Hi Xperts.
We all know about linear fills etc...
Shown in Pic 1.
But...
Is it possible to do a lenear fill along a curved object?
As I've tried to demonstrate in Pic 2.
Printable View
Hi Xperts.
We all know about linear fills etc...
Shown in Pic 1.
But...
Is it possible to do a lenear fill along a curved object?
As I've tried to demonstrate in Pic 2.
if you mean have the line of the fill follow the line of the curve the answer is no, in as much as there is no freeform fill in xtreme/designer
you'd have to have a seperate fill object and mould it or similar - maybe make use of blends - you can map those to a curve..
Thanks Steve.
I've been playing about with moulds and blends and so on but just wondered if linear fill along a curved object was something others had done?
I think it would be a great tool but then that's just me.
This has stopped me from creating a few things but that may also be to do with my lack of experience.
Linear fill along a curve would do it for me though!!!
actually Rik a linear fill is really just a blend in as much as it is made up of graduated bands of colour - so you should get good results with the blend tool for a simple non-linear but uniform fill
Hi Rik,
I think it's best just to use an ellipse fill, as per the example.
Ah!
Now maybe you can see why my thread started with the word 'Xperts'
I've done a few tutorials where profile has been adjusted but not really understood it.
So, I guess I'll have to look at that sort of stuff and see what I can try and work out.
Cheers James. I shall have a good look at your .xar file.
Many thanks indeed to you and Steve for taking the time to reply.:-bd
James: I've been looking at your .xar file and - Brilliant!
James - thats a good solution for the shape in question
might get complicated if there is more than one bend in the curve .... :)
Like this?
Hans
__________________________
That is very very cool Hans. Probably answers exactly what I want to do.
But, I for one, cannot see what you did.
Maybe I can see some blending in there but for the likes of me, there needs to be a bit of a tutorial.
EDIT: Having had another look, the name of your .xar file is a bit of a clue but a small tutorial would sitll be appreciated by me. And if you were to catch me in a pub, you would be able to demand a whole pint!
EDIT again: OK Hans. I removed the blends and can see exactly what you did.:-bd
or maybe:
Create a big line give color A,create smaller line give it color B,both have a convex3 stroke profile
Blend about 100 steps between both and voila a curved fill
Now if you want to edit the lines;
Go to the page&layers gallery and select the line you want to edit inside the blend
change position or whatever you want gives some strange and appealing results
Be careful not to select both lines and have end/home points overlap as this will cause an internal error
Hans
Steve.
I've learned a lot from taking people's .xar files apart.
But, I cannot see what you did. You got me. A bit too clever for me!
I drew a curved line - then I duplicated the layer
on the duplicate layer I drew a red rectangle and a blue rectangle and made a blend
then I fiitted the blend to the curve on the duplicate layer
then I reduced the point size of the curved line on layer one and used it to clipview the object on the duplicate layer [the resulting clipped object is on the duplicate layer]
this way you get a blend along the curve of the shape.....
OK.
Profiles is one thing and layers is another thing I've not played about with too much.
Probably one of the reasons why I don't play in PhotoShop too much. It's layers all over the place. I just don't like going to this layer to do this and that layer to do that.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to run down layers. I just find them to be a bit of a pain. Though I sort of understand and appreciate their uses.
So, I suppose you have to learn about them sooner or later.
I will now have another look at you file Steve.
James,
Some ways work better to create something,yours fits the thing you wanted as outcome
But try this with the ellipses :D
The blend contains only five lines
Hans
_________________________________
you dont have to use two layers Rik - thats not part of the process - I just find it easier to do it that way rather than have the copy on the working layer
Very nice effect Hans - it's amazing how many alternatives there are in Xara.
As a brush.
Note, a brush can contain 50 elements.
Rich
thats a good solution too Rich
and it could also be reshaped with a clipview envelope ...
Why not play more with Steve's original suggestion? Here's an example, although it might take a bit for some computers (including mine) to open the XAR file.
Attachment 79099Attachment 79100
That's good Dave.
We shouldn't forget that the OP was about whether a ‘linear fill’ could be applied to a curve so that it appears curved, and the answer to that is yes, but it’s called an ‘elliptical’ or ‘circular fill’. The fills in Xara include flat, linear, circular, elliptical, conical, diamond and so on. Blends are not fills. If the question was, “Can you simulate fills with blends?” that would be different.
For a curved object (not a line) that has complex multi curved areas, you need to either use a 3D program or something like a Photoshop's airbrush along with multi layer fades, transparency and blurs to get quality fills without bumps, deviations, lines, irregularities, humps, etc., as per my sample in post #14.
A linear fill can't be applied in the manner the OP wanted, and elliptical and circular fills become cumbersome (to the point of being unusable) when approximating lines with more than a couple of nodes. Therefore, the easiest solution in Xtreme to the OPs question is a blend. Stripping my previous example down a bit, you get an approximation of haakoo's line blends, but the bottom curve in my previous post shows that you can get an additional effect this way: smoothly changing colors along the length of the line.
Attachment 79102Attachment 79101
Interesting points, Dave.
Rik provided two examples of a simple curved object (see attached), not a line. The first pic had a linear fill while the second had a fill that fitted the curve better. He simply wanted to know if a linear fill could accomplish the curved fill look. This was achieved with an ellipse fill and fill profile tool (see attached .xar file).
Nobody said the ellipse fill tool was best for more complex curved objects, and nobody suggested similar effects could not be achieved with blends. The ellipse fill tool exists and has its use, and this was a perfect example of how to use it.
