Product Reviews

DrawPlus is Serif's budget vector drawing program and version 8 is the first update since 2003. The best known vector drawing programs are used by professional illustrators and cost hundreds of pounds, so we were very curious to see just what Serif could offer for only £80.

DrawPlus has always been about chucking loads of features at you and this latest version is no exception. Fortunately, the user interface has had a good tidy up and the basic layout is similar to other graphics programs. Even so, vector drawing can be a little tricky at first. A simple way to start is to use QuickShapes to draw stars, arrows and so on. These can then be given 'Effects', such as metal. There are more of these than in previous versions, but we weren't impressed with Serif's other improvements. The Gallery clip art, for example, isn't attractive or comprehensive, and the Resource CD provides less than stunning templates and PDF tutorials.

Natural brush effects

If, however, you're prepared to put the time and effort in yourself, DrawPlus will reward you. As well as providing a full range of drawing tools, it now features 'natural media' brush effects. In the past, when

ADVERTISEMENT

you used a virtual brush in an art program it behaved in very unnatural ways - the paint never ran out and there was no way to vary the force behind a brushstroke. Serif has fixed this problem by allowing you to choose from a wide variety of brushes, as well as how watery or dry the paint is. This makes serious illustration work a lot easier and it's great fun for doodling.

Because brush effects slow programs down, Serif has chosen not to create them in real-time - you see a grey outline as you draw and the stroke appears when you stop. This is sensible because it means that you can draw at your own pace, rather than having to let the software catch up. On our modest PC, DrawPlus did slow down to a crawl with drawings containing hundreds of strokes, but that's only to be expected.

Basic graphics supported

For more practical drawing tasks, there's scaling and dimensioning for plans, while a Connector line tool makes business charts easier. In the main though, DrawPlus sticks to drawing. Basic animation and interactive web graphics are supported, but animations can only be saved in bitmap formats (GIF or AVI), while rivals can export to Flash, preserving the scalability and efficiency of vectors.

On the plus side, PDF export has been improved and you can now send your work to a commercial printer with confidence. Unusually, you can also import graphics from PDFs. Colour management is supported and the way that colours are specified and applied to objects has been improved, a niggle in earlier versions.

We were surpised at the upgrade price though - only £30 cheaper than buying the full program. Nevertheless, if you're looking for your first drawing program or a new outlet for all your artistic urges, this is £80 well spent.