Which other brand graphic design software do you use and why?

And how does it compare with Xara?

I'm not going to be much help. I use Photoshop. Basically to convert a Xara black and white image to grayscale.

I am too old and too lazy to invest the time to learn a new program and Xara does just about everything I need it to do. Not always the way I would like it to. But it does it.

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Originally Posted by Mcffee

And how does it compare with Xara?

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It's really difficult to answer that question. Xara is a one-stop-shop app that does a lot of things, while rivals tend to specialise in one thing and try and do it well.

I don't rely on one software program and have multiple programs to what I need. On a single feature they can compete well against Xara, but in terms of the range of things that Xara does they would fall down.

Some of my favourite software is simple and lacks a lot of features, but that's what makes it good - it is focussed to a single task rather than trying to do everything. I use that software to design user-interfaces, it has limited functionality compared with Xara but that makes it a joy to use. It would be far less suitable if you wanted to draw realistic organic artwork, doesn't do animation, doesn't do websites, etc.

All I'm saying is don't evaluate software by bullet-point features and don't think that more is always better. Even with limited features, my UI-creation software can beat Xara hands-down at some things.

No point in naming it - it runs on a Mac.

For a one-stop-shop Xara performs very well. It all depends on how important that approach is to you because often dedicated software can be better (definitely different).

Here's one feature that is completely missing from Xara and is supported by my UI software and Adobe Illustrator - artboards.

It essentially allows you to have project files and within that multiple artboards for individual artwork. You can build variations of artwork easily by duplicating artboards and you can see everything as though it was laid out on a single sheet.

Xara users don't work like this and many might argue what the value of this kind of working is when essentially the project file is like a Xara directory and artboards are like files in the directory.

If you are building a lot of related items that will be used in multiple images it's a superb way to work. You can copy and paste from one part to another, easily. If you don't wish to you can use the software like Xara and have no artboards at all.

The embedded image was reduced to 3% so I could capture it. All vector.

A big thumbs-up for artboards.

Attachment 125401

I don't think you can compare

you have a task - you choose the best set of tools to do that job

until you have a specific task, you cannot so choose

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

I'm not going to be much help. I use Photoshop. Basically to convert a Xara black and white image to grayscale.

I am too old and too lazy to invest the time to learn a new program and Xara does just about everything I need it to do. Not always the way I would like it to. But it does it.

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I use PaintShop Pro (have been a beta tester for Corel for 14 years, but have stopped now.
I use PSP and Xara side by side, the one does things a lot better / easier than the other.
If only I could combine the two programs into one.. yeah, dream on Joëlle ..

I stopped upgrading Xara at X9, and still use it on ongoing annual projects. However, I did get Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher and have used them recently on a project, feeding Photo into Designer into Publisher, and have been very impressed.

I like the idea of Sprite Sheets (Art boards?) they save multiple image requests & downloads. One file can serve up all.

artboards can be very useful for organising work

so can nested layers - also completely missing from xara - nested groups are not the same thing because they alter the construct of the objects

I hadn't come across artboards before, although I've probably done something similar in the past using a large page. A nice concept, and I see that Affinity Designer has artboards. Something to try out in future.

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Originally Posted by handrawn

artboards can be very useful for organising work

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Definitely. In my posted example there are close on 70 artboards in the one file. It's super useful organising them visually and in the one project file.

HI,

-Photoshop for bitmap editing, it's so nice to have this option of an external editor in Xara.

-Illustrator for mesh warp, line distortion, astute phantasm plugin, client demands and pains in the neck :).

-Moi3d for more technical graphics - Like Xara it's the most no nonsense and productive option I've found.

Marc

I'm no graphics wiz but I started using Affinity Designer. I have been getting into animation lately and AD integrates into the animation software workflow, whereas XDP doesn't.

AD had a steep learning curve for me but it's an excellent program. Still, there are some surprising omissions from its feature set.

I still use XDP as well. Some things are easier and faster in XDP.

