Optimizing XaraX exports for display/print with Microsoft Word

[james_frost]

Greetings all,

I'm using Xara to create myself some nice diagrams for use in a Word document. I'm having some probs getting decent quality text and printing.

What are my best options for exporting from Xara/importing into Word? I've tried WMF since its vector based, but the filesize of the Word doc has bulged (as is customary with Word and graphics) to 1.4MB from 100K.

Anyone got any good tips?

Thanks in advance,

James Frost

[james_frost]

Greetings all,

I'm using Xara to create myself some nice diagrams for use in a Word document. I'm having some probs getting decent quality text and printing.

What are my best options for exporting from Xara/importing into Word? I've tried WMF since its vector based, but the filesize of the Word doc has bulged (as is customary with Word and graphics) to 1.4MB from 100K.

Anyone got any good tips?

Thanks in advance,

James Frost

[Ross Macintosh]

I'd typically just export a jpg or gif. When filesize is less of a concern, I sometimes use tiff.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[tonylondon]

I do the same as Ross. I make sure that the export resolution is set to approx 300 dpi (or 300% if GIF) if I'm printing. Then I shrink back to required size in Word. This improves the sharpness dramatically. It looks awful on the screen but prints well.
It is unfortunate that using OLE gives poor results, although Word2000 is much better than Word95
Tony

[Ross Macintosh]

Sometimes I do some post-export enhancement, again using Xara. For instance, if the document will be photocopied I often import the previously exported image (or make a bitmap copy directly in the original dot-xar file). Then using xara's bitmap effects I will brighten and sometimes sharpen the image. I then export the results which almost always look better in the printed word processing document.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[james_frost]

Thanks for that guys.

One thing I did find is that by inserting a WMF through the menus (as apposed to dragging and dropping the WMF in from explorer), the size is considerably less (adding only the size of the image to the filesize rather than more than 1 mb)

The metafile seems to print quite well too, so I'll use that for the time being.

Cheers

James

[jassony]

I'm still using Word 95. I found if you go to "insert Picture" select "link to file" and Dis-select "Save With Document" This keep the graphic file in it's original location and does not increase the size of the Word Doc.

[woodstudio]

I use Xara to create drawings for manuals. Images may be mixed screen captures with labels, or vector art with text. I'm printing at 600 dpi on a b/w laser printer. Your conditions and requirements may be different than mine.

I experimented exporting various formats and settings. I happen to like the export command in Xara. I use the .xar file as the master artwork; then export selections as 350 dpi tif files. (Just enter 350 in the dpi box.) I then use Insert Picture from file command in Word. You'll also have to adjust the picture percentage in Word with the Picture command, because Word will try and fill the insert space with the tif file, making it look huge.

In the Xara Export dialog, I use an optimized pallete with no dithering. I found 350 dpi was just a tad better than 300 dpi for text. I like to use 8 point helvetica type.

I hope this helps.