Canvas Tips and Techniques

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Canvas
Tips
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Deneba
Creative Department
Copyright © 1995-2002
Deneba Systems Inc.
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Creating Custom Templates
Learn how to create and use custom templates in Canvas to save time on repetitive
projects in this step-by-step tutorial.
Templates are special Canvas documents that you can use as the basis for new documents. When you select a
template in the New dialog box, Canvas creates a new document containing the graphics and text in the template and uses the template’s settings for layers, slides, pages, rulers, grids, guides, views, as well as default
object attributes.
How is a template different than a regular Canvas document? When you choose a template in the New dialog
box, Canvas creates a new document based on the template, but doesn‘t actually open the template file. When
you make changes to the new document and save it to disk, the changes don’t affect the template.
Canvas treats a template in a similar way when you open one by double-clicking its icon or using the Open command. In either case, rather than open the actual template document, Canvas makes a new document based on
the template’s document type and contents.
Templates, like regular Canvas documents, are various types: Illustration, Presentation, Publication, Web sites,
and Animation. In the New dialog box, the templates listed in the “Use Template” pop-up menu match the document type selected in the “Type of Document” area.
In this tutorial we‘ll help Jeff, a music buff, create a custom CD label for his ever-growing collection of jazz and
rock music. We are going to create a template to save Jeff the time and work required to create the CD label
over and over again. The same techniques used to create and save the CD template in this tutorial could also be
used for flyers, handouts, Web sites, etc...
Preparing the Document
We begin by starting Canvas and opening a
new Canvas Illustration file. Choose File >
New.
When the New Document dialog box appears,
choose Illustration as Type of Document and
US letter (8.5 X 11.0) as the Document size.
After you have made your selections, click OK.
Note: You may use any document
type to create a template, this will
ultimately depend on the project.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Setting the Unit Preferences
Another important setting when working with templates is
the Unit preferences. Unit preferences let you choose the
measurement setting such as units, precision, and numerical format. Settings on this tab affect the unit displayed in
the Strokes palette, Status bar, Dimension objects, and
precision settings in the Type palette.
To set the Unit preferences, first open the Preferences dialog box by choosing File > Preferences (Windows and Mac
OS 9) or Canvas > Preferences (OS X). When this dialog
box opens, click on the Units tab.
Pen size units allow you to choose inches, millimeters
(mm), points, or picas to specify how you want to measure
the pen size in the Pen tab of the Strokes palette. For this
tutorial (CD labels), it is important to choose Inches as the
Pen size units.
Number Format sets the precision and numerical format
for numbers in the Status bar, Type palette, Show Size display, and other numerical displays. This setting affects the
measurement precision, not the drawing precision.
Creating a Perfect Circle
In this first step, we will create the
basic shape of our CD label with the
Oval tool located in your
Toolbox. To create a perfect oval shape, select
the Oval tool and doubleclick within the layout
area to open the Create
Oval dialog box. In this
dialog box, enter these
specific measurements:
Width - 4.63
Height - 4.63
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Creating the CD hole
Next we are going to create the hole in the
center of the CD using the Replicate tool.
To do this, first select the circle you just created in Step 2 and open the Replicate dialog
box (Edit > Replicate). In this dialog box, you
have the option to choose the number of copies to create, as well as the scale and offset.
For our example, we want 1 copy to be scaled
by 37 percent (proportional). When you have
made your adjustments, press OK.
You should now have a circle
within a circle.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Combining Objects
Next, we will use the Combine
tool to create a hole in the larger
circle.
This is done by first selecting
both circles using the Selection
tool. Then, open the Combine
palette (Effects > Combine) and
choose Subtract Front.
Tip: You must make sure
the two circles are perfectly aligned. An easy
way to do this is to right-click
(Windows) or Command+click
(Mac) on the two selected circles
and choose Align > Center from
the context menu.
Positioning the CD Label
Now, we need to place the CD label in a specific area on the document. Select the label, then open the Transform dialog box (Effects > Transform), you can specify the exact location.
Note: Before using the Transform palette make sure the the top left reference point is chosen and
your palette is set to use Absolute Position. The reference point is displayed on the Transform palette.
It is a point on the selected object (or its bounding box) on which positioning data is based.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
We are now ready to enter the XY coordinates.
The horizontal (X) position - 1.98
The vertical (Y) position - 0.76
When you are done, press Enter to position the
CD in the top half of the page.
Remember for this to work properly, you must
have your Rulers set to inches, see Step 1.
Adding a Second CD Label
Now we are going to add a second CD outline to
the work area by duplicating the original.
We do this by first selecting the original CD.
Then press Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command +
D (Mac). This should produce an exact copy of
the original CD label.
To position the new copy you must first select it
then open the Transform palette (see Step 4)
and enter:
The horizontal (X) position - 1.98
The vertical (Y) position - 5.78
When you are done, press Enter to position the
CD in the bottom half of the page.
You should now have two CD outlines positioned
perfectly in your work area. These outlines will
serve as the guides for our CD label content.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Add Guide Layer
Next, we are going to add a guide layer, this is where
we will keep our CD label outlines.
To create a Guide Layer, first, open the Document
Layout palette (Layout > Document Layout) and
expand the current Sheet, Page or Slide to view the
contents. Then, open the menu and select Add Guide
Layer (see example on the right).
