Contents 1. Welcome ............................................................................... 1 Welcome to DrawPlus ............................................................................. 2 New features ............................................................................................... 3 Installation ................................................................................................... 6 2. Getting Started ................................................................
Contents 4. Using Brushes and Text.................................................. 55 Applying brush strokes ........................................................................ 56 Pressure sensitivity ................................................................................ 58 Entering text ............................................................................................ 60 Editing text ...............................................................................................
Contents 7. Pictures ............................................................................. 113 Importing pictures ............................................................................... 114 Using Cutout Studio ........................................................................... 115 Applying PhotoLab filters ................................................................. 118 Autotracing ............................................................................................
Contents 11. Additional Information ............................................... 175 Contacting Serif .................................................................................... 176 Credits ...................................................................................................... 177 12. Index ..................................................................................
Welcome
2 Welcome Welcome to DrawPlus Welcome to DrawPlus X8—the design and illustration solution from Serif, packed with all the features expected of award-winning design software. From decorative page elements and logos to full-page illustrations, scale drawings, multi-page folded publications, and Stopframe or Keyframe animations—DrawPlus X8 does it all.
Welcome 3 New features DrawPlus X8 (in 32 and 64-bit versions) introduces increased ease of use, a host of new and improved features and tools—including one for animating presentations, as well as photo and effect improvements, and also enhanced importing and exporting options.
4 Welcome customized to control the number of contour steps and be placed inside the object rather than outside. • New and improved filter effects (see p. 128) Add a new Trail effect, add ripple effects to reflections, apply a cutoff setting for feathering, a directional/gradient feather, and an outline and contoured line texture for variable-intensity drop shadows. • Replicate (see p.
Welcome 5 Ease of Use • Feed-based Startup Assistant (see p. 10) The new-look starting point for new drawings provides a wealth of constantly updating cross-product news and DrawPlus-specific learning resources (video tutorials, written tutorials, help, and Tips & Tricks). The assistant keeps track of unread articles so you won't miss a thing! An Open option also gives you access to all your existing publications, based on document history. • Restore Last Session (see p.
6 • Welcome New scanning power (see DrawPlus Help) As manufacturers have been very slow to introduce 64-bit scanning software, DrawPlus has been updated to support 32-bit and any newer 64-bit drivers, for both WIA and TWAIN driver types. Also scan and place multiple images in one operation if your scanner allows, without lifting the lid each time to swap pictures. Installation Installing DrawPlus follows different procedures depending on whether you are installing from disc or via download.
Welcome Installation procedure (from download) • From serif.com, when logged into your Serif account, follow the on-screen instructions to download.
8 • Welcome Other: Internet account and connection for accessing online resources. * Main processor must support SSE2 instructions. To enjoy the full benefit of brushes and their textures, you must be using a computer whose processor supports SSE (most modern computers do). On brush selection, an on-screen message will indicate if your computer is nonSSE. Additional disk resources and memory are required when editing large or complex documents.
Getting Started
10 Getting Started Startup Assistant Once DrawPlus has been installed, you're ready to start. • For Windows Vista/7: Setup adds a Serif DrawPlus X8 item to the All Programs submenu of the Windows Start menu. Use the Windows Start button to pop up the Start menu, click on All Programs and then click Serif DrawPlus X8. • For Windows 8: The Setup routine during install adds a Serif DrawPlus X8 entry to the desktop and also to the Start screen.
Getting Started 11 The options are described as follows: The default home page provides access to Serif promotions and tutorial articles to get you started with DrawPlus. View the DrawPlus Overview or click Go to see the Quick Start video. Provide document history, such as files you have recently worked on including Restore the Last Session which opens the most recent drawing you created. Browse your computer to access DrawPlus files and picture files or create a design from an existing PDF file.
12 Getting Started Create an instant drawing from a predesigned sample. For cross-product news, company news, articles, and product announcements, using Serif's news feed. Use the keyword Search box to filter specific file names, learn articles, samples, news or articles. Any time you access the Startup Assistant, the Learn or News buttons indicate the number of new articles to be viewed (if available). This number will decrease as you read each article in the Learn or News pane.
Getting Started 13 Starting with a new drawing The first time you launch DrawPlus, you'll see the Startup Assistant, with a menu of choices. The New Drawing option offers an easy way to create your new drawing and lets you choose the initial setup for the particular type of document you'll be producing. DrawPlus offers a wide range of preset document types from several categories: Category Document types Portrait or landscape in all the commonly encountered page sizes.
14 Getting Started Labels, business cards, tags Small Publications ISO and ANSI layouts Technical Drawing To start a new drawing from scratch using the Startup Assistant: 1. Start DrawPlus (or choose File>Startup Assistant if it’s already running). 2. Select New Drawing from the Startup Assistant. 3. Review document categories in the right-hand pane (and subcategories if applicable).
Getting Started 15 The new document opens. To start a new drawing during your DrawPlus session: • Click New Blank Drawing on the Standard toolbar. You can always adjust the page settings later via File>Page Setup. To start with a new keyframe or stopframe animation, see Getting started with animation on p. 142. Opening a drawing You can open an existing DrawPlus drawing from the Startup Assistant, Standard toolbar or the File menu. To open an existing document from the Startup Assistant: 1.
16 Getting Started To open an existing document via toolbar or menu: 1. Click Open on the Standard toolbar, or select File>Open. 2. In the Open dialog, navigate to, then select the file name and click the Open button. You can also open a range of file types including images, PDF documents, and Adobe Illustrator files. Once a drawing is opened in its own document window, the window (and drawing) can be made currently active from a Document tab (below) or via the Window menu.
Getting Started 17 To always restore the last session: 1. From the drawing's context toolbar, select Options. 2. From the Options>General menu option, select Restore Last Session on the On start up drop-down list. 3. Click OK. When using this feature, remember to close the DrawPlus program at the end of your session (as opposed to closing individual drawings). To do this, click at the very top-right of your program. For other options to customize DrawPlus, see Setting program options in DrawPlus Help.
18 Getting Started Setting measurement units and drawing scale For precision drawing, you need techniques that allow you to position and draw accurately without effort, that will also be of use at any scaled size. Such techniques make use of rulers and guides for actual-size or scaled drawings. Rulers The rulers that surround the page allow you to measure the exact position of an object.
Getting Started 19 Ruler Units are equivalent to Page Units unless you're working on a scale drawing. For example, one ruler centimetre equals one centimetre on the printed page. Creating guides If you want to position objects repeatedly on the same horizontal or vertical boundary then guides can be used. DrawPlus lets you set up horizontal and vertical guides—non-printing, red lines you can use to align one object with another.
20 Getting Started Drawing scale You can create scale drawings (such as a home/garden design or model diagram) by setting a ratio other than 1:1 between page units and ruler units. For example, you might wish to set one page centimetre equivalent to 0.5 metre, a good scaling ratio for designing gardens of a typical size. Use Dimension tools (see p. 49) in conjunction with scale drawings for on-the-page measurements, which automatically update as you move objects.
Getting Started 21 Viewing pages Once you've got a page in view, you can use the scrollbars at the right and bottom of the main window to move the page and pasteboard with respect to the main window. As you drag objects to the edge of the screen the scroll bars adjust automatically as the object is kept in view. The Hintline toolbar at the bottom of the screen displays the current page number and provides a number of controls to let you navigate around your pages.
22 Getting Started Zooming The Hintline toolbar also allows the user to view and/or edit the page at different levels of detail. You can use the Zoom Tool, Pan Tool, Current Zoom, Zoom Out/In (with slider), and Fit Page options. If you're using a wheel mouse, you can scroll the wheel forward or back to move up or down the page. Try combining the Ctrl key and scrolling up or down for immediate in/out zoom control. Adding and deleting pages DrawPlus lets you add a page after the last page in your drawing.
