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Xara Xtreme Pro announced
I'd like to announce the forthcoming release of a new version of Xara Xtreme, called Xara Xtreme Pro. Aimed at the more professional or advanced user, this release broadens the capabilities of Xara Xtreme into completely new areas.
These are the key features;
• Flash animation
• Multi-page support
• Enhanced Text tool
• Photoshop PSD import and export
• PDF/X support and many PDF export improvements
• Color Separations
• Pantone spot and process colors
• Levels control for XPE
• Short-cut key configuration utility
• A host of other smaller fixes and enhancements (listed in another post)
You can find out more about these features here http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/whatsnewpro.asp
Xara Xtreme Pro is NOT available yet - this is an early announcement to the TalkGraphics Forum of our intentions. We expect it to be available for purchase within a few weeks.
Xara Xtreme Pro will be priced at $199 + tax and shipping. Xara Xtreme owners will be able to upgrade for $120 - the difference in price between the two versions.
Xara Xtreme will continue to be sold alongside Xara Xtreme Pro - so the product line now has two versions. The low cost 'consumer' version that's proven to be so successful, and now a more up-market Pro version.
Finally, as is traditional we are making a beta preview release available for download for TalkGraphics users. This is a time limited, but fully functional 30-day trial version. Be aware this is a Beta version and not a final version - so we hope you will test it and report any problems you find. You can download it from http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/whatsnewpro.asp
Xara Xtreme Pro can be installed alongside Xara Xtreme - the two can live side-by-side.
The feature set for this release of Xara Xtreme Pro is now fixed. That does not of course mean there will never be any updates, just that for this release we expect only to fix bugs. So please report them to us here on the forum. In particular any area that generates unexpected errors or crashes - we want to know about it. You guys can help us make this a solid, stable and reliable release - that's why we're making this Beta available.
I'm sure this set of improvements will delight some, hopefully many. But there will always be people whose favourite feature request has not been implemented - we can't satisfy everyone, all the time!
But we continue to monitor TG discussions for feature requests of course, and will continue to develop both Xara Xtreme and Xara Xtreme Pro into the future.
Finally - if you like the new logo and splash screen design (as everyone who has seen it does) you have to thank Miro, known as Minimiro on TalkGraphics. A much more slick and professional design, as suits this new release. He does some great work.
Charles
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
You Will Have My Money By The End Of The Day!!!
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Impressive, looks like xtreme is getting ready to take on the 'big boys', congrats on the improvments.
Still needs an actions palette though.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Woo Hoo! Looks great!................I guess I'll get the beta until it is released.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
woohoo.. new toy!
Installing it now. This is very much the direction I'd like to see Xara going (as if you are all on pins and needles to see what Joe thinks). While this won't be what everyone wants or needs it certainly seems to make Xara a much more complete solution.
I will most certainly be upgrading.
J
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Charles Moir
• Flash animation
Do you mean like timeline control?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Charles Moir
• Multi-page support
• Enhanced Text tool
• Pantone spot and process colors
• Levels control for XPE
• Short-cut key configuration utility
• A host of other smaller fixes and enhancements (listed in another post)
Multi-page and enhanced text sounds good, but will it support a better layout and Middle Eastern writing (right to left)? Otherwise this is a too high price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Charles Moir
Xara Xtreme Pro will be priced at $199 + tax and shipping.
Now this is not fair :( It's expensive! That's more than 250$ for me!
I thought the whole advantage of Xara was a small nifty and cheap product, 250$ (maybe even more) is more or less like Adobe packages.
Maybe it's just me whinning for nothing and maybe I will change my mind after seeing the actualy product, but the price stings my pocket! Can't we be little more reasonable here? Please? :o
EDIT: Forgot to mention that buying additional plug-ins cost additional money, so if you take away the speed of Xara, it's price will be as much as Adobe Illustrator's.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Exciting stuff, Charles! You'll be getting my $120.
.joroho.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
"Installing it now." ???
:eek:
edit: I was do discombobulated, all the words started mushing into each other when I was reading... I guess it's like a temporary blackout...
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Thanks Charles (and the rest of the team),
that'll put a smile on a lot of faces! Excellent news.
The download is already running.
All the best, Albert
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Availor
Do you mean like timeline control?
Multi-page and enhanced text sounds good, but will it support a better layout and Middle Eastern writing (right to left)? Otherwise this is a too high price.
Now this is not fair :( It's expensive! That's more than 250$ for me!
I thought the whole advantage of Xara was a small nifty and cheap product, 250$ (maybe even more) is more or less like Adobe packages.
Maybe it's just me whinning for nothing and maybe I will change my mind after seeing the actualy product, but the price stings my pocket! Can't we be little more reasonable here? Please? :o
EDIT: Forgot to mention that buying additional plug-ins cost additional money, so if you take away the speed of Xara, it's price will be as much as Adobe Illustrator's.
LOL I think it still has a long way to go to be anywhere near to the price of AI. Show me where I can buy AI for $250 legitimately..
Availor, this isn't a 'must buy' product - I think Xtreme will continue to be available. As in all things, if the extra features aren't worthwhile in your workflow, then don't buy it!
