Xara Designer Pro+

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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} The first Xara X version released in 2000 by its original owner.{{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}} The next version, Xara X¹, was released in 2004.{{cite web|title=Xara News|url=http://www.xara.com/news/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd|access-date=11 June 2012}} Xara Xtreme was released in 2005.{{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}}

In November 2006, Xara Xtreme PRO (an enhanced version of Xara Xtreme) was released.{{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}} 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.[http://www.digitalred.com/oldsite/xara-xtreme-history.php History of Xara up until version 3.2 (2007)] In April 2008, Xara Xtreme 4.0 was released.{{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}} Xara Xtreme and Xara Xtreme Pro 5.1 were released in June 2009.{{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}} Features included more text-area enhancements, 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.xara.com/press/2010-06-16/ |title=Two New Releases |access-date=2010-12-01}} In May 2011, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 and Xara Designer Pro 7 were released.{{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}} 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.{{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}} Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 was released in May 2013.{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2013-05-21/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}} In July of that year, Xara Designer Pro X9 was released.{{cite web|title=Xara Designer Pro X9|url=http://www.xara.com/press/2013-07-09//|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}} Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 was released on 16 July 2014,{{cite web|title=Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 Release Notes|url=http://xaragroup.magix.net/PGD10releasenotes/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}} and Xara Designer Pro X10 on 23 July.{{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}}{{cite web|title=Xara Designer Pro 10 Release Notes|url=http://xaragroup.magix.net/Pro10releasenotes/|work=xara.com|publisher=Xara Group Ltd}} Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 was released on 29 June 2015,{{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}} and Xara Designer Pro X11 was released the following month.{{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}} In 2016, the delivery model was changed to an update service{{Cite web |title=The Update Service |url=http://www.xara.com/update-service/ |access-date=2017-08-03 |website=Xara.com |language=en}} 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,{{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}} and July 2016 for Xara Designer Pro X.{{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}}

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is known for its usability and fast renderer.[http://www.xaraxtreme.org/about/performance.html Open Source Xara Xtreme – Performance]{{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}} It provides a fully anti-aliased display, advanced gradient fill, and 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.{{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}}

• .xar file format
• Comparison of vector graphics editors
• Comparison of raster-to-vector conversion software

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{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
• [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}}

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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