I'm Back In Windows And I'm Sad (Warp Tool Inactive in PG365)

[hseiken]

Hi, guys. Haven't posted in forever here because Xara doesn't work in Wine (not the versions I own). I spent 5 hours reinstalling JUST DRIVERS for windows, so I'm not in a very good mood at 3am in the morning (by contrast, it took me less than 30 minutes to have a full linux distro discover and instlal drivers for this exact same computer...lovely what money buys).

That said, it IS nice to have some good vector tools again, but I noticed that it's been updated and in the update, somehow the warping tools have been deactivated. Is anyone else noticing this?

To recreate, just start a new page, draw anything you want and then use the shape painter tool and select a warp method. Any of them. They don't seem to work.
I'm using a wacom tablet, but it's worked with pen before, unless my memory's effectiveness is directly linked to my age, in which case there's a 63% chance I'm full of it when it comes to remember that it worked with a tablet.

Has anyone else noticed this or are the warp tools virtually unused by others? Come to think of it, I don't think I've run across any 'tricks and tips' articles concerning the warps...

Anyway, despite these problems, it's great to be back with Xara, I just wish Windows didn't have to join us.

[handrawn]

I don't remember xara ever working well with wine

no problem using warp with my wacom [cintiq] - one thing I will say, the latest veersion allows you to switch nib contol from fixed size to zoom size [the 'size' button on the left of the infobar]

sometimes the changes can be very slight/subtle depending which way this is set and the zoom level

I often use the warp for on the fly distortion

[edit - the nib option is in designer pro - may not be in p&g]

[angelize]

I used the warp tool just last night without problems. Now I have dpx365 so that may make a difference. When using the warp tool you do need to work in strokes and keep in mind it only affects the vector path not the fill so your strokes have to cross the edge of the shape to either push it or pull it

[hseiken]

I used the warp tool just last night without problems. Now I have dpx365 so that may make a difference. When using the warp tool you do need to work in strokes and keep in mind it only affects the vector path not the fill so your strokes have to cross the edge of the shape to either push it or pull it

It worked for a moment last night, but I couldn't get it working consistently. I'll keep figuring it out. Since *something* warped, I'm going to assume it might be on my end...

[hseiken]

It worked for a moment last night, but I couldn't get it working consistently. I'll keep figuring it out. Since *something* warped, I'm going to assume it might be on my end...

Upon further inspection, I'm assuming it was something to do with my tablet driver installation. I didn't have anything but problems installing windows on this machine. I guess it was just some installation problems continued.

[zaphodeist]

I'm confused. What is the warp tool you're talking about? Nothing about it in Help. What am I missing?

[handrawn]

its a drop down option on the infobar for the shape painter tool which then lets you 'paint' warping onto your object

[zaphodeist]

Ah ... thanks Steve

[Ron Duke]

Hmmmm,
Anyone have a really good example of the purpose/benefit of this tool? I can't come up with one.

[MarcT]

Hmmmm,
Anyone have a really good example of the purpose/benefit of this tool? I can't come up with one.

Hi Ron, for me it's easily the most useful vector upgrade since quite a while, it quickens the tweaking of vector objects quite a lot.
It can affect single or multiple objects, a good example would be to tweak a smile.

You can adjust the tool size like the eraser, either by zoom of fixed size.
There's an ajustable falloff (softness) and the number of points generated are quite balanced.

One of the most useful iteration I've seen for this type of tool.
It should be a standalone item IMO, not buried in sub selection.

A quick run with a thin rectangle :


Marc