Product Description

iWork '05 ... Read more

Features

• Integrated iLife media browser and photo masking
• Create, present, and publish work quickly and easily
• Cinema-quality slide presentations; streamlined, yet powerful word processing
• 40+ professionally designed templates with multiple page designs
• Freeform graphics canvas; easy-to-use text styles, charts, and tables

Reviews (16)

Don't Underestimate This Program.
A number of reviewers have commented upon how easy this program is and, I suppose, in one sense it is, especially if you stick to using the templates.However, as one who has had occasion to work with "Adobe Pagemaker," this program can do sophisticated page layout and, as such, there will be a learning curve for the inexperienced.

But, the User Manual is good and there are good books coming out, like one from Visual Start in July, that will help people learn.

It is wrong to think of this program as a word processor "in competition with" Word."MS Word" is a robust word processor; "Pages," as its name implies, is a page layout program.Having also worked with "MS Publisher," the real point of comparison and not "MS Word," "Pages" far exceeds "Publisher" in capabilities and yet for relatively simple layouts is as easy as "Publisher" to use.

I have not as yet put any real strain on the program, but at first blush, on my Powerbook G4 1.5, speed of operations is just fine.Yes, as a few reviewers have pointed out, some of the palettes could be more elegantly combined.One tends to get a clutter of open palettes.But, these are refinements that will be made in future editions, I am sure.

Bottom line: If you want to layout pages with a lot of the sophistication possible in the more expensive "Quark" and "PageMaker" programs; if you want to be able to export your documents to universal portable PDF file format and print out beautiful documents; if you want to pay, basically, only about $40 for these benefits ["Keynotes," the other half of iwork represents another $40], then buy "Pages."

And, if you are a novice with respect to not only page layout programs but also to very robust word programs like "Word," don't expect that everything will be simple.You will have to learn, but you will be rewarded relatively quickly.

I almost didn't buy it....
I thought, "I have MS Office for the Mac, why do I need iWork?" Was I wrong!

Okay fine I suppose I don't really NEED it. But it is a great program, and worth the price. The ability to export my work as a .pdf file is worth the price by itself. The Pages interface is much better, cleaner than Word. And the templates are suprisingly useful. I created a web page by costomizing a template and exporting it as HTML. I twas easy and quick and the result looked great. Most of the people I work with are PC users and because they were unfamiliar with pages the web Page looked fresh, not like a modified copy of someone elses work.

I use my Mac for research mostly and the ability to save documents as .pdf files is very valuable as they are searchable. With Tigers ability to search the text within a .pdf I can now save my work as a .pdf and later find everytime a particular work appears in the fines I've created. This has made cross-refrecing very easy and fast. I now use a program called Pyramid to create a "mind map" of my work and create links from the "map" to refrences in the .pdfs.

I don't use Keynote as much. I t more visially appealing than Powerpoint and pretty easy to use. The ability to use Quicktime movies in the presentation is helpful and the ability to export as a Powerpoint file is nice.

Great program if Microsoft can develop an imitation
Keynote and Pages, the two applications included in iWork, were flawless under the Panther operating system. The Keynote app has always suffered from its inability to share with PC users. Oh yeah, I know I can convert a Keynote file to Powerpoint, .swf, QuickTime, or PDF, but the problem is that, especially when converting to PowerPoint, Keynote loses all its buttery-rich goodness. It's a PowerPoint problem, I realize, but without a Keynote viewer, there's no way around it. Thus, Mac folks must rely on Microsoft for slide presentations if they don't want to lug around their Mac laptop.

Also, installing Tiger will mess up the purchased Keynote templates you have saved. Even reinstalling them won't help.

My humble advice is to wait a couple of years until Apple fixes the bugs in Tiger, then MAYBE think about using a Mac. Until then, I'm switching back from a Mac to a PC.

Big time winner!
iWork comes with two programs, Pages (a word processor) and Keynote (Apple's version of PowerPoint).Both of these programs are very simple to use and very effective.Without a doubt, there are better programs available, but their cost several hundred dollars more and for the average user don't provided more bank for the buck.

When I first turned on Pages I thought "How cheesey!"But as I got to using it I found my first impression was totally wrong.It's simple appearance is very deceptive.This is a word processing program that can do everything that is needed for ordinary personal documents and beyond.You have to be willing to explore the program to discover its gems, but once you learn were things are you will find it a very fast and easy to use.The real value of the program is its desk top publishing.The 40 some templates let you create profession grade newsletters, journals, resumes, invitations, marketing brochures, and many other kinds of documents.This is worth the price of the software alone.It seamlessly works with your iPhoto, iTunes and iMovies.This is one powerful piece of software.With it you can produce commercial grade color brochures or newsletters at an entry level price.

Keynote makes wonderful multimedia presentations, and like Pages is seamlessly integrated with iPhoto, iTunes and iMovies.If you are using graphics or want to import photos into your presentation, Keynote is significantly easier, quicker, and simpler to use that PowerPoint.You can't miss with this program.You can even save you presentation as a PowerPoint, Quicktime, or PDF file or post it on the internet for all to see with the easy of a single click.

I have used both Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and keep them on my hard drive but rarely use them.As my skill with Pages and Keynote has grown I have found them to be more than sufficient in producing quality documents from personal letters, teaching handouts, to professional grade overhead presentations.
For the cost, iWorks cannot be beat!And you will not be disappointed.

iWork `05 System Requirements
- Macintosh computer with a 500 mhz or faster Power PC G3, G4 or G5 (G4 for PowerBook); G4 or G5 recommended
- 128 MB of physical RAM (512MB recommended)
- 8 MB of video memory (32MB recommended)
- Mac OS X v10.3.6 or later
- QuickTime 6.5 or later

Pages is a disappointment
I had high hopes for Pages, Apple's new Word Processing Application, but these hopes were shattered once I tried to design a newsletter with it.

I find the interface unintuitive, unlike most Apple software, and the templates are not easily customizable. What's more, the application continues to mysteriously "erase" work that I have done, even after I have saved it.

Apple, I know you can do better than this... ... Read more

Features

• 800,000 premium royalty-free graphics on 34 CD-ROMs
• Complete professional art library; no downloading required
• Scale most images to any size; popular file formats
• 32-bit image browser software with full-color previews
• Includes DrawPlus 5, a powerful graphics editor

Reviews (5)

Comprehensive Collection--with some minor limitations.
Amazon has the best price going for this clip art series. Period.

This collection of images, fonts, and whatnot is truly extensive. The enclosed drawing program, DrawPlus 5, I'd like to call "Illustrator Lite"; it has some functionality (you can export your work as GIFs, TIFFs, JPEGs, and such), but its usefulness will only get you so far until you'd have to upgrade to the real deal.

