3 comments about CorelDraw 9.0 Graphics Suite.

1. I purchased Corel Draw 9.0 to make maps, text, and graphics. I find it hard to use, and incompatible with most of the commercial printers I use.

   I have not been impressed with their customer service to correct problems inherent in my software. It's been 36 hours since I've tried to resolve why my software won't mirror, and I still don't have an answer.




2. I've been using CorelDraw since 1998. In my opinion, it is a very nice vector drawing tool, a lot more stable than CorelDraw 8, and more user-friendly and less expensive than v12.
   
   Built-in PDF support is one feature worth mentioning. Printing to PDF Distiller from v8 took ages, and results were unpredictable. The built-in support makes PDF creation a fast and easy process.



3. I'm a graphic designer who uses this product on a daily basis at work, and HAD to buy my own copy for home because I loved it so much -- it is an extremely versatile product and can be utilized for so many functions -- At work we use it to set up screenprint designs to burn directly on screens and send files directly to a material cutter (for embroidery applique and vinyl heat press). You can simply click a couple times to copy any picture from your own files or the internet into a file, and set up any type of document from magazines to birthday cards. It comes with additional programs that can turn any picture into a vector graphic with some really cool looks; it even comes with something like 1000 fonts (not many specialty ones, however); it's just great! The only reason I don't give this program 5 stars is that I am a trained designer and I'm not positive that someone who just wants to pick this up and use it will be able to without taking some time to study and learn how to use the program (mostly because of terminology and such, it is really pretty user friendly). And I got my copy at a GREAT price (why spend hundreds more for a new version when this one works really well???)

1 comments about Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Standard Upsell [Mac] [OLD VERSION].

1. This is my first encounter with Bridge; it is quite useful and works well. The various programs all seem to interface well -- better than before. Photoshop keeps getting better but, at least on a G5, Illustrator does seem slower than it should be.
   
   However, I am most disappointed with this version of Acrobat (Pro 8) which seems to have lost some important functionality of my old Acrobat Pro 6. In 6 I could "print" from specific layers of a CAD document, title the pdf file and send it off to the client. In this new Acrobat version you can't easily custom title a pdf document created from some unique setup. Also, for no apparent reason,from time to time, Acrobat annoyingly beeps at me from the background. I don't think it likes me.

No comments about Frames Win/Mac.

5 comments about Art Explosion Scrapbook Factory Deluxe.

1. I love this program and would have given 5 stars BUT based on my experience product support is non-existent UNLESS you are willing to sit on the phone long distance waiting for help. Email support is simply not there - requests for help are unanswered. I have tried for a month with no response from Nova Development (makers of this program.) This program is missing "Decorative H" from the alphabet graphics and I have found no help from Product Support. Other than this... the program is great fun and I love it!



2. I've been trying to find a good program to scrapbook with so that I can still print out pages and not just have them on the computer. This one doesn't print well at all. I've tried printing one of thier premade pages, pages I've created from scratch with and with out pics put in and everything comes out pixilized. I haven't had any text come out with clear edges and anytime you change the size of any graphic it will pixilize the edges. I do have a good printer and can print perfect pictures so long as I don't use this program. Another thing I found extremely frustrating was not being able to search for a type of graphic. If you want a heart or scissors or flowers you have to search through everything to find them. This program would be ok if you don't want to print the pages out but if you do . . . look for something else.



3. I bought this program because it had 12x12 design and printing capabilities. I have a new wide format printer, I would like to utilize it's features. No matter how I set it up, it won't print 12x12, makes nice 8.5x14 or 8.5 x 11. Supports answer, change my graphics card. Sorry I have more elaborate programs than this that print fine. It even has difficulty converting to PDF for printing. I had purchsed this program and the Publisher Pro to check them out, they had rebates available, well it's been months and NOTHING RECEIVED, so don't hold your breath. The program has possibilities, the service so far is not impressive.



4. To those with print quality issues: IT'S YOUR PRINTER or PRINTER PREFERENCE SETTINGS. There is a lot of flexibility and creative potential with this software. It's also easy to use...my 10-yr.-old who never saw it before, jumped right in and is creating terrific pages! Can't beat it for the price.



5. I am extremely displeased with this product. The software is anything but "user friendly" and the graphics are extremely cheesy. Any attempts I made at developing a scrapbook page were foiled due to extreme frustration with the program. Overall, the product needs a drastic update and I am disappointed with my purchase.

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 plus Adobe Premiere Elements.

1. This software package does more than I ever imagined. Both programs must be the "Best of Class". It does take a while to load, but it's worth the wait.



