Xara Page & Layout Designer 11---Desperately need help on one issue

[ECWCock]

I'm new---just registered!

I bought the Xara 11 program yesterday for a sale price of $49 or so. I started a discount coupon biz and need to print customized coupons and was hoping that this program would suit my needs. I'm sure it does, but I am having issues and I came here for help, so thanks in advance.

I'm trying to turn an 8.5"x11" page into four coupons by adjusting the page size to 4.25"x5.5", which will give me space for blending in-between the coupons. I figure if I can type up one coupon in the first block, then I can copy and paste into the other blocks.

Thus the problem. When I go to 'file', then 'page options', then 'page size', I have the option to edit the 'paper size' under 'custom'. But when I type in the above dimensions, it doesn't work properly. My print shop expert at Office Depot told me that in MS Publisher I would go to the page size page, click 'create different page size', and type in the dimensions. He showed me and did it in under a minute. He was able to make a doodle template on 1/4 of the page, then copy and paste into the other quadrants. But I can't do it in Xara 11.

I've watched the videos (most are geared toward the earlier version 10) and searched google. And none of the templates will work for what I need.

I hope I explained this problem well enough to garner a solution. Any takers?

[Christine Farrelly]

Can you tell us what is not working properly when you type in the measurements?

[ECWCock]

Yes!

I just exited out and restarted the program...the defualt 81/2x11 page appears...I click top left on 'file', then 'page options'...the default paper size is 'US Letter"...I click the drop-down box and it gives a dozen options, like A0,1,2,3, and a bunch of others...I choose 'Custom'...I type in for the width 4.25 and for the height 5.5.

Portrait is clicked automatically. The 'page' box has 'outer margin' as 8 inches as a defualt...I do not change it. I check the 'bleed' box because I need a room for error in the print phase...it is automatically set at 0.12in. as a defualt setting. 'Double page' is not clicked, but 'Lock page size' is clicked. I clicked 'show page shadow'. I click 'all pages in document the same'.

Keep in mind I am doing the above steps while I type this.

I hit 'Apply' and then 'OK'.

The original page shows up, but the margins are weird. A red margin appears outside and around the white page, and a green outline cut in two starts in the box and extends way below and to the right of the page.

If you have the program and follow what I did, you will see what I did. How can I do this the correct way, where I have one page divided into quarters with each of the four sections having a safe print and cut margin?

[Christine Farrelly]

The green box is the default text box - if you want to change this click on the green line, you will see the adjustment blobs. You can then type in the width and height on the info bar.

From your original post I suspect you should not be changing the page size as you want 4 coupons on each page, just set the text box to be the correct size and repeat 4 times. You might also need to make sure the units are set to inches if this is what you are working in.

[wizard509]

I misread the post at first.
and thought you had XPGD11 Sorry I do not have Xara Page & Layout Designer 11, so any comment I could make might be wrong.

Good ol Phil knows whats going on. I see he posted while I struggled to post.

[letsgofishing]

Not sure why you want to reduce your page size to the size of the coupon.
I would make your page 8.5x11 and then using the guides, place on horizontally 1/2 way down the page and 1 vertically halfway along the page.
Then create your voucher in the top left quadrant (allowing for any bleed) and when finished, right click and drag it to the remaining 3 quadrants.

[letsgofishing]

Not sure why you want to reduce your page size to the size of the coupon.
I would make your page 8.5x11 and then using the guides, place on horizontally 1/2 way down the page and 1 vertically halfway along the page.
Then create your voucher in the top left quadrant (allowing for any bleed) and when finished, right click and drag it to the remaining 3 quadrants.
voucher.xar

[PhilM]

Sorry everyone, I deleted what I said in my earlier post because I thought I was wrong.

I suspect the green and red rectangles are because "Show Print Borders" is enabled in the Window menu.

To enable bleed margins and cut marks around four separate printable areas to be cut out from a printed sheet, either:
1. Set the document page size to be the same as the paper size and place copies of your 4 separate smaller sub-pages manually on the page with space between to allow for colour bleeding and add manually drawn cut marks. Then just print as normal.
or
2. Set the document page size to be the same as one of the smaller subpages, set up bleed margin and cut marks and then allow your printer software to fit multiple copies onto a sheet of paper or export to PDF and use an external composition/imposition program such as Adobe Acrobat to fit multiple copies.

[ECWCock]

Not sure why you want to reduce your page size to the size of the coupon.
I would make your page 8.5x11 and then using the guides, place on horizontally 1/2 way down the page and 1 vertically halfway along the page.
Then create your voucher in the top left quadrant (allowing for any bleed) and when finished, right click and drag it to the remaining 3 quadrants.

Wow, this is where having a messenger set up would have saved time.

Thanks for the samples. How do I make the guides visible? Is there a better way to draw my boxes without having to drag away from the corners of the page? I noticed on your sample template that your divider lines extend off the page and back to the guide (by 'guide', I take it you mean the rulers on the top and side). Is that to help you place the line where you want it? How do I do that?

[ECWCock]

To enable bleed margins and cut marks around four separate printable areas to be cut out from a printed sheet, either:
1. Set the document page size to be the same as the paper size and place copies of your 4 separate smaller sub-pages manually on the page with space between to allow for colour bleeding and add manually drawn cut marks. Then just print as normal.

Will I need to drag a box inside of my box and do my work within the inner box to give myself room around the borders? Or will just setting the bleed be buffer enough? When I set the borders within one box, wouldn't that be as simple as dragging a box?