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CHAPTER 2
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FreeHand Basics
To get the most out of working in Macromedia FreeHand, it’s helpful to
familiarize yourself with the FreeHand work area, which includes the Document
window; command menus at the top of your screen; tools, panels, and inspectors
for editing and adding objects; and the pasteboard in which you create your
artwork. You can add more commands to the menus by installing software
applications called plug-ins.
When you open FreeHand, by default the following panels appear:
• Tools panel
• Object inspector
• Color Mixer panel
• Swatches panel
About vector graphics and bitmap images
FreeHand is a vector-graphic drawing application. A vector graphic is resolution-
independent—it can be scaled to any size and printed on any output device at any
resolution, without losing detail or clarity. In contrast, bitmap graphics—commonly
used in image-editing applications—are composed of pixels. Their display depends
on the resolution of the monitor or printer. Bitmap graphics can appear jagged and
lose detail when they’re scaled onscreen or printed at a low resolution. For more details
on vector graphics, see “About vector graphics” on page 137.
Although vector graphics always appear at your computer’s maximum screen
resolution, you can specify a lower resolution for preparing draft documents. For
more information, see “Setting up to print” on page 388.
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