Hello ..

I was wondering if anyone could help me - I am fairly new to graphics and know very little about it - i am looking to design a spin ,pulsating etc etc logo from a 2d shape

I have READ the sticky's at the top outlining how to create a SHAPE in Xara and then paste the photo or image on to that shape ..i already know how to do this in a crude fashion ie: drag and drop on to your desired shape or via texture -

I have been watching this video on YOUTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZWo2r-RSuo

incase you don't want to waste life watching a bit of it to get the gist of what i am trying to create ... it is a GUY that takes a LIVERPOOL ( football ) logo ... creates a vector trace image ( EMF ) via INKSCAPE and then just simply pastes it into XARA ..

Being that INKSCAPE is a freebie i downloaded it and tried it myself - but when I go to PLONK the image into XARA it comes back with a ERROR message "error: This file does not contain any outlines"

My starting file is a just a black and white JPG that then converts into EMF , it does appear the trace it successful as it becomes outlined . Reading other bits on the net about this ... it would appear that sometimes the creation of EMF is only creating the file as a container EMF but the image stays the same ? ( i think i sort of understand that but am unsure )

so my question is what am i doing wrong ? the starting image is a very basic black outlined image ie: skull and cross bones with white backround

another question would be - how complex can a image be - can it go up to a PHOTO of a person ? i am thinking that is a silly question but the truth is I just don't know that much about graphics ( i guess i am searching for boundaries of possible creativity using the same procedure )

I think i am doing something wrong with the conversion - I have downloaded a 30day free trial of Illustrator so have that package for about another 20 days or so ( off advise from reading the net ) ... I did try to trace in that but the same error happens

in both software's it looks like the trace is complete as a very roughish black outline appears

i don't even know if i am asking the right questions

many thanks in advance