As far as the clipart and photos go, this is no ordinary collection. If you're a desktop publisher or graphic arts moonlighter (aspiring to full time), this is a gigantic amount of material to use for your clients. The pictures are fantastic, the clipart is comprehensive--you'd probably find just about anything you can think of, or at least have the basic building blocks to customize what you need--and the fonts are a nice extra. However, most of the fonts in this collection you'd probably already have, especially if you have MS Publisher or any Adobe product (who has the best font set in the market).

I have issues with the catalog search engine. It's useful up to a point, but I don't end up using it much. If you have Windows XP, you'll be using the Windows Explorer photo feature more than the search engine, anyway. The image book (thank gods!) that comes with this set is the size of your average Merriam-Webster dictionary, and it's ESSENTIAL for this collection. The CDs are arranged in the exact order that the images appear in in the book, so using the book, then using Windows Explorer will be a much better searching feature than the included search engine program.

For Macintosh users, there are instructions in the book as to how to use the discs. I can't attest to it, but I assume you can use the CDs in Macs as well as you can use them in a regular PC.

The big blue book (the book is big and it's blue) doesn't have an extensive listing of the photos on the CDs. What you see in the book is only a representation of the category; you'll have to search the entire disk to find specific images that you want to use. Thus, you're browsing blind as far as the book is concerned.

All in all, a wonderful comprehensive library of images.

P.S. Note to Pagans: the images in this collection are rather stereotypical. (I.E. green-faced witches, mostly cartoonish wizards, etc.) No specifically named clipart pics point to "our" holidays, even though they have an "other holiday" category in the set. However, the mythology clipart is extensive, colorful and tasteful. From those sets and other parts of the collection, you should be able to either find, adapt, or customize the art you need for specific Pagan-centered projects. Bright Blessings and happy desktop publishing!

Getting Better
I must say, the clip art in this edition has gotten so much better than my previous buy. However, I am very disappointed with the quality of all of the photographs. They are blurry, have compression noise and are not very well composed. And do I really need 10 copies of each photo....um NO! My little point and shoot digital takes better pictures than these...think I'll take my own.

The Best Collection Ever!
I just received my box last week and it is great. All of the images are inside the box and the printed catalog makes finding the exact image I want to use very easy and no downloading is required. I thought it would be good, but this is GREAT! If you want clip art, this is the one to have.

Overwhelmed!
I ordered this package since I just needed a few images for a project I was doing and it looked nice. When it came in the mail I could not believe how heavy it was and there was so much inside. It comes with a huge printed image manual which makes finding any image easy. It is over 1800 pages! This was so much more than I expected. I just ordered a second copy for my friend. 5 stars!!!

Where's the Mac version?
This is a great product. I know it's available in a Mac version and I wish Amazon would offer that. I guess I'll have to buy it somewhere else. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard software lets business professionals quickly and easily convert any Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, or other paper or electronic document to a reliable Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Adobe PDF files preserve the visual integrity of documents so that they can be e-mailed to colleagues and then viewed and printed on a variety of platforms using free Adobe Reader software.

Acrobat 6.0 Standard software’s intuitive review tools allow business professionals to comment on documents electronically and make it easy to track, manage, and incorporate feedback into original documents. Acrobat’s full set of features help you streamline communications and reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with paper-based review processes.

Password protection lets you secure files to prevent unauthorized users from opening and viewing sensitive documents. Apply permissions with 128-bit encryption that control whether users are allowed to view, edit, comment on, sign, or print Adobe PDF files.And with digital signature support you can approve final documents, verify authenticity, and build a list of trusted certificates. ... Read more

Reviews (53)

Great Software
This software Create PDF files from almost any word processing or html programs with very effective compression ratio almost 1/10 the original size. You can also convert post script ps files into PDF files. You can extract pictures, text from any already created PDF files as well.
With this version you can also create an interactive electronic forms similar to the tax forms. This upgrade version will only install on your system if you have Adobe acrobat 4 or 5 installed. This version only works with windows XP, 2000, NT with latest service package.
The difference between the acrobat 6.0 and the acrobat 5.0 is not so big. The new version is optimized for intel P4 systems and it's slightly faster than the old version.

Upgrade is no help for Real Estate
As a Realtor who is pushing the envelope, attempting to move to digital file keeping, digital recording, digital faxing, and digital signing, the concept of Adobe Acrobat is extremely helpful. I've been using Adobe Acrobat since version 4. Version 5 was a very useful upgrade, worth every cent. Version 6 was a grand waste of money and has turned into a waste of time. Files take longer to save in Adobe Acrobat 6, but they do end up being smaller, so maybe there is a more advanced compression algorithm at work. Nevertheless, files do take about twice as long to save in the new version.

Furthermore, at least for my line of work, I see no useful additions to the software. The interface looks a little fancier, and a little more advanced with more curved lines and a splash screen with transparency...(everybody together now, "Oooooh, aaaaaaah"). But, at least for my line of work, I have not seen any productivity or security upgrades which make the investment worthwhile. Save yourself the money and stay with version 5.0.

Unfortunately, it seems that the other reviewers' negative comments are right on the money.

Waste of time and money.
I bought the 6.0 upgrade without reading the reviews. Woe to the foolish. It slowed WORD to a crawl, brought DtSearch to it's knees, and twice locked my system up so tightly I couldn't get the task manager open.

I didn't waste any additional time seeing how slow it was at its own tasks. I'll take everyone's word for it.

Less than one day on the machine. I've gone back to 5.0.

Lasted 1 day on my PC
I downloaded an evaluation copy of Acrobat 6 before I read the reviews here. I can confirm what others are saying: unlike the upgrade from 4.0 to 5.0, 6.0 doesn't offer the average user additional usefulness over 5.0.

It's also much slower to load and takes twice as long to creat .pdf files. The interface is completely different, so there will be a steep learning curve for users upgrading from previous editions. Sometimes, software developers just screw one up, and this one is such an upgrade.

Pay close attention to the features you need: If you just want to print files to .pdf, you don't need all the stuff 6.0 offers. You'll never use 80% of the features they've added.

After one day, I got frustrated, realized I didn't have the time to learn an entirely new piece of software so that I could simply continue to make .pdf files, and uninstalled it.

Lesson learned: Check for reviews FIRST.

