Hexaflexagon Toolkit
Contents
Installation
Preparing
Your Own Images
Creating
Your Flexagon
Printing
Your Flexagon
Folding
Your Flexagon
Installation
Download the file
hexaflexagon_XmasEdition.zip,
then decompress as usual. Locate the decompressed file HexaflexagonXmasEdition.exe, then click on the file name to install the program. Click on
I Agree and Install as each appears. Locate the file Hexaflexagon Toolkit.exe in C:/Program Files/Hexaflexagon Tookit, then drag it to your desktop creating a shortcut for easy access.
Preparing
Your Own Images
When Hexaflexagon Toolkit creates
a flexagon, each of six distinct images is squeezed or stretched until
the ratio of the width to height is roughly 200:173. Then each image is
trimmed to the shape of a
regular hexagon and
subdivided into six congruent equilateral triangles. If you use images
with a 200:173 width to height ratio, there will be no image distortion.
Images can be resized with Windows 7 Paint or Ultimate
Paint (see below) or any other quality graphics program.
Windows 7 Paint
Open Paint by clicking the
Start
button, clicking
All Programs, clicking Accessories, and
then clicking Paint. Open the selected image file in the usual way.
Use
Zoom in and Zoom out on the View tab to see a
larger or smaller view of the image and to ensure that the desired portion
of the image is visable on the screen.
As usual, you can undo any step in what
follows by using Ctrl-Z.
Use Crop
on
the Home tab to crop each image in turn so only the part you wish
is visible.
-
In the Image group, click the arrow
under Select, and then click on Rectangular selection.
-
Drag the pointer within the image to select
a rectangle with a width to height ratio of roughly 200:173.
-
In the Image group, click Crop.
-
Save the edited image as a new jpg file using
a unique name.
Adjust each image precisely.
-
Click on the Paint
button.
Select Properties.
-
In the Width and Height boxes,
enter the desired width and height in a 200:173 prroportion,
and then click
OK. [The width should be 1.156 times
the length; the length should be 0.865 times the width.]
Pixels will be removed from the right hand side or bottom of the image
(and not from each end as one would expect and/or prefer) so the Crop
tool may have to be reused to prepare the image for this final precision
adjustment.
-
Save the edited image.
Utimate Paint
To edit/crop your selected images, run
Ultimate
Paint, then
Open each image file in turn. Use the information
button 
to reveal the image dimensions. Click on the Cut Area button 
and then on the lower case "b" key to reveal the Cut Panel.
Enter X and Y sizes in the proportion
200:173. [The X size or dimension should be 1.156 times the Y dimension;
the Y dimension should be 0.865 times the X dimension.] The revealed image
dimensions should aid your initial selections. When the cursor is moved
over the image, a rectangle with the selected dimensions will appear. Move
your mouse over the image until the desired area is outlined. Edit the
cut area dimensions as needed, always maintaining the 200:173 proportion.
Remember that your rectangular image will be trimmed to a regular
hexagon by the software. When done, click the left mouse button to
select the desired area. Select Edit, then Copy. Select Edit
again, then
Paste as New. The cropped image will appear in a new
window. Select
File, then Save As. Save the cropped image
using a unique name. Close all image files. Repeat for each image.
Creating
Your Flexagon
Run Hexaflexagon Toolkit
by clicking on its icon. You should see the beginning of a strip of 36
equilateral triangles in a special window. This is a Christmas template
which you can print for practice and to which we will refer in the folding
directions that follow.
Select Images and then Image1.
Locate, select, then Open your first image. The 6 triangles in the
strip of 36 equilateral triangles that comprise Image1 will be replaced
by the 6 triangles that comprise your first image. You will see the replacement
of the first of these triangles in the special window. If you wish, scroll
through the window to examine the entire strip. Replace each of the other
five images in turn.
When your strip of triangles is complete,
rotate it by clicking on the 30º button, then increase the resolution
of the eventual printout by clicking on the + button
twice. Select
File,
then
Export JPEG. Save your flexagon file to your hard drive
(or to a diskette or flash drive) using a convenient name, say hexaflexagon.jpg.
If each of your cropped images does not exceed 800 x 692 pixels, the flexagon
file size will not exceed the capacity of a standard diskette.
Printing
Your Flexagon
Windows 7 users should access
Paint
as before. Select
File, and then Open. Locate the flexagon
file, then double click on the file name to open it. Select File,
and then Print. When the usual options appear, select Print Setup.
Change the Page Size to legal. Leave the
Orientation as Landscape.
The image does not have to be centered to print appropriately (although
you
may center it vertically if you wish). Scaling should indicate
Fit to
1 Page (the default setting). Click
OK. Select File,
and then Print.
Ultimate Paint users should
select
File, and then Open. Locate the flexagon file, then
double click on the file name to open it. Select
File, and then
Print.
Change the Page Orientation to Landscape. Click on Properties,
then adjust the paper size to legal in the usual way. Click on OK,
then change the
Width to 13" (the length will change proportionately
when the file is printed as long as
Keep Aspect Ratio is checked),
then click on Print.
Folding
Your Flexagon
You may wish to practice folding
a flexagon by exporting, saving, and printing the unedited Xmas template
that appears in the special window when you open Hexaflexagon Toolkit.
The instructions that follow will refer to that printout.
Cut out the printed shape.
Fold it in half lengthwise. You should now have a single-triangle-wide
strip printed on both sides. Align the strip as shown below. The
back side of the left-hand end of the strip should be GLUE X.
Fold the top two triangles away from you (to
the rear), along the broken line in the figure on the left below. The left-hand
end of the strip should look like the figure on the right below.
Fold the top portion away from you, along
the broken line in the figure on the left below. Again, the left-hand end
of the strip should look like the figure on the right below.
Folding away from you along the broken line
in the figure on the left below should leave you with the figure on the
right below. Fold top sections away from you along the broken lines.
Continue in this manner, folding two triangles
at a time, until you once again have a single strip. The two sides of the
strip should look like the top and bottom rows of the figure below. If
you're having trouble, the folds in this section should all be the same
way, a wrapping pattern rather than a zigzag.
Flip the flexagon so you're looking at the
bottom row of the figure above. Fold the right-hand side away from you
along the broken line. Orient the flexagon so it is in position shown below.
Check the bottom right triangle to ensure it matches the image.
Fold the top section away from you in the
usual way. You should now have a nearly complete picture as shown below
on the left. Underneath the lower-left triangle (it will be the only one
that is not from the first image) you will see the other end of the strip
with the second glue tab on it. Lift it up and over the aforementioned
lower-left triangle. The two glue triangles should be next to each other
as shown below on the right.
Fold the left glue tab over and stick it to
the other one with rubber cement or a glue stick. When dry, flex away in
the usual way!
