[B0b]

just wondering if any1 has used it?

its free to DL atm

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/

Just DL - can't do anything atm, as i'm over in the states for my brothers wedding.. will have to wait til i'm back in the office

[balistic]

It's a damned cool program . . . like Painter for vectors:


don't type M$ man, that's so 1996 :p
_________________
brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gilli]

Hello all, I have been lurking around here for ages, so here is my first post. I have used Expression (2) for many years. A truly wonderful artists programme, especially for water colour and pen and ink creations. I would give you a couple of good examples from Exp.2 if only I knew how to insert the images!

Gilli

[/img]

[Jin]

Gilli,

Looks like you tried, since the ending image tag is displaying in your post.

Your image will have to be uploaded to your website or another site, then you'll need to copy the URL to your image file (not to the web page where it's displayed) and paste it between image tags when you type your message here.

Just do it like this:





Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums - again open for new registrations
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[jfrancis]

bitmap images genrally open in multiple programs, and vector images generally open in multiple programs too.

This software looks clever the way it interprets vectors, but it looks like it might lock you in to its proprietary system - if that matters.

You can expoprt rasterized bitmaps, but I wonder what happens if you try to export vectors. I'll bet exported vectors loose the fancy edges.

[stacy]

Gilli,
Right click on Ballistic's image and take
a look under "properties" at the address.
That's where he hosts his images.

[Jin]

Sorry folks, I went back and checked, and got the file format wrong.. which most of you probably figured. It was File > Export > Export PDF. Edits are in red, like my face. )

Hi,

This discussion got me curious enough to spend some time with file formats.

The best success I had was using File > Export > Export PDF. Can't remember now which settings I used but one combination actually opened in Illustrator 9 with both the "fancy edges" and the brushstroke's texture retained. The texture wasn't as nice as in the original Expression brushstroke, but pretty darned good all things considered.

By the way, the "successful" PDF opened in Illustrator 9 with one Layer containing a zillion Groups each with a zillion Paths.

Expression 3 Brushstroke Screen Print:



Expression 3 Brushstrokes, Saved as Bitmap PDF, Opened in Illustrator 9:



Sorry I didn't take notes and can't give you the Export PDF settings, but as I recall it was one or two check boxes I tried and left the rest at default. It shouldn't take long to find out what works.


Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums - again open for new registrations
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[jfrancis]

That's very interesting Jin that it opens as a vector with a zillion groups and strokes. That suggests to me that it the vector outputs with the fancy edges are still portable, and not a proprietary interpretation that is not portable.

[Jin]

I'm going to edit my message above. Should have taken notes while testing.

It was File > Export > Export PDF

I'll show you the screen prints in a new message, in a few minutes.


Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums - again open for new registrations
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[Jin]

Expression 3 - Green stroke from Design stroke group, red stroke from Water stroke group:



Expression 3 - Export PDF settings:



Illustrator 9 - Warning (I clicked OK, of course):



Illustrator 9 - Green stroke is in three parts, the ends and the main part of the stroke. Red stroke is an image instead of a path.



Another test also using File > Export > Export PDF with the same settings:

Expression 3 - Black stroke from Design stroke group:



Illustrator 9 - Black stroke's lines seem to each be a separate path:




Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums - again open for new registrations
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[B0b]

[stacy]

[B0b]

heh, quality

[Gilli]

Thank you all for advice re inserting images on the forum!

There is one thing that appears to be missing from Expression 3 Preview - a strokes directory. I have countless strokes created in Expression 2 that I would like to import, but I cannot yet see how. The manual does not seem to cover this. Any ideas?

Gilli

[Jin]

Gilli,

I haven't figured it out either. I have Expression 1 but never used it much, but there are probably strokes there that aren't in Expression 3.

Have you looked in the Expression > Strokes folder and its sub folders?

I wonder if you placed your strokes there if they'd show up in Expression 3. It didn't work for me but I'm probably missing something.


Anyway, if you figure it out, please let us know.


Thanks,


Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums - again open for new registrations
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[sweetums]

[Gilli]

Re strokes and folders, I tried this experiment:

In Win Explorer I copied (say) comet.sks from Expressiion 2/strokes directory. I then pasted it into Expression 3.3 program folder (it does not have a strokes folder so there is nowhere else to paste it).

I opened Expression 3.3 strokes pallet to see if comet.sks appeared. It did not, so the above did not work. There seems no way to import or open comet.sks or any Expression 2 stroke files in Expression 3

10.5 of the manual does not specifically say how to import .sks from 'outside of Expression'

Looking at the files in Expression 3 through Win.Explorer none have the extension .sks. So where are the stroke files?

I suspect this facility does not exist in Expression 3.3 and you cannot import by any means strokes from older versions.

Boy, is this hard to explain!

Gilli

[sweetums]

That is because you did not place the strokes in the correct place.
Put your strokes folder in Start>All Programs>Expression3>Resources>Strokes.
All Expression strokes will have a .sks extension, which you will see in the folder under Resources>Strokes.
Don't assume or suspect until you've explored all the options...AFAIK, Expression 3 IS the full version, just as a non-expiring Beta.
_________________
Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[Annie]

To add strokes to Expression 3.3, place them in the strokes folder here -

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Creature House\Expression 3\Strokes

You will find the other resource folders there as well.

Annie

[vanderwolff]

Had it for a while, just started working with it...I'm a novice as far as both paint and vector programs, but this was colored in Expression3 and I thought I'd keep it

[blehblehbleh]