HP Poster Designer Quick Start Guide

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

QuickStart Guide

Welcome to Serif Poster Designer Pro for HP, the software program that provides all the tools and features you’ll need to create and print your own custom posters.

Poster Designer Pro has been developed with ease of use in mind, and you’ll be surprised by how simple it is to produce superb results.

Whether you want to create a simple sales flyer or a stylish full-color poster to advertise your business or promote an event, Poster Designer Pro makes it all possible.

To get started quickly, follow the steps outlined in this QuickStart Guide. For more detailed information, see the online Help, How To tab, and tutorials (see page 16).

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

This document, and the software described in it, is furnished under an end user License Agreement, which is included with the product. The agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses.

Portions graphics import/export technology © AccuSoft Corp. & Eastman Kodak Company & LEAD Technologies, Inc.

Clipart samples from Serif ArtPacks © Serif (Europe) Ltd. & Paul Harris

TrueType font samples from Serif FontPacks © Serif (Europe) Ltd.

PANTONE® Colors displayed in the software application or in the user documentation may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color. PANTONE® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. © Pantone, Inc., 2006

Pantone, Inc. is the copyright owner of color data and/or software which are licensed to Serif (Europe) Ltd. to distribute for use only in combination with Serif Poster Designer Pro for HP. PANTONE Color Data and/or Software shall not be copied onto another disk or into memory unless as part of the execution of Serif Poster Designer Pro for HP.

All Serif product names are trademarks of Serif (Europe) Ltd. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks acknowledged.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Installing Poster Designer Pro

You can install Poster Designer Pro automatically using AutoPlay, or manually from Windows Explorer.

To install using AutoPlay:

1 Insert the Poster Designer Pro DVD into your DVD drive.

2 If AutoPlay is enabled on the drive, the Setup process starts

automatically.

3 Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

If AutoPlay is not enabled (or doesn't start the install automatically), use the manual installation procedure described below.

To install manually:

1 In Windows Explorer, navigate to the DVD drive in which your

Poster Designer Pro DVD is located and double-click the DVD drive.

2 Double-click the setup.exe file in the displayed folder.

3 Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

To modify or repair the installation:

Microsoft Windows XP:

1 From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel, and then

double-click on the Add/Remove Programs icon.

2 In the list of installed programs, select Poster Designer Pro.

3 To modify the installation:

· Click Change.

· In the Setup Wizard, click Next, click Modify, and then follow the

on-screen instructions.

To repair the installation:

· Click Repair.

· In the Setup Wizard,

click Next, click Repair, and then

follow the on-screen instructions.

Adding and removing content

· Adding content may prompt you to insert your original Poster Designer Pro DVD.

· Removing content does not require this.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Microsoft Windows Vista®:

1 From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel.

2 Double-click Programs and Features.

3 In the list of installed programs, select Poster Designer Pro.

4 To modify the installation:

· Click Change.

· In the Setup Wizard, click Next, click Modify, and then follow the

on-screen instructions.

To repair the installation:

· Click Repair.

· In the Setup Wizard, click Next, click Repair, and then follow the

on-screen instructions.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Creating your first poster

Poster Designer Pro provides a wide range of professionally-designed design templates and themed layouts, which you can use as starting points for your own custom posters.

In the following pages, we’ll show you how to create a poster from a design template and from a themed layout. You’ll learn how to add your own pictures and text, and print your finished poster.

We’ll use the sample images installed with Poster Designer Pro. In a standard installation, you’ll find this folder in the following location:

C:\Program Files\Serif\Poster Designer Pro\1.0\Images

You can use your own images if you prefer.

Starting with a design template

Each design template is offered in a poster (choose from portrait or landscape orientation) and a banner style, and comes complete with pictures and text.

Design template categories include Education, Retail, Business,

Sports, Travel, Celebrations, and more—you’re sure to find

something you like.

All you need to do is update the text and images to

suit your needs and your poster is ready to print!

We’ll begin by opening a design template from the

Startup Wizard.

The Startup Wizard is displayed

by default when you launch Poster Designer Pro, but you can access it at any time from the File menu.

To open a design template:

1 On the File menu, click New from

Startup Wizard.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

The Startup Wizard offers different routes into the program—create a new poster, open a saved poster, browse the tutorials, and so on.

Click the

Design Template

option.

In the

Template

from the

The center pane updates to show thumbnails of the templates available in the category.

Select a thumbnail to view its

associated designs in the pane on the right.

Select the design you want to use.

Use

Create New Poster From

dialog, select a category

Templates

list on the left.

