PsL Monthly 1993 September/PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM (Public Software Library)(September 1993).bin/reviews/gr_02

Text File | 1993-07-07 | 46KB | 1,069 lines

GR-02:  General Drawing Programs


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3401 AutoCad Utilities          Small Programs Disk
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ACDB 1.2
   Newman, Norman
   $35
maintains a database of drawing files created by AutoCAD. Other CAD
programs may be used. Features include sorting records by several
fields, viewing stored data and drawing itself on one screen, and
launching AutoCAD from within the program. Requires 640K of RAM.


ASC-SCR 2.1
   HydraWare Software
   $10-$15
will convert an ASCII text file of x,y, and optionally z, coordinates into an
AutoCAD script file. An example data file is included.

Draftsman's Companion (DRAFTSM)
   Blueline Development Inc.
   $64
makes AutoCAD easier and more efficient to use. For example, you can move, copy
or stretch by distances without specifying "from" and "to" points. You can
manage layers without having to use AutoCAD's cryptic commands. The program can
find the center of any two lines, and more. Requires AutoCAD release 10 or 11.

Survey Drafter 2.0 (SURVEY)
   TDM Software
   $50
converts raw survey data in the form of a distance, angle, elevation and note
into an AutoCAD script file format. Once the script file is created, AutoCAD is
used to generated an automatic point plot drawing of the survey data.

Tab123 1.3
   Mountain Software ASP
   $20-$30
allows you to import Lotus 123 and Symphony spreadsheet files into an AutoCAD
drawing as a table of text entities and an optional cell grid to enclose the
table.

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END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #3401
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Ally 2.11
   Waskow, Steve ASP
   $75
   #4984
is a programmer's workbench and analyzer for AutoLISP. It is accessible from
and interactive with AutoCAD. Ally helps debug AutoLISP source code by error
checking, scoping and cross-referencing LISP symbols.


256 Draw
   Johndrow, David A.
   $8
   #7683/3822
is a 256-color VGA graphics editor. Images created or edited with this
program are compatible with Borland's BGI graphics formats. Requires VGA
and a Microsoft-compatible mouse.


Desktop Paint 256 2.0c
   Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
   $35
   #7683/3173
is a full-color bitmapped paint program that supports the extended resolution
of super VGA cards. Formats supported are PCX, GIF, IFF/LBM, and TIFF. It
supports up to 256 colors. It can handle pictures several megabytes in size
with adequate EMS memory. A mouse and super-VGA card are required.


Finger VGA
   Poisson Technology
   $35-$36
   #7683/3236
is a color image processing, painting and animation program for VGA that uses
standard PCX file format. Pictures can be printed on an HPLJ compatible printer.
The program has a lot of professional features, including support for 256
colors, but it also seems to have some problems. Screen prompts were sometimes
invisible. We could not get the zoom feature to work properly, and the printout
was a one-inch blob. We offer this only for the experimentally inclined who want
a first look at a program that has potential.


Improces 4.1
   Wagner, John
   $25
   #7683/3646
is an excellent SVGA image processor supporting all modes from 320x200x256
through 1024x768x256. Features include an image contrast enhancement,
Histograms, sharpening by convolution, custom filters, full control of the VGA
palette, Clipboard, five fonts in five sizes, FAT BIT editor, and many drawing
tools. It supports Ahead, ATI, Chips & Tech, Everex, Paradise, Trident, Tseng
(both 3000 and 4000 chipsets), Video7, and any video card with VESA capability.

Other features include support for true color Targa files, 2048x2048 virtual
modes, best-fit palette, true color averaging, the ability to set images in
motion, clipboard painting, 5 work areas, locking mouse support, and much
more. Requires 512K, mouse, DOS 3.0 or higher and a hard disk.


AnimateThis 1.0
   Williams, Gregory and Patricia Y.
   $5
   #2583
is an easy way to animate graphics. The program allows you to capture a series
of graphics screen and show them in succession at high speed. The high speed is
accomplished by combining the separate graphics files into one large file.
Sample files are included (although they are in colors difficult to view on our
system) and the effect is very good.


AutoDoc & AutoCom
   Rexxcom Systems
   $24-$54
   #4688
is an editor and compiler for creating text files embellished with
colorful, "animated" ASCII graphics. Although the output is obviously
not going to be as impressive as true graphics, the fancy borders and
fonts, and even drawings that can be created with text characters,
line-drawing characters and blocks are pretty impressive in their own
right.


AutoRender
   Control Automation, Inc.
   $89
   #7336/#2812 [2 disks]
is a DXF rendering and shading package. The display is divided into two
sections, the Command/Status window, and the Screen View Window. There are ten
basic command including turning, zooming, coloring, redrawing, and various
printing options. The documentation walks you through each process, so getting
started is easy. There is also a section describing the concepts of 3-D
rendering. The program accepts mouse input and other CAD oriented devices.
Requires a hard drive and 640K of RAM.


Cadet 4.03
   Waskow, Steve ASP
   $50
   #7502/3307 [2 disks]
allows users to create and edit text and attributes in AutoCAD drawings. This
full-screen text editor includes such features as search-and-replace,
cut-and-paste, and the ability to change text style, height, and case. It allows
you to create both notes and text tables, and import and export text. It has
word wrap and an integrated spelling checker with a 112,000+ word dictionary.


