Those of you who are totally new to Expression 3 should start here. This page outlines key features of the Expression 3 interface. I've kept the discussions short and will point you to sections of the Expression 3 user manual for addition information on a subject. The user manual is an excellent source of information and I encourage you to read it. A PDF version of the manual is accessible from the Help section on the Expression 3 menu bar.

If you are familiar with the interface, you can skip this section and move on to lesson 1. I will link back to this page in relevant portions of each lesson for those of you who are somewhat familiar with the interface but just need a quick reminder.

Mac User Substitutions

Throughout the lessons, keyboard shortcuts are given exclusively in PC terminology. Mac users should substitute the Option key when the term Alt is used, and the Command key when the term Ctrl is used.

Introduction to the Expression 3 Interface

Below is a screen capture of the Expression 3 interface, which displays only three of the many palettes available. From top to botton they are the ToolBox, the Paint Style palette and the Strokes palette.

Title Bar: At the top of the interface is the Title Bar which displays the name of the program followed by the name of the currently active document. Nothing spectacular here.

Menu Bar: The menu bar appears below the Title bar. Standard operations such as opening and saving documents are only accessable from the menu bar. I will refer you to menu items in bold, such as File > Preferences, for example. These lessons assume you are familiar with standard concepts for your particular operating system (Mac or Windows), such as navigating the menu bar.

Palettes: By default, palettes are docked on the left side of the interface. When more palettes are opened than will fit in the space provided, some palettes will collapse to make room. In that case, a maximize button appears to the left of the close button on the Title Bar. Click the maximize button to expand the palette and another palette will minimize to compensate.

You can remove palettes by clicking the close button on the right side of each palette's title bar. To display a palette, choose the palette from the Window menu on the menu bar or use the palette's shortcut key to toggle between showing and hiding the palette. You'll notice a list of shortcut keys next to each palette item in the Window menu. Palettes may also be moved from their default location by dragging the palette by it's title bar. See pages 37-38 of the user manual for more information on palettes.

Document Window: The document window is where you create your drawings and it appears to the right of the palettes in the screen shot above. The drawing portion of the document window is referred to as the View Area. The rulers along the top and left side of the view area double as scrollbars. Hold your mouse over a ruler and, when your mouse pointer changes to a grabbing hand, you can scroll horizontally using the top ruler and vertically using the ruler on the left. Because the rulers double as scrollbars, the rulers cannot be hidden. The rulers also keep track of your mouse position with lines that move along each ruler as the mouse moves around the view area.

A unit button, in the upper left corner where the rulers meet, allows you to change the rulers unit of measure. The available units are inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), pica (pc) and points (pt). To change the unit of measure, click on the button and choose the unit of measure from the resulting drop down menu. Expression remembers this setting each time you launch the program until you change it.

In the bottom left corner is the magnification tab. Click and hold this tab to scroll through various magnification levels. The document window will update to display each magnification level as you scroll; release your mouse when you reach the magnification level you want. Other scrolling options include the Magnification tool on the ToolBox and magnification options from the View menu item. See pages 33-34 of the user manual for zooming options.

The black frame in the center of the document is the document frame which sets the intended output area. The document frame size can be changed (see page 31 of the user manual). You may also see a second, lighter frame which represents the printer paper margin. You can choose to display or hide the printer paper margin but can't hide the document frame. You can, however, effectively hide the frame by setting it's dimensions (see user manual at page 31) larger than your view area if you find the frame distracting. On the other hand, if you use a stylus and rotate the document to draw in a manner that is natural to you, you may prefer that the document frame is visible as it helps to identify the documents current state. To rotate the View Area, use the } shortcut to rotate clockwise and { to rotate counterclockwise.

More than one document may be opened at one time. To navigate between documents, use the tabs at the bottom of the document window. These tabs allow you to flip through opened documents and to 'scrub' documents. To 'flip' between documents (meaning to switch between documents in the order they appear on the tabs) using shortcut keys, press the ] key to flip forward through the documents or the [ key to flip backward through the documents.

'Scrubbing' is a method of checking the smoothness of an action sequence and is useful to people working with animations. To scrub, simply drag across the tabs, forward or backwards. You must not maxamize the document window or scrubbing won't work (this isn't a bug according to Creature House). You can, however, enlarge the size of the document window by dragging on the edges of the document window and scrubbing will still work.

Mini Layer List: On the far right side of the document window is the Mini Layer List (hidden in the graphic above) which displays the layer structure of a document. The Mini Layer List is a compact version of the Object List. To toggle between showing and hiding the Mini Layer List choose View > Show > Mini Layer List from the menu bar. Information on layers begins on page 108 of the user manual.

Status Bar: The status bar displays various information such as information related to the operation of the currently active tool, transformation values, steps for canceling tasks and memory usage (Mac only). You can hide the Status Bar if you need more screen space by choosing Window > Status Bar from the menu bar.

Using Shortcuts

You may have noticed that some shortcuts in Expression 2 no longer work in Expression 3. This is because shortcuts were removed in order to let you define your own shortcuts. To set a shortcut, choose File > Preferences and choose Shortcuts from the drop down menu at the top of the dialog box. A list of menu items appears in the order they appear on the Expression 3 menu bar. Scroll through the list and click on the item you want to set a shortcut for. If the item already has a shortcut assigned to it, a message to that effect will appear at the bottom of the dialog box. You can modify existing shortcuts as well as set new ones. Customizing preference options begins on page 149 of your user manual. A list of menu items and their descriptions begins on page 155.

Working With Palettes

Many of Expression's features are available from palettes. These palettes show information about currently selected objects and allow you to change an objects attributes. A detailed list of all the palettes and the features they contain begins on page 37 of your user manual. Following is a brief overview of how to use the sliders, meters and buttons common to all palettes. Other information specific palettes will be discussed throughout these lessons as we work with them.

Using Sliders: Many palettes have sliders that let you adjust an attribute's value. Press and hold down on a slider button for a tool tip displaying the current value of an attribute. As you drag a slider button to the left, to decrease a value, or to the right to increase a value, the tool tip remains visible and updates to display the new value. If you can't get the precise value you need by dragging, double click on a slider and enter the value in the resulting dialog box. Some palettes have double sliders which can be moved individually, or together by Shift-dragging one of the sliders or by dragging at the point where the two slider buttons meet. For more information on sliders, consult pages 38-39 of your user manual.

Using Meters: Meters display a numerical value in units which you can change in various ways. Drag any digit up or down to change it one unit at a time. For meters that support both positive and negative values, you can drag an empty digit space to the left of the value digit downwards for a negative value, or drag a minus value digit upwards for a positive value. Alternatively, you can click on a meter, causing it to flash, and then type in a value using either the regular number keys or the number pad on your keyboard. You can move the decimal point by dragging it to the left or right. Hold the Shift key and click on any digit to quickly reset a meter value to zero or the minumum value allowed. Like sliders, double click a meter and enter a value in the resulting dialog box. More information on meters appears on page 39 of the user manual.

Using Popup Buttons: Many palettes have buttons to access attributes or tools. Some palettes, such as the ToolBox, have popup buttons with a small slash in the lower right corner to indicate that more buttons reside underneath. Popup buttons display the current selection with an icon unique to the selected tool or attribute. To access a button under the current one, press and hold down on the button until the other buttons are visible and scroll to the button of your choice, releasing the mouse when you reach your desired tool or attribute. More information on popup buttons, and information on specific palette options, begins on page 39 of your user manual

With any palette, you can mouse over the various parts of the palette to display tool tips which identifies the item.

This covers the basics of the Expression 3 interface. When you are ready, proceed to lesson 1.