The rotation thing

[dycs]

I have been looking for a way to rotate the workspace in Xara Designer Pro 6 but obviously this basic function is completely missing. Can anybody confirm this disappointing discovery or just tell me, that I am some stupid lad.

[mwenz]

Hello and welcome, dycs.

May I ask what you are wanting to accomplish by desiring to rotate the workspace? Any graphics program I have worked in this is not possible. Instead one would rotate the objects one creates.

Take care, Mike

[handrawn]

rotating the workspace is not a basic function in a vector editor

[gwpriester]

Welcome to TalkGraphics

The only rotation options are portrait and landscape.

You could group all the object on your page and then use Ctrl click to select a particular object to edit. And you could rotate the entire group as desired.

[dycs]

Hello and welcome, dycs.

May I ask what you are wanting to accomplish by desiring to rotate the workspace? Any graphics program I have worked in this is not possible. Instead one would rotate the objects one creates.

Take care, Mike

I Just have a lot of vertical and horizontal texts in my layout and it would be fine if I could go without rotating my screen again and again to have a look from the right angle. I actually do not understand why vector based applications (Illustrator is the same) just do not offer this basic functionality, that can make things so much easier. Is it just tradition or incompetence?

[dycs]

Hm, so basic things do not apply to vector editors. I wonder how mankind has evolved from cavemen if they would have said:"Well fire is not a basic functionality. Let's wait until the next lightning strikes!"

[mwenz]

You seem to be stirring the pot.

Exactly which software are you using that allows one to rotate the canvas itself?

Cannot you rotate all the objects to see how they look from different angles (actually, simply rotated)?

Take care, Mike

[Soquili]

Is your layout for a web page? If so how do your visitors "rotate" the layout to read the text?

[ad1066]

Artrage allows for rotating the canvas, for one (I seem to recall Corel Painter does as well, but I could be wrong). To be perfectly honest, I would actually like this to be a feature as well. From an ergonomic point of view, it's easier for me to draw vertical lines than horizontal, and this feature would bring the program a step closer to the experience of drawing on actual paper. I'm willing to wager that most people are not even aware of how often they rotate a piece of paper when they're drawing on it.

If viewing Xara Designer Pro as merely a desktop publishing or web design product, then this feature wouldn't be very useful at all. However, as a vehicle for illustration, especially in concert with a drawing tablet, it makes perfect sense.

So, yeah, +1.

-- Ben

[mwenz]

I didn't know about Artrage. Just went and looked. While I didn't see that one can rotate the canvas itself, I did see that one can rotate the floating panels.

If this is an important issue for anyone and while awaiting Xara to implement such a feature, they can create a "piece of paper" on a layer. Lock the layer and draw away on layers above it. At least visually one would see the "paper" at a pleasant angle to the eye.

fwiw, I do rotate a piece of paper when both drawing and writing. Since 1987, though, I have never had an issue with drawing on a "fixed" piece of "paper" in an illustration program. I guess I'm dualistic thatta way.

I also do not and likely will not use XDP6 for anything other than illustrations. And, as if I had a vote or an influence on Xara's decisions, would rather have them spend time on other features to enhance the vector-side of the program. That doesn't mean I don't think my list of wanted enhancements or features are any more important than anyone else's.

Take care, Mike