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CanvasTipsand

Techniques

Creating Custom Templates

Learn how to create and use custom tem-plates in Canvas to save time on repetitiveprojects in this step-by-step tutorial.

Templates are special Canvas documents that you can use as the basis for new documents. When you select atemplate in the New dialog box, Canvas creates a new document containing the graphics and text in the tem-plate and uses the template’s settings for layers, slides, pages, rulers, grids, guides, views, as well as defaultobject attributes.

How is a template different than a regular Canvas document? When you choose a template in the New dialogbox, Canvas creates a new document based on the template, but doesn‘t actually open the template file. Whenyou make changes to the new document and save it to disk, the changes don’t affect the template.

Canvas treats a template in a similar way when you open one by double-clicking its icon or using the Open com-mand. In either case, rather than open the actual template document, Canvas makes a new document based onthe template’s document type and contents.

Templates, like regular Canvas documents, are various types: Illustration, Presentation, Publication, Web sites,and Animation. In the New dialog box, the templates listed in the “Use Template” pop-up menu match the docu-ment type selected in the “Type of Document” area.

In this tutorial we‘ll help Jeff, a music buff, create a custom CD label for his ever-growing collection of jazz androck music. We are going to create a template to save Jeff the time and work required to create the CD labelover and over again. The same techniques used to create and save the CD template in this tutorial could also beused for flyers, handouts, Web sites, etc...

Preparing the DocumentWe begin by starting Canvas and opening anew Canvas Illustration file. Choose File >New.

When the New Document dialog box appears,choose Illustration as Type of Document andUS letter (8.5 X 11.0) as the Document size.

After you have made your selections, click OK.

Note: You may use any documenttype to create a template, this willultimately depend on the project.

Setting the Unit PreferencesAnother important setting when working with templates isthe Unit preferences. Unit preferences let you choose themeasurement setting such as units, precision, and numeri-cal format. Settings on this tab affect the unit displayed inthe Strokes palette, Status bar, Dimension objects, andprecision settings in the Type palette.

To set the Unit preferences, first open the Preferences dia-log box by choosing File > Preferences (Windows and MacOS 9) or Canvas > Preferences (OS X). When this dialogbox opens, click on the Units tab.

Pen size units allow you to choose inches, millimeters(mm), points, or picas to specify how you want to measurethe pen size in the Pen tab of the Strokes palette. For thistutorial (CD labels), it is important to choose Inches as thePen size units.

Number Format sets the precision and numerical formatfor numbers in the Status bar, Type palette, Show Size dis-play, and other numerical displays. This setting affects themeasurement precision, not the drawing precision.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Creating a Perfect CircleIn this first step, we will create thebasic shape of our CD label with theOval tool located in yourToolbox. To create a per-fect oval shape, selectthe Oval tool and double-click within the layoutarea to open the CreateOval dialog box. In thisdialog box, enter thesespecific measurements:

Width - 4.63Height - 4.63

Creating the CD holeNext we are going to create the hole in thecenter of the CD using the Replicate tool.

To do this, first select the circle you just cre-ated in Step 2 and open the Replicate dialogbox (Edit > Replicate). In this dialog box, youhave the option to choose the number of cop-ies to create, as well as the scale and offset.For our example, we want 1 copy to be scaledby 37 percent (proportional). When you havemade your adjustments, press OK.

You should now have a circlewithin a circle.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Combining ObjectsNext, we will use the Combinetool to create a hole in the largercircle.

This is done by first selectingboth circles using the Selectiontool. Then, open the Combinepalette (Effects > Combine) andchoose Subtract Front.

Tip: You must make surethe two circles are per-fectly aligned. An easy

way to do this is to right-click(Windows) or Command+click(Mac) on the two selected circlesand choose Align > Center fromthe context menu.

Positioning the CD LabelNow, we need to place the CD label in a specific area on the document. Select the label, then open the Trans-form dialog box (Effects > Transform), you can specify the exact location.

Note: Before using the Transform palette make sure the the top left reference point is chosen andyour palette is set to use Absolute Position. The reference point is displayed on the Transform palette.It is a point on the selected object (or its bounding box) on which positioning data is based.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

We are now ready to enter the XY coordinates.

The horizontal (X) position - 1.98The vertical (Y) position - 0.76

When you are done, press Enter to position theCD in the top half of the page.

Remember for this to work properly, you musthave your Rulers set to inches, see Step 1.

Adding a Second CD LabelNow we are going to add a second CD outline tothe work area by duplicating the original.

We do this by first selecting the original CD.Then press Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command +D (Mac). This should produce an exact copy ofthe original CD label.

To position the new copy you must first select itthen open the Transform palette (see Step 4)and enter:

The horizontal (X) position - 1.98The vertical (Y) position - 5.78

When you are done, press Enter to position theCD in the bottom half of the page.

You should now have two CD outlines positionedperfectly in your work area. These outlines willserve as the guides for our CD label content.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Add Guide LayerNext, we are going to add a guide layer, this is wherewe will keep our CD label outlines.

To create a Guide Layer, first, open the DocumentLayout palette (Layout > Document Layout) andexpand the current Sheet, Page or Slide to view thecontents. Then, open the menu and select Add GuideLayer (see example on the right).

