Opening documents

You can open a variety of picture files in Expression Design, including the native Expression Design file format (.design files). You can also import graphics by pasting them from the Clipboard and by importing them into already-opened files.

Creating New Files

To create a new Expression Design document, click New on the File menu or press CTRL+N. Expression Design displays the New Document dialog box.

  1. You may give the new document a name in the Name field (optional).
  2. The Width and Height fields represent the intended output area of your file. You can change these values by clicking on each field, or choose a width and height from the Presets drop-down list. Also, live effects are only visible within the document frame area. In general, you should match the document size to your output size.

Tip: If you have copied a graphic to the Windows clipboard, you can force Expression Design to use its dimensions as the new document size by choosing Clipboard from the Presets drop-down list.

  1. Choose a value in the Resolution field. This is the resolution at which live effects will be rasterized.
  2. Click OK.

You can also change your file size and resolution after the document is open by clicking Document Size on the File menu.

Opening files

To open a file, click Open on the File menu, or press CTRL+O. In the Open File dialog box, click the file you want. If the file has a built-in preview (see General Options for more on previews), it will be shown unless you clear the Show Preview check box. Note that you can choose more than one file to open in the Open File dialog box by clicking or dragging with the SHIFT or CTRL keys.

If you open an .XPR file from an earlier Community Technology Preview (CTP) version of Expression Design or from Creature House Expression 1, 2, or 3, you might see a warning dialog box alerting you to the fact that some features are no longer supported.

File formats supported:

You can also import an Adobe Illustrator PDF file (or a native .AI file, if Illustrator's Create PDF Compatible File feature is enabled) by clicking Import on the File menu. The objects in the PDF file will be converted to Expression Design objects as closely as possible. In some cases, the objects may be altered; for example, text may convert to outlines.