Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (Mac) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had it for a couple of days now, but there are a number of things about PE4 that make the transition from version 3 to 4 needlessly difficult, not to mention if you get PE4 first.
The main change involves the use of "Bridge" to handle what the Browser function did previously. Unfortunately, it seems there are some missing planks in their Bridge, as it's like having 2 separate programs attempt to talk to hand off files to each other. It is clunky, not intuitive at all, and often doesn't work in a consistent way, even when you figure it out.
According to Adobe Technical Help [when you can reach them through 3 or 4 layers of sales beforehand], there is no "Organizer" for Mac that comes with the Windows version, and they were surprised at a number of missing elements in this version as a result. It also seems that they've tried to piggyback an existing full Photoshop program--Bridge--onto the back of Elements, which despite appearances, is a completely different program.
Another example: the Adjust Shadows/Highlights--which allows you to correct for things in shadows, or too bright...buried in a 3rd level menu...has been changed from the PE3 default of "50% lighten" to a "25% lighten" with no ability to change that preset. So everytime you want to adjust your picture, you have to push the slider back to 0% and start out there to see what's best for your photo. Clearly Adobe recognized their 50% preset was too much for most, and changed it--but left off the ability of the user to preset what works best for us. What's the solution to this or any other inflexible/confusing issue? I was told several times that if I wanted things to work better, I should buy the full Photoshop.
That is simply unacceptable, especially for a company of Adobe's size and history of working primarily on the Mac platform. I would rather have fewer features that work more reliably and straightforward, especially involving putting our most used features on a toolbar instead of being forced to grab them out of deep menus everytime.
In Bridge, they are trying to combine a number of features found in iPhoto, such as rating photos by stars, making it more flexible. However, they don't allow you to customize your displays or views enough to be efficient, much less easy to deal with. The speed of Bridge, and especially interacting with 4, is slow. Also particularly irksome is the lack of sensitivity/responsiveness of the sliders within PE4, i.e. brush size and opacity.
So far, I'm not impressed with the Magic Selection Tool, one of the main reasons I wanted to upgrade. It doesn't seem to grab things as efficiently as advertised, although it is better than just the Magic Wand 3 had. I'm also less than impressed with another new feature: Adjust Skin Tone, something that could be a big time saver while offering the improvements most people care about.
The combined Help program is overly detailed in some regards, yet leaves out big chunks of the program for you to guess at solutions. They have virtually no tutorials or overviews of the program specifically for the Mac version.
I will update this review as I use it more, but I would caution against jumping at this upgrade until they work out more of the kinks in the interface, unless you are a virtual pro and don't mind spending a lot of time figuring things out that aren't quite Ready For Primetime yet. What I look to PE for is something that allows more extensive editing than iPhoto6 has, and yet doesn't have the complexity or cost of the graphics standard Photoshop.
Whether because of the Mac platform changing to Intel chips, or friction between the companies, it seems Adobe is heading in the wrong direction on the Mac platform, making us seem once again like the red-haired stepchild in the computer world, while still charging the same as the Windows versions.

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 software for Macintosh combines power and simplicity to help you do it all. Edit and enhance your photos by fixing common flaws instantly or using advanced options for more control—you can even fine-tune the raw files produced by your digital camera. Keep every photo at your fingertips with intuitive search and viewing options. And show off your creativity to family and friends in entertainingways, including cards, calendars, and more.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been a user since version 4. Version 4 was bad, 5 was good, 6 was terrible, 7 was great, tried 8 & didn't see the point, 9 was stable and very good. I avoided 10. 11 is very good. In Version 12 Corel had added features that made me want to go back to 11.
So now here we are on X3. Let me tell you, It has been 5 years since could say I love this program! It loads faster than 11 or 12 (and about a bizillion times faster than Adobe's Illustrator).
It seems in this version, Corel has really given it's users a good listen because the additions to this program bring draw up to a new level of "I can harldy wait to work on a new project".
Many of the improvments are simply little things in the way of navigation and shortcuts. Some, like the improved trace work wonderfully and seamlessly. You can go to corel's website to learn of the other improvments. I think you'll be pleased.
This is a designer's tool that you can purchase and use with confidence.

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Whether they are design professionals on deadline or small business owners creating their own marketing materials, customers will enjoy a significant productivity boost from CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3. The suite simplifies the design process for projects of any scale, including logo creation, professional marketing brochures, and eye-catching signs. Customers choose CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 because it delivers a combination of superior design capabilities, speed, ease of use, and affordability that's unmatched in the graphics software industry.

