THE GRIFFIN

mystery of life and death

This chimerical creature has the head, wings, and talons of an eagle with the body of a lion, and is said expressed the ideal combination of swiftness, strength and intelligence. Historically the Griffin has been emblematic of valour, vigilance and death defying bravery. Guillim, an often-quoted heraldic writer says this about the Griffin, "sets forth the property of a valorous soldier whose magnanimity is such that he will dare all dangers, and even death itself, rather than become captive."

This creature is as old as the time of the Phoenicians, was sacred to the sun, and kept guard over hidden treasures. It is symbolic of watchfulness, courage, perseverance, and rapidity of execution. In legend, the creature was a symbol of superbia (arrogant pride), because Alexander the Great was said to have tried to fly on the backs of Griffins to the edge of the sky. During the Middle Ages, Christian nobles searched for Griffin's eggs or "grypeseye" which they mounted and used for cups, believing they brought health to any beverage.

FLEUR DE LIS

an emblem of sovereignty.

Originally the white Lily and applied in early heraldic treatises to the white flowers attributed to the Virgin Mary. Later the term was used also for the flower of the French royal arms, and subsequently to any conventionalized flower of this form and of any tincture.

Denotes purity; light; represents sixth son as mark of difference or distinction.

French kings long used the fleur-de-lis as an emblem of their sovereignty.

On his seal of AD 1060 , Philip I sits on his throne holding a short staff that terminates in a fleur-de-lis. The Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) issued a coin which represented Gaul (France) with a woman holding a lily.

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FLAMING HEART

The Heart is a symbol of charity, devotion and truth, and a flaming heart (heart flammant) denotes ardent affection.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are traditional Roman Catholic devotional images. In ancient Egypt the heart was weighed against the feather of truth by the goddess Ma'at (goddess of truth), in the presence of Thoth and Sebek to determine whether the deceased would, by his life’s actions, be allowed to go on to the afterlife.

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ESCALLOP

This is the badge of a pilgrim, also a symbol of the Apostle St. James the Greater. Medieval Christians making the pilgrimage to his shrine often wore a scallop shell symbol on their clothes. The pilgrim also carried a scallop shell with him, and would present himself at churches, castles, etc., where he could expect to be given as much sustenance as he could pick up with one scoop. Thus even the poorest household could give charity without being overburdened. Denotes one who has made long journeys or voyages to far places; a naval commander. Also a symbol hospitality.

THE GREYHOUND

Are one of the oldest breeds of dogs, and appear in art and literature throughout history. The breed was developed nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt.

Known in England before the 9th century, the Greyhound was bred and raised by the aristocracy. For 700 years it was illegal under English law for a commoner to own a Greyhound.

It was used to hunt small game, especially hares. In ancient Egypt the Greyhound were not only companions, but they were revered and almost worshipped; they were cherished so much that a birth of one was second in importance only to the birth of a human boy. When a pet Greyhound died the entire family mourned by shaving their heads, fasting and crying.

When Greyhounds died, they were buried, mummified, and placed in the tomb of their owner. Often the tombs were decorated with figures of favourite Greyhounds.

Greek mythological figures were often portrayed with Greyhounds and Hecate, goddess of wealth, is often shown with a Greyhound. The same is true for Pollux, protector of the hunt.

The ancient Romans also had an appreciation of the Greyhound; their Gods and Goddesses, were shown with Greyhounds.

The Middle Ages were a time of famine, and the Greyhound almost became extinct. The clergymen saved them from starvation and bred them for noblemen.

The Greyhound is said to denote majesty, courage, vigilance, swiftness and loyalty, and they were emblematic of nobility.

THE FLY

Beelzebub, the God of Flies was considered the patron deity of medicine and was supposed to ward off flies from his votaries;

he was one of the gods of the Philistines. The Greeks had a similar deity, Zeus Apomyios; symbol of adventurousness.

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We are leaving this help tip up, as more and more of you are upgrading

your Corel Draw software to X3 or X4 or X6

Corel Draw has changed some default settings in X3 and X4 that can render your vector images black, do the same for your F9 preview and in the case of X4 display your image excessively dark.

Fixes:

• Top Command Bar/View Select 'enhanced' and not 'enhanced with overprints';

• Top Command Bar/Tools/Color Management Color Mode for Effects-should be set at RGB (not CMYK); 

• Top Command Bar/Tools Select 'Save Settings as default' ;

• When importing AG graphics into X4, make sure you first group your image before using the F9 full screen preview (X3 imports the graphic already grouped).

Popular Free Graphic Design software for the WMF file format.

It's easy to use. AG has prepared a simple tutorial and link to this software. Click on the Serif logo

EMF/wmf THUMBNAIL VIEWER

As of Windows Vista and Window 7, the Microsoft Windows Explorer no longer displays thumbnails image previews of EMF (Enhanced Metafile) and WMF (Windows Metafile) vector graphic images. This Windows Explorer plug-in restores this capability. At this writing this thumbnail viewer is free

Check the member resources page for more thumbnail viewers.