Frequently Asked Questions

How is GaugeMaster Pro different from the original iPad/Mac GaugeMaster app?

GaugeMaster Pro has been built from scratch for the web, but it replicates the old GaugeMaster apps very closely. Nevertheless, based on years of usage, and to improve on the old design, some things have changed and others are currently not yet supported. Here is a list of key differences:

• It doesn’t support Color Arc image fill (may come in the future, but that is still being evaluated).
• Although the app supports color transparency for the layer colors, it doesn’t for the canvas background color. If an imported gauge had a fully transparent background on GM, this will enable the Transparent Background option on GMPro, having the same effect. Otherwise, if a GM file has a semi-transparent color, this will just show as the same color without transparency.
• The text arc font size is always the same as the arc width value on GMPro, so it is no longer dynamically calculated to fit exactly within the arc width based on the baseline type like on GM. This has the advantage that now the text size is always the same regardless of the baseline type selected, though with the side effect that text may not always show exactly within the drawn boundaries of the text arc.
• This may also cause gauges imported from the old iPad/Mac GM apps, with text in Straight baseline mode, to have slightly different text locations compared to the iPad/Mac apps, as these use different alignment calculations.
• The difference in text rendering dimensions can also cause slight differences on the output size of printed gauges or exported images on GMpro compared to the same process on GM, so please check carefully if you need to adjust that on the exported GMPro files.
• The “Scale All” feature pinching on the iPad screen when no layers were selected, that would scale the entire gauge on GM, is not available on GMPro. That feature would scale the gauge by literally scaling all the layers and changing their radius and width values, which was not ideal. The new web app has proper zoom and pan capabilities that allow you to inspect any area of a gauge closer without changing the values of the gauge components.
• There is no Needles layer, yet.

What’s the future of the old iPad/Mac apps?

GaugeMaster Pro will be replacing the old iPad/Mac apps, and these will be discontinued and removed from the Apple App Store by the end of 2024.

Make sure to make your transition to GaugeMaster Pro before the final date to avoid any disruption to your business. After that date you will still be able to use your installed iPad/Mac apps if you have a permanent license or a subscription, but there will be no further updates to the app and it will no longer be available for download.

Can I open my old GaugeMaster files with GaugeMaster Pro?

Regrettably GaugeMaster Pro won’t be able to open the old GaugeMaster file format as it uses a completely new format.

GaugeMaster Pro was designed to improve on the original GaugeMaster in as many ways as possible. One of the them was the file format, as originally this was a closed binary format. GaugeMaster Pro improves on this by using a JSON based file format (a text based format) with clear labels.

The latest GaugeMaster iPad/Mac apps include an option to export your old gauge files to the new GaugeMaster Pro format. Keep in mind though that there may be some differences between your original files and the new format due to geometry processing differences. If you find any issues please reach out to JohnCode Support for assistance.

The conversion process will not modify your old GaugeMaster files (with extension .gmtm), it will simply create new files in the new format  (with extension .gmpro).

Can I transfer my old GaugeMaster license to GaugeMaster Pro?

GaugeMaster Pro is a new app written from scratch for the web, and as such it is based on a new subscription model. If you have any previous license/s from the old iPad/Mac apps, of any kind, please get in touch at support@johncode.com to get you the best possible transition deal for GaugeMaster Pro.

Why can I only use GaugeMaster Pro on the latest Chrome web browsers?

Web browsers are interesting apps, they are all supposed to provide a similar experience from the web sites you visit, but that’s where the “similar” gets interesting. Each browser will provide support for certain web technologies based on their development progress (as web standards are constantly advancing), but also on their companies’ technology and security views. For example, GaugeMaster Pro uses what is called Local Font Access API, which allows your web browser to have access to your local fonts. As a design app, this is an essential part of the GaugeMaster Pro toolkit, which otherwise would make it impractical. As of the time of this writing only Chrome and Edge support this web interface.

Why are some fonts not rendering as expected?

The way web browsers handle fonts is a bit different than general graphics design apps. They were designed for convenience and not so much for precision, and will always provide a reasonable font, even if the one requested doesn’t exist. Font specification can have a lot of parameters, like their family name, style, stretch and weight, to name the most relevant. These parameters can come as different terms for different fonts as well. So when providing all these to a specify a font face to a web browser it will try to match them to a local font as best as possible, otherwise it will fallback to what it thinks is the best match. All this is complicated some more by the fact that this is processed differently on macOS than on Windows. GaugeMaster Pro makes the best efforts to identify and specify the fonts and their variants available locally, but even with those correct specifications, in rare occasions the browsers will not render them correctly. If you encounter any that are essential to your work, please reach out to support to try and help you have access to such fonts.

How Can I export a PDF file?

To export a PDF file you can initiate a Print operation as usual and use the Save as PDF option on the print settings dialog. This works the same on both Mac and Windows systems. 

What is the minimum browser window size recommended for GaugeMaster Pro?

The minimum recommended browser window size is 1200x900, but you will get a better experience if you use a window size of 1400x900 or above.