Tip 200: Pixel-perfect precisionTrying to figure out how much you need to move that div so that it lines up in Internet Explorer 6? When you click on a guide in SuperPreview, it's position is displayed at the top or left edge of the browser display.
Tip 199: Zoom! Zoom!If you have a mouse with a mouse wheel, you can zoom in on the SketchFlow screen by pressing CTRL and rotating the mouse wheel.
Tip 198: Scrub the timelineScrub the current timeline by pressing ALT and clicking in any empty area within the Objects and Timeline panel.
Tip 195: Frame it!You can quickly navigate through the frames of a SketchFlow animation in Expression Blend 3 by using the left and right arrows while working in the SketchFlow Animation panel.
Tip 193: Coming soon!You can preview a SketchFlow prototype in the SketchFlow Player at any time by pressing F5.
Tip 192: Fine tuning CSSThe CSS Reports panel in Expression Web can display a report that lists style errors, the type of styles that are in use, or whether a particular style is used or not by a page.
Tip 191: Clean up your actYou can hide the Navigate, Map, and Feedback panels in the SketchFlow Player for a cleaner viewing experience.
Tip 190: Protect source files using version controlVersion control helps everyone on your team work with the same set of files and helps minimize the risk of losing or overwriting important updates (available only when you buy Expression Web as part of a Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscription).
Tip 189: Zoom! Zoom!If you have a mouse with a mouse wheel, you can zoom in on the SketchFlow screen by pressing CTRL and rotating the mouse wheel.
Tip 188: Sort out your sitesUsing Site Manager, you can add and remove sites from the list that Expression Web displays when you click Open Site.
Tip 187: Oh, behave!You can use behaviors that are created by people in the Expression Blend community in your Expression Blend 3 project.
Tip 185: Trigger fingerTriggers are not supported in Microsoft Silverlight, but you can add user interactivity to your Silverlight project by using events or states in Expression Blend 3.
Tip 184: How's it goin', eh?The Publishing Status panel in Expression Web shows you the status of each file in the publishing queue and how quickly they are transferred to a publishing destination.
Tip 183: Start it up!The Expression Blend 3 startup document is specified in the app.xaml file for the project. If you are using source control, remember to check in the app.xaml file after you change your startup document.
Tip 182: Publish a site to multiple destinationsYou can configure multiple publishing destinations in Expression Web to let you publish a single site to many locations more easily. You can publish a site to your staging web server for testing and then publish to a production server.
Tip 179: Align objectsYou can also access the Align commands in Expression Blend from the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click the selected objects on the artboard or under Objects and Timeline.
Tip 178: Publish sites quicklyThe Publishing view in Expression Web displays the files in your working site and on the publishing destination and shows you at a glance which ones are up-to-date and which need to be published.
Tip 177: Group hugYou can also group or ungroup objects in Expression Blend by using Group Into or Ungroup options when you right-click the selected items in the Objects and Timeline panel.
Tip 176: Slice it up!Use the Slice tool in Expression Design 3 to create and export "slices" of your document.
Tip 175: Photoshop file import had been improvedWhen you import Adobe Photoshop images into a page, you can select a custom area of a Photoshop image to import, and even use Photoshop alignment guides to help define the custom image area. Alternatively, you can import the entire image canvas, including transparency and layer effects.
Tip 174: Animation stationIn Expression Blend, you might find it easier to work with storyboards by using the Animation Workspace because the Objects and Timeline panel is displayed under the artboard instead of next to the artboard. Press F6 to switch between the Animation Workspace and the Design Workspace.
Tip 173: Snap to itEnable snapping in Expression Design 3 to align objects to a guide, grid, or anchor point.
Tip 172: Add Silverlight video to a siteExpression Web helps you create web-optimized versions of your videos with the included Expression Encoder. You can even choose a "skin" to customize how the video player appears on your site.
Tip 171: Escaping gridlockYou can switch between Grid layout mode and Canvas layout mode in Expression Blend 3 by clicking the mode icon in the upper-left corner when a Grid layout panel is selected, or by selecting or clearing the Use grid layout mode check box in the Artboard section of the Options dialog box (on the Tools menu).
Tip 170: Switch documentsSwitch documents in Expression Design 3 by pressing CTRL+TAB (next document) or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (previous document).
Tip 168: What a drag!Drag Expression Blend 3 panels by their tabs and move them to a different location inside the workspace, to outside the workspace on the desktop, or even to another monitor connected to the same computer. You can still resize them in their new location.
Tip 166: Test cross-browser compatibility with SuperPreviewYou can preview and compare pages simultaneously in multiple browsers, even multiple versions of Windows Internet Explorer. You can also compare browser views against a comprehensive layout (comp) image. You can select individual elements in a page and see details about the selected element, helping you quickly find and fix cross-browser layout and positioning errors.
