Canvas: Clip Art Import Sloooooow?
Bud Parker
I don't know enough to answer your question, (it may be there are too many
points), but I can tell you that I have been on a clip and purchasing binge and
bought
Art Explosion 125,000
Masterclips 150,000 and
Corel 110,000
This post will give you some pluses and minuses of each, a few tips, and my
recommendations.
Well you would think that I was so satisfied with Art Explosion that I would
leave it at that. No -- I guess it is human (graphics) greed! I was curious to see
what the more widely advertised Masterclips 150,000 would offer, so for about
$65 plus $10 shipping (Mac Warehouse matched some other price I'd seen), I was
able to explore this package. Then a week later, I got a CDW Mac Catalog
(1-800-561-4239) and saw a Corel package for $45 called Mega Gallery 110,000.
I am keeping Art Explosion and Masterclips, but am sending back Corel. Corel is
not so bad, but there is a twist to this part of the story later.
Art Explosion (hereafter ArtE) has the best Clip Art. It has some of the older,
simpler "public domain" (from now on PD) looking stuff, but some very stylized
stuff (grunge, retro, and other). The photos are nice. It includes both Post Script
and TT fonts, the only pkg that does. Some of the raster art is quite good too.
Very nice packaging, very good manual except it doesn't show shots of all of the
raster/photo stuff and it is all in black and white, but lets you know when a clip
is in color. 13 cds. $80.
Masterclips (aka as IMSI, aka DTP Warehouse) has 14 cds. The clip art is
somewhat redundant to the ArtE, but the photos are better, with overall greater
size (i.e. resolution potential after resizing) if more historical, in some cases dated.
There is the greatest amount of b & w art, this Dover collection of 40,000 images.
Has a little more of a PC feel, but is a Mac product, of course. Their main catalog
of images is the worst - smallest images with crushed blacks, some you can't even
tell what is there. They should have hired somebody to spend 2 years going
through and using the levels in PS to gamma correct :)
Corel is the most "PC" of them, with only 5 cds. The clip art is definately the
worst. Just as visiting a lousy Mexican restaurant for the first time might turn
you off for good, seeing this clip art would confirm all the badmouthing about clip
art. Its alot of the PD, 98% I suppose.
Their photos are possibly the best. However I could not access them (except with
their browser - look, not save). This in part its PC heritage and Corel's difficulty
(as a generalization). My first impression is that ArtE simply includes photos,
Masterclips was more selective in which photographers work they chose, and
Corel enhances the photos, perhaps too much so, but I can not say. Keep your eye
on Corel for some photos at Stock Library quality levels (but without high res
(300-600 DPI) or clipping paths. BTW, the quality of the photos is really quite
comparable to, say ... Metaphotos, so be prepared for some fun, fireworks,
sunsets, skys, space shots (galaxies). Their is more artistry, "late 90s look", and
lighting prowess in the expensive photo libabries ($150 for 40 shots, etc.)
I had high expectations for their 750 fonts, since I have gotten some nice ones
from CorelDraw (which I hate!) from my PC days. I was in particular looking for
an ultra condensed Swiss - it is even shown in their catalog (the best font catalog
of any of these 3) but it was not included. BTW, the ultra condensed Swiss allows
for a tall font look without having to go into Illustrator.
Their catalog, overall is maybe the most useful because it is in color. Because we
work in NTSC/PAL, color is an important issue and this catalog can save you time.
Their browser is very good in that you can double click on an image, it will
expand and you can export from there. However, here is a WARNING: Corel
provides their stuff in a proprietary vector format, CMX (?) which must then be
saved to EPS. Their browser is quicker, but this is a little more time consuming.
As far as I can tell the conversion is flawless, but this is another example of it
being more "PC".
Why am I sending Corel back? It is certainly worth $45 (and I hate spending a
half hour or more boxing and dropping this off at UPS). But the Publishers
Toolbox catalog shows a version of Corel, 200,000 images for the PC at $49 (which
would be $45 at CDW). CDW doesn't have it for the Mac, and doesn't know when
it will be out, if ever. In the meantime, I will keep myself busy with ArtE and
Masterclips. If 200,000 comes out for the Mac, I will buy it.
TIP: With Vector art if you aren't satisfied with the aspect ratio of something you
open up into PS, then close it out and reopen, this time *deselect* "constrain
aspect ratio". You can then type in a different value for, say the vertical values.
TIP: Use the mode pulldown menu to integrate clips into your images. That is the
norm, dissolve, overlay, etc. pulldown.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
1. There are 28 CDs, not 14 in the Masterclips 150,000 library. The first and
second folder look identical and the Cds look similar, therefore I thought they had
double-shipped me. Does this new quantity change my mind on this series? It
makes it even more attractive, but I would still take ArtE if I could only have one
(like on a desert island).
2. Corel will *not* be coming out with a 200,000 clip art library for the Mac any
time soon, according to a representative in Canada. The 110,000 images is all we
will get on the Mac. No great loss (however, I would buy it in an instant if it
comes out just for the photos).
Our kids can look forward to the 2.3 billion clip art library on 14 17-gig DVDs.
Bud Parker
P.S. Would love to hear your opinions.