Frequently asked questions: How do I ...?

* If you downloaded Speech Builder from the web, please follow the instructions that came with the download.

* Insert the CD into your computer. Installation should begin automatically. If it does not: Locate the CD file ‘NDP3_Speech_Builder_xxx.air’ and double-click it.

* Follow the on-screen instructions.

* Please do not change the default installation settings and file locations.

* Speech Builder will start after installation.

* When prompted by Speech Builder, you will need to type in your License key. Your computer will need to be connected to the internet when you do this.

* If you have no access to an internet connection, please contact us.

* When prompted by Speech Builder: type your License key in the box and click the Submit button.

* You will only need to do this once. You can also enter your license key by clicking the Extras button, followed by the Register button in the lower left of the Extras window.

* Double-click the desktop Speech Builder icon.

* On a PC, the software will install a shortcut on the desktop. On a Mac, you can add the icon to the dock on first run: right-click the speech builder icon, click options, and click ‘keep in dock’. Alternatively, you can drag the Speech Builder icon from the applications folder to the dock.

* On a PC, the Speech Builder program file is located within the ‘Program files’ folder. On a Mac, it is located in the ‘Applications’ folder.

* Most projects will be based on one of the pre-installed templates – for worksheets, stickers and cards – but you may also wish to use a blank page.

* To add a template, click the ‘Choose template’ button.

* To view just the templates of a certain type, click the appropriate ‘Show’ button at the top of the window.

* To see all of the templates, click the ‘All’ button.

* To scan up and down the list of templates, use the arrows and slide bar to the right of the window.

* To use a template, click on it so that it becomes highlighted, then click on the ‘Use selected’ button.

* To use a different template, just click on the ‘Choose template’ button again. Each new template will replace the template already on the stage. Any images on the stage will remain.

* To remove the template but keep the images on the stage, click on ‘Choose template’ and select a blank template. The blank template will replace the existing template.

* To delete the template and images on the stage, click on the ‘New project’ button. The template and all of the images on the stage will be cleared. You will be prompted to save any unsaved changes in the current project.

* You can add colour to all of the templates in Speech Builder.

* You can also ‘lock’ the template to avoid accidentally colouring it while painting images.

* Templates are always ‘locked’ when first added to the stage. To ‘unlock’ the template on the stage and allow colouring, click the padlock icon in the top left of the stage.

* Click the ‘Add colour’ button The mouse pointer will change to a paintbrush and a colour palette will appear. Click on a colour in the palette. Then click on the part of the template that you’d like to paint.

* Each template has a fixed number of areas that can be painted. Some of these areas are ‘linked’ and colouring one part of the template will also change the colour of the linked part.

* To ‘lock’ the template to prevent accidental colouring, click on the padlock icon again.

* NDP3 Speech Builder includes a powerful search feature to help you find exactly the right image quickly and easily.

* You can search for images by title, word type (vowel, consonant, CVC, multisyllabic, etc) and by the sounds and phonetics within each word.

* To add an image to the stage, click the ‘Add images’ button. You can simply scroll down the list of images or filter them.

* You can choose to show images by group - NDP3, Jolly Phonics, etc You can show words of a certain type - vowel, consonant, CVC, multisyllabic, etc

* You can choose to display each image’s Title (Picture), its Lettersounds or Phonetics using the Pictures/Sound/Phonetics buttons.

* To search for an image - first choose whether you wish to search for Pictures (or image titles), Lettersounds or Phonetics.

* Choose whether your search should ‘start with’ or ‘contain’ the search term. Your search term should match your choice of word/sound/phonetics - use phonetic symbols when searching phonetics and simple single sounds when searching sounds.

* Type the characters you wish to search for in the search box. To add phonetic symbols, click on the ‘phonetics’ icon to the right of the text box. A phonetic palette will appear. Click the symbols you wish to add to the search, then click ‘Done’.

* Click the search button. The images that match your search will be displayed. To use an image, click on it so that it becomes highlighted, then click on the ‘Use selected’ button.

* TIP: to clear the search and show all images, delete any text in the search box and click the search button.

* You can move, resize and rotate images anywhere on the stage. Click on an image. It will become highlighted by a box with eight control points.

* To move the image, click and hold on any part of the image and move the mouse to drag the image around the stage.

* To make an image bigger or smaller, move the mouse pointer over any one of the corner control points until you see a diagonal arrow. Then click and hold the left mouse button and drag towards or away from the image centre.

* To rotate an image, move your mouse pointer over any one of the corner control points until you see a circular arrow. Click and hold your left mouse button and move your mouse to rotate the image around its centre.

