Is "talkgraphics.com" the best place to discuss XaraXtreme ?

**shiphen** · 27 June 2006, 11:34 AM

Hi

Is "talkgraphics.com" the best place to discuss Xara Xtreme ?

I think Xara is an EXCELLENT product but am disappointed
to find so few online discussions going on about it.
(e.g. I couldnt find much on groups.google.com)

Is this the only decent place to discuss Xara Xtreme online?

With thanks

Ship
Shiperton Henethe

**The Alien** · 27 June 2006, 11:41 AM

What discussions are you talking about?
This place has been used a lot for graphics related discussions.
I dunno if there are a lot of people here who want to discuss whether it was a good choice of Xara to go open source with Xtreme. I am willing to discuss this, but I'm concerned that these discussions will turn out into a flame war tbh

I believe there's also a mailing list of the development of Xara LX.

**jamesmc** · 27 June 2006, 12:16 PM

<soapbox> You can make your own user group. Google even offers you an email address.

As far as having other Web pages devoted solely to Xara, I don't think anyone could top Gary Priester's XaraXone. He sort of has a 8 year headstart.

The reason why programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop have many Webpages is stale mindset. People are convinced if they pay hundreds of dollars for a program it will somehow make them better.

Also, people squiggling for a buck, pound or eurodollar love programs like Adobe puts out. Why? Because the programs are unnecessarily overly complicated and the money hungry can write books, have blogs, open up Websites and be consultants all to the benefit of lining their own pockets.

It's great that a rare program like Xara exists. It has a beautifully designed interface with ease of use, 80 built in movies and support like TalkGraphics and XaraXone.

I think of Xara like the Rolls Royce jet engine. A lot of people are unaware of the powerful engine what makes an illustration fly. When they find out that its a Xara engine, they flock directly to the source. All the while getting accurate, first-hand information from experts like the moderators here and of course the Developers themselves.

Try that with an Adobe product and you'll get lost in a sea of menus, Web links and mindnumbing redundancy in filling out online forms in triplicate.

In a few words why there are few Websites about Xara?

Simplicity, Power and Concentrated Knowledge.

note: Yeah, I realize that products like Adobe have set standards in printing and the like. I just dislike their forcing it down everyone's throat and then hiding compliant code under copyright so no one develop even better alternatives. There could be much much better formats than PDF and in time the people would decide what is the best standard. Or one could be like Corel and swallow up their competition by purchasing their company. Then Corel takes the best out of that product line, discontinues the product and that product's support in order to maintain their fat Corporate posteriors.

</soapbox>

**gwpriester** · 27 June 2006, 12:24 PM

Not sure what your question is Ship.

There have been numerous discussions about the pros and cons of Xtreme in this conference, and some have been pretty heated.

But this is not a conference whose mission is primarily to find fault with Xtreme. New members can introduce themselves and ask questions. Older users can show off their work and share tips and tricks. Members for the most part are supportive and appreciative of Xara the power it brings to the users.

I'm not being defensive, I just don't understand your question.

Gary

**pauland** · 27 June 2006, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by shiphen

I think Xara is an EXCELLENT product but am disappointed
to find so few online discussions going on about it.
(e.g. I couldnt find much on groups.google.com)

Is this the only decent place to discuss Xara Xtreme online?

Considering that talkgraphics really does have the attention of the Xara developers and the real experts in using Xara, I can't imagine why you would be dissappointed. If you need an answer or advice, this is the place to come. I'd rather go to one site than ten to get what I want.

The forums here are really well run, expert advice and encouragement abound. What more could you want?

Paul

**shiphen** · 27 June 2006, 01:30 PM

Background Yes I rather fellin love with "Xara" back when I saw it demo-ed at a show and it was called "XaraStudio" (i.e. before Corel tried to kill it off by acquiring it and then failing to promote/develop it).

Back free again Xara Xtreme is pretty good I agree - though certain things still bug the heck out of me after all this time: (e.g. the stupidly short view of font names which ends up meaning that if you have longer font names installed on your PC, then you can't see which they are; e.g. the way arrows dont have a handle at their point; e.g. the way exporting to GIF works - number of colours possible is crude, and it ALWAYS defaults to transparency every time you reopen Xara; the way the drawing tools and handles in general aren't very clever - and make actual technical drawing supidly hard...
Incidentally it would be great to turn have a mode that lets the user turn it into a full-on technical drawing package with popup rulers and intelligent suggestions such as tangents, 90 deg perpendicular lines being suggested etc. And another useful direction it could go in would be to have a mode where boxes INTELLIGENTLY knew which were connected to each other - something like a flow diagraming package. I would have hoped such things would have been developed
as bolt-on options that wouldnt really complicate the interface because it would only be available if you pressed some kind of Advanced User button... but I digress!)

But yes, I love XARA's intuitivenss and it's speed of rendering. And the fact that you can do most things you OUGHT to be able to do - e.g. add transparency as and when you want it - without very many limits.

BUT, no, for a place to discuss stuff to work one needs a reasonable volume of participants and I was wondering where they all are!?
Presumably here and "XARAZONE.com" is it?

I still think it's strange to find XARA missing from groups.google.com -if it were more in evidence it might end up getting more sales too!

Ship
Shiperton Henethe

**gwpriester** · 27 June 2006, 01:39 PM

Good points. And if you do a seach on these conference for Wish List you will see hundreds of similar excellent suggestions.

As for Groups.Google or Yahoo Groups, why not start one?

The Xara Xone is not a conference, it is a resource that has over 10 years of step-by-step tutorials, guest tutorials, tips, free stuff, featured artists, and more. The Xara Xone.

Gary

**jamesmc** · 27 June 2006, 01:49 PM

Having a desire for new functions isn't a bad thing. I would think that the forums that the Developer's visit often would be the best place to post said suggestions.

User groups are good, go ahead and start one. The problem with user groups if you don't have a mechanism to send feedback to the developer, what good is it other than having a forum for complaints and graphic issues that go unresolved?

One has to keep in mind with all software that it is of the mind's eye and philosophy of the developer. As much as people may want to make it "MyWare" sometimes that wish falls outside the vision of the developer.

Which brings up plugins. I'm sure you realize how powerful plugins can be. You do know that one can make their own plugins?

Some people have made a tidy profit for themselves making plugins for software. The success of some 3D software wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the plugin makers.

I noticed that you wanted some CAD functions, like rulers and such. I use a freeware program called Meazure. It has very powerful ruler functions that can go over the top of any program with many options.

I'm not so sure about the diagram function. The main objective of Xara Xtreme is to be a Vector Program. Now that Xara LX is open source, everyone that has some programming ability 'may' be able to put in their own ideas on what the program should look like. I don't think the Xara folks would have any objection if sometime in the future, a version of Xara LX had a subset program called Xara CAD. Maybe or maybe not, dunno.

So, if you want a user group make one or encourage someone that you know to make one. There are user groups that will help you create user groups. All sorts of options out there.

**shiphen** · 27 June 2006, 01:57 PM

Hmm OK and how often do any of these hundreds of excellent suggestions get turned into reality?!

Ship
Shiperton Henethe

P.S. I'm unfamiliar with this word "conference" in the online world. What's the difference between a "conference" and everthing else , e.g. a "group", a "bulletin board", "discussion list" etc etc

**pauland** · 27 June 2006, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by shiphen

Hmm OK and how often do any of these hundreds of excellent suggestions get turned into reality?!

Ouch..

P.S. I'm unfamiliar with this word "conference" in the online world. What's the difference between a "conference" and everthing else , e.g. a "group", a "bulletin board", "discussion list" etc etc

No real difference at all.

Paul