DirecTREE
   BGASoft ASP
   $59
   #7414/2715
allows you to access and maintain all of your AutoCAD drawing files quickly and
easily. It also features a full range of file and hard disk management
functions.


LoadIt!
   Genusa, Stephen V.
   $43
   #7414/2055
is a front end menu for AutoCAD.  It includes utilities to make it easy to
perform the following functions: create new drawings, create new drawings by
prototype, edit existing drawings, pick drawings from a ZIP file, insert
Blocks, erase drawings, erase BAK files, DXFin multiple drawings, DXFout
multiple drawings (ASCII & Binary), printer plot drawings, plot drawings, and
view drawings.  Create, Edit, Erase, Execute, List, Load, View (etc...)  Lisp
files, Script files, Font-Shape files, Menu files, Slides, and standard dos
files.  LoadIt! is all menu driven.  It also has Mouse support and on-line
help. The author can no longer be reached at the address listed in the
documentation.


Nuts and Things
   R & I Enterprise
   $13
   #7414/1881
contains 98 drawing files for use with AutoCad 2.6. Most of the files are
drawings of various pieces of hardware which are frequently used by designers
and drafting personnel. They drawings consist of nuts, flat washers, split
lock washers and pan head and flat head screws (both phillips and slotted
heads). Each drawing is an individual "block" and can be called up and
positioned by the user to satisfy the requirements of the drawing being
developed.


ToolMaster
   Miller, Leonard R.
   $?
   #7414/1975
provides a vehicle for Tool and Machine Designers and Draftsmen to "drive"
AutoCAD 9.0+ to maximum performance.  It incorporates an 11" X 11" overlay for
a digitizing tablet.  This overlay drawing of fourteen logically grouped
modules is populated by one-half inch squares.  Each of the more than 350
squares performs some AutoCAD macro or customized AutoLISP programmed routine.
Hard disk and AutoCAD 9+ required.


ELF Extended Lisp Function Library 1.1
   Mountain Software ASP
   $39-$56
   #12289 (GR-02)
is a library of commands and functions to enhance AutoCAD and AutoLISP.
It includes an ASCII file browse and editor, DOS file management, video,
window, menus, math, entity creation, keyboard, file, directory, list
handling, string handling, sound, and debugging functions.


LaunchCAD
   Mountain Software ASP
   $20-$30
   #4182
is a replacement for the AutoCAD opening menu. This utility makes AutoCAD's
opening menu functions, such as a drawing file or subdirectory, easier to
select.


Quick Command 3.0
   Jincks, Dan
   $20
   #12162
is a group of AutoLISP enhancements for AutoCAD. They provide faster command
entry, a screen interactive transparent calculator, 3D zooms without regens,
and extended and improved block and layer commands. You can also explode
multiple entities in a window. This set is fully documented with unprotected
source code. Also included is BUZ ($5) a self-indexing text file viewer.


Curve Digitizer
   West Coast Consultants
   $149
   #7186/1286 [2 disks]
is a powerful two-dimensional CAD system.  This major upgrade has had the
digitizer calibration phase simplified, scaling and rotation added to the symbol
command, and a user-defined plotter driver routine made available. The authors
sent us a separate version of the program for Hercules compatible monographics
cards. For this version, order disk #1880 [2 disks].


Custom#Menu
   Mountain Software ASP
   $20-$30
   #4222
allows you to easily modify an AutoCAD menu. It runs from within the drawing
editor. You choose the location of menu items with a mouse or digitizer pointer
and assistance is provided in constructing the menu command. Buttons, tablet
boxes, and main screen menu items can be added, inserted, or deleted.


DanCad3D 2.5h
   Hudgins, Daniel H.
   $1
   #7188/1215 [5 disks]
provides powerful wire frame 3D graphics with rotation and animation. Advanced
editing features include the ability to measure angles and distances between
any two points in a drawing, automatic macro file generation, magnification,
windowing, clipping, curve fitting in two, three, or more dimensions,automatic
backup, and lots more. The animation section can display up to 999 drawing
frames.

This is a very polished and professional package, but is easy to use. A
comprehensive demo shows you the features of the program, including 2D and 3D
wire-frame animation. The program supports CGA, EGA, and Hercules mono-
graphics and requires a hard disk or other type of drive with at least 720k
capacity. It also supports a mouse or FastTRAP 3D trackball. Printers
supported include LQ-1500, LX-80, MX-80, NEC-P6, IBM 5152 and Proprinter, Star
Gemini 15x, and PostScript laser printers and pen plotters.


DanCAM and DanPlot 2.52
   Hudgins, Daniel H.
   $1
   #3016
controls manufacturing devices with stepper motors to automatically
manufacture parts of any size or type. The program will read drawing files,
such as those created by DanCAD (disk #7188) and control devices through your
computer's parallel port. Examples of the tasks it can help perform include
engraving signs, cutting foam with hot wires, routing of wood or plastic,
cutting of sheet metal and drilling printed circuit boards.


DeltaView 1.0
   Delta Technology
   $39
   #4619
is a 3D drawing program that lets you see your drawing from the front, top
and side - all at the same time in different windows. As you draw, the line
appears in all three windows at once. In addition, you can rotate the
drawing about any axis while drawing.

