Xara Designer Pro 6 Launched (Xara Xtreme 6 Pro)

[Soquili]

You are welcome John.

Today has been very busy.

Reading posts.

Write some code, recompile, copy to test machines, run to test machines, makes some tests. Run back to primary machine, read some posts, write some code, etc.etc.etc.

[handrawn]

thanks Bill for the xareg beta and all your work in this regard

if I ever win the lottery I will buy you out - and hire you back to do the actual work of course ...

[tonylondon]

I think the lack of buzz about this version (compared to what I was expecting--although admittedly it's early days yet) is showing what I said is true. There are some amazing workflow improvements in this version, and a lot of things people have been asking for are addressed. But because there's not an "obvious" tool on the toolbar, then it can appear to most (including myself initially) that there isn't much new. The changes are quite subtle, but very powerful.

I for one, will look forward to being persuaded....

[Xhris]

haha, I'll try

There's over an hour of video...lot to talk about...

[Squeaky]

Sorry to disregard some of the topics being discussed--price, features, etc.--but I just gotta say, XDP6 ROCKS!!! With the new pressure sensitivity features, easily accessible icons for if you want your lines to be separate or to connect, I mean it is a cartoonist's dream come true! I'll attach a quick sample of a sketch I did using the pen pressure profile--it ain't much (the sketch that is) but is going to be a major boost to my production workflow. Now I won't have to keep changing the stroke size and profile but can draw more naturally and quickly.

Many thanks to all the guys at Xara who made this latest version possible!

200% agreed. For me, and I suspect anyone else who draws this is the best release for many years.
Tip:As you can now just select a previous line to draw with you can now create a palette of frequently used line shapes and thicknesses on the paste board. All this with out affecting your selected fill (for joined up shapes). The non obvious features in this release are the real stars for me :-)

[handrawn]

its good

only found one disadvantage - can't draw with a transparency stroke anymore [I've put this in Dear Xara] - like you could in XXP5 [if you made transparency a current attribute]

shame, but I can work round it

anyone know different, I'm all ears [using the default, not custom brushes which are not the same to draw with]

[Xhris]

Yes, the new GNOMRA rules prevent transparency being picked up. This is to avoid drawing completely invisible closed shapes. But I argue that there's an advantage in retaining transparency for lines: certain brush strokes for example work well with stained glass transparency (my paint brushes for e.g.) and it would be practical for this to be retained in brushes. But Xara will need feedback from masses about this, so they can consider it. So +1 vote from me.

[handrawn]

thanks for the explanation I have no problem with drawing invisible shapes they have their uses, but there you go...

if you havn't done so can put up a vote in the dear xara thread? - might help

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=46050

[highfrontier]

Really happy with V6 - thanks Xara!
After only a couple of minutes of trying the demo, I was ready to buy.. have been looking for an excuse to upgrade to the Pro version for a while.

Some random thoughts :
- perimeter length, area calcs are very welcome.
- love the curve handle equidistance..ing thing for better smoothing.
- 'solo' mode for letting you edit objects on their own without everything else on screen - great idea.
- opacity masks and clone tools for bitmaps are also a move in the right direction -
- I can't make use of the improved freehand pen tools as my cheapo tablet doesn't seem to be supported.
- general speed seems slightly slower and more jittery than xx5, even though pro should be able to make use of my laptop CPU's second core.
- I think I'm slowly coming round to the dark interface, but to echo someone else's comment, the galleries should also have a dark background for the idea to work.

[Squeaky]

"- general speed seems slightly slower and more jittery than xx5, even though pro should be able to make use of my laptop CPU's second core."

Actually I'm not sure that it does. I had to do a reg tweak (do a forum search) for V5 to get my quad core up to speed by turning the cores to 0. Not sure what it did but performance was improved.
Any one know if V6 actually supports multi cores? I haven't had enough time to play with it enough to tell.