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Xara Tutorial—Xara Brushes

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4

2 Creating a brush ......................................................................................................... 5

3 Brush properties dialogue ......................................................................................... 8

3.1 Fill Properties tab .............................................................................................. 9

3.1.1 Saturation slider ...................................................................................... 9

3.1.2 Hue slider ............................................................................................... 10

3.1.3 Local colors replace .............................................................................. 10

3.1.3.1 All brush colors .................................................................................... 11

3.1.3.2 No brush colors .................................................................................... 11

3.1.3.3 Named brush colors ............................................................................ 12

3.1.4 Randomise button ................................................................................ 12

3.1.5 Tile fills ................................................................................................... 13

3.2 Offset tab ......................................................................................................... 14

3.2.1 Direction from line ................................................................................ 14

3.2.1.1 On line ................................................................................................... 14

3.2.1.2 Alternating ............................................................................................ 15

3.2.1.3 To left..................................................................................................... 15

3.2.1.4 To right .................................................................................................. 16

3.2.2 Distance slider ....................................................................................... 16

3.2.3 Random slider ....................................................................................... 16


3.3 Rotation tab ..................................................................................................... 17

3.3.1 Rotate along path ................................................................................. 18

3.3.2 Brush angle slider ................................................................................. 18

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3.3.3 Adding slider ......................................................................................... 18

3.3.4 Random slider ....................................................................................... 19


3.4 Scaling tab ....................................................................................................... 20

3.4.1 Random slider ....................................................................................... 20

3.4.2 Pressure slider ....................................................................................... 21


3.5 Spacing tab ...................................................................................................... 22

3.5.1 Spacing slider ........................................................................................ 22

3.5.2 Random slider ....................................................................................... 23

3.5.3 Sequence progress ............................................................................... 23

3.5.3.1 Forward ................................................................................................. 24

3.5.3.2 Backward ............................................................................................... 24

3.5.3.3 Mirror ..................................................................................................... 24

3.5.3.4 Random ................................................................................................. 25


3.6 Transparency tab ............................................................................................ 26

3.6.1 Transparency slider ............................................................................... 26

3.6.2 Pressure slider ....................................................................................... 27

4 Brush categories ....................................................................................................... 29

4.1 Vector object/group brushes ........................................................................ 29

4.2 Bitmap brushes ............................................................................................... 30

4.3 Bitmap transparency brushes ....................................................................... 31

4.3.1 Creating the bitmap transparency ..................................................... 31

5 Final notes ................................................................................................................. 35

6 Examples .................................................................................................................... 37

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1 Introduction

Brushes are made up of a sequence of objects and are applied to line strokes. This gives

the illusion of painting with objects, and can produce an almost unlimited number of

effects.

This tutorial will describe how to create brushes and the controls for editing them, and

will highlight some lesser known techniques to creating a range of different types of

brushes in Xara.

Note 1: This .docx document has been written in MS Word 2007 in Print Layout View,

and thus is printable. Furthermore, using the latest features of Xara, all images in the

document were pasted from Xara, and thus are Xara objects; simply double clicking on

them will load them directly back into Xara for easier, interactive inspection.

Note 2: A document tree is available in Word to see the structure of the document and

make navigation easier:

In Word 2003 and below: go to View > Document Map.

In Word 2007: go to View tab > check Document Map checkbox in Show/Hide

palette.

Note 3: This document also contains cross-references to key parts of the document. For

example, Ctrl-clicking on text such as ‘Figure 2.1’ will cause the document to jump to the

relevant location. Sections and figures references take advantage of this feature.

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2 Creating a brush

To create a brush:

1. Select the objects you wish to constitute the brush

2. Select the Freehand and Brush tool from the side toolbar

3. Click the Create Brush button on the infobar

This is illustrated in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1. To create a brush, select the constituent shapes, select the Freehand and Brush tool, and then press the

Create Brush button on the infobar.

This brings up a dialogue box (Figure 2.2) where you then give the brush a name to be

identified by.

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Figure 2.2. After pressing the Create Brush button on the Freehand and Brush tool infobar, a dialogue box appears

allowing you to specify the brush name. Enter a name and press the OK button.