DeltaView is designed primarily for wireframe type drawings; it's drawing
tools are few and simple, but effective for that purpose. (In other words,
you will not find tools like spray paint, flood fill, etc., which are not
required for wireframe work.)


Desktop Paint 3.0h
   Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
   $40
   #2963
is an excellent drawing program that supports many popular file formats,
including PCX, WPG, IMG, TIFF, MAC, Ventura GEM/IMG, GIF, MSP, IFF/LBM,
BMP, PIC, TGA, and Halo CUT. It works with dot matrix or HPLJ-compatible
or PostScript printers. The program does not support color because it is
aimed at the B&W desktop publishing crowd. It requires Hercules
compatible monochrome graphics (most EGA/VGA cards have Hercules
emulation modes).

It has many powerful features, such as gradient fills, EMS support for
very large pictures, on-line help, quick font size selction, and more.
It has a versatile selection of graphics tools as well. Other features
include drawing support for two-button mice, filled ellipse and
rectangle tools, smudging, a copy count to the Print box, and Trace
Edges function. A mouse is required.


Desktop Paint 16 1.0d
   Alchemy Mindworks Inc.
   $40
   #4777
is a paint program for 16-color images. Formats supported are MacPaint,
GEM/IMG, PCX files, GIF, TIFF, WPG, MSP, IFF/LBM, BMP and PIC. It has
EMS and XMS support to handle images of several megabytes in size, and a
wide selection of image creation and manipulation tools. It can utilize
fonts from many other sources, including Ventura Publisher, Macintosh
FONT and NFNT resources and Windows FNT files. A mouse, VGA, and 640K
are required.


Draft Choice 2.0c [DRAFT_CH]
   Trius, Inc. ASP
   $55
   #7189/1630
is a unique object-oriented drawing program. It uses floating point
mathematics to record the size, shape and position of objects you design. An
object is a basic element like a line, a circle, a box, or even more complex
shapes like many sided Polygons (triangles, pentagons, etc) and Bezier Curves.
By choosing a mixture of these elements you can create amazingly detailed
drawings, impressive graphics, or conceptual schematics. A built in formula
calculator is included. Bit-mapped and vector based fill patterns are
available. Supported output devices include those compatible with the HPGL pen
plotters, HP LaserJet, Epson dot matrix printers, the Epson LQ2500 or
compatible 24 pin printers, and Okidata dot matrix printers.

The program supports VGA graphics, and provides EEMS and Virtual Disk memory
support. Multiple fonts are allowed in the same drawing. A special feature
allows semi-automatic dimensioning of drawing boundaries. Additional features
include a powerful CLIP command which allows you to print any portion of your
drawing while maintaining the original scale, automatic mouse detection, and
many color options. Although the documentation referred to the program as
"blazingly fast", we thought that the cursor movement was very sluggish.
Nevertheless, this is an interesting approach to a drawing program. Requires
384K, graphics card, 500K of disk space, and DOS 2.0 or later.


EDraw
   Emark Systems
   $50
   #7189/1054
is a general purpose drawing program designed for engineers, teachers and
students.  Besides drawing lines, boxes, circles and symbols, Edraw includes
logic/electronic symbols enabling a user to draw electronic circuits.  The
program is ideal for drawing schematics, block diagrams, flowcharts and features
automatic panning.  EDRAW requires 320k of memory, a CGA or EGA graphic monitor,
supports most mice, and prints on Epson or compatible printers.  An extensive
demo takes you through the program the first time, though you have to clear any
resident utilities out of memory first and you have to reboot to exit the demo.
NOTE:  Requires color graphics adapter and an Epson/IBM-compatible graphics
printer.


EEDraw
   Elber, Gershon
   $0
   #7189/3308
is a full-featured, mouse-driven parametric drawing program specifically
designed for drawing electronic schematics. You can create libraries of
integrated circuits and parts; several are included. Epson-compatible and
PostScript printers are supported.

Also included on this disk is LOGIC.LIB by Dan Bodoh ($0), a library of
general purpose logic gates and MOS transistor symbols for use with EEDraw.


Easy Draft 1.6
   Andrews, Scott
   $0
   #12226
is a drafting program. Features include zooming, panning, parallel
lines, circles, painting, object/symbol libraries and adding text to
your drawing. Objects can be created, moved, copied, rotated and hidden
without any effect on the main drawing.


Finger Paint
   Poisson Technology
   $32
   #1112
is an excellent graphics program along the lines of PC Paintbrush. We had to
turn down a previous version because the critical function of printing the
graphics had been disabled and was provided only for registered users. The only
printer now supported in the unregistered version is the HPLJ at 150 dpi.


HiDraw and HiDraw2
   Singleton, F. Dail Jr., PhD
   $25
   #1221
These programs simulate an 8"x10" pen-type plotter on your 24-pin Epson or
Toshiba printer.  A drawing is created first in a buffer and is visible in
reduced resolution form through a window on your graphics monitor screen.  The
print command sends the full-resolution drawing to your printer in 180 by 180
dots per inch mode.  The program produces printer graphics resolutions several
times higher than standard programs which are designed to work with 9-pin
printers.


HomePlan 2.51
   Herndon, Chuch ASP
   $24
   #4489
draws and prints house plans. Features include automatic dimensioning,
adjustable scale, showing studs and joists, rectangles and circles,
predrawn furniture and appliances, undo, selectable line styles, and an
on-screen odometer for displaying horizontal and vertical measurements.
Support for 24 and 9-pin dot matrix and HP LaserJet printers is
provided. Requires VGA.


