Let’s Make a Valentine’s Card with
Graphic Design Studio
A Macware How-To
Step 1 of 6
Size your Card
Set up your document
Launch Graphic Design Studio > View > Drawing size & Grinds > Select your size. Let’s do 8 x 6 in for creating a card > Select inches from the drop down > OK
Tip:
Always make sure to set your size before you start any project. Just follow the same process shown above.
Pick your Color
Let’s add a background
To create our card select draw > select the rectangle (left) > draw it. Make sure to draw your rectangle on the entire canvas. Remember we have pre-set our canvas size on step 1. Let’s change the color: at the top > window > edit inspector > fill color > select your color.
Tip:
Shortcut to bring your color pallet? Shift + Cmmd + C
Step 3 of 6
Create your greeting
Now you’ll be able to add your text. Choose Text > Click on your canvas > Expand your text frame > Double click to enter your text. Note that we have used
macFonts Valentine’s to create our greeting. Font name: Sandervole
Tip:
Double click on your text to change the font, size and color. You could also launch the font manager by choosing text > Font > Show Fonts. The shortcut is Cmd + T
Step 4 of 6
Add graphics to your card
Graphic Design Studio has pre-made vector graphics and can be added into your canvas by selecting ‘Graphics’. For the purpose of our Valentine’s Card How-To, we have selected .SVG graphics found in
macFonts Valentines. Select Import > find your clipart/graphic > Drag it to your canvas.
Tip:
We have rotated our graphics for our Valentine’s card to give it a unique look. Click on your graphic > click on the purple dot > rotate.
Step 5 of 6
Add your message
Choose Text > Click on your canvas > Expand your text frame > Double click to enter your message. Note that we have used
macFonts Valentine’s to create our greeting. Font name: Bellavo
Tip:
Don’t forget about font styles to customize your text! Use bold, italic, underline, and more.
Step 6 of 6
Print your card!
Once you have completed your project, you are ready to print. Choose File > Print. Now, you have a awesome looking Valentine’s card made at home!
Tip:
Be sure to always save your projects! Want to send a digital copy? Export your card! File > Export as > Export
You’re done!
Now you are ready to deliver your card. Happy Valentine’s Day!
This is just one of countless of projects you can do with Graphic Design Studio! Stay tune for more How-To’s!
Need help?
The help file is always available for you to use. Choose Help > Graphic Design Studio Help.
For additional information on Graphic Design Studio please visit our product page
HERE
Step 3 of 5
Step 4 of 5
Step 5 of 5
That’s it! You’re done.
The help file is always available for you to use. Choose Help > Graphic Design Studio Help.
For additional information on Graphic Design Studio please visit our product page HERE 
The end of summer and the early days of autumn don’t necessarily make one think about new fonts but that’s exactly what’s on our minds around here! While the leaves are slowly turning brilliant colors and the days are growing shorter, we are swimming in a pool of brand new fonts fresh from our very own font foundry, SummitType.
As the creative director I get to see these fonts up close and personal from their initial conception right up to their completion and I have to admit, we have a lot of new and exciting type faces coming your way! Our first set of new fonts have been put together into a collection aimed at educators and teachers. We have our new 50 Classroom Fonts collection, that also comes with some really cool graphic clip art, that showcases fonts that are perfect for those teachers that like to add some creativity to their classrooms. There are fonts to make posters, newsletters, banners, scrapbooks or any other project, but there are also a collection of unique fonts made to help teachers create custom worksheets. We have introduced typefaces that display as fractions (in a few different styles) that make creating math lessons a snap. You’ll also see some “ruled” fonts that use the classic 3 line ruled paper as part of the font itself that can be used for handwriting and spelling lessons. We’ve heard from many teachers that use our fonts over the years and we are proud to deliver the number one requested font styles in this new collection.
We’ve also been busy adding even more style and variety to our already incredible FontPack Pro Master Collection that now boasts over 7,600 fonts! That’s right, we’ve just added over 1,400 brand new, never been seen before, fonts to our library of type styles. These are some of the best fonts I’ve seen in awhile and the range of styles is truly impressive. I’ve been testing them for a few months and I have to admit that more than a handful have found their way into some of my design work over that time, but don’t tell anyone, these fonts weren’t supposed to be out in the world at the time!
As a designer fonts are the backbone of my creative process. No matter if I’m creating a logo, a newsletter, a poster or whatever, the first thing I look for is the right fonts for the job. Once I find the fonts that represent the look and feel of the project I know the rest will fall in place, and having this extended collection at my disposal is proving to be an invaluable tool. 
