Xara Designer Pro 9 fails on support for Wacom TabletPC

[Michael]

This is an anticlimax: I've just downloaded and installed the trial version of Xara's new flagship only to discover that on my trusty Toshiba Portege M700 with a Wacom Penabled technology on Windows XP the Pen doesn't work at all! Bummer...

This was a known issue and I'm very disappointed that Xara has released a product which they knew was faulty.

Before switching 8 PC's to a new version I 'd like to know how and when Xara will find a solution.


post note: It works with Windows 7 albeit not as smooth as XDP8

[PeteS]

Please follow these steps carefully and only make the advised changes. Making other changes to your registry could cause stability issues with your operating system.

Close all Xara programs.

Go to Start -> Run (if you're using Windows Vista, 7 or 8 press the Windows key + R) and type regedit then click OK.

Navigate to this registry key (for Designer Pro X9 32 bit): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro\9.2\Opti ons\Dragging

(if you're using the 64 bit version of Designer Pro X9 then the registry key location is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro x64\9.2\Options\Dragging)

In the right pane, right click on the key 'EnableTouch' and select Modify.

Change the value to 0 and click OK.

Exit the regsitry and re-open Designer Pro.

Does that now work correctly for you?

[PhilM]

Hi Michael,

This is a known issue but it was found very late in the development cycle and is still being investigated. There seems to be an incompatibility between the new Windows Touch API and pen input on some specialised older machines.

For the moment, if you are confident that you can use the regsitry editor safely, please set the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro\9.2\Opti ons\Dragging\EnableTouch to 0.

(Also set HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro x64\9.2\Options\Dragging\EnableTouch to 0 if you're using the 64bit version.)

Edit: Pete beat me to it. Please follow his more detailed instructions.

Phil

[StevenWWinters]

This is a known issue but it was found very late in the development cycle and is still being investigated.

This key only shows up for XDProX9 and PLD9 only, but I assume it will show up in the others at some point?

[Michael]

Positive fix. (and no, I'm not afraid at all to tinker around in the Registry (that allmighty Heaven of tweaks and twitches and constant joy Microsoft has bestowed upon us, mere and humble PC users...)

Still, there's some lag on the first moments one starts to scribble. See attached screen shot and mark the red circle, there you can see that something is catching up the cursor, misses some heartbeats which results in a straight line


Oh, and it is perfectly possible to run v8 along v9 just by renaming the executable.


But, I can live with the lag and will experiment until vacation starts (now, isn't that mean of Xara to give a 30 day trial period when half of Europe is going on vacations?)

[PeteS]

Does it still lag like that when you use the default interface? Note that by changing the UI back it will remove any custom toolbars etc that you have made.

Also, you do not need to rename the executables to run v8 and v9 together, I currently have v6, v7, v8 and v9 all open at the same time on my computer and have done nothing other than having them installed and opened them.

[steve.ledger]

Oh, and it is perfectly possible to run v8 along v9 just by renaming the executable.

Should not be necessary to do this. I run v8 and v9 without renaming anything.
Applications install in their respective (and separate) program folders.

EDIT: Pete got in just before me

[Michael]

Seems a little more flui with the "dark" UI (which I loathe ...)

attached a screenshot while changing between dark and light UI. Both straight lines (red circles) were created after switching from modern to classic interface. During switching all lines disappear so the renderer certainly seems to differ between the two interfaces.

[snowdoggy]

Please follow these steps carefully and only make the advised changes. Making other changes to your registry could cause stability issues with your operating system.

Close all Xara programs.

Go to Start -> Run (if you're using Windows Vista, 7 or 8 press the Windows key + R) and type regedit then click OK.

Navigate to this registry key (for Designer Pro X9 32 bit): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro\9.2\Opti ons\Dragging

(if you're using the 64 bit version of Designer Pro X9 then the registry key location is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro x64\9.2\Options\Dragging)

In the right pane, right click on the key 'EnableTouch' and select Modify.

Change the value to 0 and click OK.

Exit the regsitry and re-open Designer Pro.

Does that now work correctly for you?

This doesn't work for me on Windows 8.1 with Thinkpad Helix. Everytime I restart Xara, it resets the value in the registry to 1. THis is really annoying. The app has been updated many times since this was learned of, why hasn't this been fixed in an update? I paid a fair chunk for this, it just doesn't add up that something so essential is still not working.

[Michael]

Must be related with W8 for I haven't noticed a reset under W7. I wonder if it would help if you block Xara from altering the values under that specific regkey by restricting acces. (in regedit right click the key and change permissions or ownership) Might be a workaround...