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AppleWorks is a remarkable integrated software package available from Apple Computer, Inc. for $79.00. It comes bundled with the iMac, iBook, and eMac. AppleWorks is an incredible value. Unlike Microsoft Office Suite, which is a separate suite of heavy office software, AppleWorks is fully integrated in one simple-to-use package. True to Apple philosophy, its simplicity allows a novice to quickly create simple drawings or graphical renderings. The word processor, database, and spreadsheet are also very straightforward and easy to use. Microsoft products throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Microsoft products are indeed powerful, but tend to be hard to use and hard to learn. It is no surprise that most average users never get around to using most of the features laden in Microsoft Office. Those that become proficient in Office are often forced to learn its features for work-related purposes.

Here is a quick example of AppleWorks ease of use. This is a quick tutorial explaining how to make a small website link banner. Of course, you can let you imagination be your guide. I have limited artistic abilities but it doesn't seem to matter much with AppleWorks. If you can imagine it, you can probably create it.

Immediately after opening AppleWorks, you are given a choice of applications to choose. Select Painting.

AppleWorks launches Painting. I am going to make a simple banner that reads "Visit Vectronic's Apple World." The banner background will be a blue square. On the side menu, select the color you wish to fill the square. Notice the highlighted box near the bottom, it is now blue, the color I just selected.

At the top of the side menu, select the square. This will allow you to draw a perfect square by depressing the mouse button and dragging the dotted outline.

Stop dragging when the size looks right. I have created two squares. You will see why in the next few steps.

Now it is time to add some fonts. At the top of the side menu select the font button.

After selecting the font button, go to the top menu and select 'Format'. Under the 'Format' menu there is a font section. You can change the font type, style, and size, and text color. My selections are: font type = Gadget, style = Plain Text, size = 14 point, text color = Yellow.

I am using the larger square to type my banner text, "Visit Vectronic's Apple World." Once the font is planted, it can be moved but it will pull part of the background with it. That is why I have two squares.

Back on the side menu, select the dotted square. This will allow you to drag a dotted square over the area you wish to cut or copy.

Carefully highlight around the font, getting as close to it as possible.

Click inside any region of the highlighted area and with the mouse button depressed, move the cut piece to the other square. Take care to align it properly and then release the mouse button.

Next, outline the entire banner. Be careful to get the entire square. Since you are going to use the banner in an HTML document, it should be converted to a JPEG. The easiest way to do this is to copy and paste it into a Drawing document and save it as a JPEG.

While the banner is highlighted, go to the top menu, select 'Edit' and then 'Copy'. This will add the image to your computer's clipboard to move between applications. Open up a Drawing document. This can be accomplished using the slider menu at the top or by going through the same menu you used to enter Painting. The second method will require you to first quit the Painting program.

Once inside the Drawing program, select 'Edit' and then 'Paste'. The image will pop into the middle of the page. Note the grid lines of the Drawing program. Drawing is a really good program to use if you need to do any type of line drawing. I often use it instead of Visio to draw OOP diagrams.

Go back up to the top menu and select 'Save As'. A dialog box will open. Select the destination and type the name for the file. At the bottom of the dialog box, there is a file format selection drop down menu. Choose JPEG[QT]. Press the 'Save' button.

The JPEG Options dialog box appears. This allows you to reduce the quality of the JPEG to make it smaller (in terms of file size). I have found that moving the scroll bar to High usually does the trick. It produces a high quality JPEG without making the file too large for an Internet page. Going all the way to Best produces a very high quality JPEG with a larger file size.

Here is the finished banner:

Sure, it is simple, but this tutorial only scratches the surface of what you can do. Of course, the AppleWorks integrated package of programs doesn't come close to professional level software like Adobe Photoshop, but for the average user it is really all you need. The price can't be beat. On the date this tutorial was created, it was bundled free with the iMac, eMac, and iBook and cost only $79 if you needed to buy it. AppleWorks represents just one more shining reason why you need a Macintosh.