Lines, Curves, and Shapes
24 Lines, Curves and Shapes Selecting one or more objects Before you can change any object, you need to select it using one of several tools available from the top of the Drawing toolbar. Pointer Tool Click the Pointer Tool to select, move, copy, resize, or rotate objects. You can select and rotate an object around a centre of rotation. Node Tool Click to use the Node Tool to manipulate the shape of objects, or move or copy objects.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 25 If an object won't select, it may be on another layer. Try clicking Edit All Layers on the Layers tab to allow selections to be made on any layer. Selecting multiple objects It is also possible to select more than one object, making a multiple selection that you can manipulate as if it were one object, or turn into a grouped object (p. 80). To select more than one object (multiple selection): 1. Choose the Pointer Tool. 2.
26 Lines, Curves and Shapes 4. Press the Shift key down then click on a second object. 5. Continue selecting other objects to build up your multiple selection. Handles (or a bounding box, depending on the tool) appear around the multiple selection. To select all objects on the page: • Choose Select All from the Edit menu (or use Ctrl+A). To add or remove an object from a multiple selection: • Hold down the Shift key and click the object to be added or removed.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 27 Drawing lines and shapes Lines can be either straight or curved, and can have properties like colour and width (thickness). They can also adopt specific line styles, ends, and caps. If you're using a pen tablet or using simulated pressure sensitivity (with DrawPlus's Pressure tab), you'll be able to draw realistic lines of varying width and opacity using pressure sensitivity—just like drawing with real pencils and pens. To draw a freeform line: 1.
28 Lines, Curves and Shapes Note the little squares indicating its nodes—at the two ends, and at each point where two line segments come together. 4. (Optional) To set the degree of smoothing to be applied to the line (and subsequent lines), set the Smoothness value on the context toolbar above your workspace. To draw a straight line: 1. From the Drawing toolbar's Line Tools flyout, click the Straight Line Tool. 2.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 29 Any kind of open line (that is, one that hasn’t been closed to create a shape) can be extended, and you can use any of the three line tools to do so. To extend a line: 1. Move the cursor over either of the end nodes, a small cursor will appear. Click at that location. 2. The line that you drag out will be a continuation of the existing line, as a new line segment. To draw a curved line: 1. Choose the flyout. 2.
30 Lines, Curves and Shapes • Smart Segments (default): automatically determines slope and depth for a rounded, best-fitting curve. No control handle adjustment is normally necessary. • Line Segments: creates a zigzag line without curving through nodes. See DrawPlus Help for an in-depth look at drawing lines in each of these modes.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 31 Drawing shapes When a line (or series of line segments) forms a complete, enclosed outline, it becomes a new closed object called a shape. Because shapes have an interior region that can be filled (for example, with a solid colour, vector or a bitmap), they have fill properties as well as line properties. You can make a shape by closing a curve—extending a freeform line or a segmented straight line back to its starting point.
32 Lines, Curves and Shapes 2. Using the node cursor, click on an end node and drag the curve onto the other end node and release the mouse button to create a shape. If you're trying to draw an outline made up of many independent curves (e.g., a cartoon ear, rose, etc.) and you want to retain the fill colour, you can fill each curve without closing them. This is made easy by using the Fill-on-Create feature. To fill an unclosed curve automatically: 1. Select the Pencil Tool, Pen Tool, or Brush Tool. 2.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 33 A - control point, B - control polygon, C - B-spline curve When you still want nice curves and your object may need some flat sections, you can clamp control points to create sharp corners and straight lines. You can also convert B-Splines to Beziers for flexible editing as you prefer. The B-Spline Tool is especially useful for tracing curved objects such as a musical note to make perfect duplicates, or the tear example shown.
34 Lines, Curves and Shapes 4. Click once to add the first control point. 5. On the page, position the cursor at the next point. A polygon line extends from the current point. 6. Click once to add a second point. A straight B-spline curve is added to the page and follows the polygon line. To draw a sharp corner or a straight line, press the Alt key. 7. Position the cursor at the next point.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 35 The polygon line extends from the current point. The B-spline curve created by the polygon displays. 8. Click to add another point and repeat for as many more as you need. The control polygon extends and the B-spline curve updates as you do this. 9. When you are finished with the curve, press the Esc key to cancel the selection. To create a closed shape: 1. With the B-Spline Tool selected, position your cursor on the page and click to add the first control point as before. 2.
36 Lines, Curves and Shapes control point, you will get a sharp corner but not a straight line or a curve. If you clamp two adjacent control points, you'll get a perfect straight line between them. You can hold the Shift key if you want to select and clamp multiple control points concurrently. To use clamping: 1. With the curve or shape selected, on the Drawing toolbar, select the B-Spline Tool. 2. Select the control points you require. Clamp Curve to clamp, or 3.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 37 Using QuickShapes QuickShapes are pre-designed objects that you can instantly add to your page, then adjust and morph into a variety of further QuickShapes. QuickShapes are added from a flyout containing a wide variety of commonly used shapes, including boxes, arrows, hearts, spirals and other useful symbols. Morphing to new shapes can be carried out after you add the QuickShape to the page (or as you add by double-clicking on the page). To create a QuickShape: 1.
38 Lines, Curves and Shapes Ctrl-double-click to place a default-sized QuickShape on the page. To adjust the appearance of a QuickShape: 1. With the Node Tool (Drawing toolbar) selected, click on the QuickShape to reveal sliding handles around the shape. These are distinct from the "inner" selection handles. Different QuickShapes have different handles. 2. Drag any handle to change the appearance of the QuickShape.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 39 The noughts and crosses example was flooded with colour using the Flood Tool. The tool flooded the noughts, crosses, squares and border objects even though they were separate items. You could also easily flood any traces that you have done with the Pen Tool. Areas are flooded by pixels and the shapes you create then become editable like any other object you might want to transform.
40 Lines, Curves and Shapes If you don't want to bother with these settings and you just want to start flooding, see To flood an area on p. 40. • Tolerance: This defines the difference from the starting pixel where the boundary will be drawn. Any pixel which is less than the tolerance in difference to the starting pixel, and is connected to the starting pixel by other similar pixels will be filled.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 3. On the Colour tab, pick a colour for the 41 Fill/Line Swatch. You can also apply preset solid colours or transparency effects. 4. Select a visual area and left-click it. 5. Repeat as necessary for any additional colours you want. If you have Select-on-Create enabled, you'll need to select the select the Flood Tool again. 6.
42 Lines, Curves and Shapes To edit a flooded shape: 1. On the Drawing toolbar, select the Pointer Tool. 2. Click and drag an individual flooded shape or the original object away from other objects. 3. Apply any modifications as needed.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 43 Redrawing part of a line With the Pencil Tool, it's easy to redraw any portion of a line. To redraw part of a selected line: Pencil Tool. Hover the displayed 1. Select the line, then the cursor on the line where you want to begin redrawing. The cursor changes to indicate you can begin drawing. 2. Double-click on the line. A new node appears. 3. Keep the mouse button down and drag to draw a new line section, connecting it back to another point on the original line.
44 Lines, Curves and Shapes To reshape a curved line: 1. Click the Node Tool on the Drawing toolbar. 2. Select any line on your page. The line’s on-curve nodes appear, and the context toolbar also pops up. 3. Hover over a segment and drag the segment to form a new curve shape. -orSelect nodes and drag. Selection can be by one of the following methods: Hover over a single node and click to select the node. Shift-click for multiple nodes.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 45 Once a square end node or interior node is selected, the node becomes highlighted and offcurve rounded control handles for all line segment(s) will appear. A single control handle shows on an end node; a pair of handles will show on a selected interior node. Remember that a segment is the line between two nodes; each node provides two control handles, with each handle controlling different adjoining segments.
