The Color Wheel: Neon

By Gary W. Priester
We will be using pixels as our units of measure, as pixels are the international unit of measure for the Web. In the Grid and Ruler Setup (double-click the screen
rulers) set the units to Pixels.

If you are creating your image for the Web, or just to be viewed on your computer screen, set the Resolution (Layout, Page Setup) to 96 dpi, Windows screen
resolution. If you plan to output your design to a color printer or commercial printer, set the resolution from 300 – 600 dpi.

I'm using the old (and brighter) RGB palette instead of the simulated CMYK display because I intend my neon image to be displayed on the Web. For printed output,
you can use the simulated CMYK display option, or convert your image to CMYK when you are finished.

Open the Symbols docker and select a star symbol either from Zapf Dingbats (which for some unexplained reason, showed empty for me) or Wingdings (Symbols).
You can also create your own star by creating a 5-sided polygon using the Polygon Tool, and then using the Shape Tool to drag the center nodes to the center.
Whatever method or source you pick, make the overall star size 130 x 130 pixels.

Using the Freehand Tool, draw a horizontal line 80 pixels wide. Click twice with the Pick Tool to enter Rotate/Skew mode and, while holding down the CTRL key to
constrain the movement, drag the left-center skew arrow upwards until the line has been skewed 30 degrees.

Select the line with the Shape Tool, then marquee select both nodes (drag a rectangle around the line with the Shape Tool).

On the Property Bar, click the Convert Line to Curve icon. Deselect the line, then using the Shape Tool, click the left node to enable the Bezier control handles. Drag
the left handle to the center as shown. Repeat for the right node, dragging the Bezier control handle to the center. You should now have a gentle S-shaped line.

Make five duplicate lines. Select the lines and the star and open the Outline Pen Dialog (Outline Tool flyout on the main toolbar). Set the line width to 20 points and
check the rounded corners and rounded joins radio buttons.

Arrange the lines and star as shown so that the thickness of the outlines do not touch one another, or just barely touch as shown in this illustration. If for some
reason, the outline color is not black, change it.
Select all the lines and star. Press the plus key (+) on the numeric keypad to place a duplicate set of lines. Do not deselect the lines. Change the line width (in the
Outline Tool flyout) to 10 points. Change the outline colors as follows: a. Ruby Red, b. Pastel Blue, and c. Blue. Make a duplicate set of all the 10-point lines and set
this duplicate to one side for the moment.

Select all of the new lines and the star and make another duplicate set. Change the line width to 4-point and change the colors to: a. Red, b. Power Blue, c. Sky
Blue.
Note: If you let your cursor hover over any color on the screen palette, the color name will appear in a tool tip. The names of selected colors in your image will
appear on the bottom right side of the status bar.

Make yet another set of duplicate lines. Change the line width to 1 point and change the colors to: a. Faded Pink, b. White, c. White. Name and save your drawing
and take a short eye break.

Zoom in very close to the lines. Select the Interactive Blend Tool from the Interactive Tools flyout menu. Create a four-step blend from the black outline to the next
largest outline, to the next largest outline, to the 1-point outline. Repeat for the other six groups of outlines. If you are unfamiliar with blends creation, drag the
Interactive Blend Tool cursor from one shape to the next, to the next, to the next, etc.
Find the set of duplicate 10-point outlines. Select all and Combine them (CTRL + L). Make two duplicates of the combined lines and place one set to the side for a
moment.

Select the other duplicate 10 point outlines and change the outline width to 1-point. Make the outline color for the large outlined group white and the outline color for
the 1 point group black.

Marquee select both groups of lines. Blend both sets of lines either using the Interactive Blend Tool, or in all versions except version 9, select Blend from the Effects
menu. (Blend took a vacation from the Effects pull down menu for some reason in version 9 but, happily, has returned).

Select the Blend and from the Bitmaps menu, select Convert to Bitmap. Select Grayscale from the Color: drop down list. Set the resolution to 300 dpi. Place a check
next to the Transparent Background option. Press OK to create the bitmap.

With the bitmap selected, select Blur, Gaussian Blur from the Bitmaps pull down menu. Apply a 1.5 pixel radius blur. These settings are for version 10 and may vary
greatly in previous versions. Basically we just want to subtly soften the edges of the bitmap.

Center the grayscale bitmap over the blended shapes. Apply an Interactive Transparency, Uniform, amount 50% This creates the appearance of the glass tubing.
Fetch the other duplicate you made of the 10 point outlines. Change the line width to 8 points and combine (CTRL + L) all the lines. Now (version 10 only, I'm afraid)
Convert Outlines to Shape. This creates fillable shapes from the outlines.

