Designer Pro is a beautiful thing,.....I love the sketch tool too! But again,....they forgot the eraser tool.....Oh well,..I'll check back in about 6 months......maybe then.
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Designer Pro is a beautiful thing,.....I love the sketch tool too! But again,....they forgot the eraser tool.....Oh well,..I'll check back in about 6 months......maybe then.
:(
you can 'erase' by drawing an 'erase' line, converting it to shape, and subtracting - however if you subtract from another line that will be coverted to shape
you probably know this but worth mentioning
HandDrawn,
Yes,....That way does work,....or I can simply use Illustrator or SerifDraw or Corel Draw or Inkscape and simply deploy the eraser tool and wipe away whatever parts of a stroke that I don't like.....
Problem is....I LOVE XARA for everything else it does.....just wishing they would have dropped that tool in the toolset for 2010. Oh well,......
Must not be a big demand for it....
That's the way it goes...
td
:D
4 out of 5 vector editors agree - an eraser saves enough time to become a feature - something xara has been doing quite a bit of, but sadly, not here ;))
I know it's been posted in Dear Xara before but perhaps it's time to ask again. The more users that Xara sees asking for a feature the more likely they may include it in a future release. And they will be most likely to see it there. I know I for one would be very happy to have a proper eraser tool.
I'll add my 2 cents. One of the tools I miss most in Xara products that is in all of the other graphics packages I use. I also love the Xara products and would like to quit using some of the other packages but unfortunately need to use it (particularly when I need to modify a graphic from some place else).
WOW! I guess that I'm actually not alone in this! I do remember this being requested before on several occasions and not just by me. I'm betting that it must be a real booger to develop one. What a shame too because without one,....I cannot do any of my personal work on the program. It's THAT important to me and how I work.
I'm just curious, TDolce, what exactly do you need an 'eraser' for that can't be done already using vector shapes. I've used Xara Xtreme Pro or one of its incarnations for several years now and never once thought, "Dang, if only I had an eraser tool." I'm neither for nor against an eraser tool I'm just looking for you to persuade me (and/or Xara) why I need one and what, exactly, I'd use it for.
Can you post an example or describe a situation detailing what is so important or impossible for you to do in XX/XXP/XP&GD/XDP that can't be done without the use of an eraser tool? Like I said, right now I'm neutral on the subject but, hey, if you can show me how an eraser tool could be used to help me out on a drawing I might want one too. :D
Yes, I'm usually this curious and willing to learn something new.
Learn me,
Harry
The thing is, as I mentioned before, this would be terribly easy to implement. In effect, it's just an UI enhancement.
The eraser tool would basically work exactly like the pencil tool internally, but instead of inserting the drawn shape, it would just automatically execute the substract operation.
Well :)
I have no idea how easy or difficult it would be to add an eraser but from a freehand drawing stand point it would go hand in hand with the new pressure sensitivity and sketch mode features. Many tablets have pens that can be turned upside down to use an eraser function (just like a pencil) Just think an eraser with pressure sensitivity now that would be cool.
Hi Harry
its not really about something not possible in principle, its about speed and freehand artistry [for me anyhow] so maybe not an issue for those not using a tablet
I attach a very quick and simple example [ its an ear]
to turn the left into the right, in a random artistic, 'seat of the pants' way really needs an eraser - and then, especially if its pressure sensitive it takes literally a couple of seconds [EDITED - to get left and right, right way round :eek:]
in the case of one 'eraser line' you can use the workaround I posted earlier - but if you do not want to convert your base line to shape this is not on - plus if you have a whole bunch of 'erase lines' to subtract as one it gets tedious
Perhaps the fact that illustrator, inkscape, coreldraw and serifdraw all have erasers speaks for itself...:eek:
You must ask for web tools, or for a new tool or feature to handle raster images. Xara forgot the word VECTORIAL, they are not offering real upgrades in vector tools since V3.
Oh, so now you know all the code in the world?
I don't find explaining you the Camelot code anything near to easy. And you say it is "terribly easy to implement" for you. So it is much easier for you to just implement it. Right?Quote:
If you tell me the major implementation obstacles I'm overlooking
Was I wrong with my statement that basically, all that Xtreme would have to do is
1. Act as if the eraser tool was the pencil tool
2. Select all shapes underneith and touched by the last drawn stroke, and then execute the "Substract" function
?
You are wrong assuming that these two very generalized ideas are "terribly easy to implement" on practice. I don't find it terribly easy to implement. Unless my understanding of the term "terribly easy" is somewhat incorrect.
It is certainly terribly easy to understand what it is supposed to do, but there is a huge difference between the concept and it's implementation.
I would appreciate if you don't do such far going conclusions without having any remote understanding of the code in question. Most people reading this forum are not programmers at all and they can be confused by this.
OK. Maybe I'm just a bad programmer then :) I had several of these situations when I was still working on Blender - I had an idea, thought it was "terribly easy" to implement, and then just implemented it and committed to CVS. A few weeks or months later, someone else removed it and committed a "cleaner version". That took much longer to implement, but well. I'm just too impatient. Sorry :)
My thoughts exactly! Erase with shapes? Uh,....no. My idea of erasing is to immediately remove a portion of a line without having to dive into measures that break up the spontaneity of the sketching process. As a tablet user,......this IS a huge deal for me. Whether it's hard or easy to implement on the programming side really wasn't what my beef was about,....but this VECTOR tool is being included in many other VECTOR graphics programs out there.
