When Are We Getting A Mesh Paint Tool?

**JokeArtist** · 15 January 2008, 04:07 PM

I've been learning Xara for the last 3 or 4 months, I was using Illustrator before and the only thing that I really miss is a Mesh Tool.

It seems strange that Xara has 4 point fills both from transparency and for colour fills but not Mesh because it is the same principle. All that would need to be done is for that part to be expanded for more points to be included. And to have a mesh transparency would really blow my mind!

Looking through the gallery there are lots of people drawing cars and planes which would greatly be made easier with a mesh fill.

What does everyone else think. That includes the developers if anyone is listening from Xara Ltd.

**handrawn** · 15 January 2008, 04:22 PM

mesh tool is on the wish list one reference here:
http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...ight=mesh+tool
a search on the forum should bring up others

**Xhris** · 15 January 2008, 04:55 PM

The last I heard, the mesh tool was demoted in priority (despite the fact that 4 point fills are in there as you say) because its effects are more easily simulated with proper use of feathered objects. Xara have said that when they do get round to it, it will be done properly and will be far more usable than Illustrator's implementation.

I suspect Xara's criteria for determining what features get done for a new release are based around a) getting maximum new effects that can't practically be produced via other means already present, and b) staying ahead of the competition. This means that little usability features that aren't trivial to implement (e.g. nested layers) aren't likely to appear on mass, but new tools that provide new effects will (e.g. the recent multi-page support, and import/export filters etc.).

There are likely a fixed number of employees, equating to a given number of man hours, and so there are only a few things per release that can be developed. (They are also bound by a business model unlike open-source developers.) Appreciating this eases naturally occurring impatience somewhat. There has been quite some time since the last release, and without distractions such as re-writing old code to make it future proof, and supporting Linux (as we've seen dogging past releases), and with increased staff numbers, the next release could be somewhat bigger than we've seen for a while.

**JokeArtist** · 15 January 2008, 11:50 PM

Yeah there's been nothing since X version 1 I've seen. Just minor pointless things added. No added tools. The way I see it Xara 3.2 should only be 1.4 because their has been no new Tools. Someone else said it in a new thread.

Also you can't do the same thing with feathering as you can with mesh fills. It's completely different.

**Xhris** · 16 January 2008, 12:10 AM

Sorry, just to correct myself: I meant the mesh tool effects are simulated by using overlaid transparencies, as shown by talented artists that use Xara . Very few people have actually mastered the mesh tool in Illustrator (just look at the number of people struggling to use it to get a good result), hence it is not used as often as might be thought in general. This is partly down to its poor implementation in Illustrator. It is because its effects are available via other means that it has been demoted apparently.

I think many people appreciate what you mean by no big new core tools for a while. I'm hoping the next version will bring something nice. FYI, main feature additions since X1:

Significantly improved import and export filters (PDF, PSD, EPS, XPS, SVG, EMF, WMF etc.)
Group transparency
Live Effects tool
Docking galleries
XPE
Bump mapping tool
MS Word compatibility
Multi-page documents
Levels tool
Flash support
Improved text tool
Many usability improvements
Under-the-hood improvements

**JokeArtist** · 16 January 2008, 01:44 AM

[*]Significantly improved import and export filters (PDF, PSD, EPS, XPS, SVG, EMF, WMF etc.)
Don't use any of these format as I export and PNG for my prints any way.
[*]Group transparency
Wow, a bug fix.
[*]Live Effects tool
Used for bitmaps (?!) Nothing to do with vetors.
[*]Docking galleries
Don't help or hinder, a bit, whatever.
[*]XPE
Use photoshop it's better.
[*]Bump mapping tool
LOL ... Bitmap again.
[*]MS Word compatibility
More annoying for copying and pasting.
[*]Multi-page documents
I'm not doing DTP. If I was I wouldn't be using xara.
[*]Levels tool
Don't know what this is.
[*]Flash support
It's rubbish! I use flash any way.
[*]Improved text tool
Still lots of bugs.
[*]Many usability improvements
Lol
[*]Under-the-hood improvements
My computer is fast enough any way.

SO NO REAL IMPROVEMENTS SINCE X1.

It would be great if they did add some more tools. Vector tools at that.

**ss-kalm** · 16 January 2008, 02:33 AM

You can't say "no improvements" just because you don't use them. Also, I don't regard group transparency as a bug fix.

**AndFarr** · 16 January 2008, 04:57 AM

Actually I believe it is possible to make your own.
But let me do some more testing and I'll let you know. Maybe I'm just fooling myself!
- Andy

**Soquili** · 16 January 2008, 05:39 AM

As Xhris stated, a mesh tool has probably been demoted on the "wish list".

The effect that the Illustrator mesh tool creates can easily be recreated using blends and/or transparencies.

Andy you crack me up

Almost forgot to provide a link to the basic mesh tool tutorial the sample image came from. http://www.khulsey.com/adobe_illustr...ient_mesh.html

Another link to a more detailed mesh tool tutorial http://www.magicalbutterfly.com/tuto...eshtutmain.htm

Not curtains but a very handy technique in Xara:
Gary Priester's Workbook8 tutorial on creating cloth with folds http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/wo...8/features.htm

Not sure where the quote originated or if I have it worded correctly: An artist creates with the tools available. A technician requires specific tools to create.

A Mesh Tool would be very nice to have, but it is not a major requirement IMHO.

**handrawn** · 16 January 2008, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Soquili

An artist creates with the tools available. A technician requires specific tools to create.

Spot on Bill - and a craftsman is somewhere in between.

What I really want from xara currently is an overhaul of the layers to give grouping and nesting etc. Oh dear this is not a new tool? [

] however it would greatly improve my productivity far more than say a mesh tool would.

But I am not going to bang on about it or try to imply that xara has not improved because that is simply not true - not all these improvements have been helpful to me [eg changes to bitmap fills] but they are improvements.

And I would imagine that xara wishes to get the program 'to a certain point' before it starts improving the tools - bug fixes in particular being important - as well as an overhaul of the code.

As for stroke to path tool, vector bucket fill tool and the like - I have these elsewhere - so I can get on and draw