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As always, we will be using Pixels as our units of measure. Right click on the screen and select Page Options... from the pop up menu. In the Units tabbed section, select Pixels for the Units and 0-255 for the Color Units. In the Grid and Ruler tabbed section set the Major Spacing to 100pix (key it in exactly like this please) and the Number of Subdivisions to 10. Press OK to close the dialog and apply the changes. To see a tutorial on Xara Basics visit Workbook 20. NOTE: You will notice from time to time I apply arbitrary colors to objects. I do this to make the objects easier to see. If I do not specify a fill for an object, you do not have to apply a fill or outline color. When I show an ellipse or rectangle that has just been created, that has no fill, it is because I have set the fill to none before I exported the illustration. By default, all ellipses, rectangles and Quick Shapes have a black outline and a black fill. There is nothing wrong with your copy of Xara. Naming Conventions. I use bold face to indicate the names of tools, galleries, keyboard shortcuts, and dialogs. Items such as unnamed icons and drop down lists, which have names when you let your cursor rest over them for a moment, are displayed in italics. The Infobar is the context sensitive menu at the top of the screen and changes to reflect the options for the selected tool. Some of the tool icons have changed in Xara Xtreme, and this may cause some confusion for new users. If you are using an older version of Xara, click here to see my Rosetta Stone for translating the old buttons into the new. New Users? I have created some quick start mini-tutorials to get you though the basics. Workbook 20, Workbook 30, and Workbook 31 cover the main things you need to know to get started. While you should be able to create all the steps in previous versions of Xara, some of the tool icons have changed, and this may cause some confusion for new users. If you are using an older version of Xara, click here to see my Rosetta Stone for translating the old buttons into the new. |
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We think of a cube of ice as being bluish, cube shaped, and transparent. But as the two examples show above, ice is really none of the those things. Clear ice cubes like the photograph shown on the right, have a multitude of refraction's. And while the cube is essentially transparent, its appearance is anything but transparent. Any thing that is over, under, or near the cube will reflect creating a myriad of shapes. And the shape is only cube-like. I was trying to think of the best way to simulate these reflections and after numerous false starts, decided that Xtreme's Fractal Plasma fills and transparencies were the best tool for the job. Let's get started.
Well use a hexagon to create the basic shape of the cube. Select the QuickShape Tool (Shift F2). Click on the page. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag from the center outwards. The size should be approximately 320 pixels which you can change on the Infobar at the top of the screen. New Users: Xara's Infobar at the top of the screen is context-sensitive. This means that it changes to display options and functions related to the selected tool.
Double click on any of the corner points with the QuickShape Tool to round the corners. With the shape selected, open the Arrange menu and click on Convert to Editable Shapes.
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