46 Lines, Curves and Shapes Simplifying or enhancing a line The more nodes there are on a line or shape, the more control over its shape you have. The fewer nodes there are, the simpler (smoother) the line or shape. To adjust the smoothness of the most recent pencil line: 1. Choose the Pencil Tool and draw a freeform line. 2. From the context toolbar, click the right arrow on the Smoothness option and drag the displayed slider left to increase the number of nodes. 3. To make the curve less complex, i.e.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 47 Changing nodes and line segments Each segment in a line has a control handle at either end, so at each interior or "corner" node (where two segments join) you'll see a pair of handles. The behaviour of these handles—and thus the curvature of the segments to either side—depends on whether the node is set to be sharp, smooth, symmetric, or smart. You can quickly identify a node's type by selecting it and seeing which button is selected in the displayed context toolbar.
48 Lines, Curves and Shapes Converting a shape to editable curves The conversion of QuickShapes to curves provides you with a starting point for your own shapes (below), whereas converting text to curves is one way of incorporating editable letter-based shapes into designs. Converting an object into curves cannot be reversed later on! To convert an object into curves: 1. Select your QuickShape or text object. 2. Click Convert to Curves on the Arrange tab.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 49 Adding dimension lines and labels DrawPlus lets you add dimension lines with text labels showing the distance between two fixed points in a drawing, or the angle formed by three points. For example, you can draw a dimension line along one side of a box, measuring the distance between the two corner points. If you resize the box, the line automatically follows suit, and its label text updates to reflect the new measurement.
50 Lines, Curves and Shapes To draw a dimension: 1. From the Drawing toolbar’s Connector Tool flyout, select the Dimension Tool. (The flyout shows the icon of the most recently selected tool.) 2. Either, for a linear dimension, click the respective tool from the Dimension context toolbar: • Auto Dimension Line Tool. Use to draw vertical, horizontal, or diagonal dimension lines in any direction, with automatic placement of the editable dimension label adjacent to the line.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 51 • Vertical Dimension Line Tool. Ideal for vertical dimension lines, the label information is always presented vertically with the option to move the label by dragging. Extension lines are used to present the dimension line vertically and to allow for an optional offset. • Horizontal Dimension Line Tool. As above but for horizontal dimension lines. • Slanted Dimension Line Tool. Designed specifically for drawing diagonal dimension lines.
52 Lines, Curves and Shapes We've used a triangle as an example above and made use of the nodes that show by default. However, DrawPlus will allow you to add dimension lines between separate objects, and define your target angle from any point on the object or page. Instead of displaying an inner angle, drag the dimension line and label to the outer angle to display its obtuse equivalent. Press the Esc key while drawing your dimension line to cancel the operation.
Lines, Curves and Shapes 53 The Gallery tab also lets you store your own designs in a My Designs section if you would like to reuse them—the design is made available in any DrawPlus drawing. To view your Gallery: • • Click the Studio's Gallery tab. Select a folder or category from the drop-down list. The items from the folder's first listed category are displayed by default. To use a design from the Gallery: • Drag any preset design directly onto the page.
54 Lines, Curves and Shapes
Using Brushes and Text
56 Using Brushes and Text Applying brush strokes The Brush Tool is used exclusively to apply brush strokes to the page. The tool is used in conjunction with the Brushes tab, and a supporting context toolbar. To apply a brush stroke: 1. Select the Brush Tool from the Drawing toolbar. 2. Display the Brushes tab and choose a category from the drop-down list, then a brush.
Using Brushes and Text 57 3. Select a Line Colour, Width, or Opacity from the context toolbar. 4. With the stroke. brush cursor, drag across your page to create a brush Photo brushes, available from the Brushes tab (Photo category), can be recoloured just as any other brush type. You can also apply a brush stroke around an object's outline (shape, artistic text, picture, etc.) via Brush Stroke on the Line tab. See Setting line properties on p. 97.
58 Using Brushes and Text To change brush stroke type: 1. Select the brush stroke. 2. Go to the Brushes tab and select firstly a brush category, then a brush type from the displayed gallery. The brush stroke adopts the newly chosen brush. Brush types currently applied to your brush strokes are handily listed in the Document folder of the Brushes tab. To change the shape of your brush stroke: A brush stroke possesses very similar characteristics to a plain line.
Using Brushes and Text 59 Via the Pressure Tab If a pen tablet is unavailable to you, DrawPlus can simulate pressure sensitivity when using your mouse (along with DrawPlus’s Pressure tab). This tab is used to set pressure sensitivity globally by using a pressure profile. To apply a pressure profile: 1. Expand the Pressure tab at the bottom right of your screen, and choose a pressure profile from the drop-down list. The pressure chart updates to reflect the chosen profile. 2.
60 Using Brushes and Text Entering text You can create different types of text in DrawPlus, i.e. Artistic Text, Frame Text, or Shape Text, all directly on the page. Artistic Text Frame Text Shape Text It's easy to edit the text once it's created, by retyping it or altering properties like font, style, and point size.
Using Brushes and Text 61 3. To set text attributes (font, size, etc.) before you start typing, make selections on the Text context toolbar. For colour, set the Line/Fill swatches on the Studio's Colour or Swatch tab. 4. Start typing. To create frame text: : 1. Select flyout. Frame Text Tool on the Drawing toolbar's Text 2. From the positioned cursor, either: • • Double-click on the page to create a new frame at a default size. - or Drag out a frame to your desired frame dimension. 3.
62 Using Brushes and Text Editing text Once you've entered either artistic, frame or shape text (see Entering text on p. 60), you can retype it and/or format its character attributes (font, point size, bold/italic/underline, subscript/superscript, OpenType font features, etc.), paragraph properties, and text flow. For a gradient or bitmap fill, use the Studio's Swatch tab. See p. 102 or p. 105, respectively. Similarly, opacity is applied from the Colour tab (see p.
Using Brushes and Text 63 To create a new line: • At the position you want to start a new line, press the Enter key. Formatting text You can change text formatting (character, paragraph, bullets/numbering and text flow properties) directly on the page via the Text context toolbar or via a Text Style dialog. To format selected text on the page: 1. Use the Pointer Tool to select the text you want to change. Alternatively, drag select on any text with Drawing toolbar's Text flyout).
64 Using Brushes and Text To fit text to a path: 1. Select the curve or shape. 2. Select Artistic Text on the Drawing toolbar's Text flyout. cursor, 3. Hover over the curve or shape's outline until you see a then click at the point on the line where your text is to begin. 4. Begin typing your text. The text will be placed along the curve or shape. To flow text along a preset path: 1. Select your artistic text. 2.
Working with Objects
66 Working with Objects Copying, pasting, cutting, and deleting objects To copy one or more objects to the Windows Clipboard: 1. Select the object(s). 2. Click the Copy button on the Standard toolbar. If you're using another Windows application, you can usually copy and paste objects via the Clipboard. To paste an object from the Clipboard: • Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar. The standard Paste command inserts a clipboard object onto the page.
Working with Objects 67 Resizing objects DrawPlus offers a range of resizing options directly on the object. Most objects in DrawPlus maintain their aspect ratio when being resized. One exception is when resizing QuickShapes, as their versatility lend themselves to being resized without constraint. To resize an object to a fixed aspect ratio: 1. Select the object(s) with the Pointer Tool. 2.
68 Working with Objects To resize QuickShapes: • As above but the object's aspect ratio is not maintained by default on resize. You can use the Shift key as you resize to maintain aspect ratio. Smart Sizing The Smart Sizing feature lets you resize multiple objects simultaneously while their relative positions remain unchanged.
Working with Objects 69 In smart sizing mode Scaling is performed in relation to a selected object within a multiple selection. Objects are rotated together but around their own individual centre points. To use Smart Sizing on objects: 1. Select multiple objects for smart resizing. See Selecting one or more objects on p. 24. 2. Choose Smart Sizing from the context toolbar (or hold down the Alt key). You'll notice DrawPlus will pick a particular object for smart sizing, but you can change it. 3.
70 Working with Objects Making a duplicate You can easily duplicate an object to make another copy using drag-anddrop. To make a duplicate: 1. Select the object, then hold down the Ctrl key. 2. Drag the object via the Move button to a new location on the page, then release the mouse button. Use duplication when rotating or shearing an object—the result is a new copy at a new angle, possibly overlapping the original object.
