DrawPlusX5 50% on BDJ

[kunkel321]

http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/draw-plus-x5
Just saw this.  I've never seen it on sale for 50% before.  Good app.

[40hz]

Thx for the heads up. Had my eye on it for a while now. Ordering.

[J-Mac]

Hey 40hz, this appears to be more like Xara and other pure graphics programs, correct? Not one for creating flowcharts, floor plans, etc. I could use something to replace eDraw Max and have been keeping an eye out for something, but this is not in the same ballpark methinks.

Thanks!

Jim

[bob99]

Draw+ looks interesting and I downloaded the starter edition trial to take a look see. When I went to install I was asked is I wanted their toolbar that I declined.



I continued on, it did some un-packing and up popped this screen:



This is the 1st time ever I have had this happen when installing a program. I re-booted yesterday and I haven't installed anything since.
Any ideas on why this is happening? I've heard this is a quality product and don't want to be paranoid about it, just never had it happen before.  Anything else that could cause this?
I cancelled till I decide what to do.

Thanks

[superboyac]

I think I may get this for my side businesses.  I'm constantly making logos, graphics, autocad things, flowcharts, sketches.  I usually use Photoshop and Illustrator, but this looks like it might be a lightweight and cheaper, and hopefully easier, tool to use for quick and easy type work.  Am I understanding this software right?

I may also use it to do more of my educational videos.  I use photoshop for the whiteboard stuff that is in the videos, but I often find it too complex and the complexity screws me up sometimes, which means retakes.  I'd like a simpler tool that also is flexible and has good looking output.

I tried a similar too, Paint Tool SAI (japanese), a while back, but didn't really take to the interface.  It was really lightweight and fast, but i felt the interface didn't make things that much easier than what i was used to in photoshop.  I've also tried the super cheap options, like freeware "Paint" alternatives, but their output quality and options are lacking.

Anyway, I'm always for software that makes it easier to create artistic things.

[40hz]

Any ideas on why this is happening? I've heard this is a quality product and don't want to be paranoid about it, just never had it happen before.  Anything else that could cause this?

Not seeing what went on, I can only make a guess. It might have possibly installed some missing Windows components it needs, or otherwise updated some Microsoft software, that requires a reboot to become active. Once it's got all its system requirements in place, the rest of the installation can proceed normally. You'll see that sometimes when DLLs need to be updated or .NET components are involved. I don't think it's any cause for alarm although you could email their support desk and ask them directly why it did that.

Luck!

[40hz]

I use photoshop for the whiteboard stuff that is in the videos, but I often find it too complex and the complexity screws me up sometimes, which means retakes.

Yay! I'm glad I'm not the only person here who thinks Photoshop is much too complex for 50% of what it gets used for.

[bob99]

Thanks 40hz. 
I was just being a little too cautious... paranoid 

[kunkel321]

DrawPlus usually requires a reboot during instillation.  I'm not sure why.

It does do pretty well with flow charts.  The areas that it doesn't cover so much are "photoshopping" pictures.  For example complex masking is not a strength.  Also it doesn't really do much in terms of filters.  These things are done via the sister product, PhotoPlus, which costs about the same.

[40hz]

Thanks 40hz. 
I was just being a little too cautious... paranoid 

Not a bad thing these days. Better to err on the side of caution when in doubt. Wish more of my clients did.

[rjbull]

http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/draw-plus-x5
Just saw this.  I've never seen it on sale for 50% before.  Good app.

Looks like Serif have decided to add Bits du Jour to their marketing strategy.  It isn't the first one of theirs offered on Bits lately.

Sooner or later you'll get e-mails asking if you want to update to the next version.  It's often worth 'phoning them in case they're willing to throw in some extras, like the relevant Resource Guide or whatever.

[NigelH]

If the BDJ price is still a little steep, you can pickup the prior version for a lot less over here.
Drawplus 4 at nothingbutsoftware.com

[Innuendo]

Not a bad thing these days. Better to err on the side of caution when in doubt. Wish more of my clients did.

But then you'd probably have fewer clients. 

[40hz]

Not a bad thing these days. Better to err on the side of caution when in doubt. Wish more of my clients did.

But then you'd probably have fewer clients. 

That's happened anyway. Damn all those web hosted apps! 

[Lutz_]

I do not have X5 (using X4 instead) but just wanted to point out that DrawPlus is indeed a fantastic piece of software for artistic drawings on a PC.  It can render fantastic vector art, that does not look like typical vector art.
Sometimes I finding searching for some small features that I am used from Corel Draw and cannot find an equivalent in DrawPlus.  It is not as feature complete as CorelDraw, but for me a lot faster andit has these cool painting-like tools.

[oblivion]

Draw+ looks interesting and I downloaded the starter edition trial to take a look see. When I went to install I was asked is I wanted their toolbar that I declined.

Probably sensible.

I've been using Serif products for what seems like millennia. (15 years or more, I think.) The Starter Edition products are okay but are clearly intended to suck you into paying money for their non-free software. I expect the toolbar's just another attempt to stop you running away too far...

Serif do a lot of marketing, much of which is ignorable but my strategy with them for ages was to wait until the product I wanted was sent to me as a special offer email -- they usually are, eventually -- and buy into it then. I have NEVER paid full price for anything Serif do, as a result, and even if that means I don't always have up-to-the-minute latest product, they still provide a lot of bang for the buck. It IS worth letting Serif send you emails: sometimes they're even worth reading!

This is the 1st time ever I have had this happen when installing a program. I re-booted yesterday and I haven't installed anything since.
Any ideas on why this is happening? I've heard this is a quality product and don't want to be paranoid about it, just never had it happen before.  Anything else that could cause this?
I cancelled till I decide what to do.

There's a registry setting somewhere that doesn't always get properly cleared, that says "xyz has been installed and really needs a restart before it'll be properly in place." All the Serif software looks at it and suggests a restart if it's needed. (Serif worked hard to get to some level or other of Microsoft certification, they told me some years ago, and this may be related to that.) Sometimes -- although I haven't seen this recently -- the setting won't clear however often you restart, and for those cases Serif have a workaround (check their forums if you get stuck in the same loop: I think it's a commandline switch, something like "setupdrawplus.exe -norestart" but I don't remember exactly.

DrawPlus is pretty decent software. It takes some getting used to if you've never done vector graphics before but they put up some good tutorials online (if you buy physical product there's a good printed manual too). It's probably not quite as powerful or as fast as Xara but the DP interface is much easier to use, in my view, and its capabilities don't lag far behind anything most ordinary mortals are likely to want. I built the animated gif I use as an avatar here with it, and (as you can probably tell from its lack of excitement levels) if I'd spent more than ten minutes on it I could probably have done something GOOD.

For what it's worth: Serif's best products are DrawPlus, PhotoPlus and PagePlus.  I can't comment on MoviePlus (video editing and animation) as I've never used it but most of their other products are at least okay offerings in a relatively crowded market.

They also sell on software from other providers, and odd bits of hardware (my first graphics tablet came in a bundle with an older DrawPlus and I've used them in preference to mice

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I've never been sure if the correct plural of the computer mouse is the same as the, er, biological mouse so if I should have said "mouses" I apologise but my fingers generally refuse to type things that the dictionary area of my brain objects to!

ever since...)

[oblivion]

Hey 40hz, this appears to be more like Xara and other pure graphics programs, correct? Not one for creating flowcharts, floor plans, etc.

DP's quite good for flowcharts, organisation charts and the like, although it's probably not as good as a dedicated tool would be. It's a vector graphics program with a few bitmap facilities thrown in, not the other way around!