The brush will become available in the Line Gallery, under the New brush strokes folder

(Figure 2.3). If you now click and draw, your brush will be painted (unless the you have Give

new objects most recent attributes (GNOMRA) in the General tab of the Options dialogue

active, and the line width is sufficiently small that drawing would produce computationally

enormous numbers of objects—in which case, the brush reverts to the default black line).

Figure 2.3. All custom made brushes in a document are placed in the Line gallery under the New brush strokes folder.

If you right click the brush in the Line gallery (press F12 to open the gallery) a context

menu is revealed as shown in Figure 2.4. The options presented allow you to rename or

delete the brush. An additional very useful command: Copy brush graphic to clipboard

allows you to retrieve the original constituent objects that comprised the brush; they are

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copied to the clipboard and can be pasted back onto the document. This is useful if you

wish to re-create a similar brush using the same original objects; once a brush has been

created, it cannot have additional shapes added to it—a new brush will need to be created

in such a case.

Figure 2.4. Right-clicking on the brush in the Line gallery (press F12 to open the gallery), a context menu will appear

allowing you to rename or delete the brush. You can also copy the constituent brush objects to the clipboard to retrieve

the original objects from the brush.

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3 Brush properties dialogue

Once your brush is made, it will likely require customising. To do this, select the brush

stroke you wish to edit and press the Edit Brush button on the Freehand and Brush tool’s

infobar. The Edit Brush button can be pressed immediately after a brush has been created;

no line needs to be drawn first.

Pressing the Edit Brush button will open the dialogue shown in Figure 3.1. The dialogue

contains 6 tabs, each corresponding to a set of brush line properties that can be altered.

The following sub-sections of this section of the tutorial will discuss what every option does

to the brush; the tabs will be addressed alphabetically.

Figure 3.1. The brush properties dialogue opens when the Edit Brush button on the Freehand and Brush tool infobar

is pressed when a brush is selected. The dialogue has 6 tabs, allowing you to change many aspects of the brush’s

appearance.

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Clicking the Save button in the brush properties dialogue saves all current brush settings

(not line colour) to the selected brush. Future uses of that brush will use the new settings.

Each brush stroke can be given new, independent edit-settings.

3.1 Fill Properties tab

The Fill properties tab houses options that deal with the fills and colours of objects

constituting the brush stroke; the default settings are shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2. Default settings for the Fill properties tab of the brush edit dialogue.

3.1.1 Saturation slider

This slider applies a random saturation value (vividness/paleness of colour) to each

constituent vector object in a brush, as shown in Figure 3.3. The greater the slider value,

the greater the possible values of saturation that are applied.

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Figure 3.3. The saturation slider applies different saturation levels to each object in the brush, with greater slider

values applying a greater range of saturation values.

3.1.2 Hue slider

This slider applies a random hue (colour) to each constituent vector object in a brush, as

shown in Figure 3.4. The greater the slider value, the greater the range of hues around the

colour wheel from the original colour that are applied.

Figure 3.4. The Hue slider applies different hues to the objects in the brush, with larger slider values applying greater

ranges of hues.

3.1.3 Local colors replace

This setting determines what parts of the objects in a brush will change colour when the

brush stroke is given a different colour. The brush object used in Figure 3.5 consisted of a

fill type ranging from two categories of colour: named and local colours. A named colour is

just a local colour (selected from the colour bar at the bottom of the screen, or arbitrarily in

the colour selector) that has been assigned a name. If the brush is given a new line colour,

then the three colour options in the dialogue determine what type of colour in the brush

objects will be changed.

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Figure 3.5. This example object uses two categories of colour: named and local colour.

If the brush is given a colour from the colour bar or a randomly selected local colour

from the colour picker, then the following changes occur for each setting:

3.1.3.1 All brush colors

All brush colours in the constituent objects of the brush (named, or unnamed) are

replaced with the new local colour, as shown in Figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6. All colours in the brush objects are replaced with the new local line colour with this setting.

3.1.3.2 No brush colors

The brush colours in the constituent objects of the brush are not changed and remain as

they were when the brush was made, as illustrated in Figure 3.7. Use this setting if you

want the brush to never change colour.