2. It keeps getting better... Elements 3 is a wonderful tool for the amateur to the advance photographer/digital-imaging enthusiast. If you are looking for digital imaging software, you cannot go wrong with Elements 3. Its very easy to use (easier than Photoshop CS2) and I bet many of you weren't aware that Elements 3 does about 90% of what Photoshop CS2 at a HUGE fraction of the cost.... and as for the other 10% - the good news is there are plenty of tips and tricks to achieve it - and more good news; Elements 4 was just released - like I said it keeps getting better. A great place for tips, tricks and tutorials, of course need to subscribe to the magazine, but trust me its worth every penny - just like the software!



3. I am thoroughly satisfied with Premiere elements and the photoshop elements bundle.
   
   My primary purpose was to capture video. I had software that came with my camera and my computer that were video packages but nothing was easy or very functional.
   
   I have been able to capture digital video on DV tape from a CANON digital camcorder and transfer it via IEEE 1394 firewire cable (purchased separately) to my computer.
   
   What you will like about this software:
   
   1. Transferring video is easy - plug it in and let it start recording. Make sure you have enough free Hard Drive space available. Video takes gig's to record.
   
   2. The video will be automatically subdivided into separate clips based on the breaks on your film. This makes it easy to add transitions and edit.
   
   3. Adding effects and transitions is easy - just drag the one you want to the breakpoint on the clip. There are a good selection of fades and transitions which look professional.
   
   4. You can add titles and captions with ease. Just create the caption and drag onto to the second video track in the segment you want to contain the caption.
   
   5. It comes with a 20 minute training video that covers photoshop and premiere elements. In 20 minutes I could do everything I needed... and then some.
   
   6. Burning to a dvd - I created one dvd on my first try with no glitches. It was a 20 minute video.
   
   7. You can create DVD slideshows of picture galleries. Grab your photos and drop them on a video timeline and you're basically done. You can also add transitions and title pages and effects to these items as well.
   
   8. Add music to your video sequences. Using digitally recorded music or any audio clip you can drop the audio track next to the video tracks to create background music.
   
   A buddy used a competitor's product two years back and it was painful and time consuming to create a dvd.
   
   Adobe has provided a great, feature rich product that when bundled with Photoshop makes a great buy.
   
   You won't regret buying this product.



4. this is the worst thing i've ever used! It's incredibly blurry, and it constantly freezes. I tried to use it for about a month, and i've got nothing. iMovie is 10 times better, any lucky guy that's got a Mac. SAVE YOUR MONEY$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!



5. This product is a little less confusing than Adobe photo shop suite. You will need to for any real photo editing.

5 comments about ScanSoft PDF Converter 4 [OLD VERSION].

1. I am a professional person who uses my computer intensively & over a 23 year period of time. Perhaps I have downloaded 150 applications, to be conservative. I have looked for a software app to convert PDF to Word 2003 and tried the PDF Converter Professional 4 on a 15 day trial offer. I thought the product answered my needs so I ordered the full product. The cost is not inexpensive (on sale at $79)with the usual cost $99. Here are the problems with this software and this company:
   
   1. There is no conversion from the Trial product to the new product with an activation code. Instead you are asked to download a different file.
   2. The company (Nuance, Scansoft, Visoneer, ASAP) does not tell you that the download is a 45 minute download until you start the download. Bad communication.
   3. The application takes over the management of the PDF files on your computer & makes PDF Converter the default program for opening all your PDF files. I do not want any software to do this without my consent. I was able to change back to Adobe Acrobat Professional to open the PDFs on my hard drive but could not change how some of my other apps handle PDFs. So, I am stuck with PDF Converter starting each time I use that particular program (Quosa). My only option is to find a workaround for this problem or uninstall the program.
   4. The website or the company does not tell you whether or not you have to uninstall the 114MB trial version before installing the full 414MB version. Bad communication.
   5. Calls for support were especially aggravating. My first call to the company that solicited me (ASAP)resulted in "sorry, we do not support the product--we just solicit customers." Great! Call to the website product link (Visioneer) & then to their phone numbers resulted in being further shunted to Nuance. Call into Nuance resulted in a referral to their website. At the Website, for email support, a charge even for a new customer.
   
   My take on all of this is that this company--whoever is taking responsibility for this product--has no clue as to what customers expect in the real world of business. Shame on Nuance, or whoever, for such a painful interface with a software user, especially someone that has purchased their software in the past, e.g. PaperPort, Dragon Naturally Speaking.
   
   Stephen B. Strum, MD, via Miwha Strum



2. 
   The product is reasonably good. Used it for several months, then refused to open PDF files.
   
   Support (even email support) costs $9.99. They have an online knowledge base, but it is realtively useless. I've never used commercial business software that doesn't at least have free email support, or a user message board to discuss problems. Very annoying.



