Update on Xara's OS Vector Graphics Project

An anonymous reader writes "We first heard from Xara when they announced their plan to release their crown jewels, the Xara X source code under GPL. Now, 5 scant months since going Open Source, Xara has released Xara Xtreme Linux 0.7, a very functional, robust illustration program. What this means for the Linux Desktop is significant: a true professional grade graphics package. And for a glimpse at what Xara can do, you owe it to yourself to see the new Xara Xtreme Linux Screenshot gallery with amazing, unbelievable vector graphic art."

Better than Illustrator and Freehand?

[Optic7]

I haven't used Xara extreme yet, but I have seen artists say that it's better than Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand (which is what this software competes with) in terms of performance, (some?) features, and ease of use. Sounds like a great new software in Linux' arsenal.

Call me when it does SVG

[gbulmash]

Just tried the Windoze version for a quickie look at features. No SVG support. As more of the OSS community and others start to create and deliver vector graphics in SVG (check out all the SVGs in Wikimedia Commons or OpenClipart.org), any illustration program without it will gradually lose its user base. It's not that SVG is so wonderful, but it's becoming a necessary tool to have in your arsenal.

Full opensource ?

[yupa]

IIRC the core of Xara Xtreme were put on some binary only libs. Did these libraries were released in a opensource license in new version ?

Re:Needless hype

[Anonymous Coward]

"Could "An anonymous reader" possibly be Xara?"

You think it if was Xara they would have better prepared themselves for the slashdotting.

Re:Call me when it does SVG

[ahg]

I haven't had a chance to try it yet... but does it do Postscript/EPS? While SVG may be the OSS choice of format, and may be great for web use too - If OSS wants to make it in the professional graphics & publishing world, it really needs to compete on Adobe's turf where Postscript still reigns supreme. I'd rather see Postscript today, and SVG support to follow than the other way around. (The OSS community is also more likely to find contributors to do SVG support than Postscript... it's the itch more likley to be scratched :)

How does this compare to inkscape?

[Anonymous Coward]

Inkscape [inkscape.org] seems to be a pretty capable package already (and it supports svg)

Re:Full opensource ?

[Skinkie]

On the inscape list there were talks about the rendermachines of Xara before. Especially using Xara's one versus upcomming Cairo. One thing I remembered was this render of Xara was full software without real hardware support. On the mailinglist people mentioned the use of it on tiny devices such as linux running Nokia's. Smaller hardware, bigger performance difference.

These guys made a great rendermachine, it is cool to see they get help from the community to get more users, but also more developers. I hope nVidia would do the same...

Re:Pity about the server ...

[kimvette]

I just downloaded and installed it (Gotta love Autopackage, Linux is becoming downright easy to the point where many things are easier than Windows!) and I have to say after playing with it for two minutes: this program is incredible. Who needs Inkscape? In dealing with layers, Inkscape is an exercise in futility, and there is far less control in exporting to specific bitmap sizes than I am used to in Adobe apps.

Like Inkscape, Gimp, Krita, and other OSS programs, it is missing layer effects (a huge benefit to Adobe apps) but at first glance this appears to be a huge step forward for Linux users who actually want to spend time working and less time fussing and tweaking. I can't wait to dig into this program and see if my experience with it lives up to my initial impression of the program. Just having a usable layer palette alone can provide a productivity boost over Inkscape. Don't get me wrong: I like inkscape, but there are a lot of things from Illustrator that I really, really miss. :( This program appears to be much closer to being a potential Illustrator replacement.

Superb GUI

[wysiwia]

As others already have mentioned Xara has a superb GUI and is easy usable. This is due the fact that Xara tries to be wyoGuide conformant (see http://wyoguide.sf.net/projectlist.php [sf.net]).

O. Wyss

A short history of the technology:

[wild_berry]

Xara Software used to be the UK's Computer Concepts who produced Impression DTP software and Artworks vector graphics package in the early nineties for the Acorn 32-bit computer range (The Acorn who created the ARM chip and spun off the IP to create the ARM company). Artworks [wikipedia.org] as ported to Win32 and performed 5x faster using its own redraw routines than Corel Draw using Windows' GDI. That port of Artworks was licensed and sold by Corel as Corel Xara. I'm not surprised that they have good rendering code given their 15 years of experience with it.

Re:Better than Illustrator and Freehand?

[remi de]

Perhaps, this information is useful for you: There was a discussion about the question if Xara's Rendering Engine could be useful in other projects together with a statement of the CIO of Xara Ltd: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=22409 &page=2 [talkgraphics.com]. Furthermore there was a discussion, if it's possible to build Xara's Rendering Engine in the Linux kernel as a new graphics engine: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?p=16158 2#post161582 [talkgraphics.com]. - Remi