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Creating a simple animation in Flash

2010-04-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Adobe Flash CS4 Professional introduces a revamped animation engine that is easy to use and more powerful than previous versions. When you have mastered the basics of the engine, Flash gives you added capabilities to extend your creative possibilities.

In this article, I show you how to import artwork to Flash CS4, create an animation, and change an animation after you've created it.

REQUIREMENTS

To make the most of this article, you need the following software and sample file:

Flash CS4 Professional

Sample file:

Go.png (PNG, 75K)

IMPORTING ARTWORK TO FLASH

With Flash CS4, you can import content from multiple Adobe Creative Suite CS4 applications, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Fireworks, as well as from Adobe InDesign CS4 and Adobe After Effects CS4.

In this example, we import artwork from Fireworks. With Fireworks CS4, you can work with both raster and vector content. Raster files (or bitmaps) become pixelated when you resize them. A photograph is an example of a raster graphic file. Vector files, on the other hand, do not pixelate when you resize them. The paths of a vector graphic simply redraw no matter how much you expand or reduce it.

In Fireworks CS4, you can create assets to import to Flash CS4. For this example, I have created a vector polygon with a gradient fill and a stroke that is grouped with a text field (see Figure 1). This Fireworks file is saved as a PNG file, which can then be imported to Flash CS4.

Figure 1. Vector graphic created with Fireworks

To import the file, you must first create a new Flash CS4 document by selecting Flash File (ActionScript 3.0) from the Create New column on the Flash startup screen.

To import the Fireworks PNG file, choose File > Import. You have two import options: you can import either to the Stage or the Library. The Stage is the main animation area for the movie you're creating with Flash. The Library is a bank of assets or graphics that are part of the project but not necessarily on the Stage. The Library contains assets that you either create in Flash or import from other applications.

Import the Fireworks PNG design to the Flash CS4 Library by choosing File > Import > Import To Library. Then browse to the file and click Import To Library. In the Import Fireworks Document dialog box, select the options shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Fireworks import dialog box in Flash CS4 Professional

For this example, you want to keep the vector design editable instead of converting it to a raster or bitmap design. For designs that are more complex, you may want to import as a bitmap to maintain the appearance.

When you click OK, the Fireworks asset is imported to Flash. To see the imported assets, click the Library tab. When the assets are imported, the design is automatically converted to a graphic called Go.png.

To position the graphic on the Stage, drag and drop the Go.png asset from the Library panel to the Stage. Position the object in the upper left corner. If you don't position it in the correct location initially, you can reposition it using the mouse by dragging and dropping the graphic to the correct position. Your file should look like Figure 3.

Figure 3. Starting position on the Stage for the Go graphic

CREATING AN ANIMATION

Now, let's say you want to make an animation that will move the asset from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.

First, you need to tell Flash that you want to tween the object. When you use a tween, you tell Flash where on the Stage you want the object in the animation to start and end. Flash will automatically fill in the frames between the start and end points that you define.

There are two types of tweening in Flash: motion and shape. Since you are moving the Go graphic instead of changing its shape, you need to create a motion tween. To do this, right-click the object in Flash and select Create Motion Tween.

Now you'll notice that the Timeline at the bottom of the application has changed.

The Timeline represents how the animation looks and behaves from the time it starts moving until it arrives at its destination. The Timeline is broken up into frames, or individual points in time, that display the animation.

By default, Flash displays individual frames at a rate of 24 per second, which means that for each second the animation is playing, 24 frames are displayed. In the Timeline, the red indicator is the playhead, which shows what frame you are currently displaying in the Flash application.

Before you added the motion tween, the Timeline was a single frame, containing the object you placed onto the Stage. When you created the tween, Flash extended the Timeline by 24 frames and positioned the playhead at the end of the tween.

Now that you are at the end of the tween, you want the Go graphic to be at the lower right corner of the Stage. To change its location, simply drag and drop the graphic to the desired location. With the playhead on frame 24, move the Go symbol to the lower right corner of the Stage (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Setting the Go graphic's final destination in the animation

After you drop the object, you'll notice a line with dots appear from the graphic's starting location (the origin) to the final location (the destination). That line is called the motion path. It won't actually show when you publish your file, but it is a visual cue to show you the path the graphic will take as it moves from the origin to the destination.

Now that the destination has been set, you can click and drag the playhead to show the animation on the Timeline. Click and drag the playhead to frame 1, and then press Return to play the animation in Flash. You'll see the object move from the upper left to the lower right.

Now, you can preview how it will look in Flash Player. It is a good idea to test your animations in Flash Player as well as in Flash CS4, since the Flash Player preview more accurately represents the timing and actions you may use to control and update your animation. To preview in Flash Player, Choose Control > Test Movie from the main Flash menu.

Now you'll see a new window appear that displays the animation. The animation will simply loop because you haven't told the animation when to stop. We'll take care of that later.

CHANGING AN ANIMATION AFTER IT IS CREATED

Now that you have created the initial animation, you can modify and extend it using Flash CS4. First, let's change the direction of the animation.

Your current animation moves the Go symbol from the upper left to the lower right corner of the Stage. But now you want to change the destination from the lower right corner to the upper right corner.

To make this change, make sure you're at the destination point by dragging the playhead to the last frame of the animation: frame 24.

To move the destination of the Go symbol, and therefore the direction of the animation, simply click and drag the symbol to the new desired location. For this example, move it to the upper right corner of the Stage.

Now the motion path has been updated. If you run or test the animation, the animation will now move the graphic across the Stage from left to right instead of down the Stage diagonally.

You can also change the origin of the animation using these steps, but you need to move the playhead to the first frame, or frame 1, to make that change. In this example, let's move the origin from the upper left to the lower left corner.

First, move the playhead to frame 1. Then click and drag the Go symbol to the lower left corner of the Stage.

Now the animation and the motion path reflect the new origin of the animation. You can continually update the origin and destination of your animations using the same methods. Simply move the playhead to the beginning or end of the tween and then move the object to the new desired location.

ADDING MIDPOINTS TO YOUR ANIMATION

Creating point-to-point animations may be easy, but they are relatively boring. More complex animations usually have several midpoints in the tween to give the desired effect.

For instance, in this example, you may want the animation to move from corner to corner to corner, starting in the lower left, moving to the upper left, and ending in the upper right.

To do this, you need to add an intermediate location at the middle of the animation. The process is the same as setting the origin or destination points, however you now need to move the playhead to the middle of the animation.

Move the playhead to frame 12 (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Adding an intermediate location, or midpoint, to the animation

At the bottom of the Timeline is a small text indicator that shows the current position of the playhead. You can click and drag your mouse to scrub to a specific point or double-click the indicator and enter the location manually.

Now that the playhead is at the correct location, the animation shows the symbol in the middle of the motion path. If you look carefully, you'll notice tiny dots along the motion path (see Figure 6). These dots represent the location of the object at each individual frame. There are 12 dots from the start point to the current point of the symbol because your animation is now on frame 12. The black circle in the center of the Go symbol is its registration point, which is where it positions itself relative to the location on the motion path.

Figure 6. Motion path displaying the location of the object at each frame as well as the point the object is positioned on the path

To create a new intermediate destination for the symbol, click and drag it to the upper left corner of the Stage.

You now have a three-point animation that starts in the lower left corner, moves to the upper left corner, and winds up at the upper right corner.

In the Timeline, a small black dot now appears in frame 12, which shows that you have created an intermediate location that the tween will use to create the animation. If you want to change this intermediate point, move the playhead to this point in the Timeline and then drag and drop the object. That will update the motion path with the new intermediate point.

You can continue to add intermediate points throughout the animation, with a maximum of one per frame. Just move the playhead to the desired frame and then move the object.

CHANGING THE ANIMATION'S DURATION

So far, you have changed the location of the graphic throughout the animation, but you haven't changed the duration. The duration is the amount of time that the animation runs. In this example, the duration of your tween is 24 frames. With a default frame rate of 24 frames per second, your animation will run for one second.

If you want to change the duration of the entire animation, you need to change the Timeline animation layer. Each tween is represented as an individual layer in Flash. To change the duration, simply drag the end of the tween to either lengthen or shorten the duration.

If you want your animation to play for two seconds at a frame rate of 24 frames per second, then lengthen it to 48 frames by moving your mouse pointer to the end of the tween in the Timeline. When the mouse icon changes to a left-right arrow, click and drag the tween to the right to extend it to frame 48.

When you let go of the mouse button, the animation will proportionally update to represent the new desired duration. You'll notice that the intermediate point has also moved to the new midpoint of the tween.

The motion path now has twice as many dots because it is now extended over 48 frames, and each dot represents where the Go graphic is on any given frame.

You can also shorten your animation back to 24 frames by clicking and dragging the left end of the tween on the Timeline back to frame 24.

ADDING A CURVE TO THE MOTION PATH

Each segment of the motion path is editable as well. For instance, the animation now moves the symbol from point to point to point in a straight line. You can alter that and have the tween move the animation along a curve by simply dragging and dropping with your mouse.

Once the Go symbol has moved to the upper left corner, let's make it move to the upper right corner on a curved path instead of a straight path. To do this, just drag and drop the motion path in the second part of the tween.

Make sure you choose the selection tool (with the dark arrow icon) from the Tool menu.

Then move your mouse over the motion path along the top of the Stage. You'll see a curved line icon appear next to the mouse pointer, which means you can now drag and drop the motion path to build a curve.

Now let's create a curved path from the upper left corner down toward the center of the Stage and then up to the right corner. With the mouse pointer showing the curved line icon, click and drag the middle portion of the motion path down toward the center of the Stage (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Changing a straight path to a curved path

When you release the mouse button, the motion path updates and shows you the curve. Now when you preview the animation, the symbol will follow the curve you just created. You can click and drag the curve again if you want to change the curve ratio between tween points.

RESIZING AND ROTATING THE ANIMATION

You can also manipulate the motion path using the Transform tool. The Transform tool enables you to resize, rotate, skew, or stretch objects in Flash. You can rotate the motion path of the animation, changing the locations of the origin, intermediate, and destination points, without rotating the symbol itself.

To do this, select the motion path with the Selection tool. The path will darken to indicate that it is selected.

You can now move or reposition the motion path by clicking and dragging it. For this example, however, select the Transform tool. Make sure the motion path is selected and then choose the Transform tool.

