Author: Abhi

Windows 8 : How to Change the Number of Apps Rows in Windows 8 Metro Start Screen

December 25, 2011 by Abhi·Comments Off

Hello Everyone.

With the launch of Windows 8 Microsoft has reached new hights in User Interface. But though the UI has changed from good (windows 7) to wicked cool (Windows 8) the same amount of learning curve is required. As you wont find the options so easily as you do on windows 7. So thats why i have started this WINDOWS 8 HOW TO series to help everyone find there way through windows 8.

So this time i will start off with changing the number of apps rows in windows 8 metro start screen.

Windows 8 Metro Home Screen

You should know that Windows 8 automatically detects the current screen resolution and then sets the number of rows as well as other pinned items that should be be available on the start screen. By default it is 3 to 5 in Windows 8.

So in the screen above you can see that there are 4 rows. The resolution for the above screen is 1920 x 1080. Here below i am adding a table for minimum and max number of rows for each resolution.

Screen Resolution	Default	Max	Min
800 x 600	3	3	1
1024 x 768	4	4	1
1152 x 864	5	5	1
1280 x 720	4	4	1
1280 x 960	5	6	1
1280 x 1024	5	6	1
1440 x 900	5	5	1
1600 x 900	5	5	1
1900 x 1080	5	6	1

To increase or decrease the number of apps rows on metro start screen follow the steps below:

1. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box. And write regedit.exe in it and press enter.

Windows Run Command

2. If you are prompted by the UAC then click yes and you will see a registry editor window. In the registry editor navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid

You should see something like below:

Regisrtry Editor

3. Now double click on the key Layout_MaximumRowCount and you should see the window like below and here you can change the number of rows that you should see by default on your home screen.

Edit DWORD

4. If the key Layout_MaximumRowCount is not present then right click on a empty space in the right pane of the grid and click on New –> DWORD and then type Layout_MaximumRowCount and press enter.

New DWORD

5. Now log off and log on and you will see the same number of rows as you set here.

Hope you like it. I will be back with another How to very soon. Feedback and comments are most welcome.

Nokia Maps Beta Free

December 19, 2011 by Abhi·Comments Off

Everyone know that Nokia is launching its phones running Windows Phone 7 but you would be happily surprised to know that Nokia is porting Nokia Maps to iOS, Android and Blackberry as well.

Nokia Maps

So this web app powered by HTML5 will run as good as a native app and will access the smartphone’s GPS receiver to find out the phones position and can be used for routing addesses, finding neary locations (restaurants, shopping, etc) and sharing places as well.

I know its not a full featured as a standalone GPS app but it will live in your web browser and all the most its free.

Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design – Grid, Guides and Points

December 13, 2011 by Abhi·Comments Off

Hey Guys,

I am back with the 4th tutorial on MS Expression Design and in this one we will cover the concepts of Grid, Guides and Points. Hope you have gone through my previous tutorials on MS Expresssion Design Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design Basics, Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design – Working with Panels and Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design Zooming and Scrolling. Any questions you have are most welcome so with that positive thought lets start off with this session.

So if you are a designer then you would definetly know that for a good design you need to align objects to the document grid and to rular grid. Now Expression design provides a feature called Snap to Points and it allows you to align objects based on the position of each objects’s bounding box nodes.

Showing and Hiding the Grid in the Document

The document grid is a very useful tool for aligning objects precisely in your artwork. The objects that you create can be snapped to grid and for the same you need to make the grid visible.

Choosing the Show Grid Command

To display/hide the document grid you need to choose Show from the View menu and point to the Grid.

ShowGrid

Note – Press Ctrl + ‘ to toggle visibility for the document grid. The Show Grid command only affects the currently active document. When multiple documents are open, the Show Grid command only toggles grid visibility for the document you are currently working in.

Changing the Grid Size

Grid size options are accessible via the Units and Grids pane of the Option dialog box. This setting determines the size of each square in the document grid, allowing you to customize the overall size of the grid to meet the alignment needs of your project.

