Flourish flowery curvy designs, please how to?

Okay a long time ago I posted wondering how these can be made in xara. I really want to know. I'm dying to know. Besides, I just tried to import these premade files into xara and it ACTUALLY loads... might be a really cool load of free addon packs for everyone...

but please, how to make these beautiful curve shapes from scratch, so I can build my own beautiful flowery designs?

examples:
http://all-silhouettes.com/vector-flourish-designs/
http://all-silhouettes.com/vector-ornaments-clipart/
http://all-silhouettes.com/elegant-vector-florals/
http://all-silhouettes.com/vector-floral-swirls/

my god! please someone! ;)

RonC

I make them using the pen tool. I initially draw them with the line width set as small as it can be. When the image is complete and it fills I then set the line width to none.

I find an image I like, drag and drop it into Xara. I then set guidelines on the main axis of the image. This is where I usually find the original was poorly crafted. Normally they are not symmetrical where they should be.

I then create a new layer, lock the image layer, then on the new layer I trace the image. When it's complete I trash the image layer and the bitmap. My finished images are better than the original images.

This is just a drawing exercise for me. The toughest part is the spirals. Sometimes I use the spiral generator Gary has on his site for the more difficult spirals.

m

I get ideas from wallpaper books. I use Illy for this work as it is much better at tiling than Xara as you can save your pattern as a vector brush. The normal way that I do it is to work out my flourished pattern using the pen tool and then use a square with no fill or stroke and use it as a mask or Object -> path -> divide objects below command. Then drag to either to the swatches or brush palettes. The advantage of using Illustrator over Xara here there are so many ways that you can use simple shapes and patterns it can be a brush, a symbol, a fill warp (mould) and all can be expanded as they are still vector.

Exponential spirals - http://xaraxtv.at.tut.by/downloads.htm - look for SPX, You make a spiral and just drag'n'drop in xara. Look also for LSVG - VERY interesting :)

Thanks all so much. I wish xara had a button to make partial circle /ellipses within the pen tool. ..

You might also ckeck out livebrush.
There is a free version and a pro version which is very cheap ($10)
It's a fun program. There are a few tutorials you can find, if you look hard enough.

http://www.livebrush.com

Nice link to the Livebrush Larry.

I couldn't see whether the created patterns could be saved/exported so that they can be used in Xara?
Do you or anyone else know?

Thanks for Livebrush - great tool!

I made a set of shapes and added them to a scroll or drawing.

Rich

whoaaa okay looks like im totally getting livebrush! i hope it exports vectors to xara?
RonC

Xara scroll drawing into Expression for a tire track stroke. The track was drawn in Xara, and made into a vector stroke.

Rich

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rik

Nice link to the Livebrush Larry.

I couldn't see whether the created patterns could be saved/exported so that they can be used in Xara?
Do you or anyone else know?

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I don't know either, I'll try though. I have the paid version installed(not that makes any real difference in how it works though) don't know how to really use it, and only took at it ocasionally. It is fun though.

Livebrush looks superb and shows how far behind the times Xaras vector development is getting.

[ $10 later it's on my system. Looks like it was written using the evil Flash ]

I bought Livebrush a couple months ago, played it with it for quite a while. With "Draw Mode" in Vector mode, it creates beautiful graphics (with practice), but I could never get it to export only the drawing on the page/canvas. Instead, it exported the entire page/canvas with the image on it, or it would export the image but the boundaries of the image would include the entire page/canvas, because it only exports as a .png. Or at least that's all I could get from it.

By the way, it probably takes a long time to develop the technique that looks so easy on the website. Also, in the Pro version I bought, there is no "Flourishes" brush as displayed on the interactive website, http://www.moremeyou.com/you.html Click on Explore and you can see the potential of this program. Maybe "Ligatures" brushes in the program are the closest thing to the "Flourishes" brush on his website.

I wrote the developer and asked how to export just the line drawing as a vector, but he never responded. So if anyone knows how to do this, please post. It's a great little program except for this hurdle.

according to the information I have you can export the lines [vectors ?] as SVG

xara wont import SVG but you could convert to PDF with [free] inkscape [or illustrator if you have it]

need the paid for livebrush to do the export though - so I can't try it at the moment to see how well it works

Hi, handdrawn. Thanks for clarifying that. If I had Illustrator, I wouldn't have bought Xara :) It really isn't that important anymore, I discarded the design I wanted to use Livebrush on and created something else instead. But if Inkscape doesn't have a steep learning curve, then it seems worthwhile to pursue it. Right now my big problem is being able to use .eps files in Xara. There are thousands of beautiful free vector graphics available online, but Xara will only open .ai files, and most of the freebies are .eps. I think the same is true for purchasing vectors; most of them are .eps. Adobe really has a lock on things.

open the SVG in inkscape then just save it as PDF - all you need to do - but that's not to say it will work perfectly

I open EPS files within XDP6 often. Most have come from on-line sources or off previous clip-art discs I have accumulated.

