Welcome to Xara3D. Xara3D is designed solely to create the highest quality 3D text and graphics, such as logos, titles, headings and buttons. All images are fully anti-aliased for that smooth, professional quality, making them ideal for web pages and presentations.
Customizing Xara3D Keyboard short cuts Hidden and advanced options Technical support Copyright information Version 6.0 February 2005 Copyright ©1997–2005 Xara Group Ltd. Xara Group Ltd. Gaddesden Place Hemel Hempstead HP2 6EX United Kingdom xara.com All trademarks acknowledged. Xara, Xara X, Xara Webster, Menu Maker and Xara3D are trademarks of Xara Group Ltd. Flash is a trademark of Macromedia Inc.
What's new in version 6 Xara3D 6 is our quickest, easiest and most useful Xara3D yet. Here's why. New design types Xara3D 5's automatic 3D button maker proved very popular, so we've taken the same concept to offer other one-click transformations—enormously increasing the type of graphics you can create. Borders. Adds a customizable border around your heading, giving it instant added impact. Boards.
Compatible with Xara X¹ Thanks to cut and paste compatibility with Xara X¹ (or later) you can now paste shapes from Xara X¹ into Xara3D 6, extrude and edit in Xara3D, then paste your 3D designs back into Xara X¹ as bitmaps. Easier than ever to use Xara3D has always been popular due to its ease of use.
Purchasing Xara3D This page applies if you are running the time-limited trial version of Xara3D. This version of the software displays a background message, which you cannot change. (With the full version you can use any color or bitmap as a background.) When you start up Xara3D a screen will appear reminding you that you are running the trial version—click Buy Xara3D now on that dialog box. This lets you purchase Xara3D using a fully secure transaction process, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Resources on the CD version If you ordered Xara3D from Xara a CD will be mailed to you . The CD contains a copy of Xara3D and extra examples, textures, and fonts. Example 3D graphics Example 2D graphics Textures Fonts: over 60 in total.
Support We highly recommend viewing the Xara3D introduction movie. It is the ideal way to get to know Xara3D and get an overview of its features, allowing you to make the most of the program. Information on how to view the movie . Our support site which offers comprehensive FAQs, constantly updated and available 24 hours, is often the best source for instant answers. You can also contact our technical support staff from here. The site can be found at xara.
License terms IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Xara3D software ("Software") is the copyright of Xara Group Limited ("Xara") whose principal place of business is at Gaddesden Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX, United Kingdom and may not be stored on any computer or copied without the license of Xara. You are offered a license on the terms of the End User License Agreement ("EULA") set out below. If you accept the terms of the License Agreement, select "Yes".
otherwise. 2. Some fonts are provided by third parties who retain the copyright. In all cases copyright is reserved by Xara or its licensors and is protected by international copyright law. 3. You may not use the images for any purpose which is prohibited by law. WARRANTIES AND REMEDIES 1 Xara warrants that the storage media on which the Software may have been supplied will be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of 90 days after the date of original purchase.
Getting started We highly recommend viewing the Xara3D introduction movie. It is the ideal way to get to know Xara3D and get an overview of its features, allowing you to make the most of the program. Information on how to view the movie . To create a 3D heading is easy: 1. 1. Start typing to enter the text you want. You can delete existing text using backspace. 2. 2. Select the font for the heading. 3. 3. Change the bevel and extrude 3. if you wish. 4. 4. Drag the text to get the angle you want. 5. 5.
How do I...? Use these pages if you want to find out how to do something in Xara3D.
Buttons, boards and borders creating buttons, boards and border designs moving the text on a design making the designs wider or narrower changing the curvature of the corners changing the size of buttons Animation creating an animation/movie creating a multipage animation step animation previewing an AVI movie importing animation settings from an existing heading the Time Line Saving saving for reloading later saving a graphic saving screensavers creating an animation/movie previewing an AVI movie Correctin
Other Xara products There are trial versions and demo movies for many of these products on the Xara3D product CD. If you have the Xara3D CD, just put it into your CD-ROM drive and the Xara3D splash screen should appear. From there, you can choose the program in which you are interested. Xara X is a fully featured illustration package that lets you create original artwork.
hard work is done on Xara Online's servers. For full details visit xaraonline.
Text options Ways to display text options Click the text options button on the toolbar (see the icon above left). Click the options menu, then select text. Press Alt-T. If you have some text selected , any changes you make apply only to the selection. Otherwise changes apply to all text. Bold - make the text bold. This button duplicates the Bold button on the Text Toolbar. Has no effect on 2D objects . Italic - make the text italic. This button duplicates the Italic button on the Text Toolbar.
These options just change your view onto the text. They have no effect on the actual size of the text.
Color options Color options lets you select any hue and any shade of color. Ways to display color options Click the color options button on the toolbar (see the icon above left). Click the color options tab on the right of your screen (don't see this? ). Click the options menu, then color. To select a color for editing Select from the drop-down list at the top of this dialog box. Note that you have three options for the text: edit both the faces and the sides, the faces only, or the sides only.
colors can hide detail in the bitmap.
Extrusion options Extrusion is basically the depth of your object—the more extrude, the deeper the object. An object with a high level of extrude will have a very large 3D effect. Interactive extrusion tool For quick, interactive extrusion on your design just hover your mouse over the side of your object so that your mouse pointer changes to the extrusion tool (see left). You can then just click and drag the extrusion of the object. For more detailed settings, bring up the extrusion options (see below).
Outline width Controls the thickness of the outline. See hollow text for more details. Depth Controls the extrude depth.
Design options Design options allow you change the shape of your design. Ways to display design options Click the design options button on the toolbar (see the icon above left). Click the design options tab on the right of your screen (don't see this? ). Click the options menu, then select design. Press Alt-U. Macromedia Flash vector format does not support button, so if display as Flash is selected the button option will not work. Design type Select what design you wish to create. You can choose from:.
(Not applicable for text-only designs) Change the angle of the text on the button, board or border design. X/Y (Not applicable for text-only designs) Changes the position of the text on the button, board or border design. Design picker Import a 2D shape (Windows metafile WMF/EMF, Xara WEB/XAR) or Xara3D XAR file as the design shape. You can then select different design types (see above) and see how the imported shape looks.
Bevel options The bevel is the type of corner applied to edges of 3D objects. Interactive bevel tool For quick, interactive bevels on your design just hover your mouse over the side of your object and hold the shift key so that your mouse pointer changes to the bevel tool (see left). You can then just click and drag the bevels on the object. For more detailed settings, bring up the bevel options (see below).
The miter and round options affect the corners of objects. Usually text has sharp mitered corners, but you can round the corners by selecting round. This is usually only obvious for fonts that have sharp corners or serifs. (Selecting display as flash dims these buttons as Flash vector format supports only Miters—more on creating Flash files .) You can apply a different bevel to a part of the text. Select the characters you want and then change the bevel.
Shadow options Xara3D includes an advanced shadow tool that can give a very realistic effect of the object hanging in front of a surface. The position of the shadow is controlled by one of the arrows in the lighting control. The shadow blur and darkness is controlled from the shadow options. You can even control the color of the shadow for special effects. Note that if display as Flash is selected, this entire section is grayed out as the Flash format does not support shadows.
Texture options You can use bitmap textures to give an interesting effect to objects and/or the background. You can easily drag a bitmap on to the background, text face or text sides. You can use any BMP, ICO, PNG, JPEG or GIF file. Textures can also be set for buttons, boards and borders with the options below. For light colored textures you can use the normal lighting. Darker textures need bright lights (white or pale colors) to give the best results.
Angle Rotate the texture. Load texture Opens the load texture dialog box. Note: Flash vector format does not support textures. Selecting display as Flash dims all texture options.
Animation options You can create Animated GIFs and AVI movies using Xara3D. More details of creating animations. You can preview the effect of the current Animation settings by clicking start/stop animation button or pressing Ctrl-Space.. Ways to display animation options Click the animation options button on the toolbar (see the icon above left). Click the animation options tab on the right of your screen (don't see this? ). Click the options menu, then select animate. Press Alt-A.
