The Xara Trompe L'Oeil Room Page 4
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Drag two guidelines from the screen rulers ( Window > Bars > Rulers or Ctrl L) and place the first 80 pixels from the left side of the flag and the second 70 pixels to the right, or 150 pixels from the left side of the flag.

TIP: To make the rulers begin measuring from the top left portion of the flag, drag the cross hair icon where the two on-screen rulers come together (Drag 0, 0, point) to the top left of the flag. This resets the 0, 0, point of the rulers.

Using the Shape Editor Tool or the Pen Tool, draw two vertical lines that extend above and below the flag and are centered on the two guidelines.

Select the flag and Convert to Editable Shapes (Arrange menu). This is important for the next step to work properly.

Select the first line, then the grouped flag elements and Combine Shapes > Slice Shapes (Arrange menu). This cuts the flag into two parts. Repeat this process with the second line and the right portion of the flag. The trimmer lines disappear and nothing looks different. But you should now have three separate flag sections.

Drag guide lines to the four corners of the flag. Make three rectangles that correspond to the three sections of the flag using the guidelines.

(I've used three different colors to distinguish the three rectangles).

Cut (Ctrl X or Edit > Cut) the three rectangles to the clipboard.

We will use Xara's Mould Tool to apply shaping envelopes to the three sections of the flag to create a rippling or waving effect.

Select the Mould Tool then click the center piece of the flag to select it. Click the Default Envelope icon (the first rectangle icon on the left of the Infobar). Click on the top left corner of the envelope to enable the Bezier control handles. Drag the handles as shown. To enable the bottom handles click one of the bottom squares.

NOTE: I have placed a transparent white shape on top of the envelope to enable you to see the envelope better.