Although the world seems to revolve around Photoshop, there are many alternative and market specific, lower-cost art packages around. EazyDraw – now onto its sixth version – is one. It is by no means cheap but it fits a specific need, and for the wealth of vector drawing options it gives you, it sure is comprehensively satisfying.
The package gives you free reign to tackle a wide range of artwork, but it is more at home with technical drawings and architectural plans, and to this end, it has lots of tools to aid you. The background can be overlaid with a grid, on top of which you can produce, for example, building layouts, using sizes and locations while making use of built-in visual elements that make including walls, doors and windows effortless.
The Layers features is perfect for such tasks, letting you build up drawings with stacks of information. If you need to draw to scale, you can do so with 14-digit accuracy. The rulers are configurable to conform to specified geometry and you can take advantage of vector hatches if you need to fill a graphic. Options appear in separate windows so you can have as much – or as little – screen clutter as you need.
The package is also very adept at creating logos, maps and graphics for web pages, and this makes it extremely versatile. It doesn’t take particularly long to get to grips with EazyDraw 6. At first it appears rather simple, but the more you dig, the larger the range of features. Many more features have been added to this version and it is optimised for Mavericks. So as well as having a new brushes palette and the ability to create custom tools, there are hot keys for speedy access.
Given the nature of the package, you would expect it to have native support for SVG, PDF and DXF files – and it does. These files, along with EPS, can be imported and edited, and you can export in JPG, TIFF, Favicon and Keynote formats. There is a certain familiarity to EazyDraw that users of MacDraw will appreciate, and it’s so good to see great documentation accompanying the app. Even better is the availability of a free trial version, so you can see if the package really does suit you. For us, though, it’s a winner.
Buy now?
Pros Brilliant documentation, featurepacked and easy to pick up
Cons Flow charts perhaps don’t handle as well as some other apps
Compatibility
OS X 10.8
58.3 MB Free Disk Space
Learn More…
www.easydraw.com
Available From…
Mac Store
Price: £64.99/$99.99
- Android Security: NordVPN Is Best For CyberSecurity For Android - April 9, 2021
- What’s Wrong With My Mac? How to Test Mac Performance (And Improve It!) - September 7, 2020
- Before You Subscribe: 5 Things You Need to Know About Hulu’s Live Streaming Services - September 7, 2020