There are some that I have tried from other designers done in AI that have had too complex of fills and/or blends that needed rebuilt, but many of them have come in just fine.

Take care, Mike

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Right now my big problem is being able to use .eps files in Xara. There are thousands of beautiful free vector graphics available online, but Xara will only open .ai files, and most of the freebies are .eps.

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This is not true. I have Xara Xtreme Pro 4, and I can open .EPS files all day long no problem. I can't imagine XP4 opening them and XD6 not being able to. If you look at the import filters it states AI/EPS which means both AI files and EPS files open fine.

As Mwenz states, some EPS files are problematic due specialized fills and gradiants that do not convert well, but most EPS files are no problem at all.

Occasionally I can open an EPS file, but I just now tried again with two EPS files I downloaded this weekend, and once again it gave me the Warning message: "No filters that were designed for this type of file have been found. The import will continue using the most compatible filter, although the image may not appear as intended." When I click the "OK" button, it seems to process the file, but all I get is a blank page. I spent hours searching for the right kind of image, only to be stymied at the last minute. The file I really want to open is simple Celtic design vector graphics in black and white. Nothing but lines. Why it won't open, I don't know. If anyone wants me to send it to them, I'd be happy to do so. If it opens with your program, then obviously there's a problem with my program.

Edit to add: Instead of sending the file, if anyone wants to give it a try, here's the link to the page where I got the file: http://ghosteater.deviantart.com/art...Knots-75638769

Thanks :)

I believe the filters were updated in the later versions. I use XXP3 because the EPS is compatible with my companion application. The EPS from the newer versions don't work. I export to PDF to return to Xara. It is an old version, but works.

Rich

molucca, I have Pro 6. That's probably the problem right there. The sad thing is, I don't know until I've downloaded a file and tried to open it whether it's going to work or not. Most of the time, it doesn't. Maybe this is something that will be updated by Xara in the future. Sure would be nice.

any good ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Occasionally I can open an EPS file, but I just now tried again with two EPS files I downloaded this weekend, and once again it gave me the Warning message: "No filters that were designed for this type of file have been found. The import will continue using the most compatible filter, although the image may not appear as intended." When I click the "OK" button, it seems to process the file, but all I get is a blank page. I spent hours searching for the right kind of image, only to be stymied at the last minute. The file I really want to open is simple Celtic design vector graphics in black and white. Nothing but lines. Why it won't open, I don't know. If anyone wants me to send it to them, I'd be happy to do so. If it opens with your program, then obviously there's a problem with my program.

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It's a FLEXISIGN-PRO file (as shown by the header info when viewed in notepad) and is unsupported by xara (or even Inkscape actually). It will open in PS or even IrfanView, but will be raster (bitmap)

seemed to open ok in illy and export to xara .. let me know if it did not

anyhow we have digressed from the floral to the celtic and a discussion of the many flavours of EPS may belong in another thread.... :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Occasionally I can open an EPS file, but I just now tried again with two EPS files I downloaded this weekend, and once again it gave me the Warning message: "No filters that were designed for this type of file have been found. The import will continue using the most compatible filter, although the image may not appear as intended." When I click the "OK" button, it seems to process the file, but all I get is a blank page. I spent hours searching for the right kind of image, only to be stymied at the last minute. The file I really want to open is simple Celtic design vector graphics in black and white. Nothing but lines. Why it won't open, I don't know. If anyone wants me to send it to them, I'd be happy to do so. If it opens with your program, then obviously there's a problem with my program.

Edit to add: Instead of sending the file, if anyone wants to give it a try, here's the link to the page where I got the file: http://ghosteater.deviantart.com/art...Knots-75638769 Thanks :)

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Advocate, I downloaded the 20 Celtic Knots and Opened with Xara Design Pro 6 - No Warining (FWIW) -Tom aka Hwy101

handrawn, thanks, getting closer! It opened, but there are so many selection points on each of the lines in the drawings. How do I reduce the number of selection points? You can probably see where I accidentally dragged a point when my intention was to simply move the object.

Edit to add: Hwy101 ... well, that's just not fair, is it? I downloaded the zip file, double-clicked to unzip the file, clicked on the EPS file to open it, Xara 6 program started up, and then I got my Warning. So I don't know if something is wrong with my program, then. Thanks for letting me know it's supposed to work, anyway.

