Editing Xara Designer Pro+

{{primary sources|date=December 2011}}
{{Infobox software
|name = Xara Designer Pro+
|logo = 
|screenshot = 
|caption = 
|developer = [[Xara|Xara Group Ltd]]
|released = {{Start date and age|1995}} (Windows)
|latest release version = Xara Photo & Graphic Designer October 2018;<ref name="Xara Group Ltd">{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer Release Announcement|url=https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?80164-JUST-RELEASED-A-New-Version-of-Xara-Photo-amp-Graphic-Designer|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> 
|latest release date = {{Start date and age|2018|10}}
|latest preview version =
|latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
|operating system = [[Windows 2000]] or later
|genre = [[Vector graphics editor]]
|license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
|website = {{url|www.xara.com}}
}}

'''Xara Designer Pro+''' is an [[image editing program]] incorporating photo editing and vector illustration tools created by British software company [[Xara]]. [[Xara Xtreme LX]] was an early open source version for [[Linux]].

The Windows version was previously sold under the names '''Xara Studio''', '''Xara X''' and '''Xara Xtreme''', and traces its origin in the late 1980s to a title called [[ArtWorks]] for the [[Acorn Archimedes]] line of computers using [[RISC OS]].  There is a pro version called '''Xara Designer Pro''' (formerly '''Xara Xtreme Pro''').

The current commercial version of '''Xara Photo & Graphic Designer''' runs only on Windows, although Xara documents can be edited in a web browser on any platform using the Xara Cloud service.<ref>{{cite web|title=Edit, access and share your Xara documents|url=https://www.xara.com/desktop/xara-cloud/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> Versions up to 4.x can be run on Linux using [[Wine (software)|Wine]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

== History ==

[[ArtWorks]], the predecessor of Xara Photo and Graphic Designer, was developed on [[Acorn Archimedes]] and [[Risc PC]] 32-bit [[RISC]] computers running [[RISC OS]] by Computer Concepts during the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wuerthner|first=Martin|title=ArtWorks Progress|url=http://www.mw-software.com/software/artworks/aw2progress.html|work=MWSoftware.com|publisher=Martin Wuerthner|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> The first version, developed for [[Microsoft Windows]] was initially called Xara Studio. It was licensed to [[Corel]] Corporation before wide-scale public availability, and from 1995 to 2000 was released as CorelXARA. Corel ceded the licensing rights back to Xara in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chastain|first=Sue|title=Whatever Happened To ... Graphics Software|url=http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/extra/blwh_corelxara.htm|work=About.com|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> The first Xara X version released in 2000 by its original owner.<ref>{{cite web|last=Moir|first=Charles|title=Xara Group History|url=http://www.xara.com/history/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> The next version, Xara X¹, was released in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara News|url=http://www.xara.com/news/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> Xara Xtreme was released in 2005.<ref name="autogenerated2005">{{cite web|title=Xara Takes Xtreme Action|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2005-10-11/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref>

In November 2006, Xara Xtreme PRO (an enhanced version of Xara Xtreme) was released.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Release Xtreme Pro|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2006-11-28/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> Xara Xtreme 3.2 and Xtreme Pro 3.2 were released in May 2007. 3.2 Pro included Xara3D, and both versions had more robust [[typography]].<ref>[http://www.digitalred.com/oldsite/xara-xtreme-history.php History of Xara up until version 3.2 (2007)]</ref> In April 2008, Xara Xtreme 4.0 was released.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Release Xtreme and Xtreme Pro 4|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2008-04-02/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> Xara Xtreme and Xara Xtreme Pro 5.1 were released in June 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Release Xtreme and Xtreme Pro 5|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2009-06-08/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> Features included more text-area enhancements, [[Seam carving|content-aware scaling]] of bitmap images, improved file import and export, master-page (repeated) objects, an object gallery (replacing the layer gallery), website-creation tools, and multi-stage graduated transparency. In June 2010, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 6 and Xara Designer Pro 6 were released. Xtreme was renamed Photo & Graphic Designer, and Xtreme Pro was renamed Designer Pro.<ref name="xara6">{{cite web |url=http://www.xara.com/press/2010-06-16/ |title=Two New Releases |access-date=2010-12-01}}</ref> In May 2011, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 and Xara Designer Pro 7 were released.<ref name="xara7">{{cite web |url=http://www.xara.com/uk/press/2011-05-25/ |title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer and Designer Pro 7 |access-date=2010-12-01}}</ref> Features included "magic" photo erase, user interface improvements to docking galleries and snapping alignment, and (in Pro) new webpage and website-design features.

