How about a Vector application?

**ShapeShifter** · 12 July 2011, 12:36 AM

Magic Snapping -- Live Copies -- Edit inside grouped objects to name but three very useful additions to a vector illustrators workflow.

**Soquili** · 12 July 2011, 12:53 AM

Magic snapping and Edit inside I will agree with.

Still have not found a use for the Live copies yet.

**PhilM** · 12 July 2011, 08:05 AM

Hi Bill,

We aim to make the overall performance of every version of the program at least as good as, and better than, previous versions. Some new features will require more work to be done in some places and to compensate for that improvements have to be found elsewhere. So the balance is always shifting. If you or anyone reading this has an example where performance or responsiveness of the program appears to be worse then please tell us by posting to an appropriate forum or submitting a support ticket. We want to know about issues like this!

Thanks for posting this example, we'll have a look at exactly what's going on. As "Mr Shifter" said it's almost a worst case for any drawing program because it's a flat list of thousands of objects. That's not an excuse, just an observation! We do our best to handle difficult cases like this.

On a practical note: You could help the program by using Groups and Layers. The program then has fewer, larger "chunks" to deal with rather than thousands of individual objects. (Make sure caching is enabled.)

Phil

**Soquili** · 12 July 2011, 01:37 PM

Hi Phil,

Initially the drawing was made on 28 layers and had many groups. Unfortunately I decided to use clipview to crop the objects along the bottom of the drawing and everything was moved to one layer. When I finally noticed that the other layers were in fact empty I deleted them. I also ungrouped the groups and a few moulds when I was analizing the image a few years after it was drawn.

**ankhor** · 12 July 2011, 07:57 PM

well, I'll be back then when there are more vector enhancements, or when I am
in a better financial situation, because if I was, I would have upgraded anyway.
But now I have to prioritise, so aks my boss to pay me more

**Big Frank** · 13 July 2011, 12:29 AM

I use Xara every working day and often not just for work, even when just doodling. I upgrade at every opportunity at my own expense because I design for a living, it's my number one design tool. Personally, I am totally uninterested in the concept of different versions but I can see the commercial sense in marketing a range in that way. But, for my purposes, I don't want a different version for web/graphics/photo. I'm a greedy sod who doesn't like task-switching, so I want everything in the one app, and in XDP7 I have exactly that. As for application errors, I cannot remember the last time in my almost 15 years as a Xara user of having an OOM error and, frankly, I'm a very delighted, self-confessed Xara addict and fanboy. XDP7 does everything I need. I could not ask for a better all-in-one web and graphic design product. I am sure there are plenty of XXP4 users out there who are as happy with their product as I am with my XDP7. It's all a matter of priorities, both for Xara and for the user.

**lupen** · 13 July 2011, 07:14 AM

Soquili, I agree with you. In a future post I will try to ask for some important vector improvements, especially if a Xara version uses the term "Pro". I am still using version 5, because I didn't find any new vector tools. IMHO, not a single software can match all the features of a single, pro application, so I am still using Photoshop for retouching photos or drawings, others apps for creating websites, etc. Lupen

Guest · 13 July 2011, 11:51 AM

Just for the balance: I personally would not purchase Xara as a Vector-Program alone.

While I don't use the Photo-Tools it was exactly the addition of fuzz-free Web-Capabilities to its DTP - Toolset which got me hooked.
The Web-Capabilities are a key Difference in comparison to similarly priced or even free (and quite attractive) Vector Programs.

Making specialized programs for a task is not necessarilly a bad idea - but hey - Xara is already so slim in comparison to many other Programs.

**gwpriester** · 13 July 2011, 12:38 PM

Bill - I do find the product overlap confusing. I am currently writing a Workbook on Website basics and there are annoying differences between products.

OTOH I have no problem with the integration of drawing, photo editing and web design under one roof. It means less time spent shelling out to other applications, even if the only inconvenience in that is pressing Alt Tab to go back in forth.

But I totally agree that the product overlap causes undue confusion among new and old users a like.

I suspect this is marketing's answer to Adobe's lite version of products, such as Photoshop Elements.

**Big Frank** · 13 July 2011, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by gwpriester

I have no problem with the integration of drawing, photo editing and web design under one roof. It means less time spent shelling out to other applications, even if the only inconvenience in that is pressing Alt Tab to go back in forth.

It's more than that, I think. If you need two or more applications to complete one project then you have at least two files for the finished product and possibly two or more files to open, save and close when making subsequent changes. When creating a SME website using XDP I have everything under one roof, everything I need is in the one XAR file, the vectors, the bitmaps, the web layout. That's a huge productivity boost (and a major selling point) in my opinion and not something to be overlooked lightly. But if you don't benefit from such functionality then you clearly wouldn't share that opinion.

Differences in the same or similar features between products would appear to me to be incredibly annoying and is yet another reason I want everything under one roof. I admit it suits my workflow, and as such I'm a happy camper. If they split the flagship product into different products I'd be very, very sad. But then that's just me.