Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
the components of your design work are pure geometry
(math), not based on page size or any other constraint.
When, for example, you design something that
eventually needs to be twice the size that you originally
drew it, and you command Xara to scale the design
up to 200%, the
geometry of your design remains
intact
and only the design's
scale
on the page changes.
Whether you print to a postage-stamp size or to the
side of a camper van, you can use the same file for
printing. The design details are shown exactly the same
because the program is able to perform the mathematical
calculations on the equations when resizing the lines and
shapes you create. Happily, all
you
need to do is build
the path lines and the application does the math for you.
Objects are not affixed to a canvas
N
Part of the
flexibility in designing vector artwork is that a new
page is not only blank, but it's also a vacuum; shapes
you create always float. If you have experience with
bitmap-based programs such as Photoshop or Painter,
an analogy is that vector programs surround shapes
with transparency. However, shapes are independent of
one another; they can be moved, scaled, and rotated ad
infinitum, and they have a front-to-back order not only
on the page but also on any number of layers you choose
to create.
You edit to correct, with no need to erase
N
Although
a physical pencil usually has an eraser on its other end,
you don't erase shapes, parts of shapes, or anything else
when you've made a mistake. In fact, Xara doesn't have
an eraser tool as most bitmap editing programs have.
When you make a mistake designing a shape, you press
CTRL
-
Z
to perform Edit | Undo, you use the Shape Editor
Tool and the Selector Tool to refine a nearly perfect
shape, or you delete the shape or the points and line
segments that make up unwanted parts of the shape.
Xara will generate bitmaps on-the-fly, so sharing a JPEG
rendering of Xara artwork with a friend is quite easy.
Draw Once with Vectors, Use Many Times
A good question to ask yourself is when a bitmap paint program is
appropriate for design work, and when you'd be wiser to turn to
