Dear Xara (an idea and a list of wishes)

[Jonopen]

Something that has been on my mind for quite a while is the way the 'Dear Xara' requests are made.

Maybe forum moderators (or Xara themselves) could devise a more organised and engaging way of collating and presenting ‘Dear Xara’ requests and wishes. Perhaps a form could be made to collect relevant information then a spreadsheet set up to easily see what has been requested, when, why, by whom, how frequently etc. This could then at least form a historical and factual record, and point of reference for Xara and users alike.

Here are some of the general things that would make me a happy Xara user (all probably requested before!) and should be added to the 'spreadsheet'!

1. Make the programmes Windows scaling aware
2. Enable dual screen usage
3. Refresh user interface and add an official light grey interface option
4. Update and polish up existing vector drawing tools
5. Improve grids and add perspective tools
6. Add a macro/actions feature (or at least a repeat last action like Affinity Designer's 'Power Duplicate')
7. Full plugin integration and vector plugins (like Illustrator Zig Zig/Roughen distortion filters)
8. Replace the bitmap tracer tool with one that is useful (like Inscape/Potrace)
9. Overhaul the 3D tool to allow conversion to vectors

Thanks, Jono

[glenngosack]

+1

[ernie-f]

+1

+1
and:
- MeshFill and MeshTracparency Tool
- Mesh Mould
- Brushes like AI or better the old Expression 3 from Creature Hose
- Spray Brushes like CorelDraw or Expression 3 from Creature Hose or SerifDraw
- B-Spline Curves
- Measurement-Tool like in CorelDraw or SerifDraw
- Smart Fill Tool to fill open path
- Better/Smoother behavior of the Shape Painter Tool
- Colormanagement
- Overprint View
- Better OpenType support
- Masterpages
- real Dobblesites even/odd
- Paragraph and Object Stiles, not what's now
- All Atributes pastable to other Objects/Groups like ex. Bevel, 3D, Mould or Contour
- Fix the 100% K thing
- Color Palettes, not only in Template Sites
- Better SVG support
- Line position In/Middle/Out
- Line Pattern to get real corners without gaps
etcc. … there will be sure more!

Will see if Xara takes a position.

[gwpriester]

Will see if Xara takes a position.

The feedback I have received from Xara is that they are only going to add a feature if there are a large number of requests for such a feature. Support for OpenType glyphs was one feature that a lot of users requested and so that has been added to Designer Pro. And then the feature has to work in the code without effecting the other tools and functions.

[ernie-f]

The feedback I have received from Xara is that they are only going to add a feature if there are a large number of requests for such a feature. Support for OpenType glyphs was one feature that a lot of users requested and so that has been added to Designer Pro. And then the feature has to work in the code without effecting the other tools and functions.

Hi Garry,
Thats realy sad. Xara has so much useful easy to use tools other competitors hasn't. But only one useful feature like OpenType (and than so minimalistic) that Xara has spend in a year Is not worth the money.
If this is all what Xara can improve in one year I'll never upgrade the subcription (I did it for this year in hope for …???, like some people here).
The alternative is stay with Inkscape and Affinity and say good bye Xara. Or go back to Adobe – realy not my. And for the web thing I'll find a replacement for future clients.

[Acorn]

Xara seem to use JIRA so setting up an email collector for direct emails into its Backlog would be the most efficient.
Nothing would get lost and Xara could triage requests easily and discover repeat trends.

Acorn

[iamtheblues]

The feedback I have received from Xara is that they are only going to add a feature if there are a large number of requests for such a feature. Support for OpenType glyphs was one feature that a lot of users requested and so that has been added to Designer Pro. And then the feature has to work in the code without effecting the other tools and functions.

I don't know why I believe this to be true, (and I'd like it confirmed if it is just my own suspicions) but the coding problems seem to be at the heart of why very little is being implemented in terms of breakthrough improvements to Xara (especially vector tools). I believe that the code is now old and fragile (rather like myself) and no real improvements are possible without the whole house of cards falling down.

At the time when Adobe Illustrator CS6 was released, Adobe did a thorough overhaul of Illustrator's codebase, which then allowed them to implement drastic improvements to the program. Is this the stumbling block that Xara has right now? If so, we should be told. I believe that TG members have shown a great deal of forebearance over the lack of new vector tools for many years now. It is time for that to change.

[Acorn]

I don't know why I believe this to be true, (and I'd like it confirmed if it is just my own suspicions) but the coding problems seem to be at the heart of why very little is being implemented in terms of breakthrough improvements to Xara (especially vector tools). I believe that the code is now old and fragile (rather like myself) and no real improvements are possible without the whole house of cards falling down.

At the time when Adobe Illustrator CS6 was released, Adobe did a thorough overhaul of Illustrator's codebase, which then allowed them to implement drastic improvements to the program. Is this the stumbling block that Xara has right now? If so, we should be told. I believe that TG members have shown a great deal of forebearance over the lack of new vector tools for many years now. It is time for that to change.

But what is your idea?
It is more likely that the regression testing of new features is the bottleneck, together with the separation of capability into four applications. We already know that Magix application packaging is a lengthy process.

I am finding the only way to get through to Xara is to place a Dear Xara Thread with one (simple) request.

Acorn