Question about drawing

Ok.. I'm not all that familiar with the "language" of xara xtreme pro.. but this is my question:

When I draw something with details.. lets say a xmas wreath for example.. I draw all the leaves and I move them all together to make the final wreath..all the lines that overlap.. is there an easy way that I have yet to learn on how to join all the leaves WITHOUT making it ONE line around the outside only? I want to keep all my individual leaves but just want to get rid of the overlap.

I am not making the wreath with a fill.. I just want the final outlines... without the overlap. Having a heck of a time figuring this out.

Could you post a simple examples of what you would like to accomplish? Your question is not very clear (to me at least :) )

Risto

yes.. let me do up something real quick and that will help me in my poor attempt to explain !! :p

ok.. this is just a quick example.. I drew a holly leaf and want to move them around and have some appear to be behind and move them around and eventually have the shape of a wreath.. see how messy it gets? Is there a way to have the overlapping lines cut off?? I want to end up exporting the finished shape as an .AI image so that I can use it in another way... so I want to keep all the basic lines... I can't have it be solid white or once I export as an .AI image it will be solid black.

Does that make sense??

You can make your outlined leaf into a brush. In the movies that come with your programme have a look at "creating a brush, + editing a brush". These movies are found under Help, then down to Movies, the scroll down to Lines & Shapes and then tick the movie you would like to see. Play about with these brushes they may help. Took the ivy shape straight out of the clip art

ok.. so what will creating it as a brush help me to accomplish?

This isn't a smart alecy question.. lol I'm serious.. I know it might come across differently...

I totally appreciate the help.:D

HI TammyKat,
Try filling in all the leaves with any color, or lots of different colours to make it easier to distinguish (and select) them, place them where you want, and when you are happy with the result, select them all and click on the mesh icon on the left of the colour line, and the fills will disappear.
Saludos,
Bob.

But in the end won't I still have all the overlapping lines showing? I need them to not show through the other leaves...

Maybe I should show you guys what I want it too look like in the end by adding the color white... and then maybe it will be easier.

ok.. see how this looks... this is how I want my end result to look.. but I can't have a fill color of white or any other color or else when I export as an .AI file and try to use it I will have solid black instead of the outlines that I need.

Does this make any sense yet to anyone?

No it won't be black in Illustrator. Exports from Xara work well in Adobe programs.

well let me explain further then...

once I export as an .AI file.. I open it in AI and then select all, flatten transparency, edit/copy then open Photoshop CS2 and paste as a shape layer. If I have a solid white fill once I do these steps I have a solid black shape. Thats not what I want. I just want the outline shapes.

Does anyone know if this is possible without editing every single line in xara so that they don't overlap??

I don't use Illustrator, but I know Albacore does, he may be able to clarify what you need to do when you import into Illustrator, but if you put each holly leaf on a separate layer and then name each layer, remove the ouline colour and the fill and then export that to Illustrator, will you be able to do the necessary once it's imported into Illustrator?
Saludos,
Bob.

If you are combing pre-existing shapes I don't know of a way to do it without editing. I think you would have to make a sketch , scan it and then trace or draw the lines that you want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TammyKat

well let me explain further then...

once I export as an .AI file.. I open it in AI and then select all, flatten transparency, edit/copy then open Photoshop CS2 and paste as a shape layer. If I have a solid white fill once I do these steps I have a solid black shape. Thats not what I want. I just want the outline shapes.

Does anyone know if this is possible without editing every single line in xara so that they don't overlap??

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I'm still not sure what you want to achieve.

You don't have to flatten transparency (there's none) and whatever you paste from AI to PS as a shape layer is a solid shape, also shapes created with AI.

If you want the shapes to be editable vectors in PS, paste them from AI as paths. If not, just choose PS as the default bitmap editor for Xara, then create bitmap copy from the objects (I have ctrl+shift+c as the shortcut)in Xara and doubleclick them, opens instantly in PS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by a4hire

If you are combing pre-existing shapes I don't know of a way to do it without editing. I think you would have to make a sketch , scan it and then trace or draw the lines that you want.

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thats what i'm hoping I don't have to do !! :(

Quote:

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I'm still not sure what you want to achieve.

You don't have to flatten transparency (there's none) and whatever you paste from AI to PS as a shape layer is a solid shape, also shapes created with AI.

If you want the shapes to be editable vectors in PS, paste them from AI as paths. If not, just choose PS as the default bitmap editor for Xara, then create bitmap copy from the objects (I have ctrl+shift+c as the shortcut)in Xara and doubleclick them, opens instantly in PS.

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Well when I do paths then the lines are all jaggy.. that doesn't work. The only way for me to get smooth lines from xara is to do how I described above.. at least thats the only way me and a bunch of others have found through another digiscrap forum.

I want to end up using these shapes in photoshop cs2 as custom preset shapes without jaggy lines. I don't always want a solid shape, so I'm trying to figure out an easier way to get my LINES instead... I just don't know how to get rid of the overlapping lines that I don't want. I wonder if somehow break lines will work ...

TammyKat,

If I understand your question correctly, use the shape editor tool to place a point or node where the leaves overlap. Then you can "break at points". This will separate that section from the rest of the line, and you can delete it. When you are finished with all the deletions, "join" the shapes. This should keep the lines with no fill. Or you could just group the lines, depending on what you want to do with them.

