Transparency Bug

[Ned Addie]

In XX3.2 (and perhaps earlier) the registry value 'TransparencyBecomesCurrent' is set to '0' by default -- meaning transparency always has to be applied after an object is created -- unlike like the 'current attributes' -- fill color, line width, etc. -- which go along for the ride. This would have been a deal-breaker for me, but PhilM suggested simply changing this '0' to a '1' -- which indeed resolved the problem. But before I was alerted to this fix, I had come across a related bug -- which I'll describe for the record...

This is with the registry unchanged... Let's say you have a shape with an outline to which you apply some flat transparency. Next you decide to set that object's attributes as 'current' using this method: ctrl-c with the shape selected; escape; ctrl-shift-a. The next shape you draw won't have a transparent fill (since transparency isn't a current attribute) but the line will incorrectly retain the flat transparency of the shape it was copied from. The 'transparency shape' box reads 'none' and the transparency slider field shows 0.0% -- but that doesn't reflect the actual case.

This was especially confusing to me because I customarily don't use outlines with flat transparency (flat is the only transparency type which fades lines). I kept trying to set a flat transparency to be current along with the other attributes, using a shape with no outline -- as I was used to in XX1.1 -- but to no avail. I soon starting noticing that a lot of the outlines on shapes with opaque fills, and the other transparency types, were looking oddly washed-out... After a good deal of effort I had mysteriously achieved opaque shapes with transparent outlines as my current attributes -- pretty much the reverse of what I wanted.

The first couple of times this happened, I ended up restarting Xara to get rid of the flat-transparency outlines. Reselecting 'no transparency' in the 'transparency shape' box made no difference. I eventually discovered you can make the line opaque by changing the setting to 'linear', or some other type, then back to 'no transparency' then recopying and pasting attributes.

With 'TransparencyBecomesCurrent' set to '1' in the registry, transparency works as expected, and imo is a worthwhile change -- or un-change.

Ned Addie

[Xhris]

Xara perhaps felt that retaining transparency with GNOMRA on was not useful. The issue with the shape line stroke retaining transparency is a known bug which I reported some time ago.

Slightly related, I do wish there was a way to set the properties of a line stroke and a fill separately - in particular for transparency.