inexpensive companion programs

[angelize]

There are a few good programs that I've come across that are great companions to Xara, that are either free or inexpensive. I'm sure you must have your favourite utilities that you use alongside Xara too. So how about we discuss and share our favourites? Do you have a favourite utility from the Xara Xone shareware archives? or perhaps a favourite program that helps your Xara workflow? Tell us about it!

One of my favourites is Faststone Capture at 19.95 for a lifetime license. I use it for screenshots and for screen recording, it's got lots of settings you can adjust for things and it has a built in video editor (but this editor is very basic), screen magnifier and screen ruler. I've also used it to make screen recordings of Xara presentations in the full screen preview. Faststone puts out a wmv file that can be uploaded to youtube.

[sledger]

it has a built in video editor (but this editor is very basic)

There is no video editor that I am aware of unless you referring to the Title screen editor available just before you start recording?

But for video editing (and more), the best value I've found is AVS Video Editor which a single unlimited license entitles you to all their software with lifetime updates for free. (Unlimited Subscription 18 programs + free upgrades + free support!) Supports many input formats including HiDef .MTS
Almost as powerful as Adobe Premier Elements without the bloat, crashes and cost.. Right now is just $59..

[angelize]

Do you have the latest version? (7.3) A video editor was added last June and they've also added a pause/resume feature (very handy when doing video tutorials! )

The video editor can be accessed via the edit button on the screen recorder dialogue but it's really very basic and I would recommend using something else. It's a pity it doesn't have a few more features because I like the large clear playback window it has. I'll have a look see at the AVS video editor ATM I've been using Video Pad (which has a free version) for doing tutorials.

[sledger]

Ah, I hadn't updated in a while.. Yes it is a tad basic..
VideoPad is also a good basic video editor which additionally allows you to use VirtualDub effect plugins. It doesn't handle .MTS very well at all which I need as my camcoder only saves HiDef .MTS
AVC can handle them very well, even without caching and then save off as h.264 encoded .mp4 files for importing into Xara Designer.

[Albacore]

The one that I still use is Expander which is great for opening my really old Xara files and others which I thought were lost. Another is Tony Roberts Envelopes which I still use occasionally. Most of the others are nearly all lost when you move to Windows 8 which is a pity and Bill & Steve's Xareg I really miss as I hate using the default Blob handle size, it's a real pain.

[gwpriester]

SpirX or Spirals-EPS (available in the XaraXone (archives) Shareware for making spirals. XaReg (May Bill's memory be a blessing), for personalizing Xara (also available Shareware, Xara Xone archives). Character Map Pro. SmillaEnlarger A freeware application that does a very credible job of up-scaling bitmap images.

And not inexpensive but necessary, Photoshop for converting RGB to CMYK and RGB to Grayscale.

There are still a bunch of really useful, and free, Xara helpers in the Original Xara Xone Shareware page, along with custom brushes, fill patterns, and templates.

[angelize]

Yes the Xara Xone is a treasure trove and it's sad to hear that a lot of this stuff won't work with windows 8. I use a few of those already mentioned like the spirals and XaReg. I also use Spray and Lsvg (for creating fractal for things like trees plants etc)

Another inexpensive program that I use is GenoPal for generating colour palettes it has a free online version but for the $25 price tag you get lots of extras like the ability to customize the layout and number of colours generated and you can save your palettes in different formats in particular the .aco format which works with Xara.

[wizard509]

Sometimes I find ColorCop to be helpful. spxe, and, raster are handy also.

[SCALEBACK666]

Mine?
Paintshop pro X5
Serif DrawPlus6.0/PagePlus11
Broderbund Printmaster
If you can get it to work, I strongly reccomend Powertext 3D If it doesn't work,you still get 2000 fonts with it)