Working with Objects 71 The Replicate Tool works in two modes. Replicate mode copies an object and reproduces it with the amount of columns and rows you need. Spacing mode adjusts the vertical and horizontal distance between the shapes you have replicated from your original object. To replicate an object: 1. Select an object. Remember to size the object to be replicated and place it in a convenient starting position—usually the top-left of the page. 2. On the Drawing toolbar, select the Replicate Tool.
72 Working with Objects 3. Drag one of the group's boundary box handles either making the boundary area smaller to reduce the amount of replicated objects, or larger to increase them. You can also adjust the numbers of columns and rows using the Context toolbar and apply accurate numerical settings to spacing. To delete individual replicated objects: 1. On the Drawing toolbar, select the Pointer Tool. 2. Click to select the replicated group. 3. On the object toolbar, select Ungroup. 4.
Working with Objects 73 To create a transform: 1. Select an object then choose Transform from the Tools menu. 2. From the dialog, specify the type of transformation (rotation and/or scaling), the number of copies, and a positional offset between copies. Rotating and shearing objects The Pointer Tool lets you both rotate and shear (slant) one or more objects. To rotate one or more objects around a centre point: 1. Click Pointer Tool on the Drawing toolbar. 2.
74 Working with Objects When rotating objects, dimensions will be temporarily displayed during the operation. To change the centre point of rotation: 1. Move the centre of rotation away from its original position to any position on the page. The marker can also be moved to be outside the object—ideal for rotating grouped objects around a central point. 2. Drag the rotate pointer to a new rotation angle—the object will rotate about the new pivot.
Working with Objects 75 To copy-shear, use the Ctrl key while dragging—this preserves the original object, while shearing the new copied object as you drag. To undo the rotation or shear (restore the original object): • Double-click the object with the Shear cursor active. Joining objects Objects you create on the page can be just the starting point in your design.
76 Working with Objects To add shapes together: 1. Select the Shape Builder Tool on the Drawing toolbar. 2. Hover over a shape that overlaps another shape. You'll see a cursor shown on hover over, above a shaded area (to indicate the active region). 3. Drag to the neighbouring shape, using the drawn out dashed line as a guide, then release the mouse button. As well as adding objects together, DrawPlus lets you take away (or subtract) intersecting areas of overlapping shapes.
Working with Objects 77 To create new shapes from overlapped shapes: : 1. Select the Shape Builder Tool on the Drawing toolbar. Pointer 2. Click once in the chosen area, then select with the Tool (Drawing toolbar). You can then drag the new shape to a new position. Using the Arrange tab Instead of using the Shape Builder Tool, you have the option of using the selection-based Combine tool or "Join" tools such as Add, Subtract, and Intersect using the Arrange tab. See DrawPlus Help for more information.
78 Working with Objects Creating contours Create Contour lets you reproduce an object with border or perspective effects by creating outlines around text, or by creating a second object to blend with the first. Copies of the original object are 'tiered' that increase or decrease in size with increasing or decreasing levels of greyscale. These are progressively placed behind or in front of the object, outside and inside respectively. For an example contour, please see DrawPlus Help. To create a contour: 1.
Working with Objects 79 3. Select the Number of steps to control the amount of concentric contour objects reproduced. The steps will be evenly spread between the original object and the outermost or innermost contour as specified. 4. From Alignment, select Outside or Inside to create a contour outside the original object or inside it. 5. Select a Join setting to determine the corner style used where two lines intersect: • Bevelled to set flat corners on the reproduced contours.
80 Working with Objects Grouping objects The advantage of converting a set of objects into a group is that it is easier to select and edit the objects all at the same time. The only requirement for grouping is that multiple objects are selected in advance (see p. 24). To create a group from a multiple selection: • Click Group below the selection. To ungroup (turn a group back into a multiple selection): • Click Ungroup below the selection.
Working with Objects 81 Aligning and distributing objects Alignment involves taking a group of selected objects and aligning or distributing them, or both—the operation is applied to all of the objects selected. To align two or more objects: 1. Using the Pointer Tool, Shift-click on all the objects you want to align, or draw a marquee box around them (or use Edit>Select All), to create a multiple selection. 2.
82 Working with Objects 3. From the tab, check the Spaced option and enter a value in the input box to set distribute objects between a fixed distance. - or Check Include Page to distribute objects relative to the page edges, instead of between endmost objects. - or Check both Spaced and Include Page to distribute objects between a fixed distance relative to the page edges. 4. Select Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically to distribute objects vertically or horizontally, respectively.
Working with Objects 83 To change the selected object's order (dynamically via slider): • From the Arrange tab, drag the Depth slider left to place the object further down the object order (within its layer); drag right to place object further up the order. Ordering occurs as you drag. To change the selected object's order (via ordering buttons): • To shift the selected object's position to the front of other objects (on top), choose Bring to Front on the Standard toolbar (or Arrange tab).
84 Working with Objects You can think of layers as transparent sheets of paper upon which you can draw your objects. Each layer is situated along with other layers (if present) within a stack on the Layers tab—the uppermost layer is applied over any lower layer on the page. You can also expand each layer entry for a tree view of objects associated with that layer (see the Stalk layer opposite). Each object entry can be clicked to select the object in your workspace.
Working with Objects 85 To add a new layer: • Add Layer button to add a new In the Layers tab, click the layer above the currently selected layer. To rename a layer: • To rename a layer to something more meaningful, click on the selected layer's name and type to add your new name (you can also make an insertion point to edit the existing text). To delete a layer: • In the Layers tab, select the layer’s name and click the Layer button.
86 Working with Objects Layer Properties Layer properties allow you to assign paper textures, make layers invisible/visible, and/or locked/unlocked. See Studio: Layers tab in DrawPlus Help for more details. Managing objects on layers A useful feature of the Layers tab is that you can see objects or even groups of objects, under the layer on which they were created. This gives you the option of selecting an object or group from the tab as opposed to from the page itself.
Working with Objects 87 This tree view greatly improves the ability to select and manage nested objects in more complex drawings. It's also great for visualizing your object order. 2. Click the object entry in the tab. It will become highlighted and selected on your page. Trouble locating your named object or group? Search for it by using Find Object on the Edit menu. To move an object to another layer: • Right-click the object in the workspace, and choose Move Object to Layer.
88 Working with Objects freeform cut (using Bump profile) straight line cut To cut selected objects (freeform or straight line): 1. Select the flyout. Knife Tool on the Drawing toolbar's Vector Edit 2. (Optional) Use Smoothness on the tool's context toolbar to set how regular the freeform cutting line is—click the right arrow and drag the slider right for increasing smoothness. 3.
Working with Objects 89 4. Using the cursor, drag a freeform line across any object(s) you would like to split (unselected objects on which the line traverses will not be split). Instead, press the Shift key as you drag for a straight line. 5. Hover over, then click to remove the unwanted cut area(s). - or With the Pointer Tool, drag the newly split fragments apart instead.
90 Working with Objects To erase portions of a selected object: 1. Select the flyout. Erase Tool on the Drawing toolbar's Vector Edit 2. (Optional) From the context toolbar, choose a Nib style (circle, square, or diamond) and/or set a Width to define the erase width that will be cut. 3. Position the cursor, and drag over an object boundary (or within an object). You'll see the area to be erased being drawn temporarily (use the Ctrl key to redefine the erase area while drawing). 4.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency
92 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency Setting fill properties Any closed shape, such as a closed curve or QuickShape, or text has an interior region that can be filled. The fill type can be solid, gradient, bitmap or plasma or vector. Fill types fall into several basic categories, illustrated above: • Solid fills, as their name implies, use a single colour. • Gradient fills provide a gradation or spectrum of colours between two or more "key" colours.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 93 The Colour tab has several models available from a drop-down list— HSL Colour Wheel (shown), HSL Colour Box, HSL Sliders, RGB Sliders, RGB Sliders (Hex), CMYK Sliders and Tinting. (A) Line/Fill swatches, (B) Colour Picker, (C) Colour Model, (D) Hue wheel, (E) Saturation/Lightness triangle. On the HSL Colour Wheel, the small circles shown in the wheel and triangle indicate the current setting for hue and saturation/lightness, respectively.
