Yet another Noob asking the same old stuff. ;)

[Riddler]

Hiya peeps. Mighty fine program that Xara3D. Went ahead and bought the cd, got it up and running, upgraded Webster to the trial version of Xara-X and now I'm befuddled.
I would like to take a gif or jpg on my hd and plop it into Xara3D and then add some text next to the image.
I've hunted around these topics for some clues before I posted and from what my little brain can grasp.....this can't be done and Xara3D can only take solid objects in Vector format ? ( I'm not even sure what 'Vector' is, so add that to the " I'm confused " file and...........Help ??? http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/confused.gif
Thanks in advance folks.
Ridds
http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Christine Farrelly]

Vectors and bitmaps - confusing isn't it...

Vectors are basically mathematical formulas which define a shape, whereas jpgs and gifs are pictures made from pixels or dots.

You could add your jpg (or Gif) as the background image and then place text on it or you could add your image as texture to a shape.

Christine

[Riddler]

Hmmm....so the situation is not completely hopeless after all, huh ? http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Thank you Christine, for your response.
The next question which comes to mind.....( and there's lots of 'em ! ).....is; Adding the image as a texture to a shape sounds like it might work, but doesn't the image have to be an .x3D file for Xara3D to be able to load it ?
When I create a simple image with Xara-X and save it as an .xar file, X3D says it's not a valid file.
...and now, having just attempted to import one of the shape samples in Xara3D and getting the error message ' unable to import '....that familiar hopelessness returns ! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Ridds
http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Soquili]

Hi Ridds,

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you may need to download the xara plug-in. This will allow you to import .xar and .web files into Xara3D. Go to Xara Plug-In

The web page says that the CD version of Xara3D comes with the plug-in, but it didn't on mine.

Soquili

[Riddler]

Whoa !! Soquili ! You are not only a " burden carrier " but a " burden remover " !
Thank you very much !

May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house. May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there. May your mocassins make happy tracks In many snows, And may the rainbow Always touch your shoulder.

Riddler
http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Rand]

I also wanted to add jpeg files to my Xara. So I bought a converter (Graphics Converter Pro) to convert files into WMF or EMF files, but when I try to import them it gives me an error message:This file contains bitmap data that is ignored. It does not contain any outlines.
So is there ANY program that will convert these into useable files???

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Rand and welcome.
wmf and emf file formats are strange beasts. They can contain vector and/or bitmaps. However there's no program that I've ever seen that can convert a bitmap into a vector with any degree of satisfaction. The best method is to import your bitmap into XaraX and on a layer above it, use the Shape Editor' tool to draw around the shape that you require, using the bitmap as a guide. You can then delete the bitmap, save and import the xar file into Xara3D
Egg

[Rand]

Thanks for the reply...dang now I need to get Xara X too? I have Webster2, but I suppose that won't do it.
Acckk!

[raynerj]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rand:
Thanks for the reply...dang now I need to get Xara X too? I have Webster2, but I suppose that won't do it.
Acckk!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Rand,

webster might be able to do that. It is just the little sister to xaraX. Try it, if it works you are good to go, if not... xaraX is a good investment. It has paid for itself many times over for me.

http://www.draginet.com/dragon.gif
John/DOT