Newbie question re: compatibility.

Hello, folks.

I've skimmed the forum and FAQs, but haven't found anything conclusive and thought I'd try for an easy answer here before digging into an in-depth search.

I recently purchased Xara Xtreme as I decided that Illustrator (which I have used in the past) is overpowered for my needs. However, I'm starting to wonder if I've been oversold on Xara's compatibility.

I have had little or no success opening or importing vector files of various formats. I have tried opening a dozen or so .ai and .eps files, for example, and even a .pdf or two. I've never gotten any of these files to open properly in Xara Xtreme (including a .pdf example file posted on these forums).

Now, I downloaded the Xara Xtreme trial, then purchased the unlock key online--do I have to do something weird, like re-install Xara from the CD which arrived in the mail later on? Or am I just going to have to get someone else to convert any and all files I need to work on into a compatible format (one forum thread recommends AI version 7 or 8)?

Thanks for any clarification,

-Steve

Personally I've never used any of those files but I remember having read in these forums that you must IMPORT them into Xara rather than try and open them. [I hope that's right.]

Hi Steve and welcome to talkgraphics.com :)

You'll find a answer of your question in this thread and you'll find other great sources of knowledge in this forum, if you use the search function of this forum (perhaps with the searchstring "illustrator import").

Regards,
Remi

Hello Steve, welcome in :)

I'll add to remi's post:
take a look at THIS thread.
THIS one, THIS one THIS one and THIS one :D

There are plenty useful resources on that subject. Like remi suggested, try to use the advanced search.

Best of luck :cool:

Hello folks--thanks for the welcome, and for your prompt and helpful replies.

I will follow those threads as soon as I get a chance. For the record (because I am a forum moderator elsewhere and am often irritated by lazy newbies myself!) I did take a stab at searching for the answer, but I think my string was 'compatibility illustrator' or something along those lines.

Many thanks again--your pointers are very much appreciated!

-Steve