LayOut
   Waldman, Martin L. ASP
   $20-$35
   #3489
is a drawing program optimized for floorplans, maps, circuit boards, quilts
and other spaces of known dimensions. It features many elementary drafting
elements and a free-form customizable database of objects usable for
inventories, parts lists, etc. Object databases can be converted to comma
delimited files for inclusion in DBMS systems, spreadsheets, and word
processors. CGA or better is required, and mouse support is provided.


Magic Brush
   Nassar, Nassib ASP
   $25
   #7684/1575
offers a "slide presentation" program and a pop-up (85k) graphics screen dump
program for saving a graphics screen to a picture file.  It allows freehand
drawing with different pen colors and thicknesses and has cut and paste ability.
It supports medium resolution CGA. The ability to center a figure to be pasted
and diagonal flipping of cut has been included It features a script language
and vertical slides and wipes.


MegaPaint II
   TommySoftware
   $30
   #7684/3823
is a powerful, multi-featured drawing program. You can load scripts,
fonts, and symbol libraries; import HP-GL line art and PCX and other
bit-mapped graphics, as well as exporting in those formats; print a page
or selected items; draw freehand or with dozens of different
objects/tools, including Bezier curves; zoom in and out; do pattern
fills; and much more.

The program does not support color on-screen, but it will print colors.
This is an excellent program at a modest price. Requires 510K, EGA/VGA
or Hercules, a mouse, and a hard disk.


Painter's Apprentice
   Naughton, Patrick and Nelson, Russell
   $35
   #7684/1686
is a graphics drawing program for EGA/VGA. It is similar to the styles of
MacPaint, PC Paintbrush, Dr. Halo, etc. This appears to be a superbly done
program. The screen is a window on a much larger drawing pad. MS-compatible
mouse is required. Over 20 printer definition files are included, including
those for Epson FX/MX, Gemini, IBM printers, Okidata's, Prowriter, Thinkjet and
more.

The author decided at the last minute not to use the .IMG extension for this
program because the files would not be compatible with other .IMG files (eg:
Ventura's). But a small bug causes ".IMG" to still be the default extension if
you do not specify one. The work-around is to do a SAVE AS... and specify an
extension of ".IPA".


Sprite Master
   Sexton, Fred Jr.
   $30
   #7684/3648
is an easy-to-use, VGA (320x200 x 256 colors) drawing program. Features include
mirror, rotate, darken/lighten, swap groups of colors, automatic 3-D shading,
text, undo, and more. On the down side, the program uses a proprietary file
format, so you cannot edit existing files in GIF, PCX, or other popular formats.

The program's opening screen deserves some kind of award. Several sample
graphics files are included, including one that is a scanned color photo.
Requires VGA, mouse, and 400k.


NeoPaint 2.0
   OSCS Software Development, Inc.
   $52
   #20062 [2 disks]
is an image editing program. It reads and writes PCX, GIF, and TIFF
formats and converts between differing formats and resolutions.
Adjustable on-screen windows allow you to load and work on multiple
files. NeoPaint provides such effects as fade, blur, pixelize, streak,
image rotation, invert, flip, and image scaling.

Other features include multiple brush shapes and sizes, airbrush,
multi-color highlighter pen, fill options, polygons, 80 predefined
patterns, clip art stamps, multiple fonts and font effects, ability to
create and import palettes, and creation and rotation of 3D cubes and
pyramids. Requires DOS 3.1+, 640K, hard disk, mouse, and EGA/VGA.


PC-Art
   Stone, P. Michael
   $20-$25
   #1423
is a general color graphics drawing program for the CGA.  Features include
freehand drawing with varying line boldness and shape, Paint function with any
of 15 different patterns, spray paint function, line, box and circle functions,
two fonts with 10 character sizes each, and cut-and-paste.  PC-Art supports a
mouse or joystick, but can be used with just the keyboard.  We tested it with an
MS mouse and everything worked smoothly and as it should.  It is not as powerful
as something like PC-Key-Draw, but it is not as complicated either.  It is a
good, basic, drawing program for the CGA.  IBM/Epson compatible printers
supported.

When setting up the program, it asks for a directory name for storage. You must
put a backslash (\) at the end of the path name you give it. Example:
C:\MYSTUFF\.


Picture Editing Package 1.3
   Trionum Inc.
   $45-$75
   #4952
is a drawing and layout program. It can be used to create diagrams, drawings,
labels, logos, banners, forms, certificates, presentations, slide shows, flow
charts, floor plans, and more.

PEP supports LaserJet, DeskJet, PostScript, and dot matrix printers. It can
save in PCX and EPS formats. Features include arbitrary zoom, WYSIWYG display,
background printing, infinite undelete, scalable fonts, decorative
ornaments, rulers, grids, snapping, and more.


BG-ART-1
   Grubbs, Bob
   $15
   #7413/2013
is a large set of religious and holiday pictures drawn by the author with
PC-Draft (below). The files on this disk can only be read by PC-Draft. For the
same pictures in a format usable by other graphics programs, see section DP-01
#2014-1&2.


