Now Available for Both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95
SmartDraw now ships as the COMBO Pack. This contains BOTH a 16 bit version for Windows 3.1 and 32 bit version for Windows 95 and NT. This plus 1500+ SmartDrawings and Templates for just £34.95. Perfect, whether you are already running Windows 95 or plan to upgrade later.
Although it ships with an easy-to-read user manual, SmartDraw is designed so that users can begin working immediately, without having to read any documentation.
One of the most powerful new features of SmartDraw 3.0 is the use of Connectors to create regular arrangements of shapes. Examples include organization charts, fishbone diagrams, network diagrams and even flow charts.
Connectors are special line objects that both shapes and other lines may link to. A connector is programmed to arrange the objects linked to it in a particular pattern. As shapes are linked to a connector, the other shapes already linked to it adjust to accommodate the new shape and maintain the arrangement. In the example below, a new shape is added to a connector that maintains a horizontal organization chart arrangement.
The new shape (white) is dropped between the two existing shapes and is automatically inserted between them. Shapes attached to a connector can removed and rearranged in the same Drag & Drop way.
SmartDraw is an OLE Server. This means that you can run SmartDraw from inside Microsoft Word, Excel, Lotus 123, WordPerfect and any other OLE Client program. Under Windows 95, you can also drag drawings from SmartDraw into other programs.
SmartDraw exports pictures in both GIF and JPG formats that are commonly used to include images in World Wide Web pages (like this one). SmartDraw offers the option of exporting GIF with a transparent background color and in both interlaced and non-interlaced format.
In addition to the 24 built-in shapes that you can drag onto your drawings, SmartDraw comes with nearly 90 SmartDrawing Libraries, containing over 1500 specialized images and shapes. The libraries are shown in palettes that float above the drawing. Draw flow charts, block diagrams, data flow diagrams, decision trees, network diagrams, floor plans, process flow diagrams, story boards, schematics, quality management diagrams, electrical diagrams, mechanical diagrams, chemistry diagrams, timelines, space plans, flyers, posters, banners, maps, forms and more
With SmartDraw you can draw single drawings that are up to 50 inches (1.27m) square, and can contain up to 16000 shapes and lines. When you print a large drawing, SmartDraw automatically divides it up into "tiles" that can be glued together to create one large drawing. It will even print a small overlap on each page to make this task even easier.
You can add your own shapes and symbols to any SmartDrawing Library, including new libraries that you can create yourself. Just draw a new symbol using SmartDraw, or any other Windows drawing program. Copy it to the clipboard, and use the Add New Drawing command, or just Drag and Drop it onto the library window.
For any SmartDrawing, you can define where text entered will go, where the connect points are for automatic connecting lines, and how the drawing re-sizes.
Shapes and lines can be added to a SmartDraw drawing by simply clicking on a button in the toolbar, or in a SmartDrawing window, and dragging the shape shown on the button onto the page. Drawing in this way creates shapes with the same pre-defined size, making it easy to create neat and symmetrical drawings.
SmartDraw also supports pencil drawing. Clicking on a shape or SmartDrawing button and releasing changes the mouse cursor into a "pencil" that draws the selected shape or line when you click and drag in the drawing window. Drawing with the "pencil" allows you to create a copy of the shape or line with any size or aspect ratio. Lines are normally drawn this way.
Lines drawn from the edge of one shape to edge of another can be made to stay connected. This happens automatically if this feature is turned on (as it is by default). Lines can also be connected after they are created by dragging one end to the border of a shape.
Once connected, lines stay connected to shapes as they change size or are moved. This is a very useful feature for creating flowcharts.
When a shape is selected, text can be entered inside it by simply starting to type. The text flows inside the shape like the text on a page in a word processor. Once the shape becomes full of text it grows to accommodate more. Normally shapes grow so as to maintain their proportions. The text and the shape remain tightly bound so that the text never spills outside.
Text inside a shape can be edited easily. Double-clicking on it opens a text editing session. Text can be cut, copied and pasted. Its typeface and color can be changed on a character-by character basis. All text editing is fully WYSIWYG, just like a word processor, You can even format bulleted text automatically. SmartDrawings may have the text associated with them appear underneath (or above) rather than inside. The same editing rules apply. The user can choose whether a SmartDrawing has its text appear inside, above or below the image.
SmartDraw makes it easy to draw crisp and clean diagrams:
Users of SmartDraw can apply different colors to text, lines, shape borders, interiors and the drawing background. To simplify this, SmartDraw supplies a library of different color schemes, or Styles, that can be applied to any drawing, using the Colors and Styles command. Styles can also add shadow effects, including some that give a raised 3D look to drawings and even text. Users can modify these styles and create their own.
Using Styles makes it easy for users without artistic skill to create presentation-quality drawings.