This allows you to alter the animation on the border separately to the text, or you can select both to apply the same settings to both. Animation picker Import from a number of pre-defined animation styles. A preview of each animation is available before clicking open. Style Choose from a number of standard animation types, or import an animation using the animation picker button (see above). Please note: pulse and typewriter animations do not work on the board with holes design.
Overlap page— this applies to multipage animations. With Overlap pages unchecked, you see each page separately in sequence. When checked, each page pulsate out of the previous page. Ripple options: This gives the effect of the text bobbing up and down character by character when in text mode. In other design modes (such as button) the entire design moves. Amplitude—sets how far the characters or design go up and down.
File menu New Open a new document. You are warned if the existing document has unsaved changes. Open Open (reload) an existing Xara3D .X3D file. (A file previously saved using save or save as.) You cannot reload GIFs, JPEGs, AVIs, or PNGs exported from Xara3D. Save Save the document as an .X3D file. This lets you reload it back into Xara3D in the future. Save as Save the document under a different name. Save as default The default document is the document you see when you select new.
Export to screensaver Create a SCR screensaver file Recent file list A list of the last few files edited. Advanced users can change the number of files in this list—see hidden options .
Edit menu Edit Display the text caret (the line that indicates where you are in the text) ready for on-screen editing of the text. More details of editing text. Undo Undo the last edit. More details of undo & redo. Redo Undo the last Undo operation. More details of undo & redo. Cut Grayed out unless specific characters are selected . Cutting the text removes it from the design and places it on the clipboard.
Delete Discard the selected text. Select all Select all the 3D objects on all pages ready for editing. Select page Select all the 3D objects on this page ready for editing. Objects on other pages remain unselected. Select line Select the line containing the text cursor. (By default the bottom line.) For a single line of text this is the same as select all. Insert page break Page breaks separate pages in an animation that shows a sequence of messages.
View menu Text color Display the color options ready to edit the color of the text of the design. More details on the color options . Text texture Select a bitmap texture to display on the text of your design. More details of using textures. Face color Display the color options ready to edit the color of the face of the design. More details on the color options . Face texture Select a bitmap texture to display on the face of your design. More details of using textures.
Light source 1 Display the color options ready to edit the color of Light 1. More details on the lights. Light source 2 Display the color options ready to edit the color of Light 2. More details on the lights. Light source 3 Display the color options ready to edit the color of Light 3. More details on the lights. Shadow color Display the color options ready to edit the color of the shadow. More details on shadows. Display as Flash Some Xara3D features do not exist in Macromedia Flash format. More details .
Design menu/toolbar Whereas Xara3D only used to be able to offer button designs, with Xara3D 6 the new design menu and design toolbar both allow you to access a variety of design types. More advanced design settings can be found under design options . Text This design is plain text, with no special shape. Button As with previous versions, places your text on a button. Board Creates 3D text as if it's coming out the top of a board.
Options menu Text Open the text options dialog box. This dialog box provides a range of options for changing the appearance of text. More details on this dialog box. Color Open the color options dialog box. This dialog box lets you change the text, background, shadow, and lights colors. More details on this dialog box. Extrude Open the extrusion options dialog box. This lets you change the depth of the 3D extrude. More details on this dialog box. Design Open the design options dialog box.
Window menu Display frame Display the image in a separate window (the frame). This duplicates the show/hide frame button on the standard toolbar. The frame is a convenient way of viewing small images. Frame size Open the frame size dialog box. This lets you precisely set the frame (and hence image) size. Quality settings Change the on-screen viewing quality. More details . Standard toolbar Display the toolbar at the top of the window. Design toolbar Offers quick access to the different design types .
Animation picker (import animation) This lets you copy the animation style of an existing X3D file to your current design. Your design and its text won't be changed, just your animation style. It’s a great time saver if you want to copy a particular animation style from one graphic to another, particularly if it’s a complicated style with, for example, different animation types applied to alternate lines or characters.
