Latest Xara Pro+ Release - version 21.7 - 17 February 2022

Xara has released XPro+v21.7.

Its credentials are:

• Xara Designer Pro+ 21.7.0.63833 SL x64 Feb 17 2022.
• Xara HTML filter v.9.8.0.29.
• PDF Producer: (Xara.com) PDF export 9,5,0,46.

Its release Notes are: http://releasenotes.xara.hosting/designer-pro-plus/

The good news for web developers is there are lots of SVG improvements.
The bad new for graphic designers is there are lots of SVG improvements.

I have put the Thread in this forum as the other flagged change is for vector illustration with an Alt key constraint for when dragging curve handles with the Shape Tool. In trying it, I've found it affords better control.

I shall make one observation around the "Other improvements and Fixes" section.

Quote:

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Resize of photo filled shape changed shape to rectangle. Fixed.

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I would have thought the same difficulty in fitting Text Inside onto a Curved Corners box might have been sorted.

Xara has extended the SVG capability to better handle transparency (mix & multiply) and graduated fills.
Wall Shadows are now SVG and not images.

By far the best changes are probably hidden to you.
The CSS files Xara generates have had the proprietary prefixes removed as modern browsers are wll capable of the latest stylings.
Render blocking has been reduced and unneeded JS scripts dropped.
Xara estimates a 15% speed improvement for mobile rendering.
I am excited as I have been drumbeating on such matters for aeons. We'll see but thank you Xara for listening.

As will all releases there will be Bugs so be patient and try and document what is off.
My gut tells me that defaulting Shapes as SVGs to On is a risk as when it has been done before lots of things broke.

So XPro+ now has SVG rendering as well as WeBP replacing JPEG & PNG. Together these should combine into smaller, crisper and faster websites.

Acorn

The Alt constraint for lines drawn with the Shape Tool appears to be limited to 90 degrees. Is this correct?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

The Alt constraint for lines drawn with the Shape Tool appears to be limited to 90 degrees. Is this correct?

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Gary, yes.

Draw a curved line with a number of Nodes.
Select a node and you get control handles.
Hold down the Alt Key and drag a control handle; it only moves it the original direction or orthagonal to that (90⁰).
If you select a Node and drag it along and release the control handles have staying in the same orientation or at right angles.

Acorn

@Xara, I have raise about 8 Bugs for this release: https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...Pro-V21-7-Bugs.

What I didn't mention was Mouse-over effects have been lost as you fail to reference ani.css until the design includes a Reveal!
This along will trash many websites.

Happy to be proved wrong.

Create a Blob.
In Web Animation, add a Wobble Mouse-over effect.
Preview.

ani.css is in index_htm_files but is not called/loaded:

Code:

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<link rel="preload" href="index_htm_files/xr_fonts.css" as="style" onload="this.onload = null; this.rel = 'stylesheet'" />
 <script><!--
 if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE')!=-1 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Trident')!=-1){ document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_fontsie.css"/>');}
--></script>
 <script>document.documentElement.className="xr_bgh0";</script>
 <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_main.css"/>
 <link rel="preload" href="index_htm_files/xr_text.css" as="style" onload="this.onload = null; this.rel = 'stylesheet'" />
 <script src="index_htm_files/roe.js"></script>

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I am afraid only you have the wobble, we don't.

Acorn

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UPDATE
Seems you did all this for XDPXv18.0, affecting everyone?

Quote:

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Draw a curved line with a number of Nodes.
Select a node and you get control handles.
Hold down the Alt Key and drag a control handle; it only moves it the original direction or orthagonal to that (90⁰).
If you select a Node and drag it along and release the control handles have staying in the same orientation or at right angles.

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Why would I want to do this? I understand what you are saying but I am not clear on how I would use this feature? I have always felt selecting a handle and then being able to move the handle with the arrow keys, plus using Alt and Shift Ctrl to constrain the distance to would be useful. But just not sure how I would use this feature.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

Why would I want to do this? I understand what you are saying but I am not clear on how I would use this feature? I have always felt selecting a handle and then being able to move the handle with the arrow keys, plus using Alt and Shift Ctrl to constrain the distance to would be useful. But just not sure how I would use this feature.

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Gary, I have no involvement with what and how Xara delivers functionality so you will have to ask it.

From my limited play, I can see a use for Shift+Alt+Drag as it balances and makes the control handles the same distance, all along the same axis.



Acorn

I doubt if this is the proper place to report. Here goes anyway.
I was not able to automatically update some error on not being able to delete some 64xxx.dll, my screen capture didn't work, I tried twice. I ended up logging into cloud to get the download separately.
Full re-install went fine and update worked without issue.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ojibwe

I doubt if this is the proper place to report. Here goes anyway.
I was not able to automatically update some error on not being able to delete some 64xxx.dll, my screen capture didn't work, I tried twice. I ended up logging into cloud to get the download separately.
Full re-install went fine and update worked without issue.

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ojibwe, as good a place as any. Thanks. Knowing about end-user problems must help the developers.

I did not get an automatic update, I had to use Help > Check for updates.
What I then did was close the open program. All worked fine.

I'm glad, you thought out of the box to accessing the full download.
I would assume the Patch keeps user configurations, I am almost sure the Full wouldn't.
Did you notice?

Acorn

I didn't get an automatic update & used the path Acorn did.

Quote:

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I had to use Help > Check for updates.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

ojibwe, as good a place as any. Thanks. Knowing about end-user problems must help the developers.

I did not get an automatic update, I had to use Help > Check for updates.
What I then did was close the open program. All worked fine.

I'm glad, you thought out of the box to accessing the full download.
I would assume the Patch keeps user configurations, I am almost sure the Full wouldn't.
Did you notice?

Acorn

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I was working from a fresh install only a week or two old. I'm not enough of a power user to customize much of my settings.
While I love the functionality of both desktop and cloud I am often confused which to utilize to get what I need done and sometimes have to flip flop.
Xara maybe more than I need for print publishing, and it seriously lags in the simplicity, variety of designs, and easy customization of Canva.com for making SM posts.
I do love the instant web share of Xara Cloud and having analytics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ojibwe

I was working from a fresh install only a week or two old.

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Me either seems like I've become stupid in my old age

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ojibwe

I was working from a fresh install only a week or two old. I'm not enough of a power user to customize much of my settings.
While I love the functionality of both desktop and cloud I am often confused which to utilize to get what I need done and sometimes have to flip flop.
Xara maybe more than I need for print publishing, and it seriously lags in the simplicity, variety of designs, and easy customization of Canva.com for making SM posts.
I do love the instant web share of Xara Cloud and having analytics.

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I have many that use Canva and I’ve been asked to design for SM many times. You’ll find for newsletters Xara has everything you’ll need. I’ll have to explore Cloud more in Pro+. I was under the impression that the Cloud version had ready made templates for SM posts. The catalogue in Xara certainly does. There’s probably something in the catalogue that will help in your social posting.
- Bill