simple bitmap trace

I have a bitmap which is 6 colours, when I trace it I get hundreds of separate parts. Is ther a way to trace 6 colours (or however many I need) and only have 6 parts. Or is there a way to select all the parts of one colour and join them to form one.
When I trace in corel draw I get only a very limited number of parts, I can export from Corel Draw but I would rather stay in Xara.
Thanks

Hello Ian welcome to TalkGraphics! :) Without seeing the bitmap in question it's hard to tell but if it is a very simple image you might be better off to hand trace it with the shape editor tool.

Thanks I thanks for your reply, I work with different bitmaps butu could post and example. Do you know if it is possible to select
shapes based on colour e.g select only shapes generated that are absolute black .

Your profile says you have Designer 7 I am going to assume that means Designer Pro 7 unfortunately when you use the bitmap tracer in Xara the colours generated are not named colours therefore they can not be selected by name. You can hold down shift and click and drag to marquee select sections. For hand tracing here is a video that may be helpful. This was done in an older version but the basic technique is still the same

I will just copy and paste from corel to xara, it's good to see that they will work together so easily.

I'm not sure but may be xcolor can be useful
http://www.smokingun.co.uk/index/downloads

This sounds like a job for Vector Magic.... especially the idea of ending with a set number of colors that are usable.

Peace

James