preferred method / render external file XaraLX workable ?

+ While there is an obvious "best" solution to this problem...
always working in XaraLX(!), with xar format files... this isnt
always possible, or, many times I have found it necessary to
re-edit an image which was produced some time earlier in xaralx,
but is now available only in some external format.

XaraLX currently... that I know of... will [export] a jpg
nicely, or, a drawing can be printed to file, and worked with in
other programs... but - what is the preferred way to import a file
to xaralx, that can be made fully workable ? (this is to distinguish
from those files which import more as icons_ which can be added, as is,
to a file, but are largely not xara re-workable). I've inquired here similarly,
some months ago, but wanted to ask in this new way. Thanks.

PS - I dont understand Xara coding well enough to know how this might
be done - but I envision a "new" function which would automatically
reduce any graphic file to raw/editable Xara bits ?

+ After posting this topic yesterday, I worked all night trying to
come up with some more clear examples of the problems
I was having with this... as stated, it's something I had asked
about some time ago, with a specific file problem... the solution
to that - importing a PDF into XaraLX, and making it fully editable -
were in fact solved, though not entirely in XaraLX itself.

I may be asking the impossible... still, this seems like a
"most valuable feature"... so would turning water into gold I
guess :-)

+ My greatest successes... and I tried examples from all the
graphics programs I could find in Linux... were with SVGs, which
XaraLX does support the import/conversion of.
For example, an SVG imported from Inkscape, after basic coloring,
is as close to what I am referring to as a file "totally editable in
XaraLX"... this provides shapes which can now be individually
edited, re-colored easily, and which respond directly to shape
editing - everything we could hope for !
I had similar luck with SVGs generated in Dia, Figurine and Xfig,
and Gimp... yes... Gimp produces a terrific SVG output too.

I should end this now, and will look for comments from those in the
know... and I'll repeat my veiled question from yesterday... would
it anyway be possible to write a new Xara function which
took any graphic file, and automatically reduced it to this kind of
nice xara-editable form ?

Much thanks for your patience. Its a difficult topic, but one
which I consider would make a good addition to XaraLX functionality.

Hi stuseven,

you're talking about a common problem of each graphic package: To store a drawing you need a file and most of the graphic packages owns special functions, other packages doesn't own and therefore each graphic package has a own file format to save his drawings.

Some packages are able to import other file formats and some packages are also able to export to other file formats. Within Xara Xtreme for Linux this problem is solved through import/export filters. Currently there are not so much import/export filters available for Xara Xtreme for Linux. The Windows version Xara Xtreme PRO owns a new import filter to import PDF files as vector objects, but this function isn't available in the current Linux version of Xara Xtreme. So, you has to live with the current available import/export filters or you need programming skills in C++ to develop your own import/export filter (you'll find more information on this here). The other possible way is, that other graphic packages starts to support the .XAR format of Xara Xtreme (the .XAR file format is well documented here).

If you export your image as a bitmap (JPG, PNG, TIF, ...), the file isn't a vector drawing anymore. Therefore you need to export your drawing in a vector graphics format (for example CDR, AI, PDF, SVG). But these formats aren't able to store all the great drawing functions of Xara Xtreme. Therefore it's necessary for Xara Xtreme to change some objects within your Xara Xtreme drawing to be able to export in such a vector format. You see, there is no great format available to export your vector graphic in an editable object. Personally, I work within Xara Xtreme to create my vector drawings and - if necessary - import some bitmaps to enhance the Xtreme drawing. After that I save the .XAR file and export the same drawing as a PNG bitmap for using in Websites, Presentations or Documents. If I need to change something, I have the original .XAR file and am able to load the drawing within Xara Xtreme, again. So, you see, I use Xara Xtreme as my main graphic software tool to produce great bitmap images.

Regards,
Remi

Hi Remi, and thanks for your nice reply !
Yes... even though I know most of what you are saying,
I continue stubbornly to chase after some answer which
maybe isnt so practical. I do not give up on my idea... but
I can see, by your reply, some of the real limits to doing this
with files.
Good news that other Xara already can do this with PDF...
supposedly, windows-xara is gradually being ported to xaralx,
so maybe not so long to wait for this answer.

Thanks again for your reply.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by remi

Hi stuseven,

you're talking about a common problem of each graphic package: To store a drawing you need a file and most of the graphic packages owns special functions, other packages doesn't own and therefore each graphic package has a own file format to save his drawings.

Some packages are able to import other file formats and some packages are also able to export to other file formats. Within Xara Xtreme for Linux this problem is solved through import/export filters. Currently there are not so much import/export filters available for Xara Xtreme for Linux. The Windows version Xara Xtreme PRO owns a new import filter to import PDF files as vector objects, but this function isn't available in the current Linux version of Xara Xtreme. So, you has to live with the current available import/export filters or you need programming skills in C++ to develop your own import/export filter (you'll find more information on this here). The other possible way is, that other graphic packages starts to support the .XAR format of Xara Xtreme (the .XAR file format is well documented here).

If you export your image as a bitmap (JPG, PNG, TIF, ...), the file isn't a vector drawing anymore. Therefore you need to export your drawing in a vector graphics format (for example CDR, AI, PDF, SVG). But these formats aren't able to store all the great drawing functions of Xara Xtreme. Therefore it's necessary for Xara Xtreme to change some objects within your Xara Xtreme drawing to be able to export in such a vector format. You see, there is no great format available to export your vector graphic in an editable object. Personally, I work within Xara Xtreme to create my vector drawings and - if necessary - import some bitmaps to enhance the Xtreme drawing. After that I save the .XAR file and export the same drawing as a PNG bitmap for using in Websites, Presentations or Documents. If I need to change something, I have the original .XAR file and am able to load the drawing within Xara Xtreme, again. So, you see, I use Xara Xtreme as my main graphic software tool to produce great bitmap images.

Regards,
Remi

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