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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Kildare, Ireland
    Posts
    906

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    I've not looked at it in ages but the impression I'm getting lately is it is more a convenience tool for social media marketing types. I've seen people on Linkedin praising the likes of Canva for it's light simplicity (I've never used any of them to be honest so I don't really know) and I think these would be more the target audience. Once you have a program like Xara Desiger Pro or whatever desktop software you use I don't see the need or appeal for these lighter, fluffier design in the cloud apps.
    XT-CMS - a self-hosted CMS for Xara Designers - Xara + CMS Demo with blog & ecommerce shopping cart system.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
    Posts
    8,659

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by xtom View Post
    I've seen people on Linkedin praising the likes of Canva for it's light simplicity (I've never used any of them to be honest so I don't really know) and I think these would be more the target audience.
    Take a look - it might be a revelation! It's more about simplifying the design workflow and supplying templates/ideas to reduce the effort to create a modern design at minimum effort.

    I'm not a subscriber, but I completely understand why people do subscribe - it would help them make more money.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Kildare, Ireland
    Posts
    906

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by pauland View Post
    Take a look - it might be a revelation! It's more about simplifying the design workflow and supplying templates/ideas to reduce the effort to create a modern design at minimum effort.
    Well that's what I was hoping for when I initially looked at it but was left underwhelmed. It probably works well for some people but so far I've found no compelling reason to use it over the desktop programs.
    XT-CMS - a self-hosted CMS for Xara Designers - Xara + CMS Demo with blog & ecommerce shopping cart system.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
    Posts
    8,659

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    I think you might have different thoughts if you worked at a design studion with a list of clients on your back. Far easier to assemble a solution when others have started a design for you.

    Coming back to the Xara cloud concept of clients updating the designs from a designer - I can't see that working, I've been at design agencies and witnessed the frustration of designers when clients interfere with idiotic suggestions and changes. I've felt that pain myself.

    If clients update designs and designers are updating them, there will be a blame game eventually and a ton of frustration.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,284

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    If clients update designs and designers are updating them, there will be a blame game eventually and a ton of frustration.
    have to say I agree with that - it's bad enough working on projects where everyone 'has their own job to do' - boundaries tend to bend and sometimes break... it's human nature...
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

  6. #16

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Recently I had to choose a web-based, collaborative design tool to use with students at the university.
    Since I'm an XDP user, I sent twice some inquiries to Xara Cloud email: salesinquiries@xara.com
    I never received a reply.
    Then I adopted Canva, which provided me an educational account for free (https://www.canva.com/education/).
    I really tried to get along Xara Cloud, but they ignored me.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
    Posts
    8,659

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by cadudesun View Post
    Recently I had to choose a web-based, collaborative design tool to use with students at the university.
    Since I'm an XDP user, I sent twice some inquiries to Xara Cloud email: salesinquiries@xara.com
    I never received a reply.
    Then I adopted Canva, which provided me an educational account for free (https://www.canva.com/education/).
    I really tried to get along Xara Cloud, but they ignored me.
    I think in these times we can cut people some slack, hopefully they are on the ball normally.

    How was Canva?

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Berlin
    Posts
    234

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by cadudesun View Post
    Recently I had to choose a web-based, collaborative design tool to use with students at the university.
    Since I'm an XDP user, I sent twice some inquiries to Xara Cloud email: salesinquiries@xara.com
    I never received a reply.
    Then I adopted Canva, which provided me an educational account for free (https://www.canva.com/education/).
    I really tried to get along Xara Cloud, but they ignored me.
    Hi cadudesun,
    Thanks for pointing out this to us. I will send you a direct message so we can get you set up with our EDU program.

    Best,
    Matt

  9. #19

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    @pauland
    I'm not able to compare Canva against Xara Cloud because my experience with the latter was pretty shallow.
    That said, Canva is intuitive and the collaboration workflow is handy. The full-feature mobile app is a plus.
    Canva comes with plenty of stock content and templates, even the free account.
    A convenient set of functionalities since I'm working with students without previous experience producing graphics for video (title, lower-third, intro, outro, etc.).
    Those graphics are brought and animated using Shotcut, a free video editing software (www.shotcut.org).
    However, I was surprised that Canva also provides ready-to-use animation functionality (https://about.canva.com/news/canva-a...-announcement/).
    Since the output of Canva's animation is pretty decent for the amateur purposes of the students and mine, now there are few needs to animate the graphics using Shotcut video editing.
    The animations are exported from Canva in the mp4 format, and then imported into Shotcut to be assembled with footage.
    Although the animation functionality is offered through the pro (paid) subscription, it is available for free through the Canva educational account.
    Talking specifically about graphics, Canva exports a multipage PDF file (with organized layers) that is compatible with XDA for further editing.
    I made available a couple of PDFs generated by Canva here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z5...zmTQqAlbOZVYxS
    When importing a Canva PDF into XDA, sometimes there are missing fonts that need to be installed.

    --------------------------------
    @MB365
    Thanks for the feedback!
    For reference, the emails were sent to salesinquiries@xara.com on 7 Dec 2019 and 18 Mar 2020.
    As you can see in the attached image, the email salesinquiries@xara.com is the one triggered when you click on "contact us" on Xara Cloud website.
    I'm glad that I could contact you directly through matt@xara.com, after receiving the proper email through your PM.
    Looking forward to knowing better and experiencing Xara Cloud for education.

    --------------------------------

    Cheers

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by cadudesun; 04 April 2020 at 02:32 PM.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
    Posts
    8,659

    Default Re: Not feeling Xara Cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by cadudesun View Post
    Since the output of Canva's animation is pretty decent for the amateur purposes of the students and mine, now there are few needs to animate the graphics using Shotcut video editing.
    Thanks for the update.

    I was intrigued by the "amateur" comment because in my experience the vast majority of professional design houses created those very animations (as seen on your link) day in, day out. Their aim is not to make award-winning stuff but to get the job done within the budget and most design clients are pretty ignorant when it comes to quality. I spent many years being paid quite a lot to produce the "amateur" animations using Flash!

    Joking aside, I do appreciate your comments. Thank you.

 

 

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