Upgrde?

[jeb]

jeb, it's all been covered in TG already:

https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...s-Designer-Pro
https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...and-Xara-Cloud
https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...Xara-Pro-Combo
and shedloads more...

Acorn

Tks, Acorn - after going through your links I am now really confused. If I understand it, I can keep my 12.4 at zero cost and use it forever. I can upgrade to Magix 18 for $99 AND continue using it with no additional cost OR I can pay a bunch of money for 21 which I have to continue paying forever or I lose everything Xara. And then there is the Cloud.

Since I have no idea what I might use that is in Xara 18 from my 12.4 and also have no idea of what is in Xara 21 that is different - and it seems no way of finding out - I think I will just keep what I have. Over the years, Xara has seemed to be a company that was really interested in its customers but it now appears they are only interested in $$$$.

Tks for the time you and all the others here on TalkGraphics have done for the community over the years. - jb

Edit - if there were some better photo editing tools in 18 AND if I am right that I can use 18 forever without any additional -fees I would update to it.

[handrawn]

in a nutshell:

magix and xara have 'forked'

xara has reinvented itself as a new company Xara GmbH based in Berlin, and is not the xara we knew - sure there are still lots of the old xara employees, but xara itself is now a company producing a product that is targeted at businesses that want office branding, office documents and office websites using pro+/cloud; as such the programs need to update regularly and so far they have, at least once a month, but the cost of this is met by a subscription model ie you have to keep paying to keep them; by and large business is far more willing to accept this overhead than are individuals

the 'legacy' old style programs that you buy a permanent license for are still coded by xara but xara have handed all marketing and support of these to magix; there is little or no mention of these products on xara's own website which is all about pro+/cloud; what mention there is directs you to magix

the way to find out if ver 18 has something to offer is to install the trial

but to be honest if your focus is photos I'd stick with what you have and look at affinity photo - be a learning curve, but currently there is 50% off the price until the end of the month [15 hours from now as I type according to their site] and affinity photo is serious about photo editing across the board, not just what suits a specific sector of the market which appears to xara's position

in the five years I have had affinity photo it has been updated regularly and every single update was free; the program is currenty 48.99 GBP, 23.99 GBP with discount https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/

[Boy]

magix and xara have 'forked'

Yes and no. Yes, Xara seems to do more 'its own thing' but, no, it still contractually services the XDAs for Magix and, perhaps more tellingly, Bellevue Investments GmbH & Co. KGaA is Xara's majority owner and holds a minority stake in Magix.

[Initiostar]

Jeb,

I have no idea what I might use that is in Xara 18 from my 12.4 and also have no idea of what is in Xara 21 that is different - and it seems no way of finding out - I think I will just keep what I have

You can compare the functionality between all releases here: https://www.xara.com/uk/designer-pro/whats-new/. You can go back in time https://www.xara.com/uk/designer-pro/whats-new/older/ and you can look at the Pro X v18 release notes: http://releasenotes.xara.hosting/designer-pro-x18/.

You can compare Pro X v18 with Pro + by toggling between the two tabs. Personally, I use Pro X v18.0 and I have Affinity Photo, but most of the time Xara works for photos (Fx the live effects tool can be useful too).

WRT to Bellevue Investments GmbH (majority ownership of Xara/ minority holding in Magix); they actually use Xara for their for own website: https://bellevue.eu/index.htm#xl_Ventures.

Gary

[Acorn]

WRT to Bellevue Investments GmbH (majority ownership of Xara/ minority holding in Magix); they actually use Xara for their for own website: https://bellevue.eu/index.htm#xl_Ventures. Gary

I think they should join TG as the site needs a lot of TLC. Perhaps I should offer my services and make carbon footprint savings for them at the same time?

Acorn

[Initiostar]

I think they should join TG as the site needs a lot of TLC. Perhaps I should offer my services and make carbon footprint savings for them at the same time?

Acorn

Well they might learn a thing or two about their investments, they might encourage greater cooperation and I'm sure your services would be of great value.

Gary

[jeb]

Tks, all -

I have download the Affinity trial and looked at it - don't see anything like the "blur or sharpness" tool in Xara which is what I would really like to have to improve upon my photos.

Do see that it can export to .tiff and a bunch of other files but don't know how useful that might be.

Again - tks - jb

[letsgofishing]

Tks, all -

I have download the Affinity trial and looked at it - don't see anything like the "blur or sharpness" tool in Xara which is what I would really like to have to improve upon my photos.

Do see that it can export to .tiff and a bunch of other files but don't know how useful that might be.

Again - tks - jb

I've just upgraded my separate P&GD and WDP to XPDX - but,

The typographic controls in Affinity Designer are years ahead of Xara's.

There are a LOT of features unique to AD - being able to work with pixels and all the image adjustments/layers= associated with photo editing software is REALLY handy and is non destructive.

The fact that it runs proper colour management is indispensible if you sent any of your work to print.

You can even apply a blur or any other adjustment layer to a vector image

If you specifically want "traditional" image editing software for handling RAW images etc, Affinity Photo is available.

Yes, there are a few "holes" in AD's feature set mould tool, mesh warp and filling etc, but remember you pay ONCE and upgrades are FREE!

If AD had been around 10 years ago I would have bought and stayed with it for graphic design. I'm using AD for any new clients' work and am very happy.

Of course, if you need web design software, then get XDPx or WDP as a standalone.

[ss-kalm]

but remember you pay ONCE and upgrades are FREE!

I doubt that is the case ... Minor upgrade like 1.8 to 1.9 are free, but I would suspect that an upgrade to 2.0 would be a paid upgrade.

Although Affinity Designer has some nice tools and features, Xara is MUCH more intuitive. I find AD's layer based adjustments much more awkward than Xara's object based adjustments.

[handrawn]

Yes and no. Yes, Xara seems to do more 'its own thing' but, no, it still contractually services the XDAs for Magix and, perhaps more tellingly, Bellevue Investments GmbH & Co. KGaA is Xara's majority owner and holds a minority stake in Magix.

are not the tines of a fork all joined at the base ?

investment and ownership are hands off I would have thought