* To distort an image, move your mouse pointer over any one of the side control points until you see a horizontal or vertical arrow. Then click and hold your left mouse button and drag your mouse towards or away form the image centre.

* To delete an image, click on the image so that it’s highlighted, then press your computer’s Delete key. Repeat this step to delete further images.

* TIP: If you’re using a laptop without a Delete key, you may need to hold the [Fn] or [Shift] key and press [Backspace] to delete images. Please refer to your PC’s user guide.

* You can add colour to all of the images and templates in Speech Builder.

* To add colour to an image on the stage, click the ‘Add colour’ button. The mouse pointer will change to a paintbrush and the ‘Select colour’ palette will appear.

* Click on a colour, then click on the part of any image that you’d like to paint. You don’t need to highlight an image to begin painting it and you don’t need to ‘brush’ - just one click applies the colour.

* Each image has a fixed number of areas that can be painted. Some of these areas are ‘linked’ so colouring one part of the image will change the colour of the linked part, such as the wheels on a car.

* There is no ‘undo’ button. So if you change your mind or use the wrong colour, just paint that area again with the colour you want to use.

* You can move the palette around the stage by clicking on its blue border and dragging it. When you’ve finished painting, close the ‘Select colour’ palette by clicking the ‘Done’ button.

* If you need several copies of the same painted image, start by adding one instance of the image to the stage.

* Paint the image in the colours of your choice and resize and rotate it as required.

* To duplicate the image: click on it. It will become highlighted by a box with eight control points. Click on the circular ‘+’ button at the base of the stage.

* The duplicate is placed in the centre of the stage. You can then move, resize, rotate and re-paint it as required.

* If the parts of an image you are painting are small, try enlarging the image first.

* Click on the image. It will become highlighted by a box with eight control points.

* Move your mouse pointer over one of the control points until you see a double-ended arrow. Click and drag your mouse away from the image centre to enlarge it.

* With the image now larger, you can paint smaller areas more easily. When you’re happy with it, you can reduce the image back to the required size.

* You can also ‘zoom in’ on images or the template using the buttons in the bottom right of the stage. Click the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons to zoom in and out and the arrow buttons to move around the stage.

* Click the centre square to reset the zoom to normal.

* You can add text to any part of the project – from single characters to whole paragraphs, including phonetic characters.

* Open the Edit text window by clicking the ‘Add text’ button.

* Choose a font by clicking the orange ‘+’ icon. You can choose from semi-script, sans, serif and Phonetics.

* Type the text you need by clicking in the white box within the ‘Edit text’ window. Please note: Text can’t be edited directly on the stage.

* Change the text alignment and choose bold or italic characters by clicking the corresponding icons.

* Change the size of the text by clicking and dragging the green button on the ‘Aa-Aa’ slide bar.

* Change the text colour by clicking the colour palette icon and clicking on your colour of choice.

* Distort the text by clicking and dragging the side control points of the text box to stretch or squeeze the text horizontally and vertically.

* Add phonetic characters by choosing Phonetics from the font selector. Click on the characters you wish to add. Click ‘Done’ to close the palette.

* When you’re finished editing the text, click ‘Done’. To move the text around the stage, click on it and drag it.

* TIP: Don’t worry if the edges of the text box go outside of the stage, as long as the text itself remains within the stage.

* TIP: You can move the Edit text window by clicking on its blue border and dragging it.

* You can add a Title and Notes on your project using the small orange tab at the top right corner of the stage.

* To add a Title and Notes, click on the orange tab. Type the information you wish to add in the Title and Notes boxes.

* You can add phonetic characters by clicking the symbol in the lower left of the flyout Click the small chevrons to close the tab.

* Your Title will be used as the project name when it is saved. If you choose to save the project with a different name, this will appear in the Title box.

* When you click on a project in the Open Project window, your notes will be shown towards the bottom of the window.

* You can print worksheets, cards and stickers on most inkjet and laser printers. Make sure it is set up to accept the type of material you wish to print on.

* To print an open project, click the ‘Print project’ button. Make sure your printer is set to A4.

* TIP: If you are using special media, such as perforated cards or kiss-cut stickers, make sure that it is properly orientated in your printer’s feed tray.

* You may wish to print a ‘test’ page on normal paper to check the correct orientation. Follow the instructions in your computer’s print dialog window to print the worksheet.

* TIP: If you have any trouble printing, please refer to your printer’s instruction manual.

* TIP: If your printed project is slightly offset on the page when printed, use the Print adjust feature to shift the print output up/down and left/right. You can also make adjustments to scale.