Once you select the Transform tool, a box with squares along the edge appears around the motion path. This is called a bounding box, and the squares are called handles. If you click and drag a handle, you can resize the contents of the bounding box — which in this case is the motion path — in various directions. If you position your mouse pointer slightly outside the corner handles, the mouse pointer will change to show that you can rotate the contents of the bounding box.

When the rotation icon appears, you can click and drag to change the rotation of the motion path for the animation. For this example, click and rotate the animation 90 degrees clockwise.

Then let go of the mouse button, and you'll see that the motion path has changed (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Rotating the direction of the animation

Now let's adjust the height of the bounding box to keep the animation within the confines of the Stage. Select the top handle and move it down. Then move the bottom handle up (see Figure 9).

Figure 9. Resizing the motion path of the animation

The animation has now been rotated and resized. If you test the animation, you'll see that its path has been updated, but the symbol itself doesn't rotate because you only modified the path, not the object on the path.

To finish the animation, all you need to do is add your stop action to the end of the Timeline. Click the New Layer button at the bottom of the Timeline to create a new layer.

Now make sure you are on the last frame of the animation, select the new layer, and create a new blank keyframe by choosing Insert > Timeline > Blank Keyframe from the main menu.

Open the Actions panel by choosing Window > Actions. Make sure you have selected the correct layer and that your playhead is on the new blank keyframe you created. In the Actions panel (see Figure 10), type the following script:

stop();

Figure 10. Adding a script to the Actions panel

When you're finished, you'll see a small a appear in the blank keyframe in the Timeline.

That's it. Now when you preview your animation, you'll see it run from start to finish and then stop instead of looping the way it did before.

Insert or overlay clips from the Project window

2010-04-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

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Turn on Project window thumbnails.

By default, the Project window thumbnails are turned off. However, turning them on gives you a quick look at your footage and helps you view an In point.

After you have captured your clips, and they are all listed in the Project window, click the Project window menu and scroll to Thumbnails. Make sure that there is a checkmark next to Large. If not, choose Large to maximize the size of the footage thumbnail. Then, click the menu and choose Thumbnails again. If there is a check next to Off, choose it to deactiviate it. If you want to preview your video, click the play button next to the preview thumbnail or drag the slider below the thumbnail.

Set an In point.

You can now perform a basic trim in the Project window. First, click the Project window menu and choose Edit Columns. In the Edit Columns dialog box, make sure that Video In Point is selected. In the Project window, select your target clip. Locate the Preview thumbnail in the upper left corner of the Project window and make sure that the slider beneath the thumbnail is all the way to the left. Then, click the Poster Frame button. Drag the scroll bar at the bottom of the Project window until you see the Video In Point column appear. Then, when you release the underlined Video In Point value, the footage thumbnail updates to a new In point for your footage.

Note that the poster frame you set is considered the beginning of the footage. For example, if you set the poster point to be 10 seconds into the footage, then when you drag the Video In Point value, the displayed time for that value is measured from the location of the poster frame, not the actual beginning of the footage. Set the poster frame as the first frame of the footage in order for the In point value to be accurate in relation to the actual beginning of the footage.

Insert or overlay the clip in the Timeline window.

To insert the clip and subsequently ripple all the clips in the sequence, hold down Ctrl and drag the clip to the sequence.

To overlay the clip, drag it over a section in the sequence. While still holding the mouse button, note the Program view of the Monitor window. In it, you see two images. These images show the range of frames in the sequence that you will replace when you release the mouse button and overlay the clip. When you are satisfied with the placement, release the mouse button.

In the Program view, you see the two frames between which you will be inserting the dragged clip. Drag the clip until you find the exact point where you want to place it, and release the mouse button. Repeat either method for each clip you want to overlay or insert.

Preview and refine your sequence.

After inserting or overlaying the clips, define a work area and preview your edit. To quickly define a work area, drag the current-time indicator to the point in the sequence where you want the work area to begin and press Alt + [ . Then, drag the current-time indicator to your desired Out point, and press Alt + ] . Press Enter to begin the preview.

When setting your source clipâ™s In and Out points in the Source view, you can still use the Program view to preview their placement in the sequence if you drag or Ctrl-drag the clip from the Source view. You can further refine your edits by dragging the head or tail of the clips in the Timeline window or by using the Trim view. See the Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide for information on trimming in the Timeline window and using the Source and Trim views.

Correct color in video

2010-04-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

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Optimize your workspace.

Optimize Adobe Premiere Pro to work with color-correction tools by choosing Window > Workspace > Color Correction. This command docks the Effects and Effect Controls windows in the Project window and opens a Reference Monitor window next to the Program view.

Open an existing project that contains clips that need color correction.

Sync the Reference Monitor and Program view.

The Reference Monitor window allows you to view the waveform monitor or vectorscope and clips simultaneously. Choose Gang To Program Monitor from the Reference Monitor menu so that both windows show the same frame in the timeline. Then, choose Waveform from the same menu.

To navigate between frames, use the playback controls in the Reference Monitor window to keep this window in front of the Monitor window.

Apply the Color Corrector effect to a clip.

Click the Effects tab in the Project window and type color corrector in the Contains text box. When the Color Corrector effect appears, drag the effect icon to the clip in the Timeline window.

Move the current-time indicator to a frame in the clip and then select the clip in the Timeline window. Click the Effect Controls tab in the Project window to show all effects associated with the selected clip and then expand the Color Corrector effect to view the controls.

Adjust the black, white, and gray points.

The waveform monitor in the Reference Monitor window shows a graph that corresponds to your video image. The horizontal axis corresponds to the width of your video scan lines and the vertical axis corresponds to the amplitude of the signal, measured in IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) units. Dark values are on the bottom and light values are at the top. If your video exceeds 100 IRE for white or 7.5 IRE for black, youâ™ll need to correct your footage to prevent loss of detail and to stay within U.S. broadcast requirements.

To alter the luminance, use the Black/White Balance control. Drag the Black Point eyedropper to an area of the image in the Program view that represents true black. This value should cause the graph to meet the green line that represents 7.5 IRE. Release the mouse to select the color. Repeat this procedure to set the white point to a value of 100 IRE. If you reduce the graph below 100 IRE, your image will lose highlights and appear dull.

To remove an overall color cast in your footage, set the gray point by dragging the Gray Point eyedropper to a color in the video that represents a neutral gray. You can also use the HSL Hue Offset color wheels to remove color casts from specific tonal ranges such as highlights, midtones, and shadows.

View tonal ranges in your video.

While your entire image may need correcting, often you need to change only the highlights, midtones, or shadows. For example, you may need to remove blue from shadows in a snow scene without turning the highlights yellow.

To see which areas of your image are defined as highlight, midtone, and shadow, select the preview option in the Tonal Range controls. Shadows are shown as black, midtones as gray, and highlights as white.

While Adobe Premiere Pro uses default ranges to define tone, you can adjust these ranges if your image leans toward excessive shadows or highlights.

Alter colors for highlights, midtones, or shadows.

Expand the HLS controls and choose the tonal range you want to adjust from the pop-up menu.

To view your adjustments, choose Vectorscope from the Reference Monitor window. Hue is indicated by the angular orientation; color values range from 0 to 360° in a counter-clockwise direction. The strength of the color, or saturation, is shown as the distance from the center of the display. Blacks, grays, and whites appear at the center and vivid colors appear towards the outside of the display.

Adjust hue and saturation values by dragging the values or entering new ones. To prevent vivid colors from appearing smeared on NTSC monitors, lower the saturation values.

Limit your video footage.

If your clip still exceeds acceptable luminance or saturation values, select the Enable Limiter option and enter maximum and minimum values for chrominance and luminance to match your broadcasterâ™s requirements.

Preview video footage on a television monitor.

Be sure to preview your corrected clip on a television monitor using the same hardware youâ™ll use to export your final sequence.

Adobe Premiere Pro includes other effects that you can use for color correction, including Color Match, Broadcast Colors, and Gamma.

Create a looping soundtrack

2010-04-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

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Import video into Adobe Audition.

Launch Adobe Audition and choose View > Multitrack View. (If this is the first time you are launching Adobe Audition, Multitrack mode opens first, with initial loop files. If this happens, choose File > New Session and do not save the initial session.) In Multitrack mode, you can mix up to 128 different audio tracks, including tracks from video files you have. Select Track 1 by clicking in any empty space on that track, and choose Insert > Video From File. Choose the video file you want to augment with music and click Open. Adobe Audition places the video on Track 1 and places the audio on Track 2. You also see a window that displays your video so that you can watch the video as you edit the audio.

You can include footage from only one video per session, but you can mix the audio from several videos in a session, up to the 128-track limit. To mix the audio from several videos, select an empty track and choose Insert > Audio from Video File.

Import an audio file to loop.

Looping a sampled audio file is the quickest way to create a seamless music soundtrack, and Adobe Audition makes it easy to combine several files of this type. A short audio file works best for loops. To import a file for looping, right-click the next empty track below the video track and choose Insert > Wave From File. Adobe Audition imports the file at the location of the cursor on the track. Right-click and drag the imported file to the location where you want it to begin playing, in relation to the audio track in your imported video file.

To import one of the installed Adobe Audition files, navigate to the program directory and choose a .CEL file from the Audition Theme folder. A .CEL file is an .MP3 file with modifications to it that make it suitable for looping. Adobe Audition includes several such royalty-free .CEL files. In addition, there are roughly 2,000 other loop-ready files on the supplemental CD included with the product.

Prepare the file for looping.

Select the imported file and choose View > Loop Properties. In the Wave Block Looping dialog box, make sure that Enable Looping is selected. (If you imported a .CEL file, it is already enabled for looping.) Set the time ruler to display in bars and beats by choosing View > Display Time Format > Bars And Beats.

Aligning your looped audio files is easier when you choose Bars And Beats as your time format. This allows you to time your music according to the number of beats the passages have. See Adobe Audition Help for information on using the Bars And Beats time format.

Loop the file.

Once you have enabled the file for looping, a series of diagonal lines appear in the bottom right corner of the loop. Position the cursor over these lines and drag to loop the file. Vertical dotted lines appear at each segment of the completed loop. Continue dragging to encompass the area where you want the loop to play.

