Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 Ver2, PD2, is a powerful graphics/photo editor and drawing program, made to integrate with Microsoft Office software. As such, it is touted to be the all-in-one business graphics program designed for Office users, but it may also be used as stand-alone software for other general graphics needs. It allows a user to easily create finished professional graphics for printed documents, the Web, and presentations by seamlessly combining photos, clip art, drawings, and illustrations. The software comes with an extensive collection of ready-made design elements.

PD2 sells from Microsoft on the Internet for $109 and requires the following minimum PC system characteristics: a Pentium 166 CPU, or better; Win95/WinNT (Work Station 4); Super VGA (1M VRAM); hard-drive space of 190M (for program) plus 100M (for graphics manipulation).

It come with 3 CDs, two of which mainly contain ready-made graphic items like clip art or templates. Included are 450 professionally designed templates, 20,000 clip art and stock photos, 400 handy shapes, drawing and painting tools, etc. Wizards enhance and expedite the manipulation of graphic items and techniques for hard copy and web outputs. PD2 supports TWAIN compliant input devices (e.g. scanners), pressure sensitive drawing tablets and digital cameras. It interfaces with 21 (BMP, CDR, JPEG, PNG, PSD, etc.) input file formats, and can produce just 8 popular (BMP, GIF, JPEG, TGA, etc) file formats. However, PD2 does not import PSP (Paint Shop Pro 6) graphics. Also, in the software package, is a sizeable 164-page user’s manual containing advice and descriptions for using PD2.

Installation of PD2 was trouble free and took 78.1M on my hard drive. Activating Tutorial from the opening window or from the programs Help function, gives one access to an excellent set of lessons which, if pursued, takes one well on the way to becoming competent in graphic design. This tutorial leads one through a set of logical steps covering the multitude of possible, PD2, graphic manipulations, which one can view to learn the effect each produces. For image file management, the PD2 software has a Browser with an Explorer-type window that automatically produces all the thumbnail recognizable images contained in any computer file highlighted.

PD2 has a standard set of drawing tools: lines, shapes, templates, etc. These worked successfully, but I used them mostly in conjunction with photo editing. Without any problems, I was able to import images from my scanner, webcam, graphic files and the Internet. Using various paint tools and artistic brushes, I made changes (wiped out text, brushed in colors, brushed out anomalies, etc,) to my liking. The PD2 software has a particular set of tools, Touchup, for nifty, fast, fundamental, photo improvements. Each of these tools (Brightness & Contrast, Correct Tint, Blur & Sharpen, Red Eye Fix, Remove Dust, Remove Scratch, Clone, Smudge, and Erase) can produce graduated changes in photo details or automatic changes in the overall appearance of a photo. Most of the photos I worked on were materially improved by the use of the automatic feature. Moreover, I was easily able to combine text, photos, drawings … separately generrated and manipulated … into a desired composite graphic. This was so because of the user-friendly way layers are handled in PD2.

Just taking a trip through its Tutorial will make PD2 useful and fun-to-use.