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Xara file import


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This may be a problem you can't solve - but I have thousands of Xara files that I will have to convert to some other format to import into Affinity, or I'll have to keep Xara for a while.  I have been using that software since 1995 and would love to simply be able to import their files into Affinity.   I have only continued to use Xara because until now, there has been no MAC program that could compare to the speed and versatility of that software.

So if we could get the ability to import the XAR formatted file, or if you included an algorithm to convert it to PSD or whatever on import - that would be awesome and I (and many others) could get rid of Parallels off of our MAC's, dump Windows and regain valuable drive space.   I can't begin to tell you how cool that would be as I do not have time to take almost 20 years worth of files and convert them all to another format for import

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Amen to that. Xara import would be great!

2009: 27 inch iMac / Intel Core i5 / 2.66 GHz / 16 GB Memory / System: Yosemite 10.10.3 – PRINCIPAL DESIGN SOFTWARE: QuarkXpress 9.5.1, 10.5 and 2015 / Pinegrow Web Designer / Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo / Acorn

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I'd also like to see this, as I am also a former Xara user. Makes me so happy to say that. They really missed an opportunity not bringing their software to Mac OS X.

 

The PDF approach would work, to a degree, but it does not keep all objects editable. eg. it effectively "flattens" some types of fills that are supported in Xara and Affinity, but not PDF.

 

There was a partially complete Xara file reader and rendered on github a while ago:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?53104-Xara-file-format-viewer-for-Mac

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  • 2 months later...

Dear members,

 

This Xara file reader is no longer available. As a keen Xara Designer Pro user for years, sadly only available on Windows, I have fallen for AD on the Mac in no time. If the first release of AD is a sign for a brighter future, I am confident that many professional and spare time designers will embrace AD as a formidable substitute on the Mac.

 

Could anyone please share his/her experience converting .xar files for proper use in AD.

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  • 5 years later...

I'd like to see a converter as well. I've used Xara since it was Corel Xara and have hundreds of files that I'd like to convert. They've gotten slower, more buggy and much more expensive. I switched to Xara from Illustrator way back then because I hate using Illustrator - slow and expensive. Now Xara seems to have assumed that role. Love Designer so far, it imported a very complex Illustrator 2020 file flawlessly.

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Hello Harold,

I had loads of Xara multi-layered files. Was unable to transfer them to Affinity Designer by importing them directly. Now, more than 5 years down the line, I have redesigned the most prominent ones in Affinity Designer. It helped me a lot to find the same and similar ways of working with multi-layered vector graphics. I just had the Mac App Store update to 1.8.3 on my iMac and iPad. I love Affinity dearly for what they have made possible from day 1. Good luck with using Affinity Designer and their other friends at 50% off. Highly recommended!!!!

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  • 1 year later...

Hi... I actually would love to know the answer to this question - can Affinity import Xara multi-layered files? I have... thousands of Xara files. I've never been comfortable in another graphics software, Xara for me felt like an intuitive extension of my brain. But I use Macs & so I have been absurdly booting up Windows in a virtual machine via Parallels. This is... a mess. So much of Affinity seems like it finally might work for me so I'm desperate to switch especially as Xara has become bloated and buggy over the years, which is heartbreaking. Why oh why did they not do a Mac & iPad port. Anyway, any thoughts/tips/solidarity on switching from Xara to Affinity please let me know. 

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Hi fellow Affinity users,

As I stated in my earlier post on the subject of direct Sara import, I finally reworked all necessary files in Affinity. At the time,I learned a lot about a suitable workflow for me using Affinity as my first choice. The business diagrams I use the most I have I have transferred into templates. I also have a lot of symbols that I can use as I wish now. These alone have been a tremendous time saver over time. After the first 'conversions' I have never looked back. Have a lovely Christmas time and a creative 2022.

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@eabHey there. Would love to know what your favourite things are about Affinity that *directly improves on Xara* - am keen to be sold on Affinity and putting in the same time on my old files & creating my own templates etc as you have. So upset & heartbroken by Xara for its limitations. 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the same situation, I have been a power Xara users ever since v1.0 (and before that, ArtWorks on Acorn Archimedes) and bought all annual updates. I'm on Mac since 2016 using Parallels and stopped updating since. But Xara on Parallels its not really user friendly (I could list of issues here). I haven't used Xara for a while and am working exclusively in Adobe CS using Illustrator amongst other Adobe apps. I do use Illustrator as a Xara substitute - but boy it is still so clumsy for complex work and still no match for Xara. So I looked at Affinity Designer - and I WISH i would have known it earlier! Needless to say, I bought it yesterday.

A XARA import in Affinity Designer would be a dream. Thank you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sadly, I'm guessing our window has passed on them moving forward with anything Xara related. I'm a user since V1 as well, but I transitioned from Xara to Affinity Designer/Photo as soon as they arrived for cross OS compatibility reasons. The vibe at the time was that I wasn't alone(!), as Xara had been in decline for years, and by the time that crossover time occurred, its user base and 'impact' had shrunk enough that it just didn't make business sense for Affinity to invest the resources in providing Xara support. And it's only gotten worse with time...

I dearly hope I'm wrong, as I have thousands of Xara designs that are in the archives in need of converting... and the conversion process I came up with for select important projects was time consuming and less than pleasant. :)

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  • 11 months later...

I know this might be old, but I am too wanting this. I too have hundreds of illustrations. 10 years of loving Xara, but hating having to use a PC on my Mac. Affinity is amazing but its sad to see all those years of work gone.... I still have the files but no way to open them. 

 

.XAR to affinity would be sooooo good! 

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For all those interested in importing Corel Xara files from their Designer package I have managed to do that. If you have a relatively recent Xara Designer app then you can export a PSD file form their app. You can then import it into the Affinity Desgner 2 (possibly Designer 1 but not tried that yet). Your options in exporting include selected or the whole page. I would just opt for the selected option after you have highlighted the features you need to transfer. Opting for the whole page exports a much larger file and may have confused anyone trying to import it as I found with my first attempt. The file loaded with the graphics visible only in the top right hand corner so the centre is off page to the top left. AF Designer only shows what is on the page so you could have missed them. By selecting two pages from the the graphic items in AF (which I assume is the whole screen and the files 'page' then deleting them - I was able to reduce the AF page size and select around the top corner of the screen which highlights the invisible parts of the file, group them and drag them onto the AF page.

It would help if Affinity scaled the imported image to fit the page size and positioning it centralised on the working AD page. That would keep it visible and allow users to access/modify.

I can now import any Xara files from my vast, like many other Affinity/Xara users, array of files built up over the years.

Hope that helps anyone in the same position as me.

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