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Corel Painter IX.5 Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are an artist who works with "wet media"--oils, watercolor, magic markers, pen and ink or if you are a digital artist who creates only with pixels of light on a computer, you should seriously look at Painter IX. This is without a doubt, digital art software at its very best.
I've used a form of Painter since its very first version, which was called Sketcher. This was back before 1990, I am pretty sure, and Sketcher, which was a Fractal Designs product, came in a snazzy cigar box (because many sketch artists keep their charcoals in this handy container.) The software did grey-scale renderings of drawings into charcoal, pencil or ink and it could be used to sketch on graphics tablets.
After Sketcher came Painter, which was sold amusingly in a paint can and did color rendering of oil, watercolor, pencil and inks. Eventually, Painter was sold to Corel, who had the expertise in graphics design software to take Painter to a whole new level. While previous versions of Painter had some idiosyncrasies, Painter IX has been revised to match current graphics capabilities of computers, and has been debugged to the point that it is a pure pleasure to use. As a result, professional designers of everything from brochures to fast cars use Painter instead of real media or in conjunction with art media to create some stunning digital creations. In addition, wet media artists now routinely use digital art software to visualize, compose and test designs before doing them by hand. I do this myself; I take photos or sketches and try out palettes to see how a certain color scheme works. Or I cut and paste elements of a composition to visualize the painting before I sketch it on paper. My own medium is watercolor, and I find it a lot more comforting to have a plan of attack before I hit that scary white (and pricey) piece of watercolor paper. Visualizing my composition on the PC screen is a very useful tool.
If you had tried Painter before and were less than thrilled, you should take a look again. If you have never used a digital arts package and want to be serious about digital art, I can't think of another product I'd recommend.
So, let's get a detailed look into Painter IX and see what it does:
Art Media:
1. Literally 100's of brushes that can be modified in size and quality (hairness, spray direction, stroke depth, and "taught" your personal stroke on the graphics tablet.) You can create brushes, and even make "image hoses"--a way to spray a graphic and paint with say, berries, leaves, architectural elements. You can make your own image nozzle out of any graphic element and even have it shaded with a drop shadow. The image hose is a lot of fun--scrapbookers can find a lot of uses for it as it's rather like a digital rubber stamp.
2. 30 plus media, like oil, impasto, charcoal, crayon, ink, gouache, watercolor, airbrush, oil and chalk pastel, pencil, photo filters, and even woodcut and sumi-e. They are realistic to the point where you can smear the oil around--the only thing is you don't smell the turpentine. The texture of canvas or paper comes through under the media according to the amount you choose, and you can light the finished work to highlight texture and shine.
3. Textured papers like canvas and watercolor. You can input your own textures to make a customized paper. There are pattern fills like cloth and pebbles, and you can make patterns to use as background fill. Any image can be captured to make a texture or pattern.
4. Wet media --like ink, wet oils, watercolor. A wet layer allows you to push the paint around as if the surface were wet. It can be "dried."
5. A mixing palette to mix paints as one would on a real palette.
6. Cloning--copying a picture and then rendering it as if you had a tracing paper over top a real picture. You can grab portions of the picture with your tablet stylus and brush them into oils, watercolors, chalk. You can auto-clone and create a sketch from a photo.
7. Photo filters: a good set of filters used to modify digital photos and scans are included.
8. Typical adjustment features to modify color, remove color, change contrast and light/dark.
9. Animation tools and web design tools. Many graphics software packages have these (Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks) but these allow you to create web graphics with a handpainted or handdrawn look. For anime artists, this could be a huge plus.
10. A scripting engine that lets you record your own operations and play them back with one click to automate your work or create movies. Scripts are automatically saved --meaning you can recover work if your PC crashes.
The major improvements in Painter IX are noteworthy:
1. A 175 page printed spiral-bound manual to get you started and an online help that looks like a spiral-bound manual with everything from online videos, art examples to inspire you and recipes. The tutorial movies from Lynda.com are included in the license. The learning tools are amazing; the spiral bound manual stays open and is easy to navigate. The online tools are lavish and very helpful, because Painter is powerful and there IS a learning curve to get into the most advanced features.
2. Kai's Power Tools (filters for photography) are included. This popular standalone package of photo adjustment tools has Gel, Goo, LensFlare, Lightning, Pyramid Paint, Reaction, and ShapeShifter.
3. There are many new shortcuts, most welcome of which is Quick Clone, reducing the number of steps needed to clone a picture down to a single click.
4. Mixing oils on a palette is more like real media.
5. The watercolor has been sped up to lightning-fast; it was rather slow in previous versions.
6. I found far fewer bugs or crashes--my graphics card is not particularly new and could be bumped up a bit (I have onboard graphics and I could do with adding a better video card) but I still found Painter IX faster and far easier to use than Painter 8.0. The watercolor function was about 10 times faster, at least.
Summary: If you think you'd like to do digital art, this is the one package I'd recommend.
Minimum computer requirements:
· Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher, 500 MHz, 128 MB RAM (256 recommended), 1024x768 monitor resolution, 395 MB disk space.
· Windows: Windows 2000 or XP, 500 MHz Pentium II (or higher), 128 MB RAM (256 recommended), 1024x768 monitor resolution, 380 MB disk space.
Recommended:
A graphics tablet is a must--you can use a mouse, but you won't get the benefits of real media feel without a tablet. The package can use various tablets, but is optimized for the Intuos (WACOM) line of tablets.
Update your graphics card and graphics memory if you have an older PC.



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For more than 13 years, Painter has been the world's pre-eminent Natural-Media painting and illustration software. Corel Painter IX offers the same breathtaking brushes and features that Painter artists have grown to love--but with significantly enhanced speed and performance. All brushes now operate at an average of twice their former speed, and some brushes are 10 times faster. Corel Painter IX also unveils the brand-new Artists' Oils Painting System, a revolutionary Natural-Media painting technology that enables you to sample multiple colors from the Mixer palette and apply them as wet oily paint to your canvas.

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Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)I use Paint Shop Pro 7.0 nearly every day for business purposes. The screen capture functions, which allow you to do multiple captures of full window (with & without cursor), and screen sections using mouse click and drag or hot keys has been a lifesaver for obtaining program images for use in manuals and other documentation.
For editing and creating images from scratch, the interface is fairly intuitive and user-friendly (although the sheer number of buttons, toolbars, and submenus is a bit overwhelming at first) The online help system is excellent - much superior to many of those I've encountered in other paint and graphics utility software packages, and will get you started quickly. I especially like the ease with which image layers can be labeled, moved, and discarded in the PSP format.
The browse with Paint Shop Pro is a handy feature for anyone working with directories containing large amounts of images.
The animation shop allows you to easily build animated GIF files for websites, create screensavers, etc.
For the price, I haven't found anything comparable.

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Paint Shop Pro is the cost-effective graphics editing alternative that is both powerful and easy to use and offers far more flexibility than template-based applications. It allows you to easily retouch, repair, and edit photos, offers automatic photo-enhancement features, and lets you create and optimize Web graphics with drawing and text tools. You'll also be able to design cool animations with Animation Shop 3. The application saves you time with its productivity tools, including grids, guides, alignment, and grouping.
This special 10th-anniversary edition of Paint Shop Pro is filled with more than $100 worth of free software, filters, and images. You will get:

Jasc Media Center Plus 3.1: The easy way to file and find your photos, clip art, scanned images, and Web graphics on your hard drive, CD-ROMs, or Zip disks.
Jasc Animation Shop 3.04: Lets you add impact to your Web site and multimedia presentations by easily animating your graphics, buttons, banners, and more.
Virtual Painter: Allows you to create realistic-looking paintings and custom artwork in seconds. Experiment with two free and fully functional filters--collage and pastel--that make it easy to give your digital photos artistic flair.
Flaming Pear: Lets you infuse your graphics with two texture-generating effects--lacquer and swerve. Hundreds of presets with graphic previews will have you making eye-catching text, Web buttons, and more.
Muska & Lipman Tutorials: Teach you how to create astounding graphics--from photo enhancement to professional Web graphics--with step-by-step instructions in full color.
Alien Skin Eye Candy: Will add life to your graphics with 21 special effects.
Other bonus resources include 30 new picture tubes, picture frames, and fun shapes, which are great ways to add pizzazz to your projects.

