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No, I'm not a farmer!
I have begun using Xara to create graphics for the websites I design at work. I need to know what is the best way to "crop" images?
I have used the technique of placing a shape over my desired image, selecting the shape and the image, then intersecting them. However, many times I get a fuzzy edge when I save as a bitmap
(gif or jpg, but I don't see it until it is on the website. I end up taking the raster image into ImageReady and using its crop tool.
My goal is to eventually do everything graphically possible in Xara for my web design, but I keep having to fall back onto my "Adobe" crutches!
Any tips or tutes out there for me?
Many thanks!
Gary V.
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No, I'm not a farmer!
I have begun using Xara to create graphics for the websites I design at work. I need to know what is the best way to "crop" images?
I have used the technique of placing a shape over my desired image, selecting the shape and the image, then intersecting them. However, many times I get a fuzzy edge when I save as a bitmap
(gif or jpg, but I don't see it until it is on the website. I end up taking the raster image into ImageReady and using its crop tool.
My goal is to eventually do everything graphically possible in Xara for my web design, but I keep having to fall back onto my "Adobe" crutches!
Any tips or tutes out there for me?
Many thanks!
Gary V.
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but, perhaps you could try cropping the graphic on the same colour background that you will be exporting the graphic to.
I know that you need to do this when creating transparent GIFs or you get a fuzzy edge. Perhaps this is true of cropping too. It's worth a try.
J [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img]
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As well as wyccaad's point above another cause of the fuzzy edges may be that the intersecting shape is not a complete pixel size. Ensure that the intersect shape is an exact number of pixels and see if this removes the fuzziness.
Egg
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WebXealot 31
There is a complete list of just about everything you want to know in the XaraXone WebXealots. And they are all categorized by subject matter.
Gary
Gary Priester
Moderator Person
<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>
http://www.thuntek.net/gwp/flag.png
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If not using Alpha Channels, my favorite way is to:
- turn on Snap to Grid
- place rectangle over the area to saved
- set fill to none & adjust size to desired crop
- set line to no color
- Export Selection
Wish Xara didn't default to Alpha Channel ON. Does anyone know how to change this default?
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What's an Alpha Channel please?
J [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]
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an alpha channel is an additional channel to the three or four color channels your artwork consists of. the alpha is the transparency channel. so the darker parts in the alpha channel are more transparent and the lighter less.
cu
FLySOLO
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When you have one bit for every pixel, this pixel can be black (=no light) or white (=light) on your monitor. When you have 8 bits, this same pixel can have 256 diffent intensities of light. These are numbered 0 for black to 255 for pure white.
On a black and white monitor, or monitor setting, you get 256 greyscale values.
A colour monitor works with three different colours to build up light, and every colour can be set to 256 different intensities. These colours are Red, Green and Blue (RGB). The specific value of each colour is added to the result colour. So if all three of the "channels", because that is how they are called, are at full power, you get white light. And if red and blue are off (at zero) you get green at the intensity it is set.
The same for printing, only there the colour has to be printed with a mixture of small dots from the screening. The colours that are mostly used are Cyan, Yellow, Magenta. In the ideal circumstances, you should be able to make all colours with these, but because of the imperfection of the pigments, you need to add Black ink to get a (unfortunately still) washed out view of what you see on your monitor.
Sometimes in print, when you need really specific colours that can't be mixed, you need to add what is called a spot colour. This information is stored in yet another channel that is called "Spot Channel".
You can also make masks to cover up some areas that you don't want to include or work with. These are saved as selections in yet another channel called "Alpha Channel". This makes some parts transparant, and some opaque.
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My favorite way to crop is to copy my file (so I have a back up) Then:
Select and group everything. (this puts everything in the top layer of those you grouped)
create another layer and draw a shape that you want your crop to be. It can be anything.
Cut this shape and paste it into your grouped layer.
Still selected send your shape to the bottom and change the line and fill to nothing.
Still selected select all.
Apply clip view.
Have a nice cup of tea.
Huge regards
Dave
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I apologize for posting a question and then waiting 3 days to check for replies! Thanks to every one who had suggestions and info.
I'll try some of your techniques. I was already
using the "similar color" background, but hadn't thought about complete pixels. I've been used to the raster images that naturally use complete pixels.
It still seems simpler to take the raster image into Imageready and crop it, but then I get a certain loss to the image quality, so I'll just have to streamline my Xara techniques!
Gary V.
The more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I am!
