The requirements are: a 486 or greater PC with win 95, 98, or NT 4, a 16-bit graphic card, 32 MB of ram with 64 recommended, and, of course, a CD-ROM player.

The program is shipped on a CD-ROM as is the manual. The program can be downloaded from the Xaos Tools website of http://www.xaostools.com and be purchased or a full working demo can be downloaded first. The purchase price of Segmation is $120 via the web or about $130 from a catalog.

The manual can be printed and is 75 pages long. It included instructions, a tutorial, and a troubleshooting section. It is easy to follow and well illustrated in color.

Using the tutorial is easy and gives a good idea of how the program works. However, more can be gained if one alters the individual settings as one progresses through the tutorial. Also, one can follow the tutorial with ones own images as I did. I chose a complicated image with lots of colors and one that was simpler.

The program requires a large amount of memory if large images, exp. 8" x 10" at 300 dpi, are used. I have 500 MB of memory with 355 MB reserved for Photoshop and I couldn't process a 20 MB image. However, one can break the image into segments, which, in addition, allows for more control.

As I played with the program and different settings, I discovered that the dpi of an image made a difference in how it would look when different color groups were rendered in outline form.

While Segmation can turn a picture into a paint-by-number image or an image rendered in outline form, it also can be used to subtly change how an image appears.

One can control how the final picture will look by separating segments of an image as to amounts of colors contained in each segment and then decide into how many pieces each section will be divided

I have slanted this review toward creating interesting color patterns by mainly using the contours and outline commands from Segmation. However, one can change the way a whole image can look by changing the color palette of that image, by using the image as a base, and/or by superimposing patterns on the image which will change as the colors of the image change, etc.

Since the demo of this program is a full demo, I suggest that one downloads it and gets to know it.

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