Tips and tutorials for learning and using Xara Xtreme (formerly Xara X amd CorelXARA) and Xara Webster. Includes basic information about the tools and interface of Xara software, plus essential techniques for creating Web graphics, animations, special effects, and original art work.
Create interlocking rings, like the Olympic rings, using the blend tool and ClipView feature in Xara Xtreme. You can use this technique anytime you need to make objects appear as if they are intertwined, interlocked, or overlapping each other.
Create an image of a CD, then animate it in Xara 2.
Learn how you can control a shape's line color, line thickness, and fill color. See examples of the variety of fills you can create with Xara,
This is one way to create bevels with bitmap fills.
Create this template for beveled icons with transparency, then use it with any fill.
Put finishing touches on a cartoon design in Xara X.
From Xara: How to create effects using Xara X's bevel tool.
From Xara: Morphing effects with the blend tool.
Gary Priester shows you how to makew the light bulb on the Tip of the Day window when you open Xara X. The light bulb design includes an eyeball and chorme effects.
From Xara: Creating a custom brush.
A variation of the colored ball above, this one is placed on a background.
Create a 3D colored ball with a drop shadow in just 3 steps.
From Xara: Learn how to create a variety of color effects.
This beginner's tutorial will familiarize you with Xara's features as you create a simple business card.
Learn how easy it is to create animations in Xara.
Gary Preister shows you how to create an image map with links in with Corel Xara 2. Xara can even write the HTML code for the image map.
From Xara: How to create a PDF with Xara X. (Direct download in PDF format.)
Learn creative techniques using Xara's text tool.
Lines and shapes are the basic building blocks of complex illustrations. See examples of the variety of lines and shapes you can create easily with Xara.
From Xara: Sometimes you'll want to blur the edges of an object so it blends smoothly into its background - for example if you want to merge two bitmaps together without a sharp edge between them. Feathering is the answer.
Formerly called The Trompe L'Oeil Room, this is the archive of Gary Priester's monthly step-by-step tutorials for Xara going back to 1996. You can vew the tutorials online, or download zipped HTML files for offline viewing.
From Xara: How to slice images--the basics.
From Xara: Slicing images by object.
See several examples of animated GIF created in Xara with descriptions of how they were created.
Create the illusion of 3D, and other fun effects with Xara's transparency features.
From Xara: Make a dynamic NavBar for your Web page.
From Xara: Make a NavBar with rollover buttons.
From Xara: How to include a NavBar on your Web pages.
Gary Preister shows you, in great detail, how to use Xara X to create the popular gel button made popular by the Apple Mac OS X interface.
This tutorial features a blue salad/soup bowl with three red, ripe tomatoes. Users of all levels should be able to follow the steps but some knowledge of Xara and/or vector drawing programs is helpful.
From Xara: Learn how to create shadows and explore various shadow effects.
This beginner's tutorial will teach you how to create a simple bouncing ball animation.
Touching up photos in a vector drawing program? Yes, it can be done... this example will show you how Xara's transparency effects can be used in photo manipulation.
See examples of the effects you can create with Xara's transparency tool, along with descriptions explaining how each effect was created.
From Xara: Using the transparency tool.
Learn how to optimize images for the Web with Xara 2.
Many guest tutorials from amazing Xara artists.
