Text font size

[gbredon]

How can you make text font size stay at the value you choose? For instance if I want to use Arial , 28 point for one line of text and then jump to another point in my drawing, the font size reverts to 10 point and I have to use the slider box to reset the size to 28.

Also is there any way to make line size 3 points (i.e. midpoint between the 2 and 4 points given in the slider box)?
Thanks
George

[gwpriester]

If I understand you, you want to change the default text size, is that correct.

Well, if it is, select the Text Tool but do not click on the page. Select the font and the size you want. Then select the Selector Tool (the arrow pointer). The next time you select the Text Tool, the text will be as you selected.

This will go away when you save the page and then reopen it.

However, if you prefer working with a specific font and other text charateristics, open your default page, change the default text attributes, and then File > Save Template...

Name your template and check Use as Default Template.

As to your second question, yes, just highlight the current value, and then key in the value you want. You can also key in fractional point sizes. For example, a 1 pixel line is .75pt. A 2 pixel line is 1.5pt.

This help?

Gary

[gbredon]

Thanks Gary for your prompt reply. I have extensive experience with a drawing package called Professional Draw put out by a Canadian software company called Gold Disk which sadly has gone to software heaven! I managed to hold onto it from Win3 days but it runs erratically under XP. Its metaphor is very similar to Xara's except that if you clicked onto a 20pt text object it would temporarily default to 20 pt and you could use it for existing edits and to create new text until you clicked out of text mode. I was trying to reproduce this way of working but you have confirmed that Xara does not work that way.

I believe the line sizing does not work in a consistent fashion. If you create a box and leave it selected then click on a dialog box size, the line is immediately resized.Xara treats the click as select+enter. However if you nominate your own size and type it in, nothing happens if you do not press Enter. I was not pressing enter and so I could not understand why it was not changing the line size. Although your post did not say this it forced me to keep trying until it dawned on me to press enter.

Thanks again. What a great forum!
George

[gwpriester]

In most cases, when you manually change a value in one of the text entry boxes, you need to press Enter to apply the change.

Gold Disc was one of the first software companies to provide software for the Amiga. Now there was a terrific computer. Sigh.

Gary

[John Rayner]

I was so sad when Commodore went under. Still have a few sitting out in the garage. The C=64 ran circles around IBMs and Macs until the pentiums arrived. (it was a 1Mhz 'puter, but very well designed.)

[PhilM]

Hi George,

Xara X has an option that might help you. Go to the Options dialog, click on the General tab, then make sure the option "Give new objects most recent attributes" is checked. Then click OK to close the Options dialog.

Xara X will then remember the last attributes (colours, line styles, text size, etc,...) that you used and automatically apply them to any new objects you create.

That might suit your working style better.

Phil

[gbredon]

Thanks Phil. That's exactly what I wanted!
George

[Jens Lukas]

jens@lukas-fotos.de
Could you tell me, where I can get "Professional Draw" 1.0 or higher for PC. I bought it years ago as it was in a magazine. It´s a great programmme to write in a curve. But I lost the disks?
Please help!

Originally posted by GeorgeB:
Thanks Gary for your prompt reply. I have extensive experience with a drawing package called Professional Draw put out by a Canadian software company called Gold Disk which sadly has gone to software heaven! I managed to hold onto it from Win3 days but it runs erratically under XP. Its metaphor is very similar to Xara's except that if you clicked onto a 20pt text object it would temporarily default to 20 pt and you could use it for existing edits and to create new text until you clicked out of text mode. I was trying to reproduce this way of working but you have confirmed that Xara does not work that way.

I believe the line sizing does not work in a consistent fashion. If you create a box and leave it selected then click on a dialog box size, the line is immediately resized.Xara treats the click as select+enter. However if you nominate your own size and type it in, nothing happens if you do not press Enter. I was not pressing enter and so I could not understand why it was not changing the line size. Although your post did not say this it forced me to keep trying until it dawned on me to press enter.

Thanks again. What a great forum!
George

[John Rayner]

From George's post it seems that company has gone belly up.

[gbredon]

Yes, John is right. The last time I saw it it was sold as part of a suite of graphics programs called Hijaak.
However, I have found that Xara is far more powerful and you can set it up to emulate PD almost exactly (e.g right mouse to drag page)
George