How about lean version of Xtreme

[handrawn]

put a bit simplistically..

there was a time when xtreme was a vector app that happen to use bitmaps rather cleverly in the making of vector objects

this has expanded now to a point where I am not at all sure which of the three strings: 'vector' 'fun-with-photos' or 'HTML generation' is the most important in terms of the product itself; but know I still only need the first

in the course of this many things have had to be changed - some great things have been added, but workflows have seen some disruption - in some cases quite heavy disruption

I guess some of us want it both ways - cherry pick the new stuff and keep the old ways

[MarcT]

It would be a great Idea to have separate products.

Although I don't "feel" the web impact in my work that much (apart from paste with layers), I imagine it would be easier for developers to have a designated application, not always being having to knit in between constraints.

The Web functionality wouldn't get in the way of drawing ones and vice versa.

I don't mind the photo tools, in fact I use levels a lot.


Having a dedicated "Professional" tool would less convey that "Jack of all trades" lens flares impression.
Everybody likes to use a "Professional" tool


Marc

[Drwyd]

The web design market is much larger than vector and I would imagine that the development budget for Xara has been substantially increased by the addition of the latest web functionality. Hopefully the next version will have been expanded in both directions.

[salaam]

Xara could make a Web Designer like version of Xtreme.
WD is Xtreme with most of it's controls taken away.
In other words instead of stripping away at the internals of the software, just eliminate half of it's buttons.

[amoore]

Eliminating buttons won't layer retention go away.

And I do not want to be confronted with a blasted popup every time I paste.

[PhilM]

Hi everyone,

Can I suggest that it would be more useful to pursue ways of fixing those individual problems within the existing product versions (as some posts above have suggested) rather than thinking about new versions of the program, which are highly unlikely to happen for all sorts of reasons.

For one thing: The "Pro" version, by definition, will always contain all functionality and so that version, at least, needs to have any problems in it fixed because the functions or clashes can't be removed.

Also, more specialised versions of the program would make the product line very confusing for customers and difficult to handle w.r.t maintenance, releases, support and upgrades.

So a "lean" version is not a realistic option (and one person's definition of "lean" will always differ from another's).

The intention is that new features ideally should not adversely impact on existing functions and that you should be able to simply ignore the functions you don't use. (Remember that in the creative process, you may find unexpected uses for tools in the future.)

The slowness of loading Photoshop plugins is unfortunate. Not sure we can do anything about that but the workaround, if you don't use them, is just to reset the plugins path so that Xtreme doesn't try to load them.

We made a mistake with the Paste/Layer functionality. We didn't realise that you relied so much on Paste putting everything on a single layer.

Happilly, there is a workaround for that issue too! There's another of Xara's famous secret-squirrel registry settings to make it work the old way. In the registry, set Options\Clipboard\MultiLayerClipboard to 0.

Phil

[handrawn]

I see smiling faces Phil - thanks for that

[tonylondon]

put a bit simplistically..
this has expanded now to a point where I am not at all sure which of the three strings: 'vector' 'fun-with-photos' or 'HTML generation' is the most important in terms of the product itself; but know I still only need the first

This sums up my situation too. A fourth string - DTP - also interests me and I always look out for the developments in this area, although there is a long way to go. It would be great to be able to dispense with Indesign.

I support what Phil says too. I'll carry on buying upgrades provided there is enough extra in my two 'strings' of interest, irrespective of the rest of the developments.

In my use of the program I haven't encountered the problems cited in this thread.

[Soquili]

Hi Tony,

I will keep upgrading Xtreme Pro and other Xara apps as long as I am still around and Xara continues to create them.

Even with a few issues, Xara (in my opinion) creates the greatest programs around.

My initial post requesting a lean version was a personal wish but in no way would keep me from enjoying Xtreme Pro as my primary drawing application.

[slavelle]

Thank you for saying that you won't be releasing more combinations of product features as yet another product. I would think that there are enough options with WD, Xtreme, and Xtreme Pro...

I really actually like that I can create layouts and graphics and export to get a good pic of what the page might look like on the web and then individually export the graphics as I like if I want to assemble them in another application (like MS Expression Web). If I don't want to export the HTML, I don't. Simple. But the option is there and in certain circumstances, is VERY valuable.