If you import a .CEL file, it also includes an icon in the bottom left corner of the clip that signifies that the file is a loop file.

Preview the loop.

After dragging the loop, you can now hear how it sounds with your video file while you watch the video. To make sure that the preview plays from the beginning, press the Home key. Then, press the spacebar to begin the preview. To stop the preview, click the Stop button or press the spacebar again.

To begin the preview from a point in the track other than the beginning, position the cursor where you want the preview to begin, then press the spacebar. Once you have listened to it, you can adjust the volume of the track or add effects to further refine it. See Adobe Audition Help for information on adjusting the volume of a track or adding effects to it. As mentioned earlier, you can add up to 128 tracks. To add and adjust more audio tracks, repeat steps 2 through 5.

Import the video into Adobe Premiere Pro.

Once you are satisfied with the mix, choose File > Save Mixdown To Video As. Navigate to a location to save your file, name it, and click Save. You can save the file only as an .AVI file. Then, import the file into your Adobe Premiere Pro project and drag it to the Timeline window. The file appears as you mixed it in Adobe Audition.

If you need to remix the file, select it in the Timeline window and choose Edit > Edit Original to open it again in Adobe Audition. Modify the file, save it, and it will update in Adobe Premiere Pro. You can extend the functionality of the Edit Original command by configuring Adobe Audition to link mixdown files with related session files. Simply choose Options > Settings, click the Data tab, and select Embed Project Link Data For Edit Original Functionality. Then, when you save mixdown files, select Save Extra Non-audio Information.

Interactive Fit Text to Path Tool

2010-04-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

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The applications and features described in this tutorial require CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or newer to be installed.

Since CorelDRAW X3, it's easier than ever before to attach text to a path with precision — a common effect used in creating signs and logos. The interactive Fit Text to Path tool lets users simply select text, move the pointer along a path, and click to set the text's position. Users can also easily control the text's offset distance from the path.

In addition, users can scale the text after it has been placed on a path by simply selecting both the text and the path and dragging one of the handles.

Using the interactive Fit Text to Path tool

Click the Freehand tool, and draw a curved line to use as a path.
Click the Text tool, click anywhere in the drawing window, and type.
Click Text > Fit Text To Path.
The pointer changes to the Fit Text to Path pointer. As you move the pointer along the path, a preview of where the text will be fitted is displayed.
Move the pointer along the path, and click to fit the text.
With a closed path, the text is centered along the path. With an open path, the text flows from the point of insertion.
On the property bar, adjust the value in the Distance From Path list box.
On the property bar, adjust the value in the Horizontal Offset list box.
In the Mirror Text area on the property bar, use the Mirror Horizontal or Mirror Vertical buttons to choose the text's orientation.

Powerful CorelDRAW Shaping Commands for Corner Effects

2010-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

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The applications and features described in this tutorial require CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or newer to be installed.

The three new shaping commands available since CorelDRAW X3 enable you to apply corner effects to vector paths, eliminating what would otherwise be a time-consuming manual operation. You can now instantly apply fillet, scallop, and chamfer shaping commands to create curved, reverse-curved, or beveled effects at specified distances across an entire path or at the node level. These time-saving shortcuts will enable you to create a variety of complex effects for object corners, such as the one shown below.

In this optical illusion of an intertwining and overlapping path, a series of rectangular shapes were used as the framework for a continuous closed-outline object. The outline was thickened and converted to an object. Then, fillet and scallop commands were applied to specific corners (shown below). The overlapping illusion was created by using carefully placed white rectangles. Let's take a look at a few more practical examples and explore how these different effects can be applied in other common tasks.

Fillet for curved corner effects

The filleted corner effect applies uniform and concentric roundness around a point at a specific radius, enabling you to convert a sharp corner to a rounded corner. The filleted corner is a common design effect.

In the example shown below, an optical illusion is created by rounding one or more corners of a carefully placed series of rectangles. To create the illusion of bent wire or tubing, specific corners were filleted with values either equal to, or half of, the width of the rectangles. A white outline was then applied to visually separate the brown-filled shapes.

In the example shown below, the outline shape of a cactus was created from combined rectangular outlines. The welded rectangles were broken apart at the base and a simple thick outline was applied. The outer corners of the cactus branches were rounded by using the fillet command, which creates the effect much faster and more accurately than simply combining rectangles with rounded corners.

Scallop for reverse rounded corners

The scalloped corner effect instantly applies concentric reverse-rounded corners to objects that result in a seashell-like effect, which is essentially the opposite of the filleted effect. Like the fillet command, the scallop command can be applied at specific radius values. Although not as commonly used as the rounded corners, the scallop effect is equally as useful in eliminating the time required to manually create similar effects. In the example shown below, certain objects in this arrangement were given scalloped corner effects along with alternating bitmap fills to create a wood pattern tile.

A closer examination (shown below) shows the shaping effect at the corners of the tile.

In another example of scalloped corners, this matted photo uses scalloped corner effects to frame a photo subject. To create the cutout shape, the rotated square in the center was combined with a larger rectangle. The drop shadow applied to a duplicate object simulates the depth between the matte and the photo surface, while a copy of the original scalloped corner square was enlarged and outlined to emphasize the cutout shape.

Chamfer for flat corners

The chamfered corner effect applies a simple bevel concentrically around a point at a distance, enabling you to convert a sharp corner to a flattened corner. The chamfered corner is perhaps the most versatile in drawing, enabling you to quickly convert sharp corners to precise and uniformly angled corners with a single click.

In the example shown below, the teeth of a mechanical gear were created from a simple star shape. Using the Polygon tool, a 2-inch square, 20-point star outline with a sharpness of 53 was created and converted to curves. A chamfer shaping command set to a distance of 0.2 inches was applied to instantly bevel all corners on the object. By varying the object size, points, sharpness, and chamfer distance, you can use this same technique to quickly create any gear shape.

How corner effects work

As mentioned earlier, fillet, scallop, and chamfer effects enable you to apply rounded, reverse-rounded, or flat effects (respectively) to the angled corners on an open or closed path. You can apply the effects at specific distances (shown below).

The effects are applied using the familiar docker interface (shown below), much like the trim, weld, and intersect shaping commands. To open the docker, choose Windows > Dockers > Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer. This simple docker includes an Operation list box to choose the effect style, a field to specify the Distance or radius, and an Apply button

If you're new to applying docker effects, you can get your feet wet with corner effects by following these simple steps:

Use the Pick tool to select an object. Choose a simple object comprised of straight line segments, such as a rectangle converted to curves or straight line segments comprising an open or closed path created with the Bezier tool.
If it isn't already open, choose Window > Dockers > Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer to access the corner effects.
Choose a style from the Operation list box, type a radius or distance value (shown below), and click the Apply button.

That's it, you're done. Notice the corner effect you selected is applied to all points where corner nodes joining straight lines exist on your object (shown below).

Using the above steps applies the effect you selected across the entire shape. There is, however, a second method you can use to apply a more localized effect to specific points on your shape. This will enable you to selectively apply corner effects without affecting all corners at once. Here's how to do it:

Use the Shape tool to create a simple object comprised of straight line segments fashioned into an open or closed path.
Click to choose one of the path nodes or Shift-click to select multiple nodes on the object to make a node selection (shown below).

On the Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer docker, choose a style from the Operation list box, type a radius or distance value, and click the Apply button (shown below).

Your effect is applied (shown below). Notice that this time the effect was applied only to the corner node(s) you selected.

There are some considerations you'll want to keep in mind as you apply your corner effects. These include things such as the usual object suitability, practical limitations, and alert dialog boxes you may encounter as you become more familiar with the Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer commands. Here are a few guidelines you may wish to follow before applying your corner effects:

Size matters (really) - If the distance or radius value you're attempting to apply to your object is larger than the object corner(s) can accommodate, the effect will not be applied. Instead, CorelDRAW will display a warning dialog box (shown below) enabling you to proceed with the compatible corner effects only, or decline the command.

Use only straight segments - Corner effects can only be applied to corners joined by straight line segments. This means that if you attempt to apply a corner effect to an ellipse-shaped object or a shape involving curved segments, the corners involving the curve segments will not be involved in the effect.
Curve paths only please - Although the terminology may be confusing to vector-drawing newcomers, a curve path is simply a series of nodes joined by line segments that have no dynamic effects applied. Corner effects can only be applied to undistorted open or closed vector curve paths, which means that objects with distortions applied with the Interactive Distortion or Interactive Envelope tools and dynamic objects created with the Rectangle, Star, Perfect Shape, Artistic Media, or Text tools are ineligible unless first converted to curves. If you attempt to apply a corner effect to an object created with one of these tools, CorelDRAW will display a friendly reminder (shown below) enabling you to automatically convert the object or decline the command. You can easily convert any object to curves by right-clicking the object and choosing Convert to Curves from the pop-up menu, by choosing Arrange > Convert to Curves, or by using the Ctrl+Q shortcut.

Control objects are compatible - You can apply corner effects to objects acting as control objects that have had effects applied with existing dynamic effect tools ¾ such as Interactive Blend, Interactive Contour, Interactive Drop Shadow, and Interactive Extrude tools. Provided, of course, that the objects are curve objects (or can easily be converted to curves).
Corner effects are not dynamic - Corner effects applied with the Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer docker are not dynamic, which means you cannot edit the properties of a corner shape once it has been applied.
Sticky docker values - CorelDRAW stores the last-used distance or radius value for each corner effects in the docker as the default. This means as you switch between corner effect styles, the values may change. It may be worthwhile to re-check your values before clicking the Apply button.

Like other invaluable effects in CorelDRAW, the new fillet, scallop, and chamfer shaping commands help you to solve common drawing challenges without compromising accuracy. Now that you've explored the possibilities, I'm sure you'll agree that working yourself into a corner doesn't get much better than this.

Taking Corel PowerTRACE for a Test Drive

2010-04-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

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The applications and features described in this tutorial require CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or newer to be installed.

Someone hands you a printed logo, when what you really need is a digital vector file-preferably in CorelDRAW® (CDR) format. If you've run into this scenario before, you may already know how time consuming the manual conversion process can be. Adapting images from the physical world into the digital vector realm often requires hours of work and a mastery of drawing tools. If you own CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, you've got a powerful tool to help with the heavy lifting! In this tutorial, you'll discover how easy it is to convert pixels to vector shapes with Corel® PowerTRACE™. We'll tackle a bitmap-tracing project that will enable you to quickly produce an accurate two-color vector version of a logo design. Along the way, you'll learn how to use many of the powerful new features engineered into Corel PowerTRACE that make the process fast and efficient.

