Likes and dislikes about the new version 3.2 Pro.

[sgiff]

There are a few very nice additions here, not sure if it the price has any relation to past upgrades since it seems there is no relation to price vs features but still it's nice to have. One thing that really is going to annoy me is changing a feature like right clicking on the color bar to set a stroke color. Is there a registry setting to go back to the way it was? I like the new features with the smart color but it's going to be a pain to have to right click and select a menu every time. It would be nice if you could [ctrl+rightclick] to still set the line color. I really dig the Lorem Ipsum feature and some of the easy rotation controls as well as being able to move a color blend, however one of the things that web designers use most is non smoothed or text with the antialiasing turned off. Right now to get that clean text look I have to typeset in Photoshop and then import an alpha PNG into Xara. I guess with the new feature of being able to edit a bitmap directly from Xara to Photoshop one workaround would be to create a transparent rectangle around the area you want to typeset, create a bitmap and then double click to edit it in PS.

Also I really hate the new color bar. Is it possible to open the old one. I would like to have primary colors at least added to the one that is now in 3.2.

My biggest gripe is the fact that it overwrites the old version of Xtreme Pro without even asking and doesn't even give you the opportunity to select an install folder.

s.g.

[steve.ledger]

One thing that really is going to annoy me is changing a feature like right clicking on the color bar to set a stroke color.

Agreed - this appears worthless and reasonably doubtful be anything but irritating to everyone used to the current (old) way.

My biggest gripe is the fact that it overwrites the old version of Xtreme Pro without even asking and doesn't even give you the opportunity to select an install folder.

Also agreed. What if people with only one PC want to 'test drive' the new version along side their older version? Having to remove the new and reinstall the original is utter sillyness. Hardly useful for comparision.
Also if you have added an extra hard drive to your system because your primary drive is running low on space, the opportunity to install on the extra drive should be available.
This seems to be a sloppy approach for Xara which coupled with the bugs already showing up is starting to look like a premature release.

[Robert H]

it's going to be a pain to have to right click and select a menu every time

Look under Utilities>Options>View>
There is a radio button that lets you select the old behavior.

[David O'Neil]

...however one of the things that web designers use most is non smoothed or text with the antialiasing turned off. Right now to get that clean text look I have to typeset in ...

You can do a lot of it within Xara. Create your text as you want it, then select it and create a monochrome bitmap of it. Place the original, editable version on a backup layer and hide it.

If you use a background color besides white, you may have to use the Medhi eraser on the bitmap, then when you export the final picture, the background will be visible through the 'erased' white. The following test shows this to work.

I am the first to admit it is not a professional solution, which would be to enable selective antialiasing, but it is something.

Best wishes,
David

(of course, the 96 dpi text looks crappy--the 'CLEAR' is an attempt to show what 300 dpi would look like, and show that the edges are pixelated and not aliased.)

[steve.ledger]

Look under Utilities>Options>View>
There is a radio button that lets you select the old behavior.

Doesn't appear in Xtreme 3.2. Must be an option only availabe for Pro users?

[Robert H]

Hi Sledger

No I'm not using the Pro version. It's the 3rd item in the Color section.

" Right-click on color 1 - Show menu 2 - Set line color"

[Robert H]

See attached image:

[sgiff]

Look under Utilities>Options>View>
There is a radio button that lets you select the old behavior.

Thanks for pointing this out, by the way, didn't someone from Xara say that the rounded corner thing where stretch distorts the corners was fixed or changed so that when you stretched it would keep the rounded corners correct?

s.g.

[sgiff]

You can do a lot of it within Xara. Create your text as you want it, then select it and create a monochrome bitmap of it. Place the original, editable version on a backup layer and hide it.

If you use a background color besides white, you may have to use the Medhi eraser on the bitmap, then when you export the final picture, the background will be visible through the 'erased' white. The following test shows this to work.

I am the first to admit it is not a professional solution, which would be to enable selective antialiasing, but it is something.

Best wishes,
David

(of course, the 96 dpi text looks crappy--the 'CLEAR' is an attempt to show what 300 dpi would look like, and show that the edges are pixelated and not aliased.)

Yeah, exactly looks terrible. In what scenario would you find this type of aliased text useful for anything? Its non professional at best but completeley useless i.m.o.

s.g.

[Odat]

Thanks for pointing this out, by the way, didn't someone from Xara say that the rounded corner thing where stretch distorts the corners was fixed or changed so that when you stretched it would keep the rounded corners correct?

s.g.

The corner rounding remains the same as long as you use the rectangle tool to resize the rectangle. If you use the regular resize controls then the old behavior is used instead.