Product ReviewsDesign/DTP
Expression is hard to define: 'natural media vector drawing' would get somewhere near. It doesn't really have a competitor, but comparisons with Painter are encouraged by similarities in the type of artwork produced. Unlike Painter, which is essentially a bitmap editor, Expression is based on a 'skeletal strokes' technology developed in the mid-1990s by its maker, Creature House. Vector and bitmap elements are stretched along vector paths, enabling effects vaguely similar to Illustrator's Brushes but far more versatile and convincing. One enhancement in this latest release is that bitmap as well as vector strokes can be made up of multiple segments, with a fixed head and tail connected by one or more repeating elements. This makes it possible to apply a brushstroke to a long, winding path without its constituent bitmap being stretched beyond recognition, or to extend a photorealistic rope or ribbon to any length. Since Expression isn't a bitmap editor, software such as Photoshop is pretty much essential to create your own strokes, some are supplied. Soft edges, which can be applied to any object, are no longer limited to feathering: you can now choose from a variety of fringes (or create your own) for effects ranging from spatters to blotting. While Expression lacks Painter's 'wet' mixing technology, it can often achieve similar effects by other, simpler means, partly thanks to its full support for transparency with blend modes. Fringes takes this a step further, and the new Eraser blend mode facilitates masking and scraping effects. Express yourself In Expression, the opposite of a soft edge is a raised emboss. You can now apply a reflection map to embossed shapes, giving them the appearance of gleaming 3D metal forms. Although the makers acknowledge the continuing lack of control over lighting and texture, the results can be customised by creating your own reflection maps. Rectangles can now
A significant new feature is Effect Lines. This generates a comb of perpendicular strokes between two paths, creating instant shading effects. Once you've spent a little while getting the hang of it, this is extremely effective. Not only can you apply any stroke style and set width and spacing, but you can even cluster the strokes and randomly vary their lengths. The neat user interface is little changed, and looks a bit dated, especially under Mac OS X. The absence of scroll bars and of conventional Window menu options remains an irritation. Sensibly, palettes now 'cling on' to each other: drag the topmost and they all move; drag any other and it tears off along with those beneath. Developers at Macromedia should kick themselves when they see how much better this works than the over complicated docking in FreeHand MX. Unlike FreeHand, however, Expression still doesn't have a fully anti-aliased display: simpler objects are smoothed, but when the going gets tough the jaggies return. Special effects The Transformation palette gives complete numeric control over an object's size and position, as well as transform operations. This is a welcome concession to precision, but not a complete answer to the charge that Expression is better suited to creative sketching than constructing tightly controlled work. Concentric transformations (such as Inset Path) are still absent, making it difficult to match the optical size of objects for effects such as drop shadows. Speed is an inevitable issue with a package of this nature. Expression is quite responsive, but things are inclined to slow down as you create more complex artwork. To alleviate this you can 'freeze' layers you're not editing, temporarily rasterising them so that vector-based elements needn't be recalculated as you go. Expression still retains a few annoyances, such as the absence of scroll bars and inability to perform concentric transformations, that deny it full marks, but considering the functionality on offer for less than a hundred quid, we recommend it highly. By Adam Banks |
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