Under the Edit menu, point to Options and choose Units and Grids.

Units and Grids

Note – Press Ctrl + K to quickly access the Options dialog box. Select Units and Grids from the menu on the left.

Select Grid Size

Set the Grid Size field. The Grid Size option uses the same measurement unit as the Document Units option. In the Units and Grids pane of the Options dialog box, the measurement unit that you choose in the Document Units field determines what measurement unit is displayed in the neighboring Grid Size field.

Using the Grid as a Drawing Guide

As you draw shapes and paths in Expression Design, you can refer to the document grid to ensure that certain objects are aligned evenly, such as custom interface controls or website navigation buttons. After the objects are aligned, you can always toggle the grid’s visibility on or off, should the overlying pattern become too distracting to work with.

To display the document grid, choose Show from the View menu and point to Grid . Whenever you make the grid visible, Expression Design displays a check mark next to the word Grid in the submenu. As you create shapes and paths using the various drawing tools, you can use the document grid to align their positions on the artboard. To preview your artwork without displaying the overlying document grid, choose Grid from the Show submenu, or apply the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+’.

Snapping to the Grid When Drawing

An even more precise way to align objects as you draw them is to snap to the document grid. This technique allows you to align the position of each line, point, or shape precisely on the artboard as you use the various drawing tools in Expression Design.

To display the document grid, choose Show from the View menu and point to Grid .Then Under the View menu, choose Snap to Grid. Expression Design displays a check mark next to the menu command whenever it is enabled.

SnappingToGridLines

If you click or drag close enough to any gridline with the various drawing tools (such as the Pen or Rectangle), the individual points (or lines) snap into position. Snapping to the grid allows you to align the position of each line, point, or shape precisely on the artboard.

Snapping to the Grid When Moving Objects

You might find it easier to align objects to the document grid after they’ve been drawn. One of the benefits to working this way is that you can snap objects to the grid while it is hidden, thereby eliminating the need to display the checkerboard overlay pattern. When guide snaps are enabled, you can move objects on the artboard and refer to the intersection markers that are displayed over any bounding box points that intersect with the grid.

To display the document grid, choose Show from the View menu and point to Grid . Then, Under the View menu, choose Snap to Grid. Expression Design displays a check mark next to the menu command whenever it is enabled.

Press V to access the Selection tool and click and drag an object in any direction to reposition it. When you drag close enough to a gridline, the object automatically snaps into position.

As you click and drag, Expression Design displays red intersection markers over any points that come in contact with the grid.

Adding Ruler Guides

When it comes to aligning objects, some designers prefer to use ruler guides as opposed to the document grid. This is because ruler guides can be positioned wherever you like on the artboard, whereas the document grid’s position is limited to the settings assigned in the Units and Grids pane of the Options dialog box.

To set ruler hover over the ruler area and click and hold down the mouse button, the cursor will change to display a double side arrow then drag out a guide from the rulker area onto the artboard and then release the mouse after postioning the guide.

Ruler GuidesRuler Guides

Ruler guides always extend past the edges of the artboard. All ruler guides extend into the pasteboard area surrounding the artboard. Ruler guides automatically rotate with the artboard. Unlike the document grid, if you rotate the artboard using the Rotate View commands, the ruler guides also rotate. Ruler guides are not layer specific. Unlike objects, ruler guides are not positioned within a layer; therefore, they are not affected by assigned layer color or the Layers panel visibility controls. Ruler guides are not printable. The ruler guides can only be viewed onscreen as you work in Expression Design. They will not print or export with the artwork.

Showing and Hiding Guides

The more guides you add to your document, the more distracting they can become. That’s why the best way to work with ruler guides is to display them onscreen only when you need them. Thankfully, Expression Design makes it easy to control guide visibility through the use of menu commands, keyboard shortcuts, and contextual menus.

