Xara Xtreme Pro and my wish list :)

[ElCabron]

01 Visible overprint in view port
02 Separation preview
03 Master pages - and guides from Master page are visible on all other pages but not editable
04 Page navigator
05 First page - always stay on the right
06 Click drag for selection - very useful - like in CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator
07 Correct Color Management


http://zing-studio.com/xara.jpg

[Albacore]

Hi ElCabron
Think your looking at Page Plus rather than a vector drawing programme with some of your requests. However I think it was a mistake to introduce multi-pages without being able to use a Master Page design. You could use a Library (Gallery) like FreeHand does and have the ability to drag & drop or insert (import or open) and control various M/Pages. I think a page navigator is in the realms of DTP and should be left there but again I agree with the overprint do you mean like you get in InDesign which I think you have illustrated here? Don't know what you mean by colour management as PDF works well but if you mean sorting out what is CMYK and RGB in one doc yes that would be very handy. Even if we had a method to see problem areas so that you could flatten them using tiff bitmap that would help for at the moment you have to plan out your drawing to get correct CMYK.

[steve.ledger]

Personally I'm not keen on likening XXP to or wishing it was more like other graphic apps, especially those that I find less friendly or intuitive to use. XXPS strengths are it's ease of use, fluidity, speed, shallow learning curve and uncluttered UI, there are many other strengths that, for me, out weigh any weaknesses.
Sure, some things might be improved or added, but turn it into something like CorelDraw or Illustrator then there'd be no point in having XaraXtreme.

06 Click drag for selection

What do you mean? I can already 'Click' then 'Drag' to select in XXP??

[minimiro]

Click and drag is method for selection in Corel Draw or illustrator, with which you dont need to select all area to select one object
You just have to select some of parts of object i.e. some of its lines

In corel you can do that with alt pressed, in illustrator it is default way of selecting objects

[minimiro]

Btw, I think that bigest part of us here, talking about pro features of Xtreme from amateur or free time for pleasure point....

Difference here is that some of us make our money exclusively with graphic design and prepress.... so we look at program from a litle bit different point of view

Yes separated print preview with % measure of every color is not so important for free time user, who just want to make something on some monitor and print it on some printer... for that yes you are right

but when we talking about PRO level, with correct CMYK preview for offset pres, things are a litle bit different...

and etc etc etc

[MarkMyWords]

Well not all pros need the same things, I for instance have never needed separations, even for print. Always supplying my images in Tiff, Gif or Jpeg. Then again I'm not a designer, I know little about technicalities and like to keep it that way LOL!

Xtreme is quite generalised in its outlook, perhaps more designers use it than illustrators, I don't know.

I would weigh things more heavily toward illustration, improved brushes, better custom colour palette, nested layers and better tracing, amongst other things. Though I have no problem with better tools for designers, they are not my priority.

[steve.ledger]

but when we talking about PRO level, with correct CMYK preview for offset pres, things are a litle bit different...

I work at a pro level when designing/drawing/assembling signage.. But NEVER need to worry about CMYK.
Output is to PANTONE colour graded Vinyl - so it matters nothing what colours are chosen on-screen. It ony matter which coloured vinyl is loaded into the plotter.
As for the thermal printer (GERBER EDGE) - it works with CMYK or PANTONE foils, again these are chosen in the software before you print. The imported artwork need only resemble the required output, it doesn't have to be exact.

Of course, this will all change once the MIMAKI WFP arrives..

[minimiro]

You are right but only for your point of view....
Tif is not so pro output but work not bad for you.... problem come when you need to create something bigger than A5, A4 or A3 size..... you can try it
then we talk about files with really giant sizes.... 100-150-200Mb each... OK
if only your cover is for print then no problem in print house... but believe me, Im senior designer/prepress master in such print house, and when I have to work on some magazine for example your cover with her 150Mb will be the last thing that I want to see.... then maybe you dont have idea wats going on, but I will say you.... then going some optimization... i.e downsampling of monster files...
So now you can understand and choose what is better for your part of magazine... vector file some EPS or PDF whatever with size of 2-5-10-20Mb with maximum avialable quality or some downsampled tiff on 250dpi but still on 50-100Mb ... Its simple
So now you can continue to think alone... is it simple and better for you to work direct your illustrations in Xara, and lets say you work on good monitor with good calibration, and you know that what you see is aprox. what will going on on print and after finish just export to PDF and send it to your print house via e-mail, or work in Xara, see something, after that you export it to Tiff, then rework this monster file in Photoshop to make colors that you want to be, then save again and going to think how to send this big monster file to your printer ....



I think that idea of ElCabron is to not deny some good ideas of other pro level softwares, this are the tools and techniques that are tested and checked in time, and they work well

Everyone that work with Xara, knows that like illustration tool xara is times better and powerfull from every one other, now is time the same powerfull illustrative tool to be bringed to new level
Every one knows that graphics design work is times more than just illustration work, I mean that illustrations are just part of some design work, and will be better for us and for Xara all this proceses to be started and completed in Xara... is it so hard for understanding

[wW]

Several issues with CMYK print in Xpro. I use it for textile printing & embroidery designs, among other things....

1. The biggest problem, RGB effects which show up on all plates. Blends, tapered lines, transp, bevels, & bitmaps etc..

2. If you have overlapping colors that do not need to blend. Say a solid box over a gradient of another color(s). The gradient tends to show up over top rather than behind on the printed layers. I've created separations using only CMYK color & unless I add, join or subtract the gradient shapes they tend to show up, even though they are behind solids. Most gradients have to be converted to solid color blends to print properly.

3. Tapered lines - RGB. I always group them & use ctrl+r+L to convert to solid shapes (no outlines). Still I get outline residue on other plates.

4. Regarding print dialog for CMYK. If you manually change the angles of each plate then switch to another tab at the top or dialog & come back. The angles & frequency have to be re-entered as they always change back to the Xara default, VERY Very annoying! There should be another master box for angles & some way to lock these in. For me it's necessary to use these angles for blended colors; C=82.5, m=52.5, y=7.5, k=112.5 . For non blend printing I use 61 angle, dot size varies.

5. A way to change print default for a Xara template would be nice. The only dot I've ever needed is the elliptical spot. An option to make this the default it would be most helpful.

[steve.ledger]

4. Regarding print dialog for CMYK. If you manually change the angles of each plate then switch to another tab at the top or dialog & come back. The angles & frequency have to be re-entered as they always change back to the Xara default, VERY Very annoying!

I cannot reproduce this annoyance.
When I change the angles to your exact figures, click away to another tab, or even change another setting then come back to the separations, the angles I entered have not changed.
The only time Xara resets the angles is when there is a Lines Per Inch change (lpi) - which is what I would expect.

Can anyone else try this?