Extensive Color Management?

[jens g.r. benthien]

Hi folks, long time, no see

Because of Adobe's switch to CC, I've posted some information about Xara as a viable alternative in several photography forums.

One very important point is the color management. On this page

http://pro.magix.com/en/designer-pro/overview.324.html

Xara claims an 'extensive color management': Graphic design: Supports vector and pixel graphics and extensive color management

Now some people downloaded the Demo and can't find the color management...<sigh>

I can't help, because I'm still on Xara Xtreme 3, running inside VirtualBox on my Mac (2009 I've made the jump...)

Can anybody help me with the color management to spread the info in the forums?

Where do they have to enable the color management, how does it work, is it comparable to other color management solutions?

Maybe some screen shots?

Any help will be deeply appreciated!

[gwpriester]

We had given you up for lost Jens.

Any reference to color management is probably marketing hype. The color management is built in and as far as I can tell cannot be edited.

There is no way to save or apply a color profile that I am aware of.

You can import a RAW image in a large variety of camera formats. There is support for RGB, HSV and CMYK, but this is normal, not extensive.

Designer Pro X has a variety of Pantone color libraries, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The latest version Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 http://xaraxone.magix.net/PGD9/ has added some very excellent mask editing tools and some filters that are on a par with Photoshops. You can edit a histogram and there are some very good color selection tools added since you were using your ancient product.

[amoore]

Hi Jens

Nice to see you here. As Gary says, a lot has changed in Xara land since v3.

Allison

[mwenz]

Gary is being too kind..."probably" doesn't apply.

There is really only output intent, hard-wired as regards RGB or CMYK images or as output intents via PDF. There is no document working color space ala PS/ID etc.

But...Xara for all its virtues isn't an image editor per se. If I were to recommend a replacement for PS (and have on the Adobe forums), it would be for PhotoLine. Available for both Mac and PC. PC version installs both 32- and 64-bit versions on a 64-bit system so one can use legacy 8bf filters. Its raw support is pretty dang good. The two brothers who develop the application (which has a long, long history) put out updates which can include new features several times during a major version's life cycle.

PL does have a dated looking interface. They don't necessarily care about that and focus on functionality. And it is very cost effective.

Take care, Mike

[jens g.r. benthien]

Gary, Allison,

We had given you up for lost Jens.

Well, I've just been 'somewhere else' - in a non-Xara world :-). In addition I've focussed on my other competence - large format photography (very long story...)

Any reference to color management is probably marketing hype. The color management is built in and as far as I can tell cannot be edited.

There is no way to save or apply a color profile that I am aware of.

You can import a RAW image in a large variety of camera formats. There is support for RGB, HSV and CMYK, but this is normal, not extensive.

Designer Pro X has a variety of Pantone color libraries, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Ahhh, ok, thank you very much for this information! I guess my problem still is the fact that I am a tad too naive when reading the magix wording...

The latest version Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 http://xaraxone.magix.net/PGD9/ has added some very excellent mask editing tools and some filters that are on a par with Photoshops. You can edit a histogram and there are some very good color selection tools added since you were using your ancient product.

I knew I had missed something. And I definitely know that I've missed the free X5. But my 'ancient' version still delivers fantastic results (compared to the other software from the company starting with A).

Mike,

But...Xara for all its virtues isn't an image editor per se. If I were to recommend a replacement for PS (and have on the Adobe forums), it would be for PhotoLine. Available for both Mac and PC. PC version installs both 32- and 64-bit versions on a 64-bit system so one can use legacy 8bf filters. Its raw support is pretty dang good. The two brothers who develop the application (which has a long, long history) put out updates which can include new features several times during a major version's life cycle.

PL does have a dated looking interface. They don't necessarily care about that and focus on functionality. And it is very cost effective.

This is what I've recommended as well, because it is what I am using on the Mac for image editing for years now. I second your thoughts about the crude interface :-), but hey, at least for my large format scans PhotoLine does what I need and is a very good performer. However, I never used the vector stuff in PL - once you have used Xara for years, you are 'spoiled': Xara is functioning in a very logical way, absolutely unparalleled in the business!

Anyway, I just thought it would be a good idea to give Xara a tiny push for all the Windows users in the photography forums.

And now I'll spread the word for 2 applications: Xara for vector editing, PL for image editing!