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Poser 6 Review

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(More customer reviews)OK, I'm prejudiced. I love Poser and have been using it since Version 3. I still think I can be fair. There are some things that I wish Poser 6 had and some things I'll never use. I think this version is 99% there.
Poser 6 only has 1 level of "Undo". Most users long for more undo power. It does have a "Revert" feature that allows you to jump back to the last saved version. That's pretty handy.
The new OpenGL preview is fantastic. The improved display isn't just about speed. The quality of the preview is much better as well. A feature cartoon artists will love is Poser's toon style preview. There are 5 toon preview styles. For some applications they may be of a quality that a full render is not needed.
Some users have had trouble with their graphics cards. Curious Labs included legacy support, a Software preview called SreeD. If your card does not support OpenGL you can still use Poser 6. Usually updating the software driver for the graphics card solves the problems.
Several new features have been added to the render engine in Poser 6. The biggest is probably IBL and AO (Image Based Lighting and Ambient Occlusion) These new light sources allow you to create very accurate real world lighting. Several real world "Light Probes" are included. Setting up IBL can be tricky so a Wizard/Macro (They call it a Wacro) is included to help you.
Another new render feature is toon outline. Poser 5 introduced toon style renders, but they were tricky to setup and the "ink" was not quite right. Poser 6 has a "Toon Outline" option in the renderer. One thing I would like to have seen was a way to control the color for the "ink" used on the toon outline. Henry Ford said, "You can have any color you want as long as it's black." Those are your color choices for the toon outline. Black. You can control line weight and style. Setting up the toon outline can be tedious as each material will need to have a toon ID assigned to get the lines right.
Poser's procedural materials can be hard for beginners to setup. Poser 6 has a simplified version of the Material room that makes it easy for users upgrading from Poser 4 the get into the new version. Once you know how to use the material room you can switch to the advanced view and dive into the powers hidden in the "shader nodes".
Poser 6 includes a new family of Characters. James, Jessi and the kids Ben and Kate. The new figures use a type of character rigging (Joints) that was used in Poser 4. Some people think it's a step backward. There are some advantages to this rigging technique. The newer (Evolution) rigging frequently didn't work well with Poser's drag to pose system. With the old style rigging works more reliably with drag to pose. Just click a arm or leg and drag it to where you want it. Poser 6 work fine with the evolution rigging if you use direct joint manipulation. The figures included on the original distribution CD have problems. Curious Labs has already released a content update to fix these problems. Be sure to download the update.
Animation in Poser is easy. Poser automatically calculates "In between" frames. You pose the key frames and Poser figures out what to do in between. There are several ways to edit animations. Key frame manipulation and graph tools give you complete control over your animation. A Walk Designer will create walking animations with just a few clicks. Some of the animation tools will take some practice to learn. There are 4 ways Poser can calculate the "In betweens". Linear, Spline, Constant and Spline Break. Learning when and how to use each will take some practice.
When Poser 5 was launched it was nearly a disaster. The program was very unstable. Lots of users swore off Poser then. Poser 6 is different. Curious Labs learned from the mistakes made then and have been careful not to make the same mistakes again. It was thoroughly beta tested prior to release and while some bugs did survive 4 months of testing the program is very stable.
I have to come clean. I was one of the beta testers. I got to watch as the engineers shaped the new program. I must admit I was scared up until about half way through beta. Then every thing started to come together. I could see it was going to be great. I wanted this release to launch perfect. But, that never seems to happens. Sure enough bugs made it through, fortunately none of seem to be deal busters. Curious Labs will (and by the time you read this may already have) release patches for the problems.
Poser 6 is great program. Beginners and experts will find it easy to use and powerful. It comes with a large library of pre made content, but it's power isn't really unlocked until you start adding content. There are hundreds of artists that create add on items for Poser. Many of them offer free goodies, I'm one of them.
Happy Rendering

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Poser 6 delivers the power of interactive 3D figure design, offering infinite opportunities to portray human diversity, form and expression. Whether you create for print, animation or the web, there's always a need to integrate the human form -- with this powerful tool you can design any figure you can imagine. An intuitive 3D toolset allows you to scale and manipulate individual body parts, design facial expressions, and pose figures. Design with the human form for art, illustration, animation, comics, web, print, education, medical visualization, games, storyboarding and more!

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Visio 2000 Standard Edition Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)Having used flowcharting programs for business modeling, beginning about the time Visio was introduced, I find Visio the easiest to use of all. User groups and Visio forums have tutorials and free downloads. Any Visio 2000 version qualifies for the Visio 2007 upgrade price for both standard and professional versions.

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Visio 2000 Standard Edition takes the worldwide standard in business diagramming tools to the next level. Using Visio 2000's seamless Microsoft integration, you can drag and drop flowcharts, organization charts and other business diagrams into PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents. Add brilliant new backgrounds, borders and color schemes, then leverage Visio 2000 Standard Edition's advanced Internet functionality to create, store and exchange drawings via your corporate intranet or the Web.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)Corel Graphics Suite 11 is by far the best product for illustration and digital imaging that I have used yet. These full featured applications are powerful and robust enough to allow graphics professionals to be as creative as they need without being bogged down with hidden commands, or unfriendly tools. The user interface is intuitive and smart giving creative flexibility and yet is not overwhelming to new users.
This new version of Graphics Suite has many new features that allow the graphic artist to go the extra mile in their design, and I have found that power and ease of the applications allows me to be far more productive then with competing products.
If you are new to Corel you will enjoy how easy it can be to use these applications. You will also enjoy the ability to make many different types of graphics, such as vector and raster images as well as fully interactive Flash animations.
If you are already familiar with Corel you will appreciate the new features and the added power that Corel has put into these applications.

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Designed to make your work more enjoyable, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 features software for graphic design, page layout, photo editing, and vector animation. It offers live feedback, extensive compatibility, and a full range of output options. The suite includes CorelDRAW 11, Corel Photo-Paint 11, and Corel R.A.V.E. 2.Reduce the number of steps it takes to complete your tasks. Use the new 3-Point Ellipse, Rectangle, and Curve tools to achieve the exact size and rotation you want in two clicks. Draw both curves and lines with the Polyline tool. Symbols support has also been added, letting you reduce the number of elements in your designs and reuse the most common elements to save time and shrink your file sizes.Corel Photo-Paint 11 and Corel R.A.V.E. 2 offer a host of new features as well. Use the CutOut tool to quickly mask complex objects. Load large images onto a Web page faster by breaking them into segments with the Image Slicing tool. Produce compact animations for the Web in minutes with the R.A.V.E. 2 Flash Filter. And create advanced text transitions and effects by animating text on a path and using customizable shapes to create quick animations.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I come from the sign industry and a lot of sign shops use CorelDRAW. However, it would be NICE if Corel realized that they have such a following in that niche and would optimize DRAW for vinyl cutting. Phew! I've always wanted to get that off my chest.
Having said that it was worthwhile upgrading from version 12. I'm not sure that upgrading from X3 would have been worthwhile.
CorelDRAW's interface, particularly in editing bezier curves, has always made it my choice. I used Illustrator every single day at work but I have yet to figure out curve editing on it. :-P
Corel still does not match Adobe in the colour management area. They need to take this a little more seriously!
Corel needs to stop buying up companies and trying to market their products. Why did they buy Paintshop? They should have just continued to update Photopaint. Paintshop is just a drag on their developement resources and takes their programing team away from their core products.
Also, Corel is not taking website design integration seriously. They need something to compete with Dreamweaver. "Get with it guys! It is not just a print world anymore!" Also, why the devil did they stop developement of RAVE??? It disappeared a couple incarnations ago and doesn't look like it'll return.
Having said all that CorelDRAW X4 is a great vector illustration program and I can still do professional raster image editing with Photopaint. Their bitmap to vector tracing module can't be beat. All for much less than Adobe products.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 lets you tackle creative graphics and design projects withconfidence. New tools make it easier and quicker than ever to deliver any creative project, fromlayout and photo editing, to illustration and bitmap-to-vector tracing. Powerful text and layoutenhancements give you the look you want plus market-leading file compatibility makescollaboration easy. Updated high-quality content, a step-by-step Hints Docker and new tutorialswritten by experts get you started fast. Professional and aspiring designers along with anyonewho needs to express creative ideas will be able to turn their ideas into professional results: fromdistinctive logos and signs, to striking marketing materials and eye-catching web graphics.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Review

