A few XPro pre-purchase questions..

[coldfuel]

I dont really care whether Xpro has any of the features/fixes below, im buying it anyway...it's such a massive leap and looks fantastic...but a few questions anyway..

1. The only thing lacking from XaraX and Xtreme was the ability to convert an bitmap image to CMYK from RGB (like you can in photoshop), is this something that has been added?

2. A frustration in Xtreme when exporting to .AI/EPS format was that only the vector image was exported, the page dimensions were not (I.e. set up your page to business card size, export a busineess card to AI format and when opened in AI you get a A4 page layout with artwork sitting at the bottom of the page) has this been fixed so that the page size and layout is maintained?

3. What version of Photoshop does the new .PSD import/export support?

4. Is text exported as 'editable text' when exporting to .PSD and is text editable as 'text' when imported into XaraPro ?

5. Can XPro import/export higher than v7/8 AI/EPS ?

Thanks all as always, and very well done Xara...

[Charles Moir]

1. The only thing lacking from XaraX and Xtreme was the ability to convert an bitmap image to CMYK from RGB (like you can in photoshop), is this something that has been added?

Well it has had the ability to output CMYK TIFFs for some time. And that does convert bitmaps and the whole drawing to a CMYK bitmap. Also now when exporting as PDF/X that also convert RGB images to CMYK ones (albeit inside a PDF). If you mean the other way around - can we import CMYK bitmaps, then yes the new TIFF and PSD import features will convert the other way around CMYK to RGB. And these are ICC color corrected conversions as well.

2. A frustration in Xtreme when exporting to .AI/EPS format was that only the vector image was exported, the page dimensions were not (I.e. set up your page to business card size, export a busineess card to AI format and when opened in AI you get a A4 page layout with artwork sitting at the bottom of the page) has this been fixed so that the page size and layout is maintained?

Ah I wasn't aware of that. But no change I'm afraid.

3. What version of Photoshop does the new .PSD import/export support?

We've been testing it with CS2. There will be some PSD files that it wont open (it can save in a myriad of formats), but all the common RGB, CMYK, Lab formats, and with alpha, should all import - layers mapped to layers in Xara.

4. Is text exported as 'editable text' when exporting to .PSD and is text editable as 'text' when imported into XaraPro ?

Yes in the latest version, but there are some simple rules. For text to be editable in Photoshop text it has to be on a layer of its own in Xara. If it's on a layer with other graphics it gets rasterized along with everything else on that layer into a Photoshop layer. There is a similar rule regarding stain and bleach transparency. These are converted to the correct Photoshop layer blend modes but only if such objects are on their own layer in Xara - at which point they become corresponding layers in Photoshop.

5. Can XPro import/export higher than v7/8 AI/EPS ?

No change there I'm afraid.

[coldfuel]

Ref the page size when exporting to AI/EPS...would make a nice little fix if it can be done, as i have to pay my printer £15.00 for every AI/EPS file i supply, for them to drop it into the correct size page layout in AI. It's worse for A4 exports as the artwork shifts right off the page when exported into AI.

[minimiro]

they get you 15 GBP for 3 clicks with mouse ???????????????????????????

feel welcome to send me all your AI files, I'll change page size for 7.50 GBP each

:-)))))))))))))))))

[coldfuel]

Now thats good value, i might just take you up on that

I suppose i could buy an early version of AI and do it myself, but that kind of defeats the object of buying Xara for my vetcor work. I know it's only a small thing but it is quite frustrating, i only hope it's a simple fix that can be fixed in an update.

Thanks
- Steve