Tip 165: Customize your workspaceYou can customize your Expression Blend 3 workspace and then save the custom workspace under a descriptive name so you can easily return to it later.
Tip 164: Working with PDFIf you want to work with a PDF, change the extension to .ai, and then import the document into Expression Design 3.
Tip 163: Snapshot!The Snapshot preview shows how your page will render in Firefox or in older versions of Internet Explorer, without leaving Expression Web!
Tip 159: Pin that point!Clear the UseLayoutRounding property of path objects in Silverlight 2 projects to prevent points from jumping around as you move them. Also clear the property if you use transformations on the path object.
Tip 158: Encode your video in multiple streamsIn Expression Encoder 2, you can encode a single video that contains multiple streams of varying bit rates, ensuring that your video will play in a variety of audience playback scenarios.
Tip 157: Can't find a task pane?If the task pane you want in Expression Web 2 isn't visible, select it from the Task Pane menu. The task pane you want moves to the front of its group and the group bar is highlighted.
Tip 151: Selecting textWhen you're in Design view in Expression Web 2, you can double-click to select an entire word and triple-click to select an entire paragraph. See Select Text for more text-selection techniques.
Tip 150: Sketching with precisionUse keyboard shortcuts to create intricate shapes when drawing with the Pen tool and modifying points with the Direct Selection tool in Expression Blend.
Tip 149: Silverlight Deep Zoom or Seadragon Ajax?You can publish your Deep Zoom images as Silverlight for better loading times and smoother panning and zooming, or as Seadragon Ajax if you expect people to view your images on computers without Silverlight 2 installed.
Tip 148: Zune in on your videoUse one of the Zune-optimized video profiles in Expression Encoder 2 to encode your video for high-quality playback on your Zune player.
Tip 147: Built in CSS LayoutsExpression Web 2 comes with built-in CSS layouts that you can start with. Just choose a CSS Layout when you open a new file. There's even a preview window to show you how it will look!
Tip 146: Crisp rendered edgesSnap your objects to pixels in WPF projects to get crisp lines and edges. Select your root node or an object in Expression Blend and check SnapToDevicePixels in the Properties panel.
Tip 144: Your Silverlight video can adapt to different playback scenariosThe Adaptive Streaming feature in Expression Encoder 2 enables you to encode video that, when playing back, dynamically adjusts its video quality according to the bandwidth capabilities of the user's playback scenario. This feature is designed for Silverlight playback from IIS-enabled Windows Server 2008 scenarios.
Tip 143: Built in CSS style pagesExpression Web 2 comes with built-in style sheets that you can use when you're creating new pages. Just choose a style sheet when you open a new file.
Tip 141: Tag, you're it!You can use tagging as metadata in Deep Zoom Composer so that you can later add interactivity to a Deep Zoom collection by using another program such as Microsoft Expression Blend.
Tip 140: The rule of thumbnailsIn Expression Encoder 2, you can specify any frame from your video to represent your file thumbnail. You can also specify the encoding quality and size of the thumbnail image.
Tip 137: Export as HTMLYou can export your slices as HTML. On the File menu, click Export. In the Export dialog box, select the slices you want to export (press and hold the CTRL key to select multiple slices). Under Items to Export, select Slices. In the dropdown box next to the Container Name text box, select HTML & Images, and then click Export All.
Tip 134: Publish your videoUsing the WebDAV publishing plug-in in Expression Encoder 2, you can publish your encoded video to a WedDAV-enabled or a Silverlight Streaming server. Other publishing plug-ins are available online as well.
Tip 131: Attribute dropperYou can copy all the formatting you set in the Properties panel from one object in your document to another by using the Attribute Dropper.
Tip 130: Altered control statesIn an Silverlight 2 application, make a button change color when it's in the MouseOver state. States in a control template are easy to modify, and are already hooked up to respond to user actions.
Tip 129: See life in panoramaIf you have several photos in which adjacent sections of the same scene overlap, Deep Zoom Composer can automatically combine them into one panoramic photo.
Tip 127: Always remember to share.Email any number of your images directly from Expression Media 2. The Send E-mail command will not only send your pictures off to be shared, but you can also specify a format, a quality level, add a watermark, and specify a number of other options.
Tip 125: Snap backWhen snapping is enabled, you can disable it temporarily by holding down the S key on your keyboard when you drag an object.
Tip 124: Need more controls?Extra Silverlight 2 controls are just waiting to be used! They come as part of the Silverlight 2 SDK that is installed with Expression Blend 2 service pack 1. Add a reference to the right .dll and away you go!
