Microsoft Acrylic October 2005 Community Technology Preview for Windows

by Microsoft Corp.

Avg. Rating 3.8 (43 votes)

File Details

File Size 130.7 MB
License Freeware
Operating System Windows XP
Date Added
Total Downloads 25,908
Publisher Microsoft Corp.
Homepage Microsoft Acrylic

Publisher's Description

Microsoft Acrylic professional design tool that brings together the richness of pixel-based painting and the flexibility of editable vector graphics for a more fluid and flexible creative workflow. With Acrylic you can create sophisticated designs and graphic elements for your on-screen, Web, and print projects. Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

Latest Reviews

patmc7

patmc7 reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 16, 2005

It's not freeware if it has a timeout. Shareware has timeouts.

twosheds

twosheds reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 15, 2005

The five rating is for Creature House's wonderful software, as for what MS have done to it, well, they've made it unstable and taken out the superb and really elegant Flash export feature, which means that the pre-MS version is the last one that will ever be used professionally by me. Sheez, even Adobe gave a bit of ground on Flash export when they were MM's biggest rivals,seems pretty petty.

On the plus side MS have added some very nice default line styles, really sensational. Back to the negative side, they've yucked up the interface with really horrible 1995-style smooth-bevels - why, for God's sake? Plus Expression had a bit of an interface problem to begin with, and MS are making it much, much worse.

Just as a PS, why also do Betanews add a 'no-follow' tag to ANY URL that we post in these forums? Hiding from 'the man'....? :)

iknowyouknow

iknowyouknow reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 15, 2005

I`ll give it 5 cos it does what it says. I really hope that in future it can handle PSD files also, I think PS is extremely overpriced. As far as this beta goes, its clunky for sure, but lets hope it gets better:)

Mukkinese

Mukkinese reviewed vBeta on Jul 3, 2005

A piece of software with exceptional potential, this beta version is a little rough around the edges and can get clunky when using the bitmap tools, but all the tools have a great deal of functionality and many unique features.

If this lives up to it's promise this could be a
major contendor in the pro graphics field.

For anyone interested in graphics production, it's well worth trying out.

yokozuna

yokozuna reviewed vBeta on Jun 12, 2005

First of all it is not a "native" Microsoft application. It is rebranded Creation House Expression 3.3 (which I use and I like it much). Microsoft acquired the Creature House technology and development team in 2003. I do not care that it is a beta version. The problem is that it is worse than CHE. Picture my surprise when I discovered that the code for this product is so poorly redone that it is worthy of Microsoft. I hope it will be improved.
And one more thing: I love the logic of Ms. Acrylic was released on the 10th of June 2005 and the timeout is 180 days. What the FAQ says (http://www.microsoft.com...cts/expression/faq.aspx )?
"Does the Acrylic Beta have an expiration date?
Yes. The Acrylic Beta will expire on October 1st of 2005." How they counted the days is one of the greatest mysteries ever known.

justinb

justinb reviewed vBeta on Jun 12, 2005

this is actually pretty nice. i drew something kinda random and it looks nice and smooth. played around with some of the features.. pretty good for a beta :)

aerthling

aerthling reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

It looks like MS has jumped on the beta bandwagon.

It looks pretty good so far. Perhaps they'll replace Paint with this in Longhorn? Probably not, but that would be nice.

Thank God for the main window's watermark. If it weren't for the hundreds of 'BETA's, I wouldn't have known.

wincement

wincement reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

Everyone's rating this at a 3 or below just because it's Microsoft's.

The interface is a little clunky and slow, but the release notes tell you that up front. It's still a beta, so they're still working on improving the performance.

All in all, I think it's a really good effort, and it *should* hopefully prevent the Adobe/Macromedia merger from creating a monopoly. I give it a 5 for effort.

Zyxyx

Zyxyx reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

Completely agree with TerminalX.

Learn to review a software instead of judging the company !

4 for me...

microFawad

microFawad reviewed vBeta on Jun 10, 2005

cool that MS is relesing a graphics editing program. I am tired to see the extremely high prices of photoshop and never drop down. Now the competition will increase.

