There are two ways to apply a flat fill to a selected object. The easiest way is to click a color on the screen palette with the left mouse button. (Click with the right mouse button to change the outline color). Click the white box with the black cross hatching with the left mouse button to set the fill to none and with the right mouse button to set the outline to none.

The second method, drag-and-drop, works with objects that are not selected. Simply drag a color from the screen palette and drop it onto an object or text object.

As you drag the cursor changes to an arrow with a colored  square and a right angle arrow. When the cursor is over an object the right angle arrow changes to a thin vertical line to indicate outline or a box to indicate fill.

To apply one of Xara's other ten kinds of fills, select the object with the Selector Tool (the arrow cursor), then select the Fill Tool (the paint can) and select from the drop down list on the Infobar.

Linear Fills are two-color fills. You can drag either end of the fill path arrow to specify the direction of the fill.

To add colors, click on the node at either end of the fill path, then click a color on the screen palette. There are three Linear Fill Effects available from the Fill Effect drop down on the Infobar, Fade, which is a simple fade from one color to the next, Rainbow, the shortest distance around the color wheel, and Alt Rainbow, the longest distance around the color wheel.

Circular Fills are two-color fills that fill in a circular direction. Drag the center node to reposition the center of the fill, and drag the outside node to resize the fill diameter. Click on either node, then click on a color on the screen palette to change the colors. The same three Fill Effects shown above apply to Circular Fills.

Elliptical Fills are two-color fills that fill in an elliptical direction. Drag the center node to reposition the fill, and drag the outside nodes to resize the fill area. Elliptical fills can independently resized horizontally and/or vertically. And the fills can be rotated by dragging the outside nodes.

The same three Fill Effects shown above apply to Circular Fills. Shown here is Alt Rainbow.