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.

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. Enough small talk, let's get on with the tutorial.

Using the Ellipse Tool, and holding down the Ctrl key to constrain the ellipse to a circle, draw a 300 pixel circle. (The size of the circle is shown as you draw on the Infobar at the top of the screen). Now, create an ellipse 200 pixels wide by 25 pixels tall and position the ellipse inside the circle as shown.

Create three circles to the sizes shown and vertically center all the circles and ellipses.

TIP: Use the Object Alignment dialog (Arrange > Alignment...) to do this. Select all the circles and ellipses and then select Align Centrally from the Horizontal Positions drop down list.