Q: What is the Design Center?
A: The Design Center makes it easy for you to mix images and text. It is an online layout tool that can help you create all sorts of projects for web and print. You can either make a design from scratch or personalize a pre-made layout from the 'Templates' tab. You can even save your designs directly online for later, or download it to JPG or PDF right away. PDFs are great for websites and email!
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Q: How do I get to the Design Center?
A: You can get to the Design Center in a multiple ways. You can browse for an image or template and click the 'create custom design' button, click the 'Design Center' tab to create a new project, or open a recent or blank project from your 'My Home'.
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Q: Is the Design Center included in my subscription?
A: Yes, the Design Center is a feature you will receive instant access to once you have subscribed.
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Q: Can I save Design Center projects while in my free trial?
A: Yes, you can save 1 project during your free trial. The project that you save during your free trial will be kept and stored in your 'My Home' and will still be available to you even when you become a paid subscriber.
PLEASE NOTE: If you download a design during the free trial period, it counts toward the download limit.
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Q: How many projects can I save?
A: You can save up to 10 projects directly online once you are a full subscriber. Once you have reached your 10 project limit, you must go to your 'My Projects' (in the 'My Home' tab) and delete a project in order to save a new one.
SMART TIP: Once you download a Design Center project to JPG, PDF, or EPS (and are finished making changes to it), download it to your computer. Then go back to your 'My Projects' and delete that project. This will ensure space for a new Design Center project.
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Q: Where are my projects saved?
A: All of your projects will be saved and stored in your 'My Projects', located on your 'My Home' tab.
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Q: Can I save Design Center projects to my own computer?
A: No, you cannot save active Design Center projects straight to your computer. However, once you download a project to JPG, PDF, or EPS, you can then save that file to your computer.
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Q: What size is the Design Center canvas?
A: The canvas size in the Design Center can be any size that is possible with a width and height that is between 1.0 and 50.0 inches. This can be adjusted via the custom input option that is located under the default canvas sizes which are available when you begin a new project.
NOTE: The "canvas" is the area in the Design Center that you design on.
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Q: What size paper can I download and print to?
A: You can download and print to just about any paper size that your printer is capable of. You are able to adjust the canvas size by selecting the custom option instead of the pre-determined sizes.
Note: The custom canvas sizes have a limit of a width and height that is between 1.0 and 50.0 inches.
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Q: How do I use the Design Center tools?
A: To learn what all of the Design Center tools do, click the red 'Help' button in the upper right corner in the Design Center.
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Q: How can I download my project?
A: When you are ready to actually download your creation, simply click on the orange "download" button. From there you will have two choices of what to download, with the first choice being a "photo quality .jpg". This type of file is a picture image version of your creation. This .jpg is like others with the same extension which means you can import it into some other program such as Microsoft Word, Paint, Publisher, etc. and edit it. You can either print out the picture itself, or you can manipulate it. This type of file is great when you want to add things to it or add your creation to something else and is also useful when you want to edit the actual image. The second type of file is a .PDF document. This is a file that can't be edited and is meant to be opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Acrobat Reader is a free software program that is widely used (especially for tax preparation). The good thing about this type of file is that it reflects your creation the way you saw it on the screen. It is meant to be viewed and printed the way it is. Once you click on the download choice, all you need to do is specify the destination of the file and name it if you would like.
From here, all you need to do is print out the image and enjoy what you have made. In regards to the actual printing of the creation, you are going to want to refer to the documentation that came with the printer, or the software you are using the image with. If you need to make changes to your final product however, log back into the Design Center and edit what you need and then save it. You can always download the file again and follow the same steps to do so.
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Q: When I download my project, will it be saved?
A: Yes, your project will automatically be saved when you download it.
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Q: How do I print my project from the Design Center?
A: You can print directly from the Design Center by clicking on the "print" button; however it will be preparing the PDF version via Adobe Acrobat for printing. To print out the photo quality JPG, or print out the PDF file without the Design Center, you must first download your project to your computer by clicking on the "download" button. Once you have download your project to either JPG or PDF, you can then print your project directly from that format.
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Q: Can I change the orientation of my project once I have already begun?
A: No, once you have selected your project orientation and entered the Design Center, you cannot change it. You must start a new project in order to change the orientation.
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Q: How do I open a saved project?
A: To open a saved project, go to the 'My Home' tab (you must be logged in). In the 'My Projects' section, you will see all of your saved projects. Click 'open' to open your project in the Design Center for editing and downloading.
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Q: How do I start a blank project?
A: To start a blank design center project, simply click the 'Design Center' tab, or click the 'start a project now' button in your 'My Home'.
Note: If you already have a total of 10 projects saved, you will need to delete an existing project prior to beginning a new one. See the delete instructions below.
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Q: How do I delete a project?
A: To delete a saved project, go to the 'My Home' tab (you must be logged in). In the 'My Projects' section, you will see all of your saved projects and a 'delete' button beside each one. Click 'delete' and a confirmation screen will popup confirming that you want to delete it. Click 'yes' to delete the project.
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Q: My saved project didn't show up in 'My Home'
A: Many times if you save a design and then quit out of the Design Center, your project will not show up in your 'My Home' instantly. You must first click the 'refresh' button on your browser. Your project should then appear once the browser has refreshed.
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Q: Well, what is it?
A: The Design Center is a tool that makes it easy for you to
mix images and text.
It is an online layout tool that can help you create printed projects of any size.
Save your design for later or download it to JPG or PDF right away. PDFs are great for email and websites!
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Q: How do I make a project?
A: You can start a project in many ways. To start a blank project, click the "start new project" link on your 'MyHome' tab. We make our entire collection of clipart, borders, wallpaper and photobackgrounds available through the Design Center!
