Xara Xtreme - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	UncleSteve	27 Jul 2006
To:	ALL	1 of 9

4455.1
I know that many send their engraving jobs directly from Corel to the engraver. Has anyone tried doing the same from Xara Xtreme? For those not aware of Xara, it is a vector program that is more powerful than Corel or AI in many areas and MUCH easier to learn/use than either. They are having a big sale in a few days.. one day only. You can see/download it at: http://www.xara.com/offers/25years/ "My Karma ran over your Dogma!"
EDITED: 27 Jul 2006 by UNCLESTEVE

From:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	27 Jul 2006
To:	UncleSteve	2 of 9

4455.2 In reply to 4455.1
I had never heard of this software, so I followed the link. What I read sounded wonderful. It gives the impression that Xara will trace bitmaps better than any other software available. Maybe. But when I went to the "more on vectoring" page, I found these paragraphs at the end of the page: quote: Enlarging the original small bitmap 600 times, and tracing produced the exact same mushy image in the first example. So the best way to produce a more accurate image is, if at all possible, to start with a large, high resolution bitmap. If you need to accurately reproduce a logo, your best bet is to use Xara's tools and recreate the logo by hand. The success of this will depend upon your skills with Xara and basic design expertise. It looks to me like a caveat, saying that the software is good, but if you can't START with an optimal original image, you're going to have to do it by hand anyway. This doesn't sound any better than PowerTRACE for vectorizing...but then again, I haven't tried it. How does it compare to PowerTRACE?

From:	UncleSteve	27 Jul 2006
To:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	3 of 9

4455.3 In reply to 4455.2
Why not download the free 2 week trial and compare for yourself? Also, a 600 time enlargement is BIG! Taking a 1" x 1" logo up to ~4square feet is a bit beyond most lasers ability to produce and reasonability. "My Karma ran over your Dogma!"

From:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	28 Jul 2006
To:	UncleSteve	4 of 9

4455.4 In reply to 4455.3

Good morning, Steve!

That's not a bad idea at all...I can't knock it 'til I try it, right?

The way I read the part about enlarging 600x, was just for vectorizing/tracing the image. You would then resize the image to its original size before engraving.

Cody

From:	UncleSteve	28 Jul 2006
To:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	5 of 9

4455.5 In reply to 4455.4
I love your attitude! :D There are too many that promote or knock a product having never even seen it, let alone actually tried it. :S "My Karma ran over your Dogma!"

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	28 Jul 2006
To:	ALL	6 of 9

4455.6

I do not think Cody was knocking the product unseen. I think he was just pointing out a section of very important information about the program.

If a program says it can vectorize any bitmap well, I would take that as a lot of bull at this level of technology, with those two paragraphs I would have more faith that it can do a good job.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	jumbo (JIMCLOUGH)	28 Jul 2006
To:	ALL	7 of 9

4455.7
Although I'm not familiar with Xara Extreme I have their Xara 3D and Xara Websyle. I doubt if it is possible to aquire programmes so easy to use as these and gain such good results with a liitle practice. The versions I use were free on the cover of a computer magazine. Jim

From:	UncleSteve	28 Jul 2006
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	8 of 9

4455.8 In reply to 4455.6
So who said he was knocking the product... I just said too many "promote or knock" a product without ever seeing it. I am serious that I appreciate Cody wanting to download the free trial and giving his independent opinion on the software after a hands-on comparison. :D "My Karma ran over your Dogma!"