Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX

1. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX Lesson 1 Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

2. Objectives • Create a logo by using tools available in FreeHand. • Create pages in which to place your graphics. • Use page rulers and guides. • Use panels and panel groups. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

3. Use FreeHand rulers • Macromedia FreeHand MX has rulers that can be displayed along the top and down the side of the document window. • Rulers display the current unit of measurement as shown in the Status toolbar. • To make the rulers visible: • Click the View menu. • Click the Page Rulers option. • Click Show to display the rulers. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

4. Place objects using guides • Guides are thin blue lines that appear to be on the document, but do not print. • Guides can be positioned to aid you in aligning objects and text. • To view the guides: • Click the View menu. • Point to the Guides option. • Click the Show option. • Objects can be made to “snap” to the guides when the Snap to Guides option is on. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

5. Create a page for graphics • Pages are created using the Document panel. To create a page: • Click the Window menu, and then click Document. • In the Document panel, open the page size list and click Edit. • In the Edit Page Sizes dialog box, click New to create a new custom page size. • On the Options menu of the Document panel, click the Add pages option, choose your new custom page, and click OK to add the page to your FreeHand document. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

6. Use the Status toolbar to navigate multipage documents This figure shows the Status toolbar, which is usually found at the bottom of the Document window. Use the Previous Page and Next Page buttons to go forward or backward one page at a time. Use the Go to Page box to jump to a specific page. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

7. The Document panel This figure shows the Document panel where you can set page size and orientation. Click here to see the Options menu. Choose page orientation here. Specify a custom page size here. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

8. Other FreeHand panels • Panels are organized into panel groups, such as the Properties panel group that contains the Document panel and the Object panel. • The Object panel displays properties for a selected object or objects. • The top half of the panel displays properties such as stroke, fill, and effect applied to an object. • The bottom half of the panel changes to display attributes for the selected property in the top half. • All panels can be accessed from the Window menu. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

9. Create custom logos using FreeHand tools The FreeHand Tools panel contains many tools you will use to create custom art objects. If the Tools panel is not visible, click the Window menu and then click Tools. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

10. Create the initial logo object • Turn on rulers, guides, and the Snap to Guides option. Position a vertical and/or horizontal guide where the logo will be placed. • Select the Rectangle tool from the Tools panel. • Press and hold down the Shift key, then drag the mouse pointer to draw a square somewhere on the page. • Click the Object tab on the Properties panel group and use the Object panel to size the square. • Drag the object to the vertical and/or horizontal guides. It will snap to the guides as it approaches them if the Snap to Guides option is on. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

11. Use the Transform panel to replicate objects The Transform panel can be used to copy and position any object on the page. Open it by clicking the Window menu, then Transform. The above figure shows an original square object and four copies of it created using the Transform panel. The Transform panel allows you to specify the distance from the original object for each replicated object, as well as how many copies of it to make. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

12. Add color to your objects Use the Swatches panel (Window/Swatches) to add fill and stroke colors to a selected object. Be careful when choosing colors for Web pages. Not all colors are reproducible on the Web. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

13. Add text to your squares Select the Text tool from the Tools panel, then click the Object tab in the Properties panel group to display the panel shown below. In this panel, you can select the font name, the font style, the font size, and the kerning values to use. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

14. Adjust text spacing and size Using the Text tool, key the text for your logo and position it in the squares created earlier. Use the Object panel to size the text and adjust the spacing between characters. Text as initially entered over the colored squares. Same text after being adjusted in the Object panel. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1

15. Summary In this lesson, you learned to: • Create a logo by using tools available in FreeHand. • Create pages in which to place your graphics. • Use page rulers and guides. • Use panels and panel groups. Introducing Macromedia FreeHand MX – Lesson 1