New Xara Tables - Challenge 2 - Fancy Tables

[Acorn]

This is Challenge 2 for the new Xara Tables:

Using padding, embedded objects, font alignment and merging, can you design a fancy table?
Try to only use the new table features newly available.

Here is my idea of fancy;



Acorn

[Egg Bramhill]

Okay, I've given it a go. Cant remove the cell borders though:

[Acorn]

Egg, thank you for trying - it's very good.
I know it's not for tables to make images but it is a good training device.

I may be wrong but it looks like you did not use Table Padding and made your coloured cells wit Text Background and Borders.

My approach would be to add Padding of 3px and make the Table background Transparent.
For the Cell Borders, there is a Clear All button.

If you missed it, you can apply just the Clear button for a Cell or selection.
If you do a single Cell and Copy it, you can use Paste Attributes or all required Cells quite quickly.

The biggest hang-up is the need for Named Colours for the fishing boat.

Acorn

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Acorn, I was using Table padding and did a lot of Shift+Ctrl+A (Coppy attributes) I attach my xar file. I'm still haviving issues re removing cell border to non, even using the clear button.

My biggest hang up is the use of Local Fill Colour & Local Line Colour. As these change the text fill & stroke it would make far more sense to me to call them Local Text Fill Colour & Local Text Line Colour. Perhaps it's a css standard?

The Table cell Borders dialogue box: Why not just have a None icon as highlighted in the red rectangle?

Finally I also attach a xar with a table where I don’t understand why the local paragraph colour and the local paragraph border are bleeding into adjent cells

[Acorn]

@Egg, I've not had your difficulties.

I have Replace Colour set when I drop a colour from the Colour Bar.
The Options are Set Fill Colour, Set Text Background, Set Paragraph Border & Set Paragraph Background.
Text is poor for colour line drop so I use Shift+Colour Bar selection for Set Line Colour.

If you right-click on the Colour Bar you see all five options listed.

The main point to note is these also all apply to the Text Area within a Table Cell but application to one Cell affects all Table Cells.
The second point is you cannot change the Text Area edges' colours separately; this is the same for non-Table Texts.

The Table and Cells additionally have their own colour selections that currently bypass the Colour Bar.
I find this, with just Named Colours, frustratingly wrong-hatted.

There are defined zones where a colour drop could alter the Table Background, and at a pinch, the Cell Colour.

Taken together, Xara does not have a well-defined User Interface yet.

Acorn