Suggestions for Xara X+

[Judi A]

If Xara could import cad files such as .dwg?

As Jens said Xara is for illustration.

[jens g.r. benthien]

Judy,

that's what I already suggested a year ago ;-}

However, serious CAD applications offer a *.ai export. Rhino for example generates smooth *.ai files which can be imported into XARA X flawlessly.

jens

jens g.r. benthien
designer
http://jens.highspeedweb.net

[mckinney]

Jens -

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>It's already integrated:
01. press the CTRL key when you turn the wheel to zoom in and out
02. press the SHIFT key when you turn the wheel to move left & right
03. press the ALT key when you turn the wheel to move up & down<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks for setting me straight on the wheel-mouse zoom - it's nice to have! I could've sworn I tried all the combinations of Ctrl, Alt, etc. and when I didn't see an option to configure the wheel in Utilities/Options/Mouse, I assumed it wasn't a feature. I guess I should get 30 lashes with a wet noodle for not checking the help file - it *is* in there!

As for your other comments about it all being integrated....


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>quote:
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2. Allow snapping to an object or guide to work even when the mouse button is not depressed (i.e. show the magnet any time you are near a snap point)
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Doesn't make sense. However, if you move the cursor over a guide, it changes to a double headed arrow!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It made sense to me! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I guess I must not have explained myself properly, or perhaps I'm missing something. On some occasions I like to draw objects that are precisely connected and using a magnetic object snap is a great way to do that. Unfortunately, in Xara I must first draw the line or shape and then *drag* it into position to get it to snap to another object. It would be nice to have a snap mode in which the drawing cursor snapped to points even when not dragging - it would save me the steps of dragging the object into place after creation. I don't think I can do this in Xara now - I'd love to have somebody correct me, though.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>quote:
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3. An arc quickshape tool that lets you place part of an ellipse or circle.
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Well, XARA is a vector illustration & drawing app, not a CAD app. But using the slice command you will be able to achieve this effect as well.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I realize there are ways around this with the slice and ClipView tools, but I'd *still* like to see a dedicated tool for it. I guess that's a hazard of having used MacDraw/ClarisDraw as my first computer drawing application way back when.... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] I know I'm not alone with this request!

Finally,

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>It's not a dimension line, but if you select your object you can read the values in the top tool bar
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nice idea, but not quite what I'd like to see. I realize that Xara is principally aimed at artists and that I'm most likely in the minority, but It would be really nice to be able to more automatically add dimensions for technical drawings (either with or without actual numbers in them - even a predefined space to place the number could help).

Both Deneba Canvas and CorelDraw have dimension tools (the Canvas tools were a bit better last time I checked) and that's the kind of thing I'd like to see. Why don't I just use one of those programs instead? Well, the last version of Canvas I used was incredibly crash-prone and the user-interface was particularly un-intuitive for my ways of thinking. CorelDraw was slow and bloated and almost as crash-prone. I've also looked at the Ashlar product and decided that Xara was better compromise for all I wanted to do (I only wanted to buy and learn one new package).

So, in sprit of having my cake and eating it too - I'd still love to see dimension tools in Xara, but I wouldn't want any loss in stability or speed to get them! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Stepping off the podium now.....

- Pete

[eky]

It works when I'm using Internet Explorer but mouse wheel button doesn't work at all for me in Xara X. I'm on a PC running windows 98. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

[heimo]

I did not mean to shorten any of the great now exesting possibilities of Xara, but i thougt that it would be positive for Xara to get such very useful interface-tecnics too - they are in fact much more powerful, faster and more exact than the now existing ways in Xara.

Think of the workarounds for creating arcs in an other topic here in this forum..

But if You want to the slow and inefficient way - talk against it..
I think that learning new ways should give You more possibilieties, not to change Your way of working to make You slower...

And i too would like a full dxf-import in Xara!-But thats not the point!
Dont stay at one point ant let the wave of better ways roll over You, dont think, that something cant be made beter! - even Xara (11?)

[JF Slater]

Peter:
Your second point is implemented already.

[2. Allow snapping to an object or guide to work even when the mouse button is not depressed (i.e. show the magnet any time you are near a snap point)]

At the bottom right corner of the XaraX window is a magnet - greyed out unless the pointer is close to a snap point - when it turns red. The mouse button doesn't need to be depressed for this to work- mine is very cheerful today. It doesn't exactly snap, but if you watch the icon as you click it's easy to make the new point snap. I agree that it's an important feature.

Jens:
Love your mouse wheel tips. A cheerful mouse can waste a lot of time playing with those!

Heimo:
I agree that more precise measurements would be welcome - as long as it's not at the expense of drawing tools.

More ideas:

1. Create your own profiles for stroke shapes. I want to create more decay saw-tooths and intestines ;-)

2. A proper calligraphic brush- making your own creates too many nodes. Pressure sensitive with user-defined angles please.

3. Reducing nodes. Converting line can create excess nodes. I'd like a Smooth option to reduce them. Would help some brushes too.

4. "Select similar" in a dialog that allows me to specify any/ all of
fill: colour, type, transparency
line: colour, point size, style,
text: size, colour, font, style etc.
Select inverse would be a bonus here too.

5. I'd like to check path direction. In XaraX you can reverse path direction but I don't know how to tell what the direction is to start with.

6. Font implementation is restricted but a chat with the techies at Xara convinced me that improving it would make the code larger and slower.

7. Printing
I need to be able to tile many sheets and have them line up accurately for assembly into posters. On the old Acorn RiscOs (sorry everyone!) even Draw can manage that!

XaraX is already the best graphics program out. But who can resist trying to gild the lily?

Jessica

[mckinney]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jessica S:
At the bottom right corner of the XaraX window is a magnet - greyed out unless the pointer is close to a snap point - when it turns red. The mouse button doesn't need to be depressed for this to work- mine is very cheerful today. It doesn't exactly snap, but if you watch the icon as you click it's easy to make the new point snap. I agree that it's an important feature.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for correcting me Jessica! I was looking for the magnet to appear near the pointer, as when dragging and assumed that it wasn't really snapping otherwise. Upon closer inspection, it really does snap! Obviously, I'm still very much a Xara beginner and have tons to learn!

- Pete

[JF Slater]

Glad to be of service [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
I only stumbled on that one a couple of months ago!

Jessica