OK Folks,THIS is getting REALLY OLD...!!!

[oldcopierguy]

I have tried all the tips suggested by some kind folks here, and watched all the videos, and either I am the dumbest clod on the planet, or I am missing something REALLY small that's probably SO SIMPLE I am ashamed to admit I have spent nearly my entire working career(retired now), in the printing business...!!!

Could some kind soul tell me EXACTLY HOW to create a simple circle, split it into 2 HALF circles, so that I can run text along the
edges of BOTH arcs so that the text on the top half of the arc reads left to right going OVER the half arc, and the text runs
along the bottom of the OTHER arc so that it TOO reads from left to right...?

I have been struggling with this for over 3 HOURS and ready to chuck the computer AND the software out the window into the snow...!

As I said before, the Help Section inside the software is very simplistic and even after following it to the letter, I STILL cannot get this thing to work. I cannot find the video where the chap went through this in fairly good detail, although the audio was less than great at my end and I could not understand a couple of his comments.

If it were possible...I would PAY somebody to walk me through this, as I REALLY want to conquer this problem and move on.
There is also the issue of some of the buttons not showing up in the drop down menus and are different from the other softwares in the Xara line, that show "Different" icons than what I see in Layout Designer 11...??

Anyway, if someone could chime in, it would go a long way to saving this 'ol plate burner's sanity...!!!
p.s. the attachment shows a variant of what I am trying to accomplish with the text on the outside of main logo. You can see that the text is NOT following the circle properly. BTW, HOW I got the text to work in this sample is a mystery...?!?!...sorry.

Regards,
oldcopierguy

[Acorn]

Use two circles instead.

If you use XWD11P, you need to change a circle to an editable shape by cloning it (Ctrl+K) and adding it to it parent (Combine shapes Add Shapes).
You now have an editable shape in the shape of a circle.

Clone this and switch to the Shape Tool (F4).
In the Shapes toolbar, there is a Reverse paths icon.
Click this and when you add your text to one it will go in one direction and the opposite for the second circle.

There is a way to create half circles but you still need to reverse the path at some point so stick to circles.

You could make one bigger to get the effect of having text inside or use the Text baseline shift.

It is always better to break the task down into smaller tasks until you can do each, then recombine them all back up again.

Acorn

[gray]

I'm a little confused OC. Are you just trying to get the text around the circles, as in the example you show?
Like this below???

[oldcopierguy]

YES...!! I have tried this several ways and it seems there is no easy way...FOR ME that is because I am so new to Xara.
It seems that you CANNOT add two(2) different text lines to the same circle, as Acorn pinted out by creating 2 circles and combining them.

I get frustrated because some of the tool bars do not stay put while you are working on your design. They only show up when you actually
are about to use them to perform a function. I'm not used to this sort of arrangement. My old software(Corel), had ALL the options open and
available on top ALL THE TIME...!

Anymore help greatly appreciated, and I will try out the latest tips offered above.

THANKS ALL...!

OC

[gray]

Give me about 20 minutes and I'll post the Xara file for you to down load. Being a simple minded creature I draw everything by hand and I don't use circles for the text. Give me a few minutes and I'll post it for you OC.

[mwenz]

CorelDRAW also uses a context toolbar. Which is what you are describing. At least version 10 up does. CorelDraw prior to that had so few commands I cannot remember without firing up the XP Pro computer. CD also cannot do what you want as regards two text strings on the same path oriented on opposite sides of the path. At least I don't think it can.

Most of this is simple and once you get the hang of it you'll be up and going.

[gray]

Simple way to do this.
1. Draw your two circles.
2. Draw a line across center of circle.
3. Use shape tool and handles to curve the line to follow the inner circle.
4. Choose text size and colour. Center justify text. select circle and place text tool on it. Type your text to follow line.
5. Convert to editable shape under arrange and use rotation handles and corners to fine tune shape of lettering in circle.
6. Now repeat for the bottom of larger circle.
7. Last step is to click on each one and set line width to none to remove the semi circle lines.

I've also uploaded the Xara file, which you can download and have a look at.

[oldcopierguy]

Untitled4.xarHere is what I get after trying out the above suggestions...bear with me people...I had surgery a while back and my hands and a few of my grey matter "bits" are still recovering...!!!

OC

[oldcopierguy]

CorelDRAW also uses a context toolbar. Which is what you are describing. At least version 10 up does. CorelDraw prior to that had so few commands I cannot remember without firing up the XP Pro computer. CD also cannot do what you want as regards two text strings on the same path oriented on opposite sides of the path. At least I don't think it can.

Most of this is simple and once you get the hang of it you'll be up and going.

Ya, I had Corel a loooong time ago so I can't remember all of it, but yes, it was not as friendly..?? as Xara for fancy text design.

OC

[oldcopierguy]

OK gray, I'll give that a whirl. I'm not sure I will use the yellow flat topped disc for the final design, but I'll try it out.

Regards,

OCG