Inspiration 7.5

A Tutorial

Part 1: What is Inspiration? Inspiration is a Visual Learning tool. If you think visually, but arent sure how to structure your ideas,Inspiration can help you createa Concept Map which is a visual display of your ideas and their structure.

Brain Dumping One way to make a concept map is by doing a Brain Dump: Put down all of your ideas at once- dont worry about ordering them.

Embedding and Linking You can represent those ideas with text and any graphical objects you like, and link those ideasto external files such as office documents, web pages, audio-visual content, or other inspiration diagrams. Inspiration comes with a large symbol library; you can import your own graphics as well

Diagramming You can connect those ideas, move them around, and individuallycolor them to better decide how they relate to each other.

Outlining and Exporting Inspiration can turn your concept map into a hierarchical outline, and export that outline to your word-processor, HTML or to PowerPoint.

Ready Made TemplatesInspiration also comes with manyready made templates to help youwith your work. This is a templatefor an opinion statement. It canhelp guide in gathering the ideasnecessary for this type of essay-commonly assigned in beginningwriting classes.

After filling in your ideas, you canexport an outline to MS Word orAppleWorks and expand it into acomplete essay. Writing goesmuch more quickly when you have the planning already done. Inspiration makes it easy to visualize and organize your ideas!

Part 2: Getting Started

Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Adaptive Software, and then click on Inspiration 7.5. Inspiration opens in a new untitled diagram.

Inspirations Diagram ViewMost of Inspirationsfunctions are available asbuttons in Diagram view.The Diagram toolbar on top has the buttons most oftenused. The Symbol palette on the left of the Inspirationscreen can be dragged to anyconvenient location. Colors,styles, and fonts are changedusing the Formatting toolbaralong the bottom.

Inspiration opens with a newMain Idea symbol, ready foryou to use.Diagram ToolbarMain Idea SymbolSymbol Toolbar

Using the Create Tool to Add New Linked SymbolsUse the Create tool to add linked symbols in the location you choose. Select the upper right corner of the Create button to create a new symbol on the upper right of an existing symbol. Select the lower right corner of the Create button to create a new symbol on the lower right of an existing symbol.

Create Button

Using RapidFire to Grab Ideas QuicklyRapidFire saves you time when you want to Brain Dump all your ideas and get them down quickly. With the main symbol selected, clicking RapidFire allows you to type your ideas without creating new symbols. Each time you hit Enter, Inspiration creates a new symbol with your idea as the title. Typing Chimpanzees -> Enter -> Big Ears -> Enter -> Fish for termites and ants -> Enter -> Dark hair -> Enter creates your diagram. You can drag and drop symbols and connecting arrows later when you decide how they should berelated.

Adding an Unconnected Symbol Using Point and TypeAdding an unconnected symbol is easy. Point and click at the position you want your text, then type. A new symbol with your text appears in that position. Note how the symbol Endangered Species is unconnected fromthe others.

Replacing a Symbol with One From the Symbol PaletteTo replace a standard balloon symbol with one from the Symbol palette, select the balloon you want to replace. Then, on the Symbol palette, select the symbolyou want to replace it with. The replacement proceeds automatically.

Using Drag and Drop to Add a Specific SymbolSymbols can be added by dragging and dropping from the Symbolpalette. For example, you can add a plant symbol from the Plants. Symbol palette. Click on the symbol you want and drag it onto the screen.Add a subject title in the blank space provided and connect the new symbol toexisting symbols.

Linking SymbolsTo link two unconnected symbols, click the Link button. A line forms between the last symbol selected and your Mouse arrow. This line follows your mouses movements. Select the second symbol and a lineforms between it and the previous one.Link Button

Adding a Note to a SymbolSometimes you want extra informationattached to a symbol. A good way to dothis is to add a text note. Select thesymbol to which you want to add a note,then select the Note button. A note boxappears near your symbol, with a cursorready for you to insert text. Although thisnote is associated with the symbol youhave chosen, you can click and drag thenote anywhere on your diagram. Whenyou switch to outline view, Inspirationremembers where it belongs in yourdiagrams structure and puts it in theappropriate spot in your outline.

Note Button

Changing the Color of SymbolsIf you prefer a different background color for your ideaSymbols, select the symbol whose background you wishto change. Then click the Fill color button on the bottomtoolbar, as shown at the left.Select your new color andthe background changesautomatically. This is a goodway to create subgroups ofideas within your diagram.

Moving a Note or a SymbolOnce you have made your diagram you may want to change the positions of the notes andsymbols. All notes and symbols are moveable by dragging and dropping. The tree Symbol below has been moved in this way.Inspiration moves the connecting idea arrow automatically.

Saving Your WorkTo save a document for the firsttime, or to save a document youve already saved beforeunder the current name, use theSave command.

On the File menu choose Save.The dialog box appears with themain idea as the name of the file..Select the folder in whichyou want to save the diagram.

Click Save. In Windows, the file is saved with an .isf extension.

Part 3: Outline View Inspiration will turn your concept map into an outlinewhich you can use to write a paper, create a presentation, or desig a website.

Switching from Diagram to Outline ViewTo switch to Outline view, select the Outline button on the Diagram toolbar.Outline Button

Outline ViewThis is an example of the Outline view.Click the Diagram button take you back to Diagram view. The symbols have been transformedinto topics and subtopics, according tothe position of the linking arrows.

The Down arrows to the left of thetopics are Subtopic Quick Controls. Clicking one of these collapses asubtopic so that it is hidden; clicking it again shows the subtopics. Notes are hidden in the same way, using their own Notes Quick Controls.Diagram Button

Printing the outlineYou can determine layout, margins, and header/footer values from the Page Setup menu. You can accessthis menu by clicking File Page Setup. This menu also lets you see a Print Preview of your outline. To print your outline, in the Page Setup menu, click Print.