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Figure 3.7. The colours in the brush objects are never changed with the selection of a new local line colour with this

setting.

3.1.3.3 Named brush colors

Only named colours in the constituent objects of the brush are changed to the new local

line colour, as shown in Figure 3.8.

Figure 3.8. The named colours in the brush objects are changed to the selected new local line colour with this setting.

3.1.4 Randomise button

This button generates a new random seed for all random settings on this tab, and

affects the Saturation and Hue settings.

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3.1.5 Tile fills

When using:-

A brush object that has a bitmap fill, e.g. a vector object with a fractal fill;

A brush made from a bitmap;

The Tile fills setting determines whether the bitmaps/bitmap fills are globally tiled about

all objects as a whole, or tiled about each individual object. This is illustrated in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9. With the Tile fills setting on, brushes made of bitmaps or objects with bitmap fills will show the bitmap

tiling about the whole brush stroke as a single object; when off, the tiling will occur about each single object.

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3.2 Offset tab

The Offset tab houses options that deal with spacing and position perpendicular from

the line of objects constituting the brush stroke; the default settings are shown in Figure

3.10.

Figure 3.10. Default settings for the Offset tab of the brush edit dialogue.

3.2.1 Direction from line

The following settings affect how the objects constituting the brush move

perpendicularly from the line stroke.

3.2.1.1 On line

Online is the default value and represents the centres of all objects being located on the

line. The Distance slider is inactive for this setting.

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3.2.1.2 Alternating

When the Distance slider has a non-zero value, the objects constituting the brush are

alternately moved by that amount about each side of the line, as shown in Figure 3.11.

Figure 3.11. The Alternating setting causes objects in the brush to alternate about the brush stroke line.

3.2.1.3 To left


moved by that amount to the left side of the line, as shown in Figure 3.12.

Figure 3.12. The To left setting causes objects in the brush to move to the left of the brush stroke.

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3.2.1.4 To right


moved by that amount to the right side of the line, as shown in Figure 3.13.

Figure 3.13. The To right setting causes objects in the brush to move to the right of the brush stroke.

3.2.2 Distance slider

The Distance slider becomes active for all offset settings except On line, and determines

the minimum fixed distance from the line that the objects in the brush are moved.

3.2.3 Random slider

The Random slider determines how big a random change in distance from the line that

each object in the brush is given when the Direction from line setting is not On line. The

distance slider doesn’t have to have a non-zero value; no minimum fixed-distance-from-the-

line value needs to be set, as shown in Figure 3.14.

Figure 3.14. The Random slider determines a random amount by which the objects in the brush move from the line

when the Direction from line setting is anything but On line. In this example, the Direction from line setting is set to

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alternating; the objects alternate about the line side by a random amount. The Distance slider is set to 0, so there is no

minimum fixed distance from the line that each object shares. Double-click this image to load into Xara, and edit the brush

sliders to get a tactile feel of what these settings do.


The Randomise button generates a new random seed for all random settings on this tab,

which in this tab, only affects the Random slider setting.

3.3 Rotation tab

The Rotation tab houses options that deal with the relative angle of rotation that

objects constituting the brush stroke have; the default settings are shown in Figure 3.15.

Figure 3.15. Default settings for the Rotation tab of the brush edit dialogue.

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3.3.1 Rotate along path

This setting determines whether the objects in the brush are aligned with the direction

of the brush stroke, or whether they retain their original angle of rotation, as illustrated in

Figure 3.16.

Figure 3.16. Rotate along path determines whether the objects in the brush align with the direction of the brush

stroke, or retain their original rotational position.

3.3.2 Brush angle slider

The Brush angle slider allows all objects in the brush to be rotated by a set amount

relative to their original angle, as shown in Figure 3.17.

Figure 3.17. The brush angle slider determines how much each object in the brush rotates about its original value.

Rotation occurs anti-clockwise.

3.3.3 Adding slider

The Adding slider allows incremental rotation relative to the next object in the brush to

give spiralling effects, as shown in Figure 3.18.

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Figure 3.18. The Adding slider value represents the angle of rotation that is incrementally added to each successive

object in the brush. This can be used to produce spiralling effects, as in this example, where each object in the brush is

rotated 10° anti-clockwise from the last.

