Review: Xara Xtreme Pro 4
Let's first get the complaints out of the way. Xara Xtreme Pro 4 won't install under Windows 98SE. I know it said version 3 wouldn't - but it did, and I have been happily using it for the past year without problems. Version 4 won't even try to install it - so at least I still have v3 running on my PC. But I have had to resort to the laptop - which runs XP - which is a drag - but what an enjoyable drag.
Another minor irritation is the slow speed with which it renders text attributes - you might think they forgot about text when they were souping up the graphics capabilities. But no - I particularly like the way the text tool enables you to see your text in different fonts as you hover over the font names. And XXP4 now enables you to flow text round objects, which as with most Xtreme features can be done on the fly.
And it is still an incredibly useful (and fast) graphics tool, with several nifty features in the new version. My favourite is the excellent panoramic photo-stitching plug-in, which does everything: detects the overlap and join positions, reduces fish-eye or focal length distortions, and blends, for example, any dramatic color changes in the sky. I threw together five shots taken at Port Isaac in north Cornwall and let Xara Xtreme Pro do the rest. Within a minute, there was my panorama. You can hopefully see my quick attempt here. Printed, it looks amazing, and I'm not boasting about my picture-taking abilities here.
As ever there are tutorials and demos at the Xara website, hints and tips at the Xara Xone and plenty of usefull stuff on YouTube. Just search for Xara Xtreme.
Another minor irritation is the slow speed with which it renders text attributes - you might think they forgot about text when they were souping up the graphics capabilities. But no - I particularly like the way the text tool enables you to see your text in different fonts as you hover over the font names. And XXP4 now enables you to flow text round objects, which as with most Xtreme features can be done on the fly.
And it is still an incredibly useful (and fast) graphics tool, with several nifty features in the new version. My favourite is the excellent panoramic photo-stitching plug-in, which does everything: detects the overlap and join positions, reduces fish-eye or focal length distortions, and blends, for example, any dramatic color changes in the sky. I threw together five shots taken at Port Isaac in north Cornwall and let Xara Xtreme Pro do the rest. Within a minute, there was my panorama. You can hopefully see my quick attempt here. Printed, it looks amazing, and I'm not boasting about my picture-taking abilities here.
As ever there are tutorials and demos at the Xara website, hints and tips at the Xara Xone and plenty of usefull stuff on YouTube. Just search for Xara Xtreme.
posted by Graham at 7:11 am
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