Art Text

I got this to make designs for a home screen printing machine. It was not easy to learn for me. I couldn't save easily, supplied designs were mostly boring, I found it difficult to move and size things as needed. This could very well be user error problems but I'm not a total idiot. Depending on your skill level, willingness to learn, and project needs, you may want to consider something else. For me, it wasn't the right program.

Version one of this software did have a lot of problems. Version two is now out and the software is VASTLY improved! I use Art Text in conjunction with Apple Keynote and the work-flow is very smooth. Every week I have to prepare two or three Keynote presentations and now I make my headlines in Art Text and then copy the file to the clipboard and then paste into Keynote (the file is saved as a PDF document inside of Keynote). You can also save the files as PNG, TIFF, JPG, PDF, GIF and EPS.I became an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop nearly 10 years ago, so I do know how to use Photoshop and Illustrator to create stunning headlines. However, it is simply faster to make them in Art Text. It is true that this product does not come with a manual, but I never read them anyway. Anyone who is slightly familiar with any graphics program should be able to master Art Text in a matter of minutes. This is one of the most intuitive programs I have ever used.

I purchased this software to do some small scale desktop publishing, and while I'm not an expert in illustration software, I did find it difficult to use. The Shadow and Glow effects are very nice, particularly if starting from one of the pre-made templates. But trying to do something from scratch can be difficult, especially if you have a spatial constraint in mind. For example, I wanted to curve some text to fit in a wheel diagram, but I had to experiment, cutting-and-pasting each time, to see if the curve was right (you can only use the mouse to drag-and-click for transforms, and there is no numerical input like radius, angle, etc). In short, the software does what it does well, but not well enough or easy enough to warrant the price. If it still seems interesting, try the demo first before buying.

I struggled to create a company logo and text graphic design using a photo program (Acorn) that wasn't really designed for that. Frustrated with that approach, I downloaded the trial version of Art text and within minutes I had tried various alternatives on my design, improved the readability of my text, and finalized my company logo. I did not try other alternatives designed for logos because this one worked so well for me that there was no need.For all of the time, trouble, and aggravation that it saved me, I think it's well worth the price. I should point out however that it's cheaper on the Belight Software Web site than I currently see it listed for here on Amazon. Notice that the retail (box) version includes 100 fonts whereas the download version does not.

Very useful bit of software for the Mac, it allows quick and easy generation of effects for text or flat images. It has loads of effects that create impressive images from the simplest of images, if you don't do drawings then apply the effects to text and impress your contacts.