Feathering

Feathering is a technique of slightly blurring the edges of objects and until recently has been impossible in vector drawing programs.

Simply by selecting an object - any object - and moving the slider on the feather bar, it makes the affected object merge into background objects and avoids a sharp line at the boundary. This is particularly useful when overlaying bitmaps.

Xara Xtreme allows you to change the feathering profile, altering the transition across the feather. You might want a regular rate of change or a more pronounced change towards one end or the center.

Note that feathering affects only the object's edge and no other part of the object.

See a demo