Art Explosion Business Card Factory Deluxe

Rating:
Summary: Promises, promises.....not delivered
Review: First a caveat: I am reviewing this program as an inexperienced user, with no particular knowledge of computer graphics programs and a need to create professional-looking business cards efficiently.

Although I am unskilled in computer graphics, I am an experienced designer from the dark ages pre-computer, attempting to apply my design skills in this format. In this effort, I purchased what appeared to be the answer to all my design problems. The program offers pre-made designs, a large assortment of fonts and an instruction manual. However, all these elements are packaged and cannot be opened until after purchase, so I could not determine if this program was simple enough to meet my immediate needs. In addition, compared to other, less-expensive, programs, I wasn't sure if this product would deliver for the price. It didn't.

After loading the disks provided and navigating the program, I found it to be a little more complicated than what I expected. While there is an assortment of designs, fonts, etc., the instructions are not as simple as indicated, and assume a certain degree of computer literacy. It is my experience that the people who buy these programs need some help, whether with design or layout, in order to create a print-ready document. As well, many of the layouts assume 4-color capability, which looks impressive, but tends to be quite expensive when it comes to printing considerations. The easiest way to navigate, and the one I ultimately used, was to create a design on blank stock, selecting and editing my own typefaces and layout. If there were a degree of difficulty scale for these programs, from 1-5, with 5 the degree of most difficulty, I would have to give this program a 3-4. My intent, in purchasing the program, was to do my design job quickly and simply. I was unable to follow the directions provided without some confusion and had to call the programmers, who were readily available. I also had trouble loading the font I wanted, due to a disk error, and the company immediately sent me a new one. So the support is there and willing to help. I was hoping that I wouldn't need offline support, given the instruction booklet. Most likely, my problems were caused by my inability to comprehend the program language. However, if you are well-versed in compu-speak, this program will be simple to use with a minimum of frustration.

Rating:
Summary: Impressed!
Review: I was skeptic at first, but then I was impressed by how professional my cards really turned out! The program was easy to use- except that I liked so many different things, it was hard to choose! The selection was better than I've seen elsewhere, and my cards looked like I had them printed professionally. I would definitely suggest it.