Deconstructing FreeHand graphics Part 1: Draw a cup

June 15th, 2006 by Posted in Macromedia FreeHand, Macromedia Products

Draw a cup

The simplest way to draw a cup in FreeHand is first to create a cylinder by overlapping two ellipses with a rectangle, and combining the three basic shapes into a single object. Then, draw a slightly smaller ellipse at the top of the cylinder, and fill the ellipse with a linear gradient. Finally, fill the cylinder with a linear gradient with the highlight and shadow colors reversed.

1	Use the Ellipse tool to draw an ellipse.
2	Choose Edit > Duplicate to create a duplicate of the ellipse, then place it above the first one.
3	Select the two ellipses and choose Modify > Align > Center Vertical to align them vertically.
4	With Snap to Point on (View > Snap to Point), use the Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle that snaps to the leftmost point of the upper ellipse and the rightmost point of the lower ellipse.
5	Select the three objects and choose Modify > Combine > Union to convert them into a single cylinder object.
6	With Snap to Point off, use the Ellipse tool to draw an ellipse just inside the edge of the top of the cylinder.
7	Use the Fill inspector to fill the ellipse with a linear gradient at an angle of zero degrees.
	Note: For more information on using the Fill inspector, see the appropriate section in FreeHand Help.
8	Choose the Cup Shadow color swatch for the left side of the gradient, and the Cup Highlight color swatch for the right side.
9	Use the Fill inspector to fill the cylinder with a linear gradient at an angle of zero degrees.
	Note: For more information on using the Fill inspector, see the appropriate section in FreeHand help.
10	Choose the Cup Highlight color swatch for the left side of the gradient, and the Cup Shadow color swatch for the right side.
11	Remove the stroke (if any) from the cylinder and ellipse objects.
12	Group the cup objects.
13	Place the cup on the simple grid in the approximate location it appears in the sample image.