Here is the Skinny on the Deal
By the time I was done reading the reviews for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 I was depressed. Not only do I not have Windows XP, or Windows 2000, or NT installed in my machine (The only operating systems that will work with 6) I also couldn't muster up the confidence in the product after so many people were giving it the thumbs down. I want to create an eBook, and Adobe Reader is the most popular reader out there, with some 400 million, to a half a billion users with it installed. What a dilemma. I kept coming back to read some more. Finally I found the answer. I bought a new Adobe Acrobat 5.0 here at Amazon from one of their vendors, and it works great with my Windows 98SE. I planned on buying the 6.0 upgrade after they got the bugs out, and or I got a new computer with XP. Then I found out that 5.0 was the only version before, and that was the professional version. 6.0 Standard is a geared down version of 5. Ok, so it has some additional features, but it is missing even more of them.
So what's the skinny on the deal? For what I paid for a new 5 that is the full program, unregistered, and upgradeable, plus what I would have to pay here at Amazon for the 6 Professional Upgrade, I saved 80 bucks, and wound up with both versions 5 and 6 pro. Which as I mentioned are both professional versions. If I bought 5 and upgraded to 6 standard, I would only spend a little more for both versions. (About 4 percent more for standard, and about 20 percent less for professional) That way if 6 standard turned out to be as bad as many were saying it is, I would have 5 also.
In the final analysis, I am using 5 and am super excited about the new capabilities that Adobe Acrobat gives you. I'm hoping that by the time I get a new machine with XP on it, Adobe will come out with 6.something, or a second edition of 6 etc. with the fixes built in.
I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion. I noticed in the sales rank at the time I bought it and wrote this review, that 5 was outselling 6. Also I noticed that in the "Those who bought 5 also bought this" section, it had a special note that said, 47% of the people who bought 5 also bought the 6 upgrade. If your running XP, 2000, or NT, get them both. That way all the bases are covered.
Check out the reviews on 5 you'll be surprised how everybody raves about it. To be perfectly honest with you, if I had an XP machine, I would have ordered the 6 upgrade at the same time. Hope this helps. ... Read more

Product Description

PDF Converter Pro 3.0 ... Read more

Features

• Combine multiple source files, such as JPEGs,Word files and Web pages, to create a single PDF file to share your work as an integrated document.
• PDF Converter delivers everything the business user needs, including powerful document and form creation, conversion and editing.
• Instantly create 100% industry-standard PDF files that can be read, printed, or processed.
• For the first time you can edit directly within a PDF file. Add copy, rearrange words, even change the position of charts and graphics.
• Convert PDF Files into Microsoft Word, Excel and Corel WordPerfect documents.

Reviews (1)

A solid alternative to Adobe Acrobat
I found this to be an amazing PDF product - but its not from Adobe.I have used Acrobat in the past, but this does things that Acrobat doesn't do - like turn PDF back into Word, and turning forms into fill-able forms. I use scansoft Paperport too, and this works perfect with the PDF files from scanners. ... Read more

Features

• Create unique Hallmark cards for any occasion
• Includes more than 5,400 Hallmark cards and projects
• Also includes more than 1,000 new designs and more than 10,000 exclusive clip art images
• Digital Editor feature lets you personalize cards with your digital photos
• Event Planner feature keeps track of birthdays and anniversaries

Reviews (1)

Possible Vaporware
With the demise of the Card Studio line this product may never be released. ... Read more

Product Description

Final Cut Express HD gives you the tools and flexibility to create stunning, professional-quality DV and HDV projects. Whether you want to make sophisticated home movies complete with transitions and effects or pro-level videos for your business, it provides the compositing, titling and effects capabilities you need to express your creativity. As a full-featured package, it offers an unparalleled combination of power and affordability. ... Read more

Features

• Precision tools and techniques for flexible editing; versatile interface
• Filmmaking software with powerful DV editing tools
• High-definition video (HDV) capability for both new and experienced editors
• Full-featured, professional-quality animated titling program, LiveType
• Create custom musical accompaniment for video projects with Soundtrack

Reviews (1)

unbelievable video production program
If you've only worked with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, you may be intimidated at first, but the end results speak for themselves.It is true that Final Cut Express HD isn't necessarily intuitive and the options are innumerable, but you will emerge from the other side of the learning curve amazed at how polished your works have become.

You can update old iMovie projects easily; just import them into Express HD and add high quality titles and credits and an attractive soundtrack.If you want to take it further, you can experiment with an astounding variety of professional quality transitions, filters, and effects to deliver the full visual and auditory impact you desire.

If you already have a previous release of Final Cut Express, the inclusion of LiveType and Soundtrack alone justify this upgrade.For a bonus, GarageBand musicians will love the hundreds of Apple loops included in the Soundtrack package. ... Read more

Features

• 18,000+ exclusive greeting cards and customizable projects
• 82,000+ beautiful graphics; 500+ fonts
• 5,000+ easy-to-customize sentiments
• Advanced digital photo editor; import images from any source
• Electronic greetings; dozens of additional creative projects

Amazon.com Review

Far more than a digital image organizer and quickie touchup tool, Photo Explosion Deluxe is a massive four-CD suite designed for the photographic artist and craftsperson. With this broad-ranging package, you can capture still images from your digital camera, DV camcorder, or scanner, alter them to the very limits of your imagination, and display or print them in any way you see fit.

Photo Explosion Deluxe offers a stunning array of editing tools. We started with simple contrast and focus adjustments and then curled the edge of our photo as if it was lifting slightly from its backing mat. We added a few translucent soap bubbles in the top left corner, threw a softened spotlight on the subject's face, and placed some clouds and streaky raindrops throughout. We then selected an antique frame, titled it with an ornate script, and even added our signature at the bottom right. Although every parameter of the editing process is fully adjustable, the program can also perform a variety of automatic modifications.

After you've explored the central application, you'll want to investigate the extra three CDs for even more ideas and concepts. Here you'll find scores of artistic and fancy fonts, hundreds of miscellaneous stationery and greeting card templates, and oodles of professional-grade photos covering a wide range of subjects, from scenery and sunsets to scantily clad models. The fourth CD houses bonus software available only in Photo Explosion's deluxe version, including a utility for panorama stitching and two tools for configuring and exporting your photos to handheld computers. The final application, DVD PhotoPlay, allows you to build a slide show from selected images, burn it to a CD-RW, and play it on any CD or DVD player that supports Video CD 2.0.

Photo Explosion Deluxe is recommended to those who want to express themselves artistically through their digital photos. A fast Pentium 3 processor or above is suggested for advanced editing. --Gordon Goble ... Read more

Features

• Complete digital photo studio with extensive editing tools
• 600+ professional special effects; 2,500+ photo projects
• 1-click SmartEnhance technology removes red eye
• Easily share images via email or as albums posted on the Web
• Turn photos into greeting cards, calendars, and more

Reviews (6)

Love this software ...
Bought Photo Explosion Deluxe this week, and I can't tell you how pleased I am. I own them all - PhotoSuite, Photoshop Album, PictureIt and several others - and Photo Explosion takes the cake by a mile.

