"Trim Canvas" feature

_flashNewbie

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Mar 22, 2004, 11:13:45 AM3/22/04

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I'm just a newbie to Freehand MX. I was wondering if there is a feature in Freehand MX that automatically trims the canvas like in Fireworks MX.

Thanks,
Newbie

Wes Rand

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Mar 22, 2004, 2:18:12 PM3/22/04

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You mean set the page size to match up with items on the page? Not that
I know of. Though when you export, in most formats, the exported file is
trimmed down to the size of the artwork. What do you have in mind?

_flashNewbie

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Mar 22, 2004, 4:14:24 PM3/22/04

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Hi Wes,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I'm a web designer and don't have a clue when
it comes to the print world and their softwares. All I know is that Freehand
MX was and is still geared for print work. I know Dreamweaver and Fireworks
pretty well so I choose Freehand MX over Illustrator because the Freehand
program is very similar to those products.

This weekend I needed to create a map that will eventually be printed on
paper. Clarity and crispness was a must. After I exported it as a (quark).eps
or a .bmp file and then inserted it as a picture in Microsoft Word was I able
to crop it down to size. It'd be nice if Freehand had a Trim Canvas feature
so I can crop the canvas within Freehand. I guess I can just set up the
document with some dimensions but sometimes I just don't know what they'll be
initially.

Anyways, thanks Wes.

Wes Rand

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Mar 22, 2004, 6:20:11 PM3/22/04

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I don't know much about using Word for printing but both those export
formats should export just your artwork.

I did a quick test just to make sure I'm not remembering wrong: export
graphic from Freehand as a TIFF. Open in Photoshop and, yup, just the
art and not the full page. Place in an empty Word document and it places
the same image. Same thing with BMP but Word didn't like the EPS file.

So if you are getting more than what you want when exporting there must
be something there telling Freehand that it should make the file that
size when exporting. Is there something invisible on the page that might
be causing this? One quick way to check is to do a select all and then
change to keyline view.

BTW: why are you printing the map from Word?

_flashNewbie

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Mar 23, 2004, 12:03:19 PM3/23/04

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Thanks Wes,

I'll give it a try....like I said, this was my first attempt at using Freehand
and needed something to output fast yet be clear and crisp...which it was. I
used MS Word because that is the software that layed out my "text" and map. I
just conveniently used what I knew and have.

Wes, because MS Word doesn't give me ultimate control over my printed layouts,
what software would you suggest? What do professional print designers use?
Although I'm not a professional, what software would you suggest I purchase at
an affordable price? In the past, I've used MS Publisher but it doesn't allow
me good control over my layout nor print the results that I'm looking for.

Thanks,
Newbie

Judy Arndt

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Mar 23, 2004, 12:50:29 PM3/23/04

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FreeHand has so many ways to 'crop' objects, that you question requires a
day's training, not a one-paragraph response on a forum like this. :-)

There is no 'Canvas' concept in FH. FreeHand has pages and objects. You can
use the FHMX Page Tool to easily resize the page you're working on.

1. Closed paths can be cropped with the path operation, Crop.

2. Any selection of objects, images, text can be pasted inside a clipping
path. See the online Help files for 'clipping path'.

3. Many cartographers use a 1X Magnify Lens Fill, 'Snapshot' selected, to
export a section of a map to EPS. This export will include only items that
fall under the lens and will put them inside a clipping path of the lens.

4. The FHMX Output Area tool is great for exporting a portion of a document
to various raster formats and to Print.

Judy Arndt

Bill Schuhle

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Mar 23, 2004, 1:54:24 PM3/23/04

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FreeHand itself is a *great* layout tool. I use it for everything from
business cards to flyers to posters to newsletters. I've never found a need
to involve Word in anything I do, aside from opening customer-supplied files
so I can convert them to something (.txt or .rtf files) that FreeHand can
import.

Bill Schuhle

Wes Rand

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Mar 23, 2004, 4:46:20 PM3/23/04

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_flashNewbie wrote:
>
> Wes, because MS Word doesn't give me ultimate control over my printed
> layouts, what software would you suggest? What do professional print
> designers use? Although I'm not a professional, what software would
> you suggest I purchase at an affordable price? In the past, I've
> used MS Publisher but it doesn't allow me good control over my layout
> nor print the results that I'm looking for.

If you're not going beyond a few pages then doing all your work in
Freehand is the perfect place. Freehand is a great print tool and gives
you the control you want over layout and text.

J.o.B.

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Mar 23, 2004, 5:38:20 PM3/23/04

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Group your artwork, keep it selected on the page, then go to export, FORMAT =
BMP - under the format area there should be a box that you can check which says
"selected objects only" make sure that is checked then hit export.

Hope that helps you
:-)

_flashNewbie

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Mar 25, 2004, 10:57:44 AM3/25/04

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Hi all-

Just wanted to thank you all for helping me out. Well, I found that my
problem was "user error", again. I selected "all objects" and lo and behold I
found a invisible object at the bottom of my canvas thus when I tried to export
the canvas expecting it to crop down just around the visible objects.

Props to you all....Wes, Judy, Bill and J.o.B!!!!! Your time, expertise and
willingness to share and teach a fellow colleague is much appreciated.