A Primer on Corel PowerTRACE

If this is your first tracing experience using Corel PowerTRACE, some advance orientation may help demystify the tools involved. With a bitmap selected in CorelDRAW, Corel PowerTRACE becomes available through the Trace Bitmap command on the property bar.

You can instantly trace a selected bitmap using default settings by choosing Quick Trace from the Trace Bitmap selector, which applies the trace without opening the PowerTRACE window. There are also six modes that you can choose from depending on your tracing requirements. The window (shown below) is divided into two basic areas. The left side of the window displays a preview of your trace results while the right side features two option areas.

Across the top of the window are viewing and zoom tools, and across the bottom below the progress bar are Undo, Redoand Reset buttons (as shown below).

If you have previous experience applying bitmap filter effects in CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT®, the PowerTRACE tools will seem like familiar territory. The Options tab is divided into several key areas including the trace controls, color mode and trace options. The Trace result details area (shown below) plays a key role in providing critical information as you adjust the tracing options. The Colors tab includes controls that let you manipulate the color space of the traced results. Follow the tutorial steps below to explore how easily these tools can be applied and modified to produce exactly the tracing results you need.

Before You Begin

The bitmap image you are tracing in Corel PowerTRACE will very likely come from one of two sources: a file that is either prepared in a drawing or bitmap-editing application and exported to one of the many available bitmap formats from such an application, or; a file acquired via an image-capturing device such as a scanner or digital camera.

The source of your bitmap image can significantly influence its inherent quality. Software-sourced bitmaps are the best to work with, while scanned images often require some refinement before they can be accurately traced. In the steps that follow, we'll look at both scenarios.

Download and extract these sample logos saved in Corel PHOTO-PAINT file format to get started. Both are CMYK bitmaps that have an image resolution of 200 dpi and depict the same logo. The first version we'll trace was exported from a drawing program (CorelDRAW) while the second one was scanned by using a consumer-brand flatbed scanner. Our goal will be to produce a useable vector version of the logo prepared in two PANTONE® spot ink colors.

Tracing an Exported Bitmap

In a new CorelDRAW document, import the sample_logo_1.cpt bitmap (shown below) onto your blank page.

By default, the imported bitmap is selected with the Pick tool. Click the Trace Bitmap flyout on the property bar, and choose Logo (as shown below).

Notice that Corel PowerTRACE immediately launches and produces a preliminary trace of the bitmap. The Smoothing and Detail sliders at the top of the Options tab are automatically set. The preview window currently displays a split-screen preview of the Before and After results (as shown below), and the Trace result details area indicates that there are 10 curves comprised of 169 nodes and 3 colors.

Since the background of our logo sample is white, Corel PowerTRACE automatically detects and eliminates the surrounding background color. To remove the white area in the interior of the bitmap, enable the Remove color from entire image check box (shown below). Notice the Trace result details area now indicates that only 7 curves are detected.

To check the tracing accuracy, choose Wireframe Overlay from the Preview list box. Use single left-button clicks to zoom in and single right-button clicks to zoom out to examine the accuracy of the traced paths. If needed, use the Transparency slider to adjust the visibility of the original bitmap. A close look at the upper-left corner (shown below) reveals the bitmap edges have been accurately traced.

Click the Colors tab to examine the color results of the trace. Notice that three CMYK colors are listed at the top (as shown next). Our next step will be to specify these colors as PANTONE spot ink colors.

Click the turquoise color in the list, and click the Edit button to open the Select Color dialog box (shown below). Click the Palettes tab, and choose PANTONE(R) solid coated from the Palette menu. Notice the PANTONE ink color equivalent of the CMYK value is automatically selected - in this case PANTONE 318 C.

Enter 318 in the Name field, and click OK to close the dialog box and apply PANTONE 318 C as the new color. Notice the color list (shown below) and the trace preview is updated to indicate the ink color you applied.

Click the dark blue color in the list, and repeat the previous steps to change this color to PANTONE 274 C. You are now ready to accept the trace results.

Click the OK button in the Corel PowerTRACE window to return to your CorelDRAW page. By default, Corel PowerTRACE places the tracing objects as a group directly on top of your original bitmap. Drag the group to one side to see both the original bitmap and the trace objects (as shown next). The vector version of your two-color logo is now complete. If you wish, delete the bitmap version from your CorelDRAW page.

Tracing a Scanned Bitmap

In the previous steps, you traced a bitmap that originated from a drawing or bitmap-editing application. Next, we'll examine how to work with the same logo image scanned from a color hard copy and saved in the same bitmap format.

To begin the process, import sample_logo_2.cpt into your CorelDRAW document, and choose Detailed logo from the Trace Bitmap flyout on the property bar. Corel PowerTRACE launches and a preliminary trace is immediately produced. Now the Trace result details area shows that 113 curves, 7707 nodes, and 15 colors are detected (as shown below). At this point we could move the Smoothing and Detail sliders to adjust the trace results and likely produce an excellent trace, but here's a chance for you to learn an alternate strategy.

To refine our scanned image and improve our trace results, we're going to apply a bitmap filter. Open sample_logo_2.cpt in Corel PHOTO-PAINT. As you can see, this version includes hard copy and scanning imperfections (see below). Eliminating these anomalies will drastically improve the tracing results.

Choose Effects > Blur > Smart Blur to open the Smart Blur dialog box (shown below). Set the slider to 60, and click OK to apply the effect. This operation will eliminate most - but not all - of the image's imperfections.

Choose Effects > Noise > Remove Noise to open the Remove Noise dialog box (shown below). Leave the Auto check box enabled, and click the OK button to apply the filter. This will eliminate virtually all of the remaining imperfections. Save the image, and return to CorelDRAW.

In CorelDRAW, import the newly adjusted version of your scanned sample logo onto a blank page. With the image selected, choose Detailed logo from the Trace Bitmap flyout on the property bar (as shown below) to demonstrate other key Corel PowerTRACE features.

Corel PowerTRACE opens and displays the trace results. Once again the Smoothing and Detail sliders settings are optimized. With Detailed logo selected, notice the Trace result details area now displays 11 curves, 236 nodes, and 9 colors detected (as shown below).

Click the Colors tab to view the colors detected in the trace. Hold down your Ctrl key, and click on each of the turquoise colors in the list to select all three colors. Click the Merge button located below the list to combine these colors into a single color (as shown below). With the single color still selected, click the Edit button to open the Select Color dialog box, and change this color to PANTONE 318 C as you did in the previous steps.

Repeat the previous step for the navy blue colors in the list changing them to a single color. Edit the leftover color by changing it to PANTONE 274 C. Merge the remaining white colors in the list.
Return to the Options tab and click to enable the Remove color from entire image check box to eliminate the interior background shapes. Notice the curve count is reduced. You are now ready to accept the trace results.
Click OK to close Corel PowerTRACE and return to your CorelDRAW document. Drag the grouped trace objects to the right of the original bitmap and examine the results (shown below). Your tracing task is complete. If you wish, delete the bitmap version from your CorelDRAW page.

Although each bitmap may require its own special treatments, you can see how powerful and easy-to-use the Corel PowerTRACE features are. In only a few short steps, you've learned how to use Corel PowerTRACE to produce an accurately traced version of a complex logo using only a low-resolution bitmap as the source.

Fast ways to copy and position objects

2010-04-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

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The applications and features described in this tutorial require CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or newer to be installed.

If you want to copy one or more objects within CorelDRAW®, you can use a faster method than copying and pasting. Here are two fast ways to copy objects:

Use the Duplicate command.
Use the new Step and Repeat docker to create and position multiple copies at one time.

Let's take a closer look at these options.

Duplicating objects

Duplicating an object with CorelDRAW creates a copy of a selected object and positions the copy according to the offset distance that you set. Unlike copying and pasting, duplicating does not place a copy of the object on the Clipboard, and it allows you to control where the copy is placed in your drawing. Since CorelDRAW X3, setting an offset distance for the duplicate is easier than ever.

To duplicate an object

Select one or more objects.
Click Edit > Duplicate (or Ctrl + D).
When you duplicate objects for the first time in CorelDRAW, the Duplicate offset dialog box appears. To specify the distance between the duplicate and the original object along the x-axis and y-axis, type values in the Horizontal offset and Vertical offset boxes.

Note: Offset values of 0 place the duplicate on top of the original; positive offset values place the duplicate up and to the right of the original; and negative offset values place the duplicate down and to the left of the original.

You can change the default offset for duplicates at any time. To do this, click Tools > Options, click General in the Document list of categories, and type values in the Horizontal offset and Vertical offset boxes.

Creating and positioning multiple copies

The new Step and repeat docker in CorelDRAW lets you create multiple copies of an object and control how they are positioned.

To create and position multiple copies of an object

Select one or more objects.
Click Edit > Step and repeat.
In the Step and repeat docker, type a value in the Number of copies box.
In the Horizontal settings and Vertical settings areas, specify the settings you want.

Figure 1
The figure above shows the new Step and Repeat docker.

Examples:

Figure 2
The Step and Repeat docker settings for the figure above are:
Horizontal Settings: Spacing between objects, Distance = 0.25"; Direction = Right
Vertical Settings: No offset

Figure 3
The Step and Repeat docker settings for the figure above are:
Horizontal Settings: No offset
Vertical Settings: Offset, Distance = –0.5"

Figure 4
The Step and Repeat docker settings for the figure above are:
Horizontal Settings: Offset, Distance = 0.25"
Vertical Settings: Offset, Distance = –0.25"

Creating a marketing brochure with CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite

2010-04-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

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1. Preparation

The first step is to collect all your images in a folder and then make sure that they are all in the CMYK colour mode, which is the mode that is used for professional printing.

Open Corel PHOTO-PAINT
Select all the images in the folder by selecting the File menu | Open
For each image, select the Images menu | Convert to CMYK Color
Select the File menu | Save as
Choose Tif as the type of file format

All the images are now ready for the printing process. As a later check you can always get information about the colour mode when you click on an image in CorelDRAW. You can then see the information about the image in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.

