Can I say how much I hate.. ?

[Intbel]

Xtreme's alignment box works and it is simple.
I have no problems with it at all.

The only enhancement I would like to see in this tool is the ability to align, say, the bottom of one object with the top of another or the l/h side of one with the r/h side of another.

Preferably both

[sallybode]

I think you can do that now but now with the alignment, but with using snap, Raymond.

[Intbel]

I think you can do that now but not with the alignment, but with using snap, Raymond.

I can? Thank you Sally , I'll have a look ...

[accessD]

Xtreme doesn't give you one- click alignment.

Unfortunatelly it's true... Corel's "C" is much better.
And there is no reason not to implement this.

I hope Xara Xtreme will have Customizable shortcuts in future.

P.S. Ctrl+Shift+L = Align Dialog

[brianlj]

Now that I find that confusing Brian!

Well, the point is that there's only 9 options and they are all displayed when you are align/distibuting things. There's nothing to remember!

However, with Xara's method, all the options are hidden and there are no clues as to what the keyboard/mouse shortcuts are.

With Xara's method, first you have to remember the keyboard shortcut to get the Align/Distribute dialog on-screen. Or click through the menus to get Arrange | Alignment... (Newbie thinks: does this do 'Distribute' as well?)

Then, with the dialog on-screen, you try clicking around the place (with or without Ctrl and/or Shift) until one of them happens to do whatever it is that you wanted. Success! You breathe a sigh of relief and click again to apply and close the dialog box.

Or, (and this is hilarious!) you choose from drop-down menus and read(!) menus until you get to the one you want! I don't think I could make a more counter-intuitive system!

There isn't even any conformity in the column/rows.

With so few buttons on display, and the icons on them being so clear, you don't really need/want some other person's idea of conformity forced upon you. I mean, should vertical alignment come above or below horizontal? Should it be left or right of the align functions? It doesn't matter!

Surely it should be like attached.

Ok. If you like. To be honest, I didn't notice the change between yours and mine. The important thing is that all the functions are shown there whenever you need them.

Maybe I didn't make it quite clear: the 3 x 3 set of buttons are a fly-out which appears when you click on the toolbar button. You can then either click or slide the mouse to the function you want. When you let the mouse button up, your function is chosen and the fly-out disappears and you then click on the thing that you want your actions to be based upon.

There are no worries as to which item is the uppermost one or which was the drawn last or in which layer which may or may not be above another layer. You simply say -- as you do in your mind -- "Align this stuff with that."

It's horses for courses and it shows what difficulty creating user interfaces are.

Yes, I agree that user interfaces can be a problem.

You only have to look at Xara's for the perfect example of how not to do it!
*

[Big Frank]

You only have to look at Xara's for the perfect example of how not to do it!

I disagree vehemently but I'm not about to waste any time arguing with you since you are clearly not interested in anybody else's opinion but your own. You have forgotten that it is merely your opinion, not an unassailable truth.

[Markku]

I'm with Pauland and brianlj.

Xara is a very, very good app, but I find it really strange that its weaknesses are so strongly defended by so many.
And the alignment box is one of its rare weaknesses - in usability-wise.



3 points of objective thinking (instead of subjective) in this matter;

1. imagine a newbie using it for the first time -> lots of hits and misses, guessing, reading, waste of time and frustration. The dialog just does not self explain fast enough what you should do with it, or is very slow to use. And providing 2 methods in one dialog for one simple function just proves Xara wasn't sure how to do it. The fact that some diehard Xara users like it doesn't mean it's good. They just don't want the change so that they would have to learn the old stuff anew.

2. has any other app adopted Xara's alignment method -> No! If it was good some would have adopted it. Good stuff gets copied, as simple as that.

3. What is the most common way presenting alignment functions in applications in general? Those examples Pauland and brianlj just gave us (and similar). Why are they so widely used? Because most people understand them almost right away and because they are fast to use. It's good usability!

I think there is too much exaggerated fear in this community that improvement suggestions will spoil Xara, make it bloatware or make it like the others are. Surely there must be reasonable protection to keep it unique. One should be thinking the masses (of users), not just yourself. If you were able to use Xara productively until now, surely you will do so in the future even if some features were standardized and some murky corners were cleaned.

Now, this post may sound offensive, but it's not and for writing this I refuse to become an enemy. I have a high respect for all you diehards out there.

Ps. speed tip for those of you strugling with the align box; try using SHIFT or CONTROL while clicking the little "screen". That should speed you up. At the same time forget about the dropdown boxes. Just concentrate on using the little screen.

[mikalele]

I have two monitors side by side with my Xara window full-screen in the left monitor and all my galleries open in the right monitor, by default.

I really hope that the "two-monitors-with-different-resolutions-bug" will be wiped out soon. I work on my Laptop often and it is very frustrating to have to use that same resolution (in height) when i connect it to a external 22" screen. That's what i hate the most about Xtreme.

[MarkMyWords]

What about this; no dialogue box, but one (not nine) icons on the selector options bar.

It would be similar to or the same as the 'Select origin' icon on the selector bar.

The sequence would be;

1/ You would select your objects.

2/ Then click on the icon to choose which parts of the selected objects will be aligned (top edges, bottom edges, top and centre, Bottom and centre etc. or one of the corners)

3/ Then click anywhere on the screen or on an object in the selection, this last click is where everything will be aligned to.


If you click off (just outside) an edge of the document, the parts of the objects chosen will be aligned to that edge of the document.


The centre selection of the main icon can be selected at the same time as an edge (top and centre, left and centre etc.) or when selected alone would align centres both vertically and horizontally.


Perhaps the centre selector can toggle between aligning vertical, horizontal or both centres or maybe it would be simpler to have separate icons for aligning vertical and horizontal centres?



For distribution;

1/ Select objects.

2/ Click distribution extents on the main icon (left and right edges, top and bottom edges or top left and bottom left corners etc. or even opposite corners).

3/ Click in the document or in the selection for distribution to document or selection extents.

This might work, you would only choose opposite edges or corners for distribution, not alignment, so the same icon could work for both alignment and distribution.



Would adding a spacing profile (like the one in the blend tool) to this function be going to far?

[MarkMyWords]

oops!