Naming the Guide LayerAfter selecting Add Guide Layer, you will be presentedwith the New Guide Layer dialog box. In this dialogbox, you will enter your Guide Layer name. Wenamed our Guide Layer “Label Guides” but you coulduse any name. When you are finished, press OK.

New Guide Layer Dialog Box

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Your new guide layer will now appear in the DocumentLayout palette.

Now, we are going to select Layer #1 from the Docu-ment Layout palette. This will allow us to select ormanipulate the objects located on that layer.

With Layer #1 active, we are going to now select bothCD labels outlines.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Now that you have both CD label guides in place, itis a good idea to lock the guide layer to protectthem from accidentally being shifted or resized.

Within the Document Layout, the pencil icon withthe red slash refers to locking a layer. If you wantto lock a layer, select the layer in the palette andthen click under the pencil icon so an X appears inthe column.

Next , choose Objec t >Arrange > Send To GuideLayer. This is going to takethe two CD label outlinesand send them to the GuideLayer to be used as a guidefor the placement of yourCD‘s artwork.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Your CD label guides will now appear as aqua blue lines.

Creating the Artwork for the LabelNow that we are done with the Guide Layers, we areready to start on the artwork for the CD labels. Youfirst have to make sure that you have Layer # 1selected in the Document Layout palette. This willensure that all of your artwork is created on the rightlayer.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Next, using the Curve tool, we‘ll createan object. It doesn’t have to be fancyor precise.

Notice how the guide layer is visible asyou work on the CD design. It givesyou a visual reference as to where theCD labels will print.

With the object still selected open the Inks palette.Click on the drop-down arrow to open the Ink Man-agers palette. Select the Gradient tab. Next, chooseRectangular as the Style and set the colors. For ourexample, we chose an aqua blue fading into black.When you are done, click Apply.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Your label should now look like theexample on the right.

Adding EffectsFirst we going to add a bevel effectto the object to give it a cutoutlook.

Choose Object > Sprite Effects >Add Effect > Stylize > Bevel. Thiswill open the Bevel dialog box.Enter the values below and pressOK.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Now,with the object still selected use the Replicate tool(Edit > Replicate) to make a copy of it in the exact sameposition.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Next, open the SpriteEffects palette (Windows > Palettes> Sprite Effects). In this palette, we are going to removethe Bevel effect from the duplicate object by simply drag-ging the effect to the trash can icon.

Then, we are going to open the Ink Managerspalette via the Inks palette (Windows > Pal-ettes > Inks). Select the Hatch tab. Nextchoose Hatch 7 as the Hatch Style and pressApply.

Note: When using this Hatch it isimportant to make sure you areapplying it to the Fill ink and not thePen ink.

Next open the Transparency palette (Windows> Palettes > Transparency) and change theTransfer Mode to Overlay and lower the Opac-ity to 50%. The result will be a scan effectover the cutout background.

This area will serve as the text area for ourcustom CD label.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Placing a BackgroundImageIn this next step, we are going toplace a background image to addcolor to Jeff‘s CD collection.Using the Place command (File >Place), we locate the image andbring it into our work area. SinceJeff enjoys guitar, mostly rockand jazz, we found it fitting touse the image on the right.ve asthe text area for our custom CDlabel.

Now place the image of the guitar over theCD label outline guides and send it to thebottom by choosing Object > Arrange >Send to Back. We are done preparing ourtemplate.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

You could repeat these steps to prepare the secondCD label guide.

Saving a TemplateNow that we are finishedwith our template, all weneed to do is save it.

To save a template chooseSave As in the File menu. Inthe “File Format” (Mac) or“Save as type” (Windows)dialog box, choose CanvasTemplate and click Save. Wehave named the file “CDLabel - Avery 8692.tpl”because they are one of themost commonly used CDlabels.

Note: It is impor-t a n t t h a t yo uremember whereyo u save d yo u r

templates. For convenience,we recommend you savet he m in t he C anva s8\Templates folder but youcould save them whereveryou wish.

Windows:C:\ProgramFiles\Deneba\Canvas8\Templates\

Mac OS:HardDisk\Applications\Canvas8\Templates\

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Now that we have finished creating and saving our CD label template, we are going to put it to use.

It seem Jeff has decided to make a collection of jazz guitar favorites. He has put the CD together and is readyto make the label for it.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

Opening a TemplateTo open a previously created template, choose File >Open and choose Canvas Template (*.TPL) as the filetype. Locate the actual template and open it.

Adding TextAfter the you have the template open, you only needto add some text using the Text tool in the Toolbox.

Select the text object and double-click on the Texttool to open the Type palette. You could edit yourfont style, size, spacing, etc. within this palette.

Now that we have finished creating and saving our CDlabel template, we are going to put it to use.

It seem Jeff has decided to make a collection of jazz guitarfavorites. He has put the CD together and is ready to makethe label for it.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

We end our project by changing the Fill ink towhite and adding a shadow (Effect > Shadow) tothe text.

Now all Jeff needs to do is throw an Avery 8692CD label into his printer and choose File > Print.

He could also save the graphics and text as aCanvas file (.CNV) without affecting his tem-plate.

When he gets enough music together for hisnext CD, he only needs to open the template,add the new text. and he is done.

Here is an example of what theprinted label will look like when itis peeled from the sheet.

Creating Custom Templates (continued)

It you want to use the CD template createdin this tutorial you may download it here.