If the image is in RGB bitmap mode, select the Bitmap-menu | Mode | CMYK Colour. The second step is to draw the graphics:

The door
The light bulb
The starburst offer symbol

2. Drawing the background (a door)

The door will look like a modern, simple metallic door with glass. Open CorelDRAW. Start by setting up the page size:

Create a new document by selecting the File-menu | New.
Edit the page size in the Property Bar:

The document will be a handy size, a little wider than an A5 page.
Create a rectangle that covers the whole page, by double-clicking the Rectangle Tool.
You now need to create the illusion of a metallic surface with the Interactive Fill Tool.
Drag horizontally across the rectangle with the Interactive Fill Tool, and you create a gradient fill that needs to be edited. As default it will be black and white, and linear. You can edit the fill type in the Property Bar.
When you have changed the fill to a Conical Gradient you need to change the colours of the fill.
Select the Interactive Fill Tool once more, and you will see a half-circle with dotted lines in the rectangle.
Drag a medium grey from the colour palette, which is located at the right hand side of your screen, to the first square in the dotted half circle. This way, you change the start colour. Drag a darker grey to the opposite square. And finally drag a white colour on to the dotted line. You should end up with a result like shown above.
Experiment with more colours in the gradient fill by dragging more colours on to the dotted line.
Create a copy of the rectangle by selecting the Edit menu | Copy and then the same menu and Paste.
Change the size of this copy by clicking on it and dragging the left line to the right, the right line to the left and the bottom line upwards, creating something like this:
Change the gradient fill to a dark grey to white linear gradient fill, by deleting all the colours you have inserted, until you have only two colour handles left. Select “linear” from the property bar.
Create another copy of this rectangle, apply a dark blue colour by clicking on the colour in the Colour Palette, and change the width and height to make it like shown below:
Finally you must create the door handle:
Select the rectangle tool, and create a rectangle.
Edit the size in the Property Bar to 5 x 35 mm.
Round the corners by changing the corner radius in the property bar to 50:
Apply a linear gradient fill to the handle.
Apply a shadow to the handle by selecting the Interactive Drop Shadow Tool and dragging from the middle of the handle to the right.
Remove any black outline on the handle by right-clicking the cross field in the Colour Palette.

This drawing of the door will be used as a basis for all the following 7 pages, but in slightly different ways.

3. Working with multiple pages and backgrounds

Select the Layout menu | Insert Page and add 7 pages to the document.
Select all on the first page by selecting the Edit menu | Select All Objects and make a copy of this.
Click on page 8 in the page-section in the bottom of the screen.
Paste the copy by selecting the Edit menu | Paste and the click on the Top Mirror Button in the Property Bar.

The second page will have the metal background only.

Click on the background rectangle on page 1, copy it and add it to page 2.
Page 3 will have almost the same background, but as this page will contain text that might be difficult to read, you must maintain the middle rectangle. So copy all rectangles from page 1 and paste them on page 3. Delete the top rectangle and apply a white colour to the remaining middle rectangle.
Fill pages 4-7 with the same backgrounds as the front page. Just change the colour of the top rectangle to white.
Delete the door handle on these pages, as we are already inside the shop.

Now you have created the basic layout of the brochure and only need to add content to the pages, which can consist of product pictures, informative text and graphic elements.

4. Drawing a starburst offer symbol

In this section, you will learn how to create a starburst symbol, which will be used on page 2:

How to create the starburst symbol:

Select the Star Tool in the list of drawing tools.
Drag with the tool to create a star that is twice as long as it is tall.
Edit the star by changing the settings in the Property Bar.
Apply a yellow fill to the star, and a red outline with a width of 2 mm. You change colours on the outline by right-clicking a colour in the colour palette. You change the width in the Outline Width field in the Property Bar.
Select the Text Tool and write some text, and place the text on the star.
Place the star in the middle of page 2.

5. Drawing a lightbulb

Now we will create the light bulb to illustrate the generation of ideas.

Creating the light bulb:

Start the drawing of the light bulb by drawing a circle. Select the Ellipse Tool
Drag with the Ellipse tool across the page.
Edit the size of the ellipse in the Property Bar:
Apply a radial gradient fill to the circle, starting with white and ending with yellow.
To create the bottom part of the bulb, you need to create some rounded rectangles.
Select the Rectangle Tool and drag a rectangle on the page.
Set the size to 12 x 3 mm in the Property Bar.
Apply a linear grey to white gradient fill to the rectangle.
Round the corners by editing them in the property bar.
Copy the rectangle 4 times and place them like shown below.
Create a smaller black rectangle, and place it at the bottom of the light bulb.
Place the light bulb in the middle of page 3.

6. Converting a drawing into a silhouette

Make a copy of the light bulb, select it and click the Weld button in the Property Bar. In this way you connect all the shapes into one symbol. Change the colour of this symbol to nothing, by clicking the Cross field in the Colour Palette.

Use this silhouette in different places in the brochure.

The basic elements are now in place. You just need to add photos and text to finish the brochure.

7. Adding photos in random and standardised sizes

You can add photos in different ways:

On page 2 we will add images of random sizes.

To place the photos on the page, select the File-menu | Import, and select all the photos.
Click on the page, and the photo is placed in the original size. Drag before you click, and in this way you can manually determine the size of the photo.
Resize the photos by dragging in a corner handle. Resize the photos in a randomly order.
On page 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 the photos will be placed in equal sizes. The easiest way to do this is to place the photos in placeholders:

Create a rectangle of your desired size. On the first page the size is 35 x 22mm. On the other pages the size is 55 x 40 mm.
Import the first picture to the first page, and drag the cursor around the rectangle, so it is just a little bigger than the rectangle.

Select the Pick Tool and move the picture so you can see the rectangle again.
Select the Effects menu | Powerclip | Place inside Container, and a big black arrow will occur.
Click on the rectangle and the picture is placed inside the container.
Continue with all the other pictures.

8. Creating text areas and defining style templates

There are two ways to insert text in CorelDRAW: Artistic and Paragraph text.

You can create Artistic text by clicking somewhere on the page with the Text Tool. This is mostly for headlines or single lined text like on the front page and back page of the brochure.

You can edit the text like in all other programs by selecting the text and editing the font, the size etc. in the Property Bar.

When you need multi lined text you must drag the Text Tool across the page, and you will create a placeholder for Paragraph text.

Or you can draw a rectangle of a specific size, and then click inside the rectangle with the Text Tool.

On page 3, the text container has a size of 145 x 160 mm. This container should have 2 columns in the text to make it easy to read. The light bulb is placed inside the text, with the text floating around the bulb.

Two column text

When you have filled the container with text, select the Text menu | Columns and 2 columns in the Column Settings dialog box.
Place the light bulb on top of the text, select the bulb and click the Wrap Paragraph Text button in the Property Bar. Select Straddle Text and 5 mm in the Text Wrap field.
Continue with the text on the other pages.

The text on page 4, 5, 6 and 7 contains product descriptions.

In order to maintain a common look in your marketing materials, it is a good idea to create standard text styles that can be reused. In the product description we have used 4 styles: a headline, body text, paragraph header, bullets and a price style.

To define these styles, select the Window menu | Dockers | Graphics and Text Styles. One of the many dockers appears to the right of the document.

The docker already contains several styles. You apply a style to the text by first selecting the paragraph with the Text Tool, and then by double clicking the appropriate style.

To define a new style, you can right click in the white area of the docker, and then select New | Paragraph Text style. Immediately hereafter you can change the name of the style.

To change the look of the style right click the new style and then select Properties in the list of choices.

Make sure to select the new style, before you click the first Edit button. Now a dialog box opens.

Under the Character tab you can change the look of the characters, e.g. font, size and style.

Under the Paragraph tab you can change the appearance of the whole paragraph, e.g. alignment, spacing between paragraphs and indents.

In the “Effects” area, you can define bulleted text by selecting “Bullet” in the Effect Type dropdown.

To save the style as a template, you must right click in the docker once more, select Template | Save as, and you are now able to place this style file on your computer or the company intranet. To use the style, your colleagues need to load the template into their documents.

9. Preparing the brochure for print

The first times you send your brochure to a service bureau, it is propably best to let the people there do the prepress work for you.

Select the File menu | Prepare for Service Bureau, and a small Wizard opens to guide you along in the process.
When you have followed the Wizard, you will have created a folder with copies of all the files.
Send this folder to the service bureau.

Pixel View & Enhanced Web Graphics

2010-04-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

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Working With Pixels

Pixel View displays a pixel-based rendition of the drawing, which allows you to zoom in on an area of an object, then position and size the object more precisely. This view also lets you see what the drawing will look like when it is exported to a bitmap file format, even if the objects are vector.

Snapping to Pixels

In CorelDRAW, click File > New
In the New Document dialog box, choose Web from the Preset destination list box and click OK
On the toolbar, choose 800% from the Zoom levels list box
Click View and ensure that Snap to Pixels is not enabled. (A check mark beside the Snap to Pixels command indicates that it is enabled)
Draw an object
Click View > Snap to Pixels
Draw another object

As you move around the grid, notice how you are presented with snap points, such as pixel edge, pixel corner, and pixel center. This allows for more precise control.

Changing the Color and Opacity of a Pixel Grid

To change the color and opacity of the pixel grid, Click View > Setup > Grid and Ruler Setup

In the Pixel grid area, open the Color picker, and select a color
Move the Opacity slider to the right to increase the opacity of the grid

You can disable the Show pixel grid at 800% or higher zoom check box if you do not want the pixel view to automatically display zoomed in at 800% or higher.

By using the pixel preview mode when designing for the Web, you can ensure that what you see is exactly what you will get. There’s no longer any need to guess.

Exporting graphics for the Web

The Export for Web dialog box provides a single access point for common export controls, eliminating the need to open additional dialog boxes when preparing a file for export. It also lets you compare the results of various filter settings before you commit to an output format, making it easier to achieve optimal results. Let’s take a look. The image below is the Export for Web dialog box. This feature is available in CorelDRAW® and Corel® PHOTO-PAINT™.

