Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations?

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:28:50 -0600, The New guy wrote
(in article <noemailhere-863A2E.12285020022008 DeleteThis @news.mts.net>):

> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

If you're doing them freehand then a scanner would be the obvious solution
imho anyway. A CAD program is great but I'm not sure if it imports a scan
or not. Imagine they do now but I haven't used on for a few years...

--
Cheers!

Dennis

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 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

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 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

On 2008-02-20, The New guy <noemailhere.RemoveThis@please.comm> wrote:
> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

OK, this probably doesn't match your requirements, but I noticed that
VectorDesigner from TweakerSoft won "best of show" at Macworld 2008:

http://www.tweakersoft.com/vectordesigner/

Ian

--
Ian Gregory
http://www.zenatode.org.uk/ian/
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

On 2008-02-20, Dave Balderstone <dave DeleteThis @N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderstone.ca> wrote:

> Or, you can use Stanford's Vector Magic for free...
>
><http://vectormagic.stanford.edu/>

Or if you don't want to upload your images to their server to
vectorize them then you could do it on your machine for free
using potrace:

http://potrace.sourceforge.net/

I Installed potrace on my iMac using MacPorts (sudo port install
potrace) and was very pleased with the results.

Ian

--
Ian Gregory
http://www.zenatode.org.uk/ian/
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

In article <noemailhere-863A2E.12285020022008 DeleteThis @news.mts.net>, The New
guy <noemailhere DeleteThis @please.comm> wrote:

> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

You may check

http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:28:50 -0600, The New guy wrote
(in article <noemailhere-863A2E.12285020022008 RemoveThis @news.mts.net>):

> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

I think this new program called Skitch is quite interesting for just
drawing, taking notes, etc. It smoothes your jaggy mouse movements
into smooth lines, and such too. :)

It has a bunch of "web 2.0" (ugh) features, like publishing up to the
web and such, which you may or may not care about, but it's the closest
thing to a really easy to use whiteboard for your computer that I've
come across. I think it is still in beta atm, but should be nearing
release, it seems quite stable.

--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

In article <noemailhere-863A2E.12285020022008 RemoveThis @news.mts.net>,
The New guy <noemailhere RemoveThis @please.comm> wrote:

> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

The drawing module in NeoOffice would work. You can use it to draw
lines (straight and curved), incorporate geometric shapes, and add text
and even images if you like. You can save the results in a large
variety of formats.

It's more than you asked for (but you may find the other parts useful).
Along with the drawing module you get the rest of NeoOffice, which is a
suite of "office" programs (word processor, spreadsheet, presentations,
data base, as well as drawings). NeoOffice is free (and open source),
so the price is right.

http://www.neooffice.org/

gets you to the NeoOffice home page.
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

In article <200220082110421044%guenther@fischerplast.de>,
Guenther <guenther RemoveThis @fischerplast.de> wrote:

> In article <noemailhere-863A2E.12285020022008 RemoveThis @news.mts.net>, The New
> guy <noemailhere RemoveThis @please.comm> wrote:
>
> > I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> > eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> > are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> > designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> > I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> > Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?
>
> You may check
>
> http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/

I highly recommend Intaglio as well. It;s top notch and worth every
penny.

--
Note: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you
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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Mac Drawing/sketching program recommendations? 

The New guy wrote:
> I like drawing out designs of things freehand with pencil and paper but
> eventually I need to transfer them to the computer. My artistic skills
> are abysmal so I need something very basic. Any recommendations? The
> designs are all straight lines, no curves, if that makes any difference.
> I don't even know where to start in trying to describe this....:)
> Should it be a drawing program or a CAD program I wonder?

I used to love McDraw II, which I was able to use from a dual floppy Mac
Plus right up through sys 9.2.2, but alas, not sys X.

Mac Draft is the closeness of McDraw.
You can check it out at: http://www.microspot.co.uk/

good luck

Jonathan

--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr
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