Text underline in XARA

[Albacore]

Surely design has got more to offer than an underline. Look at the web from the first crude navigation links to now. I just can't imagine being allowed to do a poster for print with underlines it is just not the thing. Look at this forum who uses underlines to emphasize what they are writing about, I hope no one, bar hyperlinks. Even in the dreaded PP presentation would you use an underline? no you would use a glyph. Let's take a stage further when using table and you're making a heading would you use an underline, think not, you would use colour, different font, maybe with a different style there so much more than the underline. Open loads of books which have been printed in the last 10 years do you see the use of underlines, recipe books use to have then but you won't see any now in most cases people are more aware of the look of something. We are not using Xara for a word processor for the production of a letter it is a design tool we must use our creativity to do more than an underline.

[handrawn]

Ok point taken in respect of posters etc.

But I am not a graphic designer and I do use underlining a lot.

It is simplistic to assume that it is just used for emphasis - I use it a lot in typescript - for eg for highlighting, which can of course include highlighting bold and italic

Really, are we moving to a phase where those of use who are not 'typical' are wrong?

And I don't actually think I am that untypical across the board

[steve.ledger]

Like it or not, and it's certainly a personal choice whether to use it, underlining is going to stay around for a while yet.

I don't think CorelDraw is a DTP or wordprocessor, but it's used for Newsletters and brochures by many people indeed & CorelDraw does have the Underline tool.

Even Adobe Illustrator has text underlining in the character palette. Though maybe a bit of an overkill for newletters....

And (I hesitate to admit) my aging copy of PaintShopPro6 has underlining.

XXP is actually a GREAT program to use for multipage newsletters and brochures, therefore I vote that they include underlining.

My 2c worth

[The Alien]

Underline should be in the program because it's a way to emphasize text, just like bold and italics. You can't simply say people should use the other 2 alternatives instead and dump underlining.
Many people still use underlining as they seem fit, not only to indicate hyperlinks. You can't turn the issue around and create a rule that says Because underline is used for hyperlinks and not in graphics, users do not need an underline feature and draw conclusions from this.
It won't turn the program into a word processor. C'mon, adding a spell checker will turn Xara more into a word processor than an underlining feature! With that said, may I draw attention to this post?
Xara say they listen to their users for feedback about their program, but they do it selectively (and mostly [only?] forum members that have features on their wish lists that are addressed when a new version comes out praise Xara for being so well involved with the community). People have been asking for years for text underline and we've seen nothing yet :shrug:

That said I am one of those who does not want to see xara turned into a typesetting app. - but underscoring redundant? - no way.

QFT.

Even Adobe Illustrator has text underlining in the character palette. Though maybe a bit of an overkill for newletters....

And (I hesitate to admit) my aging copy of PaintShopPro6 has underlining.

Even MS Paint can do underlines. Go figure

[gwpriester]

Steve

There are also people who use 10 different fonts, in ten different colors, in an ad or newsletter, for emphasis. The same folks, I've no doubt have a truckload of cute animations on their website each vying for attention with the other.

To me, and I did spent over 30 years as an advertising art director and graphic designer, underlined text is not appropriate. Look at any well designed magazine, or book and tell me how many words you see that are underlined. It's simply not done.

It is not a mater of being different. It is a matter of looking like you don't know very much about type. In my book, underlining is right up there with using a tick mark or inch mark instead of an apostrophe and proper curly quotes.

The only text that is underlined, besides linked text, is in legal documents which have never claimed to have any design integrity.

Stop fighting it and use italics and bold face and forget about underlined text.

[handrawn]

Gary

LOL

Forgive me for not fitting into the stereotype demographic for a xara user - meaning of course that none of the arguments that you have presented bear any relevance to a significant portion of my work

I understand what you say and have no argument with it, but we don't all use xara for such things.

Anyway, the tide seems in the favour of the underscore so far.....

Heck even TG [er xara conference] has it.....

[steve.ledger]

This to-ing and fro-ing is no solution. Perhaps a pole?
Also, a comment from Charles would seem appropriate about now?

[dflock]

I agree with Gary - underline doesn't really have a place in modern typesetting or graphic design but I don't think that's relevant - Xara ought to support it.

It's not really up to Xara (or anyone else) to dictate what people do with the software - or to hold people to pre-conceived design standards.

It's just a little missing feature, plain and simple - made all the more obvious with Xtreme's improved text handling and import features.

[Albacore]

I can't deny that I see docs with underlining but this is done in word and printed in word and that's what you use it for, doing letters and small publications which are for close use. What I am trying to say is on the whole Xara is used as a design programme not to do standard letters and job lists and work tasks for employees that the role of your word processer. If Xara came out with what you wanted in the next version all that I am saying I would not use it just because there are visually better ways to emphasize statements than using under lined text.

One thing I learned as a teacher is that you can get pupils attention by doing things that they don't expect and so if you give them a work booklet which you want them to use as a resource and doesn't grab there attention then that leads to a waste of your time and under lining was used so much that they just skim over it, it is blaze'.

Instead of talking about underlining in the next version of XPro surely we should be discussing things like improvement in changing the colour of brushes, getting rid of RGB effects in CMYK docs and making them support the CMYK colour scheme or better slicing for web work and I could go on and on. Many of the fourm members feel that XPro needs more tools to make it look more professional as bat the Live Effect tool our programme has not change in the tool area for many years (I am not one of them).

My main thrust in coming back to contribute in this topic is that in my opinion that underlining is and none design feature and there are loads of better ways to attract a readers attention to the written work they are looking at and it is not hard even if you want to use that method to achieve it. Come on folks surely there are more important features that you would like to see in our programme that we use as a design tool.

[steve.ledger]

What I am trying to say is on the whole Xara is used as a design programme .....

Come on folks surely there are more important features that you would like to see in our programme that we use as a design tool.

This discussion appears to be in danger of going off topic, but personally I'm inclined to consider that Newsletters, Flyers and Brochures definately benefit from good design, and to this end using software that can make creative design pleasant, easy & unique and which can then output to PDF for commercial printing illustrates to me that Xara is not only a perfect design tool for the job, it is better looking than Word, more flexible than Word, cheaper than Word and without any doubt encourages creativity.

As for discussion on other features that may be more important to some of us, sure why not lets do it , but that is a another topic and doesn't quite fit here because it isn't really what antimix started.