3.3.4 Random slider

The Random slider adds a random angle of rotation to each object up to the limit

specified, as shown in Figure 3.19.

Figure 3.19. The Random setting allows each object in the brush to be rotated by a random amount relative to its

original position.


The Randomise button generates a new random seed for all random settings on this tab;

in this tab it affects only the Random slider.

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3.4 Scaling tab

The Scaling tab houses options that deal with the relative sizes of the constituent brush

objects; the default settings are shown in Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.20. Default settings for the Scaling tab of the brush edit dialogue.

3.4.1 Random slider

This makes each object in the brush a random percentage size relative to the original

size, within the specified limits. This is illustrated in Figure 3.21.

Figure 3.21. The Random slider makes all objects in the brush a random size that is somewhere between the

percentage-size limits of the value set.

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3.4.2 Pressure slider

The Pressure slider determines the magnitude of a pressure-profile effect when

pressure sensitivity is applied to a brush stroke (through the use of either a preset profile,

or direct input from a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet). For example, a setting of ‘100-

100%’ would prevent pressure scaling, as the pressure does not vary; whereas ‘0-100%’

would result in a line that experiences the maximum pressure-scaling of the profile set. This

is illustrated in Figure 3.22. Pressure profiles are located on the right-most dropdown-box

on the Freehand and Brush Tool infobar.

Figure 3.22. The Pressure slider determines the magnitude of stroke pressure-profiling. Pressure-profiles can be

applied to line strokes by either using a pressure sensitive input device (like a graphics tablet) or selecting from a menu of

presets on the Freehand and Brush Tool infobar.



in this tab it affects only the Random slider.

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3.5 Spacing tab

The Spacing tab houses options that deal with the relative spacing of the constituent

brush objects; the default settings are shown in Figure 3.23.

Figure 3.23. Default settings for the Spacing tab of the brush edit dialogue.

3.5.1 Spacing slider

The Spacing slider determines the regular spacing between each object in the brush, as

illustrated in Figure 3.24.

Figure 3.24. The Spacing slider determined the fixed amount of space between each object, and thus determining the

number of objects in the brush stroke.

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3.5.2 Random slider

The Random slider applies different random percentage spacing between any two

adjacent objects in the brush relative to the spacing value set with the Spacing slider, and is

illustrated in Figure 3.25. The percentage limits are determined by the slider value range.

Figure 3.25. The Random slider changes the spacing between two adjacent objects by a random percentage amount

relative to the spacing value set with the spacing slider. The left image has no random change to the spacing; the right

image has a random spacing that is between 74% and 140% of the original value (slightly more and less space).

3.5.3 Sequence progress

If a brush is created from several separate objects, then the object draw order is

determined by their stacking order at creation time, as shown in Figure 3.26.

Figure 3.26. For brushes comprising more than one object, the stacking order (order in which the objects are

originally drawn in the document) determines the sequence that the objects are drawn in the brush.

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The Sequence progress settings determine the pattern of the sequence of objects, and

each setting is discussed in the following sub-sections.

3.5.3.1 Forward

The Forward setting causes the first object drawn originally before brush creation (i.e.

the one at the bottom of the stack) is drawn first in the brush. Once all objects have been

drawn once, the cycle restarts. This is illustrated in Figure 3.27.

Figure 3.27. The Forward setting causes the brush objects to draw sequentially in the order they were drawn prior to

been turned into a brush.

3.5.3.2 Backward

The Backward setting causes the last object drawn originally before brush creation (i.e.

the one at the top of the stack) is drawn first in the brush. Once all objects have been

drawn once, the cycle restarts. This is illustrated in Figure 3.28.

Figure 3.28. The Backward setting causes the brush objects to draw sequentially in the reverse order they were

drawn prior to been turned into a brush.

3.5.3.3 Mirror

The Mirror setting causes all objects in the brush to draw again but in reverse order,

after they have been drawn in their original sequence. This is illustrated in Figure 3.29.

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Figure 3.29. The Mirror setting causes the brush objects to draw sequentially in the order they were drawn prior to

been turned into a brush, then in the reverse order.

3.5.3.4 Random

The Random setting causes the constituent objects in the brush to be drawn in random

order. This is illustrated in Figure 3.30.