It's extremely easy to use, for starters. The developers have really thought things out because it's much easier to navigate than the other programs I own - and you don't get this annoying bar along the left side that asks you a battery of unending questions like PhotoSuite and PictureIt. (Those products remind me of a DOS program where you're constantly prompted press 1 for this, 2 for that.)

And I was really surprised by the VCD burning functionality. I bought Photo Explosion chiefly to clean up photos and print them - which it does really well and with tons of beautiful options for projects and designs. But the video slide show feature is really cool. You can add music, as well, and the quality of CD it produces is much better than I've seen with other standalone programs. Other reviewers have complained that there aren't enough transitions, but I did some research on that point, and it turns out that those features require a different kind of file called MPEG 2, which explains why many of the VCDs I've made with some of the fancier programs (not Photo Explosion) have not worked on some DVD players.

Anyhow, Photo Explosion Deluxe is a great buy...and much better than the other options out there. Enjoy ...

Not so powerful for making VCD
Lacks transitions between slides of digital pictures. Makes the slideshow somewhat flat. One good thing - can put music and also is quite fast in creating a VCD

Nice program lots of features
Photo Explosion Deluxe exceeded my expectations. It is a nice complimentary program for PSP and other similar programs. It has loads of features including masks, frames, albums and far too many others to mention here.

The only drawback I found is the slideshow feature which causes an windows error when launched. People I sent this to also experienced this same error.

But other than this flaw I absolutely think that Explosion for the money is an excellent buy. It takes a little playing with but once you figure it out you can achieve just about anything you want with your graphics.

If Nova fixes the slideshow problem I would most definitely give this program a five star rating.

Poor print Quality
Photo Explosion Deluxe is easy enough to use but won't print to printer correctly.Have a canon s900 that prints beautiful photo prints but after editing with photo explosion My print quality is very poor.

Spend you money on another title
I have yet to understand why this product received such a good review from the editor. It's not easy to use. There is no natural flow and progression when you attempt to make projects. Not to mention the layout of the design screen is elementary and not very pleasing to look at. If you use this product make sure that your pictures are in folders that aren't more than one folder deep on your hard drive or you won't be inputting them easily into any projects. This product has caused me nothing but irritiation it feels like it is more suited for Windows 98 than Windows XP, I refuse to believe this product was designed and produced since computers came in the 75Mhz variety. Save your money and use it on something else ... Read more

Features

• Sophisticated, easy-to-use program for creating personalized projects
• Design greeting cards, newsletters, full stationery sets, or decorations
• Access images, photos, headlines, logos, and more from one location
• Full suite of photo editing tools; enhanced printing resolution
• 100 free Paramount greeting cards with online registration

Reviews (1)

LOTS of Projects
This program has lots of projects for you to choose from. It is easy to use, also. The biggest downfall is that the photo fixing and enhancing are not the greatest. You are limited to a few minor fixes on the photo itself, and enhancing is the same. You can enhance a lot better with Creating Keepsakes. Neither program has much to actually fix a photo. If you are looking for photo enhancing and fixing, move on. If you want great projects for everything from photos to making coloring book pages for kids, this is for you. ... Read more

Features

• Includes PhotoSuite 7, VideoWave 7, Napster 2.0, and Easy CD & DVD Creator
• Organize with Media Manager; password-protect and encrypt private data
• Transform still photos with stunning pan and zoom effects
• Take complete control of video with advanced timeline editing tools
• Produce professional-looking VCDs, SVCDs, or DVDs

Reviews (93)

Must Have Product for Digital Video and Digital Camera Users
Easy Media Creator 7 integrates several full-featured applications together to create a software suite with a consistent user experience. In no time, I was using it and creating projects with it. I use Creator Classic all the time to burn data and music to CD and DVD and appreciate the automated backup feature. Even though I use those features all the time, I really bought Media Creator 7 for all the great digital media creation tools.

Photosuite is a wonderful photo-editing product. Since I am a casual point and shoot digital photographer, I use the autofix option all the time to clean up my pictures, plus of course the red eye removal tool and the clone tool (to remove the date/time stamp I forgot to turn off in some of my pictures). I use VideoWave to transfer/capture my video to my PC, and then edit it down to remove unwanted video clips. I also use it to add text using different fonts, styles and effects, plus add transitions between clips, and background sound tracks. When complete, I then send the output to DVDBuilder for authoring to DVD.

I could go on and on how I use it, but the bottom line, this product is outstanding. It is loaded with excellent features and is a must have product for transforming your digital content to marvelous DVD movies or slide shows.

Easy to Use, Great Features and for the Price it's a Bargain
Easy Media Creator 7 offers an easy to learn and understand interface that enables you to quickly use any of the applications that make up this integrated software suite. My daughter just graduated from high school and this weekend I created a video comprised of digital photos and video clips, select music, transitions, titles, etc. all blended together of all the events this past month leading up to graduation. I am so proud of my daughter but also have great pride and sense of accomplishment in what I just did by creating a great looking video that I burned to DVD.

Roxio provides many materials to help you find all the answers, such as how-to video tutorials, and PDF user guides. The Roxio web site knowledgebase also helps you find answers to any questions, and if you still need help, I found their tech support email responses were quick, only taking 1-2 days to get answers.

I recommend this product for people at all levels.

CD and DVD Media Creation Just Got Easy
Creator 7 has so many great features and capabilities that I suggest you do as I did and read the many pro reviews that thoroughly put the program through its paces. For me, my favorite and most frequently used component is storyboard, which enabled me to combine digital photos, video clips, and songs into a slideshow. It has creative features that include the ability to add transitions, titles, and a narration track. Then using the DVDbuilder component, I can create VCDs or DVDs to master my slideshow creation to disc. Overall, this is a great product for anyone dabbling or serious about working with digital media.