PC-Draft II
   Natural Software ASP
   $50
   #7413/1020 [2 disks]
is a high resolution pixel oriented drawing and graphing utility, which is
designed to facilitate a variety of drawing and drafting needs.

It has the ability to capture text or graphic screens. Drawing functions include
curves, arcs, ellipse, spray paint; and objects can be expanded, contracted and
rotated. The PIX slide show presentation language is included as are the screen
capture programs.


PC-Draft-CAD
   Natural Software ASP
   $65
   #7413/1685
is an object oriented CAD utility; that is, it stores your drawing as a database
of basic drawing elements such as points and lines. Built-in functions allow
you to draw circles, lines, boxes, arcs, ellipses. You can record graphic
keyboard macros saved in files for later playback and for animation effects.
You can add text to your drawing with a variety of fonts. Objects can be
rotated, stretched in any direction and duplicated.

You can print your drawings in portrait or landscape on a variety of printers
and plotters including those compatible with IBM and Epson Dot matrix, HP
Laserjet+, HP DeskJet printers and plotters that support the HPGL plotter
language. Support for VGA (640x480), EGA (640x350), Super VGA (800x600x16) and
Hercules (720x350) is included.

You can export your drawings in GEM and WPG file format. These can then be
directly imported into such Desk Top Publishing programs as Ventura Publisher
and WordPerfect. You can exchange vector-based drawings via text-based messages,
such as on BBS's. All dimension are expressed in decimal.


PC-Key-Draw
   OED
   $100
   #7040/121 [4 disks]
is a powerful graphics program, a bargain even at its relatively high (for
shareware) price. PC-Key-Draw has "HyperDraw" capability. The program can be
used as a graphical database and is very similar to the HyperCard used in the
the MacIntosh. This is accompanied by an interactive tutorial that can lead
the beginner through all the basic functions of the program.

PC-Key-Draw's HyperDraw provides a means to link related screens of information
together in a database structure that is ideal for a variety of tasks such as
teaching aids, interactive slide shows, cataloging information, creating family
trees, organizational charts, and more. Each screen can have up to eight links,
each of which can run a macro, load a screen, or load a partial screen. Each
link is able to have eight additional links, and so on, for branching to an
unlimited number of screens. Edward tells us that he has wanted to add this kind
of feature for a long time, but had problems coming up with a good way to
implement it until he was inspired by the interactive comic book in the movie
"Big".

Included is a set of files named MAZE, which uses Key-Draw's HyperDraw feature
to "run". MAZE is a 3-D maze game which allows you to move through various
levels by moving the cursor via the keyboard, mouse or joystick. Although MAZE
takes up over 800k of disk space with un-ARC'ed, it is compressed into a 72k arc
file on disk 3 (the tutorial disk) of the 3-disk PC-Key-Draw set. ARCE or
equivalent is required to un-ARC the files.

With HyperShell this program could be used as a DOS menu program. It can be used
to create a graphics-based menu for all your favorite programs, which can be run
simply by clicking on the desired program icon. In addition, HyperShell uses
only 100 bytes of RAM while running other programs, making it one of the most
efficient menu programs around.

Robert S. Gary, Charlotte, NC: "I am unable to get the software to install
without receiving the error message "out of environment space".

PsL: Your PATH string could be too long. Try rebooting from a plain DOS disk.
Also, check your DOS manual's Index for "environment".

Donald Otis, Salina, KS: "Attempts to run the program results in the following:
a small white square appears on the screen then a series of numbers appear going
down the left edge of the screen ending with the message "out of memory" I'm
running the program on a Gateway 2000 386-25, with 80 meg and 1 meg dedicated to
VGA and DOS 4.01."

PsL: Author Edward Kidera says that the problem apparently is caused by an
anomaly in DOS 4.x and can easily be corrected by running SHARE. (See your DOS
manual for more information about using SHARE.)


Picture Graphics
   #122
is a very easy to use program with many pictures stored on disk so that you
don't have to draw at all.  You can still do freehand drawing and automatically
draw circles and boxes.  It also has 5 different types of fonts available for
adding fancy text to the screen.


Picture-This
   Williams, P. Y. and Williams, G.
   $80
   #7080/1312 [3 disks]
is a vector-mapped (as opposed to bit-mapped) Postscript drawing program
intended for output on laser printers. Being vector mapped means that pictures
can be scaled up and down in size without creating the jaggedness common to
resized bit-mapped drawings. Curved lines are created by specifying the two
end points and two intermediate points which control the amount and location
of the curve. A utility for capturing screens is included for importing CGA
screens into the program. The output files can be imported to and manipulated
by major desktop publishing programs or printed independently. A "quickshow"
screen provides a fast preview of the Postscript output, accurately showing
layering, thicknesses shading and more, which saves printing out innumerable
test copies. Other features include sophisticated typesetting features,
dotting-and-dashing of curves, automatic two-dimensional data plots, mouse
support, a fun Kartoons mode, and much more. CGA-compatible video is required.
This program also runs on 8088-based laptops, so you can draw or typeset
on-the-go.


PrintCADD 3-D
   Birdseye Software Ltd. ASP
   $75
   #7576/3824 [3 disks]
is a 3-D drafting, design and modelling program for EGA/VGA. Features include up
to 255 named layers, multiple windows, a large number of tools and shapes,
automatic surfaces, extruded surfaces, revolved and joined surfaces.

