This post originated from an RSS feed registered with .NET Buzz by Damir Tomicic. Original Post: Making of TechEd bubbles using Microsoft Expression 3 Preview (free) Feed Title: Damir Tomicic : community powered Feed URL: http://tomicic.de/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss Feed Description: stuff about .NET, community and life - in several languages. Latest .NET Buzz Posts Latest .NET Buzz Posts by Damir Tomicic Latest Posts From Damir Tomicic : community powered

You are going to TechEd? You are blogging this? You want to have your own version of famous TechEd bubbles for your blog? ;-)

Let your creative power unfold! I'll try to show you, how to easily create your own bubles using Microsoft Expression 3.

First step - Draw bubbles
Expression 3 is an object-based drawing application. First, we need some objects ... The Polyline tool lets you build up paths made up of straight line and/or Bezier curve segments by placing nodes in succession. Simple clicking creates line segments, and click-dragging creates circular arc segments. Draw bubbles ... Fine ...

Bob Ross " aaaand, a little bit of blue ..."
A object by itself is only an abstract geometrical description. To make a object interesting, a set of paint style attributes must be applied to it. The paint style attributes describe how the interior of a path should be filled. The Paint Style palette is divided into two main sections. The upper section is for setting the stroke type and fill type. Enable the Solid Fill button to apply a uniform color to the interior of a path. The color can be chosen from one of the color pickers displayed in the lower section. Now select all objects and apply nice blue color.

Create reflection
Now, we need a kind of 3D light effect. A reflection map is a look-up table of the appearance of a surface at any normal direction under a particular lighting environment. In the Paint Style palette, choose a negative value in the Soft-Edged/Embossed Width meter. A reflection map can be applied to any path with an embossed fill by pressing the “Embossed” button.

Group objects
Select all objects and group them. Reflection map is now applied to all objects.

Shadow
Add the finishing touches. Duplicate all objects with a black fill for the shadow. Set the opacity of the black ellipse to about 15% and give it a thick soft-edge. Adjust the size a bit by transforming it using the Object Select tool or resize handles.

Add TechEd logo and your sign. Et voilà, you have your own TechEd bubbles ;-)

And last but not least, here is the screenshot of Microsoft Expression in action:

(...click me - click me...)

I know, I know ... You need sample code ... Here is the original Expression file. Enjoy!!