-
Why must we still contend with this
I have used Xara products for some years now and use them in my daily workflow, but nothing peeves me off more than having to contend with changing the units on every page or project from inches to pixels :-O, why can i not make the change and it stays that way unless i cange it back. I know in the past there were some registery tweaks that helped with this, however i found that did not always work either, so my question is why??
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
But you can!
Create new document, set units as you wish, and save it as default template.
Units are stored in the document, not registry.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Hi Alan.
I asked the same question some time ago and was beaten down by the masses!
I am in total agreement with you.
If I change something in the options, then it should stay that way.
I know that you can create templates, but for me there is no need to create a template if the option stays the way I set it !!!
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
One can argue about it. You may have different unit preferences depending on the design. For example, when I do something for print I use cm, but when I'm making a web site I prefer to use pixels. As the units are stored with the document, every time I open, or even switch to the web design, I get units set to pixels, and back to centimeters when I open my design for print.
If the units setting was global, I would have to switch it manually every time I open different type of document.
In general, all the preferences that depend on the document type can not be global and are stored within the document.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Which options don't stay the same Rik? Creating a default template means a page opens in pixels, snap radii are the same etc everytime and, for instance, I have rulers enabled all the time because this is remembered by the program. Not starting a fuss I was just wondering what kind of options you mean :)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rik
I am in total agreement with you.
If I change something in the options, then it should stay that way.
But they do, Rik, for that document. The options stay the same for every template that you create and if, like me, the majority of drawings are A4 portrait and units in pixels then you set your default template to be that. When you open an animation template it has to be in pixels, surely, so for it to stay that way is surely beneficial to your workflow? I have an A1 poster template where the units are naturally cms. I don't want those units to change to pixels when I next open Xara!
I think it's fine as it is as long as the user understands the concept of templates and that each template can have a different units setting.
Naturally, it would be nice to have the choice to have a button in Options "Units follow last settings". That way everybody would be happy (maybe) :thx
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Hi John.
I am talking about the units, which we can set to cm or pixels or inches etc...
My preference would be to set that to what ever I want and for it to stay that way when ever I start Xtreme or XDP6.
For me, if I want a particular unit in a particular document, then I change that in options and when I save that document, then that setting is saved in that document.
But, it seems that what we have to do is to set the units we use the most and then save that as a template and then set that template to open when ever we start Xara.
Covoxer probably thinks I don't know what he is saying. I do!
Any other programme I use, when I change something in options, then it stays that way.
In Xara (trust me it's my favourite programme) we must set a template for what we want.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rik
But, it seems that what we have to do is to set the units we use the most and then save that as a template and then set that template to open when ever we start Xara.
Is it that hard? 4 extra clicks... :rolleyes:
Quote:
Covoxer probably thinks I don't know what he is saying. I do!
Ok, he is satisfied now. :D
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Hi Beret.
Maybe I am just not making myself clear. Sorry.
Your units are staying that way because you have set a template.
I am talking about just being able to change the Page Units in 'OPTIONS' and for that change to stay that way. The way I have set it, and not the way Xara have set it.
Believe me, I have set a template for myself that opens when ever I open Xara.
I just have to accept what covoser says and set a template.
This is not the same as being able to set the units in 'option' and for that to stay the way you have set it.
I am not complaining. Just pleased to see that someone else thought that 'options' should do what we set it to rather than have to set a template.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
I agree with Covoxer about the value of keeping settings within templates for different types of work.
The menu layout doesn't make this clear though, and I'm not sure a lot of users would arrive at the correct solution without some annoying trial and error along the way.
I think we'd all be more likely to understand the principle if options was removed from the utilities menu for a start (this is where most other apps keep their global settings - hence the confusion) and leave the page options in the file menu. Just the mention of the word 'page' should be a clue.
A button for 'save as default template' actually within the options page would also help.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
As covoxer says, using templates enables you to set different default units for different types of documents.
My default template is US Letter with units set to points. I also have a US Letter template with units set to inches, three generic custom page size templates with units set to pixels, a PowerPoint slide template with units set to inches, and a fourth custom page size template set to pixels for a specific project. Those are the templates that display on the File | New menu. (Well, Animation and Blank Photo do, too, but I rarely use them.)
I have another set of 10 templates for our web banner ads (pixels) that I access through either the Design Gallery or my file manager.
Having the units set in the template is vastly preferable in my workflow. I'd go nuts having to change them back and forth all the time.
Oh, something else that's very useful: you can have multiple documents open with each set to different units. Aside from making it possible to work on, say, a print flyer and an associated email image at the same time, it's a handy tool for checking meaurement conversions.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rik
This is not the same as being able to set the units in 'option' and for that to stay the way you have set it.
Please explain the difference as you see it.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Hi Covoxer.
I don't remember saying anything was hard. 4 clicks or 40 click... I think I can mange that.
The way I see 'options' is a place where I can go and set things and things then stay that way.
That's my understanding of the use of 'Options'
Then when I open Xara, it always then opens according to the options I have set.
If I then create something else and use different units, I am then likely to save that document and that document will save those different units anyway.
