Scale to Fit Width

[Struggler]

I'm a first time user of Xara Web Designer, so please be patient with me!

I've managed to design a fairly basic website in XWD 17 (and I've subsequently installed XWD18 to see if things are any different there). The site is largely aimed at people with visual handicaps, who'll be using full-size monitors or screen readers to view it, so I'm not really bothered about how it might display on mobile phones, etc.

I've designed the site with pages at a width of 1200px but I'd like it to automatically adjust to fit different monitors. The Xaratemplates website says, that from XWD 16 onwards, there's a Scale to Fit Width option available, accessible via Utilities > Web Export Options. However it doesn't seem to be present in either XWD 17 or XWD 18. Am I looking for what doesn't exist? (Perhaps it's only available in the 'Pro' versions of XWD?). Or am I just being thick? (Nothing new there!)

Any help is appreciated!

Chris

[gwpriester]

Hi Chris and welcome to TalkGraphics

Scale to Fit, an option in Web Properties > Website Export Options can do this. But you need to make sure that all your bitmap content is of sufficient resolution for the widest screen size. So at the widest width, your images should be a minimum of 96dpi.

[Struggler]

Thanks for your swift reply.

My problem though is that I simply can't find Website Export Options.

If I go to Web Properties, all I see is this


I know that I'm probably just being super-thick, but I'm still lost!

[Acorn]

Struggler, I do not have either version.

https://www.xara.com/uk/web-designer/features/ indicates "Responsive Web Design" is available to both XWD & XWDP.

If you open the Help (XWD > F1 key) then Search > Responsive Web Design, you might find the required dialog or keys to get it going.

Acorn

[gwpriester]

It's under the Export tab in Web Designer.

[Acorn]

Gary, Struggler's snapshot is of his Web Properties dialog and it doesn't show an Export tab (or an Analytics one).

If there should be such in XWD, as opposed to XWDP, then it is probably time to open the application as Run as administrator.

I am not going to go to the trouble of downloading a trial XWD to to establish this, sorry.

Acorn

[Struggler]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm glad that someone can actually see what my problem is, Acorn!

I've tried running the program as administrator. It seems to make no difference

[Struggler]

PS: There appears to nothing in the full PDF manual that helps or, indeed, which makes any reference at all to what I'm trying to do.

Perhaps the function I'm seeking in only available in XWDP? If so, I can't say that I'm greatly impressed with a company that markets its software on the basis that it can produce 'responsive' websites, when he most basic bit of 'responsiveness' appears to be missing! (I'd already got web design software that can produce fixed width sites. The only reason I forked out for XWD was to be able to produce sites that adjust to fit different browser/monitor combinations).

I don't want to appear grumpy with the people who've bothered to read my query and to try to answer it though. That's most definitely NOT the case!

Thanks to everyone who's posted so far. Perhaps I'll be lucky and someone with a magic wand will come along and solve my problem soon?

[gcellison]

Hi Struggler.
I sense your frustration. XWD is so stripped of functionality that they frankly should not be offering it. If you're still within the cancellation period (14 days from purchase, I think), consider cancelling XWD and purchasing XWDP. The cost is about double, but if you plan to use the app, it's just about a must. If you're not within the cancellation period, try to contact Magix or Xara support to see if they will allow the upgrade for the difference in price. (Good luck... they're not always very responsive).
It is always frustrating to purchase something with an expectation that isn't met.

[Struggler]

Thanks, gcellison.

I've managed to open a support ticket with Xara. (It's probably easier to find one's way around the Amazon jungle than it is to navigate their website. You have to log in, click through umpteen links, log in for a second time and then have to tell them everything except your mother's inside leg measurement before you can post a query). So I'll wait to see what they say.

However I've just noticed that there's a free 7-day trial of XWDP available (extendable to 30 days upon registration) which, according to their website, has full functionality except for some missing templates. So if I can't get any sense from their support team, I might try installing it to see if I can load my website into it and then access the option that I need. That would be good enough for what's currently only a one-off project. I could then decide later on whether to buy the Premium version or not. (I find it annoying though that one can upgrade from an older version of XWDP to the latest version for a discounted rate of $59.99, instead of $99.99, but that there's no upgrade path from XWD to XWDP. It's necessary to buy the full program. Grrr!)

Thanks again.