Xara Xtreme Pro is the new flagship of the Xtreme range, adding new high end features requested by Xtreme's already very active user base of professional designers.

You can download a 30 day trial of a beta version of Pro right now:

» Download now

At this stage you cannot purchase Pro or unlock the trial. Return to this page or the talkgraphics forum for the latest news on the public release, or simply sign up for email alerts on any updates.




What's new in Xara Xtreme Pro
  • Animated Flash export

    Xtreme Pro brings one of the easiest ways to produce really efficient Flash animations.



    Flash animations use vector graphics. Unfortunately existing Flash tools have a reputation for being unintuitive, difficult to master and over complex. As a result Flash has been restricted to those willing to dedicate substantial time to mastering these tools. On the other hand, the Xtreme drawing tools have the reputation of being extremely easy to learn and slick. So now we bring the ease of Xtreme to Flash animations.

    Xtreme Flash animation doesn't use complex time-lines. Instead it's more like traditional animators art, where you produce snap-shots or key frames of your animations at points in time. Xtreme automatically produces in-between frames to create smooth, really compact Flash animations.

    Note: Xtreme Flash animation does not support complex advanced features such as scripting, sound or embedded movies. Instead it's Flash animation for the rest of us.
    See more examples
  • Multi-page documents

    Xtreme Pro includes a feature that's been high on our user's wish list since the first launch - support for multiple page documents. It's now possible to use Xtreme to produce leaflets, newsletters and more. Pages can be single or double page spreads (left and right sides) and are arranged vertically, like a word processor or DTP program.

    Xtreme's ultra-fast rendering means you can scroll through pages quickly and smoothly, even on large documents.
  • Enhanced text tool

    Along with multi-page documents comes an enhanced text tool providing high-end DTP-like features, such as:
    • Margin and tab control (left, center, right and decimal tabs)
    • 1st line indent or outdent control provides support for hanging indents, such as numbered or bulleted lists
    • Three types of text object: Simple text, text columns and text frames
    • Linked flowing text stories across frames and pages (including text stories flowing from any to any page, even backwards) Shown opposite.



    This brings Xtreme well into the Desk Top Publishing arena. Along with the lightning fast screen update, Xtreme is now perfect for producing documents such as brochures and flyers.
    Linked flowing text stories
    Move your mouse over
  • Adobe Photoshop® PSD import and export

    Full support for importing and exporting Photoshop® PSD files including layer support (Xtreme layers exported as PSD layers and PSD layers imported as Xtreme layers) including alpha channel, 16-bit color and CMYK layer conversion.

    Photoshop® is the industry standard bitmap editing solution, and for many professionals Xtreme is their standard vector graphics tool. Now the two are more closely integrated than ever.
  • PDF/X and other PDF export improvements

    PDF has become the industry standard way of transferring documents of all types from one person to another, ensuring exact WYSIWYG fidelity. Xtreme's PDF support has been dramatically improved so it can now output PDF directly, catering for the novice user to the professional.

    Xtreme Pro now includes class leading PDF support including these features:
    • Choice of PDF version from version 1.3 through to version 1.6, as well as PDF/X-1a 2001, x-1a 2003, X3-2002, and X-3 2003 standards.
    • Full support for vector transparency (PDF version 1.4 or later)
    • Font embedding and font subsetting options
    • Export any selected page range
    • Optional down-sampling of large bitmaps (reduces the size of PDFs for designs containing large photos)
    • Full control over bitmap embedding options and compression (native, Flate, JPEG)
    • Full control over bitmap transparency flattening, bitmap effect rasterization, to any required resolution and compression type
    • Embedding of native JPG files for lossless JPEG transfer
    • Support for Adobe Reader Layers. For PDF 1.5 and above you can now output and control Xtreme's layer visibility in Adobe Reader
    • File embedding. You can embed .xar files into your PDF and launch them from Adobe Reader
    • Full pre-press PDF/X support including:
    • Embedding page crop and printer's marks
    • ICC color profiles, including all the common paper stock options (e.g. US Web coated, ISO, etc)
    • Embedding of custom ICC profiles
    • Document encryption, with full control over document permissions:
    • Password protect any PDF file, with 40 or 128-bit encryption
    • Control over exact permissions, e.g. allow / disallow printing or commenting or text copying or extraction.
    Thankfully for those that do not require such full control over PDF features, Xtreme provides a simple choice of 4 typical PDF profiles for the novice user: Draft, Email, High Quality and Commercial Printing.
  • Color separation support

    The ability to produce CMYK color separations has been re-introduced to Xtreme Pro. This includes on-screen preview of CMYK and spot color plates, Pantone color support, spot colors, on-screen printer gamut preview and a lot more. Xtreme is now able to produce professional CMYK print results either via PDF/X support or via direct 4 color and spot-color separation via the print dialog.

    Both options include crop and printer's marks. The direct separations printing includes control over print screening and screen types, emulsion side down and other advanced settings.
  • Pantone® color support

    Xtreme Pro includes Pantone color libraries for use as both spot color and Pantone process color equivalents.
  • Levels control

    For the advanced user the Xara Picture Editor (integrated into Xtreme) now includes a Levels control to adjust brightness levels of images. This single control offers:
    • Histogram view of the brightness levels of the image
    • Control over input black, white and gamma and output black and white levels. These controls provide a far more powerful way of adjusting brightness, contrast and gamma than the traditional simple brightness and contrast controls.
    • Single click before and after compare
    • Color correction e.g. to adjust for a color cast from using the wrong white balance settings
    • Overlaid before and after histograms. As you adjust the levels you can see the original and the modified histogram.
  • Short cut key configuration

    Xtreme Pro now includes a bundled utility that allows users to configure the Xtreme key shortcuts to most features and functions.

