Xara Xtreme verison 4

[steve.ledger]

Live Effect - Pointless 'RASTER' tosh you can do in photoshop.
Xara 3D Integration - More 'RASTER' tosh!
Image Editor Integration - 'RASTER' rubbish.

Well I expect every Xara user can afford PhotoShop to do their raster editing yes?
They probably also have a PC with sufficient resources to open PS while using Xtreme and not have to wait & wait while PS get's all it's parts loaded.

It may be rubbish to you, but this kind of talk is neither constructive, objective or indeed warranted.
We'd love to hear your recommendations for improvments to Vector tools. But we don't like immature ranting thanks..

[JokeArtist]

Well I expect every Xara user can afford PhotoShop to do their raster editing yes?

Paint Shop Pro aint too expensive or any other image editting package for that matter. There's plenty out there.

They probably also have a PC with sufficient resources to open PS while using Xtreme and not have to wait & wait while PS get's all it's parts loaded.

Xara takes up less resources than MSN Messenger, so by your rational then having Photoshop and MSN Messenger open at the same time would cause a problem and 1gig of ram is like $20 or something now.

It may be rubbish to you, but this kind of talk is neither constructive, objective or indeed warranted. We'd love to hear your recommendations for improvments to Vector tools. But we don't like immature ranting thanks..

I find this rather a personal attack on me. Flaming if you will. Which is not very nice is it? I am surely entitled to my opinion and frustrations about the lack of movement forward with Xara's development. But if you want me to go through a list of simple improvements and tool that would greatly improve the product here goes;

1. Make everything savable within the default document. Including settings for contour, bevels, drop shadows.

2. Have an option for Saving Undos. One of the great things about Xara is the limitless amount of undos, it would be invitative and useful to save these even if it created massive files.

3. Editable Brush Stroke Profiles.

4. True Vector Bevels / Drop Shadows / Extrudes.

5. Live Plugins which are Vector as well as bitmap. Mathematical formual that changed the vector shapes them selves, like twirls / twists, random deforms, Erm ... rounded corners for any object not just stars and rectangles.

6. Mesh fills and transparencies.

7. True fractle fills (with editable variables). Not just the psuedo bitmap fills that are currently on offer.

8. Better Brush handling. A present the colour replace doesn't work properly. The profiles and pressures don't work properly. If your groupled item has too many shapes in it - it throws a fit. In this day and age it should be able to handle more items. Also bevelled items if they were proper vectors and not just bitmaps would work properly which it does.

9. Multi-layered brushes.

10. Added shape creation tools like the ones seen in Spray, SPX, LGV and more besides.

11. Filter fills such as Zoom, Blur, etc.

There's a few for you and for the Xara team to chew over whilst waiting for another release, which will come to nothing yet again, to come round.

Don't get me wrong, I like Xara and use it every day almost. And I'm always coming up with new and fun ways to use it even after all these years. I just don't see it heading in a sensible direction. It gets more hobbist with every release to the point where I no longer hold my breath when a new release happens. I think he expression is ...

New money for old rope.

I'd much prefer something that actually blew my mind, and to thinking ...

'Wow, now what can i do with this to create something new. How will this tool work with all the other tools I know and like.'

But it hasn't since X2 and probably won't even when it's X10!

[mikalele]

1. Make everything savable within the default document. Including settings for contour, bevels, drop shadows.

2. Have an option for Saving Undos. One of the great things about Xara is the limitless amount of undos, it would be invitative and useful to save these even if it created massive files.

3. Editable Brush Stroke Profiles.

4. True Vector Bevels / Drop Shadows / Extrudes.

5. Live Plugins which are Vector as well as bitmap. Mathematical formual that changed the vector shapes them selves, like twirls / twists, random deforms, Erm ... rounded corners for any object not just stars and rectangles.

6. Mesh fills and transparencies.

7. True fractle fills (with editable variables). Not just the psuedo bitmap fills that are currently on offer.

8. Better Brush handling. A present the colour replace doesn't work properly. The profiles and pressures don't work properly. If your groupled item has too many shapes in it - it throws a fit. In this day and age it should be able to handle more items. Also bevelled items if they were proper vectors and not just bitmaps would work properly which it does.

9. Multi-layered brushes.

10. Added shape creation tools like the ones seen in Spray, SPX, LGV and more besides.

11. Filter fills such as Zoom, Blur, etc.

Very good ideas man! Brushes need some upgrades!