The Export for Web dialog box

In CorelDRAW, with your design on the page, Click File > Export For Web
In the Export For Web dialog box, click the Four Previews button
Click in the upper right preview pane
Choose Medium quality JPEG from the Presets list box
Note the difference in file sizes between the other windows

What File Format Is Best

CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT allow you to export the following Web-compatible file formats: GIF, PNG and JPEG.

GIF
GIF images are best used for line drawings, text, images with few colors, or images with sharp edges, such as scanned black-and-white images or logos. GIF offers several advanced graphic options, including transparent backgrounds, interlaced images and animation. It also lets you create custom palettes for the image.

PNG
PNG files are best for various image types, including photos and line drawings. The PNG file format (unlike the GIF and JPEG formats) supports the alpha channel. This allows you to save transparent images with superior results.

JPEG
Photos and scanned images are best exported as JPEG files. JPEG files use file compression to store an approximation of an image, which results in some loss of image data, but does not compromise the quality of most photographs. You can choose the image quality when you save an image — the higher the image quality, the larger the file size.

Using Presets

You can export Web-compatible files using preset settings. This allows you to optimize the file, without the need to modify individual settings. However, you can also customize the settings to produce a specific result. For example, you can adjust its color, display quality, and file size. Being able to use presets is useful if you are exporting a number of images and want to ensure consistency throughout your project.

Customizing Options for Exporting a JPG

From the Export to Web dialog box, choose JPEG from the Format list box. You have the option to perform one or more of the following tasks:

Settings Area

Control Color Mode, Quality, Sub-format and the ability to Blur the transition between adjacent pixels of different colors. Also in the Settings area are the options to overprint blacks when exporting to CMYK and apply a matte color to the object’s background to help blend the edges of anti-aliased objects.

Advanced Area

To load the JPEG file gradually in certain Web browsers so that it displays only portions of the image before it finishes loading, enable the Progressive check box. Use the optimal encoding method to produce the smallest JPEG file size and apply the document-color settings. You also have the color-proof settings.

Customizing Options for Exporting Palette-based Bitmaps (PNG & GIF)

From the Export to Web dialog box, choose GIF or PNG from the Format list box. You have the option to perform one or more of the following tasks:

Settings Area
In the Settings area, choose a color palette, specify a dithering setting, and you can also sample a color and add it to a color palette by clicking on the Eyedropper tool. This is especially helpful if you have reduced the number of colors in an image (to reduce file size) and realize that a specific color is missing that you would like to add. One other feature here is that you can double-click on any of the colors visible, and modify them.

Advanced Area
Here you have the ability to set the image to be Anti Aliased, embed the color profile or set it as interlaced.

Now, I should point out that if you are sending out the file as a 24-bit RGB PNG, not all of these options will be available. For more information on this topic, look to the help files within CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT.

Photo Effects - To make you look like a photo professional

2010-04-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Sorce

Vibrance

The Vibrance filter allows you to increase the saturation in an RGB image without causing clipping or “blowing out” the image. Clipping occurs when an area of an image is too bright and the color details in the area are lost, which can occur when you increase the saturation in an image indiscriminately. The Vibrance filter adjusts saturation proportionally by increasing the saturation of the less-saturated colors more than that of the saturated colors. This filter is useful for adjusting the saturation of images that include a person in front of a detailed background. For example, it allows you to boost the saturation of the background details without adversely affecting the skin tone of the person in the image.

From the Adjust menu, select Vibrance. There are two sliders, one for Vibrance and another for Saturation. It is simply a matter of moving these sliders until you obtain a result that you are pleased with.

Grayscale

The Grayscale filter lets you produce a black and white image without changing the color mode. It also allows you to adjust individual colors for conversion, which modifies the intensity of the gray tones in the image when it’s converted. In addition, you can tint the image by modifying the hue and saturation. For example, you can add a tint to an image to produce a Sepia effect.

The Grayscale adjustment dialog box is a bit more involved than the Vibrance adjustment, however it is just as easy. Now, one point that I should make here is that using this feature to create a grayscale image, is not the same as going to Image > Convert to Grayscale. The Image > Convert to Grayscale creates an 8-bit image where Grayscale adjustment only works on 24-bit RGB images and after it is applied, the image is still 24-bit RGB.

From the Adjust menu, select Grayscale. You will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to preview a Before and After image. There are six sliders that adjust for the different color channels, RGB & CMY. If you choose to, you can also apply a tint to the image by selecting the Tint checkbox. This then gives you the further ability to adjust the Hue and Saturation slider.

Photo Filter

The Camera special effects let you simulate the effect produced by photographic filters, such as spot filters and diffusion filters. You can also add lighting effects, such as sun flares or spot lights. The Photo filter lets you simulate the effect of placing a colored filter in front of a camera lens. You can choose the color of the filter and then adjust the color density you also have the option to preserve luminosity.

Tone Curve

The Tone curve filter lets you perform color and tonal corrections by adjusting either individual color channels or the composite channel (all channels combined). Individual pixel values are plotted along a tone curve that appears in a graph and represents the balance between shadows (bottom of graph), midtones (middle of graph), and highlights (top of graph). The x-axis of the graph represents the tonal values of the original image; the y-axis of the graph represents the adjusted tonal values.

The tone curve shows the balance between the shadows, midtones, and highlights of an image. The original (x) and adjusted (y) pixel values are displayed side by side when you drag the tone curve.

You can fix problem areas by adding nodes to the tone curve and dragging the curve. If you want to adjust specific areas in an image, you can use the Eyedropper tool and select the areas in the image window. You can then drag the nodes that appear on the tone curve to achieve the effect you want.

The histogram lets you view the adjusted tonal range and evaluate the results. For more information about histograms, see "Using histograms” in the Online help of Corel PHOTO-PAINT.

To fine-tune your adjustments, you can choose a curve style from the Style list box. For example, you can redraw the curve by using freehand lines or straight line segments.

You can adjust the color and tone of an image by applying a preset. To access a preset, click the Open button to the right of the Presets box. You can also save tone settings as presets to use with other images.

Whether you are a professional photographer looking to enhance your images, or an amateur looking for professional results, these effects are sure to make your images stand out. Take a few moments to play around with them and see just how easy and effective they can be.

Using the Document Color Palette

2010-04-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

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Disabling the Automatic Adding of Colors

In the top left corner of the Document palette, click the fly-out button, and click Automatically update.

You can also disable the automatic adding of color by clicking Tools > Options, clicking Color palette in the Customization list of categories, and disabling the Automatically update the document palette check box.

Manually Add Colors

There are a number of different ways that you can add a color or colors to the Document Palette. It really depends on the source of the color. These options include:

Add a color from another color palette by dragging a color from an open color palette to the Document palette
Add a color from a bitmap image by clicking the Eyedropper tool, in the Document Palette and click the color in an image
Add multiple colors from an image by clicking the Eyedropper tool, hold down Ctrl, and then click the image until you add the colors that you want
Add multiple colors from an image or object by dragging it from the drawing window to the Document palette
Select an object or multiple objects. In the top left corner of the Document palette, click the fly-out button, and click Add from selection

As objects are created, the colors within those objects are automatically added to the Document Palette.

As mentioned above, there are a number of different ways that you can add a color, or colors to the Document Palette.

Add Colors from a Bitmap

Dragging a bitmap on top of the Document Palette presents a dialogue box that allows you to select the number of colors from the bitmap that you want in the palette. Select the number of colors and click the OK button.

Removing Colors from The Document Palette

There are two ways that you can remove a color or colors from the Document Palette. The first would be to select a color in the Document Palette and then in the top left corner of the Document palette, click the fly-out button, and click Delete color.

The other way would be to reset the palette. To do this, in the top left corner of the Document palette, click the fly-out button, and click Palette > Reset palette.

It is very easy to see how this can be a very powerful feature. If you are creating a single file, corporate identity package or just want to maintain consistency across a number of projects, the Document Palette is one of the best and easiest ways to achieve this.

Advanced Graphics with Mesh Fills

2010-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

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Applying a mesh to an object

A mesh fill can be applied only to closed objects or a single path. If you want to apply a mesh fill
to a complex object, you must first create a mesh-filled object and combine it with the complex object to form a PowerClip object.

Creating our object

Let’s start with our object. We are going to draw an ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (F7) from the Toolbox. Then from theArrange menu, we will select Convert to Curves (Ctrl+Q).

Once you have converted the ellipse to a curve, use the Shape tool (F10) and move the control handles to create the shape that you want. (Fig 1)

Next, we are going to give this shape a fill. I have used the Interactive Fill tool (G) to create a linear fountain fill and then I removed the outline on the object. (Fig 2)

Apply a Mesh to an object

In the toolbox, click the Mesh Fill tool.
Type the number of rows and columns in the Grid size box on the Property bar and press Enter. For this sample object, we use a value of 2 horizontally and 4 vertically. (Fig 3)
You can then adjust the grid nodes much the same way that you would adjust the nodes of a curve with theShape tool (F10).

You can add intersecting lines by double-clicking in a space, or you can add a single line by double-clicking a line. If you double-click intersecting lines, they will be removed.

Adding Colors to the Mesh

Now that we have created the object and applied the mesh, it is time to bring it to life and see just how powerful this tool really is. We will start by dragging colors from the color palette onto the points of the mesh.

To fill a mesh with color

Select a mesh-filled object.
In the toolbox, click the Mesh Fill tool.
Drag a color from the color palette to a patch in the object.

To color an intersecting node in a mesh fill, click an intersection node, and then click a color on the color palette. If you want to add 10% of a specific color to a node, select the node and then hold the Ctrl key while clicking on a color in the color palette.

By holding down the left mouse button on one of the colors in the color palette, you will be given a larger choice of colors to chose from.

Dragging a color from the color palette and dropping it onto an area bounded by mesh lines will cause the color to completely fill the area and blend into the surrounding areas. When dropping the color on the node, the color will blend from that point outwards.

Fine Tuning the colors

If the mesh object contains color, adjusting the intersection nodes of the mesh affects how the colors blend together. This can be changed or adjusted with the shape tool.

To smooth the appearance of color in a mesh fill, select a mesh-filled object and in the toolbox, click the Mesh Fill tool, next click the Smooth Mesh Color button on the property bar.

Applying transparencies to a mesh fill

One other feature that has been added is the ability to add transparency to a mesh fill. This is great in that you can now place a texture or other object behind the mesh and with the Transparency tool, adjust the transparency of a node or group of nodes.