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(More customer reviews)CorelDraw was my first foray into vector graphics back when version 3 showed up on my desk at the small "Mom and Pop" screenprinting shop i worked at. Back then, Corel came with OODLES of free fonts, clipart, manuals ... not to mention FREE technical support via a toll-free number.
i stayed with Corel exclusively until version 10 ... enduring countless patches, bugs and the dreaded "odd-numbered" curse (if you tried version 5 or 7, you feel my pain). Adobe Photoshop was always my photo-editing program of choice ... CorelPhotoPAINT just never quite "did it" for me.
Industry demands eventually delegated that i delve into Adobe Illustrator. Being already familiar with Adobe Photoshop's features, tools and "look and feel", Illustrator didn't present a huge, overbearing learning curve. In Illustrator, i found the same robust features as CorelDraw ... which wasn't what impressed me about Illustrator. Adobe's intuitive programs, and their ability to interact with one another ... seamlessly ... THAT is what won me over to Illustrator. Illustrator's ability to edit/create PDF's in their native format? WOW! Exporting LAYERED vector files to Photoshop ... with layers INTACT??? WOW!!! (i could go on)
Now, that being said ... there are STILL things that i prefer in CorelDRAW compared to Illustrator. The EXTRUDE function in corel is MUCH easier to utilize. The PowerClip function is more user friendly than Illustrator's "make clipping mask" function. The ability to customize/edit/add shortcut keys is an amazing feature. (again ... i could go on) (EDIT: i learned this IS possible in Illustrator CS2 via the EDIT/Keyboard Shortcuts, or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+K)
In regards to importing and exporting files from other applications, CorelDRAW wins, hands down. It boasts a ROBUST set of import and export filters, my favorite being the .eps import filter which lets you import an .eps while converting the fonts to curves DURING the import. This is a MUST HAVE if you work with an .eps file created on another computer whose fonts you lack. If i had a dollar for every .eps that pulls into Illustrator with fonts blown out ... i'd be independently wealthy. WHY Illustrator has never implemented this is beyond me.
So, to sum it up ... CorelDRAW is a great program ... but i can't imagine it being my ONLY vector drawing program. Just like in real life, you need a great team. This program, paired with Adobe Creative Suite, meets my needs perfectly.


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Whether they are design professionals on deadline or small business owners creating their own marketing materials, customers will enjoy a significant productivity boost from CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3. The suite simplifies the design process for projects of any scale, including logo creation, professional marketing brochures, and eye-catching signs. Customers choose CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 because it delivers a combination of superior design capabilities, speed, ease of use, and affordability that's unmatched in the graphics software industry.

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Painter X Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used this program for awhile for sketching but really got to dig in this time and use all the artist tools. Very well done and I am even creating Hot Rod fine art pieces with it now. Amazing how everything works and its a lot of fun! Great Product!

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Corel Painter X, the world's most powerful Natural-Media software, offers artists andphotographers professional art & design tools that are unmatched by any other product.Delivering the next-generation art studio, Corel Painter X blurs the line between traditional and digital art like never before. Complete with training videos by Painter Master Jeremy Sutton, artists can learn new techniques to create original works of breathtaking art.Setting the standard, Corel Painter X introduces unparalleled performance, new color and composition tools, and the revolutionary RealBristle Painting System that provides an organic painting & illustration experience—right down to the individual bristles on the brush.

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CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been a user of CorelDRAW for more than 10 years and have often used many other graphics products including the so-called industry leader Adobe products. After using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12 I believe I can finally rid myself of all these other products and stick solely to this suite. All the new features are incredibly useful and time-saving. All the applications work well with one another, and I've pushed it as hard as I can with some huge files, and it hasn't had any problems at all. This truely is an incredible release... thanks Corel!!!
PS. If you don't believe me, download the trial from Corel's website and try it for yourself (www.corel.com)
Jim

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CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 is a comprehensive graphics solution for Windows XP. Whether you're designing for business or pleasure, CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 can do it all. The software is ideal for freelance designers; business, printing, publishing and advertising professionals; executives, managers, technicians, and sales support specialists; engineers, scientists, administrative support professionals, and more. And because CorelDraw 12 is optimized for Windows XP, businesses will save hours of training time, assured that employees can begin producing professional graphics almost immediately.Industry Leading Applications and Features CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 includes three industry leading applications -- CorelDraw Graphics 12 for illustration, page-layout and vector drawing; Corel Photo-Paint 12 for professional digital imaging; and Corel R.A.V.E. 3 for motion-graphics creation. These three outstanding applications give CorelDraw Graphics Suit 12 a set of unprecedented features.Dynamic Guides offer unprecedented levels of control, letting designers create a shape, draw a line, or place an object exactly where they want it, in one easy step. These intelligent enhancements dramatically reduce design time by allowing users to create, size and position objects easily and precisely, with fewer clicks.When you need to sketch a design quickly and professionally, the Smart Drawing tool offers built-in intelligence to automatically recognize and dynamically smooth the curves of many shapes including circles, triangles, and parallelograms. This allows you to create perfect forms on the fly.CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 makes is easier than ever to incorporate text into projects. Users can see detailed changes to type -- including leading and kerning -- regardless of the zoom level, enabling them to view and manipulate on-screen text with ease. Enhanced Align and Distribute features provide more flexibility, precision and control over text layout. Users also have access to more than 10,000 professional clip art images, 1,000 TrueType and Type 1 fonts, and 1,000 photos and objects. And with Unicode support, CorelDraw Graphics 12 lets you seamlessly incorporate multiple languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek and many others, into a single design.With the enhanced Touch-up Brush and more than 70 effects filters, removing defects such as dust and scratches from digital images is a breeze. This feature provides a dedicated tool to perform common image/photo touch-ups by intelligently covering unwanted areas. The more the designer brushes over the affected area, the more the effect is amplified.In addition to all these features, CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 also gives users access to exceptional software from other leading vendors and industry standard technologies including Bitstream Font Navigator 5.0, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6.3, Kodak Digital Science color management system, and QuickTime 6.0 Player. Microsoft Office and WordPerfect Office Compatibility When you create graphics in CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12, you never have to worry about Microsoft Office or WordPerfect Office compatibility. CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 is a perfect companion to these office suites, making it possible to easily preview and import graphics files into text documents, slide presentations and spreadsheets without needing to worry about file format compatibility. This gives businesses the assurance that their graphics can be incorporated quickly and seamlessly into all business collateral. In effect, CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 is an entire creative design agency in a box; businesses can now produce their own business and marketing collateral, and can easily create animated graphics for use in presentations and Web sites. The suite also offers improved file compatibility, allowing users to open and save more than 100 file formats, including Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, EPS, PDF and more.Save Time and Money With CorelDraw Graphics 12 Windows-based interface, businesses can be assured that users will learn the advanced features quickly and easily. Also, the included interactive lynda.com training CD offers design tips to help users get up to speed quickly on all the suite's new features.What's in the Box Four CD-ROMs, including lynda.com interactive training CD, CorelDraw 12, Corel Photo-Paint 12, Corel R.A.V.E. 3, CorelTrace 12, CorelCapture 12; user guide, digital content manual, and quick-start/registration card.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Education Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Have corel X3 and bought this update X5. Corel X3 shows thumbnails and previews of all its images that are Corel or photopaint files. X5 will NOT SHOW THUMBS or previews!!! None of our CDR files will show previews. There are 1000's of cliparts that we cannot tell what they are because the program will NOT show thumbs, just a little green pencil icon which is the corel x5 logo. Nobody in corel forums knows how to solve this problem, and there are many others who have this problem with their corel X5 too. corel Inc. will not do anything to help. too bad, the program seems to have many good features if you could just see your file thumbs.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 offers all the tools needed to illustrate, lay out, trace, photo-edit or create Web graphics and animations. A built-in content organizer helps students find files and images quickly. Engaging video tutorials and tool tips encourage their design growth. Creativity is a key differentiator in the workforce--with CorelDRAW, students develop their creative flair. Offering attractive clipart, royalty-free photos and creative templates, this suite provides a confidence boost so students can create everything they envision from field trip reports and team newsletters to event flyers and posters.

