How to Change Background Color?

[MktgGeek]

Hi,

I"m pretty new to Xara, so this might be a stupid question, but I can't figure out how to search for the answer.

In Photoshop, if I open a file that has a white background with lettering in it, for example, and I want to change the background color, I can just select the fill tool (paint can), make sure I'm using the right color, and click on the background. If the file is set up right, the background color will change, but the lettering color stays the same.

I tried the same thing in Xara, but I can't figure out if it can work that way. All I get is either the entire graphic turns color, or the background color adds to the color of the lettering, so it becomes a different color.

Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Kathleen

[gwpriester]

Hello Kathleen

Photoshop is a bitmap editing program. Xtreme is a vector drawing program. The two programs operate in very different ways.

In Photoshop you can fill an area of flat color with the paint can as you have observed. But in Xara, while you can do a limited amount of bitmap editing, making a pixel selection or applying a fill with a paint can is not some vector programs can do.

But you are expecting Xtreme to work like Photoshop. Xara works with scalable vector object which you create. To fill an area in Xara in a vector drawing, you place a rectangle under the object or objects and then apply a variety of fills to the object.

Here is a link to an old article that explains the difference between bitmap and vector drawing programs Bitmaps

And here is a link to a more recent Workbook that covers kinds of fills and how to create, edit and apply them Workbook 30 New User Guide[/url and [urlhttp://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/workbook31/index.htm] Workbook 31, Applying Fills, Editing Fiils, Types of Fills.

Hope this helps clear things up.

Gary

[remi]

Hi Kathleen,

changing the background color is easy:

1. Please open the Xara Xtreme Help (Menu "Help" -> "Xara Xtreme Help..." or press F1).
2. Click on the tab "Index".
3. Type the following searchkey: "background".
4. Click on "background -> changing color". There is a explanation, how to use a color as background or a bitmap as background.

Xara Xtreme works differently than an pixelgraphic program like Photoshop. In Xara Xtreme (and others vector graphic packages) everything is an object. If you create a rectangle, the rectangle is the object und you're able to select this object and fill this object with a simple color or with complex fills (see Menu "Help" -> "Movies" -> "Colors" and "Fills"). So, if there is an object (rectangle, line, shape, text or whatever) selected and you're clicking on the color line, the new color is assigned to the currently selected object and that's the way Xara Xtreme works: Select an object, then manipulate the object with functions (color, transparency, shadow, bevel, contour, blend to another object, mould, assign a plugin effect and so on...).

Please take a look at the Movies in the Help-menu. They are very useful for a good start in Xara Xtreme!

Regards,
Remi

[MktgGeek]

GW, thanks for the explanation. I didn't think about the vector thing, but it makes sense now.

And, Remi, I'll review those movies, too.

Appreciate the help. I'm really loving Xara. It is so much easier than Photoshop for so many things.

Another weird thing was that I tried changing the background in Photoshop, then bringing the image into Xara. I used the same Hex# in both, but they didn't match, so I couldn't incorporate the image into the Xara design.

I'll bet that's probably because of the vector/bitmap difference, too? If you've found a way to make the colors match, that would be great information to have.

Thanks again!

Kathleen

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Guys,

I might have had too many beers but surely the simple answer to Kathleen's question is

To change the background colour:

Hold down the Ctrl key
Select a colour from the colour bar and drag onto the page.

[amoore]

It would be the simple answer if she were creating from scratch, but she came from Photoshop and she said her whole graphic turned orange in Xara. Sounds to me like Gary is right and she's working with a bitmap.

Kathleen, welcome to the wonderful world of color. One of the biggest problems when you're working with color is that every application handles it differently. Not only every app, but every piece of hardware and every driver. And every combination of the above. Plus, there's the problem of translating light colors (on your monitor) to pigment colors (on your paper). In this case, I don't think your matching problem is a matter of vector vs bitmap. It's more that Photoshop displays color X this way, and Xara displays it that way.

AFAIK, if you assign the same RGB values in Xara as you have in Photoshop, they should look the same in the final product. (I don't know Hex, but I think it works the same way.) If your final product is going to be a tiff, then export your Xara image with the original Photoshop bitmap in place, and look at the colors. Same applies if your final destination is your inkjet, your laser or a pdf.

If the output is what you intended, you're home free. If not, then the easiest thing is probably to tweak the colors in Xara to match what you're getting in the Photoshop bitmap. Import the bitmap into Xara. Make sure the color model is either RGB or HSV. Both show the Hex values.

The quick route is to use the eyedropper in the Color Editor (Control E). Select a Xara object that should be orange. Drag the eyedropper onto the orange in the bitmap and release the mouse button.

For colors that will be used in more than one image, I often sample the various instances with an independent eyedropper (there's one available in the Shareware section of the XaraXone). Then I keep a record of the values I want to use in a Xara file with a color swatch. You can drag Xara's eyedropper over anything visible on your monitor to pick up the color. For sampling like this, I prefer the independent eyedropper because it holds the values until I specifically change them and I won't accidentally recolor anything.

[gwpriester]

Color Difference

Was the image CMYK or RGB? Xara can create a CMYK image but these images may not display in Xara as they do in Photoshop.

If the image is CMYK then try converting it to RGB before brining it into Xara.

Gary