To apply transparency to a mesh fill

Select a mesh-filled object.
In the toolbox, click the Mesh fill tool.
Click a node to select part of the mesh.
On the property bar, move the Transparency slider to the right to increase the color transparency.

To complete our design, I have created a shape for the vase and applied a mesh fill with a grid of 7 x 2 and dropped the colors that I want.

To copy this mesh to another object, select the target object – in this case, the top of the vase – and click on the Copy Mesh Fill icon.

This will copy the mesh that I have created. Next, I simply add transparency to the vase, as I did to the petals of the flowers and then I put everything together.

With a little practice, you can see how very easy it is to create realistic designs that will convey the thoughts and emotions that you have in mind.

Motion Tween

2010-02-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

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Make the Car Move

Choose the Selection tool.
Click and drag the car to the right side of the Stage as shown here.

If the Property inspector is not open, choose Window > Properties > Property from the meun to open the Property inspector.
Click Frame 1 of the Car layer.

In the Property inspector, choose Motion in the tween field.

Click Frame 60 of the Car layer.

Choose Insert > Timeline > Keyframe from the menu to make frame 60 a keyframe.
Use the Arrow key to move the car to the left side of the Stage as shown here.

Choose Control > Play from the menu to play the movie. Your car moves across the Stage.

Creating a Symbol

2010-02-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

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You are now ready to turn the graphic (the ellipse) you created into a symbol and store the graphic in the Library. Items stored in the Library can be used later.

Choose the Selection tool.

Click and drag to create a rectangle around the ellipse to select it.
Choose Modify > Convert to Symbol from the menu. The Convert to Symbol dialog box opens.

Type Start Button in the Name field.
Choose Button as the type of behavior.
Click OK.
Choose Window > Library from the menu. The Library panel opens. You should see Start Button in the Library window.

Press the Delete key to delete the ellipse from the Stage. Don�t worry. You have a copy of the Start Button in the Library.

Gradients

When you click a Fill Color box, the Fill dialog box shown here opens.

Gradients show gradations of color. They display on the bottom row of the Fill dialog box. You will use a gradient to create the movie�s sky. But first, you must create the gradient you will use.

To create the gradient:

Click the first Color box on the gradient row.
Choose Window > Color Mixer from the menu. The Color Mixer panel opens.

Choose Linear from the drop-down menu.
Double-click on the first Edit Gradient Range icon. Color boxes appear.

Click the color blue to select blue.
Double-click the second Fill Gradient Range icon. Click the color box and select white.

Click and drag the second Fill Gradient Range icon to the three-quarter point on the Gradient Range slider.
Click the Menu Options icon.
Click Add Swatch. Flash adds the gradient you created to the color box.

The Rectangle Tool

You use the Rectangle Tool to draw rectangles and squares. In this exercise you will create a rectangle and fill it with the gradient you just created. You will then turn the resulting graphic into a symbol and use it later to create the sky.

Choose the Rectangle tool.

Move to the Property inspector. If the Property inspector is not open, choose Window > Properties > Properties from the menu to open it.
Select NoColor in the Stroke color box.

In the Fill color box, select the gradient you created.
Click the Stage and drag diagonally to create a rectangle.

Later you will use the graphic you just created. For now, turn it into a symbol.

Choose the Selection tool.
Click the graphic.
Choose Modify > Convert to Symbol from the menu. The Convert to Symbol dialog box opens.
Type Sky in the Name field.
Choose Graphic as the Behavior.
Click OK to store the graphic in the Library. If the Library is not already open, click Window > Library to open the Library. You can see the graphic in the Library.
Press the Delete key to remove the graphic from the Stage.

How to Use Flash for Night Portraits

2010-02-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

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Night Portraits can be tricky and generally require experimenting with artificial lighting. In this post Christina from ChristinaNichole Photography shares some tips on using Flash for Night Portraits.
As many of us approach the dead of winter, we photographers must deal with our natural light disappearing by 4pm or earlier. The possibility of cool natural lit portraits becomes less and less likely. Still yet, the portrait photographers must go on. Here is a technique for FLASH-lit portraits, inside or outside, after the natural light has all but gone.
Equipment:
SLR, and 1-2 Speed lights.
Step 1: Set Your Camera
You want to shoot on TV with your shutter speed at 1/10-1/30, and your ISO set to somewhere between 200-400. If you have Canon speed lights on ETTL, your flash will automatically adjust itself for the light necessary to compensate for the lack of exposure as set by your camera.
For example:
The first image is no flash. I was set to ISO 200 at 1/10th of a second. Its horribly lit and blurry.
For the second image I have retained the same camera settings, I simply have added one front flash. The slow shutter speed has enabled me to use the ambient light in the scene and this evens out the lighting in the entire image. The flash also “froze” my subject so I don’t have to worry about camera shake.
Step 2: Determine the Look of Your Image
The direction of your flash will determine much about the outcome of your image. For example, in the previous image there was one flash that lit my subject from the front. You can discern this by attention to the direction of the shadows that extend behind our subject.
When the flash comes behind our subject, as in this image, it creates a rim-light halo affect.
Step 3: Set up Your Flash
Play with the angles of your flash. Your flash can be “behind to the right” of your subject, or “directly behind” your subject, and both angles will completely change the look and feel of your portrait.
Your end result will be fun glamour style night portraits!
Don’t be afraid to play around with your flash and your settings. Many creative solutions come from discoveries. Let yourself have fun and relax. When studied and properly used, flash can tend to some fantastic images!

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-flash-for-night-portraits#ixzz0fLRwLLBW

The Night Vision Thing

2010-02-08T23:12:00.001-08:00

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A Night Vision Device (NVD) works by using either image enhancement or thermal imaging techniques. Whichever method is used, photos from night vision devices are instantly recognizable by their greenish glow.

I visited some online stores to study night vision goggles and scopes (research!) and found that images from NVDs also tend to include some noise, some blur, and dark areas near the edges. So I'll incorporate these visual elements into our project to add realism.

Going Gray
The first step is to convert your source file to Grayscale. ChooseImage> Mode> Grayscale.

Once in Grayscale mode we can create our night vision green, which we'll do by applying a Duotone.

Two Shades Of Green
Choose Image> Mode> Duotone.
This will bring up the Duotone Options dialog box. Now we need to pick two different greens. Our Ink 1 green will be 25BF21. Just click on the little color square and enter the number via the Color Picker. You must name your Inks so name this one NVD1 (or whatever you wish). Repeat this for Ink 2 and enter A8D9A7for the color and NVD2 for the name.

We'll go back to RGB mode now. Choose Image> Mode> RGB Color. Next we'll increase some of the light in the source file.

Tweak With Levels
Copy your Background Layer and name it. Select your new layer and choose Image> Adjustments> Levels.

In the Input Level dialog box enter (from left to right): 70, 1.00, and230. This will boost the contrast and give us more of a glow from some of the light.

Selective Blur
Choose your Blur Tool and set it to a low opacity, about 20%. Choose a medium size brush and run it across the bottom of the photo, in this case to make the runway approach lights slightly blurry.

Add Noise
Now we'll add some noise into the file. Choose Filter> Noise> Add Noise. EnterAmount: 3%, Distribution: Uniforn, and make sure Monochromatic is selected.

Levels - 2nd Pass
Choose Image> Adjustments> Levels. This time in the Input Level dialog box move the Left Slider toward the right to darken the image uniformly.

Final Adjustments
Choose the Burn Tool, set it at Midrange, Exposure 50%, and carefully apply your brush in a circular motion to the outside of the image. This gives a nice subtle darkening effect to the edges. Finally choose Hue/Saturation and perform final tweaks by moving the 3 sliders in very small increments.

So Why So Many Steps?
Each NVD photo will come out slightly different because of the specifics of the source file. The point of having so many steps is to give you a chance to tweak the night vision recipe so you can achieve the desired result by experimenting at different key points.

Pixel Fonts To The Rescue

2010-02-08T23:10:00.001-08:00

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Graphic designers working on web projects often complain that when typefaces designed for print are set to lower sizes that they become harder to read and unattractive to the eye. Even using anti-aliasing (the smooth option in the Character Palette) is not enough to help these fonts look better on screen. The solution when this happens is to abandon the printer fonts altogether and to try using a Pixel font, which will produce a crisp, clean image at very small sizes.

Pixel Fonts — Limits & Restrictions
Pixel fonts were created specifically for computers, with each pixel of the font designed on a grid that is exactly the same grid that is on your computer screen. Because of this Pixel fonts have certain limitations. They cannot be scaled and must be used at the sizes at which they were designed, or else at exact multiples. This is to prevent them from distorting. It is also important to never apply any anti-aliasing to them.

Let's Pick A Pixel Font
Some great pixel fonts can be found at Joe Gillespie's minifonts.com site. One of his font creations, Mini 7, is considered to be the most popular Pixel font in use on the web today, and it is one of my all-time favorites.

Pixel Fonts In Action
Pixel fonts are great for website photo captions, because you can get a lot of text into a small area, and it will still be very legible. (The screenshot below uses Mini 7). They are also great for website interfaces, especially navigation buttons.

Pixel Font Troubleshooting Checklist
Follow these guidelines (from minifonts.com) to avoid the most common problems:
Pixel fonts should be set on a page with a 72 ppi resolution.
Anti-aliasing (font smoothing) should be off.
The type size should be the 'designed size' or multiple of it. You will find this size in your ReadMe file.
All tracking and kerning should be set to zero and character widths to 100%.
Leading (line spacing) can be specified as required.
Always specify your font sizes in pixels, not points. A ten pixel font is not necessarily the same as a ten point one. Change your setup to work in pixels and set your document resolution to 72 ppi (pixels per inch).
Do not use a centered paragraph style. The math required to center text can result in fractional spacing and vertical rows of pixels can mysteriously disappear. Always set your pixel fonts ranged left and center it by moving the whole layer.
Save as GIF images at a 1-bit color depth, resulting in a small file size.

Inspiration
If you're curious as to how far you can take the pixel look, visit Kaliber 10000 (The Designers' Lunchbox). Now that's a "pixelated" website.