And undo saving even to a huge file would be amazing!


As far as a new set of icons goes - i think it would be better to look for a less ridiculous name to make a more professional impression. XaraXtremePro, come on...

[The Alien]

This is a very good upgrade imo. I'll probably buy the new version
Thanks for fixing the intersect bug. Boolean operations now work perfectly

Among other useful features/fixes, the extrude feature is the best IMO.
About this tool: might I suggest you use a different cursor icon to indicate rotation? Currently the cursor looks like it will pan the shape instead of rotate it. I believe that in most 3D editing programs, that icon is used for panning and a different icon for rotating objects.

[joroho]

There have been some pretty strong negative opinions stated for a version that included so many upgrades - I'm surprised. Even though this version didn't have my desired multi-sided moulds, I sprang for the upgrade. Thanks, Xara.

.joroho.

[Josè Campoy.]

Very good ideas man! Brushes need some upgrades!

And undo saving even to a huge file would be amazing!


As far as a new set of icons goes - i think it would be better to look for a less ridiculous name to make a more professional impression. XaraXtremePro, come on...

Yes. first impression it´s everything, maybe xara needs a more professional look and fell, they have artowrk and illustrations to make that, maybe they need more graphic design adn some editorial design samples, no mere illustratios because they have amazing illustrations, the users make some professional graphic design and illustrations, even websites, and editorial design (not really sure about the last).

between us I have graphic design make with xara, and another illustrations, but i don´t use to post or show the work for my clients, i just post and share my personal work.

If you use xara, you will never change to corel or illustration, but how many people knows xara xtreme?. how much schools learn xara xtreme?

Maybe we are hard with the xara team because they are making the best. maybe they need to open a section in the forum with a wishlist.

They should focus in the tools and not in xpe i think, maybe it´s better if they make xpe freeware and not a plug-in for xara xtreme, the program need a more professional first impression.

they want photo editing, flash animation support - but this two not reflect a professional impression xara must be only a vectorial design software not a all in one software. With the samples in flash animation xara looks poor, it´s better without this for me.

they not have to research, they have to take a look how adobe do it, becnhmarking it´s good.

[ss-kalm]

......... xara must be only a vectorial design software not a all in one software.

I must disagree (although I'm not a professional) but to my mind a really good all in one graphic design programme (regardless of bitmap or vector) that will produce output - and really the final output is all that matters - for the web, print or any other medium that you like has to be good.

Most of us switch between applications to achieve what we want, and "sometimes" they don't play nice with each other. The less I have to switch between different applications the better.

[Josè Campoy.]

I must disagree (although I'm not a professional) but to my mind a really good all in one graphic design programme (regardless of bitmap or vector) that will produce output - and really the final output is all that matters - for the web, print or any other medium that you like has to be good.

Most of us switch between applications to achieve what we want, and "sometimes" they don't play nice with each other. The less I have to switch between different applications the better.

Yes, but is better to swith into different aplications somethimes, for example, you are making a magazine, you nedd to have a tempate for the pages, with bleed kerling special page measures, etc. you can´t edit the photos with xxp, ok maybe you can but is better and easy in photoshop, and you need some vectorials illustrations and logos, and you compose the magazine with indesing for example, at the end you need to import everythign to indesing, the asp and the ai tiff or eps files.
i mean professional and big projects

thats the point for example, animation flash, photos photoshop magaznes quark xpress, vector illustrator(most commun but no so good as xara is)

xara xtreme has flash animation, and photo editting, in my point of view they shold be focus into vectors, because they are so far the best in performance productivity and on screen quiality.


So for a professioanl designer tis i´ts not so important in xara, but they may be surprised working with vectors. illustrator and corel are just a waste of resources and disk space when are compared wit xtreme.


i don´t need to change between aplications to have good results i make everithing in xara, but not all people can, and they learn flahs in the schools for animation for example, they not see the xara flash export as good, they have al the technical issues for a newspaper in the indesign or quark, and they always learn photoshop.

This is my point of view, everyone have their own vision.
at the end charles have the last decision (he is the expert).

[Rhanna]

Some humour.... from all the comments on X4 both positive and negative.
You would need a truck the size of the attachment to carry the load of all the demands and to produce all the wish list components.
Thanks to the Xara team for a product I can afford and get hours of enjoyment with my limited artistic skills. It is greatly appreciated.
Rupert