Issue 3.5 September/October 1998
This issue of KDP is sponsored by:
| The Deskilling of the Webby Professor Michael Kleper <mkleper@printerport.com> |
When the World Wide Web sprang into popular use it brought with it the burden of a code-based tagging language, HTML, and opened the door for a slew of associated technologies, enhancements, and the inevitable workarounds. The set of complexities surrounding Web publishing have raised the status of "Webmaster" to the level of computer professional, and have elevated the construction, deployment, and operation of a Web site to that of a strategic business function.
HTML was devised as a simple means of formatting ASCII text so that it could take on a variety of appearances when interpreted by a browser application. HTML is a subset of SGML, a generalized mark-up language of considerable sophistication, which was itself created as a means for typesetting large projects containing complex document structures. From the start, most digital publishers considered HTML as a step backward from the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) model that was firmly established by desktop publishing technology.
Shielding Web page creators from HTML became a goal of programmers, since code-based systems seemed passˇ, were susceptible to keyboarding errors, dependent upon memory or look-up, and essentially held very little appeal with the majority of Web publishers. Over the years, a variety of solutions have been provided, among them:
Novice Web page creators can jump right into page construction with no more than a simple text editor or word processor. With an elementary knowledge of HTML a new user can find existing pages on the Web and download them to a local file, open them up in a text editor, modify them as needed, and then mount them on their own site. This should only be done, of course, with the permission of the original Web page owner.
There is a constant race to keep Web site construction and page layout tools up-to-date with the latest Web technologies. This had led to an accelerated cycle of Web development tool updates, revisions, and modifications; the repackaging and marketing of tools published originally for other purposes and markets; and the release of totally new tools. In this latter category is AdobeÕs latest release, ImageStyler, which is a prime example of a tool which serves to simplify and deskill many routine and advanced Web publishing functions.
First and foremost ImageStyler provides an environment for creating an attractive Web presence, with easy-to-use layout and component construction tools, and a large library of patterns, shapes, and object modifiers. But what we see as the programÕs most significant contribution to the advancement of the ease-of-use movement is the simple interface that is provided to make Java-based roll-overs. A roll-over is an effect that causes a particular object to change shape, or take on a different appearance when the mouse pointer is moved over it. ImageStyler makes the construction of this effect simple. The user selects the JavaScript menu, assigns an alternate state to the object, and then selects how that state should appear. The program takes care of outputting the correct HTML and the appropriate images. Truly elegant. WeÕll have more to say about ImageStyler in a future issue.
Ultimatte KnockOut 1.0 is the most incredible and capable professional image masking tool yet created. It comes from a company with over 20 years of bluescreen compositing experience in the motion picture and television industries, and the recipient of both an Oscar and an Emmy. It recently received the "Hot Pick" designation at Seybold Seminars in September. KnockOut represents a dramatically new method for creating digital masks of uncompromising quality and detail. Although the KnockOut procedure that is used to create a mask is not particularly difficult, it is different from any yet devised, and requires some training. An instructional video is provided in the package which shows the steps necessary to produce some astonishing effects. A skilled KnockOut artist can produce composited effects that previously were extremely difficult and time-consuming, or were impossible.
The mask can be created to drawing the inner and outer boundaries of the object. These boundaries do not need to be drawn with particular care...they only need to conform to some simple rules. The program processes the differences between the boundary areas and produces a processed foreground, which is the object with the background colors removed, and a grayscale alpha channel which serves to preserve all of the transparencies of the original.
KnockOut does not work by detecting edges, like most competing products. It processes images on the basis of transitions, even subtle differences in color between the object and its background. A particular strength of the program is the fact that it will reproduce the soft transitions of foreground edges, despite their width or density, while it removes all traces of the visible background in that transition. What this means is that when the KnockOut-processed foreground is composited with a new background, the transitions will have the same transparency as the original. Quite extraordinary. This capability makes it possible to capture smoke, fine wisps of hair, blurred or out-of-focus edges, glass, shadows and other difficult or impossible image elements.
The image that KnockOut produces can be exported to virtually any digital manipulation program, such as Photoshop, for combining with a new background. The only negative factor that we see is the use of a dongle protection device. $495
Contact: Ultimatte Corporation, 20554 Plummer St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, 818 993-8007, http://www.ultimatte.com, fax: 818 993-3762.
SmartAlarms (MAC/WIN)
SmartAlarms is a very well-designed and highly useful program for storing and managing reminders. The first version of the program was released more than ten years ago, and it has recently been ported to Windows.
SmartAlarms allows the user to program reminders for any time in the future, for one-time, or recurring events. The user simply types in the reminder, and sets the time and date for it to be displayed. The user can also set how the reminder is to be displayed, the amount of advance time that should be set, if it should be displayed with a sound (and which sound) or without, and with what frequency the reminder is to be repeated. Once a reminder appears at its appointed time, the user can dismiss it or have it reappear at another appointed time. This can continue until the user acts on that reminder and cancels it from the reminder list.
This program is of great help for time management, and provides the memory jog that most people need. $69
Contact: Jam Software PTY LTD, Level 1, 3-5 Foster Street, Leichhardt, NSW, 2040
Sydney, Australia, (02) 9550 0884 Fax: (02) 9564 3353 USA and
Canada: Jam Software Inc. (USA), P.O. Box 597290, Chicago, IL 60659, (203)
630-0055, http://www.jamsoft.com.au, e-mail: jam@jamsoft.com.au.
Palimpsest (MAC)
Palimpsest is a very unique program for the studying, analyzing, managing, investigating, and otherwise interrogating masses of textual material. As such, it is of value to virtually anyone who deals with volumes of text on an on-going basis: editors, authors, teachers, lawyers, students, etc.
A "palimpsest" is a manuscript on which the original handwritten images have been removed and replaced with new text. A Palimpsest software document is one which is created by either copying and pasting, dragging and dropping, or importing styled text from SimpleText.
Information is maintained in Palimpsest in windows, called Sections, within scrollable frames which contain the text. A Section can be subdivided by inserting Headings at appropriate places. Heading names are maintained in the Heading Browser. Double-clicking on a Heading in the Browser takes the reader to that location. The Sections themselves (along with the Headings) are maintained in the Table of Contents. The TOC view can be changed by reordering the Section and Heading labels. Again, the reader can go to any of the listings in the TOC by double-clicking on either a Section or Heading.
A collection of Sections are gathered into a larger collection called a Document. The Sections can maintain an identity both by their name and the selection of a background color. A collection of Documents can be combined into a megadocument called a Study.
The user can take notes in a special window called Paper. The user can either type them in, or copy and paste from various Sections. The copied text automatically becomes a link back to the original text. The Paper view is the means by which a reader actually mines the information and is able to construct meaningful relationships, and extract relevant facts.
Searches can be conducted across any number of sections, using whatever combinations of sections, documents, or studies that the reader may have assembled. Every match appears in the Search window, surrounded by several words both before and after it, showing its context. Double-clicking on the listing takes the user to that passage.
The program involves considerably more complexity and power than can be described here, and readers are encouraged to download the demo. Palimpsest documents can be distributed with a royalty-free reader so that others can share in the inherent power of the document engine. In addition, the Palimpsest Web Converter can convert Documents, Papers and Studies into HTML-compliant Web sites. $50
Contact: Western Civilisation Pty. Ltd. ACN 063 639 743, 5/121 Curlewis St. , Bondi NSW 2026Australia,
Photo/Graphic Edges Version 4.0 is provided both as a standalone application and a Photoshop-compatible plug-in. The program provides the capability to apply attractive edge effects with sepia tones, mezzotints, texture mattes, burned edges, carves, lighting, bevels, glows, grains, shadows and other special effects. The package ships with over 1,000 matte textures. The use of an edge effect can dramatically change the appearance of a photograph or image.
Three volumes of hand-crafted effects are available, each with a printed catalog. In addition, the user can see an on-screen catalog when selecting an edge.
The program has an interactive interface, with a real-time display of the applied effects. The user is presented with sliders for scale, softness and opacity, and specific controls that are applied to a selected edge, including border color, outset, border width and condense. The user can record a series of applied effects in the Effect Log so they can be individually turned on or off during the session. $129
Contact: Auto F/X, Black Point, HCR-73, Box 689, Alton Bay, NH 03810, 603 772-4725, 800 839-2008, WWW: http://www.autofx.com, fax: 603 772-4644.
Test Strip 2.0 for Windows (WIN)
Test Strip 2.0 for Windows is the PC version of the award-winning Photoshop plug-in that provides full-screen test image previews in a wide variety of variations. It is, in fact, an extension of the Photoshop variations option, offering color changes in as little as 1% increments. It is feature-laden and widely recognized as one of the most essential Photoshop add-ins. Among its major features are: before and after preview; unlimited undos and redos; batch processing; Auto White/Black without altering color balance; built-in RGB and CMYK densitometers; ICC and ColorSync compatible; and saving and loading settings to expedite repetitive tasks. The package also includes 72 photographic filters and 115 special effect filters. $149
Contact: Vivid Details, 8228 Sulphur Mountain Road, Ojai, CA 93023, 805 646-0217, http://www.vividdetails.com, fax: 805 646-0021.
Genuine Fractals Print Pro (MAC/WIN)
Genuine Fractals Print Pro is a Photoshop plug-in that provides the capability to encode and render images in CMYK, CIE-Lab, RGB, Multichannel (up to 16 channels) and Grayscale using Photoshop's file Open and Save As format. The program's advanced compression technology provides Lossless (2:1) or Near Lossless (5:1) encoding with improved quality and speed.
The program provides a user-friendly interface so that the user can select a cropped area to define and render. Rendering can be set from "best quality" to "fastest rendering." For example, images can be rendered quickly for position, then at highest quality for final output. Image dimensions can be displayed in inches, dpi, pixels, picas, points, or lines.
