A thought on .svg

Something has been going through my mind about this whole "convert .xar to .svg" import / export issue
Would it not make more sense to try to create the ability to "save as" an .svg rather than "export" as .svg??
To have the ability to save an image created with xara as either a .xar, or an .svg?

Even Inkscape does not "export" as .svg.... it "saves as" .svg.

Could it be, that this entire issue has been looked at from the entirely wrong perspective?
It's just a thought... after all, I am rather "techo-impaired":rolleyes:

Paul Inkscape's native format is .svg. Xara's native format is .xar so saving is to native format.

For Xara .svg is a foreign format and would therefore be an export and/or import option.

At least that is how I see it.

True in XARA's case, but I notice in CorelDrawX3 the main difference between 'Export' and 'Saves As', is that Exporting includes common RASTER file types (bmp, jpg, png, gif, tiff etc), where 'Saves As' doesn't.
The 'Save As' still has many files types to select from.

I think Xaras model makes more sense frankly

My thought was, if only inkscape and xara, were able to implement each other's "save as" scripts (or what have you) it might actually be an easier work around than trying to find a way to convert them??
I understand the format ideology, but.. isn't the "save as" process, what defines which format the document is to be processed as? So, if you draw an image in any software... it is not in any format, until it is saved as which ever format... I'm just wondering if this would be worth looking into some more, seriously.

It seems Corel saw this and understood it, and implemented it?

My logic appears to differ from yours Paul..

If I went to a Chinese take-away, it would be reasonable to assume that I wanted a Chinese meal.
If when presented with the meal I asked them if I could have it presented as a Döner kebab instead, they may be able to do this only if they have the proper means and are fully aware of what a Döner kebab should look like.

However if I really wanted a Kebab in the first place, I'd certainly be better off going to a Kebab shop first (if there was one in my town).

Corel tries to be a Shopping Mall, while Xara is a specialty shop.

Paul

The information that is held internally in xara and inkscape is coded [programmed] in particular ways - I have not seen either programs code in any detail, but its a safe bet they are different.

save and export are just words - whatever name you tag the conversion process with you cannot just tack one programs onto another, because if you like they may be doing the same thing but they speak a different language - they will not be able to understand each others 'scripting' - they will be looking for the information in all the wrong places.

Ahhh, so I guess what's been going through my mind is... a "poo-poo for 2":D
Ok, well..... there goes another theory out the window:rolleyes:
Too bad, I had thought this might be a valid thought (cuz I only get about 1 or 2 a year)

But hey, that's life in the cookie jar. And since we're all such tiny little crumbs, it just doesn't matter:)

Thanks for the input guys... I can always rely on you to steer me away from certain doom;) I was actually gonna load both xara lx & inkscape onto a spare pc and disect them completely to see if I could pull off a Frankenstien:eek: I think it may have caused me to go completely insane..... (er):rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by geminiguy

..I was actually gonna load both xara lx & inkscape onto a spare pc and disect them completely to see if I could pull off a Frankenstien:eek: I think it may have caused me to go completely insane..... (er):rolleyes:

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For goodness sake Paul, don't let anyone here stop you from going insane.. :D
Please slip into your white coat, enter your lab and experiment.. You never know what you might discover!

That's "Dr. Paul" to you:D

I might just do it.... what's the worst that could happen ?..... right?

right?:(
:D

you have one vast shopping mall several miles long and in your hand is a list of every item for sale in that mall and where to find it

in the next town is another identical mall - but - you guessed it - all the items are in completely different places, so you have to make a list that cross references...
- but wait, those darn store people keep moving things around so you need to... this is where it gets difficult :D

I wish that inkscape and Xara would play nice together. There are some features in Xara I like that are not in Inkscape, but I simply cannot find a file format that allows for an editable file to be shared between the two. Why is that?

PDF offers quite a lot of cross-app editing.. There are some things/effects to avoid however.

Steve the Linux version of Xtreme does not have PDF export or import.

There has been very little development on the linux version by the open source community.

The members here are users of the software and not developers. Although some developers visit from time to time.

Giminiguy may be able to provide more information. He is more familiar with happenings in the Linux area.

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Steve the Linux version of Xtreme does not have PDF export or import.

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Hmmm - I thought it did when I gave it a whirl under Ubuntu about a month ago :confused:
Unable to check as the HDD was needed so Ubuntu had to go.
Oh well - hazy memory :rolleyes:

Bill.... Have you spent some time in New Zealand ? :)

I booted up my Linux machine and XaraLX can import pdf but can only export jpg, gif, and png.

Steve I haven't spent any time in New Zealand. South East Asia, Philipines, Okinawa, Honshu, and Korea were areas I spent a lot of time. A couple of days in Hong Kong and a few hours at most on some of the islands around the Pacific rim when I had time to hitch hike on the courier flights.

Yes it has the option to export as .PDF but when that is pulled into inkscape its basically treated like an imported image.

I love the brush effects from Xara, but I can get similar effects in Inkscape. I would use Xara more if it was more robust and able to interact with programs like Inkscape better.

Even under Windows, many of Xara's effects are way ahead of other vector apps ability to reproduce
Best sticking to shapes and text without effects when cross-app editing.

Inkscapes Cairo PDF to Xara seems to work well in my (limited) testing

if you are exporting pdf from inkscape to xarapro - do NOT mix bitmap and vector - strip out the bitmaps first and reinsert them when the vector only pdf has been imported into xara - else you are liable to get errors.

that said this is my experience with inkscape 045/46 on windows XP - may be different on linux of course

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Originally Posted by Soquili

Steve I haven't spent any time in New Zealand.

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:D That's fine - I'm having a poke at your 'spilling' in post 13.. The NZ accent often leans to the pronunciation of 'e' as an 'i' (and vice-versa for some words)

Makes going to the bottle shop (liquor store) and asking for a six-pack quite amusing ...

Ah...it is amusing to the locals when I say pen for a writing tool and they pronounce it as pin. :D

My spelling and word pronunciation have suffered from being exposed to too many languages. Over the years they have mingled within my memory and corrupted any elementary instructions from my teachers. ;)