Microsoft Expression Design 1.0

Microsoft Expression Graphic Designer brings together the best of vector and pixel-based capabilities, letting you explore new creative and cutting edge possibilities.
Explore Creative Possibilities
Produce a variety of graphic visual effects using innovative styles and graphic properties such as textures, fringes, and dimensionality. Add blurs, color correction, drop shadows and other image effects and filters using nondestructive, editable Live Effects.
Realize Greater Productivity
Bring together the best of vector-based and pixel-based design with a flexible hybrid graphics environment. Incorporate graphics from other applications, and export design elements to a variety of software tools and formats including the Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly code named “Avalon”) coming in Windows Vista
Produce Professional Results
Achieve professional results with a varied collection of highly-customizable vector and pixel tools which provide powerful creative options for drawing, painting, and editing both new and existing content.
Windows Vista:
- Download and install Expression Design.
- When prompted to enter a product key, just click the Continue button for a 30-day trial from the first installation of the Beta 1, or if you want to enable the 180-day license, please enter the product key as follows: YVJ79-XQ8CM-8YKWF-GKRKH-83X8G.
Windows XP SP2:
- Uninstall all previous versions of Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, MSXML 6.0 and SDK using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.
- Please be sure to install .NET Framework 3.0 first before attempting to install Expression Design.
- Download and install Expression Design.
- When prompted to enter a product ID, just click the Continue button for a 30-day trial from the first installation of the Beta 1, or if you want to enable the 180-day license, please enter the product key as follows: YVJ79-XQ8CM-8YKWF-GKRKH-83X8G.
Main features:
- Apply non-destructive, editable Live Effects which can be re-ordered, toggled on/off, saved individually or as groups as re-usable styles.
- Use the Variations palette to draw multiple shapes or strokes with changing attributes that are randomized within specified constraints.
- Distort images using Warp Mesh, which can be combined with Live Effects and other properties while maintaining the source pixels for editing
- Work with the Effect Lines palette to create controlled groupings of strokes with randomized parameters.
- Add depth and texture to objects with emboss or soft edge and create unique look and feel with custom fills, strokes, and paper textures.
- Work in a flexible hybrid graphics environment offering the best of both vector-based and pixel-based design capabilities. Convert vector objects to image elements or pixel layers that can then be edited using pixel based tools. Likewise, convert bitmap elements to image objects on vector layers that can be transformed (scale, rotation, distortions) and have Live Effect filters applied without affecting the source pixels which maintain full editability.
- Use features like Rotate Canvas which allows the working document to be more appropriately oriented (as would be a piece of paper) for drawing and illustrating.
- Create and apply pre-set styles that contain multiple paint properties, effects, and filters using the Style List palette.
- Export both vector and bitmap artwork to XAML, the declarative markup language used to describe application user interface elements and rich content (such as 2-D, 3-D, text, animation, video, etc.) for the Windows Presentation Foundation.
- Save significant time when creating presentation graphics by copy/pasting either vector or pixel based graphics with full alpha transparency support directly into Microsoft Office PowerPoint
- Create interactive rollover effects and export optimized images together with HTML & JavaScript code for further editing in web design and development tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft FrontPage
- Preview final output of web graphics with Pixel Preview, which shows the entire document rendered to specific resolution and image compression settings while maintaining full edit-ability of the full resolution vector and pixel content.
- Create highly-organic painting effects with unique brushes. Use either vector or bitmap elements to define artistic strokes that are transformed along the path of a vector stroke, providing gorgeous results and powerful new illustration capabilities.
- Use the B-Spline Tool for more intuitive and flexible shape drawing, in addition to Freehand and Bezier tools.
- Vary the width and transparency of the stroke along the length of a vector path with the Variable Width palette. When using a pressure tablet, edit the pressure over the course of your stroke.
- Choose from an extensive list of preset brush families and design virtually unlimited custom brushes.
- Work with advanced and flexible vector manipulation tools that provide vertices & path manipulation, path operators, and shape transformation/morph capabilities.
- Select from a varied collection of pixel brushes and unique brush properties which provide a high level of creative control over brush styles.
- Easily select pixels with SmartSelect, which segments an image and allows for “gesture based” image selection. Draw selections more fluidly using the B-Spline Selection tool, in addition to standard lasso/rectangle/oval selection tools.
- Choose from a full set of image filters such as Grain, Emboss or Gaussian Blur. Change image appearance using the Clone, Blur or Smear tools, erase similar colors or tones with the Magic Eraser, and suppress specific color ranges using the Red Eye-Removal tool.
- Combine multiple photographs that were shot or scanned as a panorama into one image using PhotoMontage, which automatically aligns edges, corrects for color and lens distortions, and eliminates double exposed areas where the image changed between exposures (such as movement of objects within a scene).