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  1. #11
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Australia: GMT+10
    Posts
    265

    Default Re: Still having issues

    I suggest opening Task Manager (which is part of Windows). An easy way to do that is to press <Control>, <Alt> and <Shift> together, then select "More Info". The "Processes" tab at the top should be selected. A list of programs that are running will be in the left hand column and across the top there will be "CPU", "Memory", Disc" and "Network".

    CPU useage should only be a few percent. Mine's running several programs (including XDP16 64bit) as I write this and the CPU reading is cycling from 1% to 5%, therefore most of it is free. If yours is significantly higher then something 'heavy' (e.g. a video format converter) is running or there is some self-important background process abusing your CPU.

    Things such as Windows Indexing Service can overdo it and are not necessary in many (most) cases. There are many websites (e.g. blackviper.com) that can show you how to trim out the unnecessary stuff to free up your PC's resources for the stuff you need to do. If you're not familiar with nor confident digging into the 'works' you should definitely pay a PC professional to set it up for you.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Alexandria, VA, USA
    Posts
    968

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Hey Jay, I think you mean press Ctrl +Shift +Esc
    ~Fred

  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Australia: GMT+10
    Posts
    265

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Yes, well spotted Fred. My error

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,283

    Default Re: Still having issues

    or right click the taskbar windows 10

    mine shows 1 - 8% when 'idling' - sometimes just having xara designer open will push this up but that hasn't happened so much since I blocked the program in firewall to stop those irritating nags about upgrading my 'service', which I have no intention of doing anytime soon on the basis of the current offering[s]

    whether it 'should' only be a few percent depends on what the system is doing, but it should be at that level when 'nothing much is happening'

    removing programs/apps you don't want/need is fine, but I would caution against interfering with windows processes, no matter what you read on websites, unless you really know the implications of what you are doing [as jay said in so many words]
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  5. #15

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Well, here's an update:

    I opened Task Manager, and CPU is like 1% most of the time. Memory is at 31%. So I don't think background programs is the problem.

    I re-installed Xara Designer Pro X10 at 32-bit, and tried to use it on my drawing. Same damn laggy problems.

    I went to the Xara website and downloaded the trial of the newest version. SAME DAMN PROBLEMS!

    BTW, when I scanned the pencil drawing for this project, I scanned it as a PDF and set it at 300 dpi. I don't know if that's what's gumming up Xara or not. I'm really at my wit's end. This issue has happened before with Xara. I'm beginning to think I should simply uninstall Xara altogether and find some other vector program. This is ridiculous!

    P.S. I should add that sometimes it's hard to even open Xara - it takes more time than it should, and sometimes only the icon appears in my bottom task bar, and I have to click on it to fully open it - and then when I do, the image of the art I'm working on is minimized. If that matters.

  6. #16

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Just ran a Memory Diagnostics Test for my computer, and the test didn't detect any errors.

    I have a question for you guys: when you scan a pencil drawing to be inked in by Xara, what size do you set it on, and what format? My HP scanner has 2 settings for scans: PDF and JPG. And of course there's the usual dpi setting, which I usually do at 300 (so I can enlarge the pencil drawing if needed for inking). I wonder if there's something wrong with the way I'm scanning my pencil drawings, since Xara doesn't act up if I open a blank page in it and start inking on it. Yeesh. Wish I could figure this out!

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Harwich, Essex, England
    Posts
    21,895

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Could you possibly post a scan?
    Egg

    Intel i7 - 4790K Quad Core + 16 GB Ram + NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Graphics Card + MSI Optix Mag321 Curv monitor
    + Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB SSD + 232 GB SSD + 250 GB SSD portable drive + ISP = BT + Web Hosting = TSO Host

  8. #18
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Australia: GMT+10
    Posts
    265

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Have you tried importing a bitmap not from your scanner and inking that?

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,283

    Default Re: Still having issues

    both good suggestions - I can test the scan in xara designer 10 with my cintiq on my laptop

    meanwhile you could get yourself a copy of inkscape [free] here: https://inkscape.org/release/0.92.4/platforms/
    you need Windows : 64-bit : exe

    install it and see if you have the problems when you ink your scan using the calligraphic brush which is vector or the pen tool
    you could also try a free trial of affinity designer

    depending on your approach you could also do what I do these days, which is to draw the line art in a raster program and then vectorise it, either, if it's for animation, in toon boom harmony [you really do not want to know how much this costs] or inkscape which like i said is free - xara's bitmap tracer is not to be recommended for this - affinity does not have a tracer - if you go down such a route I would scan at 600 dpi, otherwise 300 dpi should be fine if you are inking in vector assuming the scan is clear

    I don't see the PDF being a problem, but try a jpg scan see if there is a difference... also xara opening on the taskbar rather than on the screen is not unknown, happens to me occasionally

    whilst you are doing checks, make sure your graphics drivers and your chipset drivers are up to date - unfortunately windows 10 update can sometimes get things wrong in this respect, I end up installing my nvidia graphics drivers manually just in case

    It's possible that your ten year old tablet is struggling with xara under windows 10 64bit, when it did not under your previous OS, and that is not necessarily the fault of xara, or windows, or wacom, more an example of how not everything lasts for ever in changing environment
    Last edited by handrawn; 26 October 2019 at 11:50 AM.
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  10. #20

    Default Re: Still having issues

    Hi, all, I appreciate your suggestions.

    I do pencil drawings with an actual pencil on paper. Then I scan the drawings to send to my art programs. I am not really interested in doing pencil drawings any other way. When I did this using my old computer and Xara 32-bit, I had no issues whatsoever.

    Also, please remember (and I DO appreciate your help!) that I'm still rather a computer novice, being an old-school illustrator who worked with actual paint, chalks and ink before using art software. I don't know how to update Nvidia and graphics drivers. Can you tell me how? Also, how do I import a bitmap not from my scanner to Xara? My scanner is how I got the image to Xara in the first place.

    Also there's this: my Windows 10 program came installed on my new computer. It has a Paint 3D app. Could that be interfering with Xara in some way?

 

 

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