3. I have Dragon Naturally Preferred and Paperport 11 (on my desktop). I bought this product because I have always been happy with Scansoft products, now Nuance.
   I needed Scansoft PDF Converter 4.0 on my laptop for school to convert pdfs as my profs are always sending these to us.
   On a reg. pdf it works fine, but often I receive pdfs that are landscape mode so two pages are presented instead of one.
   This product cannot turn the page so you can convert the image.
   The same day it arrived I contacted Nuance and explained the situation. They emailed me an RMA. I boxed it up and took it to the Post Office to be mailed. Remember, it is still the same day.
   It took me over two months to get my money back and that was after finally threatening to go to their State Attorney General. They told me it took so long because they have to 'batch' their refunds.
   Nuance is a company to avoid ... in my opinion.



4. I am pleased with my purchased of this product and have been impressed with its ability to convert PDF documents to Word and Excel. It's a useful tool that I use frequently. Would buy it again.



5. V4 has OCR built in. V3 came bundled with omnipage pro 14 and would activate omnipage for OCR. V4 in general produces better formatted conversion to a word doc than does Acrobat 7 and is a handy program to have, though far from perfect. A nice feature is that the preferences allow you to deselect scansoft toolbars for MS Office, yet V4 will still launch if you try to open a pdf within Word.

No comments about Sudden Strike Gold Edition.

3 comments about Tune Plus V 2.0.

1. I should have read the system requirements better. Requires iTunes. I wanted to use this on a laptop to manage songs and playlists without iTunes installed. My mistake.
   
   Unfortunately, didn't get to try it out very much. DotNet FrameWork 2.0 gets installed along with it, and just kept getting errors when enumerating the iPod song list - supposedly a known problem.
   
   What's ironic is that it needs iTunes already installed to run properly. So what's the $20 Tune Plus' point of existing, when the free product that it's supposed to replace/augment does a better job at almost every feature.
   
   I guess if you wanted to download movie listings, weather reports, etc. this would be ok. (/shrug) I use my cell phone for this.



2. TunePlus saved me jillions of dollars. I had my Ipod synced full of purchased music, videos and movies from the Itunes store, natch. Then one day, when I was just minding my own business, downloading some software from www.trojansrus.com, I got the dreaded BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH! Since my laptop was ancient (1 1/2 years old!!!) I decided to invest the $1,000 they wanted to retrieve info from my hard drive into a new-soon-to-be-outdated model. I had all my cds for my software...no worries, right? WRONG! Synching is a one-way street with Itunes. It's like the Hotel California. But then TunePlus came riding over the rainbow on a unicorn! It took everything from my Ipod, backed it up and allowed me to place it tenderly back in Itunes for future listening enjoyment, without handing over huge handfuls of cash. I love me some TunePlus!!! (I had backed up my files, but who wants to lug around or store lots of discs? I had the files on...you guessed it...the crashed laptop hard drive.) No need to learn my lesson the hard way...I now use Tune Plus for easy all's-right-with-the-world!



3. Installed ok... BUT would not recognize my 8 GB nano which is almost a year old. Unable to use the program for what I bought it for.

5 comments about Audio Cleaning Lab 11.

1. The program is easy to use, it comes with a small manual that gives a brief description of different features, and produces very nice recordings, and I have barely begun to "play" with the user-adjustable controls.
   If you are planning to connect a turntable to your computer, you WILL need a pre-amp. Try the TCC TC-750, available here on Amazon. It received a good review in a major computer magazine. I'm using it and am quite pleased. It produces fine sound, is very small, and has a ground for your turntable.
   In short, buy this program! It has all kinds of enhancement features for LPs, cassetes, and MP3s, auto volume management,overmodulation and lost frequency correction, etc. A winner!



2. I was ready to purchase fairly expensive, high-end authoring software for converting vinyl into CDs until I read a review on this product. While it is not 'no manual needed intuitive', it has incredible features and does an excellent job at cleaning up albums for conversion to CD and is a lot easier to use than other products I have demoed. My main complaint is that when I upgraded to the next version, I did not get the upgrade discount and after sending 3 emails to customer service not a one of them have been answered. I even posted a complaint on their forum and that went unanswered. Don't expect any customer service, but the product is worth considering - definitely.



3. I ordered Audio Cleaning Lab 11. It worked for a while but after downloading an upgrade it would lock up and require me to power down my system because neither shutdown nor Task Manager could exit it. I am now using Audacity which is free. It doesn't have some of the features of Audio Cleaning Lab, but it works. Also, MAGIX tech support will not reply to my emails!