To display ruler guides, choose Show from the View menu and point to Guides . Whenever you make the guides visible, Expression Design displays a check mark next to the word Guides in the submenu.

Show Hide Guides

Note – You can use Ctrl +; to toggle visibility of ruler guides.

You can also access the Show Guides command from the contextual menu. To access the Show Guides command from the contextual menu, make sure you have no objects selected, and then right-click anywhere in the document and choose Show Guides.

Snapping to Guides

Snapping objects to ruler guides allows you to align objects precisely on the artboard. The benefit to snapping to ruler guides as opposed to the grid is that you can place guides and reposition them wherever you like on the artboard—even at an angle—whereas the document grid always remains static.

To snap to guides under the View menu Choose Snap to Guides.

Snap To Grid

Note – You can also press Ctrl + Shift + ; to toggle Snap to Guides command on and off.

Press V to access the Selection tool and click and drag an object in any direction. When you drag close enough to a guide, the object automatically snaps to it.

The ruler guides change color when guide snaps are enabled. When the Snap to Guides option is enabled, the ruler guides appear blue; when the option is disabled, the guides appear gray. Intersection markers are displayed when snapping to guides. Expression Design displays intersection markers over any bounding box points that come in contact with the ruler guides. However, unlike the document grid, the guides must be visible for the intersection markers to appear.

Repositioning Guides

Once you drag a ruler guide onto the artboard and release the mouse button, it remains in place and cannot be selected or moved with any of the selection tools. Expression Design purposely locks the guides to prevent you from accidentally selecting and moving them as you transform objects in your artwork. However, it is possible to reposition guides. To do so, you must hold down the Alt key while you click and drag the guide.

Removing Guides

Ruler guides can be removed from a document just as easily as they can be added. All you need to do is Alt+click while you drag each guide back into the respective horizontal or vertical ruler area where you originally pulled them from.

You can only move or delete one guide at a time. Expression Design does not allow you to select and move multiple guides at once. There is also currently no command for clearing all ruler guides from the document.

Making and Releasing Guides

Expression Design also allows you to convert existing shapes or paths into guides. These types of guides can be used to indicate specific areas of a design where certain objects, such as text, should be positioned. You can also revert these guides back into editable shapes once the guides are no longer needed.

1. Use the various drawing tools, such as the Pen or Rectangle, to create a shape or path. After it is drawn, be sure not to deselect it.

2. To make a guide out of the selected shape or path, choose Guide from the Object menu and choose Make.

3. To revert the made guide back into an editable shape or path, choose Guide from the Object menu and point to Release.

Note – Press Ctrl+5 to apply the Make command quickly. The Release command reverts all made guides back into editable shapes. It is currently not possible to select and release individual guides created from shapes or paths.

Snapping to Points

In addition to aligning objects to the document grid and to ruler guides, you can also align objects to each other using the Snap to Points feature. When you enable this option, any objects that you move around on the artboard automatically snap to the bounding box nodes of a neighboring shape or path.

1. Use the various drawing tools, such as the Pen or Rectangle, to create some shapes and/or paths.

2. Under the View menu, choose Snap to Points. Expression Design displays a check mark next to the menu command whenever it is enabled.

Snap To Points

Note – Press Ctrl+Alt+’ to toggle the Snap to Points command on and off.

3. Press V to access the Selection tool and click and drag one of the shapes or paths in any direction. When you drag close enough to one of the bounding box selection points for a neighboring object (not the points that make up the path), the object automatically snaps to it.

4. As you click and drag, Expression Design displays red intersection markers over any points that come in contact with the grid.

Any kind of feedback or comments are most welcome.

Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design Zooming and Scrolling

December 12, 2011 by Abhi·1 Comment

Hey Guys,

I am back with the 3rd tutorial on Microsoft Expression Design and this time we are going to talk about Zooming and Scrolling features in Expression Design.

