arlo@ssc-vax.UUCP (Jim Campiche) (08/13/86)
Forget FullPaint. ComicWorks, by Mindscape (the same outfit that does DejeVu and Balance Of Power) has an amazing application that is part MacPaint, part MacDraw. It allows you to do drawings of any size, and replaces the paint can with an airbrush with ten sizes of tips. You get a couple disks of example art that is well worth the price (cheaper than FullPaint), and an application to print your stuff as a poster or, if you want, a billboard! Fatbits has three levels of amplification. There is a grid feature that really works. Sort of like bringing desktop publishing to MacPaint. I really love MacPaint - I still think it is one of the greatest programming feats ever, but ComicWorks goes it one better. Check it out!
tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (08/16/86)
comment on previous posting:
The airbrush has 96 sizes ( 1 to 96 pixels ). Ten sizes are selectable
by pressing 1,2...,9,0. You get the other sizes by using the '+' and
'-' keys to increment/decrement the size.
It is published by Mindscape. It was written by MacroMind ( MusicWorks,
VideoWorks, etc ) and Mike Saenz ( the comic book "Shatter" ).
description/review:
A document consists of one or more pages. Within pages you place
panels ( a panel may cross a page boundry ). Within panels you
place easels and balloons.
An easel is a place where you place graphics, and a balloon is a place
where you place text.
The things you may do to an easel are a superset of what you can
do in Macpaint.
The text in balloons may have font/size/style changes, and may be
edited. The style options are a superset of those in MacPaint.
Think of easels and balloons as objects. You may have 64 objects
in each panel. You specify the ordering of the objects.
You can specify how each easel is drawn. The options are
Matte, Copy, Or, Xor, BIC, NotCopy, NotOr, NotXor, NotBIC.
Most of the annoying "features" of Macpaint seem to be gone.
For example, you can edit brush shapes. The spray can is
replaces with an airbrush, with 96 sizes, and 4 speeds.
If you need the spray can, it is available from the keyboard.
Windows may be resized and scrolled. You can use the marquee
to select things larger than the window - it will scroll to keep
the cursor in view.
FatBits works much nicer. FatBits splits the window in two, one
side with a normal view, one side with FatBits ( you may select
from three different sizes of FatBits ). You may work in either
the FatBits side or the regular side.
ThinBits. Like FatBits, but goes the other way. Only one size
is available. Again, all the tools work in either side.
--
"I *DO* believe in Mary Worth"
Tim Smith USENET: sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim
Compuserve: 72257,3706 Delphi || GEnie: mnementhtim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (08/16/86)
This posting continues my last posting, which I was forced to send in a hurry before I had finished, because my terminal started to die! Anyway, ComicWorks is a pretty neat program. I didn't mention all the neat features, because I have only played with it for a couple of hours. It is not copy-protected. I was able to get an out of memory error by trying to "trace edges" on a full page. It was nice about the error: the dialog box told me that it wanted 121k and was only able to get 91k. I rebooted and tried it again, this time without Keeper, and all was well. This was on a Mac+, with 40k devoted to the Hyperdrive disk cache. I bought mine at Egghead Discount Software for $52. Those looking for a replacement for Macpaint should take a close look at ComicWorks. -- "I *DO* believe in Mary Worth" Tim Smith USENET: sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim Compuserve: 72257,3706 Delphi || GEnie: mnementh
arlo@ssc-vax.UUCP (Jim Campiche) (08/20/86)
Here are just a few more reasons why I think ComicWorks is such a swell graphics tool: 1: it let's you orient and page(s) horizontally or vertically 2: let's you print either bit-images or object-oriented 3. scale all objects from 1% to 999% 4. fatbits, choose between 2X, 4X, or 8X magnification What a beatiful hack. You can use bit-mapping on an object. Amazing...