JUST RELEASED! Xara Designer Pro X365

[haakoo]

http://releasenotes.xara.hosting/pro365/

[Ed S.]

My brief review:

This is a solid release, well worth the $99 price tag to upgrade. Xara continues to be the absolute fastest vector illustration package I own (Corel & Illustrator are also a part of my library). It is my go-to application when I need to do something extremely quickly; its intuitive UI & mouse handling in addition to its raw power and ease-of-use when dealing with gradients, shadows, blending & contours make simple to intermediate designs an absolute snap.

I, for one, like the online content catalog. I know it requires keeping your license up-to-date, but for $99/year, that's worth it to me. Xara is not an expensive illustration package and for me well worth the expense. The new smart shapes are great. The additions to web design (sticky & parallax) were sorely needed. I tend to ignore the photo design improvements. When I need to work with photos, unless it's simple resizing, integration with vector design, etc., I use other software packages that are much, much more powerful than Xara. Where Xara really shines is in its vector illustration tools. But let's talk about that for a moment.

Every Xara release has me wanting more. Xara is a great application, and is blazing fast -- great for quick work. But it lacks certain features that would propel it to a new level and allow it to compete with Corel & Illustrator. Why the folks at Xara continue to ignore the elephant in the room is baffling to me.

Font/Typeface/Text
Support for Open Type, more intuitive controls for kerning, line spacing (possibly mouse-level control similar to Corel), better control for text on paths -- a must. I've been using Xara for years and years and I still struggle with texts on paths. Give us greater or better control for position on paths, inverse, backwards controls, and spacing please.

Mesh Warp/Moulds
Xara, please give us something beyond four control points for warps. Allow us to add extra points or choose different, pre-made warps.

Extrude
It might be asking a bit much, and this is much more farther down on my list of needs, but I'd love to see Xara handle 2D, vector extrusions similar to Corel.

Mesh Gradient
Also farther down on my list, but something Xara's major competitors possess.

[MarcT]

http://releasenotes.xara.hosting/pro365/

Thanks haakoo

[feklee]

Just ordered the upgrade, although there is nothing in it for me. I see it as a donation to finance development of much needed vector features, most importantly proper support for OpenType.

Tip of the day: As a professional user outside the UK, you may order VAT free. Simply contact sales. You will be provided with an offline order form where you can specify your VATIN.

[joa1]

I second that, CQDX, and anything else (less!) is a ripoff!

"I upgrade now and I'm paying you for the product as it currently exists as of July 6, 2016. What is ONLY FAIR XARA, is if I receive updates from July 6, 2016 to July 6, 2017 then I get to keep all updates in perpetuity as of July 6, 2016 AND in perpetuity on July 6, 2017 should I choose to pay you another subscription fee. If I do make this payment on July 6, 2017 then EVERYTHING I have received up until July 6, 2017 is in perpetuity AND YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS AWAY. The clock again resets and on we go."

[richinri]

Ed, I have become convinced those waiting for Xara to do anything more with vector tools are dreaming at this stage. Clearly Xara has made a marketing decision towards web design and we have seen NOTHING in the last few releases that indicates otherwise. I felt like I was donating when paying for the last release. I won't be getting this release. There are many free web builders coming out now that do responsive design MUCH less complicated than Xara given the gotchas building websites with Xara has due to being combined with drawing tools. I am guessing enough are buying Xara to keep Magix happy. I find the photo tools fluff for the same reason you do. I built one website with Xara and, most likely, won't be dong another one given the simplicity in the free or very low cost editors out there now with much fewer gotchas. So, I use Xara for quick graphics which, to me, is no longer worth the price they are charging given the lack of vector development tools.

[slavelle]

I asked this on July 13:
3. The flip side to #2 is that I see that there are July 2016 updates on the Web Designer product but that those are not yet listed on the Designer Pro page for X365. Is it safe to assume that the Web Designer and Graphic Designer features will come out to the Designer Pro line? At the same time?

I got no reply. Anyone have anything on this? As I look at the (now price-raised Pro 365) page, I still don't see the Web Designer Updates listed in the Pro version.

Anything?

[Boy]

I just checked: the improved list (bullet) editing features are included in XDP X365; as are the photo filter presets; as are the Pixaby resources via the Online Content Catalog. I did not check the 'Minor SVG import improvements,' but you could just download the trial of XDP 365 and check for yourself.

In general I would say that it is safe to assume that any updates that are made to WD or GD will be included in the first available update to the Pro 'mother ship'.

[slavelle]

Thanks for replying Boy. Glad to hear that you saw that those features were there. I'm still determining our interest in the upgrade, but leaning towards yes.

[Fred vanderZee]

David, and if you didn't see my comment earlier, page size is now not bound to the 8' or so limit. Still, it is wise to keep the total combined page size (page plus bleed plus marks) to 200" or less, it is a boon for us making large work.

Hmm just saw this... is it true that you now can make larger images in Designer? Would really like images to be like 6 meters wide (and no, pdf doesn't work for me. Xara locks up calculating my images.)