Chapter 5: Setting Up a FreeHand Document

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This chapter teaches you how to set up different types of FreeHand pages that will simplify your workflow and help you work more efficiently.

The Anatomy of a FreeHand Page

You will see several panels and toolbars scattered across your monitor when you start FreeHand the first time. If you're on a Windows system, a Wizard will prompt you to choose whether you want to open a new document, an existing document, and other options. Macintosh users will see the menus and panels appear. This can be a little disorienting, so go to File ® New to open a blank untitled document. Now you can rearrange panels around the document window as you see fit. You move the panels by clicking on the top bar and dragging the panel to a new location. To collapse the panel double-click the top bar or click the collapse box in the right corner. You can adjust the various toolbars to a vertical or horizontal orientation by clicking and dragging the lower-right corner of the toolbox. To gain the most real estate from the program, most illustrators place the main tools in the horizontal Main toolbar at the top of the screen. You can nest several tool sets in the toolbar space.

When you have the tools and panels adjusted, look at the document window. The default letter-sized page is centered in the window, and it is surrounded by white space. This white space is called the pasteboard, and this area can be used to store elements as you are drawing. Anything that is not on the document page itself will not print. The pasteboard is 18.5-feet square and contains all the pages in the document. (In case you're interested, that can be up to 520 letter-sized pages, or a single 18-foot square sign.)

The bottom of the window (shown in Figure 5-1) contains several informational and navigational aids. You'll find the current magnification percentage or custom view name in the field on the far left. Next to that is a pair of page selector buttons. If you have multiple pages in the document, clicking these buttons takes you to the previous or next page. The next field shows the current page number, and a drop-down menu that lets you select a particular page in the document. Selecting any page brings that page to fit completely in the document window. The drawing mode is shown in the next field. You can change the way your document looks as you are working by changing the mode in this field. Most drawing is done in the Preview or Keyline modes:


Figure 5-1: Valuable information is found at the bottom of the FreeHand window.

  • Preview shows you the correct line weights, and all the colors as they are applied in the document.

  • Keyline reduces everything to thin lines — all paths are the same width — and no color is visible. Any photographs or imported graphics are shown as an outlined box with an "x" in it. You cannot print the Keyline view. If you print the document while in this view, you get the actual color and line treatment that you have chosen.

Finally, the Units menu fills out the information bar. Change the units of measurement for the document by clicking on this menu and making a selection. To make adjustments or simplify your drawing efforts, you can change these units as many times as you like while working.



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Macromedia Studio MX Bible
Macromedia Studio MX Bible
ISBN: 0764525239
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 491

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