Graphics Archive

The Problem with Global Menu Bars

Guest post by Steve [no more info was sent] 2005-04-17 Graphics 174 Comments

I've always found Global menu bars (ala Mac) to be bad usability-wise. They have numerous problems. I've always found that having a single menu bar at the top of the screen as Macs are both confusing and inefficient. Menu bars like that are leftovers from when Mac OS was primarily a single process operating system, and it should have been ditched long ago.

Adobe Creative Suite 2 announced

Eugenia Loli 2005-04-04 Graphics 20 Comments

Adobe today announced the Adobe Creative Suite 2, which includes new versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and GoLive.

The Next Big Thing in Online Type

Eugenia Loli 2005-03-23 Graphics 45 Comments

Beginning in 2006, Microsoft says it will ship with its operating system and other software products six brand new typefaces created especially for extended on-screen reading.

Understanding Usability

Guest post by Richard Spindler 2005-03-08 Graphics 126 Comments

Since usability seems to be a major topic on the OSNews forums, I think time has come to clarify some common misconceptions. Usability is not about selecting the fanciest Theme from kde-look.org, it's not about 'Reading the F*** Manual', it's not about having all application share the same looks, it's not about nice front-ends to obscure command line programs, it's not about newbie-friendliness, it's not about apt-get install foobar and it's not about setup.exe.

Achieving higher consistency between OSS graphics applications

Guest post by Bryce Harrington 2005-02-09 Graphics 35 Comments

Jozef Mak recently made a noteworthy proposal for achieving better integration of Open Source graphic applications, which has been positively received by the three communities he targeted: GIMP (for photo and image editing), Scribus (for desktop publishing), and Inkscape (for vector graphics editing). This has sparked a bit of discussion in our communities and brought up several ideas for improvement.

Gesture Interface For 3D Volumetric Displays

Eugenia Loli 2005-01-26 Graphics 2 Comments

Here's an article in Technology Research News about interfaces that allow direct gestural interaction with virtual objects contained in volumetric displays, in which output occupies a volume of space, like a crystal ball.

Raskin Receives $2 million in start-up funding to develop RCHI

Submitted by Troy Watson 2005-01-26 Graphics 59 Comments

Jef Raskin, co-creator of the Macintosh and author of The Humane Interface, has received a $2 million dollar boost to his Humane Environment project (now know as RCHI). You can download an early version from the projects website, and Raskin hopes to finish the project within 18 months. Will this be a paradigm shift in user interfaces?

Innovations in window management; WindowSizer 1.5 Released

Submitted by David Ross 2005-01-24 Graphics 15 Comments

When you have 20 or more windows open across nine virtual desktops, the complexity of window management can become overwhelming. A number of new tools are now available to facilitate effective window management. Elsewhere, you can tile your desktop windows in full screen no-gap layouts to simplify copy and paste, drag and drop, and visual comparisons. WindowSizer's window management engine will automatically resize neighboring windows to maintain a tiled layout.

Introducing Inkscape 0.4

Guest post by Bryce Harrington 2004-12-02 Graphics 51 Comments

The Inkscape Team is pleased to deliver its newest version, 0.40. The development cycle has been particularly long and intense this time, but we feel it's our best release yet.

Zoom Quilt Demonstrates Look & Feel Of 3D Zooming Interface

Eugenia Loli 2004-11-29 Graphics 11 Comments

Zoom Quilt is a collaborative art project based on Macromedia Flash that illustrates what a 3D Zooming User Interface (ZUI) might look and feel like.

Konfabulator, DesktopX and the widget wars

Guest post by Brad Wardell 2004-11-08 Graphics 26 Comments

Ideally someone else would write this article since I'm connected to DesktopX. But with all the enthusiasm over "widgets" lately and Konfabulator's release on Windows today, I've written up my best attempt at neutrality in looking at the pros of each program.

The Common Creative(s)

Guest post by Dennis Heuer 2004-10-04 Graphics 19 Comments

Over the last few weeks there were a lot of articles and discussions about how to manage a project well. From commercial success to user support nearly every subject was set on proof. However, after I've read the comments to the articles my conclusion was very plain: some minds will never change!

Professional Looking Interface Icons for Developers

Submitted by InerfaceLIFT 2004-10-01 Graphics 27 Comments

InterfaceLIFT, a source for freeware icons for both Mac OS X and Windows has launched a new section of its web site devoted to developers. The new stock icons collection makes it easier for programmers to find high-quality, royalty-free interface icons that are designed specifically for use in software and web site projects.

Finding a good Find

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-17 Graphics 16 Comments

Bryan Clark is discussing what a good "Find" dialog would be to be used with applications.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 Announced

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-15 Graphics 28 Comments

With pro features like 16-bit per channel support, camera RAW and the healing brush, Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 3.0 today. Digital photo users in particular now have the choice of this powerful application that has little competition in its range, be it the free Gimp or the similarly priced PaintShopPro. Picture Window Pro is the only photo application that can outfeature Elements (and depending on the case, even Photoshop itself sometimes). Picture Window Pro is one of the favorite applications of photography professionals and it's at the same price range as Elements, 90 USD.

Widget Wars: The battle for your Windows desktop

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-04 Graphics 30 Comments

This Fall the widget wars will move into high gear. The battle for the desktop is about to begin. And with Longhorn's XAML technology lurking in the distance (and Apple's Dashboard), widgets are likely to deliver a whole new era of desktop customization. Read the article here, by the CEO of Stardock, Brad Wardell.