Comment on Serif DrawPlus X5 [Download] Reviews by C. L. Messina.
Wow! Now get drawing!,
There are seemingly a myriad of illustration programs and some do things better than others. Most digital illustrators work with several because no single application seems to do it all so well. But, I have to say, Serif DrawPlus X5 comes pretty close.
If I could make the perfect vector program it would be Autodesk Sketchbook, but Sketchbook is a bitmap program. What I like about Sketchbook is the intuitive, simple (but beautiful) interface. If I could write a program with all the features I could ever want I would make something like Adobe Illustrator. Adobe products are, for the most part, the heaviest on features but just so difficult to learn. Seems like I’m always jumping through hoops to get anything done in Adobe. Too many options. That marriage between the two programs, Sketchbook and Illustrator, might just be right here.
DrawPlus has similar buttons to Illustrator but unlike Illustrator, they tell you what the buttons do when you hover over them. This is incredibly helpful for the new user trying to remember what is what or trying to discover what other functions they might want to explore. Exploring in Illustrator is a hair raising experience. As in, ‘I sure hope Ctl+Z can undo this and my program doesn’t freeze trying to execute it’. On top of the descriptive hovering, the tools just make sense and seemed grouped together in a very logical fashion. For example, you don’t have to go digging around to make simple shapes you use a lot, just click on the shape tool and the choices are there. I like that a lot.
Editing is a snap. DrawPlus gives you a shape or line with the simple understanding that it is made of points (nodes) and that you might want to move these nodes about a little. Simply click on the ‘node’ tool, select your point you want to manipulate and there you have it. Even better, the ‘simple’ shapes (circle, square, etc.) have built in node sliders that quickly let you make common adjustments to common shapes, which is just a brilliant feature. E.g. Do you want a square with sharp corners or rounded ones? How rounded? Well, just make a square and slide the lever to your roundness liking and there it is.
There are more features (animation, filter effects, etc.), or should I say enough to make most if not all of your graphic needs with very little effort in very little time. I was up and running creating graphic creations within 20 minutes. THAT’S what a vector drawing program SHOULD be like.
And here’s the better part- they let you try it out (DrawPlus Starter) for free. Some of the more exciting features are disabled but there’s certainly enough to get a great feel for it AND, best of all, no time limit! I tried it, LOVED it, and bought the full version. I have nothing but love for this vector drawing program.
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