Dear Final Debug: What happened to graphics programs that do everything you need them to? I used to use the same program for everything from CD-ROMs to print ads to Web images. Is there a do-it-all program out there? — Larry Waldman, no town listed.
Final Debug Responds: Larry, here’s an easy answer: No. Now for the detail. We talked with six Web designers from some of the most-visited sites on the Net, including Netscape’s site. Every one made a similar complaint: They can’t do it all within one program. Even if they count on one program for most of their work, they need to buy plug-ins to get all the functionality they want.
The most frequently-used programs are those you’d expect, Photoshop and Debabelizer, but we were surprised by the negative reaction to the new 5.0 version of Photoshop, one of the two industry standards. One designer called it “bloated”.
“It’s a ripoff,” another said. “There are some important low-bandwidth-publishing features in ImageReady, which Adobe says is a ‘companion’ product. But you have to spend a couple hundred extra dollars for that companion. Everything in ImageReady should be inside Photoshop. I’ll buy it because I have to, but I’m not happy.”
To be fair, this is not a problem confined to Adobe. Its fierce competitor Macromedia has launched its own low-bandwidth graphics program, Fireworks, to “complement” its FreeHand tool. So while Microsoft tries to put everything under umbrella of one program — its operating system — other software companies see dividing their market into multiple markets as the way to expand. We’ll see if it works.
Java answer
Last week we asked a Java question:
How do you modify Director files so a Java-enabled browser without a Shockwave plug-in installed can interpret it?
Our first correct answer arrived from Jeff Grosso, who wrote: “Director’s Java export feature is being implemented via a Director Xtra, which will automatically work with Director 6. Using a single source file, Director developers will have the option of exporting projectors (standalone executables), Shockwave movies, or Java applets.”
Jeff wins a copy of the advanced-level Teach Yourself More Java in 21 Days (sams.net). Please come back next week for a new contest. If you have a question for Final Debug, write us.
