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October 2011
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Product News
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 PhotoPlus
X5 has Launched!
Since the launch of the latest version of our digital photo editing solution, PhotoPlus X5, a few weeks ago, the reviewers have been singing its praises… “PhotoPlus is a solid image editing program with many features that set it apart from other photo editors in its price range... great value for first-time buyers.” Brighthub “As well as basic image manipulations like adjusting colors and lighting, there are lots of filters and quick fixes to choose from. (And) there's plenty of potential for fine tuning to get your photo exactly as you want it. "The level of control and options available is huge – far greater than you would get with free software.” Which? First Look Review So, what are you waiting for? Buy or read more about PhotoPlus X5 and check out what the software can do for your photos! |
| PhotoPlus Competition Winner | Do You Know... |
 Congratulations Leif!
After nearly 5,500 entries, nineteen finalists and over 9,500 votes, the results are in. The overall winner of the Serif PhotoPlus competition for 2011 is Leif Smith from USA with his amazing landscape image of a majestic Californian wave break.  As well as bragging rights, he also wins nearly $2,800 worth of kit including a Sony Alpha A55 DSLR with an 18-55mm lens, an HP laptop, a canvas print of his winning image, a year’s subscription to Digital Photo magazine and, of course, the whole suite of Serif software including PhotoPlus X5! Thanks again to everyone who took part and voted. We hope next year’s competition will be even bigger and better. | |
 ...The Difference Between Leading, Kerning and Tracking?
People often get these terms slightly confused, so here is a short guide to set you straight. Leading (rhymes with heading) is the vertical spacing between lines of text. The greater the leading, the more space between lines. Too much, or not enough, leading can make your paragraphs hard to read. Kerning is the space between two individual letters. Sometimes, depending on the font, pairs of letters can create strange spaces, making the word harder to read. By applying automatic (or manual) kerning, you can create a more natural-looking word. Tracking refers to the overall horizontal letter spacing in a line or paragraph of text. It's useful for avoiding hanging words at the end of paragraphs. You can edit leading, kerning and tracking on the Character tab in PagePlus X5. And, you can save a huge $30 when you order PagePlus X5 before 4am on Monday October 17th 2011. Snap up a copy for just $69.99 with this 30% discount! |
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How To...
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 ...Create
a Ghost with DrawPlus X5's Mesh Tool
This tutorial shows you how to use the Mesh Fill tool to create a realistic ghost – just in time for Halloween!  Draw the ghost's outline with the Pen tool (use the shape
on the left as a guide). Then copy and paste the shape to another layer so that one is directly on top of the other. Give the shape on top a blue fill.Now, on the underlying layer, use the Pen tool to draw a line similar to the one on the left that will give the ghost a 3D feel. Apply a red fill to it and shift-click the line and the large shape that are both on this layer. Right-click and select Crop>Crop.  Select the object on the top layer and click the Mesh Fill Tool
icon on the Drawing toolbar’s Fill flyout. This creates a grid of nodes, which you can drag to fit the shape. Add or delete nodes by clicking on a grid line and selecting the
Add or Delete node icons from the
context toolbar.
 Before we
start shading the ghost, we need to create several shades of gray to use. On the Swatch tab’s Palette menu, select Add New Color and create some varying gray shades.Once you have shaped the mesh, you can add color by clicking on anchor points or whole blocks of the mesh and clicking a color in the Swatch palette.  To enhance the three-dimensional feel, we need to add a shape to create a fold in the bottom of the sheet. Add a new layer
and create a shape (as left), lining it up with the existing shapes’ edges.
Fill this shape with a gray radial gradient by clicking the Fill icon then selecting Radial from the drop-down menu, which appears on the toolbar. Repeat this step for the red, cropped shape we created earlier.  Our final step is to create the ghost’s eyes. Create two oval shapes that slightly overlap, shift-click them both, right-click and select Join>Add. Then create a radial gradient as we did above and add other circles to create the pupils.  And there you have it – your very own spooky ghost!
If there are any topics you'd like us to cover, don't hesitate to let us know. You can access more support, resources and Serif forums through the Serif website. |
| Gallery Winner | Tips and Tricks |
 June
Elsey
October's competition winner is Brian Burgess who has created this stylish animation in DrawPlus. 
It's easy to forget that DrawPlus X5 is useful for more than just illustration, but this animation perfectly demonstrates that! Click on the image to see it in action. Email us designs you have created using any Serif program and you could win your favorite Serif software title! Please send your designs in their original Serif file format – you may also need to embed your fonts and images. | |
 PhotoPlus X5
If you're working on an image with a large number of layers and you want to hide all but one of them, there is a quick alternative to hiding each individual layer. Simply hold Alt and click on the Hide/Show Layer icon of the one layer you want to see. And to make the other layers reappear, just Alt-click on the same layer's icon again. WebPlus X5 You decide how much or how little you format hyperlinks with custom formatting. Assign font colors to every hyperlink state – before it's clicked, as it's rolled over and after it's clicked. To edit, right-click the linked text and select Hyperlink. Then in the Style drop-down under Other Properties, select Custom formatting and Set Colors. |
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Review to Win
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 Place a Review for the Chance to Win $100
That's right! You can post your views on any of our leading software titles by visiting Serif.com. Simply log in to your account and head to the relevant product page to tell us what you think. And what's more, every month a random review will win a massive $100 worth of Serif vouchers! This Months Winner is Mr Steven Brown from Sheffield with his review of MoviePlus X5... “I use Corel, Sony & Adobe, but my favourite video editing software has to be Serif MoviePlus X5! With it's comprehensive end-to-end editing of HD footage, you get the power of Sony & Adobe, with the easy to use interface of Corel, all rolled into one! Who say's you can't have the best of both worlds? ” 
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