= Steve

well graphic design covers a wide range of possibility - everything put together is designed more or less, and if it's for art, it's a graphic

I've just switched over [from SAI2] to PS CC for drawing line art with the cintiq pro - if this is for animation then I can import it into Harmony which will vectorise it, and then I can colour it in that program - if it's not for animation it does not ususally need to be vector and I would PSD it into SAI2 and do the colouring there as it is a lot more straight forward to do flats/highlights/shades in that program; and then back to PS if it needs any plugin effects - if it did need to be vector I would use inkscape for vectorising the lineart [because you cannot export vector from Harmony]

I still use xara for vector asset when that is easier to put together in an external program, but to be honest this is tailing off

Personally I would prefer Illustrator CC to Affinity Designer, but unless the asset takes off again in a big way i could not justify the cost, xara designer is adequate as things stand for vectors - for raster affinity photo I really like a lot, but now i have PS I am unlikely to use it so much

as I said in a thread oh about 18 months ago, if you work with others and they use PS/Illy, then it is often cutting your nose off to spite your face if you dig in and refuse to sync for the sake of saving a few quid a month

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Originally Posted by handrawn

if you work with others and they use PS/Illy, then it is often cutting your nose off to spite your face if you dig in and refuse to sync for the sake of saving a few quid a month

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That's what has kept Adobe alive for so long - total market dominance when working in teams. It's why I have had an Adobe suite licence for years - interworking with clients.

It's not just about saving a few quid - if you have distributed/corporate clients and they are working with Adobe assets then we have to do the same or they go elsewhere.

So far I have avoided renewing my Adobe licence for close on one year. The adobe market grip is strong, but it is loosening.

i can justify the cost of the photoshop £10 a month photography package - ironic as i am not a photographer and have not even installed lightroom - but the brushes and the plugins save one heck of a lot of time for me, worth it - it is simply that the program works quickly and without hassle, giving the best results for what i do

yes, i dont have clients in that sense but you are right; with me it is sync with the one ongoing project, have to make sure the PSDs that are ported are fully PS CC compatible

I still use CorelDraw 12 on my Win7 PC which also runs Xara DPX365. Xara is a good one stop shop for quick, simple diagrams and for undemanding bitmap edits. Xara's bitmap healing tool is very good.

CorelDraw 12 is best for editing my more complex designs which would be too much work to take across to XDP. CorelDraw also has more logical (to me) vector handling and many more format import/export capabilities than Xara. I'm getting more experienced with XDP as time passes though.

For fancier bitmap edits I use Affinity Photo or PaintShop Pro in concert with CameraBag Pro. I love CameraBag Pro's adjustments - nothing else comes close. Just brilliant - fun and useable.

It's a shame that Xara has not updated their old, old, old live bitmap filters for a very long time, nor have annoying niggles like the white outline you get after some edits been fixed. I really dislike the live filters and their fragmented interface, which is very old hat, convoluted to use and feels like you're using old versions of external programs loosely patched into XDP.

Well knowing I won't upgrade past Xara Designer Pro x11, it is still my go to design software for all my professional mapping, and some of my page layout - I do use InDesign for major page layout projects, because the printer/publishers I work with demand it. I am using Wings 3D and Vue Creator for all my 3D work right now, which get's incorporated with my Xara work. But consider I've had Xara since XaraX1, and previous to that I was using Micrografx Designer, which Xara essentially replaced for me, since Corel bought out Micrografx then put it in the trash bin. I see no reason to use anything but Xara as my primary graphics program.

Krita for ... just open a picture and press "w" which i could have this in xara...
Inkscape for vectorize bitmaps. (made in krita)
Adobe PS and LR.

I use Paint Shop Pro for bitmap stuff, and PagePlus for layout of anything I can't do in Xara due to size of other constraints.

I've recently gotten into Wonderdraw for maps, though I find myself using it mainly for landmasses and water, and then exporting the resulting image into Xara for use as a background, over which I'll draw buildings and landmarks.

-- Ben

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Originally Posted by stevegill

I'm no graphics wiz but I started using Affinity Designer. I have been getting into animation lately and AD integrates into the animation software workflow, whereas XDP doesn't.

AD had a steep learning curve for me but it's an excellent program. Still, there are some surprising omissions from its feature set.

I still use XDP as well. Some things are easier and faster in XDP.

= Steve

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@stevegill

I just recalled this and wanted ask about the animation software workflow. You say that "AD integrates into the animation software workflow, whereas XDP doesn't" however, Xara has animation and integration with Magix video products. What does AD with respect to animation that cannot be done with Xara animation?

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Originally Posted by chadramaulidave

I generally use photoshop as it is easy to use and that can save time. Now, I am looking for a tool from Xara.

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Do tell how you are getting on with Xara Cloud.

Acorn