It's a smart move and a good price point, I think.
Paul
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Just one word 'WOW'
Christine
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
It IS my Birthday!!!! A step in the right direction and hopefully the first of many. (leading to a graceful Tango around the opposition)
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
CONGRATULATIONS XARA !!! (and Squaeky) :D :) :D :) :D
I downloaded the beta and gonna play with it tomorrow...
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Christine Farrelly
Just one word 'WOW'
Christine
Don't you mean
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
So far it's great. I really like the mulitpage feature. The text overflow is a god send, and so far the improvements to pdf and swf export seem to be working great! I'm in the middle of a flash icon project so this has already come in handy, especially the incompatability notices that come up makes it so fixing any issue is really quick.
My only negative so far is, who ever came up with the name 'Xortcut'. Good lord what were you thinking? :P
Seriously, I am a bit disappointed that there aren't any improvements to any drawing tools. One more little toy to play with. One more item that would end up showing up in gallery submissions over the next few weeks... Most of the improvements are workflow issues that will greatly impact users on a day to day basis, just not too much on the actual product itself. Not a gripe, just a mild grumble.
All in all, great job Xara. I hope this helps fuel the ongoing and quick advancement of the product.
J
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
My only negative so far is, who ever came up with the name 'Xortcut'.
not us actually. Xortcuts is a utility that was created and donated to us from Rubem, as a result of a thread of TG forum some months ago about short-cuts. It's his code and product really - we just told him what the config files were to modify the short-cut sttings.
I think even Rubem agrees it's not the perfect tool, but on the other hand a LOT of people have asked to be able to configure short-cuts and so it is a very useful utility - and Rubem very kindly let us include it.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Oh agreed. I think it's a great addition to have and very kind of Rubem to allow it to be included. I just couldn't let the name pass with out a quick jab.
Great job on the release Charles. Take the team out for a pint. They deserve it.
J
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Hi Joe.
What a coincidence. Me too.
A bit disappointed that the new flash 8 output opened in Flash 8 doesn't recognise curved but caps as it says it should. In all probability a Flash 8 problem rather than Xara.
Charles - Very nice to have the extra options on export (Page/selection/drawing) many thanks!
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Initial reactions: fast d'load & fast, clean install.
First tested out new animation features ... noticed the frame gallery is reversed, this seems to me to be illogical for now hidden background frames are on top instead of underneath the other frames .. I'll get used to it .. wondering why this is so, though.
Noticed also the frame display times have changed ,,, that also will take some getting used to. Prefer things as they were in both the above respects but I guess that is just what I am used to.
Still on my wish list: facility to add sound tracks/clips to Flash files (mebbe next year?) and a button to reverse frame sequence (yesterday would be good timing)
That's it - welll done everyone.
The test animation worked okay and now I'm bouncing with Joy.
Er ... meet Joy:
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
That is funny - I hope people won't be offended :)
Quote:
noticed the frame gallery is reversed, this seems to me to be illogical
Yep it might seem illogical to existing users, but to new users one of the first bits of feedback got was 'why do our animations proceed from the bottom up' And actually that's rather more illogical. The only reason it was bottom up is becuase frames are sort of fake layers, but when creating animations layers don't really come into it, much. So we thought it would be a lot more intuitive to new users that animation frames proceed top down.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Great news!! Downloading the Beta now!
Thanks Charles and the entire staff.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Intbel
The test animation worked okay and now I'm bouncing with Joy.
Er ... meet Joy:
Nice to meet both of you. :p
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Charles Moir
That is funny - I hope people won't be offended :)
Yep it might seem illogical to existing users, but to new users one of the first bits of feedback got was 'why do our animations proceed from the bottom up' And actually that's rather more illogical. The only reason it was bottom up is becuase frames are sort of fake layers, but when creating animations layers don't really come into it, much. So we thought it would be a lot more intuitive to new users that animation frames proceed top down.
IMO it might have been better to simply give users the option with a little arrow button as we have with some other featurettes.
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I don't normaly get excited as I had my enthusiasm taken out when younger, but the improvements to text handling are worth the upgrade price alone. I've yet to explore the other goodies but its great so far.
Derek
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Big Frank
IMO it might have been better to simply give users the option with a little arrow button as we have with some other featurettes.
Hmmm ... when I make an anim, I make a frame, then another on top of that, then another on top of that ... so having the first frame on top does not seem logical to me.
However, if it was good enough for Walt Disney, who am I to complain?
Now, about that reverse button ... that is a long-time request and not just a frivolrous extra - sometimes one makes an animation by starting at the end and working backwards ...
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Just saw the notice of the new release, downloaded and installed and am ready to roll! This is terrific! The BEST just keeps getting BETTER! Hats off to Charles and the team for continuing to strive for excellence!
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Just a little comment about the linked text boxes:
You can only see the inter-box link when boxes have overflowing text.
The omission of underlined text is going to be more obvious with text that flows.
Just minor gripes..
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Great news!
I'll check it out when I get more time :)
But the added animation feature is definately a major reason for me to finally upgrade from X1. I just gotta check it out
Will Xtreme Pro also be available as an educational version like it's always been with its predecessors?