Avg. Rating 3.8 (43 votes)
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patmc7

patmc7 reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 16, 2005

It's not freeware if it has a timeout. Shareware has timeouts.

twosheds

twosheds reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 15, 2005

The five rating is for Creature House's wonderful software, as for what MS have done to it, well, they've made it unstable and taken out the superb and really elegant Flash export feature, which means that the pre-MS version is the last one that will ever be used professionally by me. Sheez, even Adobe gave a bit of ground on Flash export when they were MM's biggest rivals,seems pretty petty.

On the plus side MS have added some very nice default line styles, really sensational. Back to the negative side, they've yucked up the interface with really horrible 1995-style smooth-bevels - why, for God's sake? Plus Expression had a bit of an interface problem to begin with, and MS are making it much, much worse.

Just as a PS, why also do Betanews add a 'no-follow' tag to ANY URL that we post in these forums? Hiding from 'the man'....? :)

iknowyouknow

iknowyouknow reviewed vAugust 2005 Community Technology Preview on Aug 15, 2005

I`ll give it 5 cos it does what it says. I really hope that in future it can handle PSD files also, I think PS is extremely overpriced. As far as this beta goes, its clunky for sure, but lets hope it gets better:)

Mukkinese

Mukkinese reviewed vBeta on Jul 3, 2005

A piece of software with exceptional potential, this beta version is a little rough around the edges and can get clunky when using the bitmap tools, but all the tools have a great deal of functionality and many unique features.

If this lives up to it's promise this could be a
major contendor in the pro graphics field.

For anyone interested in graphics production, it's well worth trying out.

yokozuna

yokozuna reviewed vBeta on Jun 12, 2005

First of all it is not a "native" Microsoft application. It is rebranded Creation House Expression 3.3 (which I use and I like it much). Microsoft acquired the Creature House technology and development team in 2003. I do not care that it is a beta version. The problem is that it is worse than CHE. Picture my surprise when I discovered that the code for this product is so poorly redone that it is worthy of Microsoft. I hope it will be improved.
And one more thing: I love the logic of Ms. Acrylic was released on the 10th of June 2005 and the timeout is 180 days. What the FAQ says (http://www.microsoft.com...cts/expression/faq.aspx )?
"Does the Acrylic Beta have an expiration date?
Yes. The Acrylic Beta will expire on October 1st of 2005." How they counted the days is one of the greatest mysteries ever known.

justinb

justinb reviewed vBeta on Jun 12, 2005

this is actually pretty nice. i drew something kinda random and it looks nice and smooth. played around with some of the features.. pretty good for a beta :)

aerthling

aerthling reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

It looks like MS has jumped on the beta bandwagon.

It looks pretty good so far. Perhaps they'll replace Paint with this in Longhorn? Probably not, but that would be nice.

Thank God for the main window's watermark. If it weren't for the hundreds of 'BETA's, I wouldn't have known.

wincement

wincement reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

Everyone's rating this at a 3 or below just because it's Microsoft's.

The interface is a little clunky and slow, but the release notes tell you that up front. It's still a beta, so they're still working on improving the performance.

All in all, I think it's a really good effort, and it *should* hopefully prevent the Adobe/Macromedia merger from creating a monopoly. I give it a 5 for effort.

Zyxyx

Zyxyx reviewed vBeta on Jun 11, 2005

Completely agree with TerminalX.

Learn to review a software instead of judging the company !

4 for me...

microFawad

microFawad reviewed vBeta on Jun 10, 2005

cool that MS is relesing a graphics editing program. I am tired to see the extremely high prices of photoshop and never drop down. Now the competition will increase.

twosheds

twosheds reviewed vBeta on Jun 10, 2005

Acrylic is based on CreatureHouse 'Expression', which is fundamentally a drawing rather than panting program, but Microsoft bought it for its superb 'skeletal stroke' technology, which really made it stand WAY out among paintin/drawing hybrid programs.

If you've never tried Expression, and you think that a graphics program based on Skeletal Strokes will only be in the league of Microsft Paint, you have a very pleasant surprise coming (unless you are Adobe!).

ukexpat

ukexpat reviewed vBeta on Jun 10, 2005

A replacement for MS Paint? I don't think so - this is supposed to be a competitor for Adobe's graphics tools, PaintShp Pro etc...

shy_one

shy_one reviewed vBeta on Jun 10, 2005

Haven't had time to realy play with the program yet but does anyone else think this might be the replacement for ms paint when longhorn comes out as one of the incentives to upgrade?

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