You can also start a design from the preview page of any one of our images and templates. Click "create custom design" after finding your favorite illustration, photo or layout.
We hope this makes the preparation of your desired creation easier and more fun. If you have suggestions for us, please email Contact@MustHaveMenus.com.
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Q: What do these buttons do?
A:
The button with a "T" on it adds text. Double-click on a block of existing text. The Edit Text dialog box will open. Then you can make changes.
The flower design button adds an image.
Save saves the projects to your 'MyHome' tab.
Download allows you to download the design in JPG or PDF format.
Help will return you to this help section.
Quit will return you to 'MyHome'.
Undo lets you reverse changes you have made to your design.
Redo let you redo a change if you decide
undo was a mistake.
Delete will delete the object currently selected. You can also push the 'Delete' Key on your computer to remove an image or text.
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Q: What do these buttons floating around my image or text do?
A: The following
floating buttons will appear when you select
either an image or a text block:
The buttons on
the left side let you push the image or text
forward or backward one layer.
The button in
the center will have either a "T" for text or a flower design for "Image". You can double click this button any time to exchange an image or edit your text.
The button on
the right side allows you to resize your image or your text block. Just
click and drag to scale your image to any size you want.
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Q: What do "bring forward' and 'send backward' mean?
A: When you click the 'bring forward' button it brings the object (image or text) you selected
forward one layer. When you click the 'send backward' button it sends the object
back one layer.
NOTE: These buttons only work when you are working with two or more objects.
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Q: Where are my projects saved?
A: All of your projects will be saved and stored on your MyHome page.
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Q: Can I save Design Center projects to my own computer?
A: Once you download a project to JPG or PDF you can then save that file to your computer. However, Design Center projects themselves can't be saved straight to your computer.
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Q: Can I print from the Design Center?
A: You can print directly from the Design Center by clicking on the "print" button; however, it will be preparing the PDF version via Adobe Acrobat for printing.
To print out the photo quality JPG, or to print out the PDF file without the Design Center, you must first download your project to your computer by clicking on the "download" button. Once you have downloaded your project to either JPG or PDF, you can then print your project directly from that format.
.
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Q: What do "Print Ready PDF" and "Photo Quality JPG" mean?
A:
"Print Ready PDF" means that your project will download to PDF format. A PDF format stands for Portable Document Format and allows electronic information to be transferred between various types of computers. Downloading and printing to PDF is the easiest and most effective way to print your projects.
NOTE: In order to view and print a PDF file you will need to have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Most computers come with a copy installed, but if you computer does not have it installed, download it for free at
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/
"Photo Quality JPG" means that your project will download to JPG format. A JPG is an image file and is a popular way to compress and store images for use on a web site page.
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Q: What size paper can I download and print to?
A: You can download and print to just about any paper size that your printer is capable of. You are able to adjust the canvas size by selecting the custom option instead of the pre-determined sizes.
Note: The custom canvas sizes have a limit of a width and height that is between 1.0 and 50.0 inches.
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Q: How many projects can I save?
A: You can save up to 10 projects directly online once you are a full subscriber. Once you have reached your 10 project limit, you must go to your 'My Projects' (in the 'My Home' tab) and delete a project in order to save a new one.
SMART TIP: Once you download a Design Center project to JPG or PDF (and are finished making changes to it), download it to your computer. Then go back to your 'My Projects' and delete that project. This will make space for a new Design Center project.
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Q: Can I save Design Center projects while in my free trial?
A: Yes, you can save 1 project during your free trial. The project that you save during your free trial will be kept and stored in your 'My Home' and will still be available to you when you become a paid subscriber.
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Q: When I download my project, will it be saved?
A: Yes, your project will automatically be saved when you download it.
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Q: How do I print my project?
A: You can print directly from the Design Center by clicking on the "print" button; however it will be preparing the PDF version via Adobe Acrobat for printing.
Another method is to download your creation to your computer and print it from there. In order to do that, click on the "download" button and select if you would like a photo quality JPG or print ready PDF file. Once you have download your project to either JPG or PDF, you can then print your project directly from that format.
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Q: How do I start a new project?
A: To start a new project, you must first quit out of the Design Center. Once you have quit out of the application, simply click the 'Design Center' tab, or click the 'start a new project' button in your 'My Home'.
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Q: How do I open a saved project?
A: To open a saved project, go to your 'My Home' (you will need to quit out of the Design Center). You will see all of your saved projects there. Click 'open' to open your project in the Design Center for editing and downloading.
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Q: How do I delete a project?
A: To delete a saved project, go to your 'My Home' (you will need to quit out of the Design Center). You will see all of your saved projects and a 'delete' button beside each one. Click 'delete' and a confirmation screen will pop up confirming that you want to delete it. Click 'yes' to delete the project.
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Q: How do I change the orientation of my project?
A: Once you have selected your project orientation and entered the Design Center, you cannot change it. You must first quit out of the Design Center, then start a new project in order to change the orientation.
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Q: What size is the Design Center canvas?
A: The canvas size in the Design Center can be any size that is possible with a width and height that is between 1.0 and 50.0 inches. This can be adjusted via the custom input option that is located under the default canvas sizes which are available when you begin a new project.
NOTE: The "canvas" is the area in the Design Center that you design on.
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Q: The Design Center opened in a small window - how can I make it bigger?
A: First, maximize your internet browser's window by clicking the maximize button in the upper right corner. Then click the 'refresh' button. The Design Center will reload itself to the larger window.
NOTE: Before refreshing, be sure that you save any changes to your project. All unsaved changes will be lost when you refresh.
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Q: Are the rulers exact?
A: The rulers are proportionally correct, but they are not exact. Before you print multiple copies of a design, be sure to make a test print so that you can measure the exact size with a ruler. Test printing is extremely important if you are fitting your designs for an envelope or other container.
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