Site background

Hi, as a new user I am building a site from scratch, not from a template.

I have placed a header on the first page and changed the page background colour to black. I need to ask how can I change the website background (not the page background) to a different colour as this is showing plain black too? I actually require a black gradient for this? Hope that makes sense?

Thanks for any/all input

Create a tall think bitmap that is taller than you expect your longest page to be. The hold down the Ctrl key and drag and drop the bitmap image from the Bitmap Gallery, the desktop, or a folder in Window Explorer and drop it onto the pasteboard area.

Wow that seems a complicated way to achieve this. With respect, isn't there a more straightforward way to achieve this?

Thank you

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I actually require a black gradient for this? Hope that makes sense?

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Wow that seems a complicated way to achieve this.

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The method Gary mentions, is the standard way to achieve this with a graphical Web site builder. Any other method will be less straight forward and require css knowledge and editing.

Here's a video showing the Xara way using version 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCmgWxgO9A0

Thank you guys, appreciated and, thanks very much for the Youtube link, really helps :)

Hello again,

I'm following the Youtube tutorial on this but I'm struggling with the part where you make the second part of the gradient? I'm visually challenged so maybe this is why but I cannot get this part right.

Any help appreciated, thanks

sledger double clicked on the fill path arrow to create a new color. Once you have added a new color you can change it to any color you wish.

The benefit to sledger's bitmap fill as that since it starts and ends with the same color the repeats if your page get longer than the bitmap fill tiles seamlessly.

Sledger's fill was applied to the page. Likewise you could apply it to the background behind the page instead of the page, by holding down the Ctrl key and dragging and dropping the bitmap onto the pasteboard area, the area beyond the page. The the page can be any color you want.

Open the attached file. You may get a warning that the file was created with a newer version. Ignore the warning the page will open fine.

Preview the page in the browser and you will see the gradiated background is on the screen background and the page floats in the center.

To add a color to the page either drag and drop a color from the screen palette, or mix a new color in the Color Editor and Ctrl drag and drop the color from the small preview window onto the page (or pasteboard).

This may seem like a lot of effort. But as you get familiar with how Xara works, it all makes sense and goes much faster.

Thank you very much Gary.

I can carry out the following OK:

I create the rectangle

I fill in the colour black

I use CTRL and fill and make this into a gradient

I make a point in the middle

BUT, when I come to make the second gradient (so it goes black/white in the middle/black at the end) I cannot accomplish this for some reason? Hope I'm making sense?

Thanks again for your time
Graham

Click on both ends, one end at a time, and change the color by pressing on any of the colored squares on the screen palette. You have to do this with the Fill Tool.

Select the center color and change that color as well.

Now create a bitmap copy (Arrange menu).

Hello again, I do as suggested above but just get one colour right through the rectangle, either full black or gradient but not as the video shows? I'm getting ready to give up on this sadly :(

Thank you anyway

Graham -

This is not that hard. Really. :)

Look at the attached XAR document and see if you can recreate the steps. If you are still having problems, e-mail me gary@gwpriester.com and add Xara Background image for the subject. Holding down the Ctrl key when you drag the Fill Tool upwards just constrains the direction to vertical.

Please don't give up. We'll get through this. Honest.

I have just been through a most entertaining voyage of discovery. Here are the results:

I wanted a graduated background on all of my pages. This was a late decision or I would have duplicated it as I added pages. I had already been given the idea of creating a tall thin bitmap and using the "set as page background" on the bitmap in the bitmap gallery. This had achieved the effect that I wanted.

My requirements changed. In the village web site that I was producing (www.sproxton.org.uk That link will get the old easyweb editor site for the next week or so while I update the site with Xara) I wanted to be able to change the colour scheme according to the season of the year. This meant changing the background colour too.

Here is what I did using Designer MX Premium.

1. Open the Page & Layer Gallery and select any page.
2. Click the little triangle to the left of the page to open the layer display.
3. Hide all the layers except the Page background layer.
4. Unlock this layer by clicking on the little red padlock (The Page background layer defaults to 'locked')
5. Now select the rectangle which makes up the Page background, go to the fill tool and apply whatever fill you want giving system colours to the fill. In my case I had dedicated two system (named) colours to the graduated file and called them 'Background' light and 'background dark'
6. When you are satisfied select the background and 'Repeat on all pages'.
7. Lock the background again by clicking on the little padlock and reset the visiblity of the other layers to whatever is appropriate. This will change the background of all the pages and leave them all locked
8. At this point all will appear to be well at this point and the background will show fine in WD MX Premium. However, when you preview the page the background will not show. In order to make everything work you need to set a pasteboard colour for each page. This is a bit repetetive but is speedily done by dragging the colour of your choice from the colour bar to the pasteboard.

Now you can edit the named colours to change the appearence of the whole site.

Good. Innit!

HTH

Nick

Thank you Nick, I appreciate that :)

I would publically like to thank Gary also for working through this all day, very much appreciated
Graham

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

Click on both ends, one end at a time, and change the color by pressing on any of the colored squares on the screen palette. You have to do this with the Fill Tool.

Select the center color and change that color as well.

Now create a bitmap copy (Arrange menu).

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I find it difficult to select the ends of the gradient fill line so I use the TAB key instead. Just press tab and it selects one end. Pressing TAB again selects the other end

Nick