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EBook
Covers Learning Outcomes
By the end of this
tutorial you will be able to produce your own e-book
covers and also produce your own templates. You will
be able to change colours, add text and graphics.
You will also be able
to develop a whole range of interesting graphics for
your web site or other projects. Finally you will be
able to change formats and create transitional
effects to enhance your designs.
You will not be on
your own as we also offer a complete support system
where you are able to contact us at any time to sort
out those niggly little questions we all get. Enjoy.
You will need some special
software.
The preferred is a program
called Compact
Draw. It was recently updated and so you can now
buy this older program for $28.00USD or if you want
the more recent version it is still only $45.00USD.
This is amazing for what you get and you will use it
for all sorts of graphics and manipulation.
All our tutorials are
based around Compact Draw and the following is a
complete tutorial on the program.
TOOLS
In this section we
are going to look at the various tools available
that will help you make your covers. You will find
many more tools in the program however we have tried
to keep it simple so you can get into production
straight away.
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The
first and most common tool is the text tool.
Simply click on this button located on the
left side of the page and a new small window
will open. In this window you type your text
and choose the size, format and alignment
for your text. There is also the ability to
look at the character map wich is good if
you want to use the Webdings etc. |
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This
is another common tool for creating shapes.
The square is the one we use the most for
creating books. You could use the circle for
creating CD artwork and the star for
specials etc. |
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The
arrow is the tool you will use to select
the different elements of your project. Once
you click on an element you can stretch,
compress or move the element. You can also use
the arrow keys on your keyboard for finer
manipulation. |
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The
shape tool is one of the vector tools that
enables you to control the shape and
perspective of your book. It uses aligned
cursors to help you square your manipulations.
Lots of words you probably don't understand
now but just remember it as the shape tool.
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This
tool enables you to start putting angles on
your books with one click. We use this tool to
create the initial 3D effect. It is called the
skew tool. |
THE
MENU
The menu on the top
of the page contains some information we will also
be using. On the top toolbar you will see the undo
arrow. This is a great tool if you make a mistake.
Object:- the main
feature we use here is in the "arrange"
section. This enables you to move part of the image
to the rear or bring it to the front.
Project:- this menu
will allow you to crop and trim your project when
you are finished. If you use a drop shadow then use
the trim expanded function.
EFFECTS
BAR
The effects bar will
allow you to add drop shadow and a number of other
effects to your project. The other bars and clipart
can all be used to enhance your projects. If you
cannot see them when you
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