Corner Tool

Look Xara guys, this is the kind of new Vector tools we need in Xara:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN9vLYRbHWY

I have been using Xara for years and I have started a small sign cutting business (vinyl foils), which requires all corners of graphics to be rounded off.

I have just bought Affinity Designer (at 1/3 of the price of Xara) just to get the time saving corner tool. It actually looks like AD is more than a little 'inspired by' Xara and if I don't run into problems using it I might switch over completely as they are developing the vector drawing tools a lot more than Xara has done in the last many versions.

/JimR

I couldn't agree more Jim. I believe the majority of TG members are quite long in the tooth now, I'm 72, and we stick with Xara no longer as the best vector program but as something like an old pull-over we're comfortable in. We know the keyboard shortcuts and the multitude of menu items, and can't be arsed to learn the multi-options in new software.

Your example is a case in point. I have a friend who creates vinyl images. He prints them directly from a very old copy of Xara I gave him years ago, directly to an equally old Roland Vinyl Cutter. Occasionally if he finds an image to hard to produce himself he will ask me to create one for him.

Problems invariably arise with hard corners and I often spend long period rounding these corners to get a clean cut.

How much better if Xara had AD's rounding function. So easy to use, not even a global rounding, but individual rounding per node if required.

Here's an image of a train I created in Xara, exported as an svg, imported into AD, rounded and re-exported to svg for import into Xara. (which has sizing issues!) Oh, if we could just do it all within Xara.....

my latest vinyl foil creation, not really should what to do with it....:cool:

Attachment 126826

JimR

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Originally Posted by JimR

my latest vinyl foil creation, not really should what to do with it....:cool:

Attachment 126826

JimR

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Jim, you play it!

@Egg - for square corners I played around with some shims:

:pointAttachment 126827

These are 128px so I just scale down 50% repeatedly to get to 1px, if needed.
I butt the solid shape into interior corners and Add Shapes.
I position the winged line onto outer corners and Slice.

Doesn't help with harder curves but I also play with a 1-step outer Round join Contour and play with its Shape controls.

Acorn

Fine Acorn, but a workaround still. Jim's point was why can't Xara do this natively I think?

Jim already has the best workaround for this - it's called Affinity Designer - always use the best tool for the job if you can ;)

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Fine Acorn, but a workaround still. Jim's point was why can't Xara do this natively I think?

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Originally Posted by handrawn

Jim already has the best workaround for this - it's called Affinity Designer - always use the best tool for the job if you can ;)

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What I was trying to do was encourage a designer debate.
Those were pre-AD ideas I had for an intractable Xara problem.

'Show & Tell' is a powerful way of documenting an issue to Xara, which as a counterpoint to Serif's AD might spark it into action.
Asking for Feature X of Product Y is never going to stir it.

Acorn

I'm afraid that there is probably nothing to jolt Xara from its torpor, unless a few thousand volts could do the trick.
To all intents and purposes, Xara is dead, it has ceased to be...etc, etc.

Affinity is the future (and it's very cheap, too)

Seems the spark is missing :D

Attachment 126840

For what little it may be worth, an accurate and easy circular corner rounding tool/function is what I most would like to see in a future version of PGD.

i Find that I cad do most anything I need to do using Xara and always have no matter the version be it XDP or photo and graphic designer I admit there are sometimes easier ways to do certain things but Xara has always served me well, I'm too old to learn new software or CSS and I miss flash for animation now my brain can barely handle my beloved Xara. Just my 2 cents worth to add to the debate.

I believe I'm very much like you Larry. If I require a rectangle with various corners I can easily create them in Xara using 'work-arounds' A lot of new features go over my head, I just do it the old way.

But I agree with the OP that Xara has failed to develop such new features.

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

If I require a rectangle with various corners I can easily create them in Xara using 'work-arounds' A lot of new features go over my head, I just do it the old way.

But I agree with the OP that Xara has failed to develop such new features.

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+1

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I believe the majority of TG members are quite long in the tooth now, I'm 72

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Heh heh. Will be 80 in two months.

GP evidently you are a few months older than I.