The plug-in offers "resolution on demand' meaning that a single digital asset can be rendered at any resolution and repurposed repeatedly. Images encoded with PrintPro are resolution independent, which enables the user to encode once at a medium resolution then render to any image size or resolution. This means that a given image can be output at a considerably larger size with virtually no loss of quality. $299
Contact: Altamira Group, Inc., 1827 Verdugo Ave., Second Floor Suite C, Burbank, CA 91506, 818 556-6099, http://www.altamira-group.com, fax: 818 556-3365.
Ari's Toolbox Volume 2 (MAC/WIN)
Ari's Toolbox Volume 2 is a set of four plug-in enhancements for Adobe Acrobat Exchange. Each plug-in performs a function that users have requested. First is Ari's Print Helper, which provides flexible printing of any series or selection of pages, odd or even, forward or reverse. It also supports the batch printing of any number of separate PDF files. Second is Ari's Ruler, an accurate on-screen measuring device showing live read-out of the x-, y- coordinate locations and the distance from the starting to the finishing point to four places of accuracy. It is useful for checking the placement of page elements or measuring their sizes. Third is Ari's Link Checker which automatically checks one or a batch of PDFs for unconnected (dead) links. It can also be used to located defective bookmarks, buttons and additional actions. Fourth, and finally is Ari's Crop Helper, which checks pages to determine if pages are cropped, uncropped, or cropped to a different size. $99
Contact: Dionis, 167 Milk St., Suite 478, Boston, MA 02109-4315, 617 738-7806, http://www.dionis.com, e-mail: danielari@dionis.com, fax: 617 738-5879.
Enfocus CheckUp 1.5 (MAC/WIN)
Enfocus CheckUp 1.5 is a sophisticated preflight utility for checking the conformity of an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The user creates a profile which has been devised for a particular purpose (Web, print, online) or for a particular project or client. PDF files are checked against the profile to identify any possible errors or inappropriate settings. Profiles can be saved, and can be shared with service providers or others in order to establish a benchmark for PDF production. CheckUp produces a detailed report on errors and irregularities, general file information, font data, color data, and image information. $195
Contact: EnFocus Software, Inc., 234 Columbine Street, Suite 300B, Denver, CO 80206, 303 393-7282, 888 363-6287, http://www.enfocus.com, e-mail: info@enfocus.com, fax: 303 393-7290.
Enfocus PitStop 1.5 (MAC/WIN)
Enfocus PitStop 1.5 is a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat Exchange that enables the user to edit PDF documents. As most Acrobat users know, Exchange itself offers precious little editing capability, so PitStop can be of immense utility in an all digital workflow.
Invoking PitStop results in the display of an editing window within Exchange which reveals several tools. The user can edit text; change font attributes; change the fill and stroke colors (and their associated settings); and select, edit, move, scale, rotate or change the color of text or graphics. Colors can be mixed (in the Color Mixer) and applied in CMYK, RGB, or grayscale. Drawing and text tools are provided for adding new objects to a page. Not only can the user invoke numerical control over the position and size of objects, but they can zoom in to 1600% for highly accurate editing.
As PDF becomes an increasingly more important element of an all digital publishing workflow, the need to edit PDF files will increase as well. Without PitStop, errant PDF files would need to be regenerated from corrected application files, introducing considerable time delays. $295
Contact: EnFocus Software, Inc., 234 Columbine Street, Suite 300B, Denver, CO 80206, 303 393-7282, 888 363-6287, http://www.enfocus.com, e-mail: info@enfocus.com, fax: 303 393-7290.
Enfocus Tailor 2.0 (MAC/WIN)
Enfocus Tailor 2.0 is a true PostScript visual editor that can open either a PostScript or an EPS file and display them as they will print. Most PostScript users know that the PostScript language, in its ASCII form is virtually impossible to edit. Although there are some programs that can provide an on-screen proof of PostScript files (Acrobat among them), the representations that they provide are static and virtually unchangeable. Tailor not only provides flexible editing of all page components, but outputs in normalized PostScript, which conforms to Adobe Document Structuring Conventions, DSC 3.0. This ensures that the PostScript code produced in Tailor is more likely to be trouble-free. In addition, the user can output the PostScript file as Adobe Illustrator, PDF, TIFF, or GIF. Text can be exported independently to RTF or ASCII.
The user can access any page of a document at will, and display it in their choice of magnification. Text can be edited (on a line by line basis), fonts can be substituted, text can be converted to outlines, and text attributes can be changed. Color changes can be accommodated, including both spot and process colors. Any object on a page can be moved, scaled or rotated.
Tailor is available in two versions, Tailor Workflow 2.0 ($869), which is the full version, and Tailor Publish 2.0 ($369), which has all of the features of the full version except: spot colors will automatically be converted to CMYK, OPI comments are removed, and no automated processing can be undertaken.
Tailor has been recognized consistently by trade and industry analysts as one of the most useful productivity tools in an all digital workflow.
Contact: EnFocus Software, Inc., 234 Columbine Street, Suite 300B, Denver, CO 80206, 303 393-7282, 888 363-6287, http://www.enfocus.com, e-mail: info@enfocus.com, fax: 303 393-7290.
Enfocus PDF Plug-ins (MAC/WIN)
Enfocus has released four free plug-ins for Acrobat. First is the Enfocus EyeDropper, which can accurately measure the color at any point on a page, and identify its color space and color components. Second is Enfocus Guides, consisting of up to five sets of four lines, each in a different color, which can be used to represent a particular area of a page. Guide sets can be stored on disk and recalled as needed. Third is Enfocus Measure, which provides precise measurement of the distance and angle between two points on a page. Fourth is Enfocus Browser, which allows the user to navigate the low-level object hierarchy in a PDF file. The plug-ins are available for an unlimited amount of time at http://www.enfocus.com.
Contact: EnFocus Software, Inc., 234 Columbine Street, Suite 300B, Denver, CO 80206, 303 393-7282, 888 363-6287, http://www.enfocus.com, e-mail: info@enfocus.com, fax: 303 393-7290.
smartGIF (MAC)
smartGIF is a plug-in for Photoshop that enables the user to export a Photoshop file as one or more GIF images. The user can optimize the output, realizing a reduction in the files size, and can select the color palette, or generate a new matched palette based on multiple selections. The user can control all GIF file format options, producing the smallest, best, and fastest appearing images. Images can be cut with pixel accuracy and can be displayed on the Web, as they appear in the Photoshop window, by constructing a table. Table page construction provides the Web designer with greater page layout control, and results in faster loading pages. $49
Contact: SiteJazz Corp.,11835 Roe, Suite 140, Leawood, KS 66211, 913 491-1305, 800-656-5443, http://www.sitejazz.com.
fmCHART (MAC/WIN)
fmCHART is a software complement to FileMaker Pro 4.0 that provides a comprehensive collection of charting and graphing capabilities. It can generate all of the fundamental chart types, including line, bar, layer, scatter, hi-low, and pie. The various parts of a chart, including scale, axis, grid and three-dimensionality, can be controlled using a complete set of functions. The user can also add graphic embellishments to identify and enhance the graph, such as a title, legend, labels, and patterned or picture backgrounds. $75
Contact: x2max, http://www.x2max.com.
Typeadelic (MAC/WIN)
Typeadelic is a collection of Actions for Photoshop that produce over 50 special type and graphic effects, each in three different sizes. The files it produces can be used for Web, print and multimedia projects. The special effects are remarkable, both in terms of their sophistication and dazzling appearance. The user simply composes the text, and then applies a Photoshop Action, which automatically plays a complex series of Photoshop operations. Among the typographic surface effects are simulated rust, satin, marble, waffle cone, wood, neon, and more. The user can also apply affects that simulate motion and activity, like wind, blur, explosion, paint drip, and more. $129.95
Contact: Softedge Distributors, 37 Plaistow Road, Unit 7, Suite 121, Plaistow, NH 03865, 603 382-4389, fax: 603 382-9353.
PhotoTools 3.0 (MAC/WIN)
PhotoTools 3.0 is the latest version of this award-winning set of Photoshop plug-ins. Like its predecessors, the interface design incorporates many productivity enhancing features, such as real-time previews, interactive controls, multiple undo/redo, resizable dialogs, zoom-anywhere previews, and background processing. The tool set is useful for Web and interface design projects of all kinds.
Nearly all of the tools are new or improved. New are PhotoTexture, PhotoAnimator, and PhotoGroove. The PhotoTexture maker produces seamless textures in an almost limitless variety. The user can draw a texture by using the Photoshop brush, pencil, stamp, fill bucket, etc., or use special effects and filters. PhotoAnimator generates frames and transitions for optimized Animated GIF production. It automatically produces the in-between frames that fall between key frames, and provides several transition effects, such as fade, wipe and barn door. PhotoGroove provides an environment for creating bevel effects with a variety of realistic surface effects, such as chrome, plastic and metal. It includes the Bevel Shape Editor for the interactive control of the bevel characteristics as applied to any selection.
The PhotoCastShadow makes it possible to produce several shadows, both drop and cast, from a mix of light sources. Several shadow characteristics can be controlled, such as blend, noise, perspective blur, distortion, positioning and cutout. The PhotoButton maker now supports custom button shapes (with up to 65 definable points), definable bevels, textured surfaces (using any JPEG file) and bump maps. It includes 15 predefined, but changeable shapes which can be used to generate one or multiple (up to 64) buttons. Any custom shapes that are designed by the user can be saved and added to the pre-built shape library.
PhotoBevel, PhotoEmboss and PhotoGlow provide special effects control over any selection or layer. Despite the fact that Photoshop 5 now has Layer Effects, these PhotoTools components each have a richer set of options and controls.
PhotoBars is a floating palette containing pre-configured, customizable toolbars to which the user can add, remove, or rearrange buttons. The SmartBar feature senses the commands that the user uses most and then automatically adds corresponding buttons.
