Yael

Learning any new application is a bother. But if the software is really good, then the learning curve is worth the bother.

I have Illustrator CS, CorelDRAW 12, Cancas 8 and Xara X1. I'm not going to say I'm predudiced towards Xara X1, because I am. Big time. But for good reason.

As a vector drawing application, Xara can run circles around Illustrator for several reasons.

Xara uses an on-screen interactive interface which CorelDRAW attempted to copy in version 7 onward.

Xara can create 7 varieties of gradient transparencies and several non-gradient transparencies while Illustrator can only create a flat transparency, unless you create a grayscale image and apply the transparency to this shape.

Illustrator has in essence, one type of transparency which is similar to Xara's Mix Transparency. Xara has 10 types of transparency including additive, subtractive, contrast, saturation, and brightness.

This is very helpful to creating photorealistic images and highlights. I can recreate these images in Illustrator, but it is a lot harder to do so.

Check out The Xara Xone Featured Artist Gallery. You'll see a wide range of creative images that really demonstrate the versatility of Xara X created by artists from all over the world. Klaus even has some pretty incredible images created many years ago when Xara first came out.

And in the Xara Xone, you'll find over 8 years of monthly step-by-step tutorials, plus the Workbook series of shorter tutorials. There is an incredible amount of educational material there that I doubt you will find with any other vector application.

But then as I said, I am predudiced http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Gary

Gary