Recommend it to everyone
Installed fine on my XP system, although it was a slow process. Nice interface and the tutorials and help files made it easy to learn. Use Creator classic, Photosuite Videowave and DVDbuilder all the time and everything has worked flawlessly. Haven't used all the other features yet, but its nice to know they're there when needed. What a deal - all these features for the low cost.

works great after upgrade
had problems out of box ( mostly with DVD-r burning ) but after a 53MB download from website it's working great. Very easy to use compaired to others I've tried (U-lead, Movie maker). Tutorials are weak, more of an overview of what you can do than a how to, but help files are good. Great product for the money! ... Read more

Product Description

CAD Pro is the most cost-effective and easy to use CAD solution for Windows! Its a powerful drafting and design software designed with over 7,200 easy to use features that enables you to create virtually any type of drawing for print or the web. CADPro is developed for the beginner and advanced user so that anyone can quickly pick up on the latest features. Include are over 5,000 professionally drawn symbols and clip art, also included are quick reference cards, users manual and symbols/clipart manual in a PDF format. The CADPro Platinum Bundle is the perfect home improvement and drafting software, included; are ready to print professional plans (valued at over $10,000). Each project plan is included as a CADPro drawing, enabling you to modify any aspect to meet your specific application. Simply print these Do-It-Yourself Plans with the build of materials and have your local home improvement store give you a detailed cost, its that simple! CAD Pros compact, straightforward toolbox design gives you quick and easy access to all tools necessary to design anything the easy way. A full range of advanced drafting tools such as Join, Chamfer, Fillet, Extend, Trim, etc. save you time and effort while meeting the exacting standards of your design. Precise alignment is a snap, with just a simple mouse-click you can align and connect objects quickly and easily. The snap tools can constrain angles, draw tangent lines, align edges, and connect objects at any point. ... Read more

Features

• Superior Ease of Use
• Intelligent Tools w/ Floating & Dockable Toolboxes
• Over 5000 Professional Symbols & Clip Art
• Import DXF R12, 13, 14, 2000, BMP, JPG & TIFF
• Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE/NT

Reviews (1)

Simply Amazing
My husband and I talked about putting up a barn next to our house for years, but the commitment of hiring a professional architect seemed intimidating - as well as expensive.

CADPro is not just a listing of standard house plans that maybe you will like (or maybe not), it's a real blueprint design program. Yes, it does have some ready made plans, including a pretty cool tree house and outdoor kitchen - but this was not what I wanted.I started by installing the program - with so many buttons and features (over 8,000) I was not sure where to begin.Luckily, CADPro includes a separate training CD (with sound and video) in the box.I watched the individual video lessons while I had the CADPro program open on my computer so I could go back and forth to practice.This is not a program you will fully master overnight.

I still have not used all the features, but I was able to quickly access the tools I needed to design my barn in detail.One of my favorite features is the pop-up photo.By dragging and dropping the camera icon from the toolbar onto the floor plan the program automatically opens My Pictures.Since I wanted a post and beam look on the inside I took a digital photo (taken while eating at my favorite restaurant) and saved it in My Pictures.I also scanned in some photos from a post & beam brochure and popped these in too - there is no limit to the number of photos you can include.The photos show up on the floor plan as little camera icons - by clicking once on the tiny camera the photos open.

Although my intent was to just design my barn using CADPro, I found I could redesign my great room (or other rooms) by using the existing dimensions of my house and creating images of the furniture I already have (with their size to scale).I can now rearrange my furniture to see if it will fit - before I move my sofa 10 times.

I am still waiting to see if the town will approve the building permit for my barn, but I feel better knowing I only invested 70 dollars, and I know exactly how it will look, and what the materials and estimated labor will cost, before they pour the foundation.I would highly recommended this program for anyone who wants to design their own renovation (or house) exactly the way they want, with blueprint results that a contractor can work from.
... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Adobe may have the lock on professional graphics production withPhotoshop, but it has long been engaged in a drawn-out battle with Quark for thehearts and wallets of the desktop publishing crowd. PageMaker 7.0, Adobe'slatest effort in the desktop publishing arena, won't set it ahead of QuarkXPress4.1, but it does have plenty of appeal for small businesses and other audiencesthat have minor publishing needs.

PageMaker 7.0's user guide measures in at more than 400 pages, and itthoughtfully explains every aspect of the vast and complex program. A wide rangeof impressive-looking templates, which cover just about every type of documentimaginable (including business cards, labels, newsletters, ads, posters, andmore), makes PageMaker a little more accessible to users unfamiliar with itsfunctionality. The templates are divided into various levels of complexity, withthe lowest level containing helpful annotations for novice users.

While its improvements over version 6.5 are minimal, PageMaker 7.0 makes a fewworthy strides to justify its sparkly new version number. Among the most welcomeis a surprisingly intuitive data merge feature, which allows users to configuretarget areas in their publications and import respective fields from aspreadsheet or database. Unfortunately, it only recognizes comma-delineated CSVor TXT files; it doesn't import data directly from common file formats createdby Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3.

Ironically, another area of improvement in PageMaker 7.0 is compatibility withother programs. It easily imports and handles layered image files fromIllustrator and Photoshop 5.0 and 6.0, and features input converters for filescreated in QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher. PageMaker's PDF exportcapabilities have been enhanced both in the main program and with the includedAcrobat Distiller applet, allowing users to configure security and embedded tagoptions.

Even with its plethora of templates, PageMaker 7.0 isn't by any means anentry-level application. Nonprofessional users who have never used a high-caliberdesktop publishing program should probably consider a simpler package such asMicrosoft Publisher. While hardened, professional magazine designers tend toprefer QuarkXPress, Adobe PageMaker 7.0 is nonetheless a complex and powerfultool that packs a serious learning curve.

PageMaker 7.0 is perfect for small businesses that can't afford to hire outdesigners for promotional materials, or for companies that have the need tocreate professional-looking PDF files. Owners of PageMaker 6.5 might not feelcompelled to upgrade, but companies and creative folks newly in the market for amuscular desktop publishing tool will be well served by PageMaker 7.0. --JoelDurham Jr. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Upgrade Makes PageMaker a More Viable Product
Having worked in document production for ten years, using QuarkXpress, MSPublisher, and PageMaker on a daily basis, I have to say my preferred program has become PageMaker and the 7.0 upgrade confirms that. Most designers will say QuarkXpress is better but I have always found PageMaker to be easier to use because of its easy integration with the two other "musts" for design and illustration...Photoshop and Illustrator. The 7.0 version adds some more bells and whistles, updates some clunky code, and provides even better conversion capabilities. PageMaker is a very powerful program for the price and I have been able to use it for everything from large format posters to 2000 page technical manuals. PageMaker is by no means a beginner's program. The interface is pretty standard as far as layout programs go and you will find it familiar if you use other Adobe software... but there are many less obvious features that will be discovered only through regular use of the program or a detailed reading of the manual.

