Is there a current Designer Pro user manual?

[Jon123Jon]

Does anyone have a link to the latest Designer Pro+ user manual -- download in PDF format?

[Acorn]

Jon, there is no such beast.
Kate @Xara promised one but it has never appeared. Matt @Xara instead has delivered an on-line help that, while current, is underwhelming in its Search capabilities.
I think the CHM file in the HelpAndSupport/ENG folder is no longer current either; there are tools to extract HTM and rebuild into PDF but they are quite ropey.

Acorn

[MB365]

Does anyone have a link to the latest Designer Pro+ user manual -- download in PDF format?

Hi Jon,

All help has moved online

Product Knowledge Base: https://helpandsupport.xara.com/
Product Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/XaraVideo/playlists

For an offline copy of the product knowledge base:
1. visit the URL https://helpandsupport.xara.com/help-html.zip to download the zip file. (for German https://helpandsupport.xara.com/deu/help-html.zip)
2. extract the contents of the zip to your chosen location and access the extracted folder followed by the help-html folder
3. to run the English help, double-click the file named index.htm
4. to run the German help, navigate to the deu folder and double-click the file named index.htm

We update and improve both resources frequently. Any issues or needs then as always we encourage you to reach us through the chat at www.xara.com or through the form at www.xara.com/contact-us.

Happy 2024.
Matt

[Acorn]

Hi Jon, All help has moved online

Product Knowledge Base: https://helpandsupport.xara.com/
Product Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/XaraVideo/playlists

For an offline copy of the product knowledge base:
1. visit the URL https://helpandsupport.xara.com/help-html.zip to download the zip file. (for German https://helpandsupport.xara.com/deu/help-html.zip)
2. extract the contents of the zip to your chosen location and access the extracted folder followed by the help-html folder
3. to run the English help, double-click the file named index.htm
4. to run the German help, navigate to the deu folder and double-click the file named index.htm

We update and improve both resources frequently. Any issues or needs then as always we encourage you to reach us through the chat at www.xara.com or through the form at www.xara.com/contact-us.

Happy 2024.
Matt

Matt HNY to you and the Xara staff.

The off-line product knowledge base is very useful as it saves a lot of Internet access for no real purpose.
Adobe RoboHelp (RH) is powerful and I can see its value for you; being able to deliver Help in different languages, for one; content reuse; context-sensitive help for your product range.
It is still not as useful as a PDF can be as the Search is awkward in its User Interface as you can only access a topic page, one at a time and the search results paging is at the bottom of the pop-up page and stays there when moving to the next page. This has already been raised with real-world examples of poor search tuning from your first release.

What is confusing is that RH has output presets available for both PDF and MS HTML Help (CHM file). Can you not include these as part of the installation?

My final observations are:

• How often will we be able to access its updates?
• Does the provide Link always present the latest version? Could the correct Link be part of the KB itself?
• Both on-line and off-line access is missing the latest changes:
  
  • Version 23.5 (14 Nov 2023)
  • New Web Content (14 Nov 2023)
  • Calendar Templates (6 Dec 2023)

Acorn

[Jon123Jon]

Matt and Acorn, thanks for your replies. Robohelp! In the early '90s, I made ads and brochures for Blue Sky Software in La Jolla, California. They made a C compiler, other utilities for programmers, and Robohelp... which back then wasn't too important to them. Good memories sitting out on their deck in the sun over coffee, looking out over the Pacific, with the owner's wife always trying to get her guy back to his developing work. Dropped them as a client ... billing problems with her, and I had to build in the cost of a parking ticket every time I drove down there, very crowded area. Time went by... they sold out to Ehelp, which sold out to Macromedia, that was bought by Adobe.
Help! Around 2000, working for Phase Metrics, I used Microsoft's HTML Help for context-sensitive help on hi-tech product software. Our programmers hooked my help files into their software, and told me it was easy to do... and we also put the .chm files online. Basic HTML is scary fast on the internet... used it for my new free Drawing For Money ebook at jon404.com... and added Help file illustration as an income source for artists in the 'We're Number 2' chapter.
That said, I still like a printed book for any manual that you have to flip back and forth in. As a long-time Xara customer, I'll pay you US$ 50 for an up-to-date print version, like the ones Xara used to have. Amazon has print-on-demand, so Xara wouldn't have to stock inventory. What a deal! Maybe you could cook one up for the next big Designer update? And... Happy New Year from Jon Donahue in Tombstone, jon404@outlook.com.

[bwood]

I might have the last book ever produced John. Xara Designer PRO X. I understand your need for a book. Always nice to read when not near electronic device. I like them too. I think they'd have to publish yearly. PDF would be nice.
-Bill

[Daniel]

There's a PDF of the manual for v18 here - 600+ pages