# File Menu

The File menu includes the following options

- New Chart
- Open
- Save As
- Close Chart
- Reset chart and options
- Reset language
- Calendar
- Observing list
- Variable Stars
- SAMP
- Save Image...
- Print
- Printer Setup
- Exit

## New Chart

The new V3 of `Cartes du Ciel` enables you to open different windows with separate sky charts. The advantage is that you can visualize different charts at the same moment for different locations, time or even display configuration.

After creating a new chart you can arrange the charts through the Window menu. You can maximize, minimize, close or even resize each chart by dragging the right and bottom edges.

## Open

Use this to open a previously saved sky chart with its own configuration of the location and time.

## Save As...

This saves the active sky chart to a file that you can reload in the future with the Open option.

## Close Chart

This will close the active chart, only when you have more than one chart open.

## Reset chart and options

Reset the chart and the options to the last saved configuration. The result is the same as when you would close the map without saving followed by restarting the program.

## Reset language

Reset the language to the default value for your computer.
For evident reason this menu text is not translatable and always show in English.

## Calendar

This function informs you about some astronomical phenomenona for a given time period.

The window is composed of seven areas:

- an input area. Look at this page for further details.
- a Twilight tab. Look at this page for further details.
- a Planet tab. Look at this page for further details.
- a Comet tab. Look at this page for further details.
- a Asteroid tab. Look at this page for further details.
- a Solar Eclipses tab. Look at this page for further details.
- a Lunar Eclipses tab. Look at this page for further details.

## Observing list

Open the Observing list window.

## Variable Stars

Launch the Variable Stars Observer program.

## SAMP

SAMP is a messaging protocol that enables astronomy software tools to interoperate and communicate. Skychart can send and receive coordinates position, FITS images and VO tables.

The submenu include this functions:

- Connect to SAMP hub : Connect Skychart to a running SAMP hub, for example Topcat or Aladin include such hub.
- Disconnect from SAMP : Disconnect from the SAMP hub.
- SAMP status : Display the status of the connection.
- SAMP setup : Open the SAMP setup window.

## Save Image...

The active sky chart is saved as an image. It is possible to select PNG, JPEG or BMP format for the file.

## Print

The Print dialog box enables you to choose your settings for the 'printer-target', regardless if this is a real printer or a file.

You can select to print a header with the description text, and a footer with the chart legend.

Printing can be done in the colours as on the screen or in black&white. The orientation, the paper margins and number of copies can also be selected.
If the printer is set to .bmp file is also possible to choose printing method to reversed black&white (with black background sky).

The default orientation is Landscape to better match the screen format and get a print result similar to what is displayed on the screen. If you want to print in Portrait orientation it is recommended to resize the screen window to this format to adjust the framing and objects visibility.

## Printer Setup

Configures the printer to print the screen content. There are three options:

1. System Printer: It enables you to configure a real printer.
2. Postscript: It enables you print to a postscript file. This is the way to go if you want a vector file you can further convert to PDF or SVG. On Windows it requires you to have Ghostscript and GsView32 installed and a correctly configured path to view the result. It will only work with version 7.xx of GsView32.
3. Bitmap file: It enables you to print the chart to a BMP file. It is required to have a correctly configured path to the MsPaint executable.

## Exit

Just that, exits the program `Cartes du Ciel`