Sold! +1 from me for an Eraser Tool.
Great example Steve J. You've convinced me that an eraser tool would be a fine addition to Xara's software tool set. I can now see where the eraser tool could be used to speed up some operations, easily add a touch of artistic flair to drawings and cartoons, and allow one to quickly 'roughen up' the hard edges of vector objects. As both you and TDolce say, this would be a definite boon to tablet users.
Thanks for the explanation,
Harry
pleasure Harry
another example is airbrushing - if you are coloring in a line drawing with airbrush [on lower layer] you always need to overstep the line to get the effect
you can mask - but with an eraser you could also just wiz round and remove, especially if you want the overlap in places but not in others
As one who has used Xara for 10 years, I would like to defend them on this. Developing an eraser tool for a bitmap program is very simple, that's why they all have them. But for a vector graphics program it is more tricky, obviously or Xara would have done it years ago just to appease the "traditionalists". My experience with other packages is that the Xara method of using other drawings to remove bits you don't want is actually quicker, once you get used to it. Or have you never used Illustrator? I admit that the Xara way is not very intuitive, but what aspect of using a computer is? Every program has skill sets you need to learn to use it properly. If an eraser is really a deal breaker for you, then you don't really understand much about using Xara. Perhaps you should spend a bit more time with it?
Why is this a fair statement when xara constantly (and rightly so) develops and markets its bitmap/photo/raster editing features alongside its vector ones? An "easily implemented" eraser feature would be useful 50% of the time, or more, depending on why the person bought xara in the 1st place. Some use vector 90% of the time, some raster 70%.... Isn't that the beauty of the program's design-- both capabilities in one program?
I see that my "easily implemented" statement now increasingly gets quoted ;)
I didn't want to make the Xara developers appear ridiculous or anything by saying this - it was just my (maybe overly) spontaneous assessment of the situation :)
I mean, you can currently "emulate" an eraser by just drawing over the shape with the pencil and then "Substract shapes", so I thought it would be "terribly easy" to implement.
Maybe that was an exaggeration, but "terribly hard" would probably be an exaggeration as well ;)
perhaps if you draw with shape editor
no way if you draw freehand
like I say illustrator has an eraser - right ?
so does every other meaningful vector editor.. there is a message here, yes?
10 years I use xara vector editor also - is this long enough?
It seems like they forgot to add the anti-aliasing feature in Xara Developer Pro 6. I am getting mangled fonts.
I took a standard Arial font, added bold and italics and this is what I got.
http://www.secondstorywine.com/mangledxara.gif
Am I the only one or are others experiencing the same issue?
I did the same thing with Xara Xtreme Pro 5 and it handled it perfectly.
You didn't by any chance set the view quality to lower than 3 or 4?
Increase view quality.
As already mentioned your view quality setting is low.
Ah!
Thank you! Apparently, someone sat at my desk during lunch and played around with the Quality Slider. I just moved it back to 5 and all is fixed.
Now, I need to find the co-worker who played around with my Xara Designer Pro!
Thanks everyone! I will be upgrading to Designer Pro 6.
Yep a speedy eraser tool would be useful.
Having not used Corel or Illustrator for some years now, I've never used a vector package with an eraser, but have to say it does sound handy.
Having watched a video of the tool in use in Illustrator it appears to amount to the same as selecting two objects in Xara then choosing Arrange>Combine Shapes>Subtract Shapes from the menu. If Xara are considering adding such a tool then I would suggest that it would be much more powerful if implemented as a clipview, thus remaining both editable and reversible.
Seems simple enough to me! <FX="ducks_and_runs">
Posting "I want this and that" on the talk graphics forums is of little use as the TG members are the only people who will read them for sure.
To make sure that Xara notice your wish you have to post it on the Dear Xara forum.
So my suggestion to everyone who wants this tool to be implemented and not just to share their feelings among others, is to post it in the Dear Xara forum.
done
thanks
So everyone make a new thread for the same feature with the same subject in the dear Xara forum.
The dear Xara forum isn't an area for sharing your personal feelings either so therefor each person that would like this as a new feature should create a new thread. We wouldn't want to break the forum rules.
:cool:
Apparently, there already is a thread in Dear Xara for this:
http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=36964
more than one open is not appropriate it would seem...
Jaffdave, You can certainly make a post in the existing Dear Xara eraser tool thread. The idea of Dear Xara is to have all feature requests and such in one place where it is easy for Xara to see and find it all. The more voices in the correct place, the more likely Xara will be to consider the feature for a future release.
Funny,..even on the old thread where the request for the eraser tool was submitted it too was met with the same scrutiny. It seems that the tool is not one of those that is widely needed and may have a lot to do with the style of drawing that some people employ as opposed to the style of others... Neither position or stance on the subject is wrong.....and everyone certainly has a right to their opinion...
even if mine is the right one..(big goofy grin)
Seriously,...when I complain about the lack of an eraser tool,..please keep in mind that we are talking about an already great application here. Xara Designer Pro is truly one of the best out there!!! No question there.