Copying objects using connected colors

Complicated drawings such as cars require complex shading and highlights to appear lifelike. This is easier if you use connected colors (shades, linked colors and tints) all based on a parent color. Editing the parent color automatically updates all the connected colors. You can copy an object like this so that the new copy uses a different parent color and the colors of the two drawings can be controlled independently.

To create a copy of a drawing with a different parent color:

1. Select the drawing (see Selecting objects).

2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. This copies the drawing to the clipboard.

3. Select the parent color in the Color Gallery, and rename it (see Renaming named colors).

4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. This pastes a copy of the drawing from the clipboard into the document.

When you paste the drawing back into the document, Xara LX finds that the parent color has been renamed and creates a new one. You now have a base color for each drawing and can alter their color independently.

Tip

You can also copy the drawing into a different document, change the color and paste it back into the original document to achieve the same effect. This requires more memory, though.

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Related Topics

Colors overview

Copying objects