Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Printable View

26 March 2002, 07:16 AM
ivan louette

Yesterday I had to convert a document created in Xara X with only greyscales. Thus I have converted all my fonts to editable shapes and pasted them with all simple vector graphics in one new file that I have exported to .ai. Then I have converted all shapes with Xara effects and transparencies to only one high definition tiff image.
Afterwards I have placed this image as a background image in an Illustrator file inside the evaluation version of Illustrator 10 and I have pasted the content of my .ai file in front of this image.

Exported to PDF it works very fine and I hope it will print correctly.

Another surprising thing: I have exported a DINA4 Xar page to a 1200 dpi tiff file. It failed to load in Photoshop, but I imported it easily in Xara X and was very surprized to move and zoom so smoothly on a 398 Mo bitmap file with only 512 Mo of Ram !!!

Kindly,
ivan
26 March 2002, 07:34 PM
Christine Farrelly

Thanks for this tip Ivan - it certainly sounds like a way round the AI export until Xara come up with a fully compatible export to AI. Export to PDF straight from Xara would be good too.

Christine
27 March 2002, 12:50 AM
Sean Sedwards

GhostScript (+GSview) will import Xara EPS and can export PDF.

Regards - Sean
27 March 2002, 06:16 AM
Jackie

I have Ghostscript installed, but just found pdf995 - this is a very nice set of programs.

It's adware (but not spyware) unless registered ($9.95 USD for each module, $19.95 for all three).

PDF995

Jackie
27 March 2002, 07:56 AM
ivan louette

Thanks everybody! Now I can say that it works correctly and the printbureau had no problems to read and print my PDF files (and they work with Mac's !!!)

Here are low rsolution samples of the work I have converted to PDF:

Roses Folder

Sean You are probably right about Ghostscript (+GhostView) which is an excellent and evolutive product. I tried it successfully when I had Windows NT and certainly I will download the latest version.

Mickie, many thanks for the link.

Kindly,
ivan
28 October 2005, 12:10 AM
tmhoogland

XnView and NConvert - conversion bn 400 file types

What you could possibly do is use XnView together with NConvert. The application is freeware. It has 400 file types that you can convert your files to. For example you could try to convert EPS to Xara format and then import into the program.

See:

http://www.xnview.com

:)
15 September 2006, 12:25 PM
Big Frank

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Hi all,

Just to update on this. I have just completed a design job, all done in Xtreme and exported to PDF within Xara, converting text to shape. I did not use Adobe PDF Writer, which I find makes a terrible hash of things. Anyway, when he received the files, the printer whined that he could not use PDF and had to have AI files. So I opened Illustrator CS (like he couldn't have done this himself), dropped in the PDF files and saved them to legacy AI, compatible with 10.

Anyway, I now have a bunch of perfect editable AI files from a pile of drawings created in Xara. If it hasn't already been covered, I hope it helps somebody else.
15 September 2006, 03:04 PM
amoore

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Sedwards

Regards - Sean

Sean! You're back!! Yaayyy!! We've been wondering where you were.

Allison
15 September 2006, 03:16 PM
Big Frank

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by amoore

Sean! You're back!! Yaayyy!! We've been wondering where you were.

Allison

Hardly. See his post date: 27 March 2002, 02:50 AM
15 September 2006, 08:32 PM
remi

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Frank

Anyway, when he received the files, the printer whined that he could not use PDF and had to have AI files. So I opened Illustrator CS (like he couldn't have done this himself), dropped in the PDF files and saved them to legacy AI, compatible with 10.

Perhaps, Xara Ltd. should start a public benefit organisation to support poor printers, who aren't able to invest 70 bucks in buying Xara Xtreme as an alternative software to print out Xara Xtreme drawings... :rolleyes:
15 September 2006, 09:46 PM
Big Frank

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by remi

Perhaps, Xara Ltd. should start a public benefit organisation to support poor printers, who aren't able to invest 70 bucks in buying Xara Xtreme as an alternative software to print out Xara Xtreme drawings... :rolleyes:

I would party in the streets on the day a printer has actually heard of Xara, let alone have it installed on his ageing WindowsME system, or worse, MacOS9.
16 September 2006, 12:48 AM
David O'Neil

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Frank

I would party in the streets on the day a printer has actually heard of Xara, let alone have it installed on his ageing WindowsME system, or worse, MacOS9.

I would add in my experience, that as long as the printer does not use a direct Xara printout, it would be ok. For some reason, when I print out from directly within Xara, the result is pretty grainy on my old HP1000. If I export to PNG, import that to Word, and print that Word document, the printout is perfect. For my work, this is fine at this point, but I hope this is not happening for everyone.

David
16 September 2006, 12:50 AM
-=Drifter=-

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Have you tinkered with the Printer Options in Xara Xtreme?
16 September 2006, 01:26 AM
David O'Neil

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

I found I always used the default 'Normal' and 'Automatic' print options in Xara. Will changing that make a difference?
16 September 2006, 01:33 AM
-=Drifter=-

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Personally, I have never needed to putz with the settings, but they are there and perhaps could do something about the graininess... or not. :confused:
16 September 2006, 01:59 AM
David O'Neil

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Drifter=-

Personally, I have never needed to putz with the settings...

To be honest, I never thought about playing with the settings, as I never played with the settings in Word as I was doing it. Next time I play with it, I'll try it out...
18 September 2006, 03:17 PM
amoore

Re: Experimenting .Xar files conversion to PDF with Illustrator 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by David O'Neil

For some reason, when I print out from directly within Xara, the result is pretty grainy on my old HP1000.

I generally get excellent output printing directly from Xara. I've printed many times to Lexmark color and monochrome laser printers, and an HP Deskjet 970. Currently, my inkjet is a Canon Pixma 4200. No HP laser, however.

Depending on the image, you might also try printing to pdf. I've gotten some great pdfs using Xara's export to pdf filter. I've also gotten some problematic pdfs because of transparency and Live Edit effects. Sometimes, when the export filter doesn't do what I need, I can print to Jaws PDFCreator successfully.