Microsoft
Expression Code Name Acrylic Graphic Designer Expression 3 Interface
Primer
Those of you
who are totally new to Expression should start here. This page outlines key
features of the Expression interface. I've kept the discussions short and will
point you to sections of the Expression user manual for addition information on
a subject. The user manual is an excellent source of information and I
encourage you to read it. A PDF CHM version
of the manual is accessible from the Help section on the Expression menu bar.
If you are
familiar with the interface, you can skip this section and move on to lesson 1.
I will link back to this page in relevant portions of each lesson for those of
you who are somewhat familiar with the interface but just need a quick reminder.
Throughout the lessons, keyboard
shortcuts are given exclusively in PC terminology. Mac users should substitute
the Option key when the term Alt is used, and the
Command key when the term Ctrl is used.[SA1]
Introduction to the Expression
Interface
Below is a
screen capture of the Expression interface, which displays only three of the
many palettes available. From top to botton they are
the ToolBox, the Paint Style palette and the Strokes
palette.
Title Bar: At the top of the interface is
the Title Bar which displays the name of the program followed by the name of
the currently active document. Nothing spectacular here.
Menu Bar:
The menu bar appears below the Title bar. Standard operations such as opening
and saving documents are only accessable from the
menu bar. I will refer you to menu items in bold, such as File >
Preferences, for example. These lessons assume you are familiar with
standard concepts for your particular operating system (Mac or Windows), such
as navigating the menu bar.
Palettes: By default, palettes are docked
on the left right side
of the interface. When more palettes are opened than will fit in the space
provided, some palettes will collapse to make room. In that case, a
maximize button appears to the left of the close button onyou
gotta double click the Title Bar
again. Click
the maximize button to expand the palette and another palette will minimize to
compensate.[SA3]
You can
remove palettes by clicking the close button on the right side of each
palette's title bar. To display a palette, choose the palette from the Window
menu on the menu bar or use the palette's shortcut key to toggle between
showing and hiding the palette. You'll notice a list of shortcut keys next to
each palette item in the Window menu. Palettes may also be moved from
their default location by dragging the palette by it's
title bar.
[SA4] See pages 37-38 of
the user manual for more information on palettes.
Document
Window: The
document window is where you create your drawings and it appears to the right
of the palettes in the screen shot above. The drawing portion of the document
window is referred to as the View Area. The rulers along the top and left side
of the view area double as scrollbars. Hold your mouse over a ruler and, when
your mouse pointer changes to a grabbing hand, you can scroll horizontally
using the top ruler and vertically using the ruler on the left. Because the
rulers double as scrollbars, the rulers cannot be hidden. The rulers also keep
track of your mouse position with lines that move along each ruler as the mouse
moves around the view area.
A unit button, in the upper left corner where the rulers meet, allows
you to change the rulers unit of measure. The available units are inches (in),
millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), pica (pc) and points (pt). To change the
unit of measure, click on the button and choose the unit of measure from the
resulting drop down menu. Expression remembers this setting each time you
launch the program until you change it.
In the bottom
left corner is the magnification tab. Click and hold this tab to scroll through
various magnification levels. The document window will update to display each
magnification level as you scroll; release your mouse when you reach the
magnification level you want. Other scrolling options include the Magnification
tool on the ToolBox and magnification options from
the View menu item. See pages 33-34 of the user manual for zooming
options.
The black
frame in the center of the document is the document frame which sets the
intended output area. The document frame size can be changed (see page 31 of the
user manual). You may also see a second, lighter frame which
represents the printer paper margin. You can choose to display or hide the
printer paper margin but can't hide the document frame. You can, however,
effectively hide the frame by setting it's dimensions
(see user manual at page 31) larger than your view area if you
find the frame distracting. On the other hand, if you use a stylus and rotate
the document to draw in a manner that is natural to you, you may prefer that
the document frame is visible as it helps to identify the documents current
state. To rotate the View Area, use the } shortcut to
rotate clockwise and { to rotate counterclockwise.
