Snap to mid-point

[flim]

CorelDRAW has tangent and quadrant snap, those are essential to me.

[handrawn]

then it looks like you may need coreldraw... not xara

someone here may know a workaround, but you have already said you find these 'complicated' [everything usually is at first]

[wizard509]

CorelDRAW has tangent and quadrant snap, those are essential to me.

What kind of image are you wanting to snap to? That may give us a clue how to help.

[flim]

What kind of image are you wanting to snap to? That may give us a clue how to help.

This is one of the example I tried, but cannot figure out how to do that in Xara. I save it as CorelDRAW version 11 format.

snap to tangent_join fillet.pdf

[Fred C]

This is one of the example I tried, but cannot figure out how to do that in Xara...

Snap what to what?

[Acorn]

This is one of the example I tried, but cannot figure out how to do that in Xara. I save it as CorelDRAW version 11 format.
snap to tangent_join fillet.pdf

So I tried two quick ways to gain a result, not knowing what the purpose of the end design is to be.

and

My design file: Xara-Acme Gadget.xar

For both, I created three circles and aligned to match your image.
I did a 500-step extrusion from bit to small blue circles (I changed the larger to red to show the effect).
I then just used snapping point for the second approach to create the red rectangle that I then rotated around its left corner. As its width was the circle radius, it guaranteed a tangent. The other end was by eye but I could have flipped the approach and gained tangents both ways.
I converted the Rectangle to Editable Shapes (green) and moved one corner into the smaller circle and Cloned and flipped (yellow).
Finally, Add Shapes and made Blue.

I deleted some points to smooth out a bit.

I did the above with all aligned with you image but there is a cleaner construction if you lie things on their sides.



The "trick is adding the line centre to centre as you can use Ctrl+Snap to get it horizontal, bringing the other shapes along.
Finally, Clone and vertically flip the bar.
I left out the Add Shapes and made Blue.

Surely, none as slick as Tangent Snap but the obverse may be true than it would be equally difficult to perform the above operations in corelDraw. They are two different tools that have their own domain and range of approaches.

Acorn

[ss-kalm]

But to be fair, a series of snap points similar to CAD systems would seriously improve the ability to draw accurately that way. I think the key word is accurately. Xara doesn't seem to understand that accuracy is important in a graphic, by eye is probably good enough, and in most cases should be, but since we have computers to need to be exact seems to be much more important than it was.

Creating the same item in a CAD system is very simple and quick. Because of that limitation, I frequently draw what I need as a CAD symbol and import into Xara as a PDF. It really shouldn't be needeed to do it that way. However, there's NO chance that ANY vector tools are ever going to be improved.

[Acorn]

But to be fair, a series of snap points similar to CAD systems would seriously improve the ability to draw accurately that way. I think the key word is accurately. Xara doesn't seem to understand that accuracy is important in a graphic, by eye is probably good enough, and in most cases should be, but since we have computers to need to be exact seems to be much more important than it was.
Creating the same item in a CAD system is very simple and quick. Because of that limitation, I frequently draw what I need as a CAD symbol and import into Xara as a PDF. It really shouldn't be needed to do it that way. However, there's NO chance that ANY vector tools are ever going to be improved.

I do agree but when someone come along and insists Product X's Tool Y is essential, the usual response is go and use Tool X then; I was trying to show that in a design if you understand what you want to achieve then you probably will.
Some things will be impossible and will result in a feature request. Xara has oodles of features that other packages have never considered: I have made things in corelDraw that require great precision and repeatability and I did such because I knew its strengths and weaknesses. In Xara, a QuickShape can be a square/circle/pointy star/rounded star or rectangle/ellipse as all have four sides. Change the number of sides and you have much more - all without have to change the tool and create and replace a shape. All these constructs are primitives that were chosen for speed. Line widths are centred around a shape, not inner, not outer. To achieve these, Xara uses Contours. The list is extensive and shows Xara's approach is and never will be a CAD approach.

I use it because it is different.

Acorn

[flim]

But to be fair, a series of snap points similar to CAD systems would seriously improve the ability to draw accurately that way. I think the key word is accurately. Xara doesn't seem to understand that accuracy is important in a graphic, by eye is probably good enough, and in most cases should be, but since we have computers to need to be exact seems to be much more important than it was.

Creating the same item in a CAD system is very simple and quick. Because of that limitation, I frequently draw what I need as a CAD symbol and import into Xara as a PDF. It really shouldn't be needeed to do it that way. However, there's NO chance that ANY vector tools are ever going to be improved.

Snap is about accuracy, Xara has very good object snap, that is very good for web design, but drawing snap is very primitive, compare to CorelDRAW. I cannot even snapping my start point on another line/curve.

[ss-kalm]

I understand that ... I am a CAD draftsman by profession. I would love Xara to incorporate CAD style snapping. However, because of my profession, typically I don't use Xara for anything that requires high precision. I have other tools for that!