No Synthetic BOLD in Extreme Pro - I need two Xara versions!

**Robert H** · 14 May 2008, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by wuerthne

So, I cannot think of a good solution really. Maybe I could add a hidden option to always open the font menu scrolled to the main entry instead of that in the "used fonts" section. Would that improve things for you?

Martin (Xtreme text developer)

I see your problem from a developers perspective, but I don't think it should be a hidden option. Sometimes being in the used font section is what is needed, other times, like when you want to audition what font to use in a document, you want to return where you left off in the main font list.

How about using the Home and End keys? Home to go to the top of the used fonts and End to go in the main list for the last used font. (And maybe End press twice to go to the bottom of the main font list.)

**wuerthne** · 15 May 2008, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by Robert H

How about using the Home and End keys? Home to go to the top of the used fonts and End to go in the main list for the last used font. (And maybe End press twice to go to the bottom of the main font list.)

Home and End do go to the first/last entry in the overall list, so at least Home does what you suggested. We should not really redefine End to mean anything else than it usually does in a dropdown list (go to the very last entry), but maybe we can use some other keystroke to go to the current entry in the main list. That should not be too difficult.

Martin

**ss-kalm** · 15 May 2008, 05:18 PM

How about a-z to go to the relevant alphabetical sections - Oh yeah, It already does that. Doesn't that get you near enough to scroll a bit? Page down and page up, Oh yeah, they work too.

I must admit, perhaps I'm being a bit dense, but I can't see the problem. If you use 25 fonts in a document they are shown at the top and aren't too hard to navigate.

**standay** · 15 May 2008, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by Merlinski

I've searched and read others discussing the removal of synthesised bold on fonts used in Pro 4.

Can I just say this now makes my life a nightmare unless I run version 3 as well, which I now have to do! I frequently have to return to older jobs for either snippets or to do another printjob - and of course they don't look the same in 4.

I'm sure there is a reason for it, maybe bold variants were'nt being used at all in the first place and it was all synthetic, and the change was needed to get in-check with the standard.

But please Xara, at least an option to use the feature!!! You've effectively bodged alot of my portfolio.

At very least I want to get away from having to load up an old version of Xara to open my docs correctly - that's just...niggly...and poor.

Pro 4 is awesome by the way, I'm very impressed - bar this minor issue.

I agree with you other than it is NOT a minor issue for me. It's a HUGE issue. I cancelled 2 upgrades to v4 because of this. Some of us are not font purists, we don't care about "real" or "synthed" font styles.

I keep seeing the following as the reasoning behind this decision: "Xtreme 4 is more in line now with how Adobe products handle type, which also makes it more compatible with Adobe products." Depends on which Adobe product you are referring to. Yes, illustrator works this way but one of the reasons I used xara was that it didn't work like illustrator. In adobe CS3, photoshop allows both synthed bold and italic (there they call it "faux" bold/italic) and indesign allows synthed italic (there it's called "false" italic). Inkscape also adds an italic option to all fonts.

If xara wants to keep the new font handling, fine. But they need to add being able to use synth bold and italic back in or I can no longer continue to upgrade the app and will have to stay with the last v3.

**steve.ledger** · 15 May 2008, 10:18 PM

I could have been useful to Xara to have conducted a poll before making the decision (rather than the poll asking who owns a DVD drive?)

**Daniel** · 21 May 2008, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by standay

If xara wants to keep the new font handling, fine. But they need to add being able to use synth bold and italic back in

Not necessarily *be able to use*, but *still be able to display*, even in a read-only state, would be very useful.

It's a real bore when opening old artwork, not being able to see what the original looked like.

**Jimi King** · 22 May 2008, 01:54 PM

If it's mainly bold that's your problem I find that adding an outline usually does the job if bold is not available. of course that only really works assuming that you weren't intending to have an oultine of a different colour to the text anyway.

I'm not really concerned about the Adobe compatibility either personally. Even though anything I prepare for print these days tends to require a PDF export, I have to convert all the fonts to curves anyway so my vote would have been to keep it the old way.

**Daniel** · 22 May 2008, 02:31 PM

My problem, and I suspect the problem many others face too, is not *how* to work without the synthetic fonts: I understand why they are not acceptable and can substitute with replacement fonts or techniques. My problem is *what* I should be aiming for.

I open a file from a year ago, needing to amend my original .xar and export an image for a client's website... get an error to say the original used a synthesised font, then what? The new object being exported needs to fit in with the old stuff, so I need to know how heavy the synth-bold was: I've no way of knowing without maintaining v3.2.

Outline - fine, if a little cumbersome. A replacement font - probably better. To look like what? That's the problem.