Graphic Software Packages

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator (by Adobe Systems) is a high-level program aimed at professional illustrators, graphic designers, and desktop publishers. Although originally created for the Macintosh, Illustrator is now available for Windows-based systems as well. Illustrator includes a sizable collection of fonts and clip art. It contains powerful tools for drawing freehand and for tracing over images that have been scanned into the computer. Images can be manipulated in almost limitless ways—they can be moved, adjusted, slanted, rotated, enlarged, reduced, or given special effects (such as shadows). They can even be reflected to create an upside-down mirror image of the original. In addition, illustrations can be previewed any time during the creation process, so the user can see how the drawing will appear when printed. To include Adobe Illustrator in your system, your desktop publishing software must be either compatible with PostScript or able to read .EPS graphics files. Illustrator is best used with the high-end desktop publishing programs (such as PageMaker and QuarkXPress).

CorelDRAW!

CorelDRAW! (by Corel Systems) is a high-end program for Windows-based computers that gives desktop publishers precision type control, outstanding drawing capability, and stunning special effects. CorelDRAW! comes with a wide range of typefaces and over 25,000 clip-art images and symbols. It also includes 1,000 fonts, 1,000 photos, 500 three-dimensional (3-D) clip-art models, and 300 presentation backgrounds. The CorelDRAW! package is actually a suite of programs that are designed to handle bitmap images, presentation graphics, 3-D rendering, and animation.

Windows Draw Graphics and Print Studio

Windows Draw Graphics and Print Studio (by Micrografx, Inc.) is a graphics program with many high-ranking drawing features and a price tag that’s relatively low compared to other graphics programs. The design of the Windows Draw Graphics and Print Studio program is intelligent and friendly. You can apply a wide range of sophisticated drawing techniques; for example, blending images and filling backgrounds with graded shading. The power and price of the Windows Draw program have led some reviewers to call it “everyman’s illustration program.” In addition to over 20,000 clip-art and photographic images and 250 fonts, Windows Draw includes more than 300 designs and “Project Wizards” that make it easy to create standard graphics projects for business and home.

Paint Shop Pro

Paint Shop Pro, PSP, is another lower-priced entry in the field of graphics programs. Paint Shop Pro, by JASC, includes all of the features usual to a paint program—eight brushes, color fill, color replacement, flip, mirror, rotate, crop, border, resize, sharpen, soften, and so on. However, this program’s real strength is in its versatility with different formats and filters. PSP can read and write just about any graphic file format you’re ever likely to come across. This means you’ll never be at a loss due to incompatible file formats. PSP also supports most popular scanners, allowing you to scan images directly into the program.

FreeHand

Another high-end, vector-based design and illustration program is FreeHand by Macromedia. This full-featured program allows you to create anything from simple illustrations to complex documents in a multipage text-and-graphics environment. FreeHand provides for a wide variety of graphics file formats, a gallery of special effects (including 3-D rotation of objects), and scanner support. FreeHand also includes a powerful utility called Shockwave, which facilitates the creation of graphics and Web pages for Internet publishing.

Other Graphics Packages

Although the packages we’ve listed are the most popular ones for Windows-based PCs, there are literally hundreds of other packages on the market. If you plan to create desktop publishing documents mainly for yourself, many of these alternative brands may fill your needs for a very low cost.

Choosing Graphics Software

Before making any software purchase, you should investigate thoroughly all packages that interest you. With so many great programs to choose from, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which one to purchase. Basically, there are three questions you must consider: What software will run on your system and with your other programs? What program will satisfy your publishing needs? What can you afford?

Understanding Your System Requirements

The model of your coprocessor The disk operating system used The amount of installed RAM The capacity of your hard drive The presence or absence of add-ons or devices necessary to run the software, such as a sound card, CD-ROM drive, or math coprocessor The type of graphics card currently installed The type of monitor you’re using (whether black and white, grayscale, color, or true color) Before you purchase any software, you’ll naturally want to make sure that it’s compatible with your system. Most graphics programs are available in both IBM and Macintosh versions, but some are designed for only one of these platforms. If you have an IBM-compatible system, a program designed to run on a Macintosh computer won’t run on your system. To learn more, it’s important to read magazine reviews (or product reviews found on the Internet) about the software packages you’re considering. Make sure you’re getting the right version for your system. You also want to be sure that the graphics program you choose is compatible with your desktop program. Files that are incompatible, no matter how nice, are useless if you can’t import them into your documents. Since computer graphics files are usually very large, it’s also a good idea to find out how much hard-disk space the program will use up—and how much reserve storage space you’ll need for the files you create.

Knowing the kind of work you’ll be doing will also help you make your selection. If your graphic needs will be general in nature, but require professional-looking illustrations, you may need an advanced program with multiple tools for creating and editing art. If you’re planning to publish electronic documents on the World Wide Web, it’s important that you choose a graphics software package that’s capable of saving files in .GIF and JPEG formats. It would also be a good idea to consider one of the many graphics programs that include tools for online publishing, such as FreeHand or CorelDRAW! If you plan to produce online publications exclusively, you may want to consider purchasing a specialized program such as Jamba (Aimtech Corporation) or Astound (Astound, Inc.).

Analyzing Your Needs