PhotoText, which was a part of PhotoTools 2.0 is no longer included, in part because of Photoshop's new Layer Effects for text. If it was installed on a user's system previously, it will be retained when PhotoTools 3.0 is installed. If it was not installed previously, users can get a free copy from http://www.extensis.com/freephototext/. The plug-in supports character styles, style sheets, kerning, multiple text blocks, individual character formatting, and re-editable text. $149.95
Contact: Extensis Corp., 1800 S.W. First Ave., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97201, 800 796-9798, 503 274-2020, http://www.extensis.com, fax: 503 274-0530.
Ari's Toolbox, Power Bundle vol. 2 (MAC/WIN)
Ari's Toolbox, Power Bundle vol. 2 is a collection of several useful plug-ins for Adobe Acrobat (see our review in this issue). This version improves on the original release in several ways: Ari's Ruler includes crosshairs; Ari's Link Checker now checks Additional Actions dictionaries and links to external files; and Ari's Print Helper adds a batch printing feature. $99
Contact: Dionis, 167 Milk St., Suite 478, Boston, MA 02109-4315, 617 738-7806, http://www.dionis.com, e-mail: danielari@dionis.com, fax: 617 738-5879.
Chromassage (MAC)
Chromassage is a Photoshop plug-in that provides flexible color manipulation, in real-time, providing color table control, palette rotations, and color injection into 24-bit space. The effects that it produces range from simple colorizations to wild psychedelic art in unlimited variations. A number of color palettes are provided, and the user may import colors from another image file. $69
Contact: Second Glance Software, 7248 Sunset Ave. N.E., Bremerton, WA 98311, 360 692-3694, http://www.secondglance.com, e-mail: info@secondglance.com, fax: 360 692-9241.
LaserSeps Pro (MAC)
LaserSeps Pro is a Photoshop plug-in that provides the capability to export process color separations without halftone screens. The absence of the halftone process eliminates moire patterns, mismatched screen angles, and registration problems. Using the Stochastic imaging method, lower resolution imagesetters can produce incredibly realistic color reproductions.
The plug-in is available in the Photoshop Export menu providing output in CMYK in either a Photoshop or DCS 2.0 format. The use of Photoshop makes it possible to view the image data as it will be output, and allow the user to modify the separation data directly. Files can be printed directly from Photoshop or imported into other programs such as QuarkXPress or PageMaker. $595
Contact: Second Glance Software, 7248 Sunset Ave. N.E., Bremerton, WA 98311, 360 692-3694, http://www.secondglance.com, e-mail: info@secondglance.com, fax: 360 692-9241.
Clone (MAC)
Clone is a QuarkXPress XTension that produces step-and-repeat multi-up layouts appropriate for ganging labels, business cards, and other similar work. The program includes support for over 100 Avery layouts for laser printers and offset presses. $99
Contact: Second Glance Software, 7248 Sunset Ave. N.E., Bremerton, WA 98311, 360 692-3694, http://www.secondglance.com, e-mail: info@secondglance.com, fax: 360 692-9241.
PhotoCell (MAC)
PhotoCell is a Photoshop plug-in that converts layers into animation files for output as a QuickTime movie or animated GIF. The user gains control over frame rate, transparency, and looping options. $59
Contact: Second Glance Software, 7248 Sunset Ave. N.E., Bremerton, WA 98311, 360 692-3694, http://www.secondglance.com, e-mail: info@secondglance.com, fax: 360 692-9241.
Test Strip 2.0 (MAC)
Test Strip 2.0 for Macintosh is the second-generation of this award-winning Photoshop plug-in. This new version is faster and more responsive, and provides a new 9-Up display that repeats an image nine times with different color choices on each panel. Users can now do batch processing with the Photoshop Action Palette, make color adjustments in 1% increments, enable densitometric sampling in selectable sizes (1, 3, or 5 pixels), and preview combined changes before applying them. $149
Contact: Vivid Details, 8228 Sulphur Mountain Road, Ojai, CA 93023, 805 646-0217, http://www.vividdetails.com, fax: 805 646-0021.
PhotoJazz and PhotoJazzXT (MAC/WIN)
PhotoJazz and PhotoJazzXT are a Photoshop plug-in and QuarkXPress Xtension respectively, which support the new PhotoJazz file format. The PhotoJazz file format is, according to its publisher, the best lossless image compression technology available in the still-image marketing space. We have confirmed its effectiveness in our own tests which reduced a 5 MB TIFF Eyewire graphic image to 1.5 MB with no degradation whatsoever. BitJazz has found an average compression ratio of 2.5:1 which is the highest available lossless compression available for photo-quality images.
Compression technology fulfills two basic production needs: it reduces the size of files so that they occupy less storage space (and load, save, and manipulate faster), and makes them more compact for faster network transmission. Both of these benefits are of considerable value in a digital production workflow. Most serious digital imaging professionals can easily justify the investment in this technology since it will easily pay for itself by saving considerable processing time and storage space.
PhotoJazz is compatible with the Adobe line of desktop publishing programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, ImageReady and ImageStyler. A demo version, which provides complete functionality, but places a wallpapered watermark of the BitJazz logo on the image, is available at http://www.bitjazz.com. The watermark is automatically removed from processed files after the user pays for and registers the software. A free reader makes it possible for anyone to open files that have been compressed with the PhotoJazz technology, and save them in PICT or TIFF.
The compression scheme, which is in the process of being patented, is based on quantum thermodynamics and information theory, which can be reduced, in layman's terms, to what BitJazz calls "condensation." The condensation process is very fast, compressing three times faster than the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) compression algorithm. PNG, which was introduced in 1995, produces compression of about 1.8:1. It was the first improvement in lossless compression since the introduction of Huffman coding in 1952, which provided 1.4:1 compression.
The PhotoJazz plug-in supports RGB, CMYK, grayscale, duotone, Lab, and multichannel, with any number of alpha and spot-color channels, plus thumbnails, ICC profiles, and other non-image data. Of particular interest is the incorporation of state-of-the-art CRC (cyclic redundancy checking) data-integrity verification to detect transmission and disk errors.
PhotoJazz installs as a plug-in for Photoshop. Images are saved in PhotoJazz format by selecting the "Save a Copy As..." option, and selecting the PhotoJazz file format. The format automatically saves non-image data, such as paths, guides, grids, thumbnail previews, etc., which contribute to the size of the file. The user can eliminate this information by selecting the "Exclude Non-Image Data" box before saving. PhotoJazz files use the extension ".jzz", which is certain to become a standard file output format.
The PhotoJazzXT QuarkXPress XTension supports the placement of PhotoJazz-processed photos directly in QuarkXPress picture boxes. PhotoJazz image files can then be placed by using the "Get Picture..." option from the File menu.
Software developers can receive the BitJazz Software Development Kit free of charge, so that they can incorporate PhotoJazz support in their products, and support what will surely become an industry standard file format. Under the basic developer license there is no cost to incorporate the PhotoJazz interface in their software, and their users can read PhotoJazz images free of charge. Additional information is available at license@bitjazz.com.
PhotoJazz is available in two versions: The Pro version which has full-write capability for $99, and the Lite version, which outputs RGB only, for $49.
Contact: BitJazz Inc., P.O. Box 570, San Geronimo, CA 94963-0570, 415 642-4829, http://www.bitjazz.com, e-mail: info@bitjazz.com, fax: 415 642-4839.
MathSetter 1.0 (MAC)
MathSetter 1.0 is an XTension for QuarkXPress that supports the composition of sophisticated mathematical equations. The program is based on the TEX text formatting and typesetting system developed by Donald Knuth at Stanford University, and is used extensively in the production of mathematical and scientific materials.
TEX is a very powerful language, and requires a certain degree of experience in order to achieve predictable results. The user has the option of either typing directly in TEX code within QuarkXPress, or typing the equation codes in any text editor using ASCII tags and then importing them into QuarkXPress.
MathSetter provides an application program called MathServer, in addition to running within QuarkXPress. In practice the application is run and then QuarkXPress is opened. TEX code is typed in an Quark text box, the formula is highlighted, and a format is selected from the MathSet menu (in Quark). The format specifies typographic information, such as the font and size. The user then selects "Typeset Selected" from the MathSet menu. The TEX text is sent, via Apple Events to the MathServer which processes it and returns the composed equation to the Quark text box.
The TEX interpreter has an error handler that will alert the user by displaying a blue error message box instead of the typeset result.
The program supports any installed PostScript or TrueType font, although complex mathematical typesetting requires a font designed for that purpose. The MathSetter CD includes the Computer Modern and Math Time font families. The server application is $495 and each client is $295. At least one server is required to support multiple clients.
Contact: Blue Sky Research, 317 Southwest Alder, Portland, OR 97204, 503 222-9571, 800 622-8398, http://www.bluesky.com, e-mail: sales@bluesky.com, fax: 503 222-9571.
Neal's Type Efex! (MAC/WIN)
Neal's Type Efex! is a 2-CD set of amazing special effects that are generated within Adobe Photoshop 5. The effects are created using the Photoshop Actions palette, which initiates a series of Photoshop functions that are enacted upon the selected text. Some of the actions will automatically stop at given points to accept user input, which will modify the processed text. The result in each case is a dazzling graphic with its own alpha channel and path.
Standard effects use whatever foreground and background colors that the user has set, while chrome effects, and others, use their own colors. All of the effects can be set in any of three sizes: small, medium, and large. Among the text style descriptions, which would conjure some notion of their effect are grooves, rough surface, dotted surface, text with lines, bubbles, golden metal, water, rubber gum, bricks, snow capped text, and burning text. Those which have to be seen to be appreciated are bread 'n cheese, ripped text, worms, teethy thing, folded surface, and black 'n white turtle. Multiple effects can be applied to a given text sample with unpredictable, yet interesting, results.
The quality and the range of graphic effects is certainly worthy of professional status. This package of three-dimensional effects is suitable for Web, multimedia and print projects. $99
Contact: Softedge Distributors, 37 Plaistow Road, Unit 7, Suite 121, Plaistow, NH 03865, 603 382-4389, fax: 603 382-9353.