PrintCADD lets you keep libraries of parts. You can work in perspective or
parallel projections. Other features include elimination of hidden lines,
rotation, copy and delete, zooms, pans, redraws, snap-to-grid, and more.
Printers supported include HPLJ, Epson, IBM.


NorthCad-3D
   The Quest Company
   $80
   #7576/1209
(formerly Quest 3D) is a three-dimensional wire-frame drawing program that
enables you to create, view, and edit three-dimensional objects. Using a
menu-driven interface, commands can be quickly chosen to perform a large
variety of design and viewing tasks. You can move, scale, rotate, and tip your
image anyway you choose, making the program suited for a variety of creative
design and illustration applications. This program is extremely fascinating if
you have any interest in graphics at all. A half-dozen sample drawings come on
the disk and even if you don't draw, it's a lot of fun just playing with them,
rotating them, scaling them up and down, etc.

Other features include Pan and Zoom commands that can be used simultaneously
while drawing, a full screen cross hair cursor option (like in AutoCAD), a
relative coordinate display option, an on-line keyboard reference, and a snap
to the nearest endpoint command. DOS 3+ and 512K are required, and EGA is
supported, along with VGA 16-color 640x480 resolution. Note: When entering a
drive for the drawings, if you put A:\ it will cause an error. Just enter A:
with no backslash.


Rad CAD
   Ratcliff, Matthew J.W.
   $0
   #7576/2815
is a 3D graphics design program that allows rotating, scaling, animation, axis
rotation and more.


PC-Schematics
   Mattern, John
   $25
   #7190/2232
allows the user to create, save, and print electrical schematics. The program
contains 170 elementary graphic characters which are used to create component
patterns and full schematic diagrams. The graphic characters have been chosen
for drawing analog circuits, digital circuits, and clock diagrams. Text can
also be keyed in. Patterns can be transferred between drawings. Many other
features make the program easy and efficient to use. The program appears to
require DOS 3+.

Features include the ability to have up to eight simultaneous drawings,
one-pixel scale resolution, 2x4096 graphics character file size, tracking
markers for all scales, a second print driver with high scale accuracy, BITMAP
mode for drawing and creating characters, circle, arc, rectangle, and line
routines in bitmap, a rotate routine for window sized patterns, fill routine
for closed objects, an "oops" key to restore the prior bitmap image, multiple
strike printing for darker artwork, the ability to produce both positive and
negative artwork, the ability to transfers pads from layout to artwork
drawing, a zoom feature, 2X magnification of quarter screen objects, automatic
corners when drawing schematics, the ability to preview the complete drawing,
and more.


Schematic Filer
   Cutcher, Jeff
   $25
   #7190/1974
allows you to draw schematics.  It is actually a general drawing program, but
it comes with a set of libraries and special functions pertaining to
schematics.  SF stores graphics as vectors, rather than bit-mapped data, which
is faster and requires less memory and disk space.  Requires 512k RAM, some
form of graphics video, and a mouse.  Features include rubberbanding; circles,
boxes, arc, lines and text; fill patterns and line styles, two-color on CGA
and 16 colors on EGA/VGA; a measuring function and more.


GIFHex
   Gozum, Lawrence & Marvin
   $28
   #2716
is a utility to convert GIF or PCX or BLD/PLT images, with 256-colors, to
variable, error-distributed, dithered, 16-color pictures (up to 1024x768x16). It
supports four different algorithms to maximize your 16-color modes. Requires EGA
and 512K of memory.


MVP Paint
   MVP Software ASP
   $35-$53
   #12196
is a VGA graphics workshop. Features include animation, sunbursting,
interpolation, trending, and palette manipulation permitting use of
262,144 colors. It supports EMS, XMS, diskcache and PCX, GIF and VGA
file formats. Requires 640K, VGA/SVGA, and a mouse.


PCX-ToolBox 2.1
   PC West, Inc.
   $40
   #4490
is a set of PCX imaging tools. Functions include crop, scale, view, print,
dither, convert palettes, move, copy, delete, and more. Mouse support is
included. Requires 512k RAM.


PrintCAD 1.3
   Ravitz Software Inc. ASP
   $49
   #20121/4391
is a printer driver for CAD packages. It prints directly from CAD
software using either AutoCAD's ADI pen plotter driver or an HP-GL
driver. It supports a wide variety of printers, from Epson 9-pin to
PostScript. Other specific printers supported include HP DeskJet 500C,
PaintJet XL 300, LaserJet 4 at 600 dpi, Canon BJC880 and BJC800 native
mode, Canon LBP 8 Mk4, and IBM 4029 LaserPrinter 600 dpi. Requires 368K
of EMS or XMS memory.


PrintGL 1.3
   Ravitz Software Inc. ASP
   $50
   #20121/3142
will print an HP pen plotter file on a printer. HP-GL is HP's pen plotter
control language that is widely supported by graphics programs including
AutoCAD, GenCAD, MathCAD, SAS, MICROCADAM, Schema, and GEM's IMG output
format. PrintGL supports Epson compatible 9 and 24 pin dot matrix printers, HP
LaserJet, HP 7475, DeskJet, and PaintJet, and IBM 9 and 24 pin Proprinters,
Toshiba 24 pin, Quietwriter 2 and 3, LaserPrinter and NEC 24 pin printers
print in 360x360 dpi mode. It also supports HP-GL, PostScript, Canon LBP,
Canon BJ, IBM ExecJet output and HP 7550 polygon commands. Proportional fonts
are supported along with clipping window handling, line dash patterns and
margin precision. It will also display plots with a CGA, EGA, VGA, enhanced
VGA, 720x540 and 800x600 VGA, or HGC and output a bit map.

