Xara WEB Files Overview

You can use the Xara plug-in for Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer to display WEB vector files (and Xara LX XAR files) on the Internet. With Xara WEB Format (WEB) files you can make the files smaller by optionally excluding invisible information. This can lead to a significant saving in file size. You can download the plug-in from

These two formats have several advantages for both web designers and web readers. The biggest advantage for web designers is that you can always reload the file and make edits to it. You don't need to maintain a source file and a separate GIF or JPEG bitmap. You can reload the file and move things around, scale and rotate parts, change the text etc. Secondly, being high-resolution object based, you can zoom in and out on the image without losing detail. Indeed you can zoom into any region by up to 25,000% to examine the most minute details in illustrations. A good example of where this is useful is a map. The reader can zoom in from viewing the entire country to view a city and then to view individual districts - all on the same map.

A vector format also means that, for example, company logos can be accurately represented, rather than just being a low-resolution approximation.

The ability to display objects without them going jaggy or pixelated like all bitmap formats is also useful for printing a quality image on high resolution printers. Or for images that you'd like to be able to resize for different screen or window sizes and still look pixel perfect.

Another major point about WEB files is that many typical Internet style graphics can be far smaller than either GIF files or JPEG files. As the biggest problem with the Internet is lack of speed, which is almost entirely due to the number and size of JPEG and GIF files, this is a very significant point.

Image Quality

Because of Xara's anti-aliased
rendering, graduated transparency, fractal textures etc., WEB files are the only vector formats that can accurately simulate the best quality obtainable from GIF and JPEG images - and often better.

What goes in the file?

The table shows what goes in a WEB file compared with what goes in a XAR file. A Small WEB File is one exported with the Remove Extra Editing Information option set. For details of the options available when you create a WEB file, click here.

Normal WEB Small WEB XAR

Objects Yes Yes Yes

Area to View Yes Yes -

Quality Setting Yes Yes Yes

Text Text or Outlines Text or Outlines Text

Used Colors Full definitions Simple RGB Full definitions

Preview bitmap Optional Optional Yes

Unused Colors Optional No Yes

Invisible Layers Optional No Yes

Guide Layer Yes No Yes

Layer names Yes No Yes

Page Size Yes No Yes

Comments Yes No Yes

Document Scaling Yes No Yes

Custom Units Yes No Yes

Printing Settings Yes No Yes

Grid Settings Yes No Yes

Ruler Setting Yes No Yes

Guides Yes No Yes

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Related Topics

Web files

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