Computer Software Recommendations

Computer Software Recommendations

Post from the Sandcarving discussion group at Yahoo Groups (April 24, 2001)

We actually use Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, and Macromedia Freehand on a daily basis, so my opinion comes from experience.

The most expensive aspect of software is the time involved in the learning process. Expect to spend several weeks to several months to learn how to use your software effectively. Keep this in mind when selecting your software. It is far better to spend a little more money up front, and learn how to use the best available software for your industry.

The second most expensive aspect of software is technical support. Support can come from the product manufacturer or from others in the industry. The best products will have the a large following of highly experienced users that are eager to share what they know via the Internet. See Note at bottom for more info.

What am I getting at? Buy Adobe.

Corel will do everything that you need it to do. It is less expensive for the entire package (Draw, Trace, Paint) verses the comparable Adobe option (Illustrator, Streamline, Photoshop.) Adobe is a better product.

I would recommend starting with Adobe Illustrator. If you want to scan in artwork and then edit it in Illustrator you will need to get Streamline. For most sandcarvers this will be the only graphic arts software you will need. It should definitely be all you need/use for the first year of sandcarving.

If you choose to make an attempt at sandcarving photos you will need to get Adobe Photoshop for photo preparation. Sandcarving photographs is a very advanced sandcarving technique and should not even be considered until you have mastered the standard sandcarving process.

-Roderick J. Geis, BSCS, MCP
Rayzist Photomask, Inc.

Note: Finding Support for you product... One of the best places to get free help in in the Usenet. Google groups is a great way to access the Usenet. Take a look at the following:

Click For: Adobe Illustrator; Adobe Photoshop; Corel Draw, Trace, and Photo Paint

At the time of this writing there were 1,130 messages for Corel, 2870 messages for Illustrator, and about 14,500 messages for Photoshop. Adobe has by far a much larger end user support network.

Illustration Software
The primary application for the sandcarving professional is an illustration or "draw" application. This type of application creates vector graphics which can be easily scaled to any needed size while maintaining the highest possible image quality.

Adobe Illustrator Know for being the standard professional illustration program in the graphic arts industry. To complete the package you will most likely need to buy Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Streamline. See Below.	www.adobe.com Street Price: $389
Macromedia Freehand A very good alternate choice for the professional user. In addition to providing excellent illustration features, Freehand also delivers the power to handle some desktop publishing needs. As with Illustrator, to complete the package you will most likely need to buy Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Streamline. Freehand works well with these programs even though it is not and Adobe product. See Below.	www.macromedia.com Street Price: $369
CorelDraw Corel Draw is a very good offering for the PC... It can't be beat for price vs. performance. Corel offers Draw, Photo Paint and Trace in the standard package. This can save several hundred dollars, and is definitely the best choice for someone new to the industry.	www.corel.com Street Price: $499

Utility Programs
Raster to Vector Conversion Utilities.

Adobe Streamline Streamline is used to convert scanned in raster images to line art the can be manipulated in any of the Illustration programs mentioned above. With the advent of version 4 of Streamline there is no competition.	www.adobe.com Street Price: $149
Corel Trace Lacking in power when compared to Streamline. Included as a standard with CorelDraw. CorelDraw users may consider buying Streamline if they are doing vector conversion frequently.	Part of the CorelDraw Package

Digital Imaging Software
Digital imaging or paint programs in the sandcarving industry are used primarily for very high detail images. The drawbacks to this type of application are that images cannot be scaled to larger sizes without loosing quality and files can very large.

Adobe Photoshop This is hands down the very best photo editing software that exists. It is the standard for the graphic arts community. This software is used to prepare photos for transfer to photo resist, or to create designs with very high detail. Line art can be scanned directly into Photoshop for cleanup and then transferred to Streamline for vector conversion.	www.adobe.com Street Price: $599
Corel Photo-Paint This gets the job done, and the price is right.	Part of the CorelDraw Package

Free or Shareware Programs
These programs and much more can be found at Stroud's CWSApps List.

	Adobe Acrobat Reader
Stroud's Review	Version: 5.0	Date: 4/17/2001	Size: 8410 KB
Description	Viewer for PDF files.
Download	Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP
Status	Freeware
Company	Adobe Systems, Inc. - The Acrobat Page

	WinZip
Stroud's Review	Version: 7.0 SP-1	Date: 6/1/99	Size: 921 KB
Description	Decompress ZIP files.
Download	Windows 95/98
Status	Free 30-day evaluation. Shareware.
Company	Niko Mak Computing, Inc.

	ACDSee32
Stroud's Review	Version: 3.00	Date: 12/9/99	Size: 4040 KB
Description	Graphics Viewer.
Download	Windows 95/98
Status	Free evaluation. Shareware.
Company	ACD Systems, Ltd.

All prices given were obtained from the vendors below. Contact the vendors for current pricing and availability information.