Naming the Guide Layer
After selecting Add Guide Layer, you will be presented
with the New Guide Layer dialog box. In this dialog
box, you will enter your Guide Layer name. We
named our Guide Layer “Label Guides” but you could
use any name. When you are finished, press OK.
New Guide Layer Dialog Box
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Your new guide layer will now appear in the Document
Layout palette.
Now, we are going to select Layer #1 from the Document Layout palette. This will allow us to select or
manipulate the objects located on that layer.
With Layer #1 active, we are going to now select both
CD labels outlines.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Next, choose Object >
Arrange > Send To Guide
Layer. This is going to take
the two CD label outlines
and send them to the Guide
Layer to be used as a guide
for the placement of your
CD‘s artwork.
Now that you have both CD label guides in place, it
is a good idea to lock the guide layer to protect
them from accidentally being shifted or resized.
Within the Document Layout, the pencil icon with
the red slash refers to locking a layer. If you want
to lock a layer, select the layer in the palette and
then click under the pencil icon so an X appears in
the column.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Your CD label guides will now appear as aqua blue lines.
Creating the Artwork for the Label
Now that we are done with the Guide Layers, we are
ready to start on the artwork for the CD labels. You
first have to make sure that you have Layer # 1
selected in the Document Layout palette. This will
ensure that all of your artwork is created on the right
layer.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Next, using the Curve tool, we‘ll create
an object. It doesn’t have to be fancy
or precise.
Notice how the guide layer is visible as
you work on the CD design. It gives
you a visual reference as to where the
CD labels will print.
With the object still selected open the Inks palette.
Click on the drop-down arrow to open the Ink Managers palette. Select the Gradient tab. Next, choose
Rectangular as the Style and set the colors. For our
example, we chose an aqua blue fading into black.
When you are done, click Apply.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Your label should now look like the
example on the right.
Adding Effects
First we going to add a bevel effect
to the object to give it a cutout
look.
Choose Object > Sprite Effects >
Add Effect > Stylize > Bevel. This
will open the Bevel dialog box.
Enter the values below and press
OK.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Now,with the object still selected use the Replicate tool
(Edit > Replicate) to make a copy of it in the exact same
position.
Next, open the SpriteEffects palette (Windows > Palettes
> Sprite Effects). In this palette, we are going to remove
the Bevel effect from the duplicate object by simply dragging the effect to the trash can icon.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Then, we are going to open the Ink Managers
palette via the Inks palette (Windows > Palettes > Inks). Select the Hatch tab. Next
choose Hatch 7 as the Hatch Style and press
Apply.
Note: When using this Hatch it is
important to make sure you are
applying it to the Fill ink and not the
Pen ink.
Next open the Transparency palette (Windows
> Palettes > Transparency) and change the
Transfer Mode to Overlay and lower the Opacity to 50%. The result will be a scan effect
over the cutout background.
This area will serve as the text area for our
custom CD label.
Pla c ing a Ba c kg r o und
Image
In this next step, we are going to
place a background image to add
color to Je ff‘s CD colle ction.
Using the Place command (File >
Place), we locate the image and
bring it into our work area. Since
Jeff enjoys guitar, mostly rock
and jazz, we found it fitting to
use the image on the right.ve as
the text area for our custom CD
label.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Now place the image of the guitar over the
CD label outline guides and send it to the
bottom by choosing Object > Arrange >
Send to Back. We are done preparing our
template.
You could repeat these steps to prepare the second
CD label guide.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Saving a Template
Now that we are finished
with our template, all we
need to do is save it.
To save a template choose
Save As in the File menu. In
the “File Format” (Mac) or
“Save as type” (Windows)
dialog box, choose Canvas
Template and click Save. We
have named the file “CD
L a b e l - Av e r y 8 6 9 2 . t p l ”
because they are one of the
most commonly used CD
labels.
Note: It is important
that
you
remember where
you saved your
templates. For convenience,
we recommend you save
them in the Canvas
8\Templates folder but you
could save them wherever
you wish.
Windows:
C:\Program
Files\Deneba\Canvas
8\Templates\
Mac OS:
Hard
Disk\Applications\Canvas
8\Templates\
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Now that we have finished creating and saving our CD label template, we are going to put it to use.
It seem Jeff has decided to make a collection of jazz guitar favorites. He has put the CD together and is ready
to make the label for it.
Opening a Template
To open a previously created template, choose File >
Open and choose Canvas Template (*.TPL) as the file
type. Locate the actual template and open it.
Adding Text
After the you have the template open, you only need
to add some text using the Text tool in the Toolbox.
Select the text object and double-click on the Text
tool to open the Type palette. You could edit your
font style, size, spacing, etc. within this palette.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Now that we have finished creating and saving our CD
label template, we are going to put it to use.
It seem Jeff has decided to make a collection of jazz guitar
favorites. He has put the CD together and is ready to make
the label for it.
We end our project by changing the Fill ink to
white and adding a shadow (Effect > Shadow) to
the text.
Now all Jeff needs to do is throw an Avery 8692
CD label into his printer and choose File > Print.
He could also save the graphics and text as a
Canvas file (.CNV) without affecting his template.
When he gets enough music together for his
next CD, he only needs to open the template,
add the new text. and he is done.
Creating Custom Templates (continued)
Here is an example of what the
printed label will look like when it
is peeled from the sheet.
It you want to use the CD template created
in this tutorial you may download it here.