Hope that you know the basics of MS Expression Design and the panels of MS Expression Design. If you are not then you go through my previous posts Basics of MS Expression Design and Panels in MS Expression Blend

So if you are upto speed now we can get started and master the document navigation which majorly refers to zooming and scrolling in MS Expression Design. In order to work more efficiently with MS Expression Design you need to cultivate good navigation skills. Now there a lot different ways you can zoom or scroll your Expression Design docs and here i will discuss various commans you can use for zooming and fitting as well as the tools (zoom tool and pan tool). If you would pay a little attention then you can learn everything about document navigation in Expression Design within this post itself.

Navigating With The Zoom Tool

Using the zoom tool you can increase and decrease the current view magnification for any selected area within a Expression Design doc . There ar two ways you can do this :

Click With Zoom Tool

Zoom In

Note – you can press z to access zoom tool quickly.

Note – Press and hold ctrl + spacebar to access the zoom tool temporarily and release the keys to return to previously selected tool.

For zooming out you can use Alt + Click

Zoom out

Marqueee with the zoom tool

To access the zoom tool you can click the magnifying glass icon in the Tools palette and then click and drag over the document area that you’d like to zoom into.

Navigating with the Document Page Zoom Control

If you look at the bottom left corner of the Expression Design Interface then you will see the magnification of the document and if you click on the combo box drop down you can see multiple options for setting the zoom on the current document.

Zoom Level

Navigating with Keyboard Shortcuts

Now the fastest way to navigate is keyboard so lets discuss some keyboard shortcuts.

You can press Ctrl+= to zoom into the center of document. you can continue pressing Ctrl+= to zoom in even further.

And you can press Ctrl+- to zoom out.

Note – The zoom keyboard command always use the center of the document as a reference point.

Fitting to Screen

While working on Expression Design at some point of time you might want to see everything you have created (including any items you might have placed in the pasteboard area). The quickest way to fit all your artwork in the document window is to apply the fit to screen command. You can find the fit to screen command under View Menu.

Fit To Screen

Note – You can also press Ctrl+0 or double click the zoom tool icon to apply the fit to screen command.

Fitting to Canvas

The best way to preview your artwork onscreen is to display the entire artboard in the document window. The Fit to Screen command works well for this purpose, but only if no items are placed in the surrounding pasteboard area. This is because Fit to Screen will display everything in the document, including items on the pasteboard. To display the artboard without any surrounding pasteboard objects, you must apply the Fit to Canvas command.

You can click the down facing arrow in the bottom left corner of the document windows and a pop up list of zoom presets appears. To fit the entire artboard in the document window choose fit to canvas from the pop-up list.

Fit To Canvas

Fitting to Selected

No matter what objects you have selected, Expression Design always uses the center of the document as the reference point when zooming with the Zoom In or Zoom Out commands, or when choosing one of the preset zoom percentages from the document window preset list. To zoom in on a selected object, you can use the Zoom tool or, to zoom even more precisely, apply the Fit to Selected or Zoom on Selection commands.

Fit To Selected

Apply Zoom on Selection CammandSelect the items you want to magnify and under the view menu click Zoom on Selection and the selected objects are magnified to fit the window.Zoom on SelectionViewing Actual SizeViewing artwork at its actual size means displaying it onscreen at 100% view magnification. When you view artwork at its actual size, what you are seeing is the piece displayed at the exact width and height dimensions that will print or export. You can do this by choosing the Actual Size from View menu or press Ctrl+1. Alternativly you can double-click the pool tool in the Tools Panel to view actual size.Note – The actual size does not center your view.Centering ViewThe Center View command allows you to center the artboard in the document window at 100% view magnification. Applying this command is the quickest and easiest way to return to centered view after navigating around the document with the Zoom and Pan tools. To do this you can choose Center View form the View menu.Note – Applying center view also changes the document view magnification to 100%.Working with multiple viewsThe New View command allows you to create multiple document windows for the same open document. By doing so, you can view your artwork at different zoom percentages. With New View, you can create one window for zoomed-in detail work and a separate one for previewing the entire artboard. In fact, you can create as many views as you like. 1. To create a second window for the currently active document, choose New View from the View menu. NewView

2. In the new window that appears, use any of the methods described in this chapter to apply a different view percentage.

