🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <13638@fluke.COM> moriarty@tc.fluke.COM (Jeff Meyer) writes:

I don't want to start "my high-end-graphics application is better
than yours" war.  A friend has Superpaint 2.0 on his SE, but I
haven't gotten a chance to compare.  Another friend has MacDraw
2.0, and keeps saying, "you need MacDraw, because it has <some
feature he recently played with>".  I've always been able to say
Canvas has it.  My guess is that all these applications are
extremely good, and that each will have SOME feature that none of
the others have.  Having taken the time to learn Canvas real well
(I've read the manual TWICE), I'm unlikely to be more productive
using one of the others.

>However... just got the February issue of MacWorld, and Deneba has a new
>program out called UltraPaint.  Looks very nice from the ad (B&W, grey scale
>and full color pixel manipulations, 8 independent object-oriented layers,
>scanned image manipulation, basic drawing tools plus auto-trace, bezier and
>freehand curves with "complete editing control", editable arrowheads &
>dashed lines, 256 colors per drawing, WYSIWYG text (wonder if that includes
>rotating text with full precision?) and 600 dpi precision, import/export
>filters for PICT 1 or 2, TIFF, MacPaint, Startup Screen or MacDraw 1
>formats.  Apparently also has the SuperPaint feature for adding new tools to
>the program by putting the tools in a folder.  (Can't remember what Silicon
>Beach calls that...)  Lists for $199.  I seem to remember an issue of
>MacWeek that discussed it, but haven't run into my back issues yet...

Um, Deneba's Canvas 2.0 has most of this.  From this list,  Canvas 2.0
doesn't do:
grey scale and full color pixel manipulations
	but you can have full color bitmap objects, and you can even
	create them from colored objecteds
scanned image manipulation
	but it does have some halftoning capabilities
WYSIWYG text does include rotating text with full precision.
	tested on my General Computer Personal Laser Printer
	(quickdraw).  Its supposed to even do "warp text to a
	bezier curve", though I've never used it.
Canvas actually supports more resolutions: including high end
	Linotronics (2250(?) dpi) phototypesetters.  This I've used.
Silicon Beach's "Plug in Filters", and "Plug in Modules".  I've
	asked them for the developer's kit for Digital Darkroom,
	and last I heard was sometime in January 1990 (that's
	this month).
One of the nice things both Canvas and UltraPaint have is LARGE drawing
	areas.  9 feet by 9 feet.  SuperPaint 1.1's most annoying
	feature was that you could do 8.5" x 11", 75 dpi, and no more.
	I regularly create 2 page x 2 page drawings of 300 dpi stuff...
Another nice thing is the Zoom system.

The UltraPaint Beta that I have has some technical flaws...
hopefully they'll be fixed before release.  The overall design
appears to be good.  It has infinite awesome features.  Still, I
haven't finished reading the manual, and there's always the non-disclosure.

>I thought I'd ask people on the net if they've tried UltraPaint, what they
>think, how does it compare with Canvas (is this a companion program, a
>sub/super-set, or what?), and (most importantly) how fast is it?

I don't think UltraPaint is being shipped yet.  UltraPaint has
many/most of the features of Canvas.  The main addition is
painting to color bitmaps - with all the bitmap capabilities
people are getting used to.  It does not seem to be positioned as
an add-on or companion to Canvas 2.0.  It does not appear to be a
superset - though I haven't looked at everything.  The speed is
not an issue on my Mac II.  Of course complicated transforms to
8.5"x11" color bitmaps are going to take time... the easy things
perform at least as well as Canvas.

One note:  I don't have a color printer (unless an Imagewriter II
counts as a color printer).  My scanner is grey scale only.  What
I mean is that 256 color pixels aren't as useful to me as one
would think.  I can print greys to my laser printer if halftoning
software is available.  I don't yet know if UltraPaint has any
such capability.  Canvas has some limited conversion - and I can
always use Digital Darkroom for advanced halftoning.

Stephen.
suitti@haddock.ima.isc.com
DISCLAIMER: I don't speak for Deneba or anyone else.