Education Edition This is the Education Edition of the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5. For the standard version click here.
Eligibility To purchase education versions of shrink-wrapped software, or take advantage of the Corel Volume Purchase Program, purchasers must be: accredited schools, faculties, full- or part-time registered students, academic supervisory organizations, hospitals, libraries, museums, and nonprofit charitable and religious organizations.
Warning! Proof of eligibility required--only accredited schools, faculties, full- or part-time matriculated students, and academic supervisory orgnizations are eligible to purchase Corel Education software.
Terms and Conditions Organizations must be able to show proof of eligibility and applicable accreditation if requested by Corel or a Corel Authorized Education Reseller. It is Corel's sole discretion to accept or decline the applicant. Any issues or concerns regarding the preceding definitions shall be resolved at Corel's discretion. All software must be used for internal administrative or educational instruction purposes only. Products may not be resold, donated or used as a prize in any promotion.
Do more than you thought possible.
All-in-one professional graphics suite Find everything you need for professional graphics illustration, layout, tracing, photo editing, Web graphics and animation in one complete suite of integrated applications that is easy to learn and use.
Easy to learn and use Start smoothly and learn quickly with built-in learning tools, valuable video tutorials, design insights from experts and a visually rich, online guidebook. (A hard cover, full-color, printed guidebook is included with the box version.)
High-value digital content Enrich your designs with over 1,000 professional fonts, including Helvetica, Garamond and Frutiger fonts for the first time ever. Plus, take advantage of high-value digital content, such as premium clipart, royalty-free photos and vehicle templates.
Precise control and easy sharing Output to a broad variety of media, from distinctive logos and signs, to striking marketing materials, Web graphics, billboards and car wraps. Export options let you compare file formats before export, so you can optimize your settings to achieve the highest file quality.
Market-leading file compatibility Re-purpose and share your creations anywhere with market-leading file compatibility. Import and export files quickly and easily with dozens of supported file formats, including PDF, JPG, PNG, EPS, AI, TIFF, PSD and DOCX.
What's New This is the upgrade you've been waiting for! CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 makes everyday tasks faster and easier, delivering new time-savers that help you create with confidence. Check out the 10 most compelling reasons to upgrade your graphics software today.
New--Built-in Content Organizer Speed up your workflow with Corel CONNECT, a built-in content organizer that helps you find graphics, templates, fonts and images instantly on your computer. Your selected content is stored in the tray that is synchronized between CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT, giving you instant access to your content.
New & Enhanced--Web Graphics and Animation Tools Create Web graphics and animations more efficiently than ever with new features, such as a Pixels mode that shows exactly how your content will display online, and a new Web animation tool. Plus, a new Export Dialog box now lets you compare file formats before export, so you can optimize your settings to achieve the highest file quality.
Enhanced--Corel PowerTRACE Convert your bitmap images into high-quality vector objects with even more precision and smoothness, thanks to the greatly enhanced Corel PowerTRACE. This version of PowerTRACE provides the best tracing results yet.
Enhanced--Optimal Speed and Performance Complete your tasks faster with powerful performance enhancements that leverage multi-core processing to maximize your computer's power. This latest edition is optimized for Windows 7 and offers new touch-screen support, as well as support for Windows Vista and Windows XP.
New--Completely Re-designed Color Management Engine Control color consistency across different media and generate a distinct color palette for each document. A new color management engine introduces greater color accuracy, plus support for new color profiles from PANTONE. Minimize your ecological footprint and reduce costly reprints by knowing that your colors are accurate before you print.
New & Enhanced--Visual Communication Tools Create compelling print and online materials with a powerful set of new and enhanced drawing, bitmap-to-vector tracing, diagramming, artistic media and text tools. It's all the graphics software you need for effective visual communication.
Enhanced--Market-leading File Compatibility Re-purpose and share your creations anywhere with broad file compatibility. Dozens of supported file formats, including PDF, JPG, PNG, EPS, AI, TIFF, PSD and DOCX, let you import and export files with other graphics software efficiently.
New & Enhanced--Responsive Drawing Tools In response to user feedback, we've introduced the option to lock toolbars in place, expanded your printing options, and made improvements to the Eyedropper, Mesh Fill and other popular drawing tools.
New & Enhanced--Expert Insights and Engaging Learning Materials Get more design insights with new and updated video tutorials, engaging learning materials and a visually rich, online guidebook that contains new articles from experts. (A hard cover, full-color, printed guidebook is available with the box version.) Be inspired to do more than you thought possible!
New & Enhanced--High-value Digital Content Enrich your designs with over 1,000 professional fonts, including Helvetica, Garamond and Frutiger fonts for the first time ever. Plus, take advantage of high-value digital content, such as premium clipart, royalty-free photos and vehicle templates. Give your work a professional finish without spending extra time and money-- you'll find all the graphics software and resources you need right here!
What's Included
CorelDRAW X5 Intuitive vector illustration and page layout software
Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5 Professional image-editing application specifically designed for use in a graphics workflow
Corel PowerTRACE X5 Bitmap-to-vector file conversion tool
Corel CAPTURE X5 One-click screen capture utility
Corel CONNECT Full-screen browser that lets you search digital content from the suite, your PC or your local network
Supporting applications Barcode wizard, Duplexing wizard, Bitstream Font Navigator, SWiSH miniMax 2*, PhotoZoom Pro 2*
Content 10,000 high-quality clipart and digital images, 2,000 vehicle templates, 1,000 high-resolution digital photos, 1,000 OpenType fonts, including 75 Windows Glyph List 4 (WGL4) fonts and 10 engraving fonts, 350 professionally designed templates
Documentation Online guidebook (hard cover, full-color, printed Guidebook available with the box version), Quick-reference card, Help files
Training 2 hours of training videos on DVD
Connect to your content From fonts, clipart and photos to previously created designs or customer files, content is a central piece of any creative design. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 lets you quickly find and re-purpose content to speed your design process. Gather your design assets from every source and swiftly prepare yourself to begin your next project.
New--Built-in Content Organizer (Corel CONNECT) Quickly find the perfect content for any design with Corel CONNECT, a full-screen browser that gives you instant access to graphics, templates, fonts and images anywhere on your computer.
Enhanced--Market-Leading File Compatibility Open, edit and save as more than 100 industry-standard formats, including AI, PSD, DOCX, ODF, EPS (with enhanced support for PostScript 3) and DXF files.
Enhanced--Color Profiles Maintain color profiles when importing files from external applications for a smoother design process. The default setting matches colors on import automatically, while advanced users can explore more options within the default settings.
New & Enhanced--High-Value Digital Content Enrich your graphic designs with more than 1,000 professional fonts, including Helvetica, Garamond and Frutiger fonts for the first time ever. Plus, take advantage of over 2,000 vehicle templates and 10,000 premium clipart images, bitmap and full-color fills, royalty-free photos, vehicle templates, new artistic media presets, and new brush nibs of different shapes and sizes for more versatility when painting.
Enhanced--Support for Adobe Products Import and export PSD files using the latest Photoshop CS 4 file format. CorelDRAW X5 will preserve the appearance of adjustment layers and Masks palette effects, while Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5 will preserve editable Vibrance, Grayscale and camera filter lenses.
Get going quickly Whether you're a first-time user or an experienced pro, CorelDRAW makes it easy from the moment you begin. You'll find all the learning tools you need to start smoothly and learn quickly, including built-in learning tools, valuable video tutorials, design insights from the experts and a visually rich, online guidebook.
Enhanced--Templates & Tutorials Get high-quality results quickly with 350 professionally designed templates. Ready-made layouts and designs help you find the right look for any job. You'll also enjoy access to new graphic design tools, industry-specific design tips and step-by-step project creation in newly updated tutorials for CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT.
New--Video Tutorials Learn from new video tutorials that demonstrate how to successfully complete popular design tasks.
Welcome Screen Begin with the Welcome Screen, a great starting point for finding your content, starting projects, accessing recently used documents, getting instructional information and viewing inspiring designs from other users around the world.
New--Guidebook Learn from other users and experts, and get inspired by visually rich overviews of each application workspace. A hard cover, full color, printed guidebook is available with the box version.
Enhanced--Corel PowerTRACE: Bitmap-to-Vector Conversion Convert your bitmap images into high-quality vector objects with even more precision and smoothness, thanks to the greatly enhanced Corel PowerTRACE. This version of PowerTRACE provides the best tracing results yet.
Hints Docker View interactive hints that get you started quickly and provide step-by-step help on the suite's powerful tools.
New--Customizable Workspace Customize the application's command bars and button arrangements to suit your workflow, or use preset workspaces similar to Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office.
Create with confidence When it comes to graphic design, confidence in your software is paramount. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 provides new and enhanced graphic design tools to help you achieve the quality you need in the shortest amount of time. With a legacy in design innovation, this trusted graphics suite offers all the support you need to create with confidence.
Enhanced--Drawing Tools Draw and design intuitively with enhanced artistic media and drawing tools that respond to the pressure, tilt and bearing of your pen on drawing tablet.
Enhanced--Corel PHOTO-PAINT: Powerful Photo Editing Experiment with exciting new photo effects, such as Vibrance, Grayscale and Photo Filter. These filters are preserved when you import and export PSD files using the Adobe Photoshop CS 4 file format. Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5 also supports RAW format for over 300 types of cameras, giving you greater artistic control and flexibility.
New & Enhanced--Web Graphics and Animation Create Web graphics and animations more efficiently than ever. Optimized filters produce consistent, high-quality Web formats with proper transparency, cropping and browser compatibility. Create your designs in CorelDRAW, then open in new SWiSH miniMax 2 to animate your images. Control motion, draw shapes, edit text and more. The new Pixels mode shows exactly how your content will display online. Plus, a new Export Dialog box now lets you compare file formats before export, so you can optimize your settings to achieve the highest file quality.
Interactive Table Tool Create and import tables to provide structured layouts for text and graphics.
CorelDRAW ConceptShare Get quality feedback on design projects without costly meetings! ConceptShare lets you quickly and easily collaborate online with colleagues and clients in a secure environment. It's packed with tools that let you share, mark up and review designs with others, on your own time.
Live Text Formatting Preview text formatting changes in real time before applying them to the document.
Smart Fill Apply fills to any enclosed object area, such as the loops of a freehand line that crosses over itself.
Image Slicing Slice an image into several smaller files for Web page optimization.
Output to any media Today, you need the export flexibility to output designs to any media: Web banners, Web sites, print ads, brochures, even multiple types of media, such as T-shirts, billboards and digital signs. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 provides extensive file support so you can send your work anywhere.
New--Completely Redesigned Color Management Engine Control color consistency across different media and generate a distinct color palette for each document. A new color management engine introduces greater color accuracy, plus support for new color profiles from PANTONE.
Enhanced--File Compatibility and PDF Support Re-purpose and share your creations anywhere with support for more than 60 file formats, including PDF, JPG, PNG, EPS, AI, TIFF, PSD, DOCX and PPT. Password-protect your PDF files to control security and user access when they are viewed, edited and printed by third-parties.
New--Collect for Output Gather fonts, color profiles and other file information with this new output option that makes it easier to share your work with a print service provider.
Print Merge Combine text from a data source with a drawing to quickly create personalized invitations, labels and other personalized projects.
Work faster and more efficiently Complete your tasks faster with powerful performance enhancements that maximize your computer's power. Plus, enjoy more options for recording macros and automating time-consuming tasks.
New--Multi-core Support Work faster with multi-core processing that maximizes the power available in your computer to process your commands more quickly.
Enhanced--Optimized for Latest Windows Platforms Work with ease, whatever your PC operating system. This latest version is optimized for Windows 7 and offers new touch-screen support, as well as support for Windows Vista and Windows XP. Take advantage of the touch technology of Windows 7 to pan, zoom and scroll with your fingertips for a more intuitive design experience.
New--Automation Technology Enjoy more options for recording macros and automating time-consuming tasks. Microsoft's Visual Studio for Applications (VSTA) technology lets you record macros and create third-party add-in solutions to enhance the existing functionality of CorelDRAW.

