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SOHO Business Cards Version History
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| Key Improvements |
- Now fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
- **** REQUIRES MAC OS X 10.5 (LEOPARD). DOWNLOAD VERSION 2.5.1 IF YOU NEED MAC OS 10.4 (TIGER) COMPATIBILITY ****
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Key Improvements |
- Now runs under Tiger AND Leopard
- High resolution images occasionally were drawn at low resolution -- fixed.
- Standalone inspector windows were sometimes being incorrectly repositioned under the selected graphics (standalone inspectors shouldn't move) -- fixed.
- Holding down the shift key while resizing a photo now ALWAYS keeps the photo correctly proportioned.
- Photo objects (photos with a built-in mask for a transparent background) sometimes appeared with white backgrounds -- fixed.
- Renamed the "Color Wash" effect as "Tint". Also added Tint controls to the Color tools in the inspector window when an image is selected.
- EPS images aren't a native image format on Mac OS X although they can be displayed with the help of a converter. The converter is very slow so as soon as an EPS image is added to a design, we convert it to a PDF.
- New built-in updater system allows the application to be automatically updated without downloading and running an installer application.
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Key Improvements |
- Added a Print button to the toolbar in Preview mode
- Fixed problem that would cause images dragged from the Favorites bin to the canvas to not work properly
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Key Improvements |
- Added several image optimizations that make the software more responsive and result in much smaller files when documents are exported in PDF format.
- There's now an "Image Display Quality" preference that sets the resolution of images DISPLAYED in the software. The "Print Quality" preference sets the resolution of images when they are PRINTED. So it's possible to display lower resolution images in the software for faster performance while still outputting high resolution images in printouts.
- Any closed shape can now be defined as an Image Placeholder. A text box can also be defined as an Image Placeholder so when an image is dropped on the text box, the image will be cropped by the text.
- When a grouped set of graphics is selected, the resize "knobs" are drawn differently so the user knows that a group is selected. Plus, the inspector window provides a button for selecting individual members of the group.
- When a group is double-clicked or control-clicked, we display a contextual menu allowing the user to select individual members of the group.
- When an image is cropped, the inspector window provides a circular slider and angle field for precisely controlling the rotation of the image being cropped. There are also buttons for flipping the image horizontally or vertically.
- The Smart Inspector window is even smarter about where it appears relative to the selected graphic(s). It's positioned so it won't obscure the selected graphic(s) if at all possible.
- An image can now be tiled within a shape. To do this, crop the image with the shape and choose "Tile Image" from the Geometry menu in the inspector window's Crop tools.
- Locked graphics can now be selected and unlocked individually. Previously, ALL locked graphics had to be unlocked at the same time.
- Alignment guides (that appear when objects are moved around) are now more precise. Guides are displayed for the center of the page and the page edges making it easier to "snap" objects to the center or sides of the page.
- Added a "Soft Color" fill option for shapes. This setting draws a customizable "soft" fill in the center of the shape or around the edges of the shape.
- Added "Distribute Horizontally" and "Distribute Vertically" commands. These commands position 3 or more selected objects so the space between them is equal.
- When a document is selected in the Finder, a thumbnail preview of the document is displayed.
- Added a new Bezier Shape that allows the user to create virtually any kind of shape. The shape is defined by a series of control points and handles.
- We now correctly update the file extension to the new version 2 extension when saving a document using the "Save As" command (previously, only the Save command was working correctly).
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Key Improvements |
- Blank documents were sometimes being saved with a version 1 file extension which caused problems when saving the file -- fixed.
- The File > Change Layout command couldn't be used to change the layout of a document created in version 1 -- fixed.
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Key Improvements |
- Fixed a problem where a "Temporary Files" