Sunday, March 7, 2010

TOS Crew Review: Graphics Toolbox

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was sent permission to download and keep a copy of Graphics Toolbox Software by Great Software Tools, Inc.


Graphics Toolbox is a software program that allows the average user to make graphics with a more user friendly format.

Using graphics toolbox you can:
  • design your own Christmas cards
  • perform tonal color changes
  • make creative creatures
  • use colorful ribbons and fancy lines for your work
  • create fun birthday cards
  • use transparency glide to show movement
  • reduce/group colors
  • make business flyers
  • use graphics on school work
Tutorials to learn how to use the software are available online and they offer support via email. The developers have spent a great deal of time teaching us how to use the program.

The cost for the software is $149.00 for one license. There is a discount for two or more licenses. There is also a free trial you may choose to use before purchasing.

The company appears to have excellent customer support for their product. The software seems to have a variety of capabilities for your graphic needs though most of the comparisons of this software to others are made against non-graphic type programs and one base model paint program that is not known for its high tech capabilities.

The main draw back to this software for me is that it uses 8-10 yr old software conventions made obvious upon installation. The IT guy who maintains our home computer network (my husband), chose not to install it based on the fact that the software does not play nice with newer operating systems. Though the system requirements quote Vista 32 bit compatibility, the software installer found that the protocol for installation dates back to Windows 95. For the price, I would think the developers could update the software to work with current software conventions which guard against software getting its fingers deep in your operating system. In addition, we've just updated our network to Windows 7 which undoubtedly would not be friendly with Graphics Toolbox.

1 comment:

Kristenph said...

Ah, that would explain why it caused such strange problems when I installed on my Vista 64-bit computers.