A blend is not a fill, which is what the OP was asking about.Quote:
the easiest solution in Xtreme to the OPs question is a blend.
The OP shape wasn’t about a line, and the question wasn’t about blends, but fills. What is it with you guys and lines?Quote:
the bottom curve in my previous post shows that you can get an additional effect this way: smoothly changing colors along the length of the line.
sometimes it is difficult to assess whether a question asked is very specific or more general [I took Rik's question to be a fairly general one - maybe I was wrong]
it is also moot to argue whether filling an object can only be done with a 'fill tool' rather than with some other tool, as long as it works
certainly the thread title to me is non-specific
for that matter you might just as well argue that an eliptical fill is a cheat - because an eliptical fill is not a linear one - you get a linear effect if it is clipped by the boundaries of the object, but that does not make it linear ;)
there was a tradition on these forums a while back that threads could develop in a general way as long as there was logical progression and the core topic was maintained
this is something I would like to see return, as long as it is constructive
[said with moderator hat on]
I think you misunderstood me Steve – I have no problem at all with discussions developing and altering as they evolve. I was merely clarifying the question and that it was answered. Feel free to talk about blends and lines all you like.
In fact I will start it off again myself, in reference to David’s last post:
David – I downloaded the blend you attached in post #26 (the one that looks like an elephant trunk), and it crashed my program as it was trying to load. The second time it was okay for a minute, but each time I moved it on the page it took a while to redraw. Then it began to jitter and shake and stalled in reloading. I had to close the file and reload. It was a 300 step blend which normally poses no problem for my machine.
I created the same shape to show you another way to produce the ‘fill’ effect using clones and transparencies. Instead of using your original I placed a screenshot of it on the page to avoid crashes and glitches. Next to that I produced the same image using transparencies and another with corrected shadows.
just making a point James, not intended to be directed at anyone, sorry :)
a lot can be learned fom wider discussion...
The question was ultimately about how to produce an effect in Xtreme. If you are going to throw a hissy when different answers are put forth, I'll disappear for a while more.
The first of my examples illuminated a logical extension of the OPs question, with colors changing along the length of the curve. It can be used to do what the OP asked, by keeping the colors the same on the two ends. If I used these in a production drawing I would probably immediately convert to a high-res transparent bitmap, and put the original vector objects on a hidden layer. Then you can add transparencies as your latest example shows, to get more natural shadows. But doing non-shadow color-changing effects like was done in my first example cannot easily be done with transparencies. (Yes, I know the OP didn't ask for that effect, but consider it a freebie.)
Best wishes,
David
PS - You might want to play with clipviews, as they can look much better than a bunch of semi-transparent elliptical fills stacked on top of each other. The clipview version only has three shapes.
Attachment 79119Attachment 79120
WOW!
What an amazing amount of discussion.
My original question was about a linear fill along a curved object. That was beautifully answered by James in post #5.
One main reason for this specific question was that I feel that I can control/change a fill a lot easier than a blend.
I've also looked at all the other files that have been so kindly attached by all the participants. THANK YOU ALL.
Whilst I would probably not use blends for what I was thinking of, that's not to say that they would not prove useful.
The transparency blends look a bit mind-boggling to me, so, I've put them in a 'look at later' folder!;))
Another great post is #33. I use clipview all the time and yet, I had not thought of using it for this purpose! Thanks indeed.
EDIT: I forgot to say (just reminded by Steve) no please don't anyone disappear because it's the versatility that creates the beautiful blends!
There. I also managed to create a joke at the same time.;))
thats not suprising Rik
the [color] fill tools are blends that come preconfigured - the whole point is to make it easier :D - and you can do a lot with them as has been shown
but sometimes [as with shadow tool] you need more flexibility than presets can provide, so its back to the blend tool and the manual approach - and it is possible to create your own offsets if the blend tool profiles are insufficient, should you feel inclined ...
Pleas don't - its good to see you back :)
The question was about how to use a linear fill in an object. Anything we wished to add regarding blends and lines to the conversation was and is welcome as far as I’m concerned, but let’s not change history.
You mean you’ll throw a hissy? :DQuote:
If you are going to throw a hissy when different answers are put forth, I'll disappear for a while more.
My position was expressed cheerfully. You and others assumed the OP was about a line, hence all your line examples. I politely pointed out it was about an object, not a line.
Three points here (expressed cheerfully):Quote:
The first of my examples illuminated a logical extension of the OPs question, with colors changing along the length of the curve.
1) The shape you chose was not the shape in the opening post, which curved to a sharp point. Like Steve’s blend on a line, yours had two blunt ends.
2) Neither of the blends you provided in your first post showed curved shapes (which involve shadows, as per the OP). They showed bright colours fading from one to another, with no shadow and thus no curve. If you mean ‘curve’ in terms of a wriggly line, then you misunderstood the term ‘curved objects’.
3) It was two blends blended together in a third blend - not a fill - as explained in my last post.
That is an excellent approach too, but as clipviews were already mentioned in the thread I was showing yet another approach, with transparencies.
Not quite. A fill is a graduated colour, while a blend is a series of intermediate objects.
Great! Another moderator who is full of themselves. I am just glad the OP got what he wanted.
Best wishes,
David, the lurker (again)
no .... :D
Because I am not saying it is not graduated colour - I am saying the graduation is made up of descrete bands [steps] [and incidently there is a maximum number available determined by the bit-size used by the program ]
those bands constitute a blend - there was a time when there was no fill tool and you did it all with blends - and there might well be some guys around who remember when there was no blend tool, you had to make all the intermeditary steps yourself to create a vector fill - and in command line too :eek:
we should be grateful