dacs.doc electric

I have a confession to make. I held off doing this review until after the Software Information Industry Assocication (SIIA) awards ceremony on the 6 th of March. I had to - we were competing with Adobe ImageReady in the category "Best Internet Enhancement Tool," and it wasn't fair to review a competitor. Now that the ceremony is over and we have a nice trophy to add to our collection, here is the review.

Adobe, a company that has almost been around as long as Microsoft, is the leader in graphics and printing technology. They easily made the transition to the Web before most software companies even knew it existed. I've had the fortune to use early versions of their PageMaker, Acrobat, PageMill, and PhotoShop products, which redefined the way we looked at creating and printing our newsletters, documents, brochures, and now Web sites.

Our WebSpice products would not exist without PhotoShop 4 & 5, so I guess you could even call me a fan. This made it hard not to hope that we deserved to beat ImageReady. I guess my conscience was vindicated when PhotoShop won in another category (I voted for it).

When Jeff Setaro gave me a copy to review, I have to admit that I really didn't know exactly what it did. They designed this product to fill the need for people to quickly and easily create Web graphics and animations. PhotoShop users will feel at home with the similar interface and tools, and new users will like the price (around $180 compared to $599 for PhotoShop) since it does most of what you need to create Web sites.

First, I was impressed with the manual. It's the type of manual that explains a concept, walks you through the process, and does it quickly but clearly. The manual has an excellent introduction to Web graphics, file formats, animations, dithering, and other complex topics. ImageReady supports GIF and JPEG formats (as well as about a dozen other important formats), the two most common types, and even lets you preview the optimized image while you're working on it. It is one of the first programs I've used that supports the new PNG format, in both 8 and 24-bit compression types. This new format is supported in most browsers, but has never really caught on. Unless you have a specific reason for using it, I would wait until its use is more common.

ImageReady makes it easy to create complicated animations, using layers and opacity to create stunning effects. You can even automate your most common functions into a macro called a droplet. A nice addition is the ability create background or tiled images. You've seen those sites with the really neat repeating background, and ImageReady makes it easy to create your own - maybe even using your photo or logo. You can use a number of the included PhotoShop plug-ins to create great image effects. Finally, the program is great for adding text to an image, and you can rotate it in almost any direction.

I must admit I had fun with ImageReady. It's a great program, with an awesome set of tools that every Web designer should have at their disposal. It works as promised, and I will definitely use it on my next Web project. The only issue I have is with the price - you can purchase Ulead's GIF Animator 3 ($39 online) and Paint Shop Pro 5 ($99 or even less with the DACS special offer) and have a complete Web animation and editing solution.

I guess I still feel guilty about getting the Codie, but Adobe definitely has a winner with ImageReady. If you're new to Web graphics or looking to create some really great animations, this product is for you. Be sure to visit www.adobe.com for more information on ImageReady and other great Adobe products. You can find out more about ImageReady at <http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/imageready/main.html>.