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Subject:Re: Diagrams that make you go OOOHHH... From:Lou Quillio <quillio -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:51:19 -0500
John Posada wrote:
> So...my question: What applications similar to Visio have you used
> that produced "POW!" visuals? Visio doesn't have elements that are
> sexy enough in my opinion. I'm looking at Smartdraw, which is closer
> to what I have in mind. However, before I settle on that, I'm asking
> for your opinions on what else you may have used.
SmartDraw's great, and you can have a fully-functional trial in a few
moments. It's not fundamentally different from Visio; you'll get it in
no time. The main benefit of SD over Visio is speed. You can drop all
manner of primitives and imported graphics into SD and jigger, juggle
and align them easily and intuitively. Visio hasn't caught-up to SD in
this regard. Dunno why.
Repeat: SD is very Visio-like, and not by definition sexier. It's
just, err, smarter. And it doesn't over-think.
Make a big canvas, group and ungroup like a whore. move stuff out of
your hair then move it back. Can you tell I miss SmartDraw? Nothing
quite like it for desktop Linux or OS X.
Sounds like you need a concept more than a tool, though.
Nevertheless, learning curve's short for SD (if you know Visio). If
your first impression is good, I'm pretty sure you won't hit a
frustration wall at 3:00pm. Just works.
Try it tonight, then you'll know. And if you go that way and get stuck,
I'm around most of the day tomorrow. Could boot Windows in a pinch.
louquillio -at- mac -dot- com
tontonlouis -at- hotmail -dot- com
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