Xara Outsider November 2014

IN THIS MONTH'S EDITION...

It’s that Black Friday time of the year again, so we know you'll be expecting some tempting offers from Xara – and you won’t be disappointed! This year our offer includes all the Designer 10 titles and runs from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday (which for those of you outside the US means Thursday 27th November to Monday 1st December). Find out more below.
New tutorials this month include Part 3 of our series on the Photo Tool, covering the photo enhance options. Plus on the Xara Xone Gary Bouton demonstrates the importance of backgrounds by constructing a background room for his coffee mug, while Frances Proctor creates some watery text, making good use of Enhance Transparency, Feathering, Opacity Masks and Soft Groups in the process. Details below.
Under Other News you'll find a link to our surveys for Photo & Graphic Designer 10 and Designer Pro X10. If you already own either you can help shape future versions by spending a couple of minutes completing the surveys, your time is very much appreciated.
Other News also includes information on the release of the localized versions of Page & Layout Designer 10, two very different books involving Designer Pro, and how to win a free copy of Designer Pro X10. And last but never least, don't miss this month's Inspirational Art, which features another designer new to the Outsider.

INSPIRATIONAL ART // David Cockburn

This month we feature the work of David Cockburn, another newcomer to Inspirational Art. - Find out more

5 DAY SPECIAL OFFER

Visit the Xara graphics forums to discuss or find answers to your graphics needs.

Our pick of Top Talk this month:

The number of posts in TalkGraphics has recently passed the landmark 500,000, and during November the number of TalkGraphics members passed 27,000. So we have to say, if you're not there WHERE ARE YOU!?
If you're wondering where to make that first post, then why not consider the November Drop Cap Challenge, which has reached the letter N. Or how about the monthly Scribble Challenge, a perfect place to start.
And if illustration is not your thing, then don't forget that TalkGraphics also has a Web Gallery Forum where you can link to your website for feedback and discussion.

MOVIE NEWS

Two great new options within the Photo Tool of Photo & Graphic Designer 10 and Designer Pro X10 give you precise control over specific areas of your photo that are in deep shadow or bright light. This recent movie in our YouTube channel shows you how.

Why not subscribe to our YouTube channel while you're there and you'll hear about new movies as we add them.

FEATURED TUTORIAL // PHOTO & GRAPHIC DESIGNER 10 / DESIGNER PRO X10

Photo Editing Basics - Part 3

OTHER NEWS

German, Italian, French, Dutch & Spanish Page & Layout Designer 10
During November MAGIX has released the German, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish versions of Page & Layout Designer 10. All are available now for purchase on the MAGIX sites.
Find out more about all our non-English versions

Win a Copy of Designer Pro X10
Just a few days left to win a completely free copy of Designer Pro X10 in the graphics.com sweepstakes, closes midnight EST 30th November.
The graphics.com sweepstakes

A Tale of Two Publications
Gary Priester’s latest book publishing venture is available now on Amazon - 218 pages, cover design and layout entirely in Xara Designer Pro 10. Meanwhile, on a different planet, the recent Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Strategy Guide features maps by Michael Tumey, well known for his fantasy maps on TalkGraphics, all created in Designer Pro - more on that on his G+ page.

Surveys
If you've already purchased Photo & Graphic Designer 10 or Designer Pro X10 you can help us make future decisions relating to the product by completing our very short survey. All help appreciated! Complete the survey

Xara News, As It Happens
You can be first to receive Xara news by signing up to the RSS feed on our News page, or you can join more than 53,505 followers in our Facebook community or if you prefer our new Google + page, or follow our tweets at twitter.com/xaragroup.

HINTS & TIPS

Creating Sitemaps
XML sitemaps can help with your SEO, and they are easy to create in Web Designer Premium / Designer Pro. Select Web Properties from the Utilities menu and go to the Publish tab. Enter the full URL of your published website in the Website URL field and click on Apply.

Cropping Photos
The Clip tool provides lots of cropping options, but it's actually possible to do a really quick simple crop without going into the Clip tool. Simply select the Photo tool (the camera icon on the toolbar) and then just drag the mouse pointer over your image. And a quick way to select the Photo tool is to type the letter P (unless you're in the Text tool of course!) or Ctrl + F6

Useful Options on the Document Tabs
Right click on the open document tabs across the top of the working area and you'll find some useful options - Save As, Close Other Tabs, Discard, Close All and Discard All.

PRESS REVIEWS

“A valuable update to an excellent editor that’s ideal for designers on a budget”.

Expert Reviews gives Photo & Graphic Designer 10 5/5 Read the full review

IN THE XARA XONE THIS MONTH...

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