Sophisticated Graphics Printing
Comes to Q&A DOS

The document on the left includes a company letterhead, a signature, and a photo.

So what makes it special?

It was printed on plain paper in Q&A for DOS!

The output resolution is every bit as good as you'll get from any Windows word processor. But the point is, you don't need a Windows word processor to add graphics to your Q&A for DOS output. All you need is a LaserJet or compatible printer and an inexpensive utility program called FORMagic.

How it works

The graphic elements are automatically merged with the document or other Q&A print job as it passes through the printer. You use FORMagic to prep your graphic files so they can can be downloaded to your printer for merge printing. You tell Q&A to include the graphic elements on specific pages or on all pages. When you print the document (a regular document, a multi-letter mail merge, a report, mailing labels, a database record, or whatever) your print job emerges from the printer with your graphics right where you want them.

There are all kinds of ways to use FORMagic with Q&A. Here are just a few:

• You can auto-merge your Q&A data with complex business forms (invoices, packing slips, government forms, etc.), the kinds of forms that are impossible to create or print in Q&A alone. You can design these forms yourself, or scan printed forms into your PC and use them.

• You can make "mobile" graphical elements (such as signatures and photos) move with the text flow, or force them to print in a fixed location on the page.

• You can merge print documents containing variable graphic images. (The image that prints depends on a field in the merged database record.)

• You can print a linked graphic image right from a database record. (A field in the record specifies the image file to print.)

• Your Q&A text or data can include proportional fonts, and they won't mess up the forms you merge them with. (A form containing lines and boxes drawn in Q&A Write can only be used with monospace fonts such as Courier.)

Most of FORMagic's features can be used with Q&A 4.0 for DOS. But if you have Q&A 5.0, you can really pull off some nifty graphics-printing tricks. In fact, for some types of graphics printing, you don't need FORMagic or an HP LaserJet-compatible printer at all; you can use any laser or inkjet printer!

We tell you what you need to know to successfully use FORMagic with Q&A (and other ways to print graphics in Q&A) in the December 1998 and January 1999 issues of The Quick Answer, our monthly Q&A newsletter. A total of 10 pages in these two issues are devoted to a host of ways to include graphics in all your Q&A output.

Order these two issues for $9 each, or subscribe to The Quick Answer for a year (12 issues) and we'll send them to you absolutely free!

Use our convenient Order Form to order them online right now. In the order form's Special Instructions field, be sure to say "Send me the two free FORMagic issues with my subscription."

FORMagic for DOS, $99 from:
ProHelp Systems, Inc.
353 Westminister Lane
Lilburn, GA 30047
Phone 770-279-2008
Fax 770-279-2511
Email prohelp@prohelp.com
Demo version of FORMagic available at www.prohelp.com
Note: The FORMagic documentation is good, but it tells
you nothing about the myriad ways you can use it with
Q&A. You need the two Quick Answer issues mentioned
above to get the best results when using FORMagic with Q&A.