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Microsoft Expression Design
Screenshot of Expression Design 4
Developer	Microsoft
Initial release	August 30, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-08-30)
Final release	4 (8.0.31217.1) / December 20, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-12-20)
Operating system	Windows XP,Windows Vista,Windows 7,Windows 8
Platform	IA-32;.NET Framework,Silverlight,DirectX
Type	Vector graphics editor
License	Freeware
Website	microsoft.com/expression/

Microsoft Expression Design wasMicrosoft's commercial professional illustrationvector andraster graphic design tool for web images based onCreature House Expression, which was acquired byMicrosoft in 2003.^[1] It is available free of charge from Microsoft and is a component of the discontinuedMicrosoft Expression Studio suite. Expression Design is more oriented towards editingXAML and web graphics rather than print graphics (likePhotoshop andIllustrator) and does not incorporate all of the raster image editing features of the originalCreature House Expression.

Expression Design wascodenamedAcrylic Graphic Designer during Microsoft Professional Developer Conference 2005 as part ofMicrosoft Expression professional tools forWindows Vista,^[2] and was originally announced asExpression Graphic Designer until the current name was adopted in December 2006.

The first version of Expression Design was released to manufacturing along with other Expression products on 30 April 2007. The RTM news was announced at Microsoft'sMIX 07 conference for web developers and designers.^[3] Service Pack 1 for Expression Design was released on October 17, 2007.^[4]

Expression Design requires the.NET Framework 3.0 as it usesWindows Presentation Foundation. Expression Design is not available as an individual product, but rather only as part of theExpression Studio suite. Originally Expression Studio was not included in anyMSDN subscription, but in 2007 Microsoft added it to the highest level MSDN Subscription.^[5] Version 2 was released in May 2008 as part of Expression Studio 2.

Expression Design is available forMicrosoft WindowsXP,Windows Vista,Windows 7,Windows 8,^[6] and remains compatible withWindows 8.1 andWindows 10 as of 2019.

A trial version of Expression Design is available.^[7] A free copy of Expression Studio 4 (as well as older versions) is available as part of Microsoft'sDreamSpark campaign to eligible students.^[8]

Expression Design 4, released as part ofExpression Studio 4 added the ability to import Windows Metafile (WMF), Enhanced Metafile (EMF), and Enhanced Metafile Plus (EMF+) files into your Expression Design project.

As of December, 2012, Microsoft has announced that Expression Studio will no longer be a stand-alone product.Expression Blend is being integrated intoVisual Studio, whileExpression Web and Expression Design will now be free products. Technical support is available for customers who purchased Web or Design following their published support lifetime guides, while no support will be offered to free downloaders. No new versions of Expression Web or Design are planned.^[9]

• Creature House Expression
• Comparison of vector graphics editors
• Comparison of office suites

• Expression Design 4 atMicrosoft Learn
• Expression Blend and Design team blog atMSDN Blogs
• https://expressiondesign4.com - Fan site helping to maintain its availability.

• Microsoft Expression products
• Vector graphics editors
• Windows-only freeware
• 2007 software
• Discontinued Microsoft software

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