Have you ever heard of MS Publisher.
I have written almost three reviews for this product so far and Amazon did not post not even one of them. I have been using this product since version 6.0 and I have been using Publisher since version 3.0 and to be honest, I always preferred Publisher, PageMakers limited GUI, always made it difficult for me to understand and use. Adobe said that its aiming for the small business and home user, but what I think they are actually aiming for is our money. PageMaker has reached a stage in life where it is being abandoned and dethroned by leading and popular DTP prgrams such Quark, Publisher and even Adobes own Indesign. If I were to suggest a DTP program for small businesses and home users it would be Microsoft Publisher, its easy to use, cost less and does the same thing like PageMaker. If you won't a more flexible, powerful, well known product go for Quark. Why I do not really recommend the really highend programs is because their, price, non-intuitiveness. People want something that they are already familiar with.

Down With Quark!!!
PageMaker is simply a smarter, more logical and better program than Quark... by a wide margin. We are dumping Quark across the board, and nearly all print shops in our region accept files in PM7.0 for Windows (a big change from a few years ago). They are telling us that many of their customers are switching from Quark to PageMaker. And why not? Going pure Adobe for a fully integrated DTP operation makes perfect sense. Adobe is also far more responsive (and receptive) to customers than the Quark people.

I would like to be able to do a review--but can't!
I ordered this item on August 7th, today is Sept. 8th, my credit card has been billed, but I still do not have the product. I was eager to obtain this item since I've previously (and very happily) used an older version of Pagemaker on my Mac, and have lamented not having this software for my PC. My estimated 4 to 14 days cited in the order info has long passed, but I'm still patiently (?) waiting.

Adobe PageMaker 7.0 Myths Dispelled
I have written this review to correct errors or omissions in some of the previous reviews.
PageMaker will accept native Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator files, Word or Publisher won't.
PageMaker will easily load and handle huge documents which would make Microsoft Word or Publisher simply crash.
PageMaker gives the user the ability to identify all of the graphics placed in a document and update them at will without dragging the computer down.
The GUIs for both Word and Publisher are ugly and impossible to learn. These programs are classic examples of very basic initial functionality with random add-ons.
Although, initially, the PageMaker GUI seems sparse, after multiple sessions and a little experimentation one soons learns that the program requires very few mouse clicks or commands to get things done.
Okay, so PM is a little long in the tooth, after all it is the original DTP killer app for the Mac. However. I think you'll find that PageMaker gives the user the freedom to design and produce beautiful looking documents, instead of shackling them to the whims and constructs of Word or Publisher.

Kill the Office Assistant and the Wizards! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Product doesn't live up to the hype
I bought this product based on what I thought were some good looking images on the box, but once I opened it... Yuck! If you want some really great clip art, best go to a site like Artzooks.com, where you can at least preview the images, buy and download only the images you need.

Watch out Mac G5 owners ....
I just got a Mac G5 with 2 GB of RAM and was looking forward to using this product. I would have to agree that from the book most of the clipart contained in this set is cartoonish, but my worst complaint is that I just couldn't install it. On install all you'll get is a window stating you don't have enough RAM and fail to continue.

Nova Development software support wasn't any help either. They were VERY familiar with the problem and the tech made it clear that a fix would NOT be coming out anytime in the near future. He immediately gave me the phone # to call and get a refund ... and I'll use it.

Useful, but still lacking
I bought this book mainly hoping I could find good illustrations of a diverse selection of people. I find that most of those illustrations are too cartoonish for editorial use, and don't show much variety. The high resolution photos were of no use either as they are actually only "medium" resolution. They would be great for web usage but not for print. Also, I wasn't able to use the electronic image catalog and was unable to search the photographs effectively since the file names are not descriptive.
If you're looking for illustrations of things rather than people, then this is a good source. The vector images are well organized and the print catalog is easy to use. Overall, I'd say this is a good product, but I don't think it offers much more than the 525,000 or 600,000 image versions.

Ton of clip-art.... good quality (great for the price)
You really can't beat the price on this set of clip-art. Many of the graphics are low quality vector illustrations which I wouldn't use... but the portion that is usable is well worth the price. The photos included are mostly useless for a serious graphic designer like myself. Most are 72dpi and many are poorly taken photographs. All of the business and people photos are outdated by about 10 - 15 years going by the clothing and equipment. The photos are not searchable by key word... you have to browse (which is very time consuming). Don't get me wrong - if you're looking for one set of clip-art that has just about everything, this is it.

All You Need
I used this collection when I worked at a major college newspaper. I never got tired of browsing the discs and I always found perfect images for ads. It has everything. The antique images are great, as are the photographs. I can't stress how many images this thing has! ... Read more

Features

• An easy way to do more with digital photos
• Organize collection and find photos fast
• Fix and enhance photos easily
• Drag and drop to create impressive keepsakes
• Back-up and protect photos on CD

Amazon.com Product Description

Share your faith by personalizing and sending store-quality greeting cards you've made with Art Explosion Christian Greeting Card Factory. It's a complete collection of spiritual cards, with more than 2,000 exclusive Christian greeting cards and customizable projects. It also includes more than 10,000 spiritual graphics, 700 inspirational sentiments, and 300 fonts to use in your designs. Combine spiritual greetings you've selected or verses from the Scripture with any one of a variety of card templates or create your own from scratch. Choose from greeting cards, invitations, announcements, and other projects like church fliers, certificates, newsletters, and pocket devotionals. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Awesome graphics!
I was so happy with Art Explosion Greeting Card Factory Deluxe that I jumped to buy this one and was quite thrilled with all the new cards available. (Just ordered the new #2 too!) Like the other, this can be fully installed so you don't need to hunt the CD every time you want to make a card. Easy to change card sizes too. More variety of ready-mades than most of the competition (I own them too). I highly recommend Nova's products and their online support has been right there and very helpful.

Explosion is a good thing!
This product has all the same goodies as the others of this type, great clipart and fairly easy to use work areas. The one outstanding feature with this software is it can be completely loaded onto the computer. You don't even have to use the CD to run it! That alone made it worth the buy. ... Read more

Features

• An integrated design environment featuring the industry's foremost design tools
• In-depth tips, expert tricks, and comprehensive design resources
• Intuitive file finding, smooth workflow, and common interface and toolset
• Single installer--control what you install and when you install it
• Cross-media publishing--create content for both print and the Web

Reviews (10)

Creative Suite puts Creative juices to work
The Adobe Creative Suite brings many tried, tested and true programs to a new level of functionality and integration. The popular programs, Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, Acrobat and InDesign have been redesigned to make users more efficient and streamline the work. The latest addition to the Adobe family, Version Cue, also makes an appearance. Version Cue is a great server program that allows multiple users to edit and update files simultaneously. (full review @ bytesector.com)

Designers Need the Apps and the Price is Good
Everything is in here. All of the design apps are on two installer CDs. Any designer -- whether web or print -- has at least a few of the applications in this suite. You only need to decide if the price is right, and if your current upgrades would make the purchase worthwhile.

