After update to X10 all transparency info lost on website logos/buttons

[theother]

I've just updated from X9 to X10 and made a small change to a website and loaded it up to ftp as ususal.

Xara X10 stripped all the Transparency from all logos and buttons I had everywhere! I can't believe it!

The only way to avoid this was to click every single picture/logo on the webpage and go to web properties and tick "Web image type" png instead of "let Xara choose automatically"

Is this feature broken or what? Xara used to recognise if there is an alpaha channel and would keep it png instead of jpg. I can't do this with every webpage I'm working on.

Am I missing something here or is this a bug? If yes, I have to go back to X9 and wasted the $ for the update...

thanks for any input

[gwpriester]

I have not seen this before.

I suggest you file a support request http://support.xara.com and upload your file so they can determine why this happened.

I have many websites created in Designer Pro X9 and updated in X10 and I have not seen this happen.

[theother]

Here are some screenshot of website before and after the update and the settings for the image in Xara. This is not good. I guess I will contact Xara support.

[gwpriester]

Yes, please do file a support ticket. It is almost impossible to tell without seeing the document.

[derwalkerhaus]

Have you found out anything about your issue yet? I am just discovering that I have the same problem.

Thanks...

[theother]

Yes, Xara say that this is not a bug but a "feature". Goes without saying I wasn't pleased with the answer!
They say I have to manually tell every picture to remain png. I have no idea why the hell they are doing this!
Before it recognised that there was an alpha channel and used png and not jpg. Now almost every picture with alpha channel get converted to jpg. Only those that use the transparency feature from within Xara remain png. Makes no sense at all to me.

All my websites (I manage 4) were broken after the update and I had to edit all the pictures and logos. A real pain in the neck!

Here's what they had to say:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HI Yes I viewed the objects within your file. The original images are pngs with transparency but that does not mean its always optimal to export them as png images when exporting to HTML. In version 10, there are more cases where we will export images as JPG's by default. Its also worth noting you can apply an image as the pasteboard background rather than load it using a placeholder with css applied and this would allow the images to be exported with the background image included within the bounding boxes.

Many thanks
Customer Support


> but he images DO have transparency. That’s my point.
>
> Did you look at the attachments? When I upload with X9 you can see the
> transparency, when I upload with X10 the transparency is gone.
>
> From: Xara Support
> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 5:01 PM
> To: XXX subject: [Products #HOD-936-65160]: Transparency info lost on all
> logos/buttons on webpage after update to X10
>
> You can see if an object has transparency by selecting it and
> switching to the transparency tool. In the vast majority of cases it
> makes perfect sense for an image to be exported as a JPG.
>
> Even though your source bitmap is a png, in the majority of cases this
> can still be exported as a jpg as the background of the web page is
> static and can be included within the exported image.
>
> In the case of your file, the images need to be exported as a PNG and
> you therefore need to specify this from web properties > image tab
> settings
>
> Many thanks
> Customer Support
>
> > when you say “transparency” applied, what do you mean?
> >
> > This is a project from X9 that uploaded the pics/logos find with
> > transparency intact. The picture have an alpha channel.
> >
> > If a picture has no alpha channel then it would make for Xara to
> > upload as jpg. there is something I don’t understand.
> >
> > I looked at another webpage I did and with X9 all the logos are
> messed
> > up too.
> >
> > From: Xara Support
> > Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:38 PM
> > To: XXX
> > Subject: [Products #HOD-936-65160]: Transparency info lost on all
> > logos/buttons on webpage after update to X10
> >
> > HI
> >
> > Not at all. Version 10 has a far superior set of features and
> > functionality than earlier versions. You have 2 images within the
> file
> > you sent, neither of which have transparency applied. If either did
> > have transparency applied then they would be exported as PNG's It
> > makes perfect sense for an image to be exported as a JPG.
> >
> > This optimisation during export is justified for many reasons. Prior
> > to version 10, grouping an image with a text label for example would
> > cause the group to be exported as a png which is far more expensive
> > and unnecessary.
> >
> > All that you need to do with your file is go to web properties >
> image
> > tab and set the type to be png
> >
> > Thank you
> > Customer Support
> >
> > > Hi
> > >
> > > So what does the “let Xara choose automatically” option do
> when
> > > they are jpg by default? This makes no sense.
> > >
> > > When I create a bitmap with an alpha channel, it goes without
> saying
> > > that I don’t want a jpg.
> > >
> > > It’s been like this in the past. Seems updating to X10 was a
> > mistake
> > > and waste of money, because I’m going back to X9.
> > >
> > > best
> > >
> > > From: Xara Support
> > > Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:19 PM
> > > To: XXX
> > > Subject: [Products #HOD-936-65160]: Transparency info lost on all
> > > logos/buttons on webpage after update to X10
> > >
> > > HI
> > >
> > > Images are by default now exported as JPG. So you will need to
> > select
> > > your images, go to web properties > image tab and set the type to
> be
> > > png
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > CS
> > >
> > > Ticket HistoryXXX (Client) Posted On: 14 September 2014
> > 10:41
> > > AM
> > >
> >

[mwenz]

I'm sorry to jump in (and likely I will be sorry to have done so).

But that rationale from Xara is about the most "dumb as a rock" thing they have done for a while. It seems like they think their customers are stupid and they are, er, helping them.

In full disclosure, I don't use Xara products for building web sites (nor any other wysiwyg type of web site authoring software). If I did, this would really chap my hide.

At the very least, there ought to be the option to set a default for images. Something like: Yes, please micromanage my web site, or, No, leave it the heck alone. I don't know if there is a registry entry for this action, but I would be tempted to take a look.

[derwalkerhaus]

Thanks for posting Xara's response, though I think my site maybe built a little differently, it's still having similar problems. I just thought it was odd because the site that I build was originally done with version 10 (the original version) and didn't notice until after the update later that it was happening. I can prove it came from the update since I have the original version still loaded on another computer. The problem is that I can't go back to the original since I don't have the install and I need it loaded on my main computer. PLUS I have a customer who does the maintenance of the site that would need it as well. BUT if I were to rebuild it using the new updated version the problem goes away. I don't have the time it would take to rebuild my sites whenever an update is glitched. I'm still planning on putting together an example and submit it to support though.

In the future I don't plan on installing any updates when they come out. Xara usually comes out with a new version every year or so, so I don't see any harm from it. I'm still a supporter of Xara, have been a loyal customer for years, but I'd like some better info and perhaps some beta testing. Thanks.