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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
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    Harwich, Essex, England
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    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Thanks for the explanation Acorn. It's probably that as a Xara user of many years (as yourself), long before rounded corners and smart shapes when we had to create them on our own. So this is my method of choice.

    I admit I've never dabbled with, nor understood opacity masks and having followed your instructions to the letter did get the exact same result as yourself. I just couldn't understand what I could do with it beyond that.

    I always keep a copy of my constructions on the pasteboard should I require further adjustments.

    I enjoy looking at your inventive alternatives, thanks.
    Egg

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  2. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    UK
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    21,283

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    so opacity masks are rather like intersections with some editable features afterwards such as level of transparency, positioning and size..... useful; I learnt something
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
    17,744

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Quote Originally Posted by Boy View Post
    Good stuff, Acorn.
    Looking forward to how you'll apply the lost outlines. I tried a number of things with 'Shapes' but didn't succeed.
    Boy, this is the best I have managed:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Full Stroke.png 
Views:	50 
Size:	48.2 KB 
ID:	130836

    Add back a Complete Stroke
    1.Clone Masked Shape - Ctrl+K
    2.Set Line Width to None
    3.Detach Opacity Mask - Alt+O
    4.Ungroup - Ctrl+U
    5.Delete any White Mask Objects
    6.Select all and Arrange > Combine Shapes > Intersect All Shapes
    7.Delete all Black Mask Objects
    8.Add in Line Width


    The result is destructive so you need to keep the original.

    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. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    4,501

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Quote Originally Posted by Acorn View Post

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Full Stroke.png 
Views:	50 
Size:	48.2 KB 
ID:	130836

    Add back a Complete Stroke
    1.Clone Masked Shape - Ctrl+K
    2.Set Line Width to None
    3.Detach Opacity Mask - Alt+O
    4.Ungroup - Ctrl+U
    5.Delete any White Mask Objects
    6.Select all and Arrange > Combine Shapes > Intersect All Shapes
    7.Delete all Black Mask Objects
    8.Add in Line Width

    The result is destructive so you need to keep the original.
    Even if the final result is destructive, masking is a good method to let you see real-time the desired result (minus the outline) as you can move around/change the cutout shapes.

    As per Egg, steps 6 to 8 can be replaced with Select all and Substract shapes (Ctrl+2).

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
    17,744

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Quote Originally Posted by Boy View Post
    Even if the final result is destructive, masking is a good method to let you see real-time the desired result (minus the outline) as you can move around/change the cutout shapes.
    As per Egg, steps 6 to 8 can be replaced with Select all and Substract shapes (Ctrl+2).
    Boy that is useful.

    Add back a Complete Stroke
    1. Clone Masked Shape - Ctrl+K
    2. Set Line Width to None
    3. Detach Opacity Mask - Alt+O
    4. Ctrl+Select and Delete any White Mask Objects
    5. Select all and Arrange > Combine Shapes > Subtract Shapes - Ctrl+2
    6. Ungroup
    7. Add in Line Width

    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

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    4,501

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Going through it once more, steps 2, 6 and 7 are actually not necessary.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,283

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    in my workflow i can see a real use for opacity msks as a means of quickly repostioning/reorienting a 'visibility window' that is punching through an object; pity that to actually edit the mask shape you need to go 'inside' [like clipview] which means you lose sight of the context and so the usefulness

    I never went much for the non-destructive aspect of xara and could quite happily live without it... 'ctrl+z' is usaually all I need; like egg I save out asset though in my case i export rather than pasteboard if it is specific; indeed having to make bitmap copies to fix before applying trace or effect is a nuisence to me

    the one area where it is useful though is erase/shapebuild which I now see as a form of opacity masking...
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
    17,744

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Quote Originally Posted by handrawn View Post
    in my workflow i can see a real use for opacity msks as a means of quickly repostioning/reorienting a 'visibility window' that is punching through an object; pity that to actually edit the mask shape you need to go 'inside' [like clipview] which means you lose sight of the context and so the usefulness
    I never went much for the non-destructive aspect of xara and could quite happily live without it... 'ctrl+z' is usaually all I need; like egg I save out asset though in my case i export rather than pasteboard if it is specific; indeed having to make bitmap copies to fix before applying trace or effect is a nuisence to me
    the one area where it is useful though is erase/shapebuild which I now see as a form of opacity masking...
    handrawn, have you tried to just Detach Opacity Mask, adjust and re-apply? The Mask objects are then visible and grouped but you can isolate any one with Ctrl+Select.

    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

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

    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    thanks acorn

    up to a point... thing is, correct me if wrong but:

    if you edit inside you only see the object[s] that has the mask[s] applied
    if you open the opacity mask you only see the masking object[s]
    if you detach the mask you can no longer see through the masked area

    which ever way you are doing it you cannot edit the masking shape whilst being able to see what is being revealed/hidden in real time

    there is a way round this by detaching the mask and temp given the mask[s] and masked objects[s] transparency, but that in itself can introduce visibility issues and become a tad unwieldly
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
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    Default Re: Fancy Corners with Masks

    Quote Originally Posted by handrawn View Post
    thanks acorn
    up to a point... thing is, correct me if wrong but:

    if you edit inside you only see the object[s] that has the mask[s] applied
    if you open the opacity mask you only see the masking object[s]
    if you detach the mask you can no longer see through the masked area

    which ever way you are doing it you cannot edit the masking shape whilst being able to see what is being revealed/hidden in real time
    there is a way round this by detaching the mask and temp given the mask[s] and masked objects[s] transparency, but that in itself can introduce visibility issues and become a tad unwieldly
    handrawn, I think you have overlooked a step.

    In the Page & Layer Gallery, expand the Opacity Mask.
    In my example, these were named tl, tr, bl & br (in full).
    You can select any of these and move it around, rotate or scale or skew - all in interactive mode.

    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

 

 

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