Xara Designer Pro+

When it comes to photo and graphic editing, the software managing the workflows ought to be well-equipped to handle just about anything the editor requires of it. Programs capable of such a feat are available, and Xara Designer Pro+ is intriguing enough that it deserves a try.

It's a versatile app that provides lots of features to satisfy the needs of photo and graphic editors alike, while still managing to maintain a user-friendly interface to make it accessible to anyone. Edit images, manipulate PDFs, introduce symbols into your projects, and much more.

While the program's interface may seem a bit loaded at first, the tutorial handily manages to explain all of its prerogatives, so we'd recommend you do not skip this one. Still, users of apps from the Adobe Suite will find the interface familiar and likely won't have any issue getting used to it.

Editing your photos is a simple affair: click the little camera icon in the left panel, pick the first option, then highlight your image. After doing so, you can freely edit your shots according to your preferences: modify their exposure, highlights, colors, tint, and so on.

The interesting thing about this program is that it's also fully capable of handling graphic editing work: introduce PDFs, Word documents, and web pages into your workflow and manipulate them to your liking.

Adding a PDF file was a very easy process: dragging-and-dropping did the trick, and then we were able to edit everything that was in the document. Inserting new elements, such as new images, was just as simple. The app itself also provides plenty of stuff for you to add: shapes, text boxes, and even a symbol database that provides brand logos, web icons, and other such things.

The process was much the same when it came to Word documents and web pages: in the case of the latter, copying from the Web via the CTRL+ALT+W shortcut made it easier to manage website design. Press that hotkey, input the link, then the app will fetch the info on that site into a new document — very convenient!

Xara Designer Pro+ is a versatile program, and the fact that it's so feature-packed yet so user-friendly makes it worth your while.