Design picker (import design) As well as the range of predefined design shapes, you can also use imported shapes to create button, board, board with holes and border designs . Suitable formats are Xara3D X3D files, Xara WEB/XAR files and Windows metafiles WMF/EMF (see notes). Your current text won't be changed, just the design features that you select to import. Ways to display the design picker Click the design picker button under the design options tab on the right of your screen (don't see this? ).
Style picker (import style) This lets you import features of an existing X3D file into your current design. You can select which parts of the design you wish to copy—everything from the colors, lighting or bevel to the animation. Your current text won't be changed, just the design features that you select to copy. It’s a great time saver if you have created a style that you want to copy across other graphics. Ways to display the style picker Click the file menu, then select import style.
Export options for animated cursors (ANI) To learn more about creating cursors see creating cursor (CUR & ANI) files . Because animated cursors can be quite large, you may find that a 16 color, optimized palette per frame, produces the best results for the smallest file size. However you might need to experiment. Dithering always makes cursors look better, but also makes them larger. When outputting at 256 colors you may find that there is no need to turn dithering on.
Export options for animated GIFs To learn more about exporting animated GIFs see creating animations and movies . Because animated GIFs can be quite large, you may find that a 16 or 32 color, optimized palette per frame, produces the best results for the smallest file size. However you might need to experiment. Dithering always makes GIFs look better, but also makes them larger. When outputting at 256 colors you may find that there is no need to turn dithering on.
Export options for AVI movies Color depth. Choose between the different amount of colors in your video. True color will give more accurate results, but may create a large file. Try exporting at both color depths to se what results work best. Current window size lets you export just the area surrounding the text (crop on) or the entire window area (crop off). User defined lets you specify the dimensions of the bitmap.
Export options for Flash bitmap format (SWF) files These options apply to both static and animated SWF files. More information on creating Flash files. To learn more about exporting movies see creating animations and movies . Current window size lets you export just the area surrounding the text (crop on) or the entire window area (crop off.) User defined lets you specify the dimensions of the bitmap.
Export options for Flash vector format (SWF) files These options apply to both static and animated SWF files. more information on creating Flash files. To learn more about exporting movies see creating a movie or animated GIF . Note that Flash vector format does not support some Xara3D features (such as shadows and textures). You can use Xara3D features not supported in vector format except shadows but these get exported as bitmaps within the Flash file and can make the file much larger.
Exporting GIF, PNG or BMP files GIF export is the most common and probably the best format for use on the web. GIF images can have no more than 256 colors, which you might think is a limitation. However, using Xara3D’s advanced dithering and palette optimization features, you can get near perfect quality images using only 256 colors. Indeed you'll be surprised at how good GIFs with just 16 colors can be.
Exporting JPEG files JPEG bitmaps are always 24-bit, true color, but the JPEG compression system means that the quality is often not as good as a GIF. The quality setting determines how small the resultant file is—the higher the quality, the larger the file. Quality settings less than 80% usually produce inferior images to those available from using palette optimized GIFs. A progressive JPEG is similar to an interlaced GIF. The JPEG displays first as blurred (low resolution) image.
Export as screensaver (SCR) You can export Xara3D graphics as a Windows screensaver (SCR) file. Screensavers prevent a static image from burning the screen, so we would suggest: Use a black or dark colored background, not white or light colored. Create the animation such that there are not light-colored static areas. To create a screensaver 1. 1. Create the animation in the regular way or select from one of the sample screensaver animations in the examples folder. 2. 2. Choose 2.
cycle. Windows stretches the animation to fill the screen. If you want the text to partially fill the screen, select a point size, such as 72pt from the text size drop down, instead of Fit to width. Previewing a screensaver file 1. 1. Browse to the screensaver (SCR) file. 2. 2. Right-click on the file. This pops-up a menu. 3. 3. Click 3. Test to preview. Using a screensaver file If, in step 4, you installed the new screensaver as the default, everything is already set up for you.