Might I also ask in which future version(s) we can expect svg export? (Just Pro, or also in the regular version?)
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Availor
Now this is not fair :( It's expensive! That's more than 250$ for me!
I thought the whole advantage of Xara was a small nifty and cheap product, 250$ (maybe even more) is more or less like Adobe packages.
Maybe it's just me whinning for nothing and maybe I will change my mind after seeing the actualy product, but the price stings my pocket! Can't we be little more reasonable here? Please? :o
The price you quoted is the full price. Don't you qualify for the $120 upgrade for current Xtreme owners?
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
I just tried downloading the beta and its executable asks if I want to run it, then nothing happens? Anyone else have this problem? I have no problem with Xara Extreme.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Hi everybody,
I just read the announcement and I am happy to see that Xara ist still alive and kicking.
Multi-Document support and the improved text-tool are the features that *almost* make me want to buy Pro right away.
But two other "features" would be far more important for me:
1) Can the new Version OPEN .eps Files, generated by Illustrator ???
The current version can't do this, at least the dozens of logos I got in the past never opened in X, X1, Xtreme, whatever. I always had to go over CorelDraw and I am tired of this.
2) Can it only write PDF or can it finally also OPEN them ?? I mean by keeping vectors and all? Same like above.
I do not want to install the Beta right now, could Charles or anybody please try and confirm that those two things are possible now ???
If yes, please reserve my copy ;-)
Thanks for your help.
Wolfgang
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Doug
The price you quoted is the full price. Don't you qualify for the $120 upgrade for current Xtreme owners?
Indeed, but if you calculate the whole price then you'll get even more price.
Don't forget that you've already paid the previous price of Xara X and Xara Xtreme.
Xara Xtreme pro, with plug-ins (to compare it to Adobe Illustrator) will cost about 400$. The calcualtion is:
150$ worth plug ins (which I did not buy but I did insert that in the calculation because AI has filters), and the original Xara Xtreme Pro.
Paul: Yes I know nobody twists my arm to buy the product, but it's a general feeling. You and me we both know that I want it, like a toy I must have. I won't feel happy enough if I dont have the latest version of my favorite app. You probably know the feeling. I was complaining because the whole Xara (Xtreme or X) costs less than 80$, and the difference between Xara Pro and the inital products costs 120$. So if you use simple math: 1 product for 80$, or an upgrade for 120$. Doesn't sound fair enough for me, sorry.
I don't feel the upgrades are 120$ worth of paying. It's not a totally different
I will probably buy it eventually, but I will still feel it's too much. That's the nasty feeling I get when a product I like is becoming more expensive only because they know that people will buy it anyway.
Just my personal thought.
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Wow! Intbel , I think the file you posted here might be inappropriate , dont you think? This is a family type place , maybe you need to remove the file.
Grace
I saved the executable to my hard disk and then ran it. It worked fine that way.
Availor,
you will just have to get your priorites straight. Do you want to take girls out on dates or have your new copy of Xtreme Pro ? :D
It's either that or work more hours. I think that is a fair price for this program.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Hi Wolfgang,
The attached is a list of the import options, but being a Beta they may add others before the final release.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Availor
Now this is not fair :( It's expensive! That's more than 250$ for me!
I thought the whole advantage of Xara was a small nifty and cheap product, 250$ (maybe even more) is more or less like Adobe packages.
When we had Xara X1 it was too pricey with features that the average user wouldn't use, but lacking some professional features for professionals to take it seriously. It fell between the two. So this is why we have two versions now, to keep two types of customer happy.
Xtreme will carry on being a low price. But Xtreme Pro will offer features such as the imagesetting and PDF/X. People who need these features will generally be professionals who need it for their work and it will be a small investment for them to be more productive.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Soquili
The attached is a list of the import options, but being a Beta they may add others before the final release.
Hi Bill,
fast and helpful as ever ...
First off, I don't see PDF on you list. But my eyes are not the best anymore ;-)
Second, .eps as an option is already found in current versions as well. Only it does not, or very rarely work.
I try to attach an .eps an a .pdf. Could you please try opening it with Pro and tell me if it worked ??
Thanks
Wolfgang
P.S.: I enclose these files (two logos) for the sake of testing. Please don't use them otherwise.
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
Sorry to report that Xara Xtreme Pro was unable to open either of those files.
The EPS file reported that it is a renderable eps file and not designed to be edited in Xara Xtreme Pro.
The pdf file reported no filters for that type of file were found.
EDIT: The EPS file can be opened with Xtreme PRO Select the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 import filter manually. Relying on the All Files to auto select the correct filter did not work.
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I got the eps opened in Xara... at least partially. It opened two words "wellness systeme" and that's all. No idea what the entire file consisted of. The PDF would not open.
J
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Re: Xara Xtreme Pro announced
As I've said before in these forums, if Xara makes it, I will buy it.
I'm downloading the beta as we speak, and signed up for the e-mail notification of the actual release.
If there is a way to pre-order, I'll do that, too!
In the US we are just getting ready for Thanksgiving, and this looks like something to be truly thankful for.
I'm excited! :D
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Will