Each object acts as an independent object. Various objects can be grouped and ungrouped while layers can be selected for performing various functions to the objects on them.

According to the advertising literature, some of the other features of Design are: Point and click joining of images, support of Photoshop plugin filters, Viewing of images in both RGB and CMYK modes, editable Bezier curves, resolution independence, drag and drop colors and styles, and integration with existing application by importing and exporting. In addition the system requirements were not prohibitive. The minimum requirements are: A 486 DX 2/66 with 16 megs of ram and win 95 or NT 3.51 or NT 4. The recommended system is a Pentium or Alpha with at least 32 megs of ram, a pressure sensitive tablet, and a 24 bit color graphics adapter. The list price is $799.

Design has a very different interface than do most image editing or vector drawing programs. With a good manual or good online help, this would not be a problem. However, while the manual is very attractive, I found that it did not help much in explaining how to use the program. The online help was not much better. Parts of the online help were actually missing. In addition, there is no tutorial included with the software.

Usually if one is familiar with other image editing or vector drawing programs, it is not hard to learn the rudiments of another program. But this program's interface is extremely different and has some elements that are not explained. For example, when I tried to use my Wacom digitizing tablet with the program, I could not get the brush to paint even though I could move objects and select them. I could not find any information on the situation. Finally upon calling the company, I was told to go into preferences and change the "pressure levels." The original setting was 124. I was told to change it to 25. Another example involved importing TIFF files from MetaTool's Power Photo lV CD. While I could import them into Photoshop and Painter, I could not import them into Design. Once again upon calling the North American branch of the company, I was told that this version, version 1, does not support the PowerPhoto CD's.

Each time that I had a problem performing a function, the company was able to tell me how to proceed. Thus, I know that Design works and can work well. However, the directions to use it are very poor and thus hold back the user. I am still excited about the possibilities that this program possesses, but have had to spend inordinately too much time trying to learn the program.

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