For Marcus and all other Adobe PhotoSoup lovers!

[Peter Clifton]

"When you only use a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"

For some reason this piece of wisdom seems appropriate.

Peter

The style challenged Pete'sCrypt

[roman]

I also use Xara for everything. (blending, bitmap-selection, etc. etc. it's not limiting me, I feel very good like if I was playing with crayons...)

From the few things I don't do in Xara I think it's most important to mention the bitmap retouch, various photo-adjustment-work, pluggins'n'filter manipulations. This can't be done (or done so comfortably) in Xara.

[Doug-O]

Nicely stated Dale,

I agree with your comments regarding PhotoShop and Xara and art in general. It always amuses me when these application wars start up. For the life of me I can't understand how anyone can get so emotional about a piece of software. I could understand feeling this way about a woman [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img], but definitley not an inanimate object. I have an arsenal of tools for creating and editing print/web graphics, animations, web pages, multimedia, video, audio, and 3D. I use the tool that gets the job done and gets me paid. As an example I recently got a job that required editing some old art for an operating and service manual. The only files available were Hewlett-Packard plotter files (called hpgl files). The only tool that could import these was CorelDRAW. So, I used CorelDRAW.

Doug-O

[dalel]

I used to subscribe to ZDNet Anchordesk, but I got so tired of the Windows/Microsoft bashers, and the Linux fanatics, that I stopped subscribing. Every other thread became a software war. The Paint Shop Pro people constantly felt slighted, and criticized Photoshop, and the Photoshop people sneered at PSP as being an amatuer app. Criticism isn't very helpful in many cases.

I don't have much of an axe to grind, just that the goal is the thing, not the tools. And I would rather talk UP Photoshop than talk down PSP, for example.

Those who have ONLY used Xara X, my hat is off to them, for mastering this tool. Every software package has it's strengths and weaknesses, and that is why most graphic artists use several applications. I would advise anyone who only uses Xara X, to at least add one raster/bitmap app to their arsenal. It can add so much to your ability to produce good images.

I think Jens' point was more about creativity and learning the fundementals, such as drawing skills, composition, using the graphic application to it's fullest, etc., rather than relying on plugins and effects to do the work. I totally agree with this view, although if I need an effect NOW, I will gladly use an effective plugin if I am pressed for time.

And besides, plugins can be a lot of fun! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Dale

Why, I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir, because I’m not myself, you know...
- Lewis Carroll

[BobInce]

I also use Xara for all creative work. Since I mostly do web stuff, photo-retouching isn't very important to me, although I would like improved bitmap facilities like colour correction, and Canvas-style bitmap-effect-fill features.

Still, the new features of Xara X are a great improvement over CorelXara; I don't have to resort to a bitmap editor anything like as much any more. I do still do some final-stage slicing and palette work in PhotoPaint(*), but that's often all.

The great advantage of Xara X over Photoshop is simply that you can edit vector graphics to make changes, which is very limited in bitmap software: you can alter and move layers, but any change of actual shape and you're redoing the whole thing. I find it easier to start experimenting in Xara and turn it into a final work, giving me a chance to play with ideas without having to come up with exactly what I want right away. Maybe Shoppers just learn to develop a pixel-perfect imagination.

* - only because it's what's usually to hand. I'm not recommending it as an alternative to Photoshop, because it isn't. Corel PhotoPaint is really awful.