* Once a project is ready to use, you can work with it ‘full-screen’ - just the project, none of the buttons.

* Click the full-screen button in the top right of the stage.

* To rotate the page (if you’re using a landscape project), click the rotate button.

* Click the full-screen button again to return to the work area.

* You can save any project to use again later. To save a project, click the ‘Save Project’ button.

* If you have previously added a Title to this project in the orange tab, this will be used as the default project name for saving. If you type in a new name, the Title in the orange tab will change to this name.

* Type the name of the project in the ‘Project name’ box. If you want to overwrite an existing project, click on it so that its name appears in the ‘Project name’ box.

* You can edit the Project notes at the bottom of the window. Click the ‘Save’ button, or click ‘Cancel’ if you decide not to save.

* TIP: If you are overwriting an existing project, a confirmation message will appear. Click ‘Save’ to overwrite the project, or ‘Cancel’.

* You can save your Speech Builder projects and re-use them at any time. You can also use them as the basis for a new project.

* To open a previously saved project, click the ‘Open project’ button. Choose the Folder where the project is stored. Click on the project you wish to open, so that it’s highlighted. Click the ‘Open’ button in the top right of the window.

* The project will open on the stage. To return to the main stage without opening a project, click the ‘Cancel’ button.

* You can delete saved projects that you do not wish to keep. Please note that once a project has been deleted, it cannot be recovered.

* To delete a project, start by clicking on the ‘Open project’ button.

* Click on the project you wish to delete, so that its title appears in the ‘Project name’ text box.

* Click the ‘Delete’ button. You will be asked to confirm the deletion. Click ‘Yes’, or click ‘Cancel’ to keep the project.

* To delete further projects, repeat the previous two steps.

* To return to the main stage, click the ‘Cancel’ button.

* You can organise your projects into folders - perhaps by child, project type, or some other scheme.

* Please note: folder names can be a maximum of 20 characters and cannot contain spaces - we recommend using dashes ‘-’ or underscores ‘_’.

* To add a new folder, start by clicking on the Open project or Save project buttons.

* To choose a different folder, or create a new one, click the Change button next to ‘Current folder’.

* To choose an existing folder, click the folder above its name, so it highlights, then click the Open button. Speech Builder will switch to that folder.

* To create a new folder, click on the words ‘ADD FOLDER’ below the ‘+’ folder icon. Type the name you wish to use (no spaces). Then click on the green plus. A new folder with that name will be created.

* TIP: You can change the name of any folder by clicking on its name so that its title text becomes highlighted, then typing the new name.

* TIP: As your library of projects grows, you should make full use of the Folder system to divide projects into manageable categories and use a consistent project naming convention.

* NOTE: Speech Builder does not currently allow the ‘one-click’ deletion of folders to guard against entire sets of projects being accidentally deleted.

* You can import your own (or a child’s) JPEG images into NDP3 Speech Builder and use them in your projects.

* To import an image, click on the Extras button. Click the ‘Browse’ button in the ‘Import your images’ section. An ‘explorer’ or ‘finder’ window will open.

* Locate the image you wish to add and click ‘OK’. Type an ‘Image name’ for the picture to be called within Speech Builder.

* Click ‘Add to my images’. Your images will be added to the ‘My images’ section in the Add images window.

* You can send NDP3 projects to other people as JPEG images.

* To send an NDP3 project, click on the Extras button. Click the ‘Browse’ button in the ‘Send NDP3 Projects’ section. Locate the NDP3 project/s you wish to add and click ‘OK’. To add further projects, click Browse again.

* When you’ve chosen the projects you wish to send, click the Send projects button.

* Projects will be saved as JPEG files in a folder on your PC. Each project’s notes will be saved to a text file in the same folder.

* Note the folder location shown on the screen.

* To send the projects and/or notes, create a new email in your usual email application. Locate the projects you just saved in the send folder. Add them as attachments to your email and send in the usual way.

* As we continue to develop and enhance Speech Builder, we will offer the opportunity to update your software with the latest release.

* Free updates are available to registered users.

* The software will check for updates each time it is run. If an update is available, it will request your permission to install it.

* Click on the Extras button.

* Click on any of the colours shown in the lower right corner of the screen to change the background to that colour.

* NDP3 Speech Builder incorporates a screensaver that can automatically start after a set period of inactivity.

* If this feature is not active in your copy of Speech Builder, it will be added in a future update.

* To review the screensaver settings, click on the Extras button. You can set the screensaver to on/off and set the Start delay in minutes, the number and speed of puzzles, and the number of colours used.