Lots Of Choices To Edit Your Images
Two diverse offerings in the image-editing arena bring simplicity to the masses. ZSoft Corp.'s PC Paintbrush 5+ 1.0 offers quality image-editing tools for DOS users, but limits the size and types of files users can image edit. Micrografx Inc.'s Picture Publisher 3.1 for Windows boasts advanced image-editing features, OLE and the ability to produce color separations.
PC Paintbrush 5+ version 1.0 for DOS from ZSoft and Picture Publisher for Windows version 3.1 from Micrografx make image editing easier for those who aren't graphics professionals. The $ 495 Picture Publisher -- an incremental upgrade -- offers interaction with other Windows applications through Object Linking and Embedding. ZSoft's $ 199 PC Paintbrush offers DOS users many of the tools and features of competing low-end Windows editors such as its stable mate, ZSoft's PhotoFinish.
However, both programs, which were first shipped in volume last month, have flaws and limitations. PC Paintbrush offers limited file formats: PCX, Graphics Interchange Format and TIFF. Picture Publisher's support of Joint Photographics Expert Group (JPEG) --a graphics format that maximizes file compression -- is erratic. In PC Week Labs tests, Picture Publisher was sometimes unable to open JPEG files saved in Aldus Corp.'s PhotoStyler and U-Lead Systems Inc.'s ImagePals.
To test Picture Publisher's OLE capability, the Labs used Microsoft Corp.'s Word 2.0 and Lotus Development Corp.'s Ami Pro 3.0 as test clients. They embedded an OLE object in a document by first copying the graphic in Picture Publisher and then pasting it into Word or Ami Pro. The pasted graphic appeared in a small graphics box that, when double-clicked, launched Picture Publisher and allowed the Labs to edit and save the image. Picture Publisher's new Image Browser displays thumbnails of graphics files, giving users a clear and graphical view of their files. PC Paintbrush, by comparison, shows the traditional File dialog box to view files and directories. Both programs feature tool palettes that give convenient access to frequently used tools such as the magnifying glass and selection tool.
Picture Publisher and PC Paintbrush support a number of flatbed and handheld scanners including Hewlett-Packard Co.'s ScanJet IIc scanner. They scanned images from test documents into PC Paintbrush by clicking on the Scan Image item off the File menu in the program. The Select Scan Area dialog box then allowed us to set brightness, contrast and resolution. The Labs could then edit the image by choosing the Edit Image option.
Picture Publisher is slightly more convenient because it can place the scanned image in a new document without having to switch modes, which is necessary in PC Paintbrush. Picture Publisher also made it possible to scan multiple images consecutively without having to stop and save the previously scanned image. This is ideal for quickly scanning many small images, such as pictures from a magazine.
Once images have been scanned into the programs, the real work of editing begins. Both Picture Publisher and PC Paintbrush have excellent editing tools.
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