Even if your graphics program supports your printer, you may find that PrintGL
gives better print quality. PrintGL uses the best graphics modes available for
each printer that it supports. If you need printed graphics output from personal
software, you can output HP-GL and use PrintGL to do the printing. This gives
immediate support to a wide range of printers. Other features include
clarification of Canon BJ/IBM ExecJet drivers, and compression mode drivers for
24 pin printers. Output formats are provided for HP QuietJet, ZSoft PCX, and
Kodak Color 4.


ProtoCAD 3D 1.1
   TRIUS, Inc. ASP
   $65
   #12031
is a fast 3D CAD/rendering program with 3D drawings and editing tools. It
turns 2D drawings into 3D models. Visual aids simplify modeling and make
adjusting the viewpoint easy. Perspective, isometric, oblique, and plane
views are included.

There is realistic light source and surface shading. It supports most popular
dot matrix and laserjet printers. It also has multiple layers, HPGL and DXF
import capabilities, PCX output, and more. Requires 512K RAM.


TurboPaint
   Leinecker, Richard C.
   $20
   #3525
is an easy to use paint program. It supports a wide variety of monitor
combinations including CGA 2-color, CGA 4-color, EGA 320x200 16-color, EGA
640x200 16-color, EGA 640x350 16-color, MCGA, Hercules, and Tandy 16-color. It
saves and loads PCX, IFF (LBM), and GIF graphic files. Mouse support and
pull-down menus are included. Requires 512K RAM.


VGA Paint
   Evans, David
   $?
   #1351
produces screen images in up to 248 colors at once on a VGA system.  Fourteen
brush shapes and four automatic shapes such as boxes and circles are provided.
Image handling capabilities include:  sizing, flipping, moving, copying and
saving images to disk.  Although the resolution of the screen is only moderate
(320 X 200), the careful use of color mixing can produce images with
near-photographic realism.

VGA PAINT was written for a three-button mouse, but will work with just the
keyboard or the keys plus a two-button mouse. We could not get the text
function to work properly. Text evidently came out black on a black background
no matter what color we selected. Like VGACAD, this program is designed for
working on screen images and no provision is made for printing. Given that few
printers support 248 colors, lack of printing support is a natural limitation.


VGACad
   Gozum, Lawrence & Gozum, Marvin
   $30
   #7041/1266 [2 disks]
is a graphics program for pictures of up to 256 colors. VGACAD's documentation
suggest that its main benefit is in coloring in black and white digitized
graphics. VGACAD did not work properly on our AST 286 with Vega-7 VGA card.
The authors acknowledge the incompatibility, and claim that the program will
work on IBM PS machines. Support is included for Chips and Technologies'
452/453 and 451/455/456 versions; Chips and Technologies' 1024x768x256 mode;
Genoa GVGA 6100, 6200, 6300, 6400, 6600 Chipset support; Headlands/V7VGA4
support; BMP 256-color support; and transparent cut and paste for full screen
SVGA/MVGA image processing. 512K free RAM, and VGA/MCGA and analog or MF
monitor is required.


VGACad Utilities
   Gozum, Lawrence & Gozum, Marvin
   #7041/1567
contains the following programs to be used with VGACAD:

VGA2EGA ($20) converts a 320x200x256-color picture or GIF 320x200x256 picture
to and EGA 640x350x16 or SuperEGA 640x480x16 format. VGA2EGA features a unique
method for generating over 3800 colors from 42,875 possible colors using only
the 64 color universe of EGA colors in a 16 color palette. Outputs are saved
as a GIF file. EGA users can now convert and view 320x200x256 GIFs with the
closest possible rendition of the original 256 color pic. VGA users can
convert their 320x200x256 creations and present them with the closest possible
rendition on systems that are EGA-bound.

VGAFIX ($0) is designed to rectify problems associated with palette reading and
updating functions in Tseng Labs chip based VGA cards (primarily, the Orchid
Designer).

VGAPRN ($15) converts a 320x200x256-color VGA picture or VGACAD picture to seven
dithering shades for EPSON and IBM compatible printers and prints graphic images
with corrected aspect ratios.


VGACAD Utilities #2
   Gozum, Lawrence & Gozum, Marvin
   $various
   #7041/1794 [2 disks]
contains several utilities to be used with VGACAD:

VGA2CGA converts/views colored GIF pictures (256 colors and less) dithered,
4-color CGA or 16-Color EGA (emulated) pictures. CGA users can convert/view up
to 405 colors. You can view GIF pictures in CGA 320x200x14, and XCGA: 160x100x16
and 80x100x"405" modes.

GIFPUB will print any colored GIF picture or ANY viewable 320x200x256 picture
with VGACAP (included) or any BLD/PLT file made with VGACAD, EGA2VGA, SQZGIF or
MAC2GIF. It uses Floyd-Steinberg dithers to print with greatest possible
gray-scale continuum limited only by you printer resolution and picture. It has
variable brightness and contrast stretching image processing functions to
optimize your print results. Other features include support for HP Laser and
compatibles, GVGA (Genoa 6300/6300), EEGA/SVGA, and BMP/Windows 3.0 256-color
input file.

