Poll: How many wish XX Pro was a true Page Layout tool?

[jclements]

I would love it if the resources (labor and time) were available for Xara, Ltd., to come out with a DTP program ... a separate application where .XAR files (among other graphic formats) could be linked or embedded (a right-click on a .XAR image would open XPro to edit it). I am sure Xara sofware engineers could come up with novel, easy-to-use, fast program.

That said, I would NOT WANT XARAXTREME OR XPRO to change and have full featured DTP functionality.


The big question (besides having the right resources) is, IS THERE A MARKET? Adobe has InDesign. There are other DTPs too with their own market share. And look at Ventura, years ahead of its competitors and still being used by those who know its power but whose code has not been touched in years. Corel is content to let it die (some might think lie dormat) and I am guessing because Corel sees no profit in actively supporting it. So it makes me wonder IS their a profitable market for another DTP?

I'd like to think that there are businesses and graphic professionals who would love to have a DTP that does not have as a big a learning curve as InDesign, is not so expensive, is faster, and has as good or better quality. But are there enough of them for Xara to even consider a DTP product?

[pauland]

I've always wanted Xara to support multiple pages and the current multiple page support goes beyond what I wanted in some ways and falls a little short in others. I really do hope that Xara doesn't attempt a full-blown DTP environment, at least not from where they are now.

A small step at a time is the wisest bet - they have fearsome competitors out there.

Paul

[Albacore]

In the age gone by when computers (PC's) were steam steam driven there was an operating system called Riscos, Computer Concepts (Xara) had the best DTP programme there was called Publisher and it could do things at that time no other piece of software could do. It was a pig to get things to the printers but it was possible with work arounds but operating systems die and we all have to move on.

If I want to use a vector drawing programme I can use FH, XPro or AI and at work I am told to use AI while at home I use Xara. When I want to use a DTP programme at work I use ID because I have to and at home I use ID for large jobs or PagePlus for small jobs. Like everyone nearly all atates why use something when its not realy designed to do that. I very rarely use the drawing tools that are supplied with Page Plus because they are clumsy and crude and I now would only use Xpro for small run brochures and biz stationary.

Like veryone here is stating it is horse for courses even though some programmes have the ability to do something it does not mean it is the easiest route to use. ID has the capability to do many things well but you will still use PS to do the majority of your bitmap work and then take it it in using "smart objects" and as for the vector side of the programme you would still want to use AI. This is because its faster and easier for your work flow and no matter how many tools and feature that it has or gets in the future some of the layout work will still be done in AI but maybe slightly less in PS.

To give you a straight answer NO but its text can still be improved with "flow around objects" and "glyphs".

[amoore]

look at Ventura, years ahead of its competitors and still being used by those who know its power but whose code has not been touched in years.

I'm one of those users. Ventura is a brilliant, powerful, incredibly efficient application. Like Xara, it's a joy to use. I can design and produce documents with Ventura in a fraction of the time it takes in other apps.

One of the great things about Ventura is that you always know exactly where your formatting is coming from. Most of it is on the tag ("named style") level. Overrides are clearly marked, and the values are instantly available. Where local formatting codes have been applied, they are visible in the Copy Editor view, so troubleshooting is a relative breeze.

Even aside from the absence of named styles, trying to set up a series of bulleted paragraphs throughout a document in Xtreme Pro is a Sisyphean experience unless they are very simple and contain no internal formatting or margin changes.

For these reasons alone (and there are plenty of others), I do not want Xtreme to be a page layout app. Anything that doesn't offer the kind of clarity, flexibility and power I have in Ventura is at best a toy to me, and more likely an exercise in frustration.