I have the soul of a Rembrandt with the artistic ability of that rock over
there. Computers have been my salvation: hi-tech has compensated for low
talent. I won't say exactly how much money I've fed into the graphics maw
over the years because I'm hoping to grab next month's credit card bill
before my husband discovers the new scanner, the high-end image editing
software and a few other trifles.
When first presented with Micrografx ABC Graphics Suite my first reaction was: too cheap! No program that lists for a mere $299.95 can make me look good. Well, I was wrong. It is a superb product: top-notch quality, value-priced and easy to use.
As its name implies, ABC Graphics Suite positions itself as an all-in-one graphics solution for business. They've studied the market well. It's a Windows 95 set of applications that comes on three CD ROM disks. It's fully integrated with Microsoft Office, although you don't need the Office Suite to use the program. The learning curve is dramatically flattened because it builds upon what you already know; its toolbar actually integrates with that of the Office Suite. ABC Graphics Suite uses all of the bells and whistles of Windows 95 and Microsoft Office, from drag-and-drop to the Office Suite's "binder," which lets you bundle all of the files associated with a project into a virtual three-ring notebook.
There were two features that blew me away and helped me appreciate the
benefits of Object Linking and Embedding, or OLE. First, you can drag an
iconized graphic straight into any OLE-compliant application and then edit
from within the application. You don't have to remember the file name,
or which program you used to create the graphic. Drag a graphic into MS
Word, for example, double- click on the graphic, and the editing tools
you need to manipulate the graphic will magically appear on your screen.
When you're done, click on an area outside the graphic and you're back
in Word. It's incredible. The second amazing feature is what the Micrografx
folks call transparent graphics file conversion. Graphics can be converted
automatically, to conform to the requirements of the program you are using.
My hard drive is chock full of graphic file conversion programs. They're
virtually obsolete, as the Suite does it all for me. ABC Graphics Suite
can convert 55 graphical file formats, more than any other program on the
market. All graphics are now created equal. These features -- common to
the entire Suite -- allow me to concentrate on what I'm doing instead of
how I'm going to do it.
I've shied away from drawing programs because I can't draw. Micrographx Designer 6.0 changed my tune. Because the Suite is so tightly integrated, I was able to see how I could use Designer in conjunction with Publisher to add elegant touches to my scanned graphics. It has the capability of handling 32,767 layers (I have a hard time coping with two or three, but more experienced designers will be able to take advantage of the monster capacity) and 29 drawing tools. You can align text along a path, warp images, autotrace bitmaps....you can do things I didn't even know needed to be done.
Did I mention that in a past incarnation I was known as the clipart queen? The Suite comes with more than 30,000 high-quality images, including clipart, photos and diagramming symbols. The clipart is the good stuff; none of the sludge you usually dredge up from clipart collections. If you think you might have trouble keeping track of this vast image library, turn to the ABC Media Manager. This is the secret behind the drag-and drop transparent file conversion. All of the art is indexed by keyword and displayed as a thumbnail; no more guessing what IMG0058.PCX looks like. As you create art of your own, you can add it and index it in the library. All of your images are accessible from a button on the Word and Excel toolbars, just a click away.
I'm not done yet! The Graphics Suite comes with ABC Flow Charter 6.0. It has 60 palettes containing more than 2,000 diagramming symbols, including engineering and floorplan symbols. It uses intelligent line routing; you can move or delete action nodes and the chart reforms to accommodate the change. No longer want the paperwork to stop at Joe's desk? Zap Joe, and the diagram regroups without him. You can tile your charts and tack them together to make wall-sized displays or drop them straight into your Microsoft Office applications. Flow Charter can analyze spreadsheet data and contains chart wizards to make the process easy. It also works on "legacy" databases, giving you the ability add charts to old data.
Finally, the Suite just added a new feature: Instant 3D. This wasn't included in my review copy, but the literature I have looks impressive. It lets you create 3D text and graphics instantly; textures and lighting can be changed with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Impressed? Go to their home page on the World Wide Web, http://www.micrografx.com, and get blown away. Users of Designer and Publisher have a niche where they can submit designs to a monthly portfolio. Many of them are accompanied by a step-by-step description of the techniques used to create the graphics. It's like having a tutor at your elbow. They have patches and upgrades available for download (you can even get a demo of the Media Manager; it's fully functional, but only handles three of the 55 file formats that the full-blown product accommodates.) There is also a trouble-shooting guide for printers and scanners that taught me a trick or two.
Micrografx is located just down the road apiece. Reach them at 1303 Arapaho Rd., Richardson, TX 75081. Technical support is available at (214) 234-2694; it's free for the first 30 days. Support is also available on Compuserve (GO MICROGRAFX) and on AOL (keyword MGX) in addition to the Web page. The Suite lists for $299.95, 149.95 for current users of Designer, Publisher, Flow Charter or any competitive product such as Visio and various Corel and Adobe products.
The documentation was easy to follow, although a bit on the thin side. Take advantage of the robust Windows 95-compliant help screens. You will need a 486DX/33 or better running Windows 95 with a minumum 8 MB of memory; 16 is recommended. I ran it on a Pentium 90 with 16 MB of RAM. You need a CD ROM drive and a mouse. This is a gigantic program: the compact option, which only installs a few sample files and no clipart takes 30 MB; the full installation is 80 MB. It can be run from a CD ROM hung from a network server.
ABC Graphics Suite is the ideal program for beginner through power
users who need to integrate professional-looking graphics into other documents.
Graphic design professionals will certainly find the Suite useful, but
will still want to maintain their specialized design or computer-aided
design programs for their most sophisticated artwork. It would be a bargain
at twice the price!