Other originative disciplines — digital imaging , music , and picture to name a few — have flourished on the Mac in the ensuing two tenner . But publishing and graphic remain an important part of this platform . mayhap it ’s because Mac computer hardware and software program developer continue to look for new and innovational way to help you get your estimate from your computer screen to the print page . face no further than this year ’s Eddy - get ahead design products , which include a venerable page - layout app that sum welcome enhancements , a popular line of tablets that introduced wondrous new features of its own , and a pair of programs making their Mac OS Adam debut .
Along with the winning design products , we ’re including two Eddy recipients in another essential section of the Mac securities industry — video production . Like the desktop publishing and graphics computer program of 20 eld ago , these two video applications take advantage of new technology to make the process of using your Mac to create something go more smoothly than ever .
Here are our favorite design and video products for 2004 . Let us know your choices in our meeting place .
Most Improved Page-Layout Program
“ Quark does n’t care ” has been a complaint of Quark client for years . ButQuarkXPress 6.5may avail quiet those complaints . This upgrade is free to registered user of reading 6 , and it ’s no venial hemipterous insect mend : version 6.5 builds novel image - delete shaft into the app ( or , to be exact , into the QuarkVista XTension ) . you’re able to pick off images in all sorts of ways , apply nondestructive Gaussian fuzz , unsharp masquerade party , and despeckle filter . you’re able to also spell a layered Photoshop file and then wrick those layers on and off , select clipping paths , and exchange opaqueness and blends . you’re able to relieve finished picture as new effigy filing cabinet , again from within XPress . XPress 6.5 wo n’t supersede Adobe Photoshop — but it will preserve you sentence . Maybe Quark worry after all.—TERRI STONE
QuarkXPress 6.5 : loose for owners of QuarkXPress 6.0 ( see Best Current Leontyne Price ) ; Quark
Best Keyboard Alternative
Thanks to theIntuos3 , if you use your Mac chiefly as a draft prick , you may never have to touch a keyboard again . The in style in Wacom ’s line of tie tablets features two great conception : ExpressKeys ( eight programmable buttons that can trigger recurring commands ) and TouchStrips ( configurable trackpadlike strips for scrolling and zooming ) . Those , plus the promiscuous - bobby pin playpen , are all you need to course all sort of artwork apps while your keyboard cumulate dust.—PHILIP MICHAELS
Intuos3 : ; January 2005 ; 4 - by-5 - inch model , $ 220 ( see Best Current damage ) ; 6 - by-8 , $ 330 ( see Best Current Mary Leontyne Price ) ; 9 - by-12 , $ 450 ( see Best Current Price ) ; Wacom
Best Painting App for Nonartists
Alias’sSketchBook Pro 1.1puts the sport back into picture on your Mac . Though it does n’t offer the reach of artist tools and natural - media core found in Corel ’s Painter IX ( which costs $ 429 ) , its simplified user interface make it perfect for adumbrate idea , task , and artwork.—KELLY LUNSFORD
SketchBook Pro 1.1 : ; December 2004 ; $ 179;Alias
Best Family Graphics App
The Print Shop Mac OS X Edition 1.0 : ; June 2004 ; $ 50;Software MacKiev
Best Motion Graphics App
Apple’sMotiondoes a lot of the same stuff that Adobe ’s After Effects or Discreet ’s Combustion does — but at about a third of the price . It ’s easy to learn and work with ; has nerveless feature such as demeanour ( which countenance you simulate gravity , wind , attractor and repulsion between multiple aim , and other movements ) ; and fiddle nicely with other Apple apps , including Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro . It wo n’t substitute programme such as After Effects . But with its compounding of performance , simplicity , and price , it ’ll be join them in the tool chest of many graphics pros.—DAN Arthur Miller
Motion : ; January 2005 ; $ 299 ( see Best Current Leontyne Price ) ; Apple
Best Way to Burn
pledge with Jam 6.0makes an already must - have Mac product even better . Roxio now lets you write double - layer DVDs just like the pro in Hollywood . That capability , Dolby AC-3 audio compression , and an enhance cross - fade editor program make this an priceless tool for all Mac musicians and moviemakers.—JAMES GALBRAITH
Toast with Jam 6.0 : ; November 2004 ; $ 200 ( see Best Current cost ) ; Roxio
