Content Text Handling Xara Cloud Other

Content

New Templates & Other New Content

  • More than 20 new Website Themes in the Online Content Catalog, all including mobile variants
  • A new category of misc graphics
  • Additional website backgrounds
  • A selection of new modern NavBar and standalone button designs
  • A handy new page counter widget

 


Online Content Catalog templates now include new button and NavBar designs and a category of misc graphics

New SmartShapes

SmartShapes are an amazingly quick and easy way to create and edit some of the most commonly required shapes. There are improvements to the way SmartShapes work (eg improved handles) plus some great new additions to the Online Content Catalog library of these ultra-editable ready-made shapes:

  • New Chevron SmartShapes NEW - April 2017
  • 15 additional arrow SmartShapes, plus a new handle that makes it easy to change the head and tail design where appropriate NEW - April 2017
  • New Text Panels and Photo Panels
  • Other new SmartShapes include some simple shapes such as a rectangle where you can edit corners individually and custom lines
  • New variants of existing SmartShapes such as arrows and speech bubbles

We will soon be offering a public API for SmartShapes for anyone interested in developing their own (programmed in Javascript). Contact Us.

new - April 2017

Stock Photos & Illustration

New in the Online Content Catalog: In partnership with Pixabay we've added fully integrated access to a free library of over 750,000 quality royalty-free stock photos and over 150,000 vector illustrations.  All available under the CC0 license.

Photo Grids offer a cool new way to display your photos

A New Online Content Catalog

An enhanced Online Content Catalog will be included free for one year.  Based on the v11 Content Catalog, this new and improved version will now offer:

  • Regular updates to the templates during the year
  • Full keyword search of the entire catalog
  • A new more logical structure to the content offering a better work flow 

The Designs Gallery (now 'Local Designs Gallery') will now be used to display only your current assets (those downloaded from the Online Content Catalog or from the optional back-up CD) making it quicker to access the resources you are already using.


Finding the right content is now easy with the Search feature in the new Online Content Catalog

Photo Grids

These are a cool new way to display your photos. You'll find the new Online Content Catalog category under Components > Image Resources.


Photo Grids in the Online Content Catalog offer a cool new way to display your photos

Text Handling

Symbols & Icons

Check out Insert > Symbol. These are not just useful symbols and icons that you can add to your text, but fully editable vector shapes!

  • The popular Font Awesome collection has been updated, and is now supplemented by a collection of Google Material Design Icons making more than 1500 symbols in total
  • We’ve added a search function for the symbols, eg search on ‘Face’ and it will show you Facebook symbols, smiley faces etc
  • The symbols will be automatically updated as new versions become available
  • Plus there’s improved handling of symbols that have been added to your text (so for example they aren’t affected by font changes to the text)
  • A new right click Replace Symbol option (including symbols in bullet lists)

You can now choose from over 1500 icons and symbols

new - April 2017

Improved List Editing

  • You can now select just the bullets/numbers in bulleted/numbered lists, so you can then adjust the color, size or font independently of the list text
  • Two separate numbered lists can now be linked (so for example you could have a graphic in the middle)
  • An extended List Properties dialog for easier list editing

Other Text Enhancements

  • Better handling of text on buttons (so font and font size changes are synchronized on the mouse off and mouse over state)
  • Improved subscript / superscript positioning
  • A new rectangular text repelling option
  • Option to change the case of selected text, switching between UPPER CASE, lower case or Sentence case
  • The spell checker menu now allows you to set the language for your whole document
  • Improvements to the auto-kerning (now supports kerning between character classes, so many newer OpenType fonts now render with the correct kerning)
  • An easy to use Link to heading option (no anchor names required) NEW - April 2017
  • Delete Style option added - NEW - April 2017
  • Ability to hide styles in the Styles menu NEW - April 2017
  • Ability to select single objects embedded in or anchored to text NEW - April 2017
  • And other minor enhancements

Xara Cloud

Web Designer benefits from seamless integration with Xara Cloud, which makes it a great additional service. You can find out more & register here.

Significant improvements since last year include:

  • Dramatically improved editing features (add & delete objects, move & resize, add & delete pages)
  • Bitmap export & download
  • PDF export and download
  • Create New Document (yes, your document no longer needs to be created in Web Designer!)
Xara Cloud is being constantly enhanced - you can find news of the very latest updates here. 

Edit your Xara websites in a browser using any device

Other

Update Service: Access New Features As They Are Developed

We know that many of you find it frustrating that you have to wait a whole year for our next update - knowing that we are working on (and likely finished) new cutting edge features and on-trend content.  We have the answer! For the first time you’ll have access to new features and content as we develop them, at any time during the 365 days after you purchase. You’ll be able to download and use these new features, for no extra charge, in addition to the version that you buy today.

Note: these updates continue to work after 365 days in any installations at the date of expiry, but if you reinstall the software after the Update Service expires (and you don't renew) then these updates will not be included (the software will revert to the version at your date of purchase or registration).

Import & Export

  • SVG import and export NEW - April 2017
  • Improved PDF import UPDATED - April 2017
  • Improved RTF import and export

Easy Move, Rotate & Scale for Photos

Select a photo in the Photo tool and you’ll see some new handles on the photo, for scale, rotate and crop. It’s a lot easier and more intuitive than using the Fill tool for these simple but frequent actions, and it’s smarter too – ensuring you never see any gaps around the edge of the photo when you move it in its frame or change the shape of the frame. Top Tip – it’s great for horizon straightening!

UPDATED - April 2017: Now as you drag the handles to adjust an image, a faint copy of the full uncropped image is shown behind.    


Scale & rotate with the curved arrow and push the photo with the hand. You can change the shape of the frame with the edge handles

Other Enhancements

  • A new and improved media player (by default it uses the HTML5 capabilities of the web browser to play the audio and video where the browser supports it, otherwise Flash)
  • The preview window has been updated to include MS Edge preview (Windows 10)
  • You can now give individual objects names in the Page & Layer Gallery, to help find objects and to organize your designs
  • Distribute operations have been added to the Align toolbar
  • The ability to export images in a group with separate settings NEW - April 2017
  • Option to keep Content Catalog open after selecting an item  NEW - April 2017
  • Improved mouse pointers over SmartShape handles NEW - April 2017
  • 'Smart' handles are now automatically shown when you select a SmartShape with the Selector Tool NEW - April 2017
  • Paste to multiple pages NEW - April 2017
  • New 'Change width of all pages' option NEW - April 2017