Despite the size of this manual, which is more a reference guide than a user manual as such, users will find that HSpot is a user friendly and in no way intimidating tool. The basic functions of HSpot are simple and largely self-explanatory. Many users will find that, once HSpot is installed, they can start to use it with little or no difficulty without recourse to documentation. Such users will find that this manual is a useful aid to consult where they have doubts about a particular function of HSpot and how it works. For those users who feel less confident, there is no need to read this manual from cover to cover: concentrate on the chapters relevant to your own proposal with the aid of the chapter guide. Use this manual more as a reference source to check detailed points about HSpot use, rather than as a must-read document.

Once you are familiar with the basic functions of HSpot this manual will help you to discover the many other functionalities of the program, some of which you are likely to find valuable for activities far beyond the original intention of simply being a tool for preparation of proposals for Herschel. Data users may often find it useful to look at AORs in HSpot to see how they were executed.