Compatibility Note
Files saved from Xtreme Pro using the new features can be loaded into older versions, but the new features will be unsupported. For example it will show the first page of a multi-page document, any new margin settings will be ignored but the text will load.


What's new since Xara X¹
  • Live Effects tool

    A new main tool allows Adobe Photoshop® and Xara plug-in effects to be applied to both vector graphics and photos. This works with the majority of third party Photoshop plug-ins. If these are modern 'scriptable' plug-ins then you can still edit the vector shape (or text) and the effects are automatically updated.

    There are hundreds of compatible Photoshop plug-ins available (free and priced). More than 17 quality example plug-ins are included with Xtreme, and we have also negotiated significant discounts on some of the best commercially available plug-ins.

    Xara Live Effect plug-ins include a Bump Map tool (creates a 3D lit surface from any vector or photo artwork) and an Enhance tool (which allows real-time brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpen and blur to be applied to vector graphics and photos.)

    Changing the shape of an object without a Live Effect applied. Changing the shape of an object with the Alien Skin Animal Fur Live Effect applied.
  • Faster rendering

    Xara drawing speed out-performs all other graphics programs, by a large margin. In Xtreme we have, yet again, improved this and made dramatic speed-ups to a number of areas:
    • Blends, contours and group rendering.
    • Solid object resizing, rotation and translation.
    • Toggling zoom factors is now often instant.
    • General speed improvement to various other rendering and printing functions.
  • Import/export plug-in system

    A new plug-in architecture that enables new import/export converters to be added more easily, by us or third parties. The first example of which is PDF export.
  • PDF export

    Xara pioneered vector transparency and now that PDF version 1.4 supports basic transparency we've created an entirely new PDF export tool allowing super-clean, very compact PDF files to be created. This includes support for graduated color fills and support for flat transparency and graduated transparency.*

    This means not only dramatic increases in the PDF quality but also substantial reduction in PDF file sizes.

    *PDF can only support the basic Xara graduated fill and transparency types of flat, linear and radial. Other graduated types are automatically rasterized (flattened) to any required resolution on export.



    The old style PDF had to simulate graduated fills and transparency by creating bitmap version. With the new version everything remains pixel perfect, resolution-independent vector graphics. Zoom in to really see the difference.

    • Old PDF - 221Kbytes download
    • New PDF - 111Kbytes download
    • Original Xar file - 15kbytes download
  • Improved Illustrator® compatibility

    The PDF exporter has also been designed to allow the files to be opened by Adobe Illustrator, so providing significantly improved Illustrator compatibility. For the first time vector artwork including graduated color and transparency can be imported cleanly into Illustrator versions 9 onwards.
  • Improved Xara Picture Editor (XPE)

    • Works stand-alone or integrated as part of Xara Xtreme.
    Red Eye removal tool
    • New tools. Red Eye removal, Bump Map, edits list.
    • Supports majority of third party Photoshop plug-ins.
    • Accepts Xara (or third party) plug-ins using a new open plug-in API to add more tools. This system is flexible enough to support a near infinite variety of tools, such as a simple Levels or histogram function, or digital camera noise reduction, to pixel editing tools such as an erase brush. New tools are coming soon.
    • Can save PNG (lossless inc alpha channel) and JPG (lossy).
    • Loading previously edited photos allows editing and undo of any previously applied effects or edit.
    • Zero cumulative distortion when performing the common load, edit, save process. In plain English this means you can load, edit and save a given photo as many times as you like without the usual picture degradation.
  • Dockable galleries

    All gallery windows can be docked to the left or right of the work area, or remain as floating windows. Click to enlarge
  • Group transparency

    When applying transparency to grouped objects, the whole object is treated as one, so allowing much easier, faster and more useful transparency effects. This also applies to other 'group-like' objects such as blends and clip-views.
  • Improved Photoshop plug-in support

    Supports a much wider range of third party Photoshop plug-ins including 'old style' non-scriptable and more recent 'scriptable' effects. It also supports alpha-channel effects.
  • Compatibility with Xara3D for dramatic 3D effects

    You can now copy vector graphics from Xara Xtreme, and paste into Xara3D to create dramatic 3D effects, and then paste the result directly back into Xara Xtreme.


    View tutorial
  • Extra Resources

    • A new collection of ready made, fully editable business designs (letterhead, compliment slip etc), greetings cards, CD designs and photo frames added to the clipart gallery (included on the Xtreme CD).
    • The Retail version includes an updated Xara Xone CD with the latest tutorials from the Xara Xone and an updated PDF manual. Plus there is now an option to purchase our 275 page printed Xtreme manual.
  • Many smaller features that will appeal to existing users.

    • Better Windows XP look and feel
    • Shadow attributes can be copy / pasted
    • Paste-in-place menu option visible
    • Pop-up higher-resolution live feather slider
    • Ungrouping a shadowed group now works without having to un-shadow first
    • Can now contone (re-color) 32-bit alpha channel photos and bitmaps
    • Feathering with non-mix transparency works
    • New right-button-drag feature (followed by left click) allows solid and quick 'drop-copy'


You can view the pioneering developments and new features since our previous products Xara X, CorelXARA, and Webster.