Neal's Efex! (MAC/WIN)
Neal's Efex! is a collection of 100 extensions for Photoshop 4.0 and 5.0 which convert an image into modified forms, some practical, some fanciful, but all generated automatically. Among the more useful effects are 3D text, puzzle pieces, flames, frames, snow flakes, and burned edge effect.
Depending upon the objective of the effect, it can create a clipping path around the objects, add an alpha channel, or increase the canvas size. Effects are provided that not only produce a graphic element, such as a picture frame or enamel plate, but also apply a color scheme that represents a mood, feeling, or atmosphere. Some of the actions which are in this category are: ice, fire, mud, warm shine, Van Gogh, tiger fur, bacteria, foam, and many more. The effects must be seen in order to be appreciated.
The value of the software is both in its simplicity and its amazing results. The author of the program writes in the manual that he expects that users will have a lot of fun using the effects. We believe that he is quite correct. $69
Contact: Softedge Distributors, 37 Plaistow Road, Unit 7, Suite 121, Plaistow, NH 03865, 603 382-4389, fax: 603 382-9353.
PowerPrint 4.0 is a hardware and software solution for connecting any of over 1,400 PC-compatible, dot-matrix, laser and inkjet printer models, to a Macintosh. It includes both a parallel to serial adapter cable and software to make the printer perform as if it were a standard Macintosh printer.
PowerPrint 4.0 makes it possible to use an orphaned PC printer, or to utilize a PC printer that is not offered in a comparable Macintosh model, and do so in the printer's highest resolution. In addition, PowerBook users can take the PowerPrint package with them on business trips and have confidence that they will be able to connect to virtually any printer that they encounter.
The printer driver supports many productivity features, including background printing, reduction and enlargement, custom paper sizes, even/odd page printing, front-to-back and back-to-front printing, image adjustment, multiple bin selection, duplex printing, color, dithering, etc.
The PowerPrint-supported printer is selected from the Macintosh Chooser. After selecting it, the printer becomes available to every application.
Another use of PowerPrint is in environments where there is one Mac, one PC, and one PC printer. With PowerPrint the two computers can share the same printer, which, obviously, saves the cost of buying a second printer. And, the cost of PowerPrint is less than the cost of a printer.
Included in the large population of supported printers are the multifunction printer/fax/copier machines, which are not typically sold for use with the Macintosh. Although PowerPrint can not control the copier or fax functions (it was never designed to do so), it can control the printer.
Version 4.0 of PowerPrint doubles the printing speed of the previous version, which is already in use by over 400,000 users. $149
Contact: Contact: InfoWave Wireless Messaging Inc., 4664 Lougheed Highway, Suite 188, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5C 6B7, 604 473-3600, 888 826-7881, http://www.infowave.net, e-mail: info@infowave.net, fax: 604 473-3699.
StyleScript 3.8 (MAC)
StyleScript 3.8 is a software-based Adobe PostScript RIP that makes it possible to print PostScript jobs to non-PostScript printers. A PostScript printer can correctly print EPS files, and output from high-end graphic design and page composition programs, with smooth, crisp type and image edges, and sharp, bright colors.
StyleScript incorporates genuine Adobe PostScript Level 2, and includes Adobe Brilliant Screens technology for exceptional screens and dithering.
StyleScript provides a new printer driver in the Macintosh Chooser. This driver can be used to print normal, non-PostScript jobs to the printer. A job that will be printed as PostScript must be saved as a file, so that the StyleScript soft RIP can process it before sending it to the printer. The saved PostScript files are sent to the printer using the StyleScript Print PostScript application. The StyleScript Server provides a print monitoring function.
StyleScript makes it possible to use a low-cost color printer as a reliable proofing device for jobs which are destined for press, or a flexible printing device for final output. It provides PostScript compatibility for considerably less than commerical (built-in) solutions offered by the printer manufacturers themselves. Dozens of printers, from Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Epson are supported.
StyleScript can also be used with PC-compatible printers, that, heretofore, could not be connected to a Macintosh. An optional serial-to-parallel cable (add $20) makes it possible to utilize a PC printer that was not only NOT compatible, but did not support PostScript either. Quite an amazing feat of software and hardware engineering. $99
Contact: InfoWave Wireless Messaging Inc., 4664 Lougheed Highway, Suite 188, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5C 6B7, 604 473-3600, 888 826-7881, http://www.infowave.net, e-mail: info@infowave.net, fax: 604 473-3699.
WebPrint for Mac (MAC)
WebPrint for Mac is a printer interface program in the form of a movable window that appears on the top-most level of the Macintosh desktop. Although it is very useful for collecting and printing information while surfing the Web, it can be used with any Macintosh application. The program makes it possible for the user to select any text and add it to the PrintBoard, which is a temporary storage buffer. An unlimited number of selections may be stored there until the user is ready to print. This function makes it possible to print only the actual passages that the user wants, rather than complete pages, thus saving time and paper. $15
Contact: Macease, http://www.kagi.com/MacEase/default.html.
The 1999 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Deluxe 2-CD Edition contains 15 hours of sound; 21,000 Internet links; and more than 15,000 images, including 1200 maps, 400 point of interest photographs, one hundred 360 degree panoramas, 163 videos, and hundreds of embedded graphics and special characters. This multimedia version contains 36,000 articles, more than 20% more than the printed version, and online access to 22,000 additional articles from two other Grolier encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana and The New Book of Knowledge. In addition, more than 500 articles are updated monthly and are available on-line.
The rich content is accessible is several ways using a wide selection of navigational options and a unique data structure. In addition to filters and Boolean operators, the user can double-click on a word to get a dictionary definition.
According to independent polls, The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia is used in more classrooms, used by more teachers, and wired to more schools than any other encycylopedia. $59.99
Contact: Grolier Interactive, 90 Sherman Turnpike, Danbury, CT 06816, 203 797-3530, http://www.grolier.com, fax: 203 797-3835.
Corbis Digital Stock Titles (MAC/WIN)
Corbis Digital Stock has released several new titles in their Master Collection of royalty-free images. These images have been created by some of the world's best professional photographers. They typically release six new titles each month, each containing 100 drum-scanned images.
The collection is supported by one of the most accessible stock photo Web sites available. The user is taken immediately http://www.digitalstock.com to the search page where they can access thumbnail and comp images of the complete collection. The images are intelligently indexed so that the user can easily find additional related images. Images can purchased individually or as part of a collection.
Among the new releases are:
Retro Home & Family, Volume 119, contains images of family life from the 1940s and 1950s. All of the images are in black and white, and are presented in low, high, and ultra-high resolution. The photos present a rare look at common home and family activities, and clearly show the hair styles and life styles of days long passed. Of particular interest are photos which show the fashions, cars, activities, appliances, pastimes, and play of long ago. $299
Destination Europe, Volume 117, contains a wide variety of images photographed throughout Europe. These include images of buildings and tourist destinations, interior settings, local hang-outs, sunsets, seacoasts, gardens, statues, modes of transportation, quaint signage, skylines, bridges, relics, ruins, mountains, bodies of water, castles, plazas, local handcrafts, and more. $299
World Panoramas, Volume 121, contains 100 narrow, wide-screen format views of settings from around the world. These include fields, sunsets, countrysides, bridges, skylines, waterfronts, roadways, street scenes, mountain ranges, gardens, forests, sand dunes, and more. $299
Retro Concepts & Ideas, Volume 120, consists of 100 black and white images of objects, articles, situations, and activities taken from the decades of the 40s and 50s. Images include people whistling, yelling, gossiping, yawning, singing, thinking, crying, pointing, and engaging in other common behaviors. Objects include vintage typewriters, a telephone, a vending machine, a slot machine, coins, robots, jukeboxes, and much more. $299
Children at Play, Volume 116, consists of 100 images of boys and girls, from infants to teens, engaged in various forms of play. Among the activities are swimming, tennis, biking, baseball, ice skating, skiing, sledding, hiking, swinging, game playing, climbing, bubble-blowing, reading, etc. Children are shown in groups, alone, in pairs, with parents, and with animals. $299
Eye on Earth, Volume 118, contains 100 rare views of the earth and moon, as seen from outer space. Several images are provided showing detailed pictures of the earth in various phases, close-ups of several large land and water areas of the earth, vast geographic areas, weather events as seen from space, various space vehicles (U.S. and Russian), astronauts carrying out various activities, photos of the first landing on the moon, and more. $299
Contact: Corbis Digital Stock Corp., 750 Second St., Encinitas, CA 92024, 760 634-6500, 800 545-4514, http://www.digitalstock.com, e-mail: sales@digitalstock.com, fax: 619 794-4041
SiteWarrior uses a unique approach to Web site authoring and management. It holds the entire Web site in a single database so that all structures and links are updated automatically as changes (additions, deletions, renaming) are made to pages. This database structure ensures that there are never any broken links. In addition, the user can search, replace, or do spell-checking (tag-aware) on a single page or across the entire site.
The program is essentially a text editor, not a visual editor. It maintains compatibility with all browsers and platforms, and does not require special server software. Among its features are: built-in wizards for creating error-free HTML code for headers, lists, images, links, frames, tables, etc.; automatic FTP upload; imports existing Web sites; estimates page download speed with different kinds of connections; optionally manages images on a separate server; and more. $499
Contact: Provue Development, 18411 Gothard, Unit A, Huntington Beach, CA 92648, 714 841-7779, 800 966-7878, http://www.provue.com, e-mail: sales@provue.com, fax: 714 841-1479.
Web Buddy 2.0 (MAC)
Web Buddy 2.0 is the second generation version of this useful utility for downloading all or part of any Web site. It can now support password-protected sites and proxy servers. Other features include the "stay in directory" option which limits the download to a particular directory; content filtering, which lets the user exclude certain file types for which they have no use, such as ".wav"; live link roadblock, which deactivates all links for off-line viewing; translation of HTML tables into word processing format; and more.