94 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency (A) Line/Fill swatches, (B) Document Palette, (C) Standard and themed palettes, (D) Gradient palettes, (E) Bitmap palettes, (F) Vector palettes, (G) Current palette. CMYK operation If you intend to create professional CMYK output to PDF or image, you can optionally create a CMYK drawing from scratch (see p. 13). Your drawing, in a CMYK colour space, can be designed using CMYK colours (instead of RGB colours) either using: • CMYK Sliders.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 95 Applying colour To apply a solid fill colour via the Colour tab: 1. Select the object(s) and display the Studio's Colour tab. 2. Click the Line/Fill Swatch at the top-left of the tab so the Fill Swatch appears in front of the Line swatch. This defines where the colour will be applied. Alternatively, apply colour to both line and fill simultaneously by clicking Link on the swatch. 3. (Optional) Choose a colour model from the drop-down list. 4.
96 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 3. Pick a thumbnail from either the Document Palette or from another palette shown in the Palettes drop-down list (drag from the thumbnail onto the object as an alternative). A Tinting option in the Colour tab’s drop-down list allows a percentage of shade/tint to be applied to your colour.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 97 Blend modes The Colour tab hosts a Blend Mode drop-down list for blending overlapping object colours together in various ways. You'll find blend modes described in Understanding blend modes in DrawPlus Help. Setting line properties All lines, including those that enclose shapes, have numerous properties, including colour, style, line ends, width, join (corner), and cap (end).
98 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency To change line colour, see Setting fill properties (p 92). Changing line style A series of buttons arranged along the top of the Line tab set the line style. No line, Solid, Dash, Double, and Calligraphic styles can be applied to freeform lines, and outlines of shapes, images and artistic text alike.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 99 To change line style: • Click a button to set the line style. Only one style can be set at any one time. Pick another button to jump to that style. Once a style is selected you can choose line ends for most styles (except Brush Stroke and Edge Effect). For some styles, variations are also available. For example, for a Dash or Double line style, additional dash patterns (below) and double line options can be selected.
100 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency Changing line width On a selected line, curve, or shape (opposite), drag the Width slider in the Line tab. To turn off the line, set the box to 0pt. If you want to set the line width to that of a hairline size, see below! Hairline widths Use Hairlines when you need to output the thinnest possible line width for special printing cases, such as when producing artwork for laser cutting. The hairline width for vector output is configurable.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 101 Sampling colours Use the Colour Picker Tool to sample (and then reuse) a colour from anywhere on your page. The picked colour can then be made the current line or fill colour in DrawPlus. Various sampling methods can be used depending on the type of object fill or screen area to be sampled. To sample colours: 1. On the Drawing toolbar, click Colour Picker. 2. From the context toolbar, choose a Colour Picker Type (e.g., Point Sampler). 3.
102 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 5. Click the Colour tab's Line or Fill swatch, then the Picked Colour swatch to transfer the colour to the chosen swatch. You can then apply the colour to any object (this will then be stored automatically in the Swatch tab's Document Palette for further use). Use the Colour tab's Colour Picker (point sampler only) to sample colours anywhere on your computer screen—click, hold the mouse button down, drag to the target area, and then release.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 103 To apply a gradient fill (Fill Tool): 1. Select an object. 2. Click the Fill Tool on the Drawing toolbar. 3. Click and drag on the object to define the fill path (a solid line). The object takes a simple linear fill, grading from the current colour of the object, ending in white (objects filled with white will grade from white to black, to show contrast). (A) Start Handle colour, (B) End Handle colour, and (C) Fill Path 4.
104 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency To apply a gradient fill (Swatch tab): 1. Select an object. 2. Click the Swatch tab and choose a line or fill colour. Ensure the Line or Fill swatch is set accordingly. 3. From the Swatch tab, click the Automatic palette appears. Gradient button. The 4. From the Automatic category, click the thumbnail for the fill you want to apply. Other gradient fills are available by clicking the drop-down arrow on the Gradient button.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 105 If an object using a gradient fill is selected, you'll see the fill path displayed as one or more lines, with circular handles marking where the spectrum between each key colour begins and ends. Adjusting the handle positions determines the actual spread of colours between handles. You can also edit the fill by adding, deleting, or changing key colours. For details of how to edit and manage gradient fills, see DrawPlus Help.
106 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency and use the Fill Tool to edit the object's fill path, defining the placement of the fill across the object. For details of how to edit and manage bitmap and plasma fills, see DrawPlus Help. Working with vector fills Vector fills are named vectors and are tiled similar to bitmaps. You can use vector fills to hatch in areas of shade on objects, or as a background pattern. DrawPlus provides a host of preset vector fills on the Swatch tab.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 107 Setting opacity Key point! In DrawPlus, opacity is a property of colour, and can be set directly from the Colour tab. Transparency refers to objectbased gradient or bitmap transparency effects, set via the Transparency tab or Transparency Tool. Opacity is great for highlights, shading and shadows, and simulating "rendered" realism.
108 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency The Opacity slider (Colour tab) can be used to alter the opacity of a specific colour, whether that colour is a solid fill (in an object or on a line), or a handle's colour on a gradient fill path. Opacity can be applied locally to each object; the default is 100% opacity, i.e. the object is fully opaque. For solid fills, the opacity change will be made uniformly across the object's interior (as above).
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 109 To apply solid opacity (to a fill path): 1. Select the object with a gradient fill and display the Studio's Colour tab. 2. Click the Fill Tool on the Drawing toolbar's The fill path is displayed. Fill flyout. Click on any displayed handle along the fill path (the handle with a double outline is selected. Use Shift-select for selecting multiple handles. 3. From the Colour tab, drag the slider to the left for a reduced opacity setting.
110 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency Using transparency effects While uniform opacity can be applied along with colour via the Colour tab (see Setting opacity on p. 107), it's possible to apply gradient transparency via the Transparency tab or Transparency Tool independent of colour. Bitmap transparency can also be applied exclusively via the Transparency tab.
Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 111 To apply gradient or bitmap transparency effects: 1. With your object selected, go to the Transparency tab. 2. For gradient or bitmap transparency, click the drop down arrow on the Gradient or Bitmap button, respectively. Select a category from the flyout, then click a thumbnail in that category. - or Drag the desired thumbnail from the gallery to an object. 3. The transparency is applied to the object(s).
112 Fills, Lines, Colours, and Transparency You've got control over where the path starts and ends, and the direction in which the path will be drawn. You can even click again to redraw the path. Editing gradient transparency Once you've applied a transparency, you can adjust its path on the object, and the level of transparency along the path. You can even create more complex transparency effects by adding extra handles to the path and assigning different levels to each handle.
Pictures
114 Pictures Importing pictures A wide range of picture formats can be imported directly into DrawPlus, including vector graphics and metafiles. Any imported picture ends up as an object you can select, move, scale, shear, rotate—and even cut or crop using the Knife or Crop Tool on the Drawing toolbar. The Cutout Studio lets you cut the subject of your picture out from its background (and vice versa). To import a picture from a file: 1. Click Insert Picture on the Drawing toolbar. 2.
Pictures 115 3. Insert the picture at a default size by simply clicking the mouse. - or Set the size of the inserted picture by dragging out a region and releasing the mouse button. If you want to import multiple pictures simultaneously, you can select a range of pictures from within the same dialog. Each image can then be added to the page selectively from a Picture List flyout. Using Cutout Studio Cutout Studio offers a powerful integrated solution for cutting objects out from their backgrounds.
116 Pictures An initial image on a coloured background. Cutout Studio "paints" transparency on the background. The tint indicates areas to be discarded. Once cut out, a different image can be used as a more attractive background. To launch Cutout Studio: 1. Select an image to be cut out. Cutout Studio from the context toolbar. Cutout Studio is 2. Select launched.