More than one
document may be opened at one time. To navigate between documents, use the tabs
at the bottom of the document window. These tabs allow you to flip through
opened documents and to 'scrub' documents. To 'flip' between documents (meaning
to switch between documents in the order they appear on the tabs) using
shortcut keys, press the ] key to flip forward through
the documents or the [ key to flip backward through the documents.
'Scrubbing' is a method of checking
the smoothness of an action sequence and is useful to people working with
animations. To scrub, simply drag across the tabs, forward or backwards. You
must not maxamize the document window or scrubbing won't work (this isn't a bug
according to Creature House). You can, however, enlarge the size of the
document window by dragging on the edges of the document window and scrubbing
will still work.[SA5]
Mini Layer
List: On the far
right side of the document window is the Mini Layer List (hidden in the graphic
above) which displays the layer structure of a document. The Mini Layer List is
a compact version of the Object List. To toggle between showing and hiding the
Mini Layer List choose View > Show > Mini Layer List from the menu
bar. Information on layers begins on page 108 of the user manual.
Status Bar: The status bar displays various
information such as information related to the operation of the currently
active tool, transformation values, steps for
canceling tasks and memory usage (Mac only). You can hide the Status Bar if you
need more screen space by choosing Window > Status Bar from the menu
bar.
Using Shortcuts
You
may have noticed that some shortcuts in Expression 2 no longer work in
Expression 3. This is because shortcuts were removed in order to let you define
your own shortcuts. To set a shortcut, choose File >
Preferences and choose Shortcuts from the drop down menu at the top of the
dialog box. A list of menu items appears in the order they appear on the
Expression menu bar. Scroll through the list and click on the item you want to
set a shortcut for. If the item already has a shortcut assigned to it, a
message to that effect will appear at the bottom of the dialog box. You can
modify existing shortcuts as well as set new ones. Customizing
preference options begins on page 149 of your user manual. A list of menu items
and their descriptions begins on page 155.
Working With
Palettes
Many of
Expression's features are available from palettes. These palettes show
information about currently selected objects and allow you to change an objects
attributes. A detailed list of all the palettes and the features they contain
begins on page 37 of your user manual. Following is a brief overview of how to
use the sliders, meters and buttons common to all palettes. Other information
specific palettes will be discussed throughout these lessons as we work with
them.
Using
Sliders: Many
palettes have sliders that let you adjust an attribute's value. Press and hold
down on a slider button for a tool tip displaying the current value of an
attribute. As you drag a slider button to the left, to decrease a value, or to
the right to increase a value, the tool tip remains visible and updates to
display the new value. If you can't get the precise value you need by dragging,
double click on a slider and enter the value in the resulting dialog box. Some
palettes have double sliders which can be moved individually,
or together by Shift-dragging one of the sliders or by dragging at the point
where the two slider buttons meet. For more information on sliders, consult
pages 38-39 of your user manual.
Using Meters: Meters display a numerical value in units which you can
change in various ways. Drag any digit up or down to change it one unit at a time. For meters
that support both positive and negative values, you can drag an empty digit
space to the left of the value digit downwards for a negative value, or drag a
minus value digit upwards for a positive value. Alternatively, you can click on
a meter, causing it to flash, and then type in a value using either the regular
number keys or the number pad on your keyboard. You can move the decimal point
by dragging it to the left or right. Hold the Shift key and click on any digit
to quickly reset a meter value to zero or the minumum
value allowed. Like sliders, double click a meter and enter a value in the
resulting dialog box. More information on meters appears on page 39 of the user
manual.
Using
Popup Buttons:
Many palettes have buttons to access attributes or tools. Some palettes, such
as the ToolBox, have popup buttons with a small slash
in the lower right corner to indicate that more buttons reside underneath.
Popup buttons display the current selection with an icon unique to the selected
tool or attribute. To access a button under the current one, press and hold
down on the button until the other buttons are visible and scroll to the button
of your choice, releasing the mouse when you reach your desired tool or
attribute. More information on popup buttons, and information on specific
palette options, begins on page 39 of your user manual
With any
palette, you can mouse over the various parts of the palette to display tool
tips which identifies the item.
This covers
the basics of the Expression interface. When you are ready, proceed to lesson
1.