Calligraphy was originally written in Java in 1997 as a programmer's guide example, never really intended for practicing calligraphy. However, people keep using it. I'm learning Flash now, and decided to replace the old applet with a new Flash movie that does a better job. This new version provides a number of printing options, textured and tinted papers, transparency settings on the ink, many more colors of ink and paper, a round pen nib as well as the standard chisel nib, a much-needed UNDO capability, zooming in and out on your work, and sample fonts onscreen. All packaged in, hopefully, a more attractive screen design.
You can write at any size you want, but the starting rule of thumb is that the height
of your letters should be 5x the width of the pen nib. Example:
This Calligraphy software also supports a round nib marker, for other effects. To
switch nibs, click on the spare nib at the upper left of the "Nib and Ink" area.
Opacity is the opposite of transparency. If paper tint opacity is 100%, you
won't see any of the paper texture through it - just flat paper color. If ink opacity
is less than 100%, you can see through to the paper a bit, and see where pen strokes
cross each other. Unfortunately, with
the round pen nib, you'll also see circles in your pen strokes. That isn't easy to fix.
You may wish to set ink opacity to 100% for use with the round nib.
The Ctrl-Z, Backspace, and Delete keys all do Undo.
Calligraphy Basics
What we in the US usually think of as "calligraphy" is done with a flat-nibbed pen.
This adds some flourish to writing, as the pen draws lines that range from very thin,
to the width of the pen, along the path of the pen stroke.
Keys
Right-clicking (ctrl-mouse click on Mac) anywhere brings up a context menu. In addition
to the same print options as on the Print menu, the context menu allows you to
zoom in on your work. This makes it much easier to control the mouse.Wish List
Some features on the wish list:
If you're interested in any of these, or have other suggestions, please email
me at ginger@gingerbooth.com and let me know.
Unless I hear from people, I assume no one cares.