InstantArtist Review by Gary W. Wodka, Madison PC User's Group In the beginning, there was PrintMaster. And it was good. Then Broderbund created Print Shop, and it was better. Then Print Shop Plus appeared, and it seemed that the state of desktop signs, banners and cards was as good as it was going to get. And, for a while it was. Then came Windows, and it was a whole new ball game. Well ... not exactly. There didn't seem to be this genre of program available for Windows. Until now! Autodesk Products of Bothell, Washington, recognized the void. Sure, those old programs would work in Windows as a DOS application, but that isn't really what the people wanted. If they could develop a true Windows program that everyone could use -- from kids to grandparents -- they'd really have something. Enter InstantArtist, a true Windows application that takes advantage of your already- installed Windows fonts and other graphics. To be completely accurate, InstantArtist was developed by the same folks that created Print Ship and Bannermania. In fact, it comes in a DOS version as well as a Windows version. I reviewed the Windows version. It's hard to classify this software, since it really isn't just a graphics package. It's not just a fill-in-the-blank-and-get-a-card package, either. I suppose the best way to describe it is to call it "instant design software." What it does is provide the tools and layouts to create stunning signs, banners, letterhead, certificates and greeting cards. InstantArtist (IA) will occupy 5 MB of hard disk space. It installs itself in a directory called WINIART and, quite naturally, works through Windows. You don't have to be a graphic design artist to use IA. All the tools are provided, along with several hundred templates (ready-made samples) that are easy to modify to produce that "perfect message" for that certain someone. The software comes with two manuals: a User's Manual (of course, you'd expect that, huh?) and a manual called Instant Imagination, which contains copies of the over 700 graphics shipped with IA, some sample documents, and lots of tips and techniques for making your project the best it can be. The User's Manual has a 40-page tutorial that will walk you through the basics. However, if you have kids (or are one yourself) you know how boring manuals can be. My 11-year-old daughter wanted to get at the computer as soon as I loaded IA and "kick it into high gear." She's always liked these design packages, from the first PrintMaster through Picture Wizard. I don't think she's ever read a manual, and has gone through reams of paper making cards, signs and banners (and several toner cartridges, I might add!). When she started IA, she found a 21-icon toolbar across the top of the page, which she didn't understand. I guess she'll have to read the book, huh? NOT! She's an adventurous soul so she began clicking icons to see what would happen. IA helps a little by changing the cursor as you move it around the document. The shape of the cursor gives a clue as to what it can do in certain modes. For instance, the pointer will darken when it's resizing capabilities are enabled. It will change to a clock when waiting (pretty common in Windows apps) and will change shape for pasting, rotation, skewing or text functions. But Autodesk could have made the learning curve even shorter by indicating somewhere along the bottom of the screen what an icon does when you pass the pointer over the icon. My daughter didn't seem to mind the "hunt and peck" method, though. The first thing you'll do is select the "Document Type" from the selection box. Here you have a choice of signs, business cards, letters, certificates, greeting cards, banners, postcards, and envelopes. Each selection opens a window that lists the templates available for each type of document, as well as a thumbnail sketch of what you'll get. In addition, you have the option to view and create either in color or monochrome (which is great if you don't have a color printer yet), so you can see exactly what your finished product will look like. As new documents are created and saved, IA automatically adds an extension to the file that is descriptive of the type of project you are working on. For example, SGN indicates a sign, BC a business card, BAN a banner, and so on. This makes locating your work much easier than looking through a list of 400 documents to find that sign you created last week. Once in the program, the desktop acts like a graphic artist's worktable, with a sheet of paper on it and all the necessary tools nearby. Every object in a document is surrounded by a frame (which is visible whenever the object or text is selected). The handles on the frames permit the movement, reshaping or editing of the contents of the frame. Here is where it's important to know what the different versions of the pointer mean. If you've worked in programs that end up all distorted after movement, you'll appreciate IA. When you move, resize or rotate in IA, the proportions of a graphic are kept constant, so there will be no distortion. If you want to distort a graphic, you'll have to use the skewing function or the alignment and shape functions. Just like most of its DOS cousins, IA gives you the graphical "pieces" you'll use as building blocks in the form of graphics, shapes, symbols and fills. But once selected, you can twist them, overlay them, color them, and otherwise abuse them to get just the effect you're looking for. Manipulation of text and graphics is a breeze, and the ways in which to abuse these things is almost limitless! You can change the shape to any one of 20 predesigned shapes (banners, doughnuts, lines, receding shapes, rising shapes, falling shapes, etc.) and in a myriad of colors and color combinations. IA also includes a lexicon of notable quotes, from austere to the humorous, from Confucius to Fred Allen (you remember him, don't you?). These quotes can be inserted into any of IA's styles. When using text, you'll also be able to select any one of a number of text styles, after you've chosen the font and size. You'll be able to choose from staggered (up and down), wacky, tilted, italic (different from tilted), as well as the usual selections: plain, bold or underlined. If you're not sure what size type you want, you can use the handles that appear when text is selected to resize, move, skew or rotate the type. You'll have full control over justification and letter and line spacing, and you'll be able to wrap text to certain shapes for special effects. When it comes to coloring your documents and cards, you have a wealth of choices here, too. You can fill, layer, blend, shade and shadow to your heart's content. You can zoom, twist and spiral your text with phenomenal control, resizing, shaping and moving it to create just the right effect. Once the creative juices have stopped flowing, you'll probably want to print and save your creation. Since IA is fully compatible with Windows (I use 3.1), it is compatible with all Windows printers, including the newest color lasers and inkjets. IA will save your graphics creations in its native GFX file format. What if you want to send it to some other application? Well, you could use the clipboard, since you're in Windows, or you can save the graphics in another format by exporting it to a file. You have the options of saving the file as a TIF, EPS, BMP or WMF file for use in other programs. What if you get stuck? Well, you can get help in one of three ways. The most obvious is to refer to the User's Manual (personally, my last choice!). No matter where you are in the program, you can get online help by pressing the F1 key. If you can't find the information you need either in the online help or the User's Manual, you can call technical support. Autodesk provides free technical support (a toll call, but tech time is free) from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST. Like any new program, InstantArtist takes some getting used to. But after using it, I've freed up some hard disk space by removing Print Shop Plus and Bannermania. I'm also thinking of removing Picture Wizard, but my daughter says she'll disown me if I do. InstantArtist retails for $79.95 (though its available at stores for under $50) and is a product of: Autodesk Retail Products 11911 North Creek Parkway South Bothell, WA 98011 (800) 228-3601