Karelia Software has released Sandvox 2.0, an upgrade to its visual Website design software. The new version includes more than 60 new features and enhancements designed to make the Website builder more flexible.
"Sandvox 2 makes it stunningly easy to create powerful Websites," said Dan Wood, president of Karelia Software. "We've made literally dozens of improvements to give our customers the easiest to use Website building tool available on the Mac today. Sandvox 2 is far more flexible and a quantum leap forward for our customers."
Sandvox 2.0 features a new architecture and editing engine, allowing users to mix and match Web page objects in a more natural and creative way, the company says. For example, users can now post photographs and video on the same page alongside text, custom HTML, and other elements.
Corel has introduced CorelCAD, a brand new cross-platform CAD (computer-aided design) program targeted to architects, engineers, and a variety of general manufacturing enterprises. This package delivers native DWG support (the industry standard CAD file format), and the ability to navigate between 2D and 3D design environments in cross-platform workgroups.
To create and market CorelCAD, the company partnered with Graebert GmbH, a longtime CAD developer. With this new product, Corel offers CAD users what it says is an intuitive environment with familiar command bars, aliases, menus, and toolbars. In addition, CorelCAD is designed to provide excellent compatibility, as it works natively with the AutoCAD DWG file format. That means there's no need for an import/export process to read and write files in the industry standard format. At $699, CorelCAD offers businesses of all sizes an affordable CAD option for day-to-day design projects requiring a high level of precision and detail, the company says.
Depending on the view, Tangle, a free experimental display font by English designer Claire Mitchell, is either lovely or a freak of nature. Recognizable sans serif letterforms emerge within a wild swirl of lines—mimicking the floating action of dandelion fluff or (if you're a sci-fi fan) a heart-stopping dervish made from bio-engineered cells waiting to go berserk. Font Interpretation 101: People, it's subjective.
Despite the chaotic ornamentation, Tangle’s characters read loud and clear. As a designer, I see a challenging font like Tangle and go about imagining a client that's a fit.
The bioengineered villains in Ridley Scott's classic 1982 neo-noir film Blade Runner will do nicely. Picture a prequel set in 2011 Los Angeles. Never mind visas. My android clients come to the studio seeking a new look to launch their interplanetary staffing business. Who better to finish the filing than a non-stop replicant, they say. Tangle's kinetic illusion is a definite match.
Autodesk has launched version 2 of SketchBook Pro for iPad, the company's mobile drawing and painting app.
This update is specifically designed to take advantage of the new features and greater processing capability of the recently released iPad 2, letting users create high-resolution digital canvases suitable for printing directly from the iPad. It also offers enhanced interoperability and portability between iOS devices so users can start creating artwork on an iPhone, continue working on that image on an iPad, and even finish it on a Mac. Version 2 of the mobile SketchBook Pro offers 90 new brushes and brush controls and new customizable palettes and gestures that let users access their favorite brushes and colors.
“Unparalleled sketching capabilities on iPad just got better,” said Samir Hanna, Autodesk's vice president of consumer products. “This is our biggest update since we first released SketchBook Pro for iPad, and we’re excited to see the limitless creativity and artistic expression that millions of people will produce with this fun drawing and painting app.”
Epson has announced the Epson Stylus Photo R2000, a wide-format printer targeted to advanced amateur photographers, hobbyists, and creative professionals. The new unit, which features the company’s pigment printing technology, is designed to produce vivid, archival prints with a glossy look and feel.
In addition to pigment-based inks, the 13-inch printer offers flexible media handling and larger capacity cartridges that deliver up to 50 percent more prints, the company says. The printer can accommodate a range of papers, including cut sheet and roll paper, photographic and fine art media, canvas, art boards, and CD and DVDs. Its networking options include both Ethernet and wireless connectivity as well as USB 2.0.
The R2000, which replaces the Epson Stylus Photo R1900 (), uses Epson’s MicroPiezo AMC print head and UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 ink. The eight-color ink set takes advantage of Epson’s high-gloss encapsulated pigments, including an enhanced gloss optimizer that the company says creates photos with a uniformly smooth finish. Image quality is further enhanced by AccuPhoto HG screening technology, which is designed to ensure high image quality even at higher speed modes.
When you see the word embroidery do you think kitschy kittens on potholders in grandmother's kitchen? Stop right there. NCD Embroidery Comp Size, a font by London designer N Downey, is far from domestic. This display font is a rule-bending pixel construction with a touch of military style.
What's the story? One day a graphic designer decides to reproduce an 18th century military jacket using his girlfriend's sewing machine to mimic historical embroidery. His project leads him to explore zigzag stitching formats even as he spots an announcement for the FontStruct Handmade Competition. Many hours of pixel manipulation later, Downey sends in his entry—a home-sewn style complete with punctuation!
Downey has been a presence on the FontStruct scene since 2008, when he fell in love with typographer Rob Meek's brilliant online type-building application. Using FontStruct, designers can arrange collections of pixels (aka bricks) in gridded groups to create surprisingly diverse letterforms. The resulting "fontstructions" are then output in Truetype (.ttf) format for both Macs and PCs. A dynamic community of enthusiasts (aka FontStructors) meet on Meek's site to create, comment, share tips and custom bricks, and engage in friendly competition.
Adam Berenstain is a freelance writer in upstate New York and a longtime Macworld contributor. More by Adam Berenstain
Mother’s Day is fast approaching, but that doesn’t have to mean giving mom just another basket of flowers or a phone call (not that she’d mind either or both). With iPhoto ’11, you can design a beautiful and memorable custom card to accompany your other heartfelt messages. Here’s how.
Choose your pictures
The first step is picking photos. You know your mom, so choose pictures with maximum appeal (for me, that means flowers and a baby picture of yours truly). You can select a single picture in your iPhoto library, or you can build a card by selecting multiple pictures, an event, album, or even a Faces collection of pictures. After I was satisfied with my photographs, I created a new photo album by selecting File -> New -> Album, and dragged in a handful of additional appropriate pictures to have several options in easy reach. Select the pictures (or album or event) you want to use, then choose File -> New -> Card, or click Create in the toolbar at the bottom of iPhoto’s window and choose Card to get started.
