ClipArt Reviews
Dave Bradforth
New Clipart from Focus Multimedia
Looking to make those documents a little prettier? Perhaps you need to look at some new offerings from Focus Multimedia which may help you do just that.
Whatever you use your computer for, occasionally the time will come when you need clipart. There are a few collections of Draw files, ArtWorks files and similar available for RISC OS; but it has to be said that they're few and far between in terms of availability and you can buy clipart for PCs from virtually any computer shop.
With a little help from programs such as ImageFS (or Keith Sloan's Careware offerings) all RISC OS computers can easily access WMFs, TIFFs, JPEGs and more besides. As a result, we're taking a quick look this month at a number of new offerings from Focus Multimedia.
To start off with, the 115,000 Clipart Images collection uses the Hemera GraphicsDesk front end as a convenient means of searching through a considerable number of images. The majority of this collection consists of vector graphics, but the pack also includes a fourth CD-ROM with 50,000 graphics intended for use on websites. The quality is generally good; and as such even though RISC OS users will have to sit down for a long time to find what they need this is a worthwhile addition to most collections.
Next up, 20,000 photos offers just that � 20,000 JPEG photographs covering a wide variety of interests and topics. The resolution of these images isn't high enough for professional usage (if you try to enlarge the images beyond their original size they rapidly start to lose quality) but for tiny additions to your more general desktop publishing documents, they're ideal.
Finally, the 200,000 Clipart Images collection again makes use of the GraphicsDesk browser; but the content is easily accessible to most RISC OS users. A large proportion of this collection consists of photography; something for which Hemera are well known; but the quality of the clipart and web images supplied is equally pretty good.
As a general rule of thumb, if you're looking into buying PC clipart for use under RISC OS you'll need a previewing tool (such as Mr Clippy or PhotoFiler) and plenty of patience. There is quality material available out there; but it will require work to find it.
The first two collections are priced at £9.99; with the third £19.99 and all are available from Focus Multimedia at www.focusselect.co.uk.
Product details
| Product: | ClipArt |
| Supplier: | Focus Multimedia |
| Price: | From £9.99 |
| WWW: | http://www.focusselect.co.uk |
Dave Bradforth