Hello. Happy to meet you.

I'm new here. I have been struggling with Corel for some time and this Xara looks kind of nice.

But I do have to learn it, and I am not a 10-hours a day art pro. I am a guy who has occasional jobs to do and has to sit down and figure out how to do them.

It looks like most of the "help" entries are about drawing things, which I'm never going to do. I'm going to be making things like catalogs and CD graphics and web pages, which are going to be photos (or someone else's art) and text. Mostly text.

Is there a manual of some sort somewhere? What I need is something that'l just tell me what the buttons on the screen do; and something else that just tells me how to do whatever I'm trying to do. Filed under titles that would accurately describe the issues that they address. Ideally, I'll print them, and look at them.

There are videos but videos don't work for me. You have to sit and watch and sit and watch and maybe it tells you what you need and maybe it doesn't. Heck, even the pictures in the help files kind of annoy me.

Obviously you guys have different preferences, since the videos and pictures are there, but good, concise paper is still the most immediate and accessible form of information when you're up close.

Are there online references or a book that you could recommend?

Insults are anticipated and welcome.
Thank you for your kind attention.

W