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Edited (still!) by Gary W. Priester Number 4 • July 15, 2002

In this issue:

An old question-Answered

After getting down on my knees and begging for feedback, I'm happy to say, many of you responded in a very positive and heartwarming manner. And I would guess judging by the timing that many of the responses came as a result of being mentioned in The Xara Ltd. Newsletter. So, thanks to Kate for the mention in the newsletter and thanks to all of you who responded in such an enthusiastic and encouraging manner. I guess this means I will continue creating Xara-related content for a while longer.

Covered in this month's Workbook

In the XaraXone this month

Here is what is happening in the XaraXone this month. The July tutorial creates a colorful and glossy transistor which subsequently I have discovered is a capacitor. Emanuel Brito is July's Featured Artist. Emanuel's images combine a keen sense of design with science fantasy. The Guest Tutorial is presented by Egg Bramhill and answers the age old question, is this glass half empty or half full, or a bit of both.

Not so new this month in the Fills and Brush Page are two brushes which are guaranteed not to make Xara crash: Puffy Clouds and Rainbow Spheres. Brian Etherington is still back with XColor, a cool utility for creating named colors from an EPS file. You can download your free copy of XColor in the Shareware Page. Finally I've added a bunch of new links to sites with Xara created images in the Xara Links page. If your site has Xara graphics and is not listed, send me your link and a brief description of how you have used Xara on your site. We're getting a bit short on tips, shareware, and other Xara-related stuff. If you have any cool stuff to share, or any neat knowledge that might be useful as a guest tutorial, let me know.

Xara 3D 5 is on its way!

Xara has sent me an almost final version of Xara 3D 5. Among some of the more intriguing new and improved features are the ability to export animations to Macromedia Flash SWF file format both as bitmaps and vector objects. A new animation type is Ripple (shown here) and there are several new bevel types including Bumpy (also shown here) and Ridged. There are tons of new improvements and new features which I will not list here. If you have been waiting for the sequel to Xara 3D 4, the wait is just about over. I expect the release to be announced any day on Xara's site. Next month, by which time Xara 3D 5 should be released, I'll cover the new features in more detail.

The Xara Tutorials, On-line Xara X Manual
and WebXealot CD is here!

Dozens of you have asked your editor (still me hanging in there—just barely) over the years for a CD containing the Xara Tutorials, WebXealots, and On-line Xara X Manual. Well thanks to Grant E. Remington, all this (and more) is available on a CD in Adobe PDF (Adobe's Portable Document File) file format for easy viewing and printing! (Hold your applause, please).

Grant has provided an Adobe Acrobat reader on the CD for those of you who may not have one, for viewing the PDF files. Xara Ltd. has included a folder of 19 cool fonts, not available on the Xara X CD, as well as trial copies of Xara Webstyle and Xara 3D 4. If you have never tried Xara 3D 4 you are in for a treat with this incredibly easy to use 3D and animation creation application.

So where do you order your CD and what is it going to cost? Click Here to go to Grant's site to place your order. The price for the CD which includes everything; Xara Tutorials from 1996 - 2001, WebXealots 1-35, including #s 16-35 the on-line Xara X manual, the fonts, the trial versions, the Acrobat reader, the whole enchilada, is $20.00 US which includes free shipping in the USA. The cost outside the USA and Canada is $22.00 US and also included shipping. A great price if I do say so myself.

For a small additional fee, Grant can print your own label design if you decide that you don't like all the worms featured on my handsome label design. So don't delay, order your CD today! And order several for your friends and relatives!

Thanks to all of you who have already ordered (and received) your copies. If you have not ordered yours, as they say in the TV commercials, there will never be a better time to buy!

And last but not least, your editor is always looking for new talent to showcase in the XaraXone Featured Artist page. If we don't get some more talented folks to step forward, your editor is going to have to make another guest appearance.

If you think you have the right stuff (10-12 really cool images—created with Xara, or created mostly with Xara), drop me a line and if possible send me an URL where I can see your images. The world is waiting to see your images, so don't be shy. OK?

©2002 Gary W. Priester, All rights reserved. No portion of this publication,
including the illustrations contained within, may be reproduced in any way
without the express written permission of the author.