San Diego Comic Con International or SDCC as the initiated refer to it is THE Comic Con of all cons. There are plenty of cons that take place throughout the year all over the planet, some big, some small, but none come close to sheer scale and magnitude of SDCC. As I pack my bags to head to my 5th SDCC, I find myself thinking about how the term “Comic Con” is no longer the proper way to describe what is going on every July in San Diego. Most everyone has at least heard of Comic Con, and I bet if took a poll, I’d find that most people think that it’s just a bunch of geeks dressing up as characters from movies and comic books and gathering in a sweaty convention center for a few days of nerd-tastic bonding. I’m not going to lie, there’s some of that going on (and some of the costumes people come up with are superior to stuff we see in movies!), but over the years SDCC has changed and the focus on comic books has slowly shifted into what is today – Pop Culture Central.
SDCC is where all the heavy hitters from Hollywood come to show off their new movies, tv shows and other projects. On any given day you will have the chance of bumping in to some seriously famous people like Robert Downey Jr., Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and so many others that are there to promote their latest films. Of course you’ll need a ticket to see most of them in the big hall or just take your chances trying to pick them out of the crowd of over 130,000 attendees.
Not only to star chasers and movie buffs find themselves crawling over one another, but so do toy collectors that flock to SDCC every year to get a glimpse at what manufacturers are planning to put out over the next year. Companies like Hasbro, Lego and Mattel put up huge booths with impressive displays of their cool products for collectors to drool over with anticipation. These companies usually make the action figures and role playing toys that are tied into movies, so this year we expect to see a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy products along with some glimpses of Avengers 2 merchandise. Along with booths to display upcoming products, Hasbro and Mattel both have separate booths where they are selling exclusive products available only at the convention. Needless to say, both of these booths are very popular and you can plan on standing in line for many hours just for the chance to hand over your money!
Popular TV shows are also very well represented on the floor of the convention center with favorites like The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad having had their share of people visiting their booths in the past. Even kid’s TV is represented with a Disney Channel XD and Nickelodeon presence, usually fun filled booths with activities and giveaways for the kids.
But alas, it is still called COMIC Con, and yes, even though it’s not the biggest part of the show, there are plenty of vendors and comic book publishers at the show too. You can visit the Marvel or DC booths which are generally big, but there are plenty of smaller independent publishers and artist there as well. If unique, one of a kind artwork is your thing, you’ll find no shortage of incredible artists waiting to take your commission and draw you something special. Or if you are just there to see the sights and the sounds, be sure to check out some of the rare comic books on display (some of which have price tags of over 1 million dollars!).
I better get going if I’m going to make my flight, but check back next week when I’ll share my experiences and pictures from this year’s SDCC! 
Well WWDC 2014 has come and gone and while there was plenty of exciting news about the future of Apple’s operating systems, both on mobile and desktop, there were no announcement for new devices as many rumor experts had predicted. If you were like the millions of others that tuned in to see this year’s live stream of the keynote, you may have zoned out while Tim Cook and friends were showing off the bevy of new features coming to iOS8 and OS X Yosemite this fall.
WWDC, for those that might not know, stands for World Wide Developers Conference, and this year it was all about the developers. Much of the conversation on the keynote stage was directed at the development crowd. Apple unveiled a ton of new tools and improvements to others for the developers that make apps for our favorite devices. Which means that we should be seeing some great innovation when it comes to apps in the very near future. One of the biggest things that Apple announced is the ability for developers to now access the fingerprint ID which has, up until now, been only for Apple. This means that very soon you may be able to sign into your bank app with just a touch of your finger!
Beyond the excitement that the developers were feeling, we the common users have plenty to get jazzed up about too! The new iOS 8 looks to build upon the solid base of iOS 7 and continue to improve with new gestures and a much more integrated platform between your Apple devices. Plenty of smart type features and a better notification center.
And for desktops, we will be getting the latest version of OS X, named Yosemite. Seems like the days of naming the operating systems after cats is now behind us as we enter the world of Yosemite which will bring us an updated interface and a more integrated experience between Apple devices. Apple showed us how we will be able to start typing an email on our iPhone while on the go and be able to pick up on our Mac to finish it, pretty neat stuff! There’s so much little stuff in these new OS’s that they add up to big news and I look forward to this fall when we can all get our hands on them. Stay tuned to this blog for updates on when Apple will finally announce new devices, like the long rumored iPhone 6.
With WWDC 2014 happening in just mere days, Apple has announced that they will be live streaming the entire keynote presentation via iOS devices. So if you have an iPhone or iPad or just use Safari and go to Apple’s homepage starting at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET) on Monday June 2. While the fact that the keynote will be streaming isn’t a brand new idea, after all, they’ve live streamed in the past and always provide videos after the fact, but that Apple has announced it in advance is new.
