Xara can trace its personal computer software origins back to the early 80s, with the initial release of its Wordwise wordprocessor, followed by the Impression desktop publishing software and graphics products in the '90s for the Acorn RISC computer. Xara Studio, a Windows-based vector illustration application, was marketed by Corel Corp. as CorelXARA in the late 90s, with the rights later reverting to Xara Corp. It subsequently developed the more advanced Xara X and then Xara Xtreme iteration. Xara went on to release the application's code as open source in 2006 and then split the product into Xtreme and Xtreme PRO versions. The latter is particularly rich in functionality, going beyond the core vector illustration capabilities to include DTP-style document functionality, surprisingly broad photo handling features, 3D effects, website graphic creation and most recently, the ability to create entire web pages and sites.

Xara Xtreme 5 was released in June, 2009, and provided more than 100 improvements, among them new features designed for rapid website prototyping; content-aware photo scaling and a new photo masking tool; automatic font embedding, allowing Xara documents to be distributed, viewed and printed WYSIWYG with any fonts; multi-language real-time spell checking; and improved file import/export and Flash creation. The Pro version, priced at $249, can be purchased on the Xara site. A trial version is also available for download.

Given its age and installed base of more than 700,000 users, it's no surprise that a thriving online community has grown up around it, the epicenter of which is Gary W. Priester's Xara Xone, hosted by Xara itself, which provides tips, tutorials and a thriving forum. However, there has never been a book available for those wishing to master Xara. Until now, with the release of Xara Xtreme 5: The Official Guide, published by McGraw-Hill Professional. Author Gary David Bouton is a well-known figure in the Xara community, as well as the author many books devoted to graphics and design (you can see examples of his work in the 3D and Xara galleries here on Graphics.com). You can get a good sense of the book by checking out the free bonus chapter on Gary's site.