2016 - 2017 new feature requests

[angelize]

I thought I would open up a new thread for feature requests now that V12 has arrived and we have had a chance to check it out. Because there will no longer be version numbers and new features could be released any time I've titled this as 2016 - 2017 rather than by version number and I've made it sticky Here are a couple to start the list.

Full support for open type glyphs
Improvements to the artbrushes

[mwenz]

And to be a bit more specific--seeing how I doubt that every OT Feature will ever make it into XDP (at least for a bazillion years)--I would like the following, not quite in a specific order but close.

(1) Stylistic Set Support
(2) Contextual Alternates
(3) Ligatures
(4) Access All Alternates
(5) Swash
(6) SALT
(7) Discretionary Ligatures
(8) Fractions
(9) Old Style Numbers
(10) Medial and Terminal Forms

Ought to be several years work there...

[angelize]

Another feature that would be great to have would be Styles. I'm not talking the text styles but rather a more photoshop type style. Kind of like Affinity Designer has but I would like to see Xara do it better.

I'd like to be able to create a shape and give it different fills, bevels even 3d attributes but instead of pasting attributes which is cumbersome I'd like to save that shape as a style and have a gallery of them. then it would be a matter of drawing a shape, or creating text and just click or double click the style you want in the gallery and it would be applied.

I'd like to see these styles include the built in effects like the soften, sharpen, distortions etc.

[mhjgkane]

Reposted from V12 thread.

Why is the variable corner shape only accessible from the more shapes option and why are the rotate and quick style options only available on items inserted from the Insert > Shape menu?

I guess I would just like to see consistency in the way the quick shapes are made available and the funtionality that is applied to them. For example insert a rectangle from the left side toolbar, then insert a rectangle from the Insert > Shape menu. They are completely different yet both perform the same function. Could we not combine the two so that we can drag out the rectangle shape but on release, the handles etc from the Insert > Shape version are applied? Add the option to modify the corners individually and you have reduced three separate shape options to one? All that would be needed in addition is a toggle to lock the corners if you wanted to size and style them all the same?

Just seems to me like the current options provide a bit of duplication and uneccessary complexity in the UI?

[Ed S.]

Text/Typeface/Formatting-Based Needs:

• Full OpenType support - PLEASE
• The ability to add case (upper, lower, title, etc.) formatting to paragraph and character styles - why didn't this make it in with the new case options? Seems a no-brainer.
• The ability to input tabs, margins, indents & outdents outside of using the ruler (menu-based, precise).
• Leaders (..., ---, etc.) for tabs.
• Better text on a path support, more control options for placement of text on a path.
• If we can't have master pages, the ability to display or hide text (or objects) on right or left-facing pages, specifically for page numbers but this would come in handy for other things.
• The inclusion of a baseline grid would be awesome.

[Albacore]

I wasn't going to post an answer here as I think at the moment Xara model for improvement is aimed specifically at the Web area for its development. So I think what''s the point of making requests when there not listening to the traditional users. Look what you can use our software now to do, is so large and to please what I called traditional users ranges from straight vector --- through DTP,--- then onto bitmap manipulation, --- and then to web design. Each user demands hugely different tools and has different request for improvement it is impossible to keep everyone included. So to have one programme to fit all is also getting impossible.

Here is my requests if anyone cares and it is the last one that I will do:
Clean up the programmes as they have tried to do but do more for each when marketing but none to include all. Web Designer ------ DTP ----- Vector
Have really proper vector brushes like Calligraphy, art and pen and ink that can be converted to a shape all with their own profiles.
The inclusion of full support to Open Type fonts
Have a strong look at improving the Mould Tool
Bring back an improved Pen Tool with better functionality
The introduction of Smart Guides

These are the things that I would like Xara to do and as everyone can see my wishes are focused really on the vector area. We have seen no real development in this are for years and years....years...years.

[angelize]

One thing I'd like to see is a small but really useful addition to the fills and transparencies a button that would reverse the default values for the fill handles. So very very often the first thing I wind up doing when applying a transparency or a fill is to reverse the start and end values.

[iamtheblues]

As Peter said above, I wasn't going to post here, because so little advancement has been made to the vector/text side of the program in many years. Dear Xara seems to be a sop to the consumer, whose wishes seem to be at odds with those who decide the path that Xara takes. It's a huge shame, because if Xara could set to one side its apparent fixation with widgets and push-button results and just concentrate on dealing with full Open Type capabilities, we could all think twice before looking in the direction of Affinity Designer and Illustrator.
Attached is a simple graphic using a fairly ordinary font, Salamander Script. It does, however have optional ligatures that transform it into a thing of beauty.
Xara users cannot access these ligatures without using Character Map in Windows, which is a royal pain to use. For all of Illustrator's faults, it is an easy operation to get the result I've attached here.
I did use Xara's Contour Tool which is one of their better vector tools, (much better than any of the competition).
Come on Xara, for Pete's sake (and mine) sort it out for the next upgrade for goodness sake!
Bob.

[angelize]

I agree with you Bob, Magix is making a huge mistake by not putting vector development at the forefront. So I'm glad that you and Peter have posted here. Support for all the extras that can come with open type fonts is a must.

Also the brushes still need work
- ability to set heads and tails on repeating brushes
- ability to set corner pieceson repeating brushes (the deformation in sharp corners on repeating brushes is awful!!)
- ability to set transparency on art brushes
- unified controls on all brushes

Another much needed tool is a vector mesh fill some capabilities it should have are:
- the ability to easily subdivide the mesh
- the ability to set both colour and transparency to any node on the mesh

Also Development time on the dark UI is desperately needed, it needs to be user adjustable.

[Gare]

I'm asking for the same things I've been asking for since 2008.



A conversion from a typeface glyph to simple curves that doesn't go Control-Point Happy in the process. CorelDRAW produces a shape that's easy to work with. In contrast, Xara produces too many unnecessary control points, and even if using the Node Reduction feature was an adequate excuse, smoothing a curve to auto-reduce changes the shape slightly.




A calligraphy tool that has a core you can edit with the Shape tool later. The Stroke Shapes hasn't been improved since it first was introduced and both Illustrator and CorelDRAW have leapt ahead in versatility for a calligraphy brush. Why can't we create our own pressure profiles?



A Polygon tool that allows a polygon shape to be edited! Add control points, make curves into line segments and vice-versa, and let the artist add or subtract sides all along the process as I've pathetically illustrated here.

TIA,

Gary