Press the TAB key once to select the invisible original outline and delete it. Normally this invisible outline is not a problem, but it can cause trouble because we tend
to forget it is there. So, to be on the safe side: whenever you convert Outlines to Shape, delete the invisible lines. Save your file and take an eye break.

Duplicate the combined duplicate (+) and offset the duplicate right and down a few pixels in each direction, as shown here.

Select both shapes and press the Quick Trim icon on the Property Bar. Delete the top shape (the trimmer). Change the fill color to Powder Blue. We will use this
shape to create highlights to the glass tubing.

Note: Corel uses the first selected object as the trimmer and the second selected shape as the object to trim. Hence you want to select the top object first and the
bottom object second. If you reverse the order, the bottom shape will do the trimming, which is not what we want.

Convert the Powder Blue shape to Bitmap (Bitmaps menu). Change the Color to RGB, and leave the other settings as is: 300 dpi, Transparent Background. Press
OK to create the bitmap. Apply a 5-pixel Gaussian Blur (Bitmaps menu). This will soften the edges of the highlight and give it a more natural appearance.
Position the highlights over the neon shapes so it appears over the top left portion.

Add a black filled rectangle behind the neon shapes. Apply a Radial interactive fill. Center the Radial fill over the center of the star and change the center color to
Twilight Blue. This rectangle and Radial fill creates the impression of a soft glow behind the neon elements.

And here is the finished image.

So that's my technique for creating neon in a glass tube. You can use this for just about anything that has a single outline.

For my session at the CorelWORLD Conference, I made some single weight letters for the word "draw" and used these to create the same neon effect that was then
used as an interface for a Web page. Just to be on the safe side (in case any of Corel's lawyers were in attendance), I placed the text, "I Love To …" over the neon
"draw", so there could be no confusion with the name of the Corel product, CorelDRAW.

If you would like to see more articles like this one, let me know. Or if you have any comments, or questions, feel free to drop me a short note at
garypriester@earthlink.net. I'll try to provide you with a colorful reply.

Gary W. Priester lives in Placitas, New Mexico with his wife, their five cats, and Harry the extraordinary canary. He worked for 25 years as an advertising print and
television art director where he developed a knowledge and appreciation for typography.

This is the first lesson, so, take it easy and enjoy learning how to create this awesome star! Use
the Polygon tool (or simply hit on Y) and draw out a simple pentagon looks like the following:-
Now, go to the colour palette normally at your right on the screen. Click on one nice colour
(well... yellow) and don't let go, continue clicking on it and drag it to your outline of your
pentagon. Just let it go when you see something like below, the yellow-outline thingy:-

After filling in the colour, let's do something quick and easy. Press on Ctrl and D at the same
time, you'll find out 1 more duplicate of your pentagon. OK, continue by simply dragging at the
points in between the 2 corners of the duplicated STAR. It'll look like this:-

Then, arrange them into centre by going to Arrange > Align & Distribution. In there, choose both
centres of horizontal and vertical alignments. 1 colour (yellow) is too boring! Let's pratise your
outline filling skill again by
repeating the step above (Drag & Drop) with Red. EFFECT! Go to the Blending tool (

, the first icon), click on the Red star and drag on it towards the Yellow
pentagon. Like this:-

You'll see something like below one. However, if it weren't like what i show you here, simply
referring to the blending parameters above the screen. Normally, you'll have the default for the
steps ( ) as 6. So, you're not restricted in CorelDRAW®! Change it to something like
20 or 30, as you are happy with it. The result will be like this:-
Voilà! Very amazing right? Not finished yet, let's see. Now, simply click on the STAR in the
middle and you can move it lower, higher, left or right, as you want it to be. More! At the
parameter bar, click on the Loop Blend icon (which in the red circle), and key in 50° at the left of
the Loop icon. You'll have this flying star:-

Software: Corel DRAW 9.0

Level: Beginner

1. Open Corel DRAW. Create a petal shape you want to use for making flower

2. Following shape is created by converting ellipse to curve by pressing Ctrl + Q and then edited with shape tool.

3. Double click the shape to get the points for rotation as follows

4. Drag the center of the shape at the bottom

5. Arrange > Transformation

Select Rotate tab

6. Input the value 12 for angle or some value which will divide 360.

7. Click Apply to Duplicate. Duplicate will be created at an angle of 12 degrees

8. Go on clicking till you get the following shape.

9. Double click on the pick tool to select all the petals and fill with desired color.

10. Arrange > Combine

Constructing Isometric Grid Paper, A Computer Aid

I have always enjoyed making Isometric drawings and I thought I would show how to construct a grid that can be used in
CorelDRAW and also to make your own drawing paper. This way you can draw freehand and get ideas. This was done in
CorelDRAW 9 using line widths of .003 inches.

