I like OmniGraffle, but actually looking for "OmniDraw"

[wilsonng]

After tinkering with OmniGraffle Pro, I really like it but I'm actually looking for something like an OmniDraw program....

I've been using a combination of the old AppleWorks draw and paint module and Canvas for Mac. Previously I used to love Aldus SuperPaint for this as well.... I also used to use MacDraw....

Unfortunately AppleWorks is no longer being developed and there is currently no iDraw module in the iWorks package.

And now Canvas for Mac looks like it is in serious jeopardy with the developers opting for continuing Windows support but no Mac support....

http://forums.acdsystems.com/index.php?showtopic=3845


I remembered when Canvas 3.5 and SuperPaint were a couple of great programs in the pre-MacOS X days.

I've been scouring the net for a couple of draw programs that show promise...

Lineform
Intaglio
EazyDraw


I was thinking that this was a perfect market for the OmniFolks to look at....

Adobe Illustrator is way overkill for me; Canvas appears to be dead in the water now; Apple hasn't actually done anything since the days of MacDraw and AppleWorks....

OmniGraffle looks like a nice foundation for an illustration program that can mix vector objects and bitmap images together....

AppleWorks had a nice feature where I can insert a word processing object and put text there.... It would be nice to have a PageMaker or InDesign paragraph flowing tool in here (for those of us with light demands for PageMaker type features). Incorporating some of the PageMaker/InDesign lite features would be a bonus...


Oh well, I can keep dreaming....

For the moment, I'm evaluating my options with the above mentioned 3 drawing programs....

[wilsonng]

forgot to add:

AppleWorks had a nice feature where I can insert a word processing object and put text there.... It would be nice to have a PageMaker or InDesign paragraph flowing tool in here (for those of us with light demands for PageMaker type features). Incorporating some of the PageMaker/InDesign lite features would be a bonus...

[johnny0]

You might want to try Lineform from Freeverse:

http://www.freeverse.com/lineform/

Got a 2006 Apple Design Award.

Realistically it should be called "Paintform" -- OG leaves it in the dust when it comes to lines, but take a look at some of the user submissions and it does a nice job for drawing and illustrating.

http://www.freeverse.com/lineform/lineform_goods.php

[Terry]

Maybe this?

lntaglio (http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/index.html)

[pjb]

Or this

http://www.stone.com/Create/Create.html

if you're looking for a more general purpose tool

[mikejt]

Actually, I've been using OG for just this sort of application (lots of figures for technical papers, presentations, etc.) and, although the interface and style took quite a while to absorb, it has been quite a success. I also own Intaglio and EasyDraw for special purposes (they *are* more MacDraw-like, and Intaglio will import ClarisDraw docs, and EasyDraw has dimensioning features, and both will import PDFs much better). Intaglio is very promising, and its UI is pleasant, while EasyDraw has a rather amazing feature set but garish and cluttered UI.

Still, OG has the best/simplest UI (fewest windows/toolboxes open), and is by far the best when it comes to doing block diagrams (connections work, magnets work, orthogonal lines with adjustable radii, shadowing, line labeling that is easy to adjust, linkback to Keynote, good typography control) ... works really well.

If you want OG to act like Canvas or MacDraw, try disabling all the automatic connection features (inspector->properties->connections) for both lines and shapes and things will work like you may expect (or better, since the various smart guides are so useful).

[wilsonng]

EazyDraw was interesting but the user interface was just too confusing....

LineForm looks like a lot of promise and had a smoother user experience for me...

I settled on Intaglio... It had the best combination of power and ease of use for me....

The text tool was especially helpful. It had paragraph settings and tab settings.... That was something I couldn't seem to find in EazyDraw or LineForm....


My vote is on Intaglio....