Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Zen Ami businessware
Message-ID: <19947@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 18 Mar 91 18:56:59 GMT
References: <40169@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 56

In article <40169@cup.portal.com> Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com writes:

>Earlier, you wrote that you used ProfessionalDraw for the Zorro III bus
>documentation.  Out of curiousity: how could you do such extensive 
>illustration on a program that provides no way of drawing perfectly 
>vertical or horizontal lines, and does not support 'Grid Snap'?  I
>find these to be indespensible.

ProDraw did both for me just dandy.  You can switch grid snap on or off as
you like it, and pick the grid you want.  While the drawing mechanism is 
point to point, as long as you have the grid snap on, a perfectly vertical
or horizontal line is a piece of cake.

>I am not talking about any capability that cannot be done with a word 
>processor on a PC/AT, which is NOT my definition of a high-end system.
>(I've actually done this work on an PC/XT, but its s_l_o_w.)

Just because a program works on a particular system does not mean that it was
intended to be reasonable on that system, as your mention of the PC/XT points
out.  All the DTP and CAD programs for the Amiga work just fine on an A500 
hooked up to your TV set, with a little extra memory added.  That doesn't mean
such programs are really suitable for professional work at that level.  I use
the fastest Amigas around and sharp monochrome 1000x800 displays for DTP work,
and it does make a big difference.

Just about all the drawing you seem to be interested in can be handled just
dandy by most of the bitmapped drawing programs, like DPaint3 (keep in mind
that most modern programs of this type let you work on very large bitmaps).
If you don't care about vectored fonts, and just need lines and boxes, I still
don't think you really need a vectored drawing program.  I think the excellence 
of the bitmapped drawing programs on the Amiga has been responsible for most of
the vectored programs aiming for the high end drawing or CAD markets.  

In fact, I did use DPaint for my technical drawing for quite awhile.  It did
the job, and looked very nice.  I couldn't possibly use it to draw a detailed
mechanical spec, like the shape of a Zorro III card, so when I got into that,
I switched to ProDraw, and ultimately converted all my bitmapped drawings over
to vector format.  It's all much better looking now that it once was, but even
waveform drawings are more complex than the stuff you seem to be into.

>On the more positive side: everyone has given such strong recommendations
>on AmigaTeX that I'm going to give it a try.  It will have to wait til next
>month though, as I've already spent this months software budget.

Our QA group uses it for all their documentation, and they yell at me for 
wasting time with ProPage and PostScript.  From what I have learned fooling
around with AmigaTeX, they're probably right, at least for any documents
larger than 25 pages or so.

>Lee      Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com


-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
	"What works for me might work for you"	-Jimmy Buffett