Graphics Suite 2 Upgrade Enterprise Edition

Rating:
Summary: Micrografx Suite
Review: I purchased Micrografx's suite a few years back. I was angry to find out what stipulations they included in their EULA. (End User License Agreement) Like nearly all software these days, you MUST accept the terms in order to install the software. One of the terms with Micrografx's terms was that content made using their software could not be sold. Now, that's fine if it's a play toy for you, or if you just need something to make presentations. But if you are a graphics artist, or webdesigner, that is a problem. I'm not sure if their "enterprise edition" is any different from what I purchased. However I can definitely say, their software is nowhere near the quality of adobe photoshop/illustrator or 3dsmax/bryce3d. Again, this MAY or may not differ with their "enterprise edition", but the package I purchased required that the cd be in the drive in order to use the software. Causing more wear and tear on your cd drive as you have to replace the disc each time you use the software, if you don't already have it in. Another problem is the limited resolutions of the Simply 3D program. It couldn't do anything bigger than 640x480, I believe.

Overall, I was dissatisfied with the inferior quality of the suite. It now sits in a box, collecting dust, while I enjoy using higher quality software for my graphics needs.

Rating:
Summary: easy to use and great graphics results
Review: Of the entire suite I predominantly use Designer, the fonts, and the clip art. I found Designer much easier to use than Adobe Illustrator. I currently use both, but greatly prefer Designer. The fonts and clip art are great. I was very impressed by the Media Guide which has thumbnails of all the clip art which consists of some very good design work and the alphabets of the fonts. The Media Guide is very useful for browsing through the available clip art and fonts. The tutorials in the learning guide for Designer are great and they make it very easy to learn. I have used it for everything from redesigning new office layouts to database manual creation, to logo design. The 3D program is also pretty cool and easy to use. As with most 3D programs it takes a while to render the graphics and you can end up with some pretty big files if you are making 3D movies. For simple 3D projects it works faster though. I dont use Picture Publisher only because I have several years of experience with Photoshop and use that instead. I own Micrografx Graphics Suite 2 and purchased it for $60 and it has proved an amazing deal. Even at $200 I would highly recommend it as a great value no matter your skill level - the learning guide will get you going fast and there's always great clip art if you want ready made graphics. In addition, you will save money on purchasing additional sofware books that you usually need because most "comes with the software" manuals are horrible instruction guides. Especially if you need a vector graphics program and don't know how to use one yet, this will work well for you.