Figure 3.30. The Random setting causes the brush objects to draw in a random order.



in this tab it affects, the Random slider, and the random setting in the Sequence progress

drop-down box.

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3.6 Transparency tab

The Transparency tab houses options that deal with the transparency level that is

applied to all separate brush objects; the default settings are shown in Figure 3.31.

Figure 3.31. Default settings for the Transparency tab of the brush edit dialogue.

3.6.1 Transparency slider

The Transparency slider affects the transparency of all objects in the brush. Any

outlines on the constituent objects in the brush are not affected by this setting—the

transparency tool must be used to alter their line transparency; only brush object fills are

affected with this setting. Negative transparencies can be applied, which means that

constituent objects that were originally partially transparent, can be made more opaque.

This is illustrated in Figure 3.32.

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Figure 3.32. The Transparency slider determines the additive transparency values applied to the fills of all objects. No

brush object outline transparency is affected; the transparency tool is required to change brush object outline

transparency.

3.6.2 Pressure slider

The Pressure slider determines the magnitude of transparency on a pressure-profiled

brush stroke. Pressure sensitivity is applied to a brush stroke through the use of either a

preset profile, or direct input from a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet. For example, a

setting of ‘100-100%’ would prevent pressure-based transparency, as the pressure does not

vary; whereas ‘0-100%’ would result in a line that experiences the maximum pressure-based

transparency of the profile set. This is illustrated in Figure 3.33. Pressure profiles are

located on the right-most dropdown-box on the Freehand and Brush Tool infobar. Effects to

simulate reduced transparency (greater opacity) with increasing pressure can be achieved

using this feature.

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Figure 3.33. The Pressure slider determines the magnitude of pressure-based stroke transparency. Pressure-based

transparencies can be applied to line strokes by either using a pressure sensitive input device (like a graphics tablet) or

selecting from a menu of presets on the Freehand and Brush Tool infobar.

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4 Brush categories

There are three general ‘categories’ of brush types that can be made:

1. Vector- object/group brushes

2. Bitmap brushes

3. Bitmap transparency brushes

Each will be discussed in the following sub-sections. Combinations of these three types

of brushes can be used to add even more diversity.

4.1 Vector object/group brushes

This type of brush is made of:

1. 1 or more vector objects

2. 1 or more groups of vector objects

A combination of the above two

If you desire constituent brush objects to retain their relative positions in the brush,

then those objects should be grouped prior to creating the brush. The sequence of objects

drawn in a brush with more than one constituent object is discussed in section 3.5.3:

Sequence progress. When a brush is made, the size of the original object will equate to the

brush line thickness then drawn, only when Give New Objects Most Recent Attributes

(GNOMRA) is unselected in the Options dialogue; otherwise it will be determined by the

default line thickness value set. An example of the above two types of vector brushes are

shown in Figure 4.1.

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Figure 4.1. Vector brushes can be created to contain combinations of single vector objects, multiple vector objects,

and vector groups.

4.2 Bitmap brushes

Brushes can be made from bitmaps for even greater flexibility, allowing you to

overcome some of the limitations of vector brushes (Figure 4.2); some vector object

properties do not currently get translated into a brush, e.g. feathering. There are still

however some limitations in using bitmaps; the colour of the brush stroke cannot be

changed when composed of bitmaps. The colour is thus determined by the colour of the

bitmap when created. The category of bitmap brushes also includes shapes with bitmap

fills. Remember to toggle the setting on the Fill Properties tab for more control over the

bitmap brush.

Figure 4.2. Bitmaps can be used as objects in a brush to overcome some limitations of using vector objects in brushes.

Feathered objects cannot be included in a brush; the feathering will not be present. Here, a bitmap copy of a feathered

object was used in the brush.

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4.3 Bitmap transparency brushes

Using a bitmap transparency on a vector object is a novel way to combine the best of

both vector and bitmap effects in brush creation. One advantage over just using bitmap

objects is that the effective bitmap brushes can be re-coloured. The following section will

discuss the creation of such a brush. It relies heavily on the process outlined in another

tutorial: Transparency shapes and types.

4.3.1 Creating the bitmap transparency

The brush that will be created in this example will have a feathered look which will be

retained when converted to a brush.

Firstly, create the brush object on top of another object that will be given the bitmap

transparency (Figure 4.3). This ensures that the correct object size is used for the brush.

The objects should initially be created in shades of black, or the maximum range of

transparency will not be available later.

Figure 4.3. Create the brush object on top of another object that will eventually be given the bitmap transparency.

Use shades of black to get the full range of transparency after the brush is made.

Next, copy the white square background to the clipboard (as it will get the bitmap

transparency later), and then create a bitmap copy of both objects (making sure the outline

of the background square is set to none). Set the colour depth to 16 colours as any greater

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level will not provide measurable quality when the transparency is applied, and will only use

an unnecessarily large amount of memory—which will add up for complex brushes. Set the

resolution to your desired value, e.g. 96 dpi for 100 % zoom/screen display, or more, e.g.

200 dpi if you plan to enlarge the brush and want to retain quality, or plan to print. This is


Figure 4.4. Create a bitmap copy of both objects, setting the color depth to 16 colours for maximum efficiency without

noticeable loss of quality when the brush is made.

Next, paste a copy of the square that was copied in step 2; give it the colour you want

the brush to have (it can be re-coloured later), and then select the transparency tool. From

the dropdown list of transparency types, select the elliptical transparency type first. This

sets the handles to the edges of the shape so that when the bitmap transparency is applied,

the aspect ratio is correct. Next, immediately select the bitmap transparency type, and

then from the dropdown list of bitmaps on the infobar, select the bitmap just created. It

should be automatically scaled to the size of the object (which was why the bitmap copy in

step 2 included the background object—to ensure correct sizing). This procedure is


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Figure 4.5. Paste the copied background shape, select an elliptical transparency type firstly to ensure correct aspect

ratio of the bitmap later, then immediately select the bitmap transparency type, and select the correct bitmap generated

earlier. The shape now has the bitmap transparency.

The custom transparency-brush object is now complete, and can be made into a brush

in the usual manner, discussed in section 2: Creating a brush. When the brush is first used,

it will appear incorrectly; go to the fill properties tab and uncheck the “Tile fills” box to have

it appear correctly, as discussed in section 3.1.5: Tile fills: . The completed brush is shown in

Figure 4.6.

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Figure 4.6. Bitmap transparency brush can be given different line colours, combining the best of bitmap and vector

features.

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5 Final notes

Combinations of vector object, bitmap, and bitmap transparency can be used to create

some unique brush effects. The bitmap transparency objects will allow features that cannot

be used in brushes by using normal vector objects, e.g. feathering. The vector objects, and

bitmap transparency objects, will allow multiple colour effects if the Local colors replace

settings are changed in the Fill properties tab, as shown in section 3.1.3: Local colors

replace. Finally, the bitmap components will allow permanent colour components. An

example of a combination of these three types of object in a brush is shown in Figure 5.1.

If any Xara files containing Brush libraries, such as my “Xhris’s Brush Collection.xar” are

put in the following folder “./Xara Xtreme/Templates/Brushes/”, then every time Xara is

loaded, the brushes in that file will be in the default selection available, and have their own

folder in the line gallery. The xar file containing dozens of professional quality brushes is

available for download (for free) here.

Xhris

http://xhris.digitalred.net/index.php?dir=FREE%20Xara%20Brushes/&AutoIndex=cb946d869eb47a8b0f6849b40686a466

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Figure 5.1. Brushes can be made with objects that contain vector, bitmap, and bitmap transparency objects. This

allows a much greater range of effects when used together. In the brush here, the bitmap objects (centre star image)

retain their colour always, the bitmap transparency objects (centre rings) only acquire the set line colour when the All

colors setting is set in Local colors replace section of the edit brush properties dialogue, and the vector objects (outer

rectangles) can retain their original colour, or be given a new colour. Double-click the image to open in Xara for

inspection.

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6 Examples

Figure 6.1 shows a selection brushes that can be produced in Xara.

Figure 6.1. An example selection of brushes that can be produced in Xara.

All my brushes are available in the embedded xar file below.

Xhris's Brush Collection.xar

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