Article Abstract:
Broderbund Software's $129.95 Drawing Table for Apple Macintosh microcomputers is a good choice for a user desiring an expensive drawing program offering fundamental features. Packages with more sophisticated features are available in abundance but they cost more. Drawing Table is an object-oriented program similar in style and feel to Macdraw. It includes a broad selection of well-drawn clip art, mainly symbols and icons for graphs, maps and architectural drawings. Several clip-art libraries are offered in color or black and white; Drawing Table itself displays eight colors on a Mac II. The program has an excellent text binding feature but lacks kerning, which means text placement is restricted. However, text features can be changed without unbinding it from the path. Broderbund recommends 2Mbytes of RAM, although the program will run on a 1Mbyte machine.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
The text tools are most improved in Adobe Systems Inc's new Illustrator 3.0, priced at $595. There is now no limitation to the size, number and style of characters in a text block. New typographic features include horizontal scaling, manual and automatic kerning and super- and sub-script support. The text dialog box has been deleted, allowing users to edit text anywhere on the screen. Illustrator now has the capability of converting Type 1 fonts to outlines that can be edited, a procedure that previously could only be done with a separate utility. On the down side, layout features are incomplete. The program has no spelling checker or style sheet and provides only manual hyphenation. Users cannot design continuous pages within one file. Although the program cannot do everything, its valuable tools make Illustrator 3.0 well worth recommending.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Letraset U.S.A.'s Letra Studio (version 1.0) lets the user shape letters in ways a user wants, placing letters within a drawing or page layout program. Other programs touch upon the ability to create special letter effects, but Letra Studio fills the long-standing gap that has existed in text handling on the Macintosh. Although the program offers flexibility and precision, it has a serious problem: Letraset's Letra Fonts are the only fonts that can be used in this program, and these same fonts can't be used in any other program. However, Letra Fonts give a crisp, clean screen font, no matter what size the letter. The program comes with 4 free fonts, and at press time, 31 more were available at $75 apiece. The company is estimating that 231 fonts will be available by the end of the year. The Letraset program is available at $495.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: