Vector Graphics Overview

Classmates Project

Getting Started

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• Goal of this project
  • Create a single document containing photos and brief descriptions of all the students in the class.
  • In today's lab session we will complete the first three steps of the project, which will be continued in the following classes.
• First step--text entry.
  • Each person in the class will be responsible for typing up a brief biography of themselves--two or three paragraphs mentioning prior experience with computers, reasons for learning electronic illustration, expectations for the class.
  • Launch Illustrator by double-clicking on its icon, located in the "Illustrator" folder in the "Drawing" folder on the hard drive of your computer.
  • If you don't have a new, Untitled document on the screen, use the File-->New command.
  • File-->Save As. Call this file "YourName-Illustrator" and save it on the desktop of your computer. Use File-->Save every five minutes or so afterwards.
  • If the Toolbox is not visible, bring it up with Window-->Show Toolbox. Select the Text tool (the one with the "T") and drag a dotted box on the page (this is your type block). Type your bio file at the flashing insertion point that appears.
    • Use the magnifier glass tool to enlarge your view of the type.
    • Use standard selection and cut-and-paste techniques to edit text as needed (you will need the text tool to do this).
  • When done, export your bio to a text file that others in the class will later use:
    • Deselect all.
    • File-->Export. In the dialog box, type "YourName-Text", select "Text" from the "Format" pop-up menu, then export to the desktop.
      • In the "Choose a Format" dialog which appears afterwards, choose "ASCII-Mac".
  • You can now use File-->Quit to terminate Illustrator and free up memory.
• Second step--use the scanner to create your portrait picture file.
  • Go to the black&white (Apple) scanner station. If it is not up and running, make sure the scanner is on, then turn on the computer connected to it.
  • Place a photo of yourself (a picture ID will do) face down on the glass of the scanner, towards the edge closest to the hinge of the lid. Close the lid.
  • Start the program "Ofoto" (in the "Scanner" folder on the hard drive).
  • If the "Scan Controls" palette is not visible, use Windows-->Show Scan Controls. If the palette does not display the "Manual" button, use Options-->Expert Controls On.
  • In the "Scan Controls" palette, check the "Manual" button to make the controls available. Set them to: Scan Bits 4 and Print Bits 8; Scan Dpi and Print Dpi 100.
  • Click <Prescan> to locate your photo on the scanner. As soon as the preview image shows your photo in its entirety, you may click <Stop>.
  • Click and drag the edges of the flashing selection box to resize it until it encloses only the preview of your photo.
  • Use Image-->Tone-->Brightness & Contrast and adjust the sliders as needed.
  • Click <Scan>. The scanner will proceed to read your photo into the computer.
  • When the scan is completed, use File-->Save; select "TIFF" and "LZW Compression" from the pop-up menus at the bottom of the Save dialog box; type "YourName-Photo" for the file name; click <Save>
  • Close the window with your scanned image. Use the network connection to transfer the file for your scanned image to your computer. Return to your computer to continue the project, allowing the next person to scan.
• Third step--import your photo into a FreeHand document:
  • Launch FreeHand by double-clicking on its icon, located in the "FreeHand" folder in the "Drawing" folder on the hard drive of your computer.
  • Use the File-->New command to create a new, Untitled document.
  • File-->Import. Find the file "YourName-Photo" on the disk and open it. Click on the page where you want to place the upper-left corner of your photo
  • File-->Save. Call this file "YourName-FreeHand".
  • Do NOT throw away your picture file from your disks, as FreeHand will still need it to handle the photo correctly.
• After these three steps are completed
  • Consider spending some time poking around in Illustrator and FreeHand (now that you know where they are). You can't break anything, and you might make interesting discoveries.
• Before leaving
  • Make sure to copy all of your files (an Illustrator file, a Text file, a TIFF file, and a FreeHand file) to one of your Zip disks, and to make a backup copy on a second disk. Remove any files you have created on the hard drive by dragging them to the trash.
  • Very important: if you still do not have your own Zip disks at this time, make sure to tell the instructor before you leave. Any student files left on the hard drives of the lab computers may be deleted at any time.

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This document originally at <http://www.sanedraw.com/LEARN/EL_ILLST/CLSMTS1/INDEX.HTM> Copyright 2001 by Sandro Corsi. Created 1999-01-21. Last modified 2001-02-04.