Apple has never before made it a point to make a press release stating that they will be live streaming their keynote, which has us Apple rumor mongers excited for a couple of reasons. One big reason is that this may mean Apple wants more than just fanboy and tech junkies to be watching, they want the general public glued to their devices. Why? Perhaps it points to the possibility of more consumer-friendly announcements than usual. Generally, we see one or two new gadgets and a bunch of OS and software during the keynote – not really the stuff that your average iPhone user gets too excited about, but if Apple is getting ready to unveil something big and secret, they will want as many people watching as they can get.
Personally, I don’t expect any “surprise” device announcements that we haven’t already heard rumors about, and perhaps Apple is just betting that their average customer hasn’t heard many, if any, of these rumors themselves.
At any rate, come Monday we will all know what Apple has up their sleeves this year that will send more than a few of us rushing to Apple Stores to gladly hand over our money. 
Along with a new size will come a thinner profile – the new iPhones will be considerably thinner than previous models. Also changing for this round of iDevices is the frame of the phone itself, which has been a flat metal surface since the iPhone 4, will now once again be rounded and smooth much like it’s grandfather, the original iPhone.
Many insiders believe that Apple will announce these two new models at WWDC in the coming weeks and speculate that the smaller version will begin shipping in September, while the bigger one may not be available until the new year. At any rate I’m personally excited to see what Apple has in store for us and can’t wait to see how much the “rumor mill” has correct this time around. 
This year’s WWDC at Moscone Center in San Francisco is going to be busy and bustling with developers from all around the world, who make their way to see the upcoming features that the company has laid out for them into both the code side and hardware side.
This year’s big announcements is also probably going to have a new high-profile member added to the center stage with the acquisition of Beats Electronics, makers of the awesome and trendsetting Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
According to Billboard, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are most probably going to make their presence known by appearing next to Apple’s CEO Mr. Tim Cook to make the official live broadcast announcement, just my guess.
In terms of products….strong possibility that this year’s emphasis is going to be on Mac OS X. Since we are currently on 10.9 I would take a guess that its going to be called 10.10. Since Mac OS has been mostly, but quite efficiently, ignored over the past few years, rumors have been circulating the mac walls on the internet that a huge upgrade is in the works with more seamless compatibility with iOS.
On a side note of naming conventions, I’ve always said, versions numbers are cheap! We can make any software or app any version we want… Does anyone think it might even be called OS11?
Like usual, I bet developers will be able to download it on day of the announcement but my guess for the proper Apple-style release date would be October 10th 2014 (10.10.14).
On the Hardware front, Mac Mini’s haven’t been updated in a while and we think the Apple version of iWatch, will also quite possibly make an appearance with actual release date later in the year. It was Steve Jobs favorite thing to do…announce a amazingly brand new product and let the audience just soak it in for a moment and then hear the thunderous applause that followed. If this new piece of hardware were to be announced at WWDC, This would be Tim Cooks’ first New Product announcement. How do you think he will handle it? I’ve seen him over the years evolve into the “Steve Jobs style of walking and talking” so he may do it in the same manner…we’ll see!
Last year he did do iOS7, so I’m expecting that this year will be iOS8 on a bigger size iPhone model to compete with the larger Android devices like the Note and Tab from Samsung. I love my Apple iPhone, and I just wish they don’t make it too big that it’s awkward to hold in one hand. Since the market is demanding larger screen smartphones, Apple has no choice to actually provide it now to its loyal fans.
Now Apple can surprise us all and make a Mac OS X iPad form factor tablet. They have the technology, they have the hardware so what’s stopping them?
One things for sure, since they just update the Mac Pro and the Mac Book Pro last year, they sure won’t be updating that product line.
Untill next time (After WWDC…) 
What a difference the Mac App Store has made in the way we buy computer software. When Apple announced the online store would open on January 6, 2011, we were all excited at Macware. At the time they announced it, we had 6 of our Macware titles in all the Mac retail stores and we saw this as a way to increase our product offerings.
The Mac App Store allowed thousands of developers to have their software in a location that would be seen globally. Macware has enjoyed great success on the Mac App Store, but find one small problem with the store. We like to communicate with our customers directly when they have questions about our software, but the Mac App Store does not allow for this. Hopefully this might change in the future.
Another concern I’ve heard from Mac users about the Mac App Store is, “Am I getting full versions of a product” and “why did some products that used to sell for $20-50, and now sell for $1-2 on the Mac App Store”.
I’m not sure that I can answer those questions for every developer, but I do like that Apple approves every app that is on the Mac App Store. They perform strict testing of every product submitted, to ensure that it will work smoothly. This is something that as a developer of quality Mac apps, I strongly support.