4. This product is just fantastic!
   
   I bought this item simply for restoring my vinyl for more accsesible listening, it took me a day or so to work out the bugs as it does with most programs. Once i got threw the steps it is like falling off a log. Now you are not going to take an album that has been used as an ashtray and get opera hall sound. It does restore your albums to it's fullest potential! My only comment is if you are trying to stay true to your records you should'nt add all the EQ and Stereo effects, i think it just distorts the sound but experiment and you will probably come out where you wanna be i am not a perfectionist. However the cleaning aspects are great it can take many flaws out of the recording with the exception of deep pops but it can muffle them so they are not as pronounced. One of the best things about this prduct is that it registers the breaks by marking them between each track so you can play the full side and then pause the recording process flip the record to side two and begin that side by clicking pause again. WOW! You can even name each track indivdually in seconds for transfer to Mp3 album folders. If you are recording classical of acoustic music with silent moments within the track it is easy to delete certain markers so that you dont have false starts, i hope this info helps. It is a very afforable product that delivers on every promise just be patient it will come to you, Oh and make sure you buy a pre amp if you dont have one Circuit City sells a very nice General Electric one for about 30 bucks and it runs on a 9 volt battery. You will find most Phono pre amps on this site get negitive reviews and for good reason they are expensive and dont come with an accurate power supply.
   
   I had previously bought Magix Mp3 Maker 11, well if you are looking for a platform to work at Skywalker sound someday by all means buy that product. It is overly complicated, Tedious and too much for just transfering your record media to Wave or MP3 if you buy it i suggest you stock up on Excedrin and/or Advil.



5. Not a good product. There are better options.
   One of the worst customer service companies that I have ever dealt with. Takes days for them to respond (if they bother), then their responses have been unhelpful.
   Never again will I do business with them.

5 comments about Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 [OLDER VERSION].

1. I purchased version 3.0 after newer version came out, and am VERY VERY pleased with it.
   
   I am a Science teacher, and primarily use this to adapt my own travel video for use in my classroom. I have some artistic chops, so my video projects are on the ambitious side. I don't do hokey stuff -- my work comes out pretty stylish and very engaging.
   
   This editing software will allow you to make extraordinarily elegant videos (DVDs I should say), including musical backdrops, voice-over work, replacing existing soundtracks, adjusting sound levels and all other details on a clip-by-clip basis, etc. etc. etc. If you have home video where some voices are hard to hear while others are very loud, you can easily break the clip, invisibly, into as many bits as you need, in order to make some sections louder or softer as needed. You can do all the fades, wipes, etc. just by dragging and dropping things where you want them. I've put in long sequences of subtitles on some clips where the person is explaining something but it is difficult to make out due to windy weather or ocean waves in the background.
   
   My projects run from 30 minutes to around an hour, and the program has shown no signs of gagging on the size of the files or the number of effects and adjustments I make.
   
   You should DEFINITELY go through the "live" tutorial that comes with the package -- it puts you through all the basic steps -- and after that, you're pretty much on your own to figure out all the things you can do; however, I've found the program logically intuitive and I was doing what I consider very good work on only my second project.
   
   I've heard some complaints about version 4.0, and I can't comment on that. But if you can still get 3.0, I'd say it will be one purchase that you won't regret.
   
   People will tell you your DVDs look good enough for TV -- this is going too far, but the results are certainly as good as I have ever expected to see in home video. At the price they're asking, it's a steal.



2. Software is good but we have constant crashing problems. We have a 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, RAID 1 hard drives and windows XP. My father-in-law attempts to use it on a Dell system with the same issues. I concur with the other person who questions whether Adobe performs enough testing or QA. It is also ridiculus that Adobe wants full price for an upgrade after just a year.



3. If you have a Sony camcorder, plan on buying a plugin that costs as much, if not more, than this software. I love the interface, love the extras. This is definitely and Adobe product, it just doesn't natively edit MPEG2's.



4. I really like the ability to scrub from frame to frame, but APE is only limited to 30fps, and I need to be able to scrub at a selectable framerate. The fact that I can't makes this software almost useless to me, and the fact that the audio placement feature is kind of buggy made the software useless the rest of the way. I've given it a fair shake, but it's not on my list of favorites.



5. I upgraded to Adobe Primere Elements 3.0, since the company seemed to have a good reputation and version 1.0 worked flawlessly on my computer. From the beginning (May 2007) I kept getting error messages when reading in from my camcorder. They had me buy another Gig of memory, load minor patches, get upgrades from Apple, but nothing seemed to work. We checked by loading DVIO.exe and the camcorder would down load just fine, as it would via the windows application. Their technical help said they would escalate this and they would call back. Several months later I called and they had closed my request without a call to me. So we reopened it, re-tried a few things, then escalated it again. Several months later I called again and found out it was closed again without any contact with me. Again, we re-tried a few things, escalated it and NOTHING. It is now January of 08, I called again and the next day they called back and told me to delete everything ADOBE on my computer - then reload the operating system (which means I would have to reload all my software). When I called a talked to a supervisor, I asked if ADOBE really cared if there software ever worked on my machine and he indicated that they really did NOT care if I continued to be a customer. So if you buy an ADOBE product and you have problems that are not simple - you are on your own!