Comparison of AI to XDP

[Mark321]

Okay. I've had XDP for about 2 and a half years and Ai for about 5 weeks. To be fair, I should have waited until I've had Ai for 6 months (at least). But this is MY take on the two graphics programs:

First, XDP.

XDP is awesome. To put it mildly, there's not much you can't do with it and with a little forethought you can probably do most ANYTHING with it. While I can't speak to the web design capabilities of it (I don't have much experience in web design, I'm only into the print part of XDP), I can speak of its incredible skills that it does have. Xara, is flexible. With it one can design all kinds of cool stuff from logos to desktop publishing to vector art. It even has photo tools that can rival some of the industry's best photo editing software (are you listening Illustrator?). In fact with the photo tools alone, I have edited photos BETTER than my old standby Lightroom. Take that Adobe! Illustrator has no photo editing software (that I know of, if it does, my apologies to Adobe).

Second up, Ai:

Adobe is the industry standard when it come's to vector art posters, just ask Hollywood. Now, Ai does have a LOT of bells and whistles that would make any designer/artist drool and genuflect. But such skill sets come with a hefty price. Illustrator is EXTREMELY time consuming to learn. Just ask me. But I am learning it, slowly but surely, one day at a time. The shaper tool is amazing and wish XDP had one too (pay attention Xara). Plus, the shape builder tool is pretty cool too, in and of itself. With it I can create overlapping shapes much faster than with XDP, and it's easier too.

Over all:

For its photo editing tools that are nothing short of amazing and for the incredibly easy user interface I give Xara 4.5 out of 5 stars. But Xara, hang in there you are still near and dear to my heart.

For its incredible (almost limitless) user tools (some of which are pretty easy to learn too) and for its wealth of user supported YouTube videos I give Illustrator a 4.7 out of 5 stars. Adobe, you may be number one but you've got some work to do when it comes to ease-of-use.

That's about all I've got for now. Maybe in 5 more months I can have a better idea of what Ai can and cannot do. 'Til then...

I hope what ever you use to do your art/designs that you realize that neither XDP nor Ai have any intellect or artistic merit in and of them selves; it's the user that creates the image. It's you who do the magic and not the software. The software is only a tool, a vehicle that helps get you where you want to go.

I wish you smooth sailing...

Mark

[gwpriester]

When it gets right down to it, any software application is a set of tools. The good artists can create great art with almost any set of tools and a mediocre artists will create mediocre art with even the top of the line tools.

In the 15 years I did the Xara Xone I always had a monthly featured artist of the month (and often a group show), and the quality of the art was always exceptional. But these artists would also have created great art with Illustrator, Freehand, Illustrator or CorelDRAW.

For me, the the appeal of Xara when I began using it in the mid 90s was it's simplicity, intuitive and interactive interface, and incredible transparency features. At the time there was nothing else like it.

[Mark321]

simplicity, intuitive and interactive interface, and incredible transparency features

I totally agree. Good artists create good stuff no matter what tool they use. And Xara is up there with the best in my book and a heck of a lot easier to figure out!

[gwpriester]

In the beginning, Illustrator was almost totally menu driven. Even the simplest things required a dialog. CorelDRAW was a little more advanced.

But near as I can tell, Xara introduced the Infobar concept that changed to offer specific options for each tool.

And Xara I believe was the first to use click and drag for interactive fills, and possibly for live effects because even an interactive fill can be modified. And the first time I saw an interactive Linear gradient transparency I was sold.

In the mid-90s Corel licensed Xara with the intention of giving Xara wider distribution. But what they did was copy some of Xara's most innovative features and then they pulled Xara from the channels. Xara was able to buy out of this disastrous contract.

Illustrator over the years has been hamstrung but their original menu driven approach but have made great strides over the years and have a very tight and evolved app.

[handrawn]

XDP is awesome. To put it mildly, there's not much you can't do with it and with a little forethought you can probably do most ANYTHING with it

you said this before and I threatened you with a list

xara has pathetic support for wacom style tablets; anything that is done freehand in the way you would do it with a real brush is almost certain to fail; sure you could spend time 'making it work' in xara, but why would you want to?

[ernie-f]

@ Mark: this expieriene you did we did all.
My designer way was in the early '70th. We set all commandos by line, no WYSYWYG. After set all in a (like Latex-Speech) and deliver on film, we see the result. By the way, I learned to pick letters by hand too.

Now we got XARA and Illy, Corel, Affinity (Serif made for a decade good DTP-Stuff) and Adobe.

If Adobe don't work with the German Compamy HEIDELBERG together, we had no PDF-Standards! (Adobe develop PostScript before and the first PS-Printer was the Apple-Writer. The first Laser Printer with PostScript.)
HEIDELBERG is the worlds greatest Company to produce the inovativest print-presses in the world.

So Adobe and Heidelberger stick together and devolpe PDF (before was all in PostScript, a programmer language for describe a hole page like DIN A4).

The magic is, Adobe is King. No PrintProduct without Adobes-Preflight.
Corel, Serif, Xara and all others must pay to Adobe when use PDF. There are some Libs on OpenSource but when You will produce commercial, You must pay.

The thing is, Adobe is still a monopole.

Affinity does a graet job, but on Adobes might is no way out. I must for my job use Adobe! But I don't lke it. Because I'll not be a slave of one company.

But what to do without PDF? There is no Way! The standard in the print idustry is PDF.

In the common print idustry we all work with pc's/or Mac's. All the jobs I learned, like typesetter, clychee burner, graphic artist are gone!
And now we create our designs with so much software and produce so much bullshit becaue we don't remember oure roots, if we are professional.

What I'll say: Not all we do as a graphic designer is good. Maybe is better to take care on our desingns before we post all our brain diarrhea.

Good night

[mwenz]

Pdf has long since been a ISO committee product. As such, there are representitives from all major companies and many minor ones setting the direction pdf is to go and the standards it has.

The preflight in Acrobat and most all rip software isn't created by Adobe. It's made by one of their competitors and licensed to Adobe and the others.

[ernie-f]

Not agree,
I was one in ISO-Standards involved and been in Heidelberg they call out the standard. But i didn't beleive that it come to a standard. But it commes! Adobe do a Million pay (XXXX) to Heidelberg, because they where out of monye. Adobe was the savior for them. The rest is known.

[mwenz]

Adobe no longer "owns" the PDF standard. That's a fact.

Callas is who makes the preflight that is licensed to Adobe.

[ernie-f]

Adobe no longer "owns" the PDF standard. That's a fact.

Callas is who makes the preflight that is licensed to Adobe.

Callas do the prorgama for Adobe. BTW Callas is a daughter of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. The patents for PDF are all by Adobe.