Tip 119: Lock 'em upIn Expression Design, you can lock or unlock multiple layers at once, by draggin the mouse vertically across the Lock or Unlock icons in the Layers panel.
Tip 118: Encoder templates for Silverlight 2In Expression Blend 2 with service pack 1 installed, you can modify copies of the new Silverlight 2 templates that are used in Expression Encoder 2 to skin encoded videos. In Expression Blend, modify the template of the myPlayer user control to change the appearance of the video player.
Tip 117: Do you Deep Zoom?Take your collection of high-rez images and publish them to the Web--then, anyone that views your images can do so with fast loading times and smooth panning and zooming.
Tip 115: Another day, another new look.Use the View Options in Expression Media 2 to change how your catalog appears. You can change the display fonts, the background color, and even specify what annotation fields display in the views.
Tip 114: Add Include Page capability to Expression WebTo add the Include Page capability to Expression Web 2, click Tools and then click Cutomize to open the Customize dialog box. Next, from the Commands tab click the Insert category, then click the Include Page... command and drag it to a toolbar or menu to add it.
Tip 113: Working with PDFIf you want to work with a PDF, change the extension to .ai, and then import the document into Expression Design 2.
Tip 107: Love your key spline?Reuse the hard-won, realistic, easing behavior you've created between keyframes by converting to a resource in Expression Blend 2.
Tip 106: SymbolismUse the Symbol dialog box to adding symbols (copyright symbol, degree symbol, etc.) to a web page and set the symbol's font.
Tip 105: Find your photo on a mapExpression Media 2 combines Microsoft Virtual Earth and the GPS information in your photograph to plot the location of your photographs on a world map. On the Window menu, click Virtual Earth. Then, in the catalog view, click your image. If your image contains GPS information, a pushpin icon appears on the map in the corresponding location of the coordinates.
Tip 104: Encode for SilverlightTake advantage of the visual and interactive richness of Microsoft Silverlight technology by using Silverlight templates in Encoder.
Tip 103: Save and rescueSafeguard your artwork in Expression Design 2 using autosave, so that you can rescue files should you encounter a power failure.
Tip 101: Publishing scenariosExpression Web supports several different publishing scenarios. Choose what protocol you want to use to move files between computers.
Tip 93: Stack attackAutomatically arrange a group of objects horizontally or vertically using the Stack option in Expression Design 2.
Tip 92: Take me to my errorDouble-click a XAML error in the Results panel to open XAML view and highlight the related line of code in Expression Blend 2.
Tip 90: Preview movies as thumbnailsPreview your movie files directly in the Thumbnail or Media view in Expression Media 2. First, either select the movie in the Thumbnail view, or double-click it to open it in the Media view. Then, click the Play Movie button in the toolbar to begin the preview.
Tip 89: Ready, reset, go!Quickly reset the Expression Encoder active desktop to its default settings by clicking CTRL + SHIFT + R. For more keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts.
Tip 88: Seeing redRed objects on the red layer messing with your eyes? Change the layer color in Expression Design 2 to distinguish selection highlights on the artboard.
Tip 86: Tracing imageCreate a mock-up of a web page image in a graphics program and then use it as a visual guide to re-create or trace the web page design.
Tip 84: Pixel me thisIn Expression Encoder, you can set options to display your non-square pixel media correctly, and to output non-square pixel content.
Tip 83: Guiding lightAdd ruler guides to your document in Expression Design 2 to align groups of objects vertically or horizontally.
Tip 81: Publishing via FTPExpression Web 2 enables you to set the FTP publishing mode to Passive FTP or normal FTP, and save your FTP user name and password.
Tip 80: Rock on! Album art in catalogsYou can view the album art from your mp3 files in Expression Media 2 catalogs. Just make sure you embed the album art in the mp3 file, then import the file into your catalog. The corresponding album art will display as a thumbnail in your catalog.
Tip 79: Use your logo as a trailerIn Expression Encoder 2, you can quickly add an animated Silverlight logo as a trailer for your video. In the Media Content panel, right-click your video and, in the shortcut menu, point to Apply Preset and click Silverlight Trailer. You can use this same method to apply an animated Expression Encoder 2 leader.
Tip 78: Pixel preservationIn Expression Design 2, select the Preserve pixel dimensions on bitmap import option in the Options dialog box to preserve the pixels per square inch (ppi) resolution of an imported bitmap. On the Edit menu, point to Options, then click General. If you clear this option, Expression Design will resize an imported bitmap image to preserve the physical dimensions of the pixels.