Designs

In the upper-right corner

of the dialog, in the

Scheme

choose a color scheme on which to base your poster.

(The first three schemes are designed specifically to complement the selected template.)

drop-down list,

Open.

Click

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

The template opens as a new poster in the workspace.

8 You can replace the

images in the template with your own photos, or you can choose from the selection of template images included with Poster Designer Pro.

These images are displayed by default in the

Media Bar at the bottom

Changing color schemes

Because the themed layouts and design templates are color schemed, you can swap the underlying scheme (and consequently the look and feel of the poster) at any time.

To apply a new color scheme:

1 On the

Swatches tab, click the Edit button to open the Scheme Manager.

2 Choose a new color scheme and click OK.

For more on color schemes, see online Help.

of the workspace.

· To add a template image, simply drag it from the Media Bar on top of the image you want to replace.

- or -

· To add your own photo, select the image you want to replace and click its Replace Picture button. In the Import Picture

dialog, browse to and select your new image and click Open.

For more on working with images, see page 9.

9 To edit text, click and drag to select the text you want to work with

(or triple-click to select all of the text), and then type your own text.

10 To format text, select it, and then use the settings on the Text

context toolbar to change font style, size and formatting options.

For more on working with text, see page 10.

11 When you have finished adjusting your pictures and text, go to page

14 to learn how to preview and print your poster.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Starting with a themed layout

As an alternative to the design templates, Poster Designer Pro also provides a wide range of themed layouts. Each theme offers a selection of layout variations and color schemes.

To open a themed layout:

1 On the File menu, click New from Startup Wizard.

2 Click the Use Themed Layout option.

3 In the Create New Poster From Themed

Layout dialog, scroll the left Themed Layouts pane and select a theme thumbnail.

The adjacent Layouts pane updates to show variations of the selected layout.

4 In the upper-right corner of the dialog, in the

Scheme drop-down list, choose a color scheme on which to base your poster.

(The first three schemes are designed specifically to complement the selected themed layout.)

As you select a scheme, the layout thumbnails are updated automatically.

5 In the Layouts

6 Click OK.

pane, select the layout variation you want to use.

The layout opens in the workspace.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Adding pictures to themed layouts

The themed layouts provide one or more placeholder picture frames for you to add your own photos, or a template image from the Media Bar.

To add a template image from the Media Bar:

· Drag an image from the Media Bar directly onto a picture frame.

To add your own image:

1 Click once inside a picture frame (or select the frame and then click

the Replace Picture icon that displays in the lower-right corner).

2 In the Import Picture

dialog, browse to locate the image you want to use, select it, and click Open.

The picture is added to the frame and scaled to fit.

3 When the picture is selected, note

that the Picture Frame toolbar displays in the lower-right corner.

You can use these tools to adjust your picture inside the frame:

· To reposition the picture inside the frame, click Pan, and then

click and drag on the picture.

· To rotate the picture, click Rotate.

· To zoom into or out of the picture, click Zoom In or

Zoom Out, and then click on the picture.

· To replace the picture, click Replace Picture, browse to locate a new picture and click Open.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Working with text

In this section, we’ll edit and resize the text placeholders, and apply formatting and color. We’ll be working with artistic text and frame text.

To select, edit, and format text:

1 Click inside the text object

containing the words ‘Your poster title here,’ then triple-click to select all of the text.

The placeholder text is shaded in blue for clear editing.

Adding text

Frame text and artistic text share many attributes, and you can use the same methods to perform operations such as selecting, editing, formatting, and so on. However, there are a few differences. For example...

With frame text you can:

· Flow text between frames.

· Wrap text around pictures.

With artistic text you can:

· Stretch or squash the text by dragging its container.

· Create some interesting shaped text effects by putting artistic text on a path.

For details, see the Working With Text tutorial and online Help.

2 Type your own poster title.

3 (Optional) If required, resize your title by clicking and dragging a

resize handle (circled in red below).

As you resize the text object, the text is automatically ‘stretched’ or ‘squashed’ to fit inside the text frame. This is unique to artistic text.

Our next task is to apply formatting to the text, and change its color.

4 Triple-click, or click and drag, to select the poster title text.

At the top of the workspace, below the Standard toolbar, the Text context toolbar displays.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

5 On the Text context toolbar, in the

Fonts drop-down list, select your preferred font.

6 (Optional) Depending on the font

selected, you may need to resize the text object to fit the page.

To do this, you can drag a resize handle to stretch or squash the text (see step 3), or use the point size drop-down list on the Text context toolbar.

7 Click and drag to select all the text.

8 At the right of the workspace, on the

Swatches tab:

· Make sure that the Text button is selected.