Buying this suite is the equivalent of a corporate employee owning Microsoft Office. Adobe's name now equals design software. Knowing Adobe's product line is simply required knowledge. Print houses will accept and produce your files without problems, and multiplatform file transfer can be completed with minimum processing time.

For me, I was using a dated version of Illustrator, PageMaker 6.5, Photoshop Elements. The additional programs and new versions of what I had made the purchase a no-brainer. I also primarily use Dreamweaver, but learning GoLive will help me as I meet with clients. Outside of InDesign and GoLive, every application here is the industry standard, and those two programs are strongly coming into their own.

To explain the virtues of each individual application is not necessary. You know the benefits of Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and GoLive. InDesign might be new to some of the veterans, but it is beyond a replacement for the inferior PageMaker, and is a force of its own.

With the quality increase of InDesign, designers are now able to choose something besides Quark for their page layout application. Including InDesign here made the purchase for me easy. I have no reason now to piecemeal together my software base.

Each application has all of the features that they have when independently purchased.

I fully recommend "Adobe Creative Suites Premium." Designers need these apps, and so your decision is only about price and value.

Anthony Trendl

BEWARE OF THIS PRODUCT
I have spent 9 hours in 2 days on the phone with Dell to try to install this piece of s**t. Version Cue will not install nor will photo shop. No 800 number for support from Adobe. Paid for call and recieved many voice ads for products and was told if I need support call at 'top of the hour'. Dell says the problem is in the installer. Adobe Foroums have pointed to the same but no suggestion has worked. Guess I will work on amazon to try to return it for a full refund, it was shipped defective.

BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!
Windows XP users beware! You'll need lots of bug killer with this supposed "upgrade" - especially the GoLive module.

Speaking as a long time user of Adobe software (Photoshop since version 3.0) this is the most bloated and unstable iteration ever. The added goodies in Photoshop CS would be great, if my (quite adequate) Dell Workstation didn't freeze up every other minute.

Most annoying of all is a screen redraw problem most visible in GoLive CS; a problem that makes GoLive essentially unusable. If you plan to use GoLive - most especially if you have an NVidia graphics card - visit Adobe.com and look through the GoLive User Forum BEFORE you buy the CS version. LOTS of good reading there.

Adobe has (reluctantly) admitted the screen redraw problem to be a "bug" that they are "working" on... but jeez! Wouldn't that bug have been far better stomped on BEFORE Adobe CS was released onto loyal, trusting Adobe users??

To sum it up - BUYER BEWARE! Check out the Adobe Forums before you shell out your hard earned for Adobe CS, because that's where you'll get the real truth about real-world use. Download the trial version of CS if you can - maybe it will run for you... but if not, no money lost.

For now, I'm thinking it's back to my previous versions so I can at least get some work done. In fact, it's so bad - I'm beginning to consider getting a MAC! Aaaargh!!!!

I'm Lovin It
I have had the new Adobe Suite for a few weeks now and I am lovin it. I have been onboard since version 4.0 and I must say that the CS upgrade of Photoshop is the most signifigant ever. I use the RAW plug in with my digital Photos now, more then anything else. RAW and 16 bit editing have changed my workflow forever. The LEns Blur filter, the Photo filters, and the awesome filter gallery are extremly useful too. I do not use Illustrator much, I think that I will use it even less now that Photoshop can type on a path, but I did play with the new 3D tool, it is pretty cool and I can't wait to implement it into my designs. I have no opinion of InDesign, I haven't had the need to use it yet. What I have read about it is that the CS version is the final nail in the coffin for Quark. Go Live is great, I appreciate the Smart Objects, and Adobe has finally cleaned up the code that Go Live writes. At first Iwas peeved that they took out Dynamic editing, but I am okay with it now. I use it side by side with my old copy of Dreamweaver so I can get the best of both worlds. Go Live is more designer friendly.
Version Cue is another can't live without addition. All of the sudden, I am organized. Well I could go on forever about why I love the new suite, Adobe did a great job with this one. If you are a designer or student buy this suite, chances are you are already planning too. ... Read more

Reviews (61)

Worthwhile upgrade for the DVD tools
I used the retail version of Nero 5.5 for 2 years. The learning curve on Nero 5.5 was rather steep (compared to EZ CD Creator), and I ended up just using it to burn CD's and VCD's while using other software for MP3 encoding and video/audio editing.

I recently bought a DVD burner and now need DVD-savvy software. The DVD and video tools in NeroVision Express (NVE) that came with Nero 5.5 didn't impress me. I have Magix Video Deluxe 2.0 for video editing, and it came with DVD burning tools, but it was so buggy at dealing with large MPEG files that I desperately had to look elsewhere. So I have been trying out Nero Ultra 6.3.1.15 for the past week strictly on the DVD functions, since I know that CD (and VCD) functions worked flawlessly in Nero 5.5. The basic Nero Burning Rom user interface in 6 Ultra isn't much better than 5.5, although it's prettier. The Nero StartSmart interface is a lot better than Nero Wizard. It took a few minutes to get used to StartSmart, but now I'm sold on it.

NeroVision Express 2 (NVE2) is quite an upgrade over NVE, especially since the DVD encoding tools don't require an extra-cost add-in. I was able to pull in large (1 Gb) files with only a few seconds delay for loading each file (Video Deluxe can take up to 10 minutes each), split/crop them inside NVE2, add chapter markers, and create decent DVD menus.

I made a 2 hr 10 min (4.2 Gb) DVD using a mix of clips from 8mm video via an ATI All-In-Wonder analog capture card, MiniDV, and photo slideshow output from Video Deluxe (it has a lot more transition effects than NVE2, and still works pretty well for small files of up to a few meg). I was able to burn them to DVD+RW and DVD-RW with only minor startup issues on a 1.1GHz Athlon and NEC ND-1200AD DVD dual-format burner with Windows 2000. The 4.2 Gb file took 15 hours to encode to DVD format files on the hard drive. But actual burning takes 25-40 minutes depending on media type. There was little online or help documentation to explain the benefits of encoding to the hard drive, but it will save time if you need to burn the same project multiple times. Most notably, I am able to do almost everything using the tools in Nero 6 Ultra - something not possible (or at least with satisfactory results) with Nero 5.5.

Nero Cover Designer is quite handy. It's powerful enough for the enthusiast, with basic text, image, and database tools. But it's not for professional graphic artists who need borders around text, translucent fills, or aligning objects with each other.