But, you may want to look at what highfrontier has said.
I think he makes a lot of sense and he is also describing the reason why the new users (I am a relatively new user) may be having trouble with this.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Sorry Rik, what you say makes no sense to me. Sure, dialogs may be redesigned and renamed as highfrontier suggests, but there's no need and actually no reason to change the way it works.
There is no unit settings if there is no document currently opened (you can't even open Options dialog). So no matter what, there is no such situation when some sort of the global setting would be used instead of the document setting.
When you start DP it always opens default template unless you've had some opened designs last time you closed it. So setting your "global" settings to the default template will work exactly the way you want it to. If not - describe situation in which the global setting would work differently than default template.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
I think that what Rik's after (sorry if my understanding is wrong Rik :) ) is for it to be obvious and accessible how to permanently change the standard settings.. and that's something that could easily be incorporated into the templates approach by just including a 'save as default template'.
The only problem is with that way, you can't change a single setting across many templates.. hmm.
-
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Why must we still contend with this
It has been available since Xara X in 1999.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
highfrontier
The only problem is with that way, you can't change a single setting across many templates.. hmm.
That's the whole point of having templates, isn't it? ;)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
covoxer
That's the whole point of having templates, isn't it? ;)
guess so.. for better in most cases and for worse in a few. ;)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Sorry guys i did not mean to stir the pot.
I myself work strickly in pixels and in the course of a project may create 10 open documents for one project and i like to be able to click the new document button paste and go on my way, I don't want to have to filter through the dropdowns to pick a template to keep my format, i just could not understand why we couldn't just set our units of measure and keep it that way no matter what i was doing. However since all that info is kept with the document instead of the program settings it makes since, but i don't have to like it. :)
I just set it up as my default template as in Bill screenshot and i should be good to go.
Thanks guys
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Soquili
It has been available since Xara X in 1999.
Sorry, meant to say having a save as default tempalte button within the options themselves rather than having to go to 'save template' and saving as default template.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
highfrontier
guess so.. for better in most cases and for worse in a few. ;)
They are optional. You can delete all and leave only one of them. Then it will work exactly as a global setting. :)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Alan
i like to be able to click the new document button paste and go on my way, I don't want to have to filter through the dropdowns to pick a template
Please read this thread carefully. Soquili had even posted a screenshot of the default template option. Save it as a default template and every time you click a new document button, it will have your favorite units set. No dropdowns, no picking.
-
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Less clear some mud from the waters of clarity ;)
'By default' and as 'shipped from the factory' there are templates which are set to pixels and some which are set to inches or cm.
This covers all scenarios for design work = output
If you want pixels right away, then choose one of these three supplied 'pixel' templates.
Remember you can drag-resize the page edges if you want a larger drawing area.
Page templates which are 'pixels'
Attachment 74390
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Alan
..... I like to be able to click the new document button paste and go on my way, I don't want to have to filter through the dropdowns to pick a template to keep my format .....
That's just the point Alan .......Open a blank document, make all the changes you want to the settings, and save it as your default template. Then click the new document button and go on your way. You need never have to look through dropdowns.
Slight cross posting, I must type faster .......
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Alan
... i like to be able to click the new document button paste and go on my way,
just follow Soquili's screenshot to save a document set up the way you want it as the default. Then clicking on the new document button will work as you want it to.
SSKalm : Likewise, I got beaten to it there not once but twice. lol
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Here are some things that could very easily be done to fix this "problem":
The first would be to make an info box that pops up in your face every time you apply options telling you that they're just page options (such a dialog could be turned off after you saw it once like the others of it's kind).
The second would be to make the menu entry in the Utilities menu say "Page Options..." like the menu entry in the File menu says. Surely if you're clicking something that says "Page options" (or maybe rename to Document Options) you're not going to labour under the misunderstanding that it applies to the universe at large.
A third would be having the ability to set some document you've created as the "Magic Document", and then no matter what you load, it uses the options from that file. This more or less destroys your ability to properly share files with other people though since the options would always be severely messed up.
Personally, of all of the things in time and space that could be considered annoying, I really don't see how the awesome ability to have options saved with a document makes the top 10 billion, so we'll have to agree to disagree :). It's quite ingenious that I can work on something with a custom grid and rulers, set it aside for a month, and then come back to it and everything is exactly as I left it, regardless of what I may have been doing in the meantime, including using a grid or not, let alone what the grid might be set to.
On the other hand the first thing I do after an install of Xara software is spend 5 minutes making sure that the templates that I use have rules and the options I want set, while I'm setting toolbars to my liking and making sure the layer gallery is ready to go.
Alternatively, for a modest monetary fee I'll gladly spend the couple of minutes to change unit settings in someone's templates for them. I'm always on the lookout for a simple revenue stream. ;)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
thanks for clearing things up guys, and i thought i knew quite a bit about Xara but did not know the program was setup this way.
Alan
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Alan, et al,
Please read, or re-read as the case may be, my response to the thread Rik started on this very subject several months ago, Re: Page Units.
