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Author Re: A simpler alternative to Illustrator?
stupid_idiot

2004-02-01, 4:28 am

corel draw

"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous learning
> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive programme?
> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




Cowboy

2004-02-01, 5:28 am

Use Microsoft Paint or the Mac equivalent. It comes with your OS. It's not
idiot proof but close.

"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




Alexgirl

2004-02-01, 11:28 am

If you plan to scale (re-size) your drawings, you will need to use a vector
program like Illy or Draw. If you are doing simple drawings, you don't need
to learn all the stuff in Illy. Just what you want. I don't think there is
anyone that knows all the stuff in either program. There is just too much.
How much time are you willing to spend on learning? A few hours may be all
you need depending on your background and needs. There are many excellent
free tutorials on the 'net. We can help to solve some problems too.

--
Alex
Use between nospam to reply



"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




res0r89p

2004-02-01, 12:28 pm

Hi,
I just saw Coreldraw 9 OEM for $39.00 here:
http://www.antivirusovernight.com/M...ate=gcoreldraw9
You can pick up the manual on Ebay or in a bookstore.
Peter Cowie
"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




Deco_time

2004-02-01, 1:28 pm

chris wrote:
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result
> I am not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its
> tortuous learning curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic
> surface drawings showing a few items such as trenches, shafts, roads
> etc for archaeological reports. Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE
> alternative and inexpensive programme? I am constantly amazed at how
> poor the help files are for so many software programmes. Or it it
> just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris



If you don't need vector output (like eps or ai), try this one:
http://www.mediachance.com/realdraw/index.html
Not a competiton to Illustrator in any way, but I've found it actually fun
to use. At $55.00, it's cheap also.


LauraK

2004-02-01, 3:29 pm

Try Xara. Very user friendly. I beleive there's a free trial.
http://www.xara.com/products/xarax/
PaintShop Pro also has a free trial. It has decent vector tools and is user
friendly.
http://www.jasc.com
Macromedia's Freehand is also a good vector program. If you don't care for
Adobe's interface, you may like Macromedia's.

Illustrator does have a very steep learning curve. If you do professional
design, it's more than worth the effort.

laurak@madmousergraphics.com
http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography


stupid_idiot

2004-02-01, 3:29 pm

<snip> If you do professional design, it's more than worth the effort.</snip>

I agree....my obsessive love affair with Photoshop has turned to a average marriage; still sleeping
the same bed but it is mostly a book and flannel pajamas.

Now, Illustrator has become my muse and igniting a fire seemingly long forgotten. :)


Joanne Weston

2004-02-02, 10:28 am

Stick with it chris, I remember the first time I had to use Illustrator - my
company would never dream of paying for any form of training so I had to
figure out how to tweak the jobs that came in and eventually learn how to do
things starting from an empty artboard. That was a godawful steep learning
curve with, the boss breathing down my neck and hassling me. Nowadays I find
using Illustrator a dream and all my hard work has paid off with me using it
for so many different tasks.

Matt
"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




Stuart

2004-02-02, 11:28 am

chris wrote:
quote:

>I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
>not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous learning
>curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
>few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
>Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive programme?
>I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
>programmes. Or it it just me?
>Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>



There are plenty of books around for teaching Illustrator, they are not
that expensive, take a look at
Amazon. In reply to your question try looking at Serif DrawPlus 7.

Stuart

chris

2004-02-02, 12:28 pm

Many thanks to all who so kindly offered advice. Very helpful. I'll think
long & hard before choosing.
Much appreciated. Chris.


pat

2004-02-02, 8:28 pm

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:08:14 +0000 (UTC), "chris"
<cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote:
quote:

>I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
>not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous learning
>curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
>few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
>Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive programme?
>I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
>programmes. Or it it just me?
>Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>




some free alternative to "illustrator" (vectorial drawing)

www.sodipodi.com/ - free

http://www.mayura.com/ - a shareware : 39 $

http://www.openoffice.org/ : OpenOffice - freeware equivalent to
MSoffice - They have a vector drawing tool.

Drawplus available at : http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/index.asp
is quite simple


A +








pat

2004-02-02, 8:28 pm

On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 01:12:04 +0100, pat <anonyme@serveur.be> wrote:
quote:

>On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:08:14 +0000 (UTC), "chris"
><cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>some free alternative to "illustrator" (vectorial drawing)
>
>www.sodipodi.com/ - free
>
>http://www.mayura.com/ - a shareware : 39 $
>
>http://www.openoffice.org/ : OpenOffice - freeware equivalent to
>MSoffice - They have a vector drawing tool.
>
>Drawplus available at : http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/index.asp
>is quite simple
>
>
>A +
>





For MacIntosh :

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/il...llustration.htm



Andrew Williamson

2004-02-04, 2:28 pm


"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris




You could always use the drawing features in MS Word. I think this is the
easiest drawing package out there. It is limited but if you just want to
design a flat floor plan, it can do the job.


Bill Bixby

2004-02-04, 8:28 pm

There are also plenty of illustrator tutorials on the web that will also
help you get a good working grasp of Illustrator. Do some searching with
Google and see what you can find. Try using the words "tutorial, training,
tips and tricks and any other similar word.

Good luck,

Bill
"chris" <cris.ebbs@nospambtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:bvic5d$f0o$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
quote:

> I have had a good look at Illustrator and its Help files. As a result I am
> not prepared to put myself through what appears to be its tortuous


learning
quote:

> curve. All I am hoping to create is very basic surface drawings showing a
> few items such as trenches, shafts, roads etc for archaeological reports.
> Does anyone know of a SIMPLE TO USE alternative and inexpensive


programme?
quote:

> I am constantly amazed at how poor the help files are for so many software
> programmes. Or it it just me?
> Any advice would be appreciated. Chris
>
>




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