· Click to expand the Palettes drop-down list and select the palette of your choice.

· Click a color swatch to apply it to the text.

9 Repeat the previous steps to edit and format the ‘Poster subtitle’ and

‘Type your text here’ placeholders.

Note: The ‘Type your text here’ placeholder is frame text, and behaves differently when its container is resized. If you want the text to fit the frame, on the Text context toolbar, expand the AutoFit Options drop-down list and select AutoFit.

For more on

working with text, see the Working With Text tutorial and online Help.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Moving, rotating, and aligning

The following steps show you how to move, rotate, and align objects on the page.

To move an object:

1 On the Tools toolbar, click the Pointer Tool, and then click to

select the object you want to move.

2 In the upper-left corner of the

object, click the Move button, and then drag the object into its new position.

- or -

Click on an object’s border to select it (the border color changes to dark gray to show that the entire object is selected). Click and drag

the object with the Move cursor.

To rotate an object:

1 Select an object with the

Pointer Tool.

2 To rotate in 90° increments:

On the Arrange menu, click Rotate Left or Rotate Right.

- or -

To rotate freely:

Hover the mouse cursor just outside one of the edge or corner handles (the cursor temporarily switches to the Rotate cursor), then click and drag to rotate the object.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

To align objects:

1 Hold down the Shift key and, using the Pointer Tool, click to

select the objects you want to align.

2 On the Align tab, click an alignment option

In the example illustrated below, we chose Center Horizontally and selected the Include margins check box so that

our text objects would be centered relative to the page edges.

3 When you have finished

adjusting your pictures and text, you’re ready to preview and print your poster.

Alignment options

· To align the selected objects with the edges of the page, select the Include margins check box.

· To evenly space objects, click Space

Evenly Across or Space Evenly Down.

· To space by a specific amount, select the

Spaced check box and type a value into the adjacent box. If you leave this option unselected, objects are spread evenly between the two endmost items.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Previewing your poster

You can preview your poster before printing, to see how it will appear on the printed page.

To preview your poster:

1 On the Standard toolbar, click Print

Preview.

2 Use the tools in the lower-left corner of the

Preview window to adjust your preview.

Zoom Out: Click to zoom out

of the poster.

Zoom In: Click to zoom into the

poster.

Zoom Tool: Click the tool, and then click and drag on the area you want to zoom into.

Actual Size: Click to view your poster at its actual size (you can then use the Pan tool to pan around the image).

Fit Page: Click to view the entire poster in the Preview window.

Pan: Click the tool, and then click and drag on your poster to view a different area (only applicable when you have zoomed into the poster, or have chosen to view it at its actual size).

3 If you are happy with the results, click Print, and then proceed

to step 2 of the following section.

- or

To close the dialog and make any adjustments required, click to return to the main workspace.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

Printing your poster

Poster Designer Pro supports printing on paper rolls. You can set print quality and scale your poster to fit your selected paper size.

To print your poster:

1 On the Standard toolbar, click to open the Print dialog.

2 On the General tab, in the Name drop-down list, select your HP

Designjet printer.

3 Select your paper size from

the Paper Size dropdown list.

4 Select your print quality

from the Print Quality drop-down list.

5 Select a scale option from

the Scale drop-down list.

(These options will differ depending on the paper

Choosing print quality

The default print quality setting is Normal.

For faster printing, choose Fast. This option reduces the number of print passes, subsequently reducing the quality of the printed output.

For the best quality printed output, choose Best. This option increases the number of print passes, subsequently increasing the time it will take to print the poster.

size you selected.)

6 Set the number of copies

to print.

For a list of supported

printers, see online Help.

Poster Designer Pro QuickStart Guide

7 Depending on your

printer model, the Paper Type drop-down list may

be enabled or grayed out.

· If enabled, select your paper type from the list.

· If grayed out, you’ll see ‘Loaded in Printer.’ This indicates that the paper type set in your printer will be used.

8 Click Print.

Well done, you’ve created and printed your first poster! You should now be feeling familiar with the tools and techniques required to create a poster from a layout and a template.

While the topics we’ve covered here should be sufficient for many of your projects, Poster Designer Pro provides numerous other features. For more details, see the following documentation:

· How To tab, located at the left of the workspace.

· Online Help, accessed from the upper menu bar (click Help >

Poster Designer Pro Help).

· Tutorials, accessed from the Startup Wizard or the upper menu bar (click Help > Tutorials).

Support details

If you require support, please visit the Poster Designer Pro support web page at:

http://www.hp.com/go/posterdesignerpro/support

HP Poster Designer Quick Start Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual