Exporting to emf

[alexbozhenov]

As I remember, EMF doesn't support transparency...

As for resizing without pixelization, you can set DPI at a larger value...

As for properties, go to the File - Export and pick the *.png as a type of file. You'll see the separate window where you can set any settings for exporting as PNG - check tabs...

[GlassPencil]

Thanx Sledger et al, but resizing the exported graphic is necessary sometimes. For example, I want to create a library of graphics that can be used by a diagramming program, and it's the end user who will decide what size they want the image to be.

Nick

[PatentGuy]

It appears that Xtreme exports the emf file as a bitmap, not a vector. The exported emf files will not do what you want: be resizeable without pixelation and be transparent.

If you want a file format that is easy use with Word and other programs and has transparency, png is your best bet. To maintain resolution and avoid pixelation, export the image at the maximum possible size you expect the image to be. If you need to resize it, the image will always be resized smaller, which increases the dpi and avoids pixelation.

[steve.ledger]

Some Wiki'ness on EMF

[Egg Bramhill]

wmf/emf are pretty decrepit file formats. They can contain both vector and raster images. Your xar file has some fairly complicated linear fills and transparencies which wmf/emf can't handle and therefore converts to a raster image which defeats what you're trying to achieve.

To get a file type that can handle your file and retain it's vector capabilities isn't easy. SVG would be one option but as the forums don't support SVG downloads it's hard to say if this would work. Another alternative is SWF, but integration with other apps could be a problem as well as SWF's xar rendering limitations.

There's currently no standard vector rendering. Microsoft are developing one at the moment (the name escapes me) but almost all images of this type to be used as you want will need to be rasters.

[GlassPencil]

Thanx all, it looks like png is the best way to go then. Seems strange that a vector graphics application as powerful as Xara, exports raster better than a vector format, but I note that this feature has only just been added, and there is clearly some way to go yet.

Nick

[steve.ledger]

Not true.

I don't quite understand what you are expecting.
Xara can save all it's powerful vector features as .xar
That other software cannot import this format is their problem.

[alexbozhenov]

Thanx all, it looks like png is the best way to go then. Seems strange that a vector graphics application as powerful as Xara, exports raster better than a vector format, but I note that this feature has only just been added, and there is clearly some way to go yet.

Nick

There is not in the world any standard vector format to maintain vector transparencies, drop shadows etc yet. I didn't hear about such format so far... )

[PatentGuy]

Seems strange that a vector graphics application as powerful as Xara, exports raster better than a vector format, but I note that this feature has only just been added, and there is clearly some way to go yet.

emf is a proprietary file format by Microsoft. emf is NOT an open source file format. emf is the enhanced version of wmf, which M$ used for more than 10 years before M$ was forced to publish its specifications in 2006. M$ made emf specifically for their software.

It is not strange at all that other vendors cannot fully use emf because, by M$ keeping the format specification secret like it has, M$ makes it difficult for third party software makers to write to that format.

emf and wmf are not widely used because there are better alternatives that are supported by multiple vendors.

[Odat]

Keep in mind also this:

Windows has something called GDI (Graphics Device Interface) that applications use to draw to the screen. An API that allows you to draw bitmaps, shapes and whatnot, if you will.

A WMF and EMF file are literally just a list of GDI function calls that the application can make to draw an image. A great idea if you're aiming for a windows-windows format, since basically support for creating them and reading them is built directly into windows.

However this also means that what EMF can represent in a graphic is limited to what windows GDI could do in the late 80's/early 90's. No such thing as alpha transparency or gradient fills, for example.

So no matter how clever Xara is, there's just a lot of things that Xara can do that can't be represented as anything other than a bitmap. And windows bitmaps can't have transparency in them. So it can't even fudge around and rasterize some parts and leave the rest vector unless everything that it needed to rasterize was rectangular. I'd be surprised if the export filter took such a rare edge case into consideration on export.

For more information, there's a FAQ here: http://www.companionsoftware.com/Sup...tafileFAQ.aspx