KCG Rich Text

User Guide

KCG Rich Text is a desktop rich text editor for writing, formatting, saving, reopening, and printing styled documents. It supports text color, highlight color, lists, links, images, and multiple file formats. This guide explains the editor layout, toolbar, menus, file formats, printing behavior, and the current limitations of the application.

Getting Started

KCG Rich Text opens as a single-document editor window. A new untitled document starts ready to type with the default system font.

Rich text formatting is applied to the current selection when text is selected. If no text is selected, the current formatting becomes the insertion-point style for newly typed text.

Best for formatted documents

Use RTF when you want to preserve colors, font styling, paragraph formatting, and embedded images.

Best for plain content

Use Text when you only need unformatted text.

Quick Start

  1. Launch the program. A new untitled document opens automatically.
  2. Type directly in the editor area.
  3. Select text and use the toolbar to apply font, size, bold, italic, underline, strike through, subscript, superscript, color, highlight, alignment, lists, code blocks, or line spacing.
  4. Choose File > Save as Rich Text, Save as HTML, Save as XML, or Save as Plain Text.
  5. Use File > Print to print the current document.

Workspace Overview

The main window contains two practical areas.

Toolbar

Contains font, size, style buttons, alignment, list, undo/redo, line spacing, text color, highlight color, and image controls.

Editor area

The large white editing surface below the toolbar where you type, select, and format text.

Window title

Shows the document name. A * prefix before the name means the document has unsaved changes.

Documents and File Types

Supported file types

  • RTF: rich text format. Preserves styled text, paragraph formatting, and embedded images.
  • XML: the program's structured document format. It stores embedded rich text data.
  • HTML: preserves styled content for browser-based round-tripping and document exchange.
  • TXT: plain text only. Formatting is not preserved.

Opening files

Use File > Open to load a document. If the current document has unsaved changes, the program asks whether you want to discard the current document or cancel.

Creating a new document

Use File > New to start a blank document. If the current document has unsaved changes, the program asks before discarding them.

Saving files

Use one of the four save commands in the File menu to save the document in the format you need. Each save command opens a Save dialog where you can choose the file name and location.

  • File > Save as Rich Text — saves as .rtf
  • File > Save as HTML — saves as .html
  • File > Save as XML — saves as .xml
  • File > Save as Plain Text — saves as .txt

Quitting

If you try to quit while the current document has unsaved changes, the program asks before closing so you can cancel instead of losing work.

If you save as .txt, text formatting is intentionally removed because plain text files do not support rich text styling. HTML saves preserve the editor content as structured markup, including images and links.

Formatting Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the editor is the fastest way to format text and insert media.

Style buttons

The style buttons provide Bold, Italic, Underline, Strike Through, Heading 1, Heading 2, Ordered List, Unordered List, and Link.

Alignment

Three alignment buttons set the current paragraph to left (↤), center (↔), or right (↦) alignment.

Additional formatting

Additional buttons provide Subscript, Superscript, Code Block, Horizontal Rule, Undo (↺), Redo (↻), and Clear Format (✖).

Font

Choose the active font from the font drop-down. The list includes System, Aptos, Arial, Calibri, Cambria, and other common fonts.

Size

Choose a size level from 1 to 7 using the size drop-down. Level 1 is the smallest and level 7 is the largest.

Line spacing

Choose from Single (1.0), 1.15, 1.5, or Double (2.0) line spacing. Spacing is applied to the paragraph containing the cursor.

Text color

Use the color swatch to apply a foreground text color to the selection or insertion point.

Highlight color

Use the highlight swatch to apply a background highlight color to the selection or insertion point.

Image

Use the Image button to pick an image file from your computer and insert it at the cursor position. Images are embedded in the document when saved as RTF, HTML, or XML.

Editing Text

Selecting and formatting

  • Select text first if you want formatting to apply only to existing text.
  • If nothing is selected, font, size, style, and color affect newly typed text.
  • Alignment and line spacing affect the current paragraph.
  • List commands work on complete paragraphs. Select one or more lines and then apply bullets or numbering.

Undo and Redo

Use the Undo (↺) and Redo (↻) buttons in the toolbar to step backward and forward through recent editing actions.

Clipboard commands

  • Cut removes the selected text and places it on the clipboard.
  • Copy copies the selected text to the clipboard.
  • Paste inserts clipboard content at the cursor or replaces the selection.
  • Delete removes the selected text.
  • Select All selects the entire document.
Rich text copy and paste are handled through the editor's styled text bridge, so formatting is preserved as well as possible when moving text within the application.

Printing

Use File > Print to print the current document. The print flow includes page setup choices inside the print process, so there is no separate page setup workflow required during normal use.

  • Printed output includes line breaks and word wrapping.
  • Printed output preserves bold, italic, underline, text color, and highlight color.
  • Printed output includes embedded images.
  • List prefixes print as visible text in the document.
  • Print margins default to 0.75 inches and can be adjusted in the print dialog.
  • Headings are kept with the text that follows them across page breaks.

Status and Document State

  • The window title shows the document name. For a new unsaved document it reads KCG Rich Text. After opening a file it shows KCG Rich Text – filename.
  • A * prefix in the window title means the document has been changed since the last save.
  • When you open a new file, create a new document, or quit with unsaved changes, the program asks whether you want to discard the changes or cancel.

Platform Behavior

KCG Rich Text is designed to run on Windows 11, macOS, and Linux. The editor uses platform-aware font resolution so that a document created on one operating system can still open sensibly on another.

  • Windows font names may be mapped to safe alternatives on macOS or Linux.
  • The System font always resolves to the host platform's default system font.
  • Save dialogs, open dialogs, and print dialogs use the host operating system's standard behavior.

Current Limitations

  • Plain text files do not preserve formatting.
  • The font size picker uses HTML size levels 1–7 rather than specific point sizes.
  • Some font families available on one platform may be substituted on another platform.
  • There is no generic Save command; each save requires choosing a specific format from the File menu.

Troubleshooting

My formatting did not save

Save as .rtf, .html, or .xml. If you save as .txt, formatting is removed.

The font looks different on another computer

The requested font may not exist on that operating system. The program uses a fallback font when needed.

I am being asked whether to discard changes when opening a file

The current document has unsaved changes. Choose to discard or cancel and save first.

The print dialog looks different on each operating system

That is normal. The program uses the native print dialog supplied by Windows, macOS, or Linux.

My image did not appear after saving as plain text

Images are not supported in plain text format. Save as RTF, HTML, or XML to preserve images.

KCG Rich Text User Guide