Interesting comments from an ex Xara employee.

**RickX** · 13 March 2006, 07:06 PM

Thanks Neil for your answer. I have a few questions:

A) Is there a place where users can submit problems/errors concerning the current version of XaraXtreme?

B) Is there an update for XaraXtreme coming in the near future and if yes which problems are solved?

C) Can you tell if there is a wish list where users can submit threads to so you can choose to implement those in a future release?

if we can't, maybe you can add a text 'antialiasing strenght level' to it, (just like in Photoshop, strong, crisp, etc.

thanks.

**NeilH** · 14 March 2006, 08:59 AM

>A) Is there a place where users can submit problems/errors
>concerning the current version of XaraXtreme?

You can either post them to this forum so other users can verify them and we'll see them, or go to xara.com/support/ and submit a support request. As we always say, the more information you can give us regarding a problem the more likely we will be able to fix it. So please try and narrow each problem down so it's demonstrable in a very small design (or even better, reproducable from scratch).

>B) Is there an update for XaraXtreme coming in the near
>future and if yes which problems are solved?

Yes, we'll be releasing a patch for Xtreme in the next week or 2 with some bug-fixes. I can't give you a compiled list of the fixes now but we'll provide one with the patch when it's ready.

>C) Can you tell if there is a wish list where users can submit
>threads to so you can choose to implement those in a future release?

Just submit them to this forum or via support and we'll add them to the wish list that we keep and which we review whenever we're planning the next update. I've noted your addition to the list.

Thanks

Neil

**RickX** · 15 March 2006, 06:29 AM

Thanks for the information! I am looking forward to the update/patch.

**MattPriestley** · 17 March 2006, 08:41 AM

Hello!

Just to clarify, the images posted by Dave (toffeeman) were actually created in DrawPlus7 although they were also in the samples for DrawPlus8 as we felt they were so good. Please see the attached bitmaps for examples of the new features of DrawPlus8. I appreciate this isn't a DrawPlus forum and it's therefore rather inappropriate to attempt to promote it here, but I feel that if it's going to be discussed on the strength of the samples, that they should at least be representative.

Regarding the redundancies that were made, I'll have to bow to Neil's greater knowledge of the circumstances and events surrounding the issue - it's not quite the perspective I had on what transpired, but clearly this isn't the time or place to discuss such matters. As an aside I would just like to state for the record that when I and the rest of the team left, the development office was pretty much deserted and the sole remaining developer who I had any respect for (a truly very talented man) was indeed there from the beginning of the product - although he wasn't even technically in full-time employment to the best of my knowledge. So I certainly don't believe I have said anything untrue.

Clearly, any opinions expressed are my own and in no way do they represent those of my current employer. I realise that a person is not allowed to have a voice nowadays for fear of retribution, but I feel that I should be allowed to defend my earlier statements, without entering into an argument at any point.

Hope everything is going well at Xara and wish all of my old friend(s?) there all the best

(are they still filming Little Britain there???)

Matt

(I'm pretty much expecting this post to be deleted soon)

**Gilles C** · 05 April 2006, 06:16 PM

Hummm... interesting thread.

I'm only a newbie, so it means I can't compare the 2 programs except for their basic functions or the look and feel.

But I use both Draw Plus 7 and Xara Xtreme, and the reason I began to use Draw Plus is that there are some things that I wasn't able to do with Xara or found easier to do with Draw Plus.

These days, I use Xara when I want to work with vectors, and Draw Plus if I have something more artistic to do, or if I start from a drawing and want to modify it.

I won't say that one is better than the other one, because they are 2 different programs. But I must say that I realised that I was disapointed by the last upgrade from Xara X1 to Xtreme which looks more like a change than an upgrade, and at the same time surprised by how Draw Plus is getting a lot better with every version.

For Xara, I know it must be hard to make something that is very good a lot better, but with the last upgrade, I felt that the goal was to make it more affordable for more people in place of trying to keep it the ultimate graphics program for the price.

I still find Xara Xtreme more powerful than Draw Plus, and prefer its look and feel, but I would just like to see it stay the ultimate graphics program I can use in place of just one of the graphics programs on the market.

So to me, it means a real upgrade with more powerful functions, like a better tracing for example that didn't change since the beginning for example, etc...

Gilles

**jamesmc** · 07 April 2006, 02:41 PM

I have the free version of DrawPlus, version 4 I believe. The problem I have with the DrawPlus and other Serif applications such as ImpactPlus (for 3D) is that they are bad memory managers.

When you load in multiple pictures or make a scene busy, the application either hangs for an eternity before it does something or it will crash.

The concept in Serif is nice, but the handling of memory is a bit wanting.

Besides, I don't need another YAPP (Yet Another Painting Program.) I do my 3D work in a dedicated modeler, my touchup work in Deep2D, Dogwaffle, GIMP or PSP 9.0 and now my vectors in Xara Xtreme.

**Big Frank** · 18 September 2006, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by NeilH

Those same developers produced both the X1 and Xtreme releases and they are of course still working on the product now and will be into the future, to help make it even better.

Right then - I've only just read this thread. I have been a Xara devotee for donkey's years - I've always called it Xara, because when it first came out that's what it was called: Xara. I even did some beta testing back in the early days before it became CorelXara (God how time flies). I had an engineer (damned if I can remember his name) come to my home studio and watch me operate Xara and ask me questions about features, speed, the interface etc. and he took notes. None of the features I requested were ever implemented and three of them stick in my mind as essentials to take Xara even further (although there are many things that can still improve the product).

1. Use same keyboard shorcuts as Photoshop/Illustrator for zoom in/out

2. Use same keyboard shorcuts as Photoshop/Illustrator for drag workspace

3. Wrapping of text around an object

All those years ago... and still we haven't got them.

And what about that Auto-Save feature I asked for in 2000???

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=3093

**AntonyF** · 19 September 2006, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Big Frank

All those years ago... and still we haven't got them.

And what about that Auto-Save feature I asked for in 2000???

Well, just because you asked for them doesn't mean they'll happen I'm afraid.

We all have great ideas, but often it's a case of prioritising and going for what is wanted most. But bear in mind this is also why we went open source, to try and get more good ideas done quicker.

Having said that I think you'll see some movement on some of your points... so "stay tuned" as it were.

**Big Frank** · 19 September 2006, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by AntonyF

Well, just because you asked for them doesn't mean they'll happen I'm afraid.

We all have great ideas, but often it's a case of prioritising and going for what is wanted most.

I guess bitmap effects are more sexy than productivity improvements.

**amoore** · 19 September 2006, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Big Frank

I guess bitmap effects are more sexy than productivity improvements.

Unfortunately, one man's useless frivolity is another man's (or woman's) product improvement.

While I would not have put bitmap effects at the top of my wish list (or anywhere near it), I've used them much more frequently than I would have expected. In fact, one such effect was indispensable in an important project I did earlier this year.

As for the keyboard shortcuts, I don't want them mucked with. BUT, customizable hotkeys with an external config file to save the assignments so we don't have to redo them from install to install -- that could make us both happy.

And please don't saddle us with a zoom on the mouse wheel. Wheels are for scrolling. However, an option for setting zoom or scroll would be very nice.