4 Attachment(s)
Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
Date: 8th October 2020
Version Number: 20.4.0.60286
Article here: [will update shortly]
Release notes: http://releasenotes.xara.hosting/designer-pro-plus/
What's New
Selection UI
Improved Rotation Center Handling
By default when you rotate an object, the origin of the rotation is the object’s centre point. But you can move this origin to rotate any objects around a common origin point. First turn on visibility of the rotate centre by pressing the toggle button on the Selector Tool infobar Attachment 128042
Attachment 128043
Now you can drag on the center point handle to move it anywhere on the page. For example if you move it to the center of the page, then when you rotate the rectangle or any other objects, they will all rotate around the center of the page. Unlike in earlier versions of Designer, the visibility and position of the center handle is now maintained until you press the button again to turn visibility off. You can change selection, switch to and from other tools and even switch to different pages and the rotation handle keeps its position. To revert to normal, where objects rotate around their own centers, just turn visibility off again
Selection box offsets on small objects
When you are zoomed out in Selector Tool, or have very small objects in your design, the selected object may be very small on screen so there is very little space for Designer to show the selection box with its handles. So now in such cases you will notice that Designer shows a larger selection box around the object, so it’s easier to work on it without having to zoom in.
Attachment 128044
New QuickShape handles
Attachment 128045
QuickShape Tool selection handles have been updated to match the new Selector Tool handle style
PDF Import Improvements
Many fixes and improvements to import of PDF documents, including:
- Fixed wrong fill colors on some shapes.
- Fixed CMYK image imported inverted.
- Fixed links to next/previous page not imported.
Also some improvements to the export of imported PDF documents to web:
- Fixed wrong font weights on some text in web export.
- Fixed narrow lines invisible in web export.
- Fixed dropped capitals wrong positioned.
- Fixed some embedded fonts failed to be exported to web.
- Fixed text with outlines now export to web correctly.
- Fixed image resolution now better in web export
Other Fixes/Improvements
- Fixed spurious internal error when inserting footer components
- Fixed selection indicator blobs lost.
- Fixed serious error exporting document to PSD.
- Fixed smallCaps corruption during edit inside.
- Pasteboard range limit removed so objects dropped a long way from the page don’t jump from the drop position.
- Chevron SmartShapes now support click on + handle to add, as well as drag.
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
The locking of the Rotation Centre is very useful - thank you.
The correction to the new selection box is better. If I have a horizontal line the box is keeps its height locked to the Zoom between ~80% and ~2500%. Outside of these values, it increases.
The removal of the Pasteboard limit is useful.
Quick question.
What is happening about the PDF Help Manual?
Thanks,
Acorn
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
+1 to the RC locking, thanks Rob
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
Nice, I also like the sound of "Pasteboard range limit removed so objects dropped a long way from the page don’t jump from the drop position." - That used to bug me when it happened.
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
PDF manual is in the works. Currently it's a total pain in the ass to produce due to the ancient system used to store our help and export to various formats (including the F1 help system), and is somewhat time consuming. I'm looking to replace this system with a more modern one with far better capabilities, which will mean producing PDF manuals with a single click. It's high up on my projects list (although even if it does get approved, would still be weeks or months while I transfer everything over).
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rob-Xar
PDF manual is in the works. Currently it's a total pain in the ass to produce due to the ancient system used to store our help and export to various formats (including the F1 help system), and is somewhat time consuming. I'm looking to replace this system with a more modern one with far better capabilities, which will mean producing PDF manuals with a single click. It's high up on my projects list (although even if it does get approved, would still be weeks or months while I transfer everything over).
Rob, I do hear that Xara Cloud has a PDF download button (!)
Joking aside, the F1 Help CHM file, the integration of the XDA back into the CHM and the PDF file must be a right pain.
Acorn
Re: Xara Designer Pro+ Update 20.4.0.60286
Is there any way to turn off this "improved" angle of rotation feature?
I find it really counterproductive.
Developers must take into account that long time users have developed a way of working with objects and this completely disrupts my workflow. For example, if I duplicate an object, I have no way of knowing where it will pop up. And this is just one example. IMHO it was so much better the old way.