Yes, it would seem that black or white is a no no. I have also found that using Xara's Gaussian Blur helps to soften things up quite well. I had tried feathering the shapes but that wasn't so successful. I still haven't figured out the overlay part for lettering and logos, etc. I have an old copy of Photoshop but quite frankly I'd rather do it all in Xara if it's possible as it'll will save me a lot of time and a rather steep learning curve. I'm seeing a few impressive examples turning up in the Facebook 3D groups and pages now (and some absolute horrors!). So far personally, I'm not managing to better a quick snap on my wife's iPhone just yet. Here's one I took yesterday:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Phot...8720746151838/