suitti@haddock.ima.isc.com (Stephen Uitti) (03/07/89)
I have a Mac II, 2 MB RAM, 40 MB hard disk, Apple's color monitor with 8 bits/pixel, Apple's monochrome monitor with 4 bits/pixel, General computer's 300 dpi Personal Laser Printer (not postscript - "just quickdraw"), Thunderscanner (Imagewriter II). There are two main problems. The Mac is basically 72 (75) dpi, whereas my output device is 300 dpi. I can draw something at 72 dpi with (say) superpaint, and print it reduced to 25% and attain 300 dpi, but only on a quarter of the screen. I can't do generalized 300 dpi for a full page. Text comes out nice, objects are OK, but bitmaps tend not be good enough. I also have uSoft Word 3.02 (and will probably upgrade to 4.0 when/if it comes out). Word is real nice, though it doesn't support inserted graphics better than 72 (75) dpi with full page text, so far as I know. BTW, i'd own a 300 dpi color printer if i could. The $15K Tektronix is out of my league. I'd consider a 300 dpi color inkjet if it were cheap enough. I want to upgrade my software. I want stuff that will let me: o scan in an 8 1/2 x 11 page at 300 dpi o fix up the image where it missed scan lines (jagged lines), o do something with the 5 bits/pixel - including halftones, rendering o preview the image using color/grayscales on the screen (one to one scale on the screen, doing the best it can). o allow arbitrary bit editing of the entire 300 dpi bitmap o do object oriented stuff o do text with inserted 300 dpi graphics o cost is an object The software that comes with the Thunderscanner can get the data into the machine. It does not have nearly enough editing power. I have (or have demoed) an application that could read Thunderscan documents & had a function to conveniently shift individual scan lines, but it could not write a document that anything else i had could read (could it print? - i don't care - it wasn't a paint program, so i could not finish the job with it). Most of the software that i've seen or used is a couple years old (dawn of Mac II time). I haven't seen an application that can handle a large enough bitmap (though i'm told "Canvas" can do it). The SuperPaint i've used (not the latest - which I've seen demoed briefly) does not support Mac II multibit/pixel screens much less color (though it can print multi-color!), does not handle larger than 8.5x11 inch 72 dpi bitmaps (so no 8.5x11 inch 300 dpi), but does have a nice set of features including both paint & draw layers. The more i use the draw layer the more i like it. I can't live without a paint layer. The Pixel Paint i've seen (1.0? not the latest) is nice (good feature set for color art & good user interface, though slow and has its share of bugs) but doesn't really handle scans well enough nor can it handle a big enough screen (for reduction), nor can it be told enough about how to print to my monochrome 300 dpi printer to satisfy me (though it does print). It also has no draw layer. I don't really know enough about latest (available) versions of Digital Darkroom PixelPaint Canvas MacDraw II Pagemaker Ready Set Go others - shareware? to make any kind of rational judgement. Any suggestions on an application or combination of applications that should do the trick(s)? I expect that some of the software will be expensive. If it is "good enough" I'd go up to a $1K in combined costs. Stephen Uitti, suitti@ima.ima.isc.com disclaimer: I'll summarize if i get any mail responses, but if you can't mail to me, i read netnoise too. There are bound to be differences of opinion, i'm not asking to start a war...