Note – Whatever changes you make in one view will immdeatly appear in all the other views.

Scrolling with Scroll Bars

Another way that you can navigate around the document is by using the document window scroll bars. When you zoom in on your artwork, say to 300% view magnification, the document window can no longer fit the entire artboard in its display area. Rather than zoom out to access another part of the document, you can instead use the scroll bars to reposition the artboard in the window.

Note – The pasteboard area surrounding the artboard is infinite.

Scrolling with the Pan Tool

The Pan tool offers a much more free-form method for scrolling around the document. If you need to access a specific area of the document quickly, don’t waste time by applying multiple zoom commands or dragging the scroll bars. Instead, access the Pan tool and click and drag in any direction. Clicking with the Pan tool causes the cursor’s icon to grab the artboard; dragging repositions the artboard in the window.

To access the Pan tool, click the hand icon in the Tools panel.

Pan Tool For Scroll

Note – Press H to access the Pan tool quickly. Press and hold the Spacebar to access the Pan tool temporarily. Release the Spacebar to return to the previously selected tool.

Zooming with the Mouse Wheel

Expression Design also includes an option for zooming with the mouse wheel. With this option enabled, you can zoom in and out of the document without having to access the Zoom tool or apply any of the Zoom commands. There’s also an option that allows the position of the mouse to determine the reference point for zooming.

1. Under the Edit menu, point to Options and choose General

Choose option

Note – Press Ctrl+K to quickly access the General pane of the Options dialog box.

2. In the Options dialog box that appears, choose Zoom from the Mouse Wheel Usage drop-down list.

3.Check theMouse Wheel Zoom About Mouse Position option to allow the position of the mouse to determine the reference point for zooming.

4. Click OK to apply the mouse wheel zoom options.

Set Zoom

5. Scroll the mouse wheel up to zoom in; scroll down to zoom out. Zoom percentages are applied incrementally in the document with each position of the mouse wheel.

Rotating the Artboard

One of the nicer features in Expression Design is the ability to rotate the artboard. This can be especially useful when drawing freehand or applying shading or cross hatch with the simulated natural media brushes. It’s nice to be able to rotate your artboard onscreen just as if it were a piece of drawing paper.

1. Under the View menu, choose Rotate View Clockwise or Rotate View Counter Clockwise.

RotateArtBoard

Note – Press Shift+[ to apply the Rotate View Clockwise command; press Shift+] to apply Rotate View Counter Clockwise.

2. The artboard appears rotated in the window. To rotate the artboard even further, continue applying the rotate commands.

3. To return the artboard back to its original position, choose Reset View Rotation from the View menu.

Artboard

Note – Press the End key to apply the Reset View Rotation command quickly.

Ruler units disappear when applying the Rotate View commands. Rotating the artboard causes the rulers to appear blank.

Ruler guides rotate with the artboard, but the document grid does not. Existing ruler guides rotate along with the artboard, but the document grid always remains static.

Comments and feedback are most welcome. 🙂

Tutorial : Microsoft Expression Design – Working with Panels

December 9, 2011 by Abhi·2 Comments

Hey guys,

This is the 2nd tutorial on Expression Design and in this one we will work with panels in Expression Design. So without wasting a lot of time let me tell you that Expression Designs interface contains only four panels. Now this is an extremely conservative interface structure and hopefully a welcome change in the world of creative software. Two of the four panels in Expression design are dynamic panels (the action bar and the properties panel) which means that the controls they display are dependent on the selected objects in the document as well as the tools chosen to work with.

