Wish List for V12

[Gare]

Perhaps it's time for a poll on the off-topic area, Albacore? I don't see how Magix or Xara could collect the data as registration stands now; some other software companies send a voluntary questionnaire along with a reg number, asking you to fill out, like 5 questions for the purpose of better serving the community with future releases. A simple "how do you use Xara Designer?" with 5 multiple choices and then an Other____, would help solve who is serving who, wouldn't it?

I'd love to imagine the members who use it for designing web pages are more vocal than draw-ers (it sounds like the American slang for long underpants!), who like the program for its WYSIWYG, but Web Designer is cheaper, so why not imagine that there are some accomplished people who draw into the mix, just not speaking up here?

My Best,

Gary

[Bruinedebeer]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm using Xara Designer Pro 12 and previous Xara products since 1996 (CorelXara ...).

I’m an amateur photographer and I'm using Xara for different purposes (logos, websites, etc. -> see my website at momentopname.be, created with Xara Designer Pro 11).

My wish list of Xara Designer Pro V12 would be:

- A enhanced webdesign photo feature of what I'm currently using on my photo website (new widget or page layout feature) which enables "similar" effects like the fantastic website functionalities of the website at aphotofolio.com/#clients. Look at the different websites created by some clients and different functionalities to get an impression..

- automatic placement of picture thumbnails based on visible space with/without scrolling feature horizontal/vertical on whatever media is used (iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, Mac, ...)

- when clicking on the thumbnail a smooth representation of the selected picture in full screen and with arrows on left/right to smoothly move to the previous/next picture...

- when clicking on the full screen picture itself it returns back to the thumbnails and menus

- A picture that automatically covers part of the screen or the whole screen and that slightly zoom in (gives a fantastic dynamic impression)

- A slider/split picture (vertical or horizontal line) which covers/uncovers a pictures before and after state when sliding the splitter left/right or up/down

- Other features for photographers you might be thinking about...

Thanks and all the best,

Bruinedebeer

[Gare]

Hi Bruinedebeer and welcome to TalkGraphics.

I had to edit your first post; according to are rules which are posted for all to read when you sign up as a member, it says new members cannot post an url until you've made a few more than one post.

I guess that after my post #281, that you are in the camp that wants more web features in Xara Designer, yes?

Out of curiosity, have you ever tried Xara Web Designer?

Out of curiosity to all on this thread: would putting more web and photographic features in Web Designer let us make request for Xara Designer that are more illustration and layout-oriented? My feeling is that the different versions of Xara should be worked on as their own thing, and dumping non-drawing features is diluting the program. I'd love to see the program zoom past Illustrator, but that's sort of hard with all the non-drawing baggage, which increases ever version.

My Best, and sorry about the edit, Bruinedebeer,

My Best,

Gary

[mwenz]

Hmm. Under the current model, XDP is everything and the kitchen sink with the others being subsets for wich I believe conditional compiling is used. Not that the conditions couldn't be changed.

However, it takes three things at minimum for XDP to be further developed as the all-in-all and have more drawing/illustration features. First it takes the political will. It takes either a divorce from Magix or true automony. It takes the programming resources.

Without all three (and likely other changes), I don't see it happening.

Xara is going to have to change its pricing structure to remain relevant even among us adherents of their software. XDP could have its Web stuff fully removed because of conditional compiling without much effort and the po rice lowered. That would be a positive first step. I think Xara needs to remove some product lessening application dilution. One web, one illustration application. That would tighten the offerings into something cohesive and easily understandable. Make those the focus of programming AND marketing effort.

Sales have to be soft on XDP as it is, at least in comparison to the web versions. Else there would be more attention paid to these illustration things in XDP.

I pay about $70 more per upgrade for CorelDraw than I do for XDP. If one compares the feature set, the more professional output, color management, OT Feature support, and the list goes on for a long time, it says to me that either the thousand other things in CD are incredibly inexpensive per upgrade (which is not as frequent as XDP anyway) or my upgrade cost for XDP is horribly expensive in comparison. Two sides of the same coin.

Like another company that is making a switch in philosophy, thinking and action, it takes bravery to make these and the will to make it happen.

[Gare]

For the record, CorelDRAW has never taken web tools to heart, just so people are aware. They can export roll-over buttons (that's so old I'm kicking the slats out of my crib) and it comes with a weirdly cobbled stand-alone (I don't remember the 1990s, but it's from then) with a logically opaque UI.

Illustrator is not a complete solution to website development but if you buy into the Creative Cloud, you'll find the right tools, but overall? You're not going to compete with a reasonably-priced or open source (which is not free) website developer. Gadgets are so trendy, it's unpredictable what Tuesday's fashion is: the ad industry used to call this superfluous stuff disguised as content dancing baloney.

A very powerful line-up would be:

Xara Designer: handles DTP and illustration. It already does both very well for short documents. This cannot be denied, by the way. Yeah, do a 600 pager in Xara. And I'll dot he same thing in InDesign: my PDF will be bullet-proof and I'll have spare time to watch a movie and have a meal while OP is still working.

Xara Paint Depot (whatever): An honest-to-God paint program for retouching images and so on. The masking stuff is eventually going to hit a dead end in development. A pixel is a pixel, not an effect! I believe Magix has pockets deep enough to buy an indie, such as ArtWeaver and then rebrand the UI.