Like the original Web Buddy, the program can capture any part of a Web site, from a single page to the entire site. It can do so in realtime, or be programmed to take the pages at some other time, using the "Site To Go" scheduling feature. $39
Contact: Dataviz, 55 Corporate Dr., Trumbull, CT 06611, 203 268-0030, 800 733-0030,
http://www.dataviz.com, e-mail: info@dataviz.com, fax: 203 268-4345.
Vicom FTP Client 2.8.1 Pro (MAC)
Vicom FTP Client 2.8.1 Pro is a full-featured application for transferring files over the internet. What distinguishes this software from programs like Fetch, is that it integrates the transfer function, making it possible to drag and drop any file in a remote directory, directly into a folder on any mounted Macintosh volume. What is more useful are the desktop icons that can be generated from any FTP session. The icons, which represent a specific FTP session, can be used just like mounted AppleShare volumes. The user can drop files on the icon to transfer them, or double click on the icon to open a session window, view the directory contents, and initiate transfers. $50
Contact: Vicom Technology Ltd., 2 Durley Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 5JJ, UK, 44 (0)1 202 293233, http://www.vicomtech.com, e-mail: sales@vicomtech.com, fax: 44 (0)1 202 31 0241.
SurfJet Agent (MAC)
SurfJet Agent is an intelligent searching application that can narrow and focus World Wide Web (or local hard drive) searches. The user indicates a general interest area as an entry, and then enters other words which complement or describe the main interest area. Each entry can be specified by degree of interest using a related slider bar, and each entry can be deactivated if necessary. These sets of related words are maintained as Interest Profiles. Selecting the "Surf" option initiates the search, which is conducted using neural network techniques. As SurfJet finds articles containing the target words, it pre-reads them to establish an interest score, and only displays those which it determines to be most suitable. The user then rates those articles, and the software learns from the user feedback, thus improving its performance with successive searches on the same interest profile. $79.95
Contact: Leptonic Systems Inc., POB 371, Woodbury, NY 11797, http://www.panix.com/~lepton/.
Style Master (MAC)
Style Master is an editor for creating cascading style sheets. Its particular strength is in guiding the user to produce style sheets that will work flawlessly with target browsers. It not only produces fully complient HTML code, but can open any compliant style sheet, from any source, for editing. The user maintains total control over all style sheet selectors and properties. The program includes a complete tutorial which shows how to create working style sheets. The program is available in demo and registered forms. $29
Contact: Western Civilisation Pty. Ltd. ACN 063 639 743, 5/121 Curlewis St. , Bondi NSW 2026Australia,
Drumbeat 2.0 (WIN)
Drumbeat 2.0 is a sophisticated application for creating complex commerical Web sites without programming or coding. It goes far beyond other Web site editors in that it supports easy-to-use tools for interfacing to ODBC databases, without the need for custom-generated code. Elemental Software's claim is that the user can produce a database-driven, interactive Web business solution in less than one hour. Despite the ease of use, the product incorporates full support for DHTML, JavaScript, Java applets, Internet Explorer 1.0 multimedia effects and Data Binding, Active Server Pages, Scriptlets, ActiveX,COM objects and streaming media.
Pages are constructed using SmartElements, which are components which are dragged and dropped onto a page layout, representing their ultimate positions on a user's browser window. Interactions are selected using point-and-click assignments from context-sensitive pop-up lists of the appropriate interactions among the selected elements. All of the underlying code, respective of the target browser type, is generated automatically. In addition, users can add third party components, such as Java applets, ActiveX controls, etc., and convert them into SmartElements with their own point-and-click interactions.
Although Drumbeat 2.0 takes care of generating all of the site code, the user does retain the option of writing custom HTML code with the use of the Passthrough HTML SmartElement. Any code written in the HTML SmartElement will not be processed by Drumbeat, but will instead be published exactly as it was written.
The population of different browser types and versions, has become a major headache to Web designers. Drumbeat 2.0 overcomes this concern through the use of SmartPages, which automatically adapt to multiple browsers. SmartPages are in themselves multiple versions of the same page, each optimized for the Web page viewer's browser of choice. Drumbeat can automatically sense which browser the user has, and serve the appropriate pages.
The DataForm Wizard is used to define pages that contain fields for searching, updating, inserting and deleting records in ODBC-accessible databases. The Wizard produces both the page layouts and the server-side scripting needed to take advantage of dynamic, database operations directly from the Web pages.
The size of a database-driven site can be very large, and require the contributions and on-going maintenance of dozens-to-hundreds of people. Drumbeat uses the Asset Center to provide network access to all of its components.
The look and feel of a site can be selected from a set of templates, referred to as Starting Points. These are pre-assembled sites that incorporate many effects and interactions. The user can modify these templates to get up and running very quickly. In addition, they can reuse pages of their own creation as template forms.
The power of the program is impressive, and is certainly worth investigating if dynamic, database-driven pages are needed. $699
Contact: Elemental Software, 5927 Priestly Drive, Suite 101, Carlsbad, CA 92008, 760 931-7171, http://www.drumbeat.com, fax: 760 431-5752.
Trellix 2.0 (WIN)
Trellix 2.0 extends the capabilities of the original program (see our review in our last issue), which as sold over one million copies, to include tables, improved import of MS Word documents (with tables, embedded objects, links and fonts), and OLE object embedding. The Web page development software, which is aimed at the business user, provides an easy interface for organizing multiple linked pages, with custom design features that appear as through produced by Web professionals. Trellix has been designed as a business tool for use by those who produce, manage and use the information, and are responsible for keeping it current.
The original goal of the Trellix development team was to create a way in which the business user could easily transform business documents into an attractive and useful form that could be shared on the intranet or Internet. The program has achieved that goal by providing an easy-to-use interface for building Web pages, and an easy-to-use interface for accessing, reading and using them. Users of Trellix-produced pages are provided with a unique Web site map, and a "You Are Here" icon, helping to orient them within the site.
Although the program is aimed at the person who may want to avoid the mention of the word "HTML," the pages that Trellix produces are compatible with standard code-based programs such as HoTMetaL Pro and other such programs.
In addition to hanging pages on the Web, Trellix supports the generation of Trelligrams, which are HTML documents that can be sent to recipients as e-mail attachments. Users can view them with any browser. A free Treillix Viewer is also available http://www.trellix.com for displaying Trellix documents without the full version of Trellix and without a browser.
Another benefit, which is unique to Trellix is its printing feature. The program provides smart options for converting online documents into meaningfully formatted printed matter. Unlike standard browsers that only support page-by-page printing, Trellix supports printing an entire document, or a series of pages from the same document, with a single command. It can also place headers, footers, page numbers, etc. as well as footnote references to indicate all Web links.
Trellix, which was designed by software legend Dan Bricklin, the creator of VisiCalc, provides an easy method of organizing, linking, and presenting bodies of information via a standard Web browser or e-mail. Trellix was the first to feature weekly teleconference training classes, wherein users called in at a designated time and were led through the basic program operation by a live trainer. New to this version is a Jump Start feature, which is a 13-step walk-through which leads the user through the creation of their first Trellix document. $249
Contact: Trellix Corp., 51 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02154, 781 788-9400, 800 266-0879, http://www.trellix.com, e-mail: info@trellix.com, fax: 781 788-9494.
VSE HTML Turbo 1.0 (MAC)
VSE HTML Turbo 1.0 is a utility program that optimizes HTML documents, effectively reducing their size and therefore the time that they require to load in a Web browser. The file size reduction does not alter the way that the document appears in the browser window. Download time is one of the major complaints of Web surfers, and is often the reason why site visitors leave without getting the information that they are seeking.
An additional benefit of the program is the fact that the leaner HTML documents require less bandwidth, thus allowing more simultaneous users, and reducing the cost of Web serving for those who pay by the byte.
The program is very easy to use, just drop one, several, or an entire folder onto the HTML Turbo window and the files are processed quickly, providing statistics on the file size savings. The program works on JavaScript and any version of HTML. $79.95
Contact: Voget Selbach Entertainment, Reuterweg 71, D-53332 Bornheim, Germany, http://vse-online.com.
Claris Home Page 3.0 (MAC/WIN)
Claris Home Page 3.0 offers something that most other Web design programs don't: tight integration with a database, namely FileMaker Pro. The FileMaker Pro Connection Assistant provides users with the capability to create customized Web sites that serve dynamic data with no CGI scripting or software required.
The program offers novice and experienced users the tools to design, publish and manage dynamic Web sites with unprecedented ease and power. No knowledge of HTML is required, and the program includes eight Assistants that help to take users through the creation of a complete site. 45 site templates are included for creating a variety of different site types, such as a shopping cart solution, guest book, and employee database. In addition, 18 professionally-designed graphic styles are available to easily enhance a design.
The program supports site management as well as site creation. The Site Editor helps to organize entire sites with a view of files, link-checking, global search and replace of text, and easy site publishing with auto-consolidation of all image files and media types.
Other features include: fast table creation by dragging and dropping tab delimited text; a frame assistant to easily build frame pages; a collection of Java applets for multimedia effects; download document statistics; and stored user libraries. $99
Contact: Claris, 5201 Patrick Henry Drive, Box 58168, Santa Clara, CA 95052-8168, 408 987-7000, 800-3-CLARIS, 408 727-8227, http://www.claris.com.
PartitionMagic 4.0 lets users create, resize and move hard-disk partitions on the fly without destroying data. It features a wizard-driven interface to make it easy to install Windows 98 or Windows NT, and have them both resident on the same computer. This is especially useful for users who want to migrate to NT, but have many resources in the Win98 environment that they are not willing or able to leave behind. Windows 98 users can even change FAT16 partitions to the new FAT32 file system, and change them back again if needed.
The program includes BootMagic (a $29.95 value) that allows users to safely install, run and switch between multiple operating systems. The package also includes DriveMapper, which updates drive letter references for partitions and peripheral attachments, and MagicMover, which moves applications and their related files from one partition to another. $69.95
Contact: PowerQuest Corp., 1083 North State St., Orem, UT 84057, 801 226-8977, fax: 801 226-8941, CompuServe: 74601,354, WWW: http://www.powerquest.com.