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SketchBook Pro 2010 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Drawing and sketching programs seem to fall into two general categories - very powerful but excessively complex, or simple to use but lacking in options and power. SketchBook Pro successfully combines power and simplicity into one package, such that even a weak artist can be productive and successful.
I ran into a problem when installing the application - the installer crashed, giving some odd internal error and number. I tried again immediately and the second try went without a hitch. I assume it is a configuration issue with my system as I have occasional strange issues when installing software.
When first launched, the application asks if you have your serial number and key handy. If you are new to SketchBook Pro, I encourage you NOT to enter them just yet but instead specify that you want a 15-day trial. The reason is that you get presented a quick pictoral tour of the feature set when you run in trial mode (which is really just a time-limited demo mode with everything enabled), which is a nice introduction. Afterward, registration information can be entered through the help menu.
Being new to SketchBook Pro myself, I was startled by the sparse interface when opening a new canvas. There was little on the screen other than the main menu up top and the lagoon in the lower left. Most drawing applications clutter the screen with an assortment of toolbars, palettes, wizards and other things that just get in the way. Autodesk keep their application simple instead, putting the essentials out there and leaving everything else off the screen until it's really needed.
Most elements of the application are available in radial menus, accessible either through clicking on icons on the lagoon or right-clicking on the canvas. All menu items have help tips to guide along the way so you know what option you're choosing. Radial menus can be a surprise to those who have never been exposed to them, but once used to them they are very powerful and easy to use.
Plunging into the various options available, I immediately discovered a couple of things I have never before used in drawing applications. First, I discovered the symmetry options, which makes creating mirror images easy. Using the axis, I was able to draw a crude figure of a person in about 10 seconds without even expending any real thought. Even more productive for me, though, was the ruler, especially in combination with the layering tool. The ruler is a slight misnomer, as it is actually more of a straight-edge against which to draw straight lines.
Another interesting surprise was the help system. When I launched the help system, rather than bring up a compiled help file, my default web browser launched and I was presented with one of the best help systems I have seen. The help is easy on the eyes and very straightforward to use. There is sufficient detail with pictures to address almost any conceivable question that might arise.
SketchBook Pro is very fast and very responsive on my system. I am running Vista with 3GB of ram and a dual-core 2.1G Intel processor, and there is only the slightest hint of hesitation on rare occasion.
Having never played with SketchBook Pro before and being a poor artist, I was shocked that I could create viable results in minutes. In the hands of a professional artist, this is a powerful and easy-to-use package. Emphasis was placed on productivity, but power was not taken away.