I think a WYSIWG web program shouldn't have to jump through hoops and violate the spirit of code to be a reasonably priced third member of the Xara Suite. Like "photo designing", Web Designer is eventually going to hit a brick wall. The program needs to be able to edit a site without having to republish the thing. I did a little hacking of the code for a small site, and it was like diving into a swimming pool filled with Jell-o. Revise not so you won't have to refactor later when innovations to the Web demand something outside of Web Designer's capabilities. Right now, more people view the web on a phone than on a computer, and scalability is not Xara's forté.

I agree with Mike. It's a scary and brave move, but it's also commercial survival in a market that is already saturated. How many vector artists are out there? How many vector programs are there? The math is simple, and it dictates change to survive. I'd bet a lot of faith on SVG moving center-stage for graphics before too long.

Are we covered?

Sincerely,

Gary

[mwenz]

There are good, responsive, replacements for what I consider chump-change (ok, around $50) for one's first license. One being more for the less adventurous and one for the more so. These are largely drag and drop, etc., for web work. A yet to be released Windows vector, focused application for illustration for the same pricing for the first license. And there'll be more, especially web editors--they are only going to become more user friendly. Xara has to be understanding this else they will wither away.

I absolutely do not want that to happen. I want XDP to flourish and quickly grow it's illustration capabilities. I want it to be somewhat price competitive. I'll gladly pay more for the privilege. But I think a 400% cost difference for a new license is going to hurt Xara in both the short and long term.

XDP does not need all the bells and whistles of an Illustrator or CorelDraw. But it does need so many of the illustration and print-oriented stuff in this thread that they need to implement them sooner than later before people move on.

Organizing this thread would be a nightmare. I personally don't think a quickie survey would really serve a good purpose as this place is a really small sampling of users. Organizing a wide-scale survey would be like organizing this thread. It would be a daunting task.

It would behoove Xara to hire (in one way, shape or form) someone that does this stuff and has a clear concept of what drawing and illustration capabilities are needed and map out that path. Or, just do it in-house. But it is going to take more than one or two features a cycle. Coming from XDP X9 to X11 there are things I appreciate that have been added. More needs to be done even if there is a longer cycle between releases.

[Gare]

That's definitely a lot to chew on, but I lke your take, the layers your mapped out, and the scope.

I'm not willing to abandon 15 years of learning. I even inadvertently try to use the same keyboard shortcuts in other programs . Why doesn't MS-Word wise up? Ctrl+Shift+L is Alignment, man!

I'd like to grow old using Xara, but I want the program to grow (up) with me.

My Best,

[Bruinedebeer]

Hi Gary,

Sorry for the links I posted (it was a way to show what I wanted as improvements). I will not post any links anymore in the future.

Regarding Xara Web Designer, I bought it separately a couple of years ago when it first came out and noticed, after buying the Pro version a bit later, that all functionalities of web designer were included in the Pro version.
So why buying Web Designer separately as it is included in the Pro? Pro is more expensive and I like the idea/concept of an all-in-one package (it makes Xara unique) but I admit that for the developers this might be a challenge to keep all in one package.

Therefore my posted wish list for Xara DP V12 (which is also valid for Web Designer as functionalities are integrated).

By the way, I read your articles on a regular basis (Xara Xone) and you're a real "jack" in graphics and more... Congrats!

I'm using an iMac for most of my work but still with Parallels on it because Xara is THE unbeatable app to be used with endless possibilities (one app for all my creation work and websites). In windows simulation on the MAC it is even faster than on my windows laptop and almost "bug" free!

Sincerely,
Bruinedebeer

[Gare]

Hi Bruinedeer!

Let me answer you post #288's content, issue by issue. You wrote a tome there. :)

• You are not allowed to post links as a new member. I'm not positive how many posts you need to make, but I've seen a lot of members who post links that are 100% acceptable by their 10th post. Do not be afarid to post a link as a reference to something once you are allowed by the rules. Better Still, if you have something visual to which you want to refer, do a screen capture and post the capture as part of the body of the message.

• This Wish List we have going is for anything in Xara Designer for version 12, but I see no reason to ask for an improvement in a specific module, because all the module products are part of the main DP program. It's the inverse of software bundles that let programs grow and grow, until they are merged into a bundle. Xara Design had part of it spun off into less expensive, slightly less capable products. Which I find profitable if I'm Magix, but very weird if I'm an illustrator, and could care less about web design. You are absolutely right about adding more features, but the way.

• What I was going on about, which is apparently boring everyone to death (!), is that I want to see the products evolve independently. I'm casting a vote against your vote, Bruinedebeer, sorry and it's nothing personal! I want XDP to grow as an illustration tool, and forget the web features. I also want to see the modules grow into their own thing. I want to see MagiXara go out and buy or license a paint program. The photo features in XGD are spun off of masks and reusing photo parts retained in a file. This is a kludge and doesn't help someone with a photo that requires smearing, repetitive cloning in a small area, dodging or burning a small area, and so on...a real brush tool is necessary.

• I faintly remember that Xara Xone thing. :)

• I'm glad you found Parallels. I think there's another program to virtualize Windows on Mac. In any event, you're right. Xara rules, but Affinity Designer might be coming up from behind. We'll have to see. I'm too "set", Xara is like an extension of myself, I get ticked off that I can't use memorized keyboard shortcuts in other programs, it's at the top of my toolbox.

My Best,

[andre luiz]

I wish the pro xara designer, had better control in layers in photoshop select a layer and we can work on it without hiding or catch the other, as in xara, that's too bad.