[macexile]

I read an article on Canvas 8, how good of a program is it compared to, say, Adobe or corel?

If you had to choose, which would you use, Adobe, Corel, Canvas on an iBook?

[OlJackFrost]

As an Art Director that has been using Macs and graphics software professionally since 1986, I think I can give you some "sage advice." I have limited experience with Corel, it is basically solid, but not a big factor in the overall graphics industry. I have used both Canvas, Photoshop and Illustrator since verion 1 of each. Canvas is an easier to learn and more intuitive program and is still my software of choice for the majority of my work. Don't let anyone tell you that it is not "professional" software, Canvas is extremely capable. Illustrator and Photoshop are unavoidable in the graphics industry however. If you are in a situation where you need to interface with a wide variety of other graphics people (ad agencies, printers, etc.) then you are going to need Illustrator and Photoshop. If you are creating things for yourself or have your own business, Canvas is great because it functions as illustration, paint, layout and presentation program. Also, Canvas WILL create graphics that can be used by the other graphics programs (it's like a Swiss Army Knife in all the Mac and PC formats it can save in), and placed in page layout programs like Quark Xpress and Pagemaker. If you would like to try Canvas, the manufacturer, Deneba (www.deneba.com) has a Special Edition of Canvas 7, that I believe is under $100; it has about 90% of the functionality of the full version and I think (check me on this) there is an upgrade path to Canvas 8 if you want the power of the latest version along with OSX compatibility.

[Nobody]

I would choose Macromedia's Freehand.
Jim

[Nobody]

I agree with both OlJackFrost and jpmhughes.

Deneba Canvas is a solid, professional-level program, well-respected which produces industry-standard PostScript output.

I prefer to use FreeHand for vector drawing and design-intensive layout 'cause it's faster and more efficient once learned though.

Canvas's advantages lie in its versatility (also has bitmap editing and other features), as well as technical illustration-oriented features such as dimension lines (which must be done as custom-programmed PostScript code in FH if one wants them to be automatic, or done by hand (potentially fraught with (human) error))

William

[Nobody]

If anyone is interested in Canvas, the current Computer Arts Special magazine CD-ROM includes Canvas 6 (full version) which entitles one to up-grade pricing for Canvas 8 (offer in the magazine for this).

William