File Pirate (MAC)
File Pirate is a unique program that can scan the resource fork information that is a part of all Macintosh applications, and extract "buried treasure" in the form of sounds, pictures, patterns, color palettes, hidden text, etc. The user can save each found file separately. $19.95
Contact: Voget Selbach Entertainment, Reuterweg 71, D-53332 Bornheim, Germany, http://vse-online.com.
Norton Utilities 4.0 for Macintosh (MAC)
Norton Utilities 4.0 for Macintosh is a must-have utility for all PowerMac users. In its more than ten year history, the program has proven to be the most effective and reliable method for data repair, recovery and system optimization.
The program is now compatible with HFS+, Mac OS 8.5, and is entirely Power PC native. The CD is bootable, making it easier to repair the start-up disk.
Users will appreciate that the Norton Disk Doctor interface has been improved, providing one-button activation, and simultaneous (multithreaded) testing and repair of multiple disk-related problems covering media, partitions, directories, and files. Disk Doctor also finds and repairs more problems than ever before, making it a system-saving, work-saving, time-saving utility that no serious Macintosh user can be without. Although the program may be the last resort when a user has a crashed or damaged disk, it is good procedure to run the program routinely to detect potential problems. Using the preferences dialog box the user can elect to have the program automatically fix any problems that it may encounter.
Norton CrashGuard can intercept software crashes without bringing the current session to a stop. The user gains the options of trying to fix the problem, close the application, or restart the computer.
FileSaver, UnErase, and Volume Recover have been fine-tuned to work together to assist in recovering lost files, folders, or complete volumes. The filtered search option allows the user to recover only the specific data or files that they want. FileSaver maintains information about changes, additions, and deletions to files, so that Norton Disk Doctor, Volume Recover, and UnErase can restore lost or damaged files. UnErase is used to recover files, and folders full of files, that were accidently deleted. Volume Recover is a utility that assists in restoring disks (hard drives, floppies, Zip, Jaz and SyQuest cartridges) that have been accidentally reinitialized.
Disk security, in the form of zeroing out erased data, has been improved in the Wipe Info utility. It now also wipes data from unused space , between files, which might have been used at one time. By doing so the user ensures that there is no recoverable information that might be retrieved by an unauthorized user.
Speed Disk optimizes disk performance by providing control over defragmentation of individual files or an entire volume. Fragmentation, which occurs over time, breaks up files into discontinuous parts, which the computer must retrieve, reassemble, and process. As fragementation increases, the speed of the computer decreases; therefore defragmentation is a necessary maintenance operation for all computer users. Speed Disk provides several profiles, that will optimize a disk according to the user's standard method of working. For example, the General Use profile moves all similar file types together and places free space in the middle of the drive. If CD-ROM mastering is the objective, that profile will place all files at the front of the disk.
The suite of programs also includes four lesser known programs. System Info shows the user the system configuration and compares it to know standards, in order to assess system performance. Fast Find is a utility for finding, viewing, editing or launching files on multiple volumes. Disk Light provides a small flashing icon in the corner of the menu bar to show that disk activity is occurring. And, Disk Editor is a tool for expert users who can view and manually repair the data on a given area of a disk. $99.95
Contact: Symantec Corp., 2500 Broadway, Suite 200, 310 449-4897, 800 441-7234, http://www.symantec.com, fax: 310 453-0636.
Conversions Plus Version 4.0 (WIN)
Conversions Plus Version 4.0 is one of the required utility programs for Windows-based digital publishers. It incorporates a large number of file translators in an easy-to-use interface, making it possible to convert and open a wide variety of word processing, spreadsheet, database and graphic files. A program such as this, which can translate and capture formatted text (with embedded images) and high-resolution graphics, can save hours of work, and easily justify its modest cost.
The program automatically identifies the original file format, and provides the option of which file format to convert it to. Of special value is the capability to convert between Macintosh and PC programs, in both directions in most cases. The user can also convert from one PC format to another. Several dozen translation combinations are supported, covering the most popular file formats in use.
Users can decompress, view and print files without launching another program. This feature is especially important in preflighting customer jobs, when the derivation and content of the submitted files may be unknown or uncertain.
The program includes an e-mail attachment opener function, making it easy to unzip and decompress files, as well as process uuEncode, MIME, Binhex, TAR, Zip, Gzip and Z compression schemes. These tools ensure that the user can process and use virtually any file that is stored on the Internet.
The program also supports the direct reading of Macintosh-formatted disks, removable cartridges, hard drives and CD-ROMs through the use of a provided device driver. PC users can also write to all of these media types, except, of course, the CD-ROM. $99
Contact: Dataviz, 55 Corporate Dr., Trumbull, CT 06611, 203 268-0030, 800 733-0030,
http://www.dataviz.com, e-mail: info@dataviz.com, fax: 203 268-4345.
COPSTalk (WIN)
As Windows' market share approaches 100%, it is becoming increasingly important to accept the fact that PC's will infiltrate our desktops eventually. Luckily, there are tools that make this invasion easier to handle. I recently bought my first PC and expected that it would be difficult to set up on our nearly all-Mac network. My printer is a Personal Laserwriter that only works on LocalTalk networks and had virtually no chance of working on the PC.
All of these problems were solved when I discovered COPSTalk, an AppleTalk client for Windows 95, 98, and NT. The software transparently brings AppleShare servers into the Microsoft "Network Neighborhood" and accesses AppleTalk printers as easily as Windows network printers. In my case, the printer was not actually on the ethernet network so I used Apple's LocalTalk Bridge on my Mac to make the LocalTalk printer visible on the AppleTalk ethernet. Then COPSTalk could see the printer and everything worked fine.
The solution is integrated well into the operating system. Unlike Timbuktu Pro and similar programs, it is not a separate application. Rather, it treats Mac-based resources as if they were Windows resources. The result: easy file sharing and no need for a new printer. $159
Contact: COPS, Inc. 5600 Oakbrook Parkway, Suite 240. Norcross, Georgia 30093. http://www.copstalk.com. 770-840-0810.
Corel Graphics Pack II contains almost ten pounds of powerful graphic software, digital media, and documentation. Like most Corel offerings it is a profuse offering at a bargain price.
The software consists of Corel PHOTO-PAINT 7, a bitmap editor; Corel Print House 3, a wizard-driven program for creating personal social expressions; CorelXARA 1.5, a Web design tool that can also be used to create animated GIFs; CorelFLOW 3, for creating charts and diagrams; Corel Presentations 8 for producing on-screen slide shows; Corel MOTION 3D, for creating 3D designs; CorelCAPTURE, for capturing screen grabs; and CorelGALLERY Magic 200,000, consisting of 105,000 vector clipart images, 80,000 photos, 15,000 Web images, fonts, sounds and video clips.
The PHOTO-PAINT program alone could justify the price of the suite.
This arsenal of graphics tools is a complete studio in a box. It provides powerful tools for bitmap and vector image creation, along with a rich collection of digital media, and a supportive online help system. $149
Contact: Corel, 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, ON Canada K1Z 8R7, 613 728-8200, 800 722-6735, http://www.corel.com, e-mail: custserv@corel.com, fax: 613 761-9176.
mPower (MAC)
mPower is a simple to use, yet powerful, software tool for building interactive multimedia presentations. The program features a simple push-button user interface that resembles a bank ATM, with buttons for background (64 included), text, graphics, charts, audio, video, scroll text, and slide options. Users can design their own buttons to actuate various actions. The programs include a royalty-free run-time engine for no-cost distribution of finished projects. $99.95
Contact: Mindscape, Inc., 88 Rowland Way, Novato, CA 94945, 415 897-9900, http://www.mindscape.com/education.html.
MacFlow and WinFlow (MAC/WIN)
MacFlow and WinFlow are the Macintosh and Windows versions of Mainstay's well-established flowchart design and development application. The programs support intuitive freeform creation of flowcharts and organization charts with intelligently linked text and symbols. The program supports both outline and chart views, allowing the user to input information in either format.
The workspace includes a default symbol palette of ANSI-standard flowchart symbols that can be replaced by any of the 24 custom symbol libraries that are also included. The toolbar contains 24 buttons which control text and symbol appearance and relationships. The user simply selects a symbol, and clicks on the workspace, which places the symbol, and types information within its boundaries. When more than one symbol is drawn, a relationship can be established by dragging the cursor from one symbol to another. This establishes a line between them that stays regardless of changes made to the symbols, or any movement of the symbols themselves. The line relationships can be embellished with text, arrows, endpoints, line weights, etc., and can be formatted in hierarchical or geometric organizations.
Finished charts can be printed (in chart or outline modes) or exported in HTML for publishing on the Web. $295
Contact: Mainstay, 591-A Constitution Ave., Camarillo, CA 93012, 805 484-9400, 800 484-9817, http://www.mstay.com, e-mail: info@mstay.com, fax: 805 484-9428.
ObjectDancer 1.5 (MAC)
ObjectDancer 1.5 is a precision tool for creating Web banners and other dynamic content, for the Web and multimedia, through the animation of type, graphics, video and sound. Vector-based animations can be exported as Java or QuickTime 3.0 files. The benefit of vector-based animations is that they are lean, are scalable, and therefore are responsive, even with slow dial-up Web connections. The program incorporates a proprietary vector-based solution developed by PaceWorks called "Vectorium" technology.
Vectorium-based animations are up to ten times smaller than their bitmap counterparts. They can be viewed without the need for a plug-in because they can be created as Java applets which can be viewed by any browser that supports Java.
One of ObjectDancer's unique features is the capability to decompose text into its elements (lines, words, letters) and then animate the components independently, with the assurance that the text will reform perfectly when the animation sequence is completed.
