Another exciting title from SierraHome's
home productivity line, Print Artist Grande Suite 8.0 is a
conglomerate of various software tools specifically designed for a family's home
publishing/printing needs. A wide array of projects are possible with this package of 8
CD-ROMs that contains over 200,000 graphics and images and more than 10,000 layouts.
Print
Artist itself boasts a revamped, easier to use interface, and makes a variety of
projects easy. Greeting cards of all types, crafts for grown-ups and kids, newsletters,
stationery, banners, posters, and more, are easy to create. The pre-designed projects can
be used as is, or can be customized with 300+ fonts, the program's graphics or imported
ones, and with a special effects gallery. A new layering tool allows users to create
multi-layered artwork effortlessly. Users shouldn't forget to download free Print
Artist graphics and layouts online at www.sierra.com.
People who love to create will enjoy the many craft options. Make bookmarks, calendars,
boxes, coasters, recipe cards, place mats, and ornaments, and get your kids working in the
Kids Crafts section, creating and customizing their own door hangers, flashcards, mobiles,
and ornaments. Labels and stickers can be customized and printed on special Avery sheets.
Themed party sets, scrapbook pages, banners, certificates, signs, and family or club
newsletters are just a handful of this print program's offerings! There's a little
something for everyone in the family, whether you want to create a personalized label for
your homemade jam jars, customize special gift boxes, or make a banner to welcome home
that special somebody.
A tutorial is included to help lessen the learning curve, but most users who are
Windows user will find the interface familiar. In fact, many children will be able to use
the program. Though for the most part Print Artist 8.0 is easy to use with its new
drag-and-drop interface, some things were more awkward than they could have been. For
example, changing the font of the text in a greeting card we were working on required
multiple steps, and this task was easier to do in a kids' software title such as Pokemon
Project Studio.
Those who are interested in building a basic web site will enjoy the program's Web
Studio Express. Web page creation is simplified to a level for the inexperienced, and
posting directly from the program is effortless.
Snap Shot Express can help users make the phrase "pictures don't
lie" obsolete. This software allows users to correct and enhance their photos and
covers most basic photo editing needs, including getting rid of red eye, adding new
backgrounds to your photos, and adjusting brightness and color. Photos can be imported
from any source, including your hard drive, scanners, digital cameras, and the Internet.
Creating digital photo albums can be an exciting project for many, and the ones here are
quite straightforward.
With this package's iCollect program, users can collect images
and artwork from the Internet and store them without taking a sizable chunk out of their
hard drives!
Another program included in the package is devoted to a selection of
easy-to-use, customizable animated e-cards, complete with sound and movement. Though
there's nothing outstanding here that can't be found for free on the web, users might
enjoy browsing through the 50+ offerings. Choose to send e-cards directly from the program
or save the e-card to your hard drive and send it as an attachment in your regular email
program.
This title comes with a printed Clip art catalogue containing black and
white thumbnails of graphics organized alphabetically by topic. Topics include such things
as Christmas, Fruits, Backgrounds, Women, and Zodiac. Though well-organized in the
catalogue, it can be a bit of a struggle browsing through the clip art onscreen. Better
searching capabilities would have been helpful.
This suite contains a decent collection of basic home publishing
options. The designs and graphics are pretty generic fare -- remember that this title is
targeted at the average home user, and it covers good ground on that note. As well, users
can import graphics from their hard drives, directly from scanners and digital cameras, or
the web.