Tip 76: Let Expression Media do the workUse the Folder Watching feature in Expression Media 2 to continually monitor any folder on your hard drive and, whenever you add media to that folder, the application will automatically add the media to your catalog.
Tip 75: Mass distributionPosition objects evenly relative to their edges or centers by using the Distribute feature in Expression Design 2.
Tip 71: Version control for your imagesGo back to any version of your image edits when you set the Media Version feature in the Image Editor of Expression Media 2. This feature is available for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 70: Oh, behave!Add increased functionality to text or other elements of your web page in Expression Web 2 with Behavior scripts.
Tip 69: Bring your photo gallery to lifeBuild dynamic web galleries with interactive Silverlight templates included in Expression Media 2. These templates are available for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 68: Encode for ZuneCreate a file that can be played back on various devices by encoding your video with Expression Encoder 2.
Tip 65: Cue it up!Navigate your video by adding markers or chapters to your footage in Expression Encoder 2.
Tip 61: Group your “burst mode” photosUse Capture Sets in Expression Media 2 to group photos taken only seconds apart into categories. Capture Sets are available for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 60: Encode with .NETUse the new Expression Encoder 2 object model to control the encoding engine from your favorite .NET language.
Tip 59: The ol' switcherooSwitch documents in Expression Design 2 by pressing CTRL+TAB (next document) or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (previous document).
Tip 56: And the winner is…Rate your digital media from one to five stars by using shortcut keys in Expression Media 2 for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 52: Quick! Find a tagWhether you are working in the Code or Design view of a web page, Expression Web 2 makes it easier to find tags with the Quick Tag Selector bar.
Tip 44: Snap to itEnable snapping in Expression Design 2 to align objects to a guide, grid, or anchor point.
Tip 40: Watermark your videosAdd static or animated overlays to your videos in Expression Encoder 2, using still image files, WPF canvas XAML animations, or movie files.
Tip 39: On the gridPrecisely position objects in your document by turning on the grid in Expression Design 2.
Tip 36: Get the red out!Quickly remove red eye from your photographs with Expression Media 2. The Remove Red Eye filter is available for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 34: Slices by the layerCreate a slice in Expression Design 2 and a new Slice Layer will appear in the Layers panel. Use the Slice Layer to keep track of your slices.
Tip 33: Object duplication made easyDrag objects on the artboard to duplicate them, then you can resize, scale, and rotate multiple objects at the same time. All in Expression Blend 2.
Tip 32: This view is refreshingWhen working in Split view in Expression Web 2, make your changes in Code view, and then refresh the page in Design view by clicking F5.
Tip 31: Expand your searchUse the search feature in Expression Media 2 to quickly find digital media in your catalog. This feature is available for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 28: Save a copy of your projectCreate exact replicas of your projects and sites in Expression Blend 2 and save them to disk without leaving the version you are working on.
Tip 26: File format supportExpression Media 2 supports Office 2007/2008 file formats, as well as many others, for both Windows and Macintosh.
Tip 21: Double vision?No, just the A/B Compare feature in Expression Encoder 2 that allows you to do side-by-side comparisons of your videos.
Tip 20: Export slices as XAMLExport your slices in Expression Design 2 as various XAML file formats for use in Silverlight-based or WPF-based projects.
Tip 18: Make the cutRefine and streamline your video in Expression Encoder 2 by splitting the video and then either trimming or deleting the resulting clips.
Tip 17: Got tag problems?Edit, insert, or wrap tags while working in either the Design or Code view of a web page by using the Quick Tag Editor in Expression Web 2.
Tip 16: Lock up your layersPrevent any object on a layer from being selected or accidentally changed with the click of an icon. Expression Design 2 holds the key.
Tip 15: Embed your fontsTo be sure that users will be able to see the font you selected for your WPF application, embed it with Expression Blend 2.
Tip 14: Save your settingsDon’t waste time duplicating changes you have made to your files in Expression Encoder 2 when you can easily capture those settings as a preset.
Tip 13: Can you see them now?Do you have empty or invisible elements or controls on your page? Show them (or hide them) with the visual aids included in Expression Web 2.
Tip 10: Lights, Camera, Action BarUse the Action Bar in Expression Design 2 to make quick adjustments to selected objects, as well as change alignment, distribution, and stacking order.
Tip 9: Splitting viewsWant to see the artboard and XAML at the same time? Check out the new Split view in Expression Blend 2.
Tip 7: Snip your codeSave commonly used pieces of code with Expression Web 2 and then quickly insert them into your web page.
Tip 6: Snap to PixelsCreate vector art in Expression Design 2 that you can export as bitmaps to use as buttons or icons in a user interface.
Tip 2: Slice it upUse the Slice tool in Expression Design 2 to create and export "slices" of your document.
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