ObjectDancer animations support all of the normal animation attributes, including position, rotation, skew, scale, transparency, color, and real-time anti-aliasing. The animations are particularly efficient, not only in size, but also since they are streamable, meaning that only a portion of the file needs to be downloaded before the playback begins.
Among the program's other features are: Synchronization of type, video, graphics, sound and music to within 1/60th of a second; output as animated GIFs; importation of elements created in allied programs (Photoshop format, GIF, converted EPS, QuickTime, AIFF, WAV, MIDI, etc.); the availability of DancePACKS, libraries of royalty-free reusable media; and unlimited levels of undo. $199.95
Contact: PaceWorks, 1261 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 6, Foster City, CA 94404, 650 578-6765, http://www.paceworks.com, fax: 650 578-6769.
QuickStitch 360 (WIN)
QuickStitch 360 is a digital imaging utility that can combine overlapping photos into a panoramic image (up to a complete 360 degrees). The resulting image can be saved as a graphics file or a QuickTime VR movie, either of which is cross-platform compatible. Unlike competing programs, QuickStitch 360 does not place restrictions on the photographer, or require technical information about the camera and lens used to create the images. The program is practically automatic, only requiring that the user select the images to be processed. It accepts JPG, BMP, TIFF, and PICT. $69.95
Contact: Enroute Imaging, 530 Showers Drive, Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94040, 650 843-1122, http://www.enroute.com, fax: 650 813-9089.
MovieWorks 4.0 (MAC)
MovieWorks 4.0 is a multimedia authoring tools that incorporates five separate, yet related, programs. These include Sound, Video, Paint, Composer and Player, all necessary functions for multimedia production.
The Sound component supports audio recording and editing; Video provides video capture (for those systems which support it) and editing; Paint provides basic digital image manipulation tools in a 24-bit color environment; and Composer which is the multimedia composition tool which accepts the placement of multimedia components, and supports the generation of a user interface with hyperlinks, buttons, and other related functions. Composer generates a run-time module that can be run in the Player program. The user also has the option of outputting the file as a QuickTime movie or printing it to video. MovieWorks files can be played over the Internet or shared with Windows users. It's quite an impressive, easy-to-use package. $49.95
Contact: Interactive Solutions, Inc., 5776 Stoneridge Mall Road, Suite 135, Pleasanton, CA 94588, 510 734-0730, http://www.movieworks.com>, fax: 510 734-0758.
Mask Pro 2.0 (MAC/WIN)
Mask Pro 2.0 is the second generation of this Extensis Photoshop and Corel Photo-Paint plug-in. It adds several tools and functions which make it easier to select and mask a given area.
The color matching technology which is at the heart of the program makes it easier to keep and drop colors, thus making it more efficient to process the fine details which are characteristic of wispy hair, fuzzy sweaters, and animal fur. The program provides intelligent color selection, making it possible, using the new IntelliBrush and IntelliWand tools, to remove backgrounds without the user first selecting colors. This process is direct, immediate, and highly productive.
Perfect edges can be produced using the advanced PrecisionEdge Magic Pen, which automatically detects and creates perfect edges between contrasting areas of an image. The paths that it produces can be edited either as traditional Bézier or edge-detecting paths.
The new EdgeBlender produces seamless edges without the objectionable halos, which often provide a sure indication that an image has been composited. The user can now preview clipping path settings, controlling choke and tolerance. Paths are produced from straight line segments that will not slow down Raster Image Processors.
Unprecedented control is provided with the View Composite Layers function. This new capability makes it possible for the user to view the underlying layers in a multi-layer document, so that the final mask is as accurate as possible. In addition the entire mask can be moved in or out by using the Global Choke/Spread settings.
The user interface provides a rich tool palette with powerful yet easy-to-use tools. The program compares favorably to all other masking solutions on the market. $299.95
Contact: Extensis Corp., 1800 S.W. First Ave., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97201, 800 796-9798, 503 274-2020, http://www.extensis.com, fax: 503 274-0530.
PhotoSuite II (WIN)
PhotoSuite II combines several digital imaging capabilities into one package. It supports the assisted production of photo correction, manipulation, composition and presentation for home and business users.
The suite of programs support the capture, touch-up, transformation, organization, creation, display and sharing of digital photographs through various means.
The program's interface is divided into six functional areas. "Photos" is used for capturing, editing, transforming, enhancing and adjusting digital pictures. "Projects" provides assistance in creating products, such as greeting cards, sports cards, magazine covers, and collages. The "Album" is a storage area wherein images can be cataloged for later retrieval. "Slide Shows" provides the capability to use images in a presentation, with sound and transitions. The "Internet" area offers access to stock photos, updates, tips, and other information. The "Guides" module provides step-by-step activities and tasks to make the best use of the suite.
The original version of the program sold over 11 million copies, providing significant input for this latest version. Users now have access to smart photo correction tools to remove red eye, blemishes, dust and scratches, and do automatic image enhancement. Advanced editing capabilities include transparency control, soft edging, Smart Edge Detect, and unlimited Undo/Redo.
The Internet integration is amazingly simple. Users can access the Web from within the program, find an image that they like, drag and drop it into the program's Photo Library, and use it in any number of ways. In addition, a PhotoSuite Album can be converted into a Web page in a single step. $49.99
Contact: MGI Software Corp., 40 West Wilmont St., Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 1H8, 905 764-7000, http://www.mgisoft.com, fax: 905 764-7110.
Photoshop Inside & Out, Welcome to 5.0 [Part One] is the first in a series of training videos produced by, and starring, David Biedny. Biedny, an accomplished author and acknowledged Photoshop authority, shows and tells about all of the major new features in Adobe Photoshop 5.0, with specific keystroke differences for Macintosh and PC. This video is the fastest and most expert way to learning the key features of this major software upgrade. Among the topics covered are: The History Function (Unlimited Undos), New RGB Color Space Handling, Proper Configuration of Preferences, Spot Color Channels, Magnetic Pen and Lasso, The Adobe Gamma Control Panel, Editable Type Tricks, Actions Enhancements, Layer Effects, and many undocumented tips and tricks. Running time is approximately two hours. A closed captioned version is available. $59.95
Contact: IDIG, Inc., POB 151498, San Rafael, CA 94901, 877 442-4477, http://www.photoshopio.com, e-mail: sales@photoshopio.com.
ResumeMaker with Career Planning (WIN)
ResumeMaker with Career Planning combines the popular ResumeMaker resume software with Career Counselor, the career planning software from Kaplan, a recognized leader in career services. The Career Counselor software matches over 12,700 careers to a person's interests, and assists with job-hunting skills. It uses an extensive interactive survey to identify the ideal career that best matches a job seeker's personal profile, skills and preferences. With helpful assessment tests, job descriptions, employment data and expert advice on how to get the right job, the Career Counselor is a complete job-search tool for students, graduates and other job seekers.
Resumemaker, which is a well-established product, can automatically transform the user's resume into any one of 25 sharp-looking resume formats. Approximately 200 sample resumes are provided as examples. $29.95
Contact: Individual Software Inc., 4255 Hopyard Road, Building 2, Pleasanton, CA 94588, 800 822-3522, 800 331-3313, 510 734-6767, 800 822-3522, http://www.individualsoftware.com, fax: 510 734-8337.
Harris, Godfrey
This book treats the subject of word-of-mouth advertising as a separate yet equal marketing tool as compared to traditional media methods and techniques. The author fully describes the concept and execution of an encyclopedic number of word-of-mouth techniques that have proven successful. This is certainly an area that most businesspeople don't consider seriously, yet obviously should.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-935047-24-7/7550-9049184-399541.
0-935047-24-7 210 pp. $14.95
Contact: The Americas Group, 9200 Sunset Blvd., Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA 90069-3506, http://www.americasgroup.com, e-mail: hrmg@aol.com, fax: 310 271-3649.
MCSE Networking Essentials for Dummies
Aschermann, Robert
A guide and preparation book/CD-ROM which supports the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) designation for Networking. It is based on the objectives of the exam and covers the complete field of microcomputer networking in clear, simple and understandable words. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a proprietary test engine that generates custom or random questions from the hundreds that are provided. It also provides demos of eight examinations.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7645-0399-5/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7645-0399-5 345 pp. $29.99
Contact: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 155 Bovet Road, Suite 610, San Mateo, CA 94402
Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Classroom in a Book
Adobe Systems Inc.
The official Adobe training manual for Photoshop 5.0 for Macintosh and Windows. The book covers all of the major and significant operational aspects of the program, along with a set of practice files and activities provided on the accompanying CD-ROM. The book begins with an overview of the program, highlighting the new features. It then presents several lessons for learning specific program capabilities. The book also includes an overview and basic instructional introduction to Adobe ImageReady.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56830-466-8/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56830-466-8 440 pp. $45
Contact: Adobe Press, Prentice Hall, 113 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
MCSE Windows 95 for Dummies
Frederick, Brian
A concise and easy-to-follow guide to preparing for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer exam for Windows 95 certification. The exam covers planning, installation and configuration, configuring and managing resource access, integration and interoperability, monitoring and optimization, and troubleshooting. The author covers the content that will be covered by the exam and provides many quizzes and tests. The accompanying CD-ROM contains hundreds of practice questions plus a test engine that generates a custom or random exam.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7645-0403-7/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7645-0403-7 420 pp. $29.99
Contact: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 155 Bovet Road, Suite 610, San Mateo, CA 94402, 800 762-2974, http://www.idgbooks.com.
MCSE Windows NT Server 4 for Dummies
Majors, Kenneth; Brendan McTague
An authoritative and complete guide to preparing for the Microsoft Certified System Engineer examination for Windows NT Server 4. The authors provide an overview and an explanation of the exam. The book covers the Windows NT feature set, system planning, the hardware profile, storage, administration, installation, configuration, networking, user accounts, system performance, and troubleshooting. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a database of hundreds of questions that can be presented in thousands of different ways using the Dummies Test Engine.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7645-0400-2/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7645-0400-2 478 pp. $29.99
Contact: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 155 Bovet Road, Suite 610, San Mateo, CA 94402, 800 762-2974, http://www.idgbooks.com.
