Do you find the Live Effects Tool in Xtreme useful?

[Xhris]

I find them extremely useful but I think they should be better known...

Yeah, I'd agree with this. The first party LEs by Xara themselves (e.g. bump map, enhance, levels etc) are very slick. I wrote a bumpmapping tutorial because the light shining ability is very good and underrated. It's on my signature and so I don't think it could be advertised anymore obviously.

[sallybode]

I think it is good they are there and since being able to edit is such a timesaver, if I need to use a special effect I am going to choose to use Xara over another program because of being able to edit it again.

I have used Xara for things I only used to use a pixel editor for and have good results.

It is fun to play with Xara and every time there has been an upgrade, I have bought it. I don't mind supporting Xara's quest for the perfect illustration program.

It's just a good idea. Other good ideas are indoor plumbing. I don't use it continuously, but I don't want it taken away either. If I get bogged down and don't know what to do, they inpsire me.

Yes, it is important for the artist to know how to create the effects in more traditional means. If you have a job deadline and it is important to give the greatest quality in the least amount of time, then that is important. I guess it is a trade off between making things too complex and having a user say, "This is not for me". They are tucked away and you only have to look at them when you want them anyway. I am glad they are there and do take the time to set them up when I install a new version of Xara. If I didn't think it was useful, I wouldn't bother. I have acquired over the years lots of plugins. And only use a few of them that I have found are really useful, so I don't install all of them, just the ones I have use for.

[jiva]

I'm still very much a novice user of Xara Xtreme (Pro latest upgrade / download) - I've always bought the new versions / upgrades etc, but am still only scratching the surface with what can be done [I'm a very slow learner!].

Until such time as I can master more of Xtreme I occasionally 'play' with the Live Effects Plugins for fun rather than serious usage.

[DAL]

It's nice but I find some effects don't apply correctly when I use them through Xtreme as they do with psp.

[Gilles C]

Nah... every time I try a plug-in, it doesn't do what I want, or it's too "extreme".

And I hate demos. I don't like to see something I could do only if I buy the plug-in, because I never buy any.