Once you construct the grid, you can lock the object on your drawing
and use your tools to transform symbols, clip art and construct your
own isometric drawings. Then delete the grid leaving
your own views.

Isometric sketches can be made on the grid using the

isometric axes shown on the right. One axes is
vertical, the other two are inclined 30° from the
horizontal. Also the grid shown on the right consists of
three sets of parallel lines. One set of lines are vertical,
a second set inclined 30° from the horizontal, the third
set inclined at 150°, measuring positive counterclockwise from a
horizontal line.

The grid we are going to construct will be based on .5 (1/2) inch

spacing at 32 inches square. Then we can reduce the square to 16 inches and have a grid based on .25 (1/4) inch spacing,
and be able to make your paper at 1/4 or 1/2 inch without having to construct a separate grid. You can also reduce your
grid by maintaining your Aspect Ratio to arrive at anything between 1/2 and 1/16 inches. Note: If you want to have a grid
based on 3/4 inch then increase the finished grid to 48 inches. For 1 inch, increase to 64 inches. You do not have to use a
32-inch square, but can choose what you want. The minimum would be 14 inches as the size to intersect a legal size
page.

Since there are several ways to construct this grid, I will show you the way based on rotation of 150° from the horizontal.
The three angles are 120° apart and add up to 360°.

Step 1

Open a drawing of 44 inches by 44 inches, and draw a square

of 32 inches. Place it in center of page by pressing P on the
keyboard. For those who aren't using CorelDRAW 9, you'll
have to do this from the Align dialog. If you do not want to
show a page border then go to Tools, Options, Document;
and then Page. Uncheck "show page border" and click OK. I
chose not to have a page border so I would not see the extra
square. Go to Arrange and lock your 32-inch square so it will
not interfere while we group our objects.

Draw a horizontal line 44 inches long anywhere on the

drawing page. Then select Window | Dockers and open your
Transformation Docker. With the Relative Position
unchecked, your center object handle checked. Enter at H, 22 and V, 44. This is shown at
right. We are going to divide the imaginary 44-inch square into 88 equal parts, each 1/2
inch apart. The reason the horizontal line is 44 inches long is that when we rotate all of
the grouped objects they will be wider than the 32-inch square we see. This will become
apparent as we move along. The single horizontal line, in Position is shown below.
 Step 2
With your single 44-inch line
selected enter in your
Transformation Dockers
H, 22 and V, 0. Relative Position
unchecked and the center object
handle checked. Click
Apply to Duplicate.
This is shown at right
and below.
Next go to Effects |
Blend (If you have
customized Blend back
to your Effects Menu)
otherwise you'll need to
use the Interactive
Blend tool. With both
44-inch lines selected,
enter 87 steps and click
Apply. Select Arrange |
Separate, then select Arrange | Ungroup All. Now select all
the objects by double-clicking on the pick then then choose
Arrange | Group. You should have 89 grouped objects on Layer 1. If you ungroup all of your
grouped objects and tab select each object you will see they are each 1/2 inch apart. If you
want a better explanation of dividing a line into any number of parts see my
explanation in Fabricate Your Own Copper Arrows
Part 1.
Step 3

Since we have 89 grouped objects, reopen your Transformation Docker and

click on the Rotation icon. Relative Center unchecked and the center object
handle checked. Your H and V should be 22. With your Horizontal Lines
selected, go to your numeric key pad and press the
plus key to Duplicate the grouped objects. Enter
-150° in your rotation box and click Apply.

Step 4

Deselect your rotated objects and reselect your Horizontal Lines and Duplicate them again.
Enter in your rotation box -30° and click Apply.

Deselect your rotated objects and reselect your Horizontal Lines and enter in your rotation box
90° and click Apply. Go to your Standard toolbar and enter 50% zoom, marquee select all of
your objects.

You are now ready to Intersect your grouped objects for your finished Grid.
 Step 5

Before you Intersect your grouped objects, you can

either Intersect from where you are or move your 32-
inch square. I chose to move it. Using the Zoom tool,
zoom in as shown immediately below. Go to Arrange
and unlock your 32-inch square. Open the Dockers |
Shaping | Intersect Docker. Uncheck Target Objects
and leave Source Objects checked as shown at right.

Click on Intersect With. When the Intersect arrow appears

click on the Grid. After the Intersection are complete Shift
Select the 32-inch square and Group to retain your 32-inch
square. This is shown below. Next Duplicate the 32 inch Grid
and reduce it to a 16 inch Grid. This is shown in the third
image below.

As you now have two completed Grids you can now draw either 8.5 x
11 or 8.5 x 14
inch rectangles
and Intersect your
Grids for the
paper you want to
print, or any size
you choose.

While using your

Grid in
CorelDRAW to
draw isometric views it is best to lock the Grid.