all newly specified templates will be set as active. If you want to set a template, but deactivate it , click the Active switch. Inactive templates are not applied to new charts. Use the clear button to remove a template specified for a given chart type.

New-Chart templates will not be applied when creating a new chart from a template, or when opening a new document from a template using the menu item (Document->New_From_Template and Chart->New_From_Template).

To view the template thumbnail image for the specified template, just double click on the template file icon in the Preferences window.

Font Preferences

With the controls found in the Fonts segment of the Preferences panel, you may establish the fonts for all text and balloon annotations, and the Data View cells and labels.

To set the fonts for any of these categories, first select the category from the popup in the Fonts box. Then just bring up the font panel, select the desired font and click Set in the font panel.


Software Update

The Software Update feature enables Chartsmith to check for updates and revisions to Chartsmith using your internet connection, i.e. Software Update answers the question "Is there a new version of Chartsmith available?". This can be done automatically or manually. For manual update checking, you must click the "Check For Updates Now" button to have Chartsmith go out and look for updates. For automatic update checking, Chartsmith will perform update checks on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, without any intervention from you.

When an update is found, Chartsmith prompts you to choose whether you want to download the update, get more information, or check for an update later and not do anything now. If you download the update, it will be downloaded from the Blacksmith website onto your computer, at which point you can install it when and as you wish. If you choose to get more information, a web browser page will be displayed with information on this latest release of Chartsmith.

Blacksmith recommends that you do automatic checking on a weekly basis. That way, if a critical bug is found and repaired, you will be notified that a new version is available that repairs this bug.


Miscellaneous Preferences

 

¥ New Document At Startup
Sets whether or not a new document is opened when the application is launched.

¥ Allow Use of Transparency
Turns transparency on or off in all open or new documents.

¥ Store Backup Documents
If checked, Chartsmith will write a backup copy of the document to the same folder in which the document is stored. A tilde, "~" is appended to the document name for backup documents, e.g. ÒMyDocument~.chartsmithÓ.

¥ Image Type For Chart Image Copying
Copied chart images can be either TIFF or PDF. The switches specify the image types Chartsmith will support. If both are selected, then the destination application will choose which format it prefers.

¥ Image resolution
The resolution of bitmap images that are exported from Chartsmith.  This value can be changed at the time the image is exported, if the export is done through ChartsmithÕs menu.  But when images are (control- or option-) dragged from the Chart View, the resolution specified here will be applied.

¥ Hide Data View on deactivate
By default the Data View window is hidden when Chartsmith becomes inactive. If this switch is clicked off, the Data View window will stay visible when Chartsmith becomes inactive.

¥ Undo limitations
The Chartsmith undo feature holds undo actions so that sequential actions by the user can be undone.  This preference determines how many undo actions are held by the application.  The recommended setting is for 50 undo actions.  Though unlimited undo actions is an option, this choice can lead to performance degradation.