Document Layouts with Lens Fills

Who says FreeHand doesn't do desktop publishing? Prove them wrong when you master these tip and create Multiple Master Pages and Business Card Layouts using the great Lens fill feature. Whether you want to make newsletters, brochures or advertisements, these tip will get you there. Just follow the links below to see the examples.

• Business Card Layouts
• Multiple Master Pages

Version: 8 and above

Business Card Layouts
Tip idea provided by: Judy Arndt
Content written by Ian Kelleigh

This is a great method for creating multi-up layouts using Lens fills. It could also work for creating labels, decals, etc. It makes editing all the objects a snap.

In a new document, turn on Snap to Guides and lay down some guides for the card size. On the Foreground Layer, create the art for one card. Then lock the layer when finished.

Now create a new layer above the Guides layer. This is where you'll be creating the Lens fills so call it Lenses.

Next draw a rectangle to the exact size of the card. This should be easy with Snap to Guides turned on.

In the Inspector palette, choose the Fill tab and pick Lens fill. Choose Magnify as the type and set it to 1X. Then choose the Centerpoint option. Leave the other options Objects Only, and Snapshot turned off. This now creates a virtual link to whatever is underneath that Lens filled rectangle.

Clone this Lens filled rectangle and move it down exactly the same amount as it's height (it may be helpful to do this in Keyline mode to see the rectangle as you're dragging it). Above for the business card, it's 2 inches. Leave the clone selected and Duplicate (Command (Control) + D) to fill up the column on the page. Notice that all the elements that were under the Lens fill are following the rectangle.

Next select all the rectangles and Clone them. Move them over exactly the same width as the card to create a new column of cards. Select the original Lens filled rectangle you created and delete it.

Now that all those rectangles are still linked to the original card content, whatever you change, add or delete will be refreshed instantly on the other cards.

That card layout turned out to be a pretty nice design. Hmmmm maybe I'll get them made.

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Multiple Master Pages

What's a Master Page? Well it's a page that most Desktop Publishers use to have multiple elements show up on every page of a document. A page number or header for a newsletter are good examples. FreeHand™ never really had this feature and it still isn't entirely supported, but with the use of a Lens fill, it's done easily and efficiently.

In a new document, make a new Layer and label it Master Page. Now put it below the Foreground layer and bring the Guides layer in between the two. Now draw or type in the elements that you wish to be on the Master Page layer. It's a good idea to put down some guides to setup columns and margin widths/heights as well.

Now draw a Rectangle that fits the exact size of the page like the above example. Don't give it a fill, but it is OK to give it a basic Black line type.

Select all the elements including the rectangle, and drag them off the page and onto the Pasteboard.

Now select the rectangle and Clone it. In the Inspector palette, choose the Fill tab and pick Lens fill. Choose Magnify as the type and set it to 1X. Then choose the Centerpoint option. Leave the other options Objects Only, and Snapshot turned off. This now creates a virtual link to whatever is underneath that Lens filled rectangle.

Next drag the Lens filled rectangle back on to the document page. Notice that all the elements that were under the Lens fill are following the rectangle.

Now in the Inspector palette, choose the Document setup tab. Under the Options pulldown menu just choose Duplicate for as many pages that you need.

Now that all those rectangles are still linked to the original Master Page content, whatever you change, add or delete will be refreshed instantly on the document pages. Above I changed the version to 1.5 and added the site URL on the bottom. Special Note If you add things to the Master Page element, the Lens filled rectangles may not show the added items. To refresh them, select all the Lens filled rectangles on the Master Page layer and Bring to Front. Anything that is sitting above the Lens fills will not be shown. You could make a new layer just for the Lens Fill rectangles and have that layer sitting above the Master Page elements' layer.

There, now you should be on your way to proving to the skeptics that FreeHand can be a great Desktop Publishing tool for layouts and you don't even need to make a whole bunch of EPS files for those special effects.

You can use the same techniques I describe above to make Multiple Master pages. Separate ones for the Left and Right for example.

Note: FreeHand 10 now has the ability to create Master Pages. Check it out in the Spotlight section.  

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