New in Symbol for Windows Gold
Which program do I need?
Choose from a list of Symbol for Windows programs
Personal Communicator
Document Maker
Symbol E-mail
Memory
Multiple Choice
Shuffle
Paper Chart Maker
Vocabulary Maker
Image Manager
Export Program
Encyclopedia
Bliss editor
Symbol libraries
News, materials, extras
Professor Symius
Download SfW
Contact
Handicom's Mieke Zuurman recently visited South-Africa to deliver a copy of all Symbol for Windows modules at a school for special children. Click the photograph to read more.
Handicom is powered by solar energy!
Symbol for Windows Home
Tips and questions
These are tips and questions about the Symbol for Windows programs. When a new tip is placed on the Symbol for Windows Extras page, the old tip will move to this page.
Editing a vocabulary with the keyboard
When editing a vocabulary with an ordinary keyboard, without using the mouse, you can open the pop-up menu by using Shift+F10. Make sure the focus is on the vocabulary (the vocabulary has to be the active window) when you use Shift+F10.
Open a Vocabulary in the Paper Chart Maker
Once you have made a selection set ('vocabulary') for someone, you can open it in the Paper Chart Maker and use it to quickly make a paper communication chart. Choose Vocabulary - Load Vocabulary in the menu. Then you can drag and drop symbols and pictures from the Vocabulary into the paper chart.
Personal Communicator: backspace
In the edit mode of the Personal Communicator you can use the Backspace key to go to the previous page.
Play Memory with all cards open
"Play with all cards open" is an option in Memory (as from version 2.3). It's in the Options menu. When this option is checked, all cards are visible. The player only has to find the matching cards.
Exchange charts or use a chart in another program.
In some cases you can use a chart in another program as well.
- You can import a Paper Chart Maker chart as a new page in a Personal Communicator chart. (Choose Options - Page Manager.)
- You can export pages from a Personal Communicator chart as Paper Chart Maker charts.
Translate the symbols in a chart or document into another symbol type
In a number of Symbol for Windows programs the menu offers the possibility to quickly translate all symbols of one type into symbols of another type.
In the Options menu, search for an option that begins with 'Translate...'
You can choose which type of symbols are to be translated (e.g. Bliss, PCS, or all symbols) and to which symbol type they should be translated.
When you click on OK the program will perform the translation.
Working with vocabularies
- A chart made with the Personal Communicator can be used as a vocabulary in the Paper Chart Maker and the Document Maker.
- A basic user specific vocabulary will enhance the user's independence.
- The Personal Communicator can print a page, or a page and all its subpages, or an entire chart or vocabulary.
Drawing options in the Paper Chart Maker
How do you place a cross or line over a symbol?
Rightclick on the symbol and choose Drawing options. Then choose a red, white or black line or cross.
A cross or line over a symbol gives the symbol the opposite meaning, which of course can be very useful, for instance when you make a schedule. You could use the symbol with the cross over it to indicate that an activity has stopped.
You can also use the drawing options to draw a single symbol in black and white (or in colour, when the rest of a chart is drawn in black and white).
HELP!
Do you have an urgent matter but no time to look for the manual in your papers?
All the manuals are on your computer (at least when you have performed a standard installation). Where to find them? That's easy: open the SfW Shell. Next to the name of each program you see a small book icon. Click on this icon to open the manual (in Word).
In the Paper Chart Maker there is a Help function in the menu. In the menu Help, click on Content. The Help window will be opened. On the first tab you will find the info arranged by subject, on the second you can type a word to search for.
Holiday Snaps
Try using your own pictures - for instance your holiday snaps - in a Memory game! Importing images is possible in Memory as from version 2.
Bigger and smaller field on a chart
In the Paper Chart Maker it is possible to make one cell bigger by merging it with other fields.
- Click on a field.
- Choose from the menu Options: Merge fields right. Type the number of fields (columsn) to the right of the field, that you want the field to merge with. Click on OK.
- Choose from the menu Options: Merge fields below. Type the number of fields (rows) below the field, that you want the field to merge with. Click on OK.
To split up the field into the smaller fields again, click on the field and choose Split field, from the Options menu.
Scanning
Are you not yet acquainted yet with the use of scanning?
A Memory game can be very useful to practice scanning.
Save quickly
Make a habit of saving your work frequently. The quickest way to do this is to press the keys Ctrl and S together. This works in almost all Symbol for Windows programs.
Symbols in Word
Do you want to export symbols using the Export Program, to import the symbols in a table in a Word document?
Export the symbols as bitmaps (bmp), not as Windows MetaFiles (wmf). Word can handle bitmaps in a table better than Windows metafiles.