Of course, if I've misunderstood the question, the great thing about this forum, someone else will soon be by with another solution.:)

Mickie

that sounds right ! I will try that.. that will also be alot of work.. but I guess thats whats got to be done for me to get it right.

I didn't know exactly how that option worked.. so basically you just need a node there.. then it will break there... awesome.

Thank you !! I will hope for an easier answer, but think this sounds like my only choice. :)

Appreciate it !!

OK..What do i have to do to get the option for "break shapes" or "break points" I have it greyed out unless I "join shapes" but when I join shapes and then break shapes it doesn't do what I need.

How did you do what you did in that screenshot?? the step BEFORE the "break at points" ?

Make sure you are using the shape editor tool and have the node selected.

Mickie

A-HA !! lol thats why it didn't work ! I was selecting the whole shape !

I still have SO much to learn with the tools in xara ! I just LOVE drawing in it and prefer it over AI ! I still am lost in AI !

THANK YOU !!!!! :p :D

Just add a white fill?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

Just add a white fill?

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It doesn't work. I explained why up a few posts. :)

Point taken.

How about making your life easier and creating the leaf or leaves in Xtreme. Apply a white fill and you're in business. The leaf is a real easy shape.

Gary

I explained above why I can't use a white fill. It will create a black solid shape once I get it into Photoshop cs2.

I explain it up a few posts.

I think I understand your goal?

I created my version of holly in XXP by drawing lines, filling them with a nice holly green then cloning a copy ontop, removing the line then sending the cloned copy to the back. Then the (now to front) leaf I converted the line to shape. The leaf spine also was converted to a shape. The leaf/spine then grouped and duplicated as required.
Same process for berries.

The whole drawing was then exported to .ai and as you see opens in Illustrator exactly the same as drawn.

Hope this helps? (Xara file attached for you to use if suitable?)

ok.. now lets see if that will work for me for what I need...



Thank you so much !! Will let ya know what happens.

ok.. this is the outcome attached..

When there is a solid color it ends up a solid shape.


I am having a devil of a time. I think the only thing I can do is to draw it scan it and then trace it. I can't think of another way.

I can't even add the nodes and do line break.. I can't get it to even work for me.. will have to read a tut somewhere and see if I'm doing it right.

Thanks for everyones help.

Is this what you're looking for? Lines but no fill?
ron

Yep I think going throught the tutorials may be the answer.
Good luck and let us know what you came up with that was what you needed :)

Cheers

The fill doesn't matter, it's the way you import it into PS. Shapes are not vector objects.

from PS help:

About shapes and paths

Vector shapes are lines and curves that you draw using the shape or pen tools. Vector shapes are resolution-independent—they maintain crisp edges when resized, printed to a PostScript printer, saved in a PDF file, or imported into a vector-based graphics application.

Paths are outlines that you can turn into selections, or fill and stroke with color. The outline of a shape is a path. You can easily change the shape of a path by editing its anchor points. You can draw shapes in ImageReady, but you can’t work directly with paths.

When you work with the shape tools in Photoshop, you can draw in three different modes. You choose a mode by selecting an icon in the options bar when you have a shape or pen tool selected.

Shape Layers
Creates a shape on a separate layer. You can use either the shape tools or the pen tools to create shape layers. Because they are easily moved, resized, aligned, and distributed, shape layers are ideal for making graphics for web pages. In Photoshop, you can choose to draw multiple shapes on a layer. A shape layer consists of a fill layer that defines the shape color and a linked vector mask that defines the shape outline. The outline of a shape is a path, which appears in the Paths palette.

Paths Draws
a work path on the current layer that you can then use to make a selection, create a vector mask, or fill and stroke with color to create raster graphics (much as you would using a painting tool). A work path is temporary unless you save it. Paths appear in the Paths palette.

Fill Pixels Paints
directly on a layer—much as a painting tool does. When you work in this mode, you are not creating vector graphics. You work with the shapes you paint just as you do with any raster image. The Pen tools don't work in this mode.


1. Create your shapes in Xara, use a fill or not, doesn't matter (see 4.)
2. Import to AI
3. Copy & paste as paths to PS
4. Stroke, fill and boolean the shapes & paths to get the final shape...

or then just use xara to create & edit the shapes and bounce to PS like I explained. It's easy to change colours & strokes in xara and then create a new bitmap copy and bounce that to PS.

I'm sorry you are having trouble with the break at points. I've attached more detailed instructions. See if it helps.

Mickie

Hi TammyKat

Here is my thought on this - assuming I understand correctly
If you have xara pro you can export as pdf

One question (perhaps you already posted it, but in that case I missed it): Are you going to use the image in Photoshop or Illustrator? (or both??) I got the impression you are going to use PS. In that case, fill the leaves with white (which will cover the under laying lines) and either export as black & white bitmap at 600 dpi, or export as PDF. If you export as bitmap you change the color setting to RGB in PS and just use the magic wand to select and delete the white areas. Same thing if you open the PDF in PS (except that you set the color mode to RGB right away, and the prefered resolution) and then use magic wand to select and delete the white areas. If I understood your problem correctly I would suggest the PDF solution as it is more flexible.