General
Designing
Web Graphics
Interactivity

The Vector Factor

Bitmap Handling

Compatibility

Printing

Color Support

Anti-aliasing

The vector factor
BECAUSE Xara X is a vector drawing package it gives you greater freedom compared to traditional bitmap programs.

While bitmap graphics distort when you resize them, vector images retain their quality no matter what size they are. This is because a vector file uses mathematics and geometry to define shapes, while bitmaps remember every pixel used. The added bonus is that a vector image has the same small file size whether it's 10 x 10 pixels or 1000 x 1000 pixels, while the file size of a bitmap increases along with its physical size.

Almost all sophisticated graphics systems, including CAD systems and animation software, use vector graphics. In addition, many printers also use vector graphics.

Bitmap handling
WHILE vector graphics might be the more flexible option, bitmaps are still a valuable and much used format. Some images, such as photographs, can only be bitmaps. Most web graphics (jpegs and gifs) are bitmaps too. Xara X allows you to import and export in all common bitmap formats and provides numerous methods to manipulate them. You can resize, rotate, reflect, mould, alter brightness and contrast, and change the number of colors they contain. You can also apply a wide variety of effects with both the in-built features and third-party plug-ins. Bitmaps can be masked, used as fills, you can add transparency, or even trace over a bitmap to produce a vector image of the graphic. When working with web graphics, Xara X has a number of features to make sure images are at the highest quality while keeping file size to a minimum. Xara X is now even better at presenting bitmaps than ever before because it anti-aliases them as well.

Compatibility
XARA X has been designed to be the only graphics solution you need, and therefore is highly compatible with other products. It supports all the common graphics formats, such as bitmap types like GIF, JPEG, BMP and PNG, as well as vector types like AI (Adobe Illustrator) and CDR (CorelDRAW) - and some that are not so well known. It works with Macromedia's Dreamweaver and Flash software, and has OLE support so images can be embedded in documents made by programs like Microsoft Word. When manipulating bitmaps, Xara X can also work alongside third-party plug-ins, such as those designed for Adobe Photoshop. These plug-ins can complement the range of bitmap effects already included in Xara X, allowing you to create stunning graphics in any format you choose.

Printing / imagesetting
XARA X provides a wide variety of options for printing your documents. You can choose paper orientation, how to fit images on the paper, which layers to print and so on. Xara X also supports PostScript. If you are printing large numbers of your document, you may need to have it imageset at a service bureau. Xara X supports all the features you would expect from a professional color separation system, such as crop marks, customizable registration marks, emulsion down, negative plates, and overprinting.

Color support
XARA X has a comprehensive color system which enables you to alter the colors of objects directly or create your own colors, with names, which you can apply to multiple objects. With Xara X it is very easy to create a drawing containing many shades of a color and with one alteration, change the color of the whole picture. Xara X includes full sets of PANTONE® colors, you can work in CMYK, RGB, HSV, greyscale or Hexadecimal RGB web color mode. There is also a color picker which, like an eye-dropper, you can use to select the color of any object on the screen - even in other applications. Like many features in Xara X, the color dialog works with direct action which means when you change the color in the dialog, it changes in the object immediately .

Anti-aliasing
ANTI-ALIASING improves the quality of on-screen images by smoothing the edges of objects. It does this by inserting extra pixels of calculated colors around the edges of objects on screen, blending them into the background. This has the effect of smoothing the edges and of appearing to improve the resolution of the display. Anti-aliasing is particularly useful for web graphics. Xara was the pioneer of real-time anti-aliasing, a feature which has made its way into all major graphics programs. When you do use anti-aliasing in Xara X, it works in real-time so you can see the effect straight away. You can use anti-aliasing when working with vector images and bitmap images.