Xara Designer Pro+ is a Windows design application for creating vector artwork, editing photographs, laying out publications and building websites. It brings these jobs into the same workspace: text, drawn objects and edited images can form a printed brochure, a PDF document or a visually designed web page.
Designer Pro+ uses a paid subscription that includes software updates and access to the Elements catalog of templates, filters and graphic assets. It is distinct from the separately sold, one-time-purchase Designer Pro edition. The desktop application also remains separate from the browser-based Xara Cloud service.
Vector drawing and object effects
Drawing in Xara Designer Pro+ starts with freehand lines, preset shapes or imported artwork. Straight segments can be pulled into curves, while path points have corner controls for changing their shape and radius. The Shape Tool displays the result as a path is dragged, so adjustments remain visible within the surrounding design.
An object can also control how other objects appear. ClipView turns a shape into a window that reveals only the artwork inside its boundary. Transparency and feathering change how objects overlap or fade into a background, and Live Effects update when the underlying vector shape is edited. Live Copies link duplicate objects so that editing one updates the others, which is useful for a symbol repeated across a document.
Scatter brushes repeat objects along a line, with controls for spacing, rotation, size and color. For codes placed on packaging or printed material, the QR generator accepts text or a URL and creates a vector graphic whose color can be changed. Custom shapes can replace the code’s square data elements; complex shapes or shapes containing holes can reduce scanner readability.
Photo editing within the layout
Photographs can be adjusted within the layout rather than prepared as separate finished images first. Xara Designer Pro+ provides non-destructive photo editing, including brightness, contrast and color adjustments. Color Select narrows enhancement to areas matching a chosen color, allowing an adjustment to a blue sky, for example, without applying the same change throughout the picture.
Background removal isolates a subject for placement against another background or export with transparency. Magic Erase works on a selected unwanted area and fills it with replacement background content.
Bitmap tracing provides another route for imported images. It converts bitmap logos, line art or photographs into editable vector shapes. The resulting shapes can then be cleaned up and altered with the drawing tools instead of remaining a single raster image.
Text-heavy documents
For text-heavy work, Designer Pro+ flows text through columns and onto following pages, wraps it around pictures and handles page numbering. Headers and footers can be controlled for an individual page or across the document. Text styles preserve shared formatting, while Find & Replace Font can locate a particular font or replace it throughout the project, including its use in style definitions.
Tables can be embedded in flowing text and split at page boundaries. Turning that split option off keeps the table together and moves it to the following page when necessary. Header and footer row groups stay together when a table splits, so a long table can continue through a publication without breaking those groups apart.
The Page and Layer Gallery controls the document’s organization. Pages, layers and individual elements can be hidden or locked, and Solo mode isolates a layer for editing. Changing the document’s page size can adapt the positions of its contents, after which individual objects can be adjusted for the new layout.
PDF import, export and print controls
Xara Designer Pro+ can import PDF content for editing or reuse, including text, pictures and graphic elements. Multiple PDFs can be brought into a document and their pages arranged together.
Export profiles distinguish a draft, an emailed document, high-quality output and commercial printing. PDF/X export supports print delivery, while optional downsampling reduces the resolution of large embedded photographs to control the resulting PDF’s size. Print controls also provide print borders, simulated printer colors and color separations for preparing a publication’s output.
Designing websites with Xara Designer Pro+
Website design uses visual placement of text, graphics and images, with templates and page sections available as starting points. Objects can be positioned freely or aligned with neighboring elements. Global colors, fonts and styles apply changes across the site instead of requiring each page to be edited separately.
Responsive layouts use variants for different screen sizes, giving the designer control over the arrangement for phones, tablets and wider displays. Galleries, sliders and media players add content beyond static text and pictures. Third-party widgets connect forms, payment services and appointment scheduling to the page.
The web export tools can generate WebP images, and website properties hold page titles, descriptions and other metadata. Designer Pro+ can also present documents and presentations in a browser viewer with page thumbnails, zoom controls and a PDF download option.
