why should i buy xara instead of illustrator?

[raynerj1]

I think if you pay for the upgrade, you can get whatever you paid for. The last I checked, the video files where broken with the latest deal. (I bought X1 for my bride) I couldn't get the Videos to download at work or at home. Something goofy with the site I guess.

If you grab the X1 deal, I do have the movies and I can upload to my server if you want... I just tested it with my version of x1 and it seems to be working now... Will have to see if I can get it to work on the wifes version...

[ss-kalm]

....... or when you buy a download version you can only upgrade to another download version?

As far as I am aware, Xara always comes as a CD. If you pay to activate a download, Xara always send you original CD's. The download is just to get you going until the CD's arrive.

Once you own X1 if you decide to upgrade to Xara Xtreme Pro it will cost you US$199 + US$19 (for X1) = US$218 if you just buy Xtreme Pro without something to upgrade from, It will cost you US$249 - Seems like a no brainer to me!

Quoted costs are from Xara's Website and do not include shipping and handling (which is usually very reasonable - Certainly as compared to some of Ebay's shipping costs), or applicable taxes.

NOTE: You may already own a competitors product in which case the upgrade us only US$159 - However, I'm not sure what competitors products are ..... You may need to contact Xara.

[Soquili]

why should i buy xara instead of illustrator?

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head as to why you should buy Xara Xtreme.

1. You would have something in common with more people here at TG.
2. You can ask your questions here and get several answers with several ways to do about any task within Xara. Also answers are almost instantanious with users all over the world.
3. Because it is FUN using Xara Xtreme and easy to learn.
4. XaraXone has years of free tutorials and workbooks.
5. The founder of Xara Ltd and some of (if not all) the development staff actually visit the forums.

[steve.ledger]

Very good points Bill.

[Xcellent]

hi ive been getting into vector art and was wondering, why should i buy xara instead of illustrator?

Ideally, get both! When it comes to designing: Xara. Any vectorising jobs i do in Illy (sorry, xara doesn't do a good job at all). 3d vector extrusions, stretch brushes along curves, printing, exporting and any post production: Illustrator.

[steve.ledger]

Any vectorising jobs i do in Illy (sorry, xara doesn't do a good job at all).

If you are referring to 'tracing' (raster to vector) then I agree.

[raynerj1]

I haven't had any trouble with xara's tracer... My guess is it is just operator error, but that is only my personnal opinion.

It is not simple to use and you have to play around to get the settings just right, but it does it's job well enough for me.

[Xcellent]

If you are referring to 'tracing' (raster to vector) then I agree.

Yes, i was talking about tracing, raster to vector conversion. There are much more useful features in illy to trace bitmaps for different purposes, from technical drawings to sketches - all customiseable settings.

[steve.ledger]

John, I don't believe many people have problems using the Xtreme bitmap tracer. Illustrator just does it better that's all. (Infact CorelDRAW does quite a good job also)

[BobInce]

It depends what you're using it for. Xara's tracer is good for creating interesting vector effects that look more-or-less like the bitmap input.

For generating simple paths you can go on to edit usefully by hand, not so much.