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Autodesk SketchBook Pro software offers best-in-class sketching capabilities for professional designers and artists from all industries. A paint and drawing application designed specifically for use with digitized pen tablets and Tablet PCs, it can be used in any creative process where pen and paper would traditionally be used. With a patented user interface that is fast and intuitive, even new users can be productive within minutes. Autodesk SketchBook Pro represents the next generation of digital design products that focuses on the user, translating technology and functionality into a natural drawing experience.

Your Digital Sketchpad So versatile and easy-to-use, it can be used in any creative process where pen and paper would traditionally be used:
Concept sketching and ideation
Illustration
Character studies
Set and level designs
Story boarding
Annotation and review

High Quality Results
The look and feel of traditional tools that experts demand
Custom texture brushes
Interactive brush symmetry
Interactive rulers and ellipses

Fits into all Digital Workflows
Reduce time scanning and touching up paper sketches
Reduce the use of paper
Open and save common file formats, including Adobe Photoshop: TIF, BMP, JPG, PNG, PSD

Streamlined User Interface
SketchBook Pro is designed to maximize flow, offering a natural drawing experience
Highly discoverable UI
So easy-to-use, any user can be productive within minutes.
Patented Marking menus provide access to major tools with just one-flick
Do-it-yourself custom brush creation


Communicate More Effectively Share visual ideas quickly with integrated e-mail feature Instantly email sketches and annotations
What's New With 2010, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro continues its tradition of delivering an affordable, easy-to-use, natural drawing experience with the quality expected by professionals.
New: Rotate Canvas
The navigation puck now has a rotate ring for smooth rotation of the canvas view.
Automatically snap to 90 degree increments

New: Blur & Sharpen Brush
Two new brush types in the brush palette.
Paint blur effects directly in SketchBook Pro
Use the sharpen brush to tighten imported photos or images.

New: Symmetric Brushing
Easily draw anything symmetric.
Horizontal & Vertical interactive mirroring brings drawings to life instantly... and fun too.
Great for character design, product concepts, graphic design, automotive sketches, and vehicles of all kinds.

New: Custom brush features
Create your own Custom Textures
Capture and reuse graphics
Make specialized brushes
Export/Import custom brushes
Save out XML with a TIFF map that you can share with other SBP users.

Customizability
Set up your preferred tools in the Lagoon, including your custom DIY brushes
Access marking menus right at the cursor
Hotkeys for each lagoon item
Assign these to a pen-button or tablet keys
Now you can work completely in full screen mode, calling up tools as you need them.

DIY Palette items can be reordered

New: Numeric color input
Direct RGB input fields in the Color Editor.
To support the custom color palette on Windows, you can now accurately define RBG values before saving them.
The Mac version continues to use the Apple Color editor.
Preset primary colors & gray scales now available for customizing in the lagoon.

New: Guides
Create perfect straight lines, circles and ellipses.
The Ruler and Ellipse guide bring a new level of precision to refine your sketches.

New: Scale enhancement
The transform puck now allows non-proportional scaling
Tweak the horizontal or vertical proportions of a selection or entire image directly in SketchBook Pro

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Corel Painter Essentials 4 (Win/Mac) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have children 14, 11, and 9, and I was looking for software that would appeal to their creative side. I am a fairly sophisticated software user, and used to do some programming myself, but had never really ventured into these type of painting/art programs.
Bottom Line: I was blown away by this program, totally impressed!!
Why?
#1 It's easy to use out of the box--- many of the controls are easy enough to figure out just by using them, it installs easy on both Mac and PC systems (I installed the program on both an old eMac and a low end Vista laptop successfully).
#2 It's really powerful--- once you really get into the software, it's amazing all the different brushes and textures and effects that you can do to make really impressive art.
#3 The tutorials are first rate--- A thick instruction manual that actually is well written, and actually teaches you about basic principles of art and painting. There are also a whole series of video tutorials included free. You can tell that a lot of hard work and frankly a lot of love went into this, which is a rarity for computer software these days.
#4 It's a great value--- For all you get, the price is very reasonable. And check the company's website, if you're still not sold they were at the time of this writing offering a 60 day free downloadable trial.
One more tip: Get even a low-price graphics tablet to go along with the software--- you'll be glad you did!