In May 2012, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2013 and Xara Designer Pro X (v8) were released.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2013 & Designer Pro X|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2012-05-14/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 was released in May 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2013-05-21/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> In July of that year, Xara Designer Pro X9 was released.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Designer Pro X9|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2013-07-09//|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 was released on 16 July 2014,<ref name="Xara Group Ltd"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 Release Notes|url=http://xaragroup.magix.net/PGD10releasenotes/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> and Xara Designer Pro X10 on 23 July.<ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Designer Pro X10 Press Release|url=http://www.xara.com/us/press/2014-07-23/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Designer Pro 10 Release Notes|url=http://xaragroup.magix.net/Pro10releasenotes/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 was released on 29 June 2015,<ref>{{cite web|title=New: Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 11|url=http://www.xara.com/us/press/2015-06-29/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}}</ref> and Xara Designer Pro X11 was released the following month.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New: Xara Designer Pro X11, Creative Software with Online Editing |url=http://www.xara.com/press/2015-07-20/ |access-date=2017-08-03 |website=Xara.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2016, the delivery model was changed to an update service<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Update Service |url=http://www.xara.com/update-service/ |access-date=2017-08-03 |website=Xara.com |language=en}}</ref> which can be renewed annually. Users are entitled to any updates released while the update service is active. The first update-service updates were in May 2016 for Xara Photo & Graphic Designer,<ref>{{Cite web |title=New: Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 365 |url=http://www.xara.com/press/2016-05-25/ |access-date=2017-08-03 |website=Xara.com |language=en}}</ref> and July 2016 for Xara Designer Pro X.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New: Xara Designer Pro X365 |url=http://www.xara.com/press/2016-07-04/ |access-date=2017-08-03 |website=Xara.com |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:26%;"|Version
!  Description
! style="width:12%;"|Release date
|-
|  Xara X || commercial version || 2000
|-
|  Xara X¹ || commercial version || 2004
|-
|  Xara Xtreme || commercial version with commercial plugins || 2005
|-
|  Xara Xtreme XS || commercial version, a light version of Xara Xtreme without plugins or bevel/shadow/outline tools || 2006
|-
|  Xara Xtreme PRO || commercial version with enhanced functions || 2006
|-
|  [[Xara Xtreme LX|Xara Xtreme for Linux]] || open-source version || 2006
|-
|  Xara Xtreme,<br />Xara Xtreme PRO 3.2 || improved typography (Pro includes Xara 3D6) || May 2007
|-
|  Xara Xtreme,<br />Xara Xtreme PRO 4.0 || &nbsp; || April 2008
|-
|  Xara Xtreme,<br />Xara Xtreme PRO 5.0 || &nbsp; || June 2009
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 6,<br />Xara Designer Pro 6  || GUI redesign and tool updates and enhancements || June 2010<ref name="xara6" />
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7,<br />Xara Designer Pro 7 || &nbsp; || May 2011
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2013,<br />Xara Designer Pro X (v8) || &nbsp; || May 2012
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 ||  &nbsp; || May 2013
|-
|  Xara Designer Pro X9 || combines photo, graphics, page layout, and web design || July 2013
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10,<br />Designer Pro X10 ||  &nbsp; || July 2014
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 ||  &nbsp; || June 2015
|-
|  Xara Designer Pro 11 ||  &nbsp; || July 2015
|-
|  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer with update service ||  &nbsp; || May 2016
|-
|  Xara Designer Pro X with update service ||  &nbsp; || July 2016
|-
|  Most recent update-service update ||  &nbsp; || October 2018
|}

== Features ==
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is known for its usability and fast renderer.<ref>[http://www.xaraxtreme.org/about/performance.html Open Source Xara Xtreme – Performance<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2013 Review|url=http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/374989/xara-photo-and-graphic-designer-mx-2013|work=PC Pro|publisher=Dennis Publishing Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> It provides a fully [[Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliased]] display, advanced gradient fill, and [[Alpha compositing|transparency]] tools.

Among vector editors, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is considered to be fairly easy to learn, with similarities to [[CorelDRAW]] and [[Inkscape]] in terms of interface. Alongside the vector illustration tools, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer also includes an integrated photo tool offering manual and automatic photo enhance, cropping, adjustment of brightness levels, red-eye fix, 'magic' erase, photo healing, color and background erase, panoramas and content aware resizing. Designer Pro includes a wider range of tools for other design tasks including the creation of web pages and websites, and text and page layout tools for DTP with the aim of providing a single solution for all graphic and web design tasks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alphr.com/xara/xara-designer-pro-x9/32326/xara-designer-pro-x9-review#ixzz2hEorwDPz|title = Xara Designer Pro X9 review}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Xar (graphics)|.xar]] file format
* [[Comparison of vector graphics editors]]
* [[Comparison of raster-to-vector conversion software]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|www.xara.com/products}}
* [http://www.xaraxone.com/ XaraXone.com: Xara Xtreme, Photo & Graphic Designer and Designer Pro tutorials]
* [http://www.talkgraphics.com/ TalkGraphics.com: Xara user forums]
* [http://drawing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Top Ten Reviews] comparison of drawing software<!-- checked and relevant as of 2014-01, they are on place 1 -->
* [http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/390427/xara-photo-graphic-designer-10 PC Pro review] of Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10
* [http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/software/photo-editing/1403956/xara-photo-graphic-designer-11-review Expert Reviews (Computer Shopper) review] of Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11

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{{Vector graphics editors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xara Photo and Graphic Designer}}
[[Category:Graphics software]]
[[Category:Vector graphics editors]]
[[Category:Raster to vector conversion software]]
[[Category:Raster graphics editors]]
[[Category:Desktop publishing software]]
[[Category:Web design]]
[[Category:1995 software]]
[[Category:Windows graphics-related software]]