MAC2GIF is a viewer/colorizer/conversion utility for creating files which follow
CompuServe's GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) which allows the transmittal and
porting of your pictures to other machines in any graphics mode, as well as
through communication software.

SQZGIF will convert 256 color GIF pictures that are larger than 320x200x256
(e.g. 640x480x256) and interpolate or "color average" that picture into a
320x200x256 and save it to a .BLD and .PLT format for importing the results.
Features include user-specified zooming or squeezed GIF and PCX pictures, the
choice of fast interpolation or color averaging methods, and PCX format (to
2000x2000x256).

VGACAP captures MCGA/VGA 320x200x256 or SVGA 640x480x256 and 800x600x256
screens. VGAFIL is included to convert 256-color 320x200, 640x480, or 800x600
captures to GIF or PCX, as well as configure VGACAP for fast, hard-coded SVGA
screen grabs. VGAFIL also has a 256-color BMP conversion functionality for
Windows 3.0.


VGACAD Utilities #3
   Gozum, Lawrence & Gozum, Marvin
   $various
   #7041/1655
more utilities to be used with VGACAD.

EGA2VGA 5.0 will convert any GIF (16 colors and below) and any viewable EGA
640x350x16 (or 2) or VGA 640x480x16 (or 2) picture into a 320x200x256 color
picture, with 256 new colors. EGA2VGA actually generates 256 new colors from the
original 16 color EGA palette and interprets color mixtures. EGA2VGA also
accurately calculates the correct aspect ratio for translation. EGA2VGA lets you
export the converted screen to VGACAD (#1266) for editing, to GIFDOT for
printing on an Epson/IBM compatible, or to GIFPUB for desktop publishing.
EGA2VGA comes with three utilities for capturing graphics from different types
of displays. Requires 512k. A hard disk is highly recommended.

GIFBit 1.0 converts B&W PCX pics (up to 32KBx32KB) from an ordered dithered B&W
pic (i.e., simulating gray shades) to a real gray shaded GIF picture. Once
converted to gray shades, these pictures can be variably resized since gray
shades take kindly to being resized. No video card is necessary. Save and load
images without viewing them. For interactive viewing/saving, GIFBIT supports
MCGA (320x200x256), MVGA (320x200x256 with a 1:1 aspect ratio !), VGA
(640x480x16), and SVGA modes (640x400x256, 640x480x256 & 800x600x256). GIFBIT
features interactive brightness, contrast, and skewing adjustments; save any
viewable output or use the [F]ile mode to save MASSIVE gray images. About 512KB
of memory is required. You must have an EMM.SYS (LIM EMS v32. or higher) to use
the expanded memory option.

MVGAVU 5.1 is a GIF and BLD/PLT viewer that supports the non-standard
320x400x256 and 360x480x256 video modes for generic VGA cards or PS/2 Model 50
(and up). It also support various SVGA video modes. MVGAVU supports 'smart'
Slideshows within the program or batch file presentations. There are also
screen adjustment features. Other features include full GIF87a support;
SuperVGA command line mode and GIF selection/viewing; file and slideshow
selection of 167 files; auto "Fade To Black" transition for GIF Slideshows;
slideshow transitions such as vertical blinds and random lace; user-definable
EEGA/SVGA slideshow mode; hardcoded, preset modes for Tseng 4000 chip;
hardcoded, user modes for Oak Tech chip; contrast and brightness algorithms;
and much more. Support is included for Windows 34-bit BMP image files.
EGA/MCGA/VGA required.



The following programs are not listed in the PSL NEWS listing because they
are relatively simple drawing programs. They are still useful for simple
applications, however:


ArtMaster
   #557
has a lot of unusual features and although it isn't menu-driven, it is fairly
easy to use.  The author claims that these features or functions aid in making a
drawing in two minutes where most drawing programs would take 10 minutes.


Altamira
   Lockard, Brodie
   $?
   #111
is not a business-graphics package, nor a scientific graphing tool.  But you
will find the tools to do many fun and useful things:  you can design logos,
create posters and cards, plan a garden, make maps, draw floor plans, or just
create beautiful pictures.


Etch
   Milner, Charles
   $?
   #755
is a drawing program. It has six predefined font/icon sets and numerous
drawing features.


Graphed
   #114
is not a bad little graphics program, though I found it difficult to use without
the documentation handy.  There isn't any help screen to aid you if you can't
remember the commands.


Kraft Paint
   #117
gives you the ability to save and load pictures in a binary format and edit
pictures with a variety of standard graphics tools to create graphic displays
for work or for recreation.  Joystick required.


Sketch-A-Color
   Bridger, Mark
   $20
   #123
is a simple graphics program.  You have a choice of 16 background colors,
displayed on the screen.  Once the background color has been chosen you have a
choice of one of two "palettes", each consisting of 3 foreground colors plus
the background color.  The program also has screen dump capability.


YourArt1
   Delano, Everett B.
   $?
   #124
is a medium resolution graphics program.


YourArt2
   Delano, Everett B.
   $?
   #125
is a high resolution graphics program.

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