Pictures 117 Selecting areas to keep or discard A pair of brushes for keeping and discarding is used to enable parts of the image to be selected. The tools are called Keep Brush and Discard Brush, and are either used independently or, more typically, in combination with each other. To select image areas for keeping/discarding: Keep brush or 1. In Cutout Studio, click either brush from the left of the Studio workspace. Discard 2. (Optional) Pick a Brush Size suitable for the area to be worked on. 3.
118 Pictures You'll see your image on the page in its original location, but with the selected areas cut away (made transparent). Applying PhotoLab filters PhotoLab is a dedicated studio environment that lets you apply adjustment and effect filters to photos, individually or in combination. Photos present in your drawing display in the Images tab, which is hidden by default. To display this tab, as illustrated below, simply click the button at the bottom of the dialog.
Pictures 119 Filters are stored in the Favourites, Adjustments, and Effects filter tabs, and are grouped into categories. For example, the Adjustments tab provides the Quick Fix and Pro Edit categories, while the Effects tab offers a wide range of creative effect categories. You can add your own custom filters to the Favourites tab. (See DrawPlus Help.) Applying filters 1. Select the photo you want to work on. (If the photo is framed, select it and click 2. Click Select Cropped Object.
120 Pictures To add a new filter: 1. Browse the filter thumbnails displayed on the Favourites, Adjustments, and Effects tabs, and click the one you want to apply. The selected filter is added to the Trial Zone, and the main window shows a preview of your photo with the filter applied. 2. Experiment with the filter settings in the Trial Zone—you can drag the sliders, or enter values directly—to suit your requirements. 3. (Optional) To replace the trial filter, click a different thumbnail.
Pictures 121 Retouching PhotoLab's main toolbar provides some useful retouching tools. These are commonly used to correct photos before applying colour correction and effects. • Red-eye tool, to remove red eye from a human subject. • Spot-repair tool, to remove blemishes from human skin and material surfaces. • Clone Selection Tool. To erase objects from a photo or to repair damage like scratches, marks and tears. For instructions on using the retouching tools, see DrawPlus Help.
122 Pictures • Logo Image Trace. For tracing pictures such as logos, signatures, or other designs with antialiasing. • Photo Image Trace. For colour tracing of photos.
Pictures 123 To autotrace a selected image: AutoTrace button (on context 1. Click the drop-down arrow on the toolbar) and select a profile from the menu. - or Click screen. AutoTrace and choose a profile from the profile selection 2. The AutoTrace studio appears with the original artwork displayed, along with adjustable sliders, a colour palette (logo profile only), or a collapsible preview window (photo profiles only) showing how your output will look once traced. 3.
124 Pictures You can add a new colour or replace an existing colour by leftclicking on an empty or occupied colour swatch and dragging Colour Selector to any colour on your computer screen. the Remember to click Trace to refresh the view. 6. When you're happy with your traced output, click Accept. All slider settings are described in full in the Help pane which accompanies the AutoTrace studio. Also covered are procedures for tracing greyscale and colour photos.
Effects
126 Effects Using graphic styles The Styles tab contains multiple galleries of predesigned styles that you can apply to any object, or customize to suit your own taste! Galleries exist in effect categories such as 3D, Bevels, Blurs, Edges, Shadows, and other 2D and 3D filter effects, with each category having further subcategories. The Styles tab also lets you store your own graphic styles in a My Styles section if you would like to reuse them—the style is made available in any DrawPlus drawing.
Effects 127 To apply a graphic style to one or more objects: 1. Display the Styles tab. 2. Expand the drop-down menu to select a named style category (e.g., Shadows), then pick a subcategory by scrolling the lower window. 3. Preview available styles as thumbnails (cog shapes are shown by default) in the window. 4. Click a style thumbnail to apply it to the selected object(s).
128 Effects Applying 2D filter effects Applying bevels and embossing effects You can apply some depth to your objects by applying an embossing effect. • From the Styles tab, adjust the Bevel & Emboss setting on your selected object. The greater the value, the greater the embossed effect. Applying feathered edges Feathering applies a softer edge to your objects, such as embellishments or cut materials. The effect is especially useful for presenting a photo on the page.
Effects 129 Advanced 2D filter effects For more advanced control of filter effects, a Filter Effects dialog can be used to apply filter effects to an object. To apply 2D filter effects: 1. With an object selected, click Filter Effects on the Drawing toolbar. The Filter Effects dialog appears. 2. To apply a particular effect, check its box in the list at left. 3. To adjust the properties of a specific effect, select its name and vary the dialog controls.
130 Effects The Studio’s Styles tab is a good place to begin experimenting with 3D filter effects. Its multiple categories each offer a gallery full of predefined effects, using various settings. You’ll see a variety of remarkable 3D surface (Glass, Metallic, Wood, etc.) and texture presets in the Instant Effects and Textures categories, respectively. Click any thumbnail to apply it to the selected object.
Effects • • • 131 Blur specifies the amount of smoothing applied (in point size). Larger blur sizes give the impression of broader, more gradual changes in height. Depth specifies how steep the changes in depth appear (in point size). The button is normally down, which links the two sliders so that sharp changes in Depth are smoothed out by the Blur parameter. To adjust the sliders independently, click the button so it's up. 4.
132 Effects Simple shadow (drag from object centre) Node controls: (A) Shear X/Scale Y, (B) Shear Y/Scale X, (C) Reposition shadow, (D) Opacity, (E) Lock Point, (F) Blur. (showing control nodes) With subtle Shear and Scale adjustments you can produce skewed shadows for realistic 2D lighting effects. The example opposite has had adjustments to Shear X and Shear Y, with blurring and reduced opacity. Applying drop shadows with Shadow Tool 1.
Effects 133 2. Drag across the object to create a drop shadow (note additional nodes being created). 3. Change blur, opacity, shear, or scale accordingly by node adjustment (or via the displayed context toolbar). If you want to create simple shadows without additional control of the above properties, disable Advanced on the context toolbar, then drag the shadow to a new position. To change a shadow's colour: • Select a colour from the Studio's Colour tab.
134 Effects For identical shapes: For different shapes (e.g. a blend between a Quick Ellipse and a Quick Petal): To create a blend with the Blend Tool: 1. On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow next to the Tool. 2. From the flyout, select the Replicate Blend Tool. 3. (Optional) From the displayed Context toolbar, choose: • The number of “morph” Blend Steps to be taken between both points (to increase/decrease the smoothness of the blend).
Effects 135 5. Click and drag the cursor, drawing a dashed line as you go, to your destination point (this must be on an object) and release. Blending on a path DrawPlus allows you to make your blended objects conform to a drawn freeform line or curve. To fit a blend to a line or curve: 1. Select the line or curve and the previously blended object. 2. From the Tools menu, select Fit Blend to Curve.
136 Effects Using stencils The Stencils tab provides a selection of ready-to-go, fun stencils that will add impact to any page. Whether you paint over them with the Brush Tool, or use them to cut out a design from a picture, stencils provide endless opportunities for creativity. If you're feeling really creative, you can create your own stencils by dragging objects to the Stencils tab. To add a stencil to your page: 1. On the Stencils tab, click the drop-down list to select a category.
Effects 137 The lower gallery displays thumbnails of the stencils available in the selected category. 2. Click and drag a thumbnail from the gallery onto your page. To paint over stencils: 1. Add a stencil to your page. 2. From the Drawing toolbar, click the Brush Tool. 3. Choose a brush type from the Brushes tab and set your brush colour on the Colour tab. (See Applying brush strokes on p. 56.) Brushes in the Effects, Paint and Spray categories are particularly suited to stencil work. 4.
138 Effects Swap to different brush colours or brush types using respective Colour and Brushes tabs. 5. From the Drawing toolbar, select the 6. Click the stencil, then select Pointer Tool. Lift Stencil below the stencil. The stencil is removed, revealing the painted design beneath it.
