Black Friday - any signs we might to buy the full HD version of Xara Designer Pro?

[shiphen]

If you can wait another 4 or 5 MONTHS, I have it on good authority that "Designer Pro X hiDPI version is planned to be released aprox. in March 2021."
Why ON EARTH they are making us wait until March next year, when self-evidently the HiDPI user interface has already been written is anybody's guess. GADS!

Meanwhile, I have been compelled to start using Affinity Designer, which has more sensible defaults and does a number of much more sensible things.
e.g. A line with an arrow head terminates at the at the point of the arrow! And it's Corner Tool is a joy to behold.

However I have to say that it does have a bit of a learning curve and a pedantic feel to it.
e.g. It seems to be impossible to rotate a group of shapes without rotating the entire Art Board.

[handrawn]

If you can wait another 4 or 5 MONTHS, I have it on good authority that "Designer Pro X hiDPI version is planned to be released aprox. in March 2021."
Why ON EARTH they are making us wait until March next year, when self-evidently the HiDPI user interface has already been written is anybody's guess. GADS!

that is good to know re march 21 planned release

[behzad]

I do not intend to buy 4k monitor. What is the hype about 4k?

[handrawn]

you may well not need it for websites

I believe shipen does engineering drawing where 4K assists accuracy

I do animation, but to be honest as the end product is usually 1920 by 1080 I can live without most of the time

[behzad]

[shiphen]

I do not intend to buy 4k monitor. What is the hype about 4k?

Good question.

Personally I have always found that I can THINK more clearly if my screen is at a higher resolution. But I was first re-inspired to go to such high resolution (4K) by seeing a friend doing general business including project management in particular on an Apple computer in ultra-high resolution. The general point is that it is SO much easier to see what is going on when there is space to physically SEE the big picture better on your screen.

Having made the jump a couple of years ago now, I would say that it makes me about 10-15% more efficient. It's not cheap - in particular the graphics cards can get very expensive, but personally I find it WELL worth the money.
Nowadays, yes I also do also do some 3D /CAD work where high res is crucial. And for that I had to upgrade my graphics card a second time to get something powerful enough.

One of the best things about a high res screen is that you can just take screen shots all manner of stuff and drop them into you business documents (e.g. PowerPoint & Word) and they look fabulous.

Having tested the HD version of Xara at 4K, I have to tell you that it's just an absolute joy. It's a bit like asking the question: "What's wrong with my 10year-old VW Polo? It still works!"
And then you spend some time in a high end Audi. Everything seems easier and it's just a real pleasure to use. And when you have a lot of miles to drive, when you are compelled to go back to the Polo it still works but it doesn't have the acceleration, the cornering is terrible and there is a lot of wind-noise and everything rattles.

J

[Egg Bramhill]

I agree with Shipen. Having used Xara in an old 640 x 480 monitor years ago, then moving on to larger resolution monitors, then to HD and finally 4K this difference is quite stunning. Try remembering years ago when you drew a diagonal line on some ancient monitor and it wasn't a crisp line, just a very jaggie one. Xara's anti-aliasing was very advanced at that time and could beat Illustrator & CorelDraw hands down but even then there were still jaggies, just softer.

Then as you moved on to larger resolution sizes things improved. Then you got HD which was even better and these jaggies had all but disappeared. With 4K I just can't se them at all.

However a word of warning, a 4K monitor viewed at 3 feet away is great. A 4K TV viewed at 15-20 feet away will appear no better than todays HD TV's because our eyes aren't capable of differentiating any difference over that distance.

@HD:

I do animation, but to be honest as the end product is usually 1920 by 1080 I can live without most of the time

Don't quite understand that statement HD?

[handrawn]

@HD:
Don't quite understand that statement HD?

Firstly, call me old fashined but on principle if I design something to be seen on a screen, I like to see it as I design it, at the size at which it will be seen when it is finished - mostly std HD

But more to the point, animation involves an element of dead reckoning; it is not possible to work in real-time with rendering on, it would take ages to redraw everything, so most of the time the work is done in OpenGL view - ie no anti aliasing

so in xara I work a lot of the time with the AA off, and only switch it on to check what it will look like 'rendered'

generally animation can be designed to a higher res, but for me, that is rare... and bearing in mind your other comments, if it became more normal I would need to invest in a 32" minimum monitor, and scratch my head as to where to put it

[behzad]

@handrawn not only where to put your new 4k monitor but also what to do with your old monitors. I own 3 HD monitors and they work perfectly. Each to their own but 4k option is not a selling point for the work I do for me to invest in a 4k monitors. Same goes with my HD tv's.