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Okay, so while I have to, and will have to, support Adobe applications, I don't feel like re-learning how to use my friggin' UI just to have the glory of their application icons in my Dock. I'm glad that people for whom CS is the OS are thrilled. I'm not one of them, nor shall I ever be, and I'm finally just as tired of "The Adobe Way" as I am of "The Microsoft Way".

I haven't needed InDesign since Pages 3, and Keynote takes care of all my presentation needs. (Since the Acrobat team evidently thinks that no one on the Mac ever uses presentation software, the new presentation mode is Windows only.)

So what I need is a low-ish end replacement for both Photoshop and Illustrator.

I don't need all the features perfectly replicated. I don't mind paying. But I do have some areas where I'm not willing to bend:

1. A proper Mac OS X UI. Read: Not CS4 bullshit, and no fucking X11, or "let's slap just enough native code on it so it doesn't need X11". It must be an application written for the Mac. Cross-platform is fine, but shitacular port is not.


2. It has to have a proper AppleScript dictionary. No custom scripting shit, no "you can use shell". Fuck that. A proper dictionary. Not one that only has the required items suite, or one that is all read only. (Note to developers. If you want help building a good dictionary, email me, we'll talk. Helping you with this helps me in the long run.) It also must support UI scripting, but that should never be the answer to a scripting dictionary.


3. Obviously, they must support, at very least, really solid import of .psd and .ai files, and that support must be current as of today and kept current.

So what do y'all recommend? Note that I know about Graphic Converter, but that's not exactly the same thing. Having a demo would be nice, but it's not a showstopper, I can usually get myself access to stuff if I need. Legally even.

So leave titles and URLs in the comments, and I'll talk about them as I try them.

Technorati Tags:
Adobe Acrobat Team = Annoying, Adobe Can Kiss My Ass, Adobe: Simplicity is our enemy

Comments

I haven't used any of these programs save Pixelmator, which I have mildly positive views of. That said, I have seen a couple of comparison reviews that at least give a starting point and more depth than the usual magazine review:

Photoshop replacements:
http://jonwhipple.com/blog/2007/10/29/image-is-everything/

http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2008/02/19/pixelmator-acorn-iris-and-drawit-doing-real-world-tasks/

Illustrator replacements:
http://jonwhipple.com/blog/2008/05/25/drawing-conclusions/

I like it that both of these authors concentrate more on behavior and how-well-does-it-work than on feature checkoffs.

Posted by: The_Prof | June 6, 2008 3:46 PM

Hi:

I agree completely, especially about the Applescriptability. I'm not an artist, but I like to draw things programmatically and process large sets of images in variable-based workflows where the variables are located in other programs such as Filemaker.

I bought Intaglio and am very satisfied.

h

Posted by: hooey | June 6, 2008 4:05 PM

Stone studio has been around for a while

http://www.stone.com/iMaginator/iMaginator.html

Posted by: thecman | June 25, 2008 9:44 PM

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