Effects 139 Any brush strokes applied outside of the white and blue sections will show when you lift the stencil. To avoid this, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard when you click Lift Stencil. To create multiple stencils: 1. Add stencils to your page and position them as required. 2. Paint over your stencils. 3. From the Drawing toolbar, select the Pointer Tool and then click each stencil in turn. Click Lift Stencil below each stencil to remove it.
140 Effects
Stopframe/ Keyframe Animation
142 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation Getting started with animation A clear distinction has to be made between two types of animation techniques, both possible from within DrawPlus: • Stopframe animation: also known as Stop motion animation, involves the animation of static objects frame-by-frame. In the film industry, Stopframe animation is used within widely known productions based on figures made of clay or other bendable material.
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 143 To customize document settings, see Animation Custom Settings in DrawPlus Help. To begin a new Stopframe or Keyframe animation from scratch: • Either: • Select New>New Stopframe Animation from the File menu. - or • Select New>New Keyframe Animation from the File menu. A new document window opens in the respective Animation mode. You can convert any drawing into either animation type from the File Menu.
144 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation To view the Frames tab: • Unless the tab is already displayed, click the bottom of your workspace to reveal the tab. handle at the To clone the current frame to a new frame: • Select a frame in the Frames tab, and choose Clone Frame. The frame is added after the selected frame. To generate a new blank frame: • Choose Insert Frame from the Frames tab.
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 145 To change frame sequence: • Drag the selected frame to a new position in the frame order. When the dragged frame's thumbnail creates a slightly wider space between two frames than usual, release the mouse button to place the frame to be moved. To delete a selected frame: • Click Delete Frame from the Frames tab.
146 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation Previewing Stopframe animations You can preview your animation prior to export at any time either directly from your Frames tab (shown in a Preview window) or from within your default web browser. To preview in the Preview window: • Click Preview on the Frames tab. The animation loads into the Preview window and begins playing at its actual size and speed. You can use the control buttons (Play, Stop, etc.) to review individual frames.
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 147 Working with Keyframe animation We'll assume that you've entered Keyframe animation mode either from scratch (via File>New>New Keyframe Animation) or have converted your existing drawing to Keyframe animation mode (using File>Convert to Stopframe Animation). Essentially, the technique lets you create only user-defined keyframes through which objects animate, with each keyframe containing Key objects which can be assigned a position, rotation, attributes, etc.
148 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation Supporting tabs Keyframe animation mode also presents other tabs that support the Storyboard tab. These are exclusively used within keyframe animation (and do not show in normal or stopframe animation mode), i.e. • The Easing tab is used for applying linear or non-linear changes between key objects with use of editable envelopes (e.g., to change object position, morph, scale, rotation, skew, colour, and transparency).
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 149 To insert keyframes: 1. From the Storyboard tab, select a keyframe and choose Insert. 2. From the dialog, choose the Number of keyframes to add to the Storyboard tab. Set a default Keyframe duration for each created keyframe. 3. Choose to add keyframe(s) at a Location before or after the currently selected keyframe or before/after the first or last keyframe. 4. (Optional) Check Insert blank keyframes if you don't want to include run forward objects in your keyframes.
150 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation To set the duration of an individual keyframe: • Click the keyframe's duration (e.g., 1500ms) under its thumbnail, and, when selected, type a new value then click away. The total duration of your animation is shown on your last keyframe, e.g. (5.0s). Previewing keyframe animations From the Storyboard tab, you can preview your animation at any time either in a web browser or in Flash Player (This is a DrawPlus install option).
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 151 Exporting animations and presentations Exporting your stopframe animation, keyframe animation or rostrum presentation outputs it to a media file that can be shared or viewed, either standalone or when included as part of a web page.
152 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation To export animation as video: 1. Choose Export>Export As Video from the File menu. 2. From the displayed dialog's Basic tab, select your chosen export type from the File type and Template drop-down list according to the type of output video format you require. The presets offered are designed to provide excellent quality output, from small resolutions (360p) to high definition resolutions (1080p) as well as for DVD authoring. 3.
Stopframe/Keyframe Animation 153 To export as an animated GIF: 1. Choose Export from the Frames tab. 2. Click the Export button (or Close to simply record the settings if you plan to preview in a browser first). 3. Provide a file name and folder location, and click Save. Don't worry if you have extra white space around your image. Any unused border area will be cropped automatically, just as you saw in the Preview window.
154 Stopframe/Keyframe Animation
Print, Publish and Share
156 Print, Publish and Share Interactive Print/PDF Preview The Print/PDF Preview mode changes the screen view to display your layout without frames, guides, rulers, and other screen items. Supporting toolbars allow for a comprehensive and interactive preview of your pages before printing or publishing as PDF. Print Preview is interactive because a main feature is to provide printtime imposition.
Print, Publish and Share 157 To preview the printed page: 1. From the File menu, select Print/PDF Preview. In Print/PDF Preview, your first printer sheet is displayed according to your printer's setup. 2. (Optional) Choose an installed printer from the Printer toolbar's drop-down list. 3. (Optional) Adjust printer margins from the Margins toolbar. 4. Review your design using the page navigation controls at the bottom of your workspace. To print: • From the Printer toolbar, select - or - Print.
158 Print, Publish and Share To cancel Print Preview mode: • Select Close Preview from the top of your workspace (or click the window's Close button). Print-time imposition During preview, you can enable imposition of your drawing, choosing a mode suited to your intended final drawing (book, booklet, etc.). Each mode displays different toolbar options on the context-sensitive Imposition toolbar.
Print, Publish and Share 159 Printing basics DrawPlus supports printing directly to a physical desktop printer (e.g., All-in-ones, Inkjet and Laser printers) or to an electronic file such as Adobe Acrobat PDF (see p. 161). Printing your document to a desktop printer is one of the more likely operations you'll be performing in DrawPlus. The easy-to-use Print dialog presents the most commonly used options to you, with a navigable "live" Preview window to check your print output.
160 Print, Publish and Share If you're working with a service bureau or commercial printer and need to provide PDF output, see Publishing as PDF on p. 161. To set up your printer or begin printing: 1. Click Print on the Standard toolbar. The Print dialog appears. 2. Select a currently installed printer from the Printer drop-down list. If necessary, click the Properties button to set up the printer for the correct page size, etc. 3. Select a print profile from the Profile drop-down list.
Print, Publish and Share 161 6. Set a percentage Scale which will enlarge or shrink your print output (both page and contents). A 100% scale factor creates a full size print output. Alternatively, from the adjacent drop-down list, choose Shrink to Fit to reduce your document's page size to the printer sheet size or Scale to Fit to enlarge or reduce the document page size as required. 7.
162 Print, Publish and Share The dialog updates with the selected profile's new settings. The Compatibility is set according to the profile and doesn't need to be set. 3. Select the Range to be published, e.g. the Entire Drawing, Current Page, or range of pages. For specific pages or a range of pages, enter "1,3,5" or "2-5", or enter any combination of the two. Whichever option you've chosen, the Include drop-down list lets you export all sheets in the range, or just odd or even sheets. 4.
Print, Publish and Share 163 Exporting objects and drawings You can export at any time by using Export as Picture or Dynamic Preview; the former lets you compare export settings, the latter allows editing during preview—great for pixel-accurate editing of your intended output! Exporting as picture Especially if you're exporting graphics for the web, you can take advantage of the Export as Picture dialog, which will greatly help you in reducing file sizes and download times as far as possible while maint
164 Print, Publish and Share To export as a picture: 1. Choose Export>Export as Picture from the File menu. 2. (Optional) From the Export Area section, you can scale the picture to a new size if desired (change Width and Height), or adjust the dpi (dots per inch) setting. For graphics to be used on-screen, it's best to leave these values intact. 3. From the drop-down list, choose if the export can be based on the whole Page, All Pages, Selected Area, or Selected Objects. 4.
