1)

I have been using Xara for only a few months, and have wanted to apply multiple similar effects on one vector object, but don't know how to do it without making a bitmap copy or using multiple objects.

Here's an example: I want to take a circular object and apply a very subtle circular transparency, then I want to also apply a linear transparency to the same object. The first method I've figured out is by applying one transparency, then making a bitmap copy, and applying the other transparency to the bitmap, but this defeats the purpose of creating vector graphics. The second method I've tried is to create one vector object for each transparency, and group the objects together, but this makes the final look of the object difficult to control.

What is the standard way experienced users would use to create multiple similar effects on one vector object? (or on one image component, if it is composed of several vector objects grouped)

And is it possible to group vector objects, and apply a new effect to the entire group, even though that same effect category (such as transparency) was already applied to some of the components? (Xara says "Many" in the transparency type for the grouped object.)

I'd like to know my options, because I encounter this dilemma more than any other, using Xara.

<hr>
2)

Another question I've been thinking about is more of a standard-method-of-operation question: do many of you who have worked with Xara for some time, keep "libraries" of vector objects, to cut and paste into your new images? For example, I have been thinking of creating "cloud" .xar files as cloud libraries to use in landscapes. Then I can reuse these vector objects in many images, by modifying them to fit my needs.

Does Maya have a "fur" or "feather" library, Gary a "logo" library (that may be stretching it a bit), Vladimyr a "skin" library, etc., or do most of you create images from scratch?

In my short use of Xara X, I have already done quite a lot of cutting and pasting, from one file to another.

Libraries of this type would make good downloads for those new to a particular type of image; vector objects one could deconstruct and examine, and in doing so, learn how to create these images and image components.

Thanks!

Dale

[This message was edited by Dale Landry on April 11, 2002 at 16:36.]