Xara measurements

Hi Folks,

This has me baffled. If I make a document, size 236mm x 153mm in Xara, Illustrator and Photoshop tell me its 314mm x 203mm. Adobe and Xara can't both be right, so what's up here? Thanks for advice.

Les

Hi Folks,

This has me baffled. If I make a document, size 236mm x 153mm in Xara, Illustrator and Photoshop tell me its 314mm x 203mm. Adobe and Xara can't both be right, so what's up here? Thanks for advice.

Les

Hello again Les
They are both right! It boils down to the 96/72dpi Windows/Apple screen resolution difference.
Illustrator and Photoshop have their roots on the Apple Mac and therefore were designed at 72dpi. This is the same for Macromedia Flash.
To create a document in XaraX that exports with exactly the same pixel sizes, set the scaling as shown below.

(I have a xar template for this but as the search feature is u/s I can't give you a link, but if you email me I'll send you the xar file.)

Egg

http://www.xlwebdesign.co.uk/tg/scaling.png

Oh, I see. That answers my question re font size looking smaller in Illustrator. This is such an important issue that I'm amazed Xara haven't addressed it in a readme/help, excuse me if I've missed it though.

Your xar file will be v usefull, I'll email you. Thanks for the help.

Les

I don't think there's anything about it in the help files. It's not really a Xara problem, more an industry problem, which comes to the fore with graphics programs, that Apple have traditionaly had a stronghold in.
I suppose the biggest example of this is the advice to export bitmaps at 72 dpi for web use.
This leaves Windows users wondering why their image is smaller than it was originally on their computer.
Egg

Hi Egg,

I tried the 'use scale factor' and settings, but it made no difference to how I see the image in XaraX1. If I set the 'zoom factor' to 75%, then that does the job, virtually matching Illustrator's display. I assume that Illustrator's display of .ai files is a true reflection of how commercial printers will deal with these files.

I can't believe this nonsense. I have drawn 16 maps and several diagrams in Xara, only to discover that what I see at 100% view isn't in fact how they'll arrive back from the printers, more like 75% = text tooooo small. Xara should state that .ai format for commercial printing should be scaled to 75% in the display. Anyway Egg, thanks, I have emailed you for the xar file.

Les

Les
I can't quite grasp your problem. Are you saying that what you're seeing on screen is not the scale you will get if printed? If so, that's correct. An A4 page will look a different size on a 15" monitor set at 600 x 800 pixel resolution than if the resolution is set to 1024 x 768 pixels, as will it look a different size if displayed on a 14" or 23" monitor.
The 100% does not relate to real world size in Xara, AI or any computer program.
The reason you get the sizes looking the same if you zoom to 75% in XaraX is again down to 96/72 dpi (72 divided by 96 = 75%)
It could well be that on your monitor with your screen resolution, XaraX zoomed 75% matches the real world. (On mine it's 108%)
If I remember correctly on my old system with a 17" CRT monitor and a 1024 x 768 pixels screen resolution, 70% zoom in Xara matched the real world.
The easiest way to see what Zoom factor matches your set up is to open an A4 Portrait window in XaraX, then, holding up a piece of A4 paper to the screen, zoom in or out, until the width of the paper display on screen matches the real A4 sheet. Jens made an excellent suggestion that any new Xara release should have a 'Zoom To Real World Size' option, which would be great, but it would need to be set up by each individual user to match their monitor size AND screen resolution.
Egg
http://www.xlwebdesign.co.uk/tg/monitor.png