A workspace is an onscreen arrangement of panels and Expression design allows you to dock two of the panels (the properties panel and layers panel) to the right side of the screen. You can also expand the dock, hide and show panels, and reposition and resize floating panels. But the tools panel cannot be undocked, resized or repositioned however its use is very intutive bcoz of the tooltips.

View Controls in Action Bar

In the default onscreen panel arrangement the Action bar is open but remains but remains black until you select any item in the document and after making a selection the Action bar displays the current X and Y coordinates for that item as well as its width and height dimentions. There are also controls for rotating and skewing the object when multiple items are selected, the Action bar also displays additional Align, Distribute, Stack and Path controls.

Select any item in the document

1. You can select Action from Window –> Action Bar. A check next to the action bar signifies that the action bar is currently visible. You can also press F3 to quickly hide or show the Action bar. The best thing about Action bar is that the properties it shows are editable.

Action Bar

2. You can select any item in the document with either the Direct selection tool or Selection tool. You can also Shift + Click to select multiple items.

Action Bar

Showing and Hiding Panels

Depending upon your requirement you can show or hide one or all panels at a time to concentrate on the artwork.

1. In the Windows Menu you can select Layer (F3), Properties (F4) and Toolbox (F5) to show hide the panels or press tab to hide/show all panels at the sametime.

Show Hide Panels

Resizing the Dock

On the right side of the screen is the dock where the Properties Panel and Layers Panel are stored by default.

Accessing the resize arrows

1. On the right side of your screen, hover the mouse over the left edge of the dock until a double-sided,horizontal arrow appears.

Resize the Dock

2.Click and drag the title bar at the top of the docked Layers panel up or down to resize it vertically.

Resize The Doc

Floating Panels

Now while working you might want to see only Properties panel or Layers panel at a time then you can undock one of the panel and make it free floating on the screen.

Click on the float button

1. Click the Float button located in the upper right corner of the properties panel. You can click Float button of multipl docks top make them floating.

Float Panel

2.Click and drag the title bar to reposition the panel wherever you’d like.

Float Panel

Docking Panel

You can click the Dock button on the upper right corner of the panel to return it to the previous position within the dock.

Dock a Panel

Note – The Action bar and Tools panel are permanently docked.

Showing and Hiding Advanced Properties

All the properties of a control on Properties Panel are divided into categories and you can collapse or expand any category you want by clicking the toggle arrow. Also some properties are hidden until specific objects are selected like the Edit Rectangle property appears when a rectangle drawn with the rectangle tool is selected. The only category that is always visible is the appearence category. At the bottom of this category is a special section containing advanced properties (hidden by default). These include settings for applying blend modes, fill rules and strokes.

Advanced Properties

Resetting the Active Workspace

After expanding the dock, hiding and showing panels, and repositioning and resizing floating panels onscreen (and vertically in the dock), you might eventually want to get back to basics and return to the default application panel arrangement (known as the Active Workspace). Expression Design contains a special command that allows you to do so instantly.

1. Under the Window Menu, choose Reset Active Workspace.

Reset Active Workspace

You cannot save custom workspaces in Expression Design.

Selecting Tools

You can access all the tools in Expression Design from the tools panel located in the upper left corner of your sceen. Each tool has a descriptive icon next to it and also you will see a tooltip when you hover over the icon. The tools which are hidden and not visible directly are accesible through the fly out list.

Selecting Tools

You can also identify the tool shortcuts with tooltips.

: Tooltip on Tools

Note –

Keyboard shortcuts are not displayed in the toolset fly-out list. In order to identify the shortcut for a hidden tool, you must refer to the tooltip by hovering over its icon in the fly-out list. Tooltips are always visible. There is currently no option to disable tooltips in Expression Design. Some of the tools do not have a keyboard shortcut assigned to them. Certain tools, such as the Polyline, Fill Transform, Start Point, and Reverse Path tools are not accessible with keyboard shortcuts.

Feedback and Comments are welcome. And if you any specific requirements then let me know.