Fractal Design Expression(tm) 1.0 - Windows Version -- Read Me File WELCOME Welcome to Fractal Design Expression - The Revolutionary Natural-Media(TM) Vector Drawing Tool. Please be sure to read this document for important information about this version that may not be included in the printed documentation. SERIAL NUMBER You are required to enter your Expression serial number the first time you launch Expression. Your serial number is located on the Read This First card, your Registration Card and on your CD-ROM case. REGISTRATION We strongly encourage you to register your copy of Expression. The benefits of registration include: * Free technical support via phone, email, online services or the World Wide Web. * Advance information on future releases. * Special offers available to Fractal Design customers only * Notification of updates and patches. Please take the time to fill out the registration card included in your Expression package and return it to us, postage paid. CD-ROM CONTENT Your Expression CD-ROM contains many extras that are not installed during default installation. Take the time to explore the CD-ROM. Some of this extra content includes: The ULTSYMB directory containing 200 additional strokes created from the Ultimate Symbol Design Element (TM) collection. To install these strokes into your Stroke Warehouse, simply drag any of the directories or strokes included in the USSTROKE directory into the Strokes directory located within the Expression directory that was created when you installed the application. The CREATIVE directory includes strokes and example files used to create the various projects in the Creative Techniques guide. If you did not choose to install these files during installation you can copy the strokes into your Stroke Warehouse by simply dragging the CSTROKES directory into the Strokes directory located within the Expression directory that was created when you installed the application. To use any of the files, for the projects, simply copy them to your hard disk. DOCUMENTATION ERRATA After the documentation was sent to print several additions were made to the application. If the cursor is over a stroke and you click on the right mouse button, a context sensitive menu appears which includes option to edit the stroke definition or reverse its path. Two new menu items were added to the Stroke menu. Reset Stroke Shear sets the shear angle to any selected stroke or strokes back to 0 degrees. Reverse Ribbon Folds works on any selected stroke or strokes drawn in Ribbon mode. If a ribbon stroke overlaps itself, selecting the Reverse Ribbon Folds command will change the drawing order of how the stroke overlaps. MANAGING YOUR STROKES Expression lets you load hundreds of strokes into your Stroke Warehouse. Depending on the number and complexity of those strokes, and your system configuration, this may result in slower performance within the application. To maintain high-levels of performance, you may want to limit the number and complexity of strokes that are loaded at one time. PRINTING There may be some cases where Expression will have difficulty printing a file to a PostScript printer. This might occur if you use transparent strokes or if you've created a very complex file. If this occurs you may want to choose the "Rasterize Before Printing" checkbox in the Print dialog and select the appropriate dpi setting for your printer. CORELDRAW EXPORT This version of Expression does not support CMX (Corel exchange format)export. To move an Expression file to CorelDraw, first save it as an Adobe Illustrator file, which can be imported by CorelDraw. CMX support will be available in an upcoming version. This will be made available as an online updater as soon as it becomes available. Be sure to check our website at www.fractal.com or our AOL forum (keyword: FRACTAL) You can also order updated versions directly from Fractal sales at 1-800-846-0111. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Expression is designed specifically to run on Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51 and Windows NT 4.0. You can install Expression on a Windows 3.1 based PC, but performance may suffer. Expression for Windows requires a 486, Pentium or Pentium Pro PC with a minimum of 16MB of RAM, and a CD-ROM player. HOW TO CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT Technical support is free of charge to registered users. Please have your registration number handy when contacting Fractal Design. When contacting us by phone, it is most helpful to be calling from the computer where you need support. This way we can work with you to solve the problem or demonstrate a particular function of the software. You may also want to photocopy and fill out the Troubleshooting Worksheet located in the back of the Expression User Guide. Before calling check Appendix A to see if you already have the answer to your concern. Many of the answers to your questions, along with tips and tricks may already be posted on our web site. Be sure to check out the technical support pages on the Fractal Design web site. Internet: http://www.fractal.com/support/tech Phone: (408) 430-4200 Hours: 8am-5pm (PST), Monday-Friday FAX: (408) 438-9672, Attn: Technical Support Email: Macintosh: mac_support@fractal.com Windows: win_support@fractal.com ------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1996 Fractal Design Corporation, all rights reserved. Fractal Design Expression and Natural-Media are trademarks of Fractal Design Corporation which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Creature House and Skeletal Strokes are trademarks of Creature House Ltd. Fractal Design Expression was developed by Creature House Ltd. and Fractal Design Corp.