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Adobe Flash Builder 4 Standard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)While I've installed and 'poked around' the Eclipse IDE before, I believe that Adobe has made it just a bit friendlier. My comparison is that I also use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Pro...
The move from Flex 3 to Flash Builder 4 wasn't that much of a shock. Once you get into the work flow things move along. While this is touted as an IDE, be ready to still to a significant amount coding in 'code view' mode. The autocomplete function in code mode is hit or miss in my experience. Getting used to keywords being case sensitive took some getting use to. Some are capitalized (Keyword), some are camel-cased (keyWord).... I've found that this has been the main obstruction to the autocomplete function working properly.
Error messages in the debug window are confusing at best, totally mind boggling at worst as the wording sometimes gives you absolutely no idea of what the problem was. Search online for these errors and you'll see that others have this same problem also. Even Adobe admits it in their forums. I read a lot of "well, the error says xxxxxxxxx, but what it really means is xxxxxxxxxx." My question to Adobe is "why?"
One thing I've found utterly frustrating is simply adding an icon to a button. In VS2008 I click the "image" property and select the icon I want to appear on the button. In Flash Builder 4 you have to create a new 'skin' and then add the code to show the icon on the button. Huh? This same procedure applies to any component you want to add an icon or graphics to (except the image component itself).
In some areas there is a confusing overlap of the "

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Adobe Flash Builder 4 (formerly Adobe Flex Builder) software can help you accelerate development, build higher performing applications, and more easily integrate new projects with your existing infrastructure. This feature-packed release improves workflows for developers and designers through integration with the new Adobe Flash Catalyst interaction design tool.

Adobe Flash Builder 4 Standard Edition Adobe Flash Builder 4 comes in two editions: Standard Edition and Premium Edition. The Premium Edition adds professional testing tools, including profilers, network monitoring, an automated testing framework, integration with Flex unit testing, and command-line build support, plus it includes Adobe ColdFusion Builder software.

Develop cross-platform rich Internet applications Flash Builder 4:
Enables intelligent coding, interactive step-through debugging, and visual design of user interface layout, appearance, and behavior of RIAs
Provides productivity tools for working with databases, web services, REST APIs, and other data sources
Includes powerful testing tools, such as memory and performance profilers, network monitoring, and integrated support for automated functional and unit testing, that speed up development and lead to higher performing applications

Improve productivityAccelerate development and testing of expressive web applications using powerful developer tooling.
Powerful coding toolsTake advantage of a powerful Eclipse based IDE that includes editors for MXML, the Adobe ActionScript language, and CSS, as well as syntax coloring, statement completion, code collapse, interactive step-through debugging, and automatic generation of common code.
Code refactoringQuickly navigate through code or restructure it by renaming all references to a class, method, or variable. Flash Builder 4 adds move refactoring.
Native support for Adobe AIRCreate applications for the Adobe AIR runtime with Flash Builder 4, including all the tools required to build, debug, package, and sign AIR applications. Adobe AIR lets you quickly develop RIAs for the desktop using the same skills and codebase you use to build RIAs for the browser.
Debugger improvements Set conditional breakpoints, evaluate expressions, and set watchpoints on variables to halt execution on value change. Use the Expressions view to watch variables selected in the Variables view and to add/evaluate watch expressions. Break out of a loop during a debugging session using run to line.
Custom templates Customize default information contained in new MXML, ActionScript, and CSS files, such as author and date, introductory comments, copyright information, opening and closing tags and attributes, ActionScript declarations, namespace prefixes, and more.
ASDoc support Display comments in MXML and ActionScript editors using ASDoc.
Adobe Flash Professional workflow Import and update custom Flex components using the new workflow between Adobe Flash Professional software and Flash Builder 4.
Integrate with existing infrastructure

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Adobe Creative Suite Premium CS2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat are the industry standard in their respective applications and purchasing Creative Suite is more cost effective than purchasing each component individually.
One point to pay close attention to is the RAM requirement for this software. If you want to run just one application at a time, you need a minimum of 384MB. To run more than one application, you need at least 512MB with 1GB recommended by Adobe. CS2 checks the RAM on installation and will not even install on a computer with less than 384MB.
Another point is that you are not buying the software. You are licensing it from Adobe and agreeing to their terms and conditions. Part of the agreement is that you can make a limited number of copies of your CD's and that you can install CS2 on a second computer such as a laptop as long as you don't run it at the same time as your primary computer. I had planned to do this, but ran into the RAM limitation on my laptop which is an older machine. It can run Photoshop 5.0 by itself, but not CS2. I tried to install Photoshop CS only instead of the entire CS2 package but it would not accept the registration number. Adobe support told me that installing individual components of CS2 is forbidden and will not work. You can only install the entire package. This will not affect your primary computer since it is what you are buying the software for in the first place. But in this case, I may have been better off just buying the parts that I need and can use on the laptop rather than paying to upgrade my RAM.
Once installed, Adobe CUE CS2 is programmed to start when you turn on your computer. However, you can stop it from doing so if you don't want it hogging all of your RAM when you are not using CS2.


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Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium software is a unified design environment that combines full new versions of Adobe Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2, InDesign CS2, GoLive CS2, and Acrobat 7.0 Professional software with new Version Cue CS2, the Adobe Bridge file browser, and Adobe Stock Photos. Delivering the next level of integration in creative software, plus consistent color and Adobe PDF file creation across components, Adobe Creative Suite 2 enables you to realize your ideas anywhere—in print, on the Web, or on mobile devices.

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Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011 Upgrade Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I won't go into much details about the already existing solid features of Sketchbook Pro; rather the new features of the 2011 version:
- Better layer management: Transparency slider exists right on the layer slot in the Layers palette. No more separate transparency dialog box. (New) Basic layer blend modes are also a big plus.
- Toolbar also makes feature access much better.
- (Editable) Text layer (great new addition)
- Shape tools: circle, square, polyline.
- Basic image adjustment - saturation, contrast, etc.
- new custom brush settings like spacing jitter (I do wish they made the custom brush settings dialog scrollable, instead of having to close segments if the lower segments extend below the screen).
All in all, solid improvements (so far stable with no crashes or hiccups). SBP is vital, I think, for any digital artist. At $79 for full version, quite a deal; at $39 upgrade for 2010 owners, I think it is very worth the price.

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Relied on by professionals, adored by everyone who loves to draw... SketchBook Pro translates sophisticated technology and professional functionality into a natural drawing experience; use it anywhere you would traditionally use paper and pen!

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