For those that want the condensed version and don't want to click on the thread/post links above, Xara software has no idea what any 'units' are besides millipoints. Every other unit of measure (cm, in, mm, yd, mi, km, ft...) is converted from millipoints to whatever measuring system you like to work in based on what you've set up and saved in your document. If you like to work in a certain unit of measurement, change the settings appropriately, and then save the document as a template making sure to check the box to make it the 'default template'. You can't get much easier than that. Then every time you open up Xara 'whatever' the units are set, exactly, to your preference.
I set up a default template way back when I was using Xara Xtreme 3 (approx. 2 years ago) and except for a few minor tweaks, signature and named color samples, I'm still using the same template in Xara Designer Pro 6. I just make sure I copy the template from the previous versions folder to it's equivalent folder in the new version, open the document, then re-save it as a template making it the default. Close the application and restart it to make sure I didn't miss a step and I'm ready to start drawing. This takes less than 2 minutes and I don't have to worry about working in other units unless I want to or until a new version of the software is released.
How can something so simple be so difficult???
Set 'em, make a template, then forget 'em,
Harry
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Just to throw my 2 cents in I love the fact that I can create templates with different settings. I have a special one for Good morning sunshine. it's set to cm and I have custom settings for snap radii and nudge distance. It also has custom guidelines. It would be a royal pain if I had to set that up every time.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Template lover here too. I might also point out that MS Word has always saved such settings in document templates and, love it or hate it, it's probably the most used piece of software to date.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Template lover here also, For my print work i have set templates with mm and artwork I use pixels, other large outputs i use scaling factors all within their own templates.
There's less work seeing as everything is pre-set already. Whats next? people will be complaining that there isn't a button in here that draws what you want instantly. ;))
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Sounds like to me that education as to Xara's approach is the key. Perhaps this could be reinforced somehow in the Help file or something as basic as a notation in the Options > Units dialog or tooltip for the input box or an alert when changing units (which could be turned off by the user once they "see the light") :)
A really BIG plus for me with a document storing settings (like Print Options > Output settings) has been when passing a file onto less experienced users ... I can make life easier for them as I know somethings won't automatically be overridden when they open the file.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
:o yes i am blushing and like i said i have used this product for some years and read much about the program however never knew that it was geared in this direction, I just opened a document and set the units, cussed a little and got to work :D
Again, thanks everyone for the lesson, just goes to show your not too old to learn new tricks :cool:
Alan
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
I dont know Alan, and I wasn't that interested in this topic at first, but I saw the reason for his post, and learned something in the meantime. And while Alan started out a bit perturbed, his sportsmanship at the end is indicative of why this community is so great. Some recent spats notwithstanding, almost all here are more interested in learning, not in who's right or wrong.
Kudos to Alan's example, and three cheers for the talk graphics family, the once-and-future way it was (is).
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
I know it's been answered already in a different way but just in case some don't understand, let me see if I can make this simple, Click on the following...
1. Start
2. Computer or My Computer
3. Drive C
4. Program Files(x86)...I use Vista so this is my option
5. Xara
6. Xara Designer Pro 6
7. Templates
8. ENG
9. Whichever page(Template) you want to Change the Units on
When Xara opens up that page(template), go to the options, change it to the units you want it to be as your default, close the page, when Closing Document box pops up, click on Save and from now on, that particular page(template) will open up with your desired untis already set.
There will be no need to make another template as others have suggested.
I'm a firm believer in being as straight forward as possible and answering a question as straight forward as possible as well. All these other answers asking you to make another template and questioning why you would want something a certain way are just a waste of time and adds to the confusion more than they help.
Although posting a picture is always very helpful, it is useless to people that are somewhat computer illiterate if it doesn't have any instructions along with it.
Anyhow, if you haven't already solved this problem, I hope this will help you out.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
You can do that from within the program lilcholo, that's the point :)
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
neodeist
You can do that from within the program lilcholo, that's the point :)
You can?
I know how to change the options on the units and such but how does one save it to be the default?...within the program itself?
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lilcholo
but how does one save it to be the default?...within the program itself?
Main menu / File / Save template...
Then in the save dialog select "Use as default template" check box.
You can have any filename and you don't have to specify the path to where the templates are stores as it is set by default.
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
covoxer
Main menu / File / Save template...
Then in the save dialog select "Use as default template" check box.
You can have any filename and you don't have to specify the path to where the templates are stores as it is set by default.
Ahhh, thanks!
So I guess someone should have just said....
1. Open desired template
2. Set desired unit in options
3. File> Save Template
I find using bullets or numbered steps makes things easier to explain things....as well as understand them.
Anyhow, this still adds another template.
I think the real point here was having a certain unit set as a default for the templates already provided but adding another template/s isn't a biggie either.
For me, having to change the units from inches to pixels is also no biggie but I understand the point of being able to set whichever unit we desire to be the default and having that option in the Unit Options Dialog would have been great.
Oh well!
-
Re: Why must we still contend with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lilcholo
Anyhow, this still adds another template.
Not necessary, you can chose the file to overwrite right in the save dialog. Have you tried this at all?