Print, Publish and Share 165 6. Click Export. If you click Close, DrawPlus remembers your preferred format and settings. 7. From the Export dialog, navigate to a folder of your choice, enter a File name, then click Save. When exporting Stopframe animations, an Animation tab is shown in the dialog for frame export control. For converting DrawPlus objects into pictures on the page, use Tools>Convert to Picture. Defining a region for export DrawPlus lets you export a specific region in your design.
166 Print, Publish and Share 2. Drag a corner (or edge) handle to resize the box; reposition the box over the export area. 3. (Optional) Name the Export Overlay layer in the Export Name box on the context toolbar (this labels the export overlay in the Layers tab and provides the default file name at export). 4. Click Export shown under the box. The Export as Picture dialog is displayed, from which you can modify and choose an export file format (described previously).
Print, Publish and Share 167 unless objects on the page are selected. To export all pages: • From the dialog, select All Pages in the drop-down list. For example, exporting a four-page project called mydesign.dpp will create four files called mydesign00.png, mydesign01.png, mydesign02.png, and mydesign03.png.
168 Print, Publish and Share Presentations with the Rostrum Camera A rostrum camera in television production and filmmaking uses slides to animate a still picture or object. The Rostrum Camera feature in DrawPlus uses slides to transform the content in your document into an animated presentation, cartoon, slideshow or storyboard. Each slide you create for the content is in effect a rostrum camera position. The camera positions are panned over the content slide-by-slide.
Print, Publish and Share 169 Starting a new presentation New presentations can be created in two ways: • • Using a preset page layout, i.e. a page array of already created but empty slides that can have objects added to them. By creating your objects first, you can insert a slide over the existing content using the Rostrum Camera. You repeat the process for other slides, linking slides together. Taking either approach results in a set of connected slides, each 'filled' with slide content.
170 Print, Publish and Share To create a presentation from scratch: 1. Add objects on the page intended for each slide. 2. From the Drawing toolbar, select Rostrum Camera. 3. Position the shaded slide over the first set of objects to enclose them. The first slide you add is always number one in your sequence as indicated on the slide. icon next to the slide to the next set of objects (i.e. 4. Drag the proposed Slide 2) and release the mouse button. This is the next camera position. 5.
Print, Publish and Share 171 You can use the Rostrum Camera over multiple pages. When the presentation gets to the last slide on your first page, you can jump to the next page and start a new slide sequence. Slide positioning The position of slides in relation to each other dictates the camera position, i.e. the extent and direction of panning. Slides and content rotated by 90° also produce camera rotations. Rostrum camera ratio The rostrum camera aspect ratio can be 16:9 or 4:3.
172 Print, Publish and Share To view the Slides tab: • Unless the Slides tab is already displayed, click the handle at the bottom of your workspace. To edit a rostrum camera slide: Rostrum Camera and select a 1. On the Drawing toolbar, click slide on the page. The Slides tab shows all camera positions in your drawing. 2. Click the icon on the slide you want to edit. The Edit Rostrum Camera dialog appears. 3. Select hold, transition, and layer handling options from the dialog. 4. Click OK.
Print, Publish and Share 173 Previewing rostrum camera presentations As a quick way of checking prior to export, you can preview your presentation at any time and view it in either a web browser or in Flash Player. Exporting rostrum camera presentations You can export your presentations to Flash and video formats. For more information, see Exporting animations and presentations on p. 151.
174 Print, Publish and Share
Additional Information
176 Additional Information Contacting Serif Help with your Product On the web community.serif.com Get answers and ask questions in the Serif community! Additional Serif information On the web Serif website www.serif.
Additional Information 177 Credits This User Guide, and the software described in it, is furnished under an end user License Agreement, which is included with the product. The agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses. Trademarks Serif is a registered trademark of Serif (Europe) Ltd. DrawPlus is a registered trademark of Serif (Europe) Ltd. All Serif product names are trademarks of Serif (Europe) Ltd. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
178 Additional Information Pantone LLC is the copyright owner of color data and/or software which are licensed to Serif (Europe) Ltd. to distribute for use only in combination with DrawPlus. PANTONE Color Data and/or Software shall not be copied onto another disk or into memory unless as part of the execution of DrawPlus. FontForge © 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 by George Williams. Portions of this software are copyright © 2008 The FreeType Project (www.freetype.org). All rights reserved.
Index
180 Index 2D filter effects, 128 3D filter effects, 129 Actions tab, 148 Add (Join), 76 Add/Delete Pages, 22 adjustment (of pictures), 119 Adobe Acrobat (PDF files), 161 Align tab, 81 alignment of objects, 81 animation, 142 exporting, 151 Keyframe, 147, 151 Keyframe, previewing, 150 onion skinning in, 145 previewing, 146 Stopframe, 143, 151 Artistic Text Tool, 60 augmenting, 89 AutoTrace Studio, 123 Back One, 83 banners (setup), 13 Bevel & Emboss, 128 Bevel effects, 128 Bézier curves, 29 Bitmap fills, 96,
Index saving, 17 starting new, 13 DPA format, 17 DPP format, 17 DPX format, 17 drawing scale, 20 scale, 18 drawings exporting, 163 opening saved, 15 saving, 17 starting new, 13 drop shadows, 131 duplicating, 69 Easing tab, 148 editing brush strokes, 57 curves, 42 dimension lines, 52 lines and shapes, 42, 48 nodes, 47 text, 62 effects, 133 blends, 133 curved text, 63 drop shadow, 131 filters, 129 effects (images), 119 PhotoLab, 118 ellipse fills, 102 Emboss effect, 128 EPS, 114 Erase Tool, 90 exporting anim
182 Index Insert Frame, 144 installation, 6 interface changing views, 21 guides, 19 rulers, 18 Intersect (Join), 77 Invert Selection, 26 JPG (CMYK), 167 key objects (Keyframe animation), 147 Keyframe Animation, 142 keyframes, 147 changing duration of, 149 inserting, 149 Knife Tool, 87 labels (setup), 14 large documents (setup), 13 layers, 83 adding, 85 deleting, 85 locking, 86 managing objects on, 86 paper textures on, 86 properties of, 86 renaming, 85 selecting, 84 Layers tab, 84 layout tools guides, 19
Index editing gradient fills on, 103 editing lines, 42 editing shapes, 42 erasing, 89 exporting, 163 fills, 92 group/ungroup, 80 joining, 75 key (Keyframe animation), 147 line settings, 97 hairlines, 100 measuring, 18, 49 on layers, 86 ordering, 82 outlines, 98 QuickShapes, 37 replicating, 69 resizing, 67 rotating and shearing, 73 scale, 18 selecting one or more, 24, 80 selecting, in groups, 80 splitting, 87 storing in Gallery, 53 tracing, 121 greyscale, 121 logos, 122 transparency, 110 tweened (Keyframe a
184 Index Stopframe animations, 146 previewing (for print/PDF), 157 printing, 159 profiles, 133 blend, 133 pressure, 59 printing, 159 Publish as PDF, 161 QuickShapes, 37 adjusting, 38 converting to editable curves, 48 creating, 37 radial fills, 102 raster (bitmap) images, 114 changing raster to vector, 123 registration, 2 Replicate Tool, 70 replicating objects, 69 resizing, 67 Smart Sizing, 68 Rostrum Camera, 168 Rotate Tool, 24 rotating objects, 73 rulers, 18 sampling (colours), 101 saving animations, 14
Index Actions, 148 Align, 81 Colour, 93 Easing, 148 Frames, 144 Gallery, 52 Layers, 84 Line, 97 Pressure, 59 Slides, 171 Storyboard, 147 Styles, 130 Swatch, 94, 104, 105 Transparency, 111 tags (gift) (setup), 14 technical drawings (setup), 14 technical support, 176 text artistic, 60 blending, 133 editing, 62 entering, 60 flow on a curve, 63 formatting, 63 frame, 61 retyping, 62 shape, 61 three colour fills, 102 tint, 96 adjusting, 96 Tool Artistic Text, 60 Blend, 133 Brush, 56 Dimension, 50 Erase, 90 Fill
Notes
Notes
Notes