Pixel Fonts — Where To Get Them — Free Font Resources
DaFont.com — DaFont.com has some great free pixel fonts. Just do a search (top right of screen) for "pixel" to find them. I like Snoot.org px10 by Divide by Zero.
04 — On the front page click on "extra" and then you'll see "bitmap font" and "font ps.tt" - which are free downloads. This is a very nice collection of pixel fonts.
Wanted Fonts — Lots of free fonts. On left side navigation you'll see categories. Look for "pixelated" and search through the collection. "Endless Showroom" looks nice.
HighFonts.com — Another nice site with a great collection of free fonts you can download.
Silkscreen - Free Pixel Font — Silkscreen is a free four member type family for your Web graphics created by Jason Kottke. Available in both Mac and Windows versions.
How To Install & Remove Fonts In Windows — This font installation guide will tell you everything you need to know.
MiniFonts.com — Joe Gillespie's site showcases the individual fonts he has for sale (over 200), or you can try the free samples. The site also features some in-depth articles on the history of pixel fonts, pixel font usage tips, and a pixel fonts FAQ page.

How To Resize Images

2010-02-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

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You have a nice big beautiful photo. It is gorgeous. But you need it much, much smaller, and by the time the file is down to the right size, you might find that the image has started to take on a blurry look. This is a real problem with resizing images, but luckily in Photoshop there's a very simple solution.

This tip will only work with Photoshop CS and CS2. If you don't have a CS version yet I recommend you try and get one as soon as you can, because they are full of powerful new features. For earlier versions of Photoshop there's a workaround at the end of this tip.

When you want to reduce an image go to the Image> Image Size menu. Click onResample Image and choose Bicubic Sharper from the drop-down menu. This is the best setting for making sure that an image doesn't blur. The example photo of the flower started at 2,000 pixels across. I stepped it down to 250, and then again to 125 with almost no loss of sharpness. For enlarging an image select Bicubic Smoother.

I found this to be such an effective trick that I wished it had been the default setting in Photoshop for the Image Size menu from the start. Then I discovered I could set it as the default myself. All you need to do is go to Preferences> General and you'll see Image Interpolation and there you can pick Bicubic Sharper from the choices.

Another thing to keep in mind when resizing is to try to do it only once on an image. Many people will resize repeatedly as they search for the perfect fit for a design element, and then end up with an image with a lot of blur. It's always better to experiment on a duplicate of the image. Then, when you've settled on the final dimensions, you can go back to the original and resize it just once.

Pre-CS Workaround
In earlier versions of Photoshop simply zoom out so that your window and image are at either 50% or 25%, and then take a screenshot of the image window at this new reduced size. You'll find that the image will maintain its sharpness. Now open the screenshot in Photoshop, and crop and save. The trick to making this work is to use either a 50%, 25%, or 12.5% view size before making the capture. If you view the image at 66.7%, 33.3%, or 16.7%, the image will not be as sharp due to the way Photoshop draws images at those sizes.

Photoshop Web Template

2010-02-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

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Many people new to web design are confused by slices and Javascript rollovers and end up abandoning their projects out of frustration. The point of this Photoshop web tutorial is to keep things simple by creating a web page that uses only 2 graphics.

Website Plan
We'll create a banner and place it in a table that will contain 5 rows and 1 column. The banner will be placed in the top row. The next row will contain the text for your site and any photos you may wish to include. Row 3 will hold a separator, row 4 will be for your text links and a copyright notice, and row 5 will hold a second separator.

Let's Get Going
I'm going to name this site Designer Girlz Network. The next step is to find a graphic for the banner. You might find a good image at one of the free stock photo sites (I've listed some below), but I was looking for something a little more professional, so I tried the iStockPhoto galleries and found an illustration by Vinaya Prashanth that cost only $3. Sweet. That's a reduced version of it on the right.

Choose A Website Color Scheme
The colors of the banner and the website will be taken from the various pinks used in the image. There are 3 pinks I want to use — a dark pink, a middle pink, and a lighter pink that I made myself from a shade of the darker pink.

I find that by using the opacity slider on a sampled color you can create a nice variation. Open a new document and copy and paste the main graphic you've chosen into it. Now from the toolbox select the eyedropper tool and sample a color by clicking on it in your graphic. This will change the foreground color square in your toolbox.

Now open another new document and in the Background Contents select White. Click OK. With this document open, create a new layer by going Layer> New> Layer. Then go Edit> Fill and select Contents, Use: Foreground Color. This will fill your document with the color you just sampled. The trick here is to lower the opacity using the slider and to keep playing around with it until you find a nice shade. When you settle on one, flatten the image by going Layer> Flatten Image. Use the eyedropper tool again, this time to change the foreground color square in your toolbox so it is the same as your newly created color. Now click on the color square and the color picker will come up, and you can write down the numbers of your new color.

Choose A Font
I went through my fonts and settled on Onyx regular. When you find a font that works for you, try playing with the tracking, the leading, and the scale — or a combination. It makes it more personal and unique when you include some tweaks.

To select a font in Photoshop go Window> Character. In the palette you'll see a list of your installed fonts. To tweak the settings you'll need to bring up the Paragraph palette. You can do this by going Window> Paragraph.

Looking for new fonts? At the end of this tutorial you'll find a list to some free font resources.

Designing A Website Banner
Create a new document that is 600 x 300 pixels. You can change this size to suit your own design when you pick your own stock photo and plan the layout accordingly.

Now I'll create a new layer, Layer> New Layer and I'll call it Designer Girl. I'll place the illustration on this layer and shrink it to fit. You shrink your graphic by choosing Edit> Transform> Scale. The bounding box will have handles. Use the Shift Key to constrain proportions, and shrink your image by selecting the top left handle and pulling towards the bottom right. To move the graphic, drag inside the bounding box. Click enter when you're happy with the results.

Next we want a tinted background. I'm going to go with the light pink.

Adding A Background Color
I select the background layer, Layer 1, and I fill it with the light pink by going Select> All, then Edit> Fill, and in the dialog box in Contents, I select Use: Color and in the Color Picker I enter FBE0EC.

The result is a 600 x 300 banner with a gentle background color and with the art placed on the left. We're getting there.

Apply A Thick Stroke To Create A Border
I decided to apply a thick stroke to the background layer to make the design more interesting. First make sure the background layer, Layer 1, is active, and create a copy by going Layer> New> Layer Via Copy. Next double-click next to the layer name. This will bring up the Blending Options in the Layers Style dialog box.

Select and then click on the word Stroke in the Styles options on the left side. I changed the settings to Size: 7px, Position: Inside, Blend Mode: Normal, Opacity: 100%, Fill Type: Color, and I clicked the color swatch and entered D04E8C in the color picker. Click OK.

The border is just to balance out the design, so by all means make changes and get creative with your own ideas.

Website Name & Section Titles
We're going to put the names of the major sections right on the banner. These will be the links. Since it will be just one single graphic we will be using image maps.

Create a new layer for your words. Use the type tool to create the section names and then use the move tool to position them exactly to where you want on the banner. Remember to pick a color for your text that is darker than your background color to avoid finding yourself screaming obscenities and suffering major hair loss! Do this by going Window> Character. In the Character palette you'll find a color square. Click on it to change colors.

You'll need an HTML editor like GoLive or Dreamweaver to automate this process. It's really very simple. You make little "maps" over each word and then enter the link destination. If you don't have an HTML editor you'll need to do a Google search on image maps to find a tutorial, or buy a book like Elizabeth Castro's HTML Quickstart Guide to help you out.

Plan B
You don't have an HTML editor, you don't want to search for a tutorial, and you don't want to buy Elizabeth Castro's book? That's ok. We'll go to Plan B - using regular text links right inside the web page itself. That means we have some empty space on the banner now, right below the website name. Use this space to add a descriptive phrase about what the user will find on your site.

The Separator
Create a new document. The width should be 600 pixels, and the height should be about 12 pixels. Fill this with your background color. Then, using the text tool and a dark color, type some periods, like this:........... and place them in the file, centering them. Change the size and the spacing until it looks perfect. Now save this as a GIF file.

Build A Simple Table
In your HTML editor of choice build a simple table that contains 5 rows and 1 column. If you're going to use text link navigation below the banner instead of image maps on the banner, create an extra row so you end up with 6 rows in your table. Now place your elements into the individual rows of the table and you're done.

The Final Result
It's time to have a look! Here is the final website page design.

How to Use Photoshop

2010-02-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

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INTRODUCTION

Photoshop's Variations and Free Alternatives

I have a different page that explains what Photoshop is, what the versions are and less expensive, or free, alternatives, here. I also talk about all the other software I use and photoshop plug-ins there.

I've been using Photoshop every day for years so its cost is negligible for what I get out of it. If I was starting from scratch and didn't have $560 for Photoshop CS or didn't get Photoshop elements for free with a scanner I'd first try iPhoto that comes for free with every Apple Mac computer, or Google's free Picasa 2 for windows, and learn those. iPhoto and maybe the others even read RAW files, so don't ignore them.

How to Learn Photoshop

A huge advantage of Photoshop is you have more ways to learn it, like this page here, than any other program. So many people know it it's easy to learn just about anywhere.

The best way to learn Photoshop is to take a class at your local community college to learn the basics of Lightening Underexposed Images and Correcting Color Casts and White Balance Problems. These basic adjustments are covered in every introductory Photoshop class and book so I'll just cover them quickly below. You must be fluent in these to get anywhere with Photoshop for optimizing images.

Photoshop also has built-in help as well as free tutorial usually included in the box. All you need to do is choose how you learn best and go that way. Personally I learn best from an in-person class or having an expert show me in person. When I have a question about how to find some obscure tool or how to make a command work I just choose help from the HELP menu.

Basic Operation and Tricks of the Trade

All these adjustments work with every kind of image. That's why skilled photographers feel sorry for people who toil away with RAW files just so they can correct exposure and white balance later. You can do it all to any JPG image in Photoshop without all the hassle.

The tricks below presume you have at least a basic navigational familiarity with Photoshop. You can get that from any book or community college class, or even the built-in help!

Photoshop has been around since the 1980s when it was only used by professionals. It therefore uses terms from traditional professional photography and the commercial printing press trades. Often these terms are exactly the opposite of what you'd expect! The most obviously labeled tools are sometimes the worst way to do things, so read up below.

People spend entire careers learning Photoshop. There is more to learn than any single human will be able to master. Each of us learns what's relevant to our own work.