Small problems I ran into with the DVD creation process:
1. One bug I found in NVE2 was not being able to splice more than one movie clip back-to-back with one another on-the-fly - it allows you to do it, but produces an obscure error at the start of the burn process. The workaround was to add each movie clip separately and list them as separate movies (with their own chapters) on the DVD menu, or use NVE2 to combine multiple clips, export them to a single clip, and then use only the new combined clip.

2. Another more annoying bug with NVE2's DVD encoding is that audio will sometimes lose sync with the video by a few seconds. I'm not sure what exactly causes this or how to fix it, but I can live with it for what I'm doing.

3. Nero Cover Designer has an annoying bug in the user-defined Paper Stocks utility where you are not allowed to specify paper orientation, yet it defaults in portrait (which is useless for doing something such as a custom DVD insert stock). You can't modify the predefined stocks either.

These are relatively minor problems. It was very stable, and never crashed Windows. I'm satisfied enough that I will spend the money to upgrade from 5.5 to 6.3 just for the new DVD features in NVE2. But if I was just burning CDs, VCDs, and MP3s, I'd stick with Nero 5.5. I would have given it 5/5 stars if it didn't have the audio/video sync problem.

Great Product, Very Slow Support
I have been a fan of the Nero line for a good while and still love the product, but their support response time has got to be the slowest. As some have already mentioned, I recently had to wait over a week for a response to a simple registration question I had -- I had to reinstall my system and needed my registration key. I figured I'd have a response the next day considering how simple it was but no. Other than that, though, I'm still satisfied with the product.

Good software suite
I just bought a Plextor 708A burner, and opted to use this suite rather than their packaged software (Roxio). I found Roxio to be very glitchy. Nero is pretty user friendly and runs smoothly on my Dell Inspiron 8100, 1.6ghz, 384mb Ram, 30gb HD. Be sure to visit Nero's website for their update package, which makes a huge difference in functionality.

Support Sucks - Stay Far Away
I sent them an email with a support question and it took almost a week one time and the other time I'm still waiting (3+ weeks). Call me stupid, but I even called them once and was ripped off to the tune of $1.29 minute. Nothing like buying it all over again!! I ditched this piece of trash and now have Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 and it works great and their support for the one time I needed it is far better - received an email response in a day.

Not as good as Roxio Creator 7
I found DVD compatibilty issues with Nero during playback that Creator 7 did not have. There are also a lot more features and an easier user interface in Creator 7. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Best software of its kind
Print Explosion Deluxe is, in my opinion, orders of magnitude better than the original Print Explosion and beats Print Shop (which, by comparison, is cumbersome, not "Mac-like" and not os x compatible) hands down. The artwork in Print Explosion Deluxe (templates, etc.) is really nice, too, and it's easy for me to customize. I've used Print Shop and Print Master on the PC, and Print Explosion Deluxe is on par with those products, which I think are great on the Windows side.

Insanely Great Mac Print Software!
I've been a user of Nova Development products for years, having bought their first Art Explosion product when they first brought it out. They've always been committed to great Mac software, and Print Explosion Deluxe won't disappoint.

My wife and I are both teachers, and we use Print Explosion Deluxe (she under OS 9 and me under OS X) for school projects, as well as for our church. It's a simply outstanding program for making banners, flyers, greeting cards, and other printed projects. The templates/designs are great, and the tools are excellent. And, most important to me being a Mac user since 1984, it feels like a Macintosh product, unlike Print Shop and some of the other "Windows ports" I've tried that are just hokey on the Mac.

Contrary to another review I read on Amazon, I think the graphics are incredibly well organized and of great quality. It's easy to find images for just about any purpose, and the software is just incredibly easy to use.

It even supports EPS graphics. So no matter where the clip art comes from, you can print it out, even on an inkjet printer, and the quality is perfect at any size. Even Microsoft Word doesn't do that for me. And creating your own projects from scratch is easy.

Along with Quicken, Word and Entourage, Print Explosion Deluxe is one of my core Macintosh applications. I use it daily and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Nice app, but has weird quirks that need fixing.
Pretty much everything they claim about this app is true. If you're looking for a simple app for print projects, this is hard to beat. That said, here are the gotchas to look out for:

The app doesn't support ANY antialiasing making on-screen editing difficult. If your project is destined for print this isn't a big deal, but if your destination is a screen image it's a problem.

The program's JPEG compression is HORRIBLE; its BEST setting is worse than Photoshop's WORST setting! With its lack of antialiased text, this renders the program's e-postcard feature practically useless.

The installer is questionable. The program ships on three CDs, with the installer on one and extra graphics and fonts on the others. But the installer doesn't add the contents of the other two CDs to your installation. Those have to be installed MANUALLY. Considering that the quality of the graphics on the other two CDs is much higher AND the fact that this information isn't clearly explained anywhere, it becomes an issue for the less knowledgable/experience (for whom this app is primarily aimed towards).

Knowing this, I would buy this app again -- but I wouldn't use it for anything destined for on-screen use. Since the app is called *PRINT* Explosion this makes sense. :-)

UPDATE 5/2/04: Since writing this review, I have learned via an email conversation with Nova Development that they have no interest in addressing the shortcomings listed above. I have also purchased The Print Shop for Mac OS X which is a significantly nicer/higher quality app and is definitely an OS X-savvy app (not a Windows port as Print Explosion is), but it doesn't have the billions of bits of art and fonts that come with Print Explosion. But if given the choice between Print Explosion and Print Shop, choose Print Shop.

Great Mac Software
Print Explosion works great with OS X Panther. It has a wealth of templates, images and fonts. The only problem is you can't start with a blank project, but it is easy enough to pick a generic one and delete the stuff you don't want. Well worth the money.

Great basics for design for less money
First, I do promo for a large fundraising project. I purchased the basic version and found it to be extremely workable however when I then upgraded and attempted to email my work to my printers I found that my fonts and designs were corrupted and wouldn't come through well. As the main piece I created using this program I print out and mail about 6000 copies a month this is too bad.
This is mainly names and the program does the graphics well just not the word processing aspect.
So the upshot is for little money you can create some great basic pieces. Make a master and you are fine if you can do the printing on the glass.
I also found a limitation of not being able to work with unusual sizes. That is overcome by figuring your own measurments
All in all a very useful program and I am reommending it for all 179 organizations following in my fundraising footsteps.
Our large organization sent out a cd version based on this for my main fundraising piece and I got a call from someone saying he couldn't afford the $900.00 software -how did I do this?
Pretty good recommendation. ... Read more