FINALLY! THE NEW INTERFACE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR... THANKS XARA

Well, so much for Xara doing away with desktop pro....!

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Originally Posted by cmpan1

Well, so much for Xara doing away with desktop pro....!

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:-bd

@MB365, Matt I note that the Selector Bounding Box now hugs the object outline down to around 20%.
This is far better - thank you.

Still a FAIL on the Mould Control ends disappearing and the inability to Tab round the controls or do any of the actions that would make this better.

Acorn

Here is the link I found https://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/whats-new/
It states WHAT'S NEW IN DESIGNER PRO
Latest Updates: Designer Pro+ July 2022: Designer Pro X March 2022. You can find a summary of our latest updates below, with more details in our Release Notes.
You'll automatically receive all the latest Designer Pro+ updates if you have an active Pro+ subscription purchased direct from Xara.
If you own Designer Pro X you can download the latest updates if you have an active Update Service purchased from our retail partner Magix. I have Designer Prox not plus with active active Update Service, where do I download this? Is it just the trial download?

Also, on this link: https://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/buy/ , it looks like I would have to get a credit from sales, then subscribe to the desktop product. Still seems like a subscription to me. More info is appreciated!
Nancy

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Originally Posted by yellowbird

Here is the link I found https://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/whats-new/
It states WHAT'S NEW IN DESIGNER PRO
Latest Updates: Designer Pro+ July 2022: Designer Pro X March 2022. You can find a summary of our latest updates below, with more details in our Release Notes.
You'll automatically receive all the latest Designer Pro+ updates if you have an active Pro+ subscription purchased direct from Xara.
If you own Designer Pro X you can download the latest updates if you have an active Update Service purchased from our retail partner Magix.

I have Designer Prox not plus with active active Update Service, where do I download this? Is it just the trial download?
Also, on this link: https://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/buy/ , it looks like I would have to get a credit from sales, then subscribe to the desktop product. Still seems like a subscription to me. More info is appreciated!
Nancy

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Nancy,the trial link(s) are in https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...creative-tools.

Xara is very helpful for those crossing over.

Acorn

My problem with new user interface is that the contrast is very low making it very difficult to see, dark grey on black is impossible to see.
With rectangle coordinates I have to look very closely at as a number 1 is barely readable.
I could not see why it had to change.

maybe your monitor needs calibrating/adjusting ?

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My problem with new user interface is that the contrast is very low making it very difficult to see, dark grey on black is impossible to see.

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Having worked for many hours with the new interface on a 4K monitor since the release I think that on many monitors the value differences are going to be really difficult to distinguish. I have used a Xara product since 1996 so I am familiar with the interface and know where everything is. But I feel that new users are going to have a hard time. The icons/buttons are smaller, at least on my monitor, than the previous version and the lack of color makes it harder to determine one from the other.

on my monitor, which is calibrated, the contrast is about the same as affinity and harmony ...

Not a great lover of this new interface, I find it very bland. In fact I'd prefer Xara stop messing about on the UI and develop better vector apps but that's a cry we've been hearing for years. :confused:

with you on that egg

and wasn't it zeb who said he didn't care what the UI was like because he spent most of his time looking at the workspace....

I've used the new interface for a few days and while I wouldn't have chosen to switch, I don't think that it's a bad step.

Looking side-by-side at the previous icons and the new ones, it's obvious that someone has put in a lot of work.

I really feel for whoever had to make them in single colours though - it really can't have been easy: seeing what they included, removed, and had to change is fascinating.

I think the "Photo Heal" button is interesting, why it isn't a X shaped plaster anymore - it isn't obviously a plaster now but I'm interested to know what it would've been like if the original was just made a single colour.

The"Palette from photo" tool lost its squares of colour, obviously, and that's I think my favourite change - tied with the "Panorama" button: having lost the visual clue of grassy hillside and sky to imply panorama, the new button is clever.

The "Clone/Magic Erase" button is very pin-on-a-map or "location"-like, and less stamp-like.

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I've a question for those using the new interface. How does it handle 'not-usable'/'usable' and 'not-activated'/'activated' states such as shown in the old interface?

there is a school of thought that coloured icons can be confusing as the colour can take precedence over the shape

the same shape all different colours - easy to differentiate
the same colour all different shapes - easy to differentiate
different shapes and different colours together, confusing

the smaller the icons become the more this is so; the brain goes for the colour first and can 'lose' the shape

so some will find it easier and some will not depending on their familiarity with the original and how well they differentiate the icons...

Doh, I just spent ten minutes looking for a button for 'not-usable'/'usable', wondering how I'd used Xara for 20 years and never heard of that

I realised what you meant, and here you go...

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The full set
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Originally Posted by JoeSomebody

I agree with Egg on this one... I do not prefer dark interfaces, and love vibrant enough colors so as to actually assist me... regarding the vector tools again, I agree... more powerful and yet user friendly tools... I am not sure how to quite describe such. Yet lol

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Don't forget you can always switch to a light and colourful interface by using Sift+Control+Alt+S although this seems to have been forgotten by Xara recently and has a couple of minor issues with visibility of some elements (e.g. in the page and layer gallery) also the button pallet has display problems as lots of the button on that are not visible!

Great to see you Rob!

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Doh, I just spent ten minutes looking for a button for 'not-usable'/'usable', wondering how I'd used Xara for 20 years and never heard of that

I realised what you meant, and here you go...

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Thanks. I guess after a while one gets used to the new scheme but I prefer to have some colors to help the brain locate the needed button and its state a bit faster.

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Originally Posted by Rob-H

Don't forget you can always switch to a light and colourful interface by using Sift+Control+Alt+S although this seems to have been forgotten by Xara recently and has a couple of minor issues with visibility of some elements (e.g. in the page and layer gallery) also the button pallet has display problems as lots of the button on that are not visible!

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Not forgotten ... the light interface (although available) is no longer officially supported.

I’m not minding the new UI. Perhaps my imagination but the UI seems a little faster. I’m going to switch my tool tips on again.

I’m hoping that the on line manual will explain the change in the button situation. I’m gathering that folks new to the program find it easier to find the mouse-over layer on the same layer as mouse off. I’m going to keeping check that manual.

The new button content is a convenience. Might be a problem constructing your own nav barns as @acorn delved into on another thread.

All in all a slicker updated design for Pro+. Reminds me a lot of Affinity. I do think they’ve taken a step forward in Pro+ And that bodes well for those of us in the stand alone world.

Waited to see if there was a way to switch to the old coloured icons whilst keeping the dark grey theme. But no. This new UI is pants. Xara trying to keep up with the Joneses again instead of thinking of the existing user base. So it's back to the old XaraX light grey UI.

Hey Frank! Good to see you pop in. :)

Good of you to stop by BF... how many years is it now :D

I grew to like the new UI but I dropped the subscription anyway c'est la vie

when I tried the light grey UI with pro+ I found the P&G gallery unworkable, due to the illegibility of every other line ie the alternating dark background bar....

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

Hey Frank! Good to see you pop in. :)

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:salute:

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Originally Posted by handrawn

when I tried the light grey UI with pro+ I found the P&G gallery unworkable, due to the illegibility of every other line ie the alternating dark background bar....

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:banghead:

Back to the crappy b/w UI and I'll just have to put up with it. I too stopped paying Magix years ago. (:|