How to Bend a Collection of Objects

**bubbidge** · 19 February 2007, 02:52 PM

Yeah i tried that mate and it wouldnt import at all.

It acts as if it will import, the placement icon comes up in the workspace, i click where i want th import to be place but nothing imports.

**Grafixman** · 19 February 2007, 03:03 PM

That is strange. Draw's import export works pretty well for me.

. How about .wmf? Or if nothing works, I would be tempted to create the gradient from a blend of rectangles, then separate the blend and group them together as a regular group. But it is really odd that it's failing to import the .emf file. Perhaps something's broken in your import export filters?

**bubbidge** · 19 February 2007, 03:17 PM

Got it working!!

Superb, you would not believe how long i had been looking for the answer to that! Thats great.

Thanks a lot again.

**sallybode** · 19 February 2007, 03:33 PM

In order to make an artistic media brush which flows nicely you want the section to be very narrow and in a horizontal arrangement. Then you get that nice gradient flowing down the middle. Of course, this does not solve the problem of the end caps, but these could be made of a circular gradient in a circle and either trimmed or in a Power Clip with no outline to finish it.

Yes, Gman, the .emf import offers infinite possibilities. The most wonderful part is that anything you do is copy and pasteable into Xara which has more advanced features in other ways and everthing remains editable.

The reason I choose 800 steps is that it comes out nice and smooth and you can work with something that doesn't look all choppy.

The .emf discovery is due to a tutorial by Jeff Harrison. His tutorials are inexpensive and just packed full of useful information, and I hightly recommend them, if you are interested. Available at unleash.com.

**bubbidge** · 19 February 2007, 03:36 PM

The reason I choose 800 steps is that it comes out nice and smooth and you can work with something that doesn't look all choppy.QUOTE]

Sally, Where is the option to change the amount of steps?
And
Does this change the file size and draw speed very much?

Andy

**sallybode** · 19 February 2007, 05:57 PM

It is in the fountain fill dialogue box, there is a little lock so the 256 steps show grayed out, but if you unlock it, you can change this setting. It also appears on the Property bar when using the Interactive Fill Tool (flyout below the regular fill tool), again, remove the lock and you can edit. Some versions of DRAW only let you edit the steps in the Fountain Fill dialogue box. This box is available from the flyout from the standard toolbar from the Fill Tool, second button from the left or on your F keys, F11.

Impact on DRAW's performance, not much.

Impact in Xara, even less.

**bubbidge** · 20 February 2007, 06:58 AM

That is great Sally. I have never noticed that "unlock" button before.

I always had to convert the document to PDF to get it to print smoothly before! That has saved me a lot of trouble.

Thanks very much,

Andy

**sallybode** · 20 February 2007, 06:34 PM

You have an option when exporting also to .pdf how many fountain steps you want. The higher the number for print the better. The default is 256, I believe, but I use 800 when it must be smooth.