Connect your electric guitar to your Pro Tools-compatible audio interface. The procedures for setting up and using different audio interfaces differ. Check the manual that came with your interface for details on correct setup and use.
Turn your audio interface on.
Open Pro Tools. When it has initialized, create a new, blank project by opening the "File" menu and choosing "New." Set the parameters for the project in the pop-up window and click "OK." Pro Tools will load its basic project template.
Create an audio track for your guitar input by opening the "Track" menu and choosing "New." The "New Tracks" dialog will appear.
Select "Audio track" from the drop-down menu labeled "New," and choose either "Mono" or "Stereo" from the next drop-down menu to the right. For the basic purpose of applying and recording guitar distortion in Pro Tools, it doesn't matter which you choose, but one may be more appropriate than the other, depending on the nature of your project. Consult the Pro Tools documentation for details on the virtues and limitations of each choice.
Click "Create" in the "New Tracks" dialog. A new audio track, named "Audio 1," will be created in the Pro Tools arrangement area.
Click on the first grey box below "I/O" in Audio 1's track header. A pop-up list of available audio inputs will appear. Choose your audio interface from the menu.
Click on the first empty grey box below "Inserts A-E" in Audio 1's track header. A list of the effects plugins available to your installation of Pro Tools will appear.
Select "Eleven Free" from the pop-up list. Pro Tools will load the Eleven Free plugin and display its interface. All audio input into this track will now be routed through the Eleven Free plugin.
Play some notes on your guitar. If you do not hear any sound output from Pro Tools, you need to turn monitoring on for the audio track. Open the "Track" menu and choose "Input Only Monitoring."
Select an amplifier preset in the Eleven Free interface. All of the presets are listed within the drop-down menu labeled "Preset." Eleven Free includes dozens of options, all based on amplifiers of different kinds. For example, the "Blues Jam" setting emulates a standard blues tube amplifier with mild distortion.
Increase or decrease the distortion in any Eleven Free preset by increasing or decreasing the preset's "Gain" level. For heavy distortion, choose a metal or hard rock guitar setting. "Bluesy Breakup" and other blues-related presets will provide a "smoother" distortion, similar to that heard on recordings by Stevie Ray Vaughan or B. B. King. Numerous other distortion presets are available. Experiment with different settings until you find the type and level of distortion you want.