Edit again: Duh. I figured it out. Select object, click Control+G, all those selection points disappear, now have one cohesive object. I'm still learning! Thanks :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Advocate

handrawn, thanks, getting closer! It opened, but there are so many selection points on each of the lines in the drawings. How do I reduce the number of selection points? You can probably see where I accidentally dragged a point when my intention was to simply move the object.

Edit to add: Hwy101 ... well, that's just not fair, is it? I downloaded the zip file, double-clicked to unzip the file, clicked on the EPS file to open it, Xara 6 program started up, and then I got my Warning. So I don't know if something is wrong with my program, then. Thanks for letting me know it's supposed to work, anyway.

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Well, now I have a 'it's not fair, is it?' -when I opened it, the whole Page was on Big Group -Nothing Separate -I'd take Points (can't you reduce 'em? with XD6?)

Now I am Bummed -Tom aka Hwy101

I was able to reduce the nodes with the shape edit tool. Then break shapes...

It appears that the drawings are more like an object with many holes. If you try to select a white area ( actually a void, you won't be able to select it) You need to delest the object, even though it may appear as a line. Breaking shapes gives the voids as objects, and the base object object. Reducing nodes is a standard shape edit tool function.

Rich

Rich, it looks beautiful what you've done, but I still need to learn about breaking shapes and all that. I should mention, your tortoise avatar is magnificent.

handrawn, we digressed because we evolved from exporting vector shapes from Livebrush and I seized the opportunity to bring up this problem of importing vectors, as well. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread :)

hwy101, handrawn's solution worked as far as giving me the vectors to work with, but I still would prefer for Xara to be able to flawlessly import any vector graphic. In the meantime, it's still a great program and I learn new things every time I work with it. And the support on this forum is priceless.

Post Script and Enhanced (or Encapsulated) Post Script is a very general name given to a very large variation of file structures.

Not even Adobe applications can open every .ps or .eps file available on the internet.

The Celtic Knots in Advocate's link is a .ps created using Flexisign Pro which is an application designed for Vinyl Sign Cutters. The file has a header which is a 133KB embedded thumbnail image.

Post Script and EPS are essentially a language designed to tell a printer (or vinyl cutter) what to do and there are many dialects of the language that often are not similar in any way other than they are actually text files except for any embedded image.

The attached image shows the start of the actual script language for the Celtic Knot file as displayed within Notepad++.

Anyone familiar with standard Adobe post script will notice that this dialect is very strange indeed.

For aberrant EPS files, I have often used Acrobat Pro to convert them to PDF a good option as well. In the case of the celtic knot EPS, it worked as usual. Depending on the version of AcroPro, one should be able to select the EPS file, right-click and choose to convert to PDF.

Take care, Mike

That "languagelevel known not" is odd. Neodeist also caught the fact that it's a Flexisign application. Very strange, because I viewed the use of ghosteater's vectors on a commenter's site, and there was the Celtic knot being used as a pendant on an illustration of an alien being. Looks like he found a workaround, too, but just didn't mention it.

Mike (mwenz) mentions using Acrobat Pro to convert. I don't have that program, but a graphic designer friend of mine uses it often. I might have to call on her as backup :)

Thanks, everyone. No software can cover everything, but it's nice to know what the underlying problem is and a potential solution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpc9943

whoaaa okay looks like im totally getting livebrush! i hope it exports vectors to xara?
RonC

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I tried it out but it doesn't look like it does. At least not directly. I would like to investigate further though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wizard509

I tried it out but it doesn't look like it does. At least not directly. I would like to investigate further though.

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The free version does not save as vectors, but the $10 paid for version allows you to export as an SVG file. Since you can't import SVG to Xara, you'll need something to convert the SVG to EMF/WMF, EPS or other vector format - I would use Inkscape to accomplish that.

Actually been playing with the free version, and I can't come up with a good use for the program to apply it to my needs. LiveBrush reminds me of PD Particles, which does the same kind of thing for 3D painted brush strokes. I've used that app to create realistic looking plantlife for some of my map design. I was hoping to utilize LiveBrush to create cool scroll effects for the edges of my map, but its too difficult to control, so I don't think I find it useful much.

Like I said PD Particles does a similar kind of thing to LiveBrush, applying alogrithms to create special drawing effects - things shooting off the main stroke.

Here's a couple samples from PD Particles:

1. This first one uses a brush called Joshua Tree, I painted a brush stroke with a circular pattern to get this effect.

Attachment 81458

2. This one uses a pine brush, but I use it to create 'kelp' looking plant. Each leafy stem is it's own stroke.

Attachment 81459

Not quite the same as LiveBrush, but a tool more useful for my needs.

GP

see also posts #15-#17 :D