MCSE TCP/IP for Dummies
Brandon, Cameron
A test prep course in a book covering the information necessary for passing the Microsoft Certified System Engineer exam 70-059, Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. The author explains the complexities of the TCP/IP protocol, assigning IP addresses, resolving address conflicts, and many other aspects of this Internet technology. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a database of practice questions that can be output in thousands of different exams using the supplied Dummies Test Engine. The appendix includes two practice exams.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7645-0404-5/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7645-0404-5 452 pp. $29.99
Contact: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 155 Bovet Road, Suite 610, San Mateo, CA 94402, 800 762-2974, http://www.idgbooks.com.
MCSE Windows NT Workstation 4 for Dummies
Kendzierski, Michael
A complete guide to preparing for the Microsoft Certified System Engineer Exam 70-73, Implementing and Supporting Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. Sections of the book include test preparation; planning, installation, and configuration; managing resources; connecting networks; connecting to the Internet; running applications; and monitoring, optimizing, and troubleshooting. The chapters are interspersed with practice questions and lab exercises. The book includes a CD-ROM which contains hundreds of practice questions that can be output in exam form using the Dummies Test Engine which is provided on the disc.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7645-0402-9/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7645-0402-9 428 pp. $29.99
Contact: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 155 Bovet Road, Suite 610, San Mateo, CA 94402, 800 762-2974, http://www.idgbooks.com.
FileMaker Pro 4 for Windows & Macintosh Visual QuickStart Guide
Hester, Nolan
An illustrated step-by-step guide to using the features and capabilities of FileMaker Pro 4. The author covers the fundamental operation of the program, how to create and manage files, how to create an efficient database, and how to store and print records. A section deals with the Web publishing features of the program. There are also sections devoted to optimizing the use of the program through tips and techniques.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-201-69664-9/7550-9049184-399541.
0-201-69664-9 321 pp. $17.95
Contact: Peachpit Press, 1249 Eighth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, 510 524-2178, 800 283-9444, http://www.peachpit.com, fax: 510 524-2221.
Microsoft Windows 98 Training Kit
Microsoft Press
The official Microsoft Certified Professional exam training kit for exam 70-098, Microsoft Windows 98. Provided as both a book and CD-ROM, the kit provides hands-on training for the support of Windows 98 clients, in both standalone and networked environments. The training kit can be used either as a self-paced course or Internet- and intranet-based distance learning. Students learn to plan and deploy Windows 98 environments, optimize and manage hard drives, install and configure a local printer, integrate Windows 98 into a network environment (including Windows NT and Novell NetWare networks), and implement dial-up networking.
The accompanying CD-ROM includes the complete course, with exams, exercises and course contents; multimedia presentations of advanced concepts; and all files required for hands-on lessons.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-57234-730-2/7550-9049184-399541.
1-57234-730-2 662 pp. $99.99
Contact: Microsoft Press, POB 3019, Bothell, WA 98041-9910
Using ISDN, Second Edition
Bryce, James Y.
The complete and in-depth source for all information related to ISDN technology. The book contains sections which explain what ISDN is, the theory and the technology, the related computer hardware, the software and applications, and its future in light of competing technologies.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7897-0843-4/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7897-0843-4 624 pp. $39.99
Contact: Que Corporation, 11711 North College Ave., Carmel, IN 46032.
Real World Scanning and Halftones, 2nd Edition
Blatner, David; Glenn Fleishman, Steve Roth
The authoritative source for information on image scanning and tonal reproduction. The authors have assembled in-depth facts related to the standard procedures for capturing and recording high quality digital images. They cover production planning and decision-making, and present the most popular software and hardware solutions.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-201-69683-5/7550-9049184-399541.
0-201-69683-5 422 pp. $29.95
Contact: Peachpit Press, 1249 Eighth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, 510 524-2178, 800 283-9444, http://www.peachpit.com, fax: 510 524-2221.
Photoshop 5 Type Magic
Simsic, Greg
The author presents some of the basic Photoshop 5 procedures, and then shows how to produce dozens of dazzling, eye-catching typographic effects. Each effect is shown in a clear, easy to follow, step-by-step lesson. The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM includes Photoshop Actions, brushes, displacement maps, and filters. In addition there are several software demos and a collection of stock photo images.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56830-465/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56830-465 249 pp. $39.99
Contact: New Riders Publishing, P.O. Box 4846-V, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
Photoshop Collage Techniques
Haun, Gregory
A fascinating collection of practical methods for creating sophisticated Photoshop files composed of multiple images. The techniques make use of Photoshop's rich set of tools and functions, including layers, shadowing, image wrapping, vignetting, and more. The author also deals with setting up a production system for matching screen color to the press sheet, and gathering and using images from a wide variety of sources.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56830-349-1/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56830-349-1 259 pp. $45
Contact: Hayden Books, 4300 West 62nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46268
Teach Yourself QuarkXPress 4 in 14 Days
Binder, Kate
A succinct yet complete guide to using the features of QuarkXPress 4. The author provides an introduction to, and explanation of, all of the major capabilities, and includes tutorials and instructions for applying them. The accompanying companion CD-ROM contains a variety of program enhancements composed of Xtensions, templates, fonts, and clip art.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56830-411-0/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56830-411-0 418 pp. $39.99
Contact: Hayden Books, 4300 West 62nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46268
Photoshop Magic, Expert Edition
Perkins, Brendon
A skill-building book with step-by-step instructions for creating sophisticated special effects such as stained glass, water reflection, weather conditions, time of day, and much more. The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM contains the images from the book as well as tutorial files, freeware, and GIF Construction Set for Windows.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56830-416-1/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56830-416-1 344 pp. $45
Contact: Hayden Books, 4300 West 62nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46268
Photoshop for the Web
Aaland, Mikkel
A guide to the effective use of Adobe Photoshop as a production tool for producing images for the World Wide Web. The author shows how to produce the most compact file sizes, how to automate Web image production, how to use Photoshop as a Web page layout tool, how to manage Web-safe color palettes, and more.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56592-350-2/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56592-350-2 238 pp. $29.95
Contact: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 103 Morris St., Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
Photoshop 5 Web Magic
Ninness, Michael
A concise and well-planned guide to using Photoshop 5 for Web-related projects. Major sections deal with animations, buttons, edge effects, textures, type effects, and more. The full-color volumes shows how to produce dozens of dazzling, professional effects. The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM includes Photoshop plug-ins, product demos, sample files, stock photo images, and more.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56205-913-0/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56205-913-0 228 pp. $39.99
Contact: New Riders Publishing, P.O. Box 4846-V, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
Photoshop 5 Artistry
Haynes, Barry; Wendy Crumpler
One of the most visually dazzling and impressive books yet written on the use of Photoshop. The authors have assembled a creative and masterful advanced course in the use of Photoshop tools, techniques and methods that is second to none. They show, in full color, and with step-by-step instructions, how to produce a multitude of sophisticated professional effects. In addition to providing a full technical background on Photoshop capabilities, they show how to produce an overall color correction, how to produce a duotone, how to change the color of objects, how to improve overall image quality, how to produce a variety of masks, how to colorize a black-and-white image, how to composite image elements, how to increase dynamic range, how to color correct human faces, how to create text effects, and much more.
The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM contains all of the tutorial lessons and settings, as well as demo versions of Adobe Photoshop 5 and ImageReady.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56205-895-9/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56205-895-9 357 pp. $55
Contact: New Riders Publishing, P.O. Box 4846-V, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
Inside Adobe Photoshop 5
Bouton, Gary David; Barbara Bouton
A massive volume of easy-to-follow lessons and instructions on using Photoshop for a wide variety of purposes. The authors show how to use Photoshop for solving many imaging problems, and how to use it in combination with other imaging, drawing, and illustration programs. The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM contains trail copies of several software titles, the 250+ page Inside Adobe Photoshop Online Glossary, and a collection of images and digital elements.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1-56205-884-3/7550-9049184-399541.
1-56205-884-3 742 pp. $44.99
Contact: New Riders Publishing, P.O. Box 4846-V, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop 5 in 21 Days
Clark, Michael T.
A guide to learning the functions, tools and capabilities of Adobe Photoshop 5 in three weeks. Each chapter represents a specific goal, such as learning the tool palette, or about file formats. At the end of each chapter is a set of questions and a brief quiz (with answers). The accompanying cross-platform CD-ROM includes all of the examples from the book, a collection of Digital Stock images, demo software, and a prep test (Adobe Certification Expert) developed in cooperation with Adobe.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-672-31300-6/7550-9049184-399541.
0-672-31300-6 504 pp. $39.99
Contact: Sams, 201 West 103rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46290.
Using Adobe Photoshop 5
Giordan, Dan; Steve Moniz
A good general book covering all of the basic operations and tools of Adobe Photoshop 5. The major sections include: getting started; using the painting and editing tools; working with select areas of an image; using filters to create special effects; and repairing, retouching and enhancing images. Although the book is large it is uncluttered and easy to follow.
Available for on-line ordering at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0-7897-1656-9/7550-9049184-399541.
0-7897-1656-9 684 pp. $29.99
Contact: Que Corporation, 11711 North College Ave., Carmel, IN 46032.
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Productivity Reviews
Ultimatte KnockOut 1.0 (MAC)
Addition / Extension Reviews
Photo/Graphic Edges Version 4.0 (MAC/WIN)
Printing Reviews
PowerPrint 4.0 (MAC)
CD-ROM Reviews
1999 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Deluxe 2-CD Edition (MAC/WIN)
Internet Reviews
SiteWarrior (MAC)
Utility Reviews
PartitionMagic 4.0 (WIN)
Multimedia Reviews
Corel Graphics Pack II (WIN)
Miscellaneous News and Reviews
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Book Reviews
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A Word From Our Sponsors
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