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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
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    4

    Default Hi and a couple of questions

    New user here. Just wanted to say hi ask a couple of questions.
    I've settled on Xara after searching for an app that I can cartoon in and can output vectors (lucky to even come across it for the lack of attention it seems to get - saw it mentioned in a random forum post) Inkscape was way too unstable, Affinity was lacking too many basic functions and outputs terrible vectors with an insane amont of nodes, and Adobe's licensing model is unacceptable.
    I really like the lines in this program, theres an elegance to the smoothing that's second to none, and the it feels surprisingly nimble and stable for software with such a legacy.

    Anyway, I was wondering: Does anyone know if there's any plan to incorporate a tool where you can directly manipulate line width like Illustrators line width tool or Inkscape's power stroke handles?
    Alternatively, the ability to make custom stroke pressure profiles?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
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    21,283

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    no and no, sadly

    they have been asked for many times, so far there no indication the company intends either of these - they could surprise us but on past form that is unlikely

    personally I have no quibble with the vector output of affinity designer in comparison to xara designer

    interesting you say you like the smoothing - I like the stabilising tool in affinity a lot - I do not like the way the freehand tool in xara 'wobbles' all the time as I draw... the better other apps get, the less I am inclined to put up with it... but we are all different

    nimble it can be; stable, not always

    anyhow, glad you like it.. I do cartooning as well, but not so often in xara these days...
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
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    17,746

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    Welcome to TalkGraphics.

    There is an Option to Convert a line to a Shape.
    You could tweak a specific stroke and adjust a given line for smoothing, point handle adjustments and colouring, shading and transparency.

    You can also do wonders with Scatter Brushes.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
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    4

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    OK thanks, I thought that'd probably be the case.

    Yeah Affinity was the other app where I really liked the lines. They both have a fluid but slightly organic quality to them I appreciate coming from a non-vector comicy background. But with Affinity a few too many basic things I tried to do ended up in workarounds and finding threads from years ago saying the functionality was on the roadmap.
    The current $50 price tag on Xara photo & graphic didn't hurt either.

    With Affinity's export - is it that you don't mind a ton of nodes, or is there a way I don't know about to get cleaner results? Perhaps It's mainly linework that suffers from that.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    let me reply by asking another question - if you do the same thing in both programs and you export to vector, are you saying there are a lot less nodes in the xara export, and if so, what export file format are you using, and can you post an example?

    I don't usually have an issue with nodes
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Acorn View Post
    Welcome to TalkGraphics.

    There is an Option to Convert a line to a Shape.
    You could tweak a specific stroke and adjust a given line for smoothing, point handle adjustments and colouring, shading and transparency.

    You can also do wonders with Scatter Brushes.

    Acorn
    Thanks, yeah converting lines to shapes seems like something I'll need to do. I'll look into the scatter brush options more - I see there's the useful ability to alter the strength of the pressure profile effect (which would pretty much solve my problem with some of the default stroke pressure profiles) but I'm not sure how you'd turn that into a clean vector stroke in the end.

    Quote Originally Posted by handrawn View Post
    let me reply by asking another question - if you do the same thing in both programs and you export to vector, are you saying there are a lot less nodes in the xara export, and if so, what export file format are you using, and can you post an example?

    I don't usually have an issue with nodes
    Hmm. My trial of affinity has expired so I can't demonstrate. There was a thread about it which I now can't find where I think it was noted as a known issue which gave me the impression it was standard, but there's a similar one here which indicates it's actually not normal. I might look into it some more, Affinity is also very reasonably priced. I have other issues with it though.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    The AD beta has fixes for the way too many nodes thing. Works decently...but some shapes can still get more nodes than Xara applications create.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
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    4

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mwenz View Post
    The AD beta has fixes for the way too many nodes thing. Works decently...but some shapes can still get more nodes than Xara applications create.
    Thanks, good to know. Will prob revisit AD at some point

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    UK
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    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    Thanks Mike - once the asset is out of the vector app and into Harmony I dont really have to worry about nodes, most of the manipulation thereafter is using animation tools; but even then, 'too few nodes' is more likely to be an issue than 'too many', although there is a limit of course
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    England
    Posts
    1,130

    Default Re: Hi and a couple of questions

    Hi, as Acorn said in post #3, you can tweak the smoothing of shape by selecting the shape, then using the shape tool, select all (or just some) of the nodes and adjust the smoothing using the slider in the Infobar.

    Unfortunately you can't smooth more than one selected shape at a time - something that has long been on my 'Dear Xara, please finish developing your tools' list.

    Here's an example...

    Click image for larger version. 

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    ps. I didn't sit and count the nodes! I imported the shapes into Inkscape, which shows you the number of nodes.
    Jon (Jono) Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 19.0.0.64329 DL x64 May 19 2022

 

 

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