Which Xara products to buy?

[Phill]

Compared to Xara Designer Pro 7 at $299, would I not have close to the same thing by
going with Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 together with Xara Web Designer Premium for a total of $189? In other words what would I get for the extra $110 by purchasing the all in one XDP7?

[angelize]

Hi, Designer pro has a few extra features that may make it worthwhile to you, such as the ability to create custom keyboard shortcuts, pdf/x eport, pantone colour support, Live copies and a few more. If you do any DTP with Xara you will like the live copies. I also like the convenience of having everything in one program Here is a comparison page that shows exactly what you get for the extra money

[gwpriester]

Designer Pro 7. You get the best of everything in one package.

If money is an object, and you are more of a casual user, then start with Photo and Graphic Designer. You can also create websites. But you will not have the complete set of features. There is always a trade off.

[Phill]

Glad I asked. After reviewing the comparison chart, it would seem that the software at the lower price is next to useless. Without the pdf/x export it would be useless as the originating Xara format is proprietary and it's files will not open in Adobe ID etc., and therefore could not be edited in anything other than Xara - is that correct? The other shortcomings I could work around, but the Pantone color match could present problems. Don't get me wrong as I think $299 is a great value compared to the competition. Unfortunately I have already shelled out big $$$ for CS3, and in this economy have to be careful in what I buy.

[Soquili]

The pdf export from Photo & Graphic Designer can be edited in other applications, I don't have InDesign or Acrobat Pro but Illustrator, Corel Draw, and Inkscape work well with the pdf export from P&GD. The pdf/x export from Designer Pro would be used for sending art.ork to a professional print service