This month's tutorial started in the tiny country of San Marino . Cool you say, Gary finally got a vacation! Well, not exactly.

A chap named Luciano Capello created quite a stir in the Xara Conference in response to the question was it possible to have 3D text on Xara 3D 4's new button shapes. While it is not possible to have 3D text on a button, Luciano (who holds degrees in both engineering and architecture) found another method (the stir), which is the subject of this month's tutorial.

Those of you familiar with Xara 3D, know that you can now open a Xara XAR file in Xara 3D 4 and/or use a texture fill to give the different portions of the image or text different textures. But by using Luciano's technique, you can bring in individual objects and by a round-about method involving line and letter spacing, position the elements as shown in the animation on the left.

If you do not have Xara 3D 4 (this technique will only work in version 4) CLICK HERE to go to Xara's web site from which you can purchase Xara 3D 4 for US $39.00 (upgrade for US $15 to US $29) or download a Free 15-day trial version.

i/s who make possible the XaraXone in which these tutorials reside, is also selling Xara 3D 4 for US $35. There is no upgrade price but by purchasing from i/us you help support the XaraXone . And there is no 17.5 value added tax when you purchase from i/us.  CLICK HERE to go to the i/us Xara 3D 4 page. You can also review all the latest features and take a quick tour and a beginning tutorial on this page.