The basics

AppletPainter generates applets that run in Netscape 4.06 or better as well as MS IE 4.0 or better. A single applet can consist of one or a number of it's library components with user specified behaviour, placed in a user specified arrangement.

After you start AppletPainter up you will see two windows. The topmost is the toolbar while the lower larger screen is the current applet. The basic sequence of operations to use AppletPainter is as follows:

Draw a box on the applet window

By dragging the mouse across the applet window you can create a box. This box is the size of the component to be added.

Select a component to put into the box

Next press the component button to select the component you want in the box. If you don't have a box drawn the product creates a component with a default size in the top left corner of the applet. In the case of an image or movie the default size is the correct size.

Customise the component properties

Now press the "properties" button to select a property that you want to change in the component. Further on there is a discussion of this in more detail.

Change the positioning and size of the components

This can be done in fine detail though the property menu or done quickly by positioning the mouse over the red and yellow highlighting grid and dragging.
By dragging the corners the location can be changed. By dragging the sides the dimensions can be changed. However some components will not allow certain dimensions to be altered eg. Combo-box.

Save the finished applet and upload it

Any number of components of any type can be added to the applet using the above steps. When you have the applet the way you want it save it to a file. AppletPainter creates both an HTML file for the applet and a JAR file that contains a resource file containing all the resources necessary to run the applet including any images or sounds. The default directory for the created files is the "applets" directory created in the same directory as the "AppletPainter.jar" file.