Crop images into shapes using Xara Photo & Graphic Designer

One of the best things about Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is the ease with which you can crop images to any shape you want, whether it is a circle, star or a freehand drawing.

Start by importing your photo into a blank Xara document. If you are going to use a shape, click on the shape button, the fourth down in the left-hand toolbar. Draw the shape over the photo. It may be easier to draw the shape off to one side in the correct proportions and then move it over the photo to get the exact size. I sometimes use the transparency tool while doing this so I can see the image underneath.

Once the shape is in place, click on it once to select it. Hold down Shift and click on the photo to select it as well. Right-click somewhere over the two, left-click on Combine shapes and then on Intersect Shapes.

If the positioning isn’t quite right, you can adjust the part of the photos shown in the crop. Switch to Select mode by clicking on the top icon in the left-hand bar. Click on the cropped image and then on the fill icon, the sixth down on the left. Click and drag to move the background image around. The arrows can be used to rotate and resize the picture in the background.
Richard Whitten