Exporting emf problem

[GreenFuzzer]

Hi,
I’m new here and have questions. I have already tried to run a search for one of the answers with no luck.

I am trying out the Xara Xtreme demo and will likely be purchasing it before the weekend is over, however when I try to export to emf all I get is a blank ‘picture’. Since I am only doing a basic trial I am doing shapes is circles, hearts and such and I need the smooth edges as I would like to then open my designs in a digitizing program so I can digitize the design to embroider on an embroidery sewing machine. Obviously the smoother the line the nicer the stitch out will be for me, with the program I am testing they only have 4 formats available bmp, jpg, gif and emf. Personally I don’t feel the first three choices are an option when smooth is what a person is looking for.

My questions are what are the likely things I am doing wrong when I export to emf that gives me a blank picture? So far I have drawn a picture saved it as name.xar then exported it at name.emf. I have also drawn a picture and only exported as name2.emf without first saving it as an xar.

As I give my opinions on this digitizing software I am testing is there a format you could suggest that I request them to add into their program that will give the nice smooth lines and that Xara Xtreme nicely exports too?

Thank you for your help I look forward to learning a lot from all of you and someday being able to help others with XX.

[Soquili]

Hello Tammy,

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

Not many applications will view an .emf file. What program are you viewing the .emf?

I thought my simple heart .emf was blank also when viewing with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Windows Explorer also would not show a thumbnail image.

When I opened the .emf in Paint Shop Pro version 8, the heart looks as it should.

Did you open the .emf file in the digitizer application you mentioned?

[GreenFuzzer]

Hi Soquili,

Thank you for the welcome.

I first tried to open the .emf in the digitizer application. (Sorry I don’t feel it appropriate to state the name since it isn’t on the market yet and I don’t have permission from the programmer.) Like you I had realized the Windows Explorer would not show a thumbnail of the .emf so I tried to open it in IrfanView v3.99 which is suppose to work with .emf and in a way it does if I open a .wmf in IrfanView and then save it as an .emf then it will open that one but not the one that was done in XX.

I wasn’t sure if Gimp or Inkscape supported .emf and apparently they don’t recognize the file extension but I didn’t find that out until I tried them.

So now I need to figure out if it is my demo version of XX not exporting right that isn’t allowing IrfanView and the digitizing application to see it or is it IrfanView and the digitizing application that have bugs not allowing them to see XX’s .emf.

Again thank you for your help.

[Soquili]

Hi Tammy,

I don't think the demo version is different than other versions. It appears that all versions of Xtreme Pro, Xtreme, and X¹ export the same type of .emf file.

I tried opening .emf files created by Xtreme Pro, Xtreme and X¹ in Adobe Illustrator and they all show as blank pages in the drawing area, but the heart shape shows in the layer window.

I think you have found a bug in the .emf export filter.

[remi]

Perhaps the digitizer application isn't able to open EMF files with vectors?

Background: The EMF file format is able to safe vector files, but also allows the inclusion of bitmaps. I'm not sure, if IrfanView is really able to safe a EMF file with vectors. I would say, the import routine from IrfanView is able to import EMF files with vectors, but the export routine saves them perhaps as bitmaps?

This could be the reason, why the digitizer application is able to open EMF files from IrfanView (with included bitmaps), but not EMF files from Xara Xtreme (with vectors inside).

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Metafile

[remi]

Yes, it could be also an error in the EMF export filter from Xara Xtreme.

As I give my opinions on this digitizing software I am testing is there a format you could suggest that I request them to add into their program that will give the nice smooth lines and that Xara Xtreme nicely exports too?

It depends on the knowledge of the developer. I would say the following formats are Xara Xtreme's best supported formats:

• .XAR - the format is free and well documented
• .PDF - industry standard

Regards,
Remi

[handrawn]

I wasn’t sure if Gimp or Inkscape supported .emf and apparently they don’t recognize the file extension but I didn’t find that out until I tried them.

S
Again thank you for your help.

My Inkscape ver 0.45.1 [latest stable] recognizes xarapro emf extension no problem
however - if the file is BITMAP, or contains BITMAP that element will be ignored, it will only import VECTOR.
My paint Shop Pro 9 imports VECTOR but inverts BITMAP

[accessD]

New WMF/EMF import/export filter for Xara is on the way.
We should wait a months or two, I think.

[BQ]

New WMF/EMF import/export filter for Xara is on the way.
We should wait a months or two, I think.

GREAT NEWS!

In another thread, Charles mentioned that a new version of Xara will be announced next month. I imagine information on the new WMF/EMF import/export filter will be included in that announcement.