Working with Lens Effects

Working with Lens Effects

One of the most dramatic features in FreeHand is the set of lens fills. These allow you to create transparency effects and to use one object to magnify others.

To create a transparent lens fill:

Choose Lens from the pop-up menu in the Fill inspector.

Choose Transparency from the mode pop-up menu

Figure 27. The Transparency Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

Choose a color from the color pop-up menu.

Use the Opacity slider or the field 24324p1511y to set the amount of transparency for the lens . The lower the opacity, the more you will be able to see through the object.

Figure 28. Changing the Opacity setting changes the amount of transparency in a lens.

Click Objects Only to have the effects of the lens seen only on objects, not the page

Figure 29. The Objects Only setting makes the lens work only on objects, not the page area.

See the exercise on the facing page for working with the Centerpoint control.

Click Snapshot to freeze the lens effect within the object. The object may then be moved to another spot without changing the image within the lens

Figure 30. The Snapshot setting freezes the image in the lens so you can move it.

The magnify lens lets one object act as a magnifying glass on whatever objects it covers.

To create a magnify lens fill:

With Lens chosen, choose Magnify from the mode pop-up menu.

Use the Magnification slider or the field 24324p1511y to set the amount of magnification for the lens

Figure 31. The Magnify Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

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Magnification can be set from 1 (actual size) to 20 times bigger.

The object appears inside the lens as if it were scaled larger

Figure 32. A Magnify lens shows a closer view of an object.

There may be times when you want the lens object to affect an area that it is not located over. This is especially helpful for callouts of technical drawings or insets of maps. To accomplish this, use the centerpoint control.

To use the centerpoint control:

Position the magnify lens where you want it in your image - do not worry yet about what shows in the lens.

Check the Centerpoint box in the Fill inspector. A centerpoint control appears.

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If the centerpoint is not visible, check to see if the object is part of a group. If so, ungroup it.

Drag the centerpoint control to the center of the area you want to be visible within the lens

Figure 33. Drag the centerpoint control to focus a lens over a certain area of the artwork.

The Invert lens inverts the colors of objects. This means that black objects turn white, red objects turn green, yellow objects turn blue, and so on.

To use the Invert lens fill:

With Lens chosen, choose Invert from the mode pop-up menu . This causes the selected object to invert the colors in the objects it passes over

Figure 34. The Invert Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

Figure 35. The Invert lens reverses the colors of the objects the lens passes over.

Set the Objects Only control as described on page 184.

Set the Snapshot control as described on page 184.

Set the Centerpoint control as described on page 185.

To use the Lighten lens fill:

With Lens chosen, choose Lighten from the mode pop-up menu. This causes the selected object to lighten the colors in the objects it passes over . This is similar to adding white to the colors

Figure 36. The Lighten Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

Figure 37. The Lighten lens lightens the colors of the objects the lens passes over.

Use the Lighten slider or the field 24324p1511y to increase or decrease the effect.

Set the Objects Only control as described on page 184.

Set the Snapshot control as described on page 184.

Set the Centerpoint control as described on page 185.

To use the Darken lens fill:

With Lens chosen, choose Darken from the mode pop-up menu . This causes the selected object to Darken the colors in the objects it passes over . This is similar to adding black to the colors.

Figure 38. The Darken Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

Figure 39. The Darken lens darkens the colors of the objects the lens passes over.

Use the Darken slider or the field 24324p1511y to increase or decrease the effect.

Set the Objects Only control as described on page 184.

Set the Snapshot control as described on page 184.

Set the Centerpoint control as described on page 185.

To use the Monochrome lens fill:

With Lens chosen, choose Monochrome from the mode pop-up menu . This causes the selected object to convert all the colors in the objects it passes over to a shade of the monochrome object

Figure 40. The Monochrome Lens controls of the Fill inspector.

Figure 41. The Monochrome lens changes the hue of the colors of the objects the lens passes over.

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The monochrome lens is a great way to tint part of a placed image.

Use the Color list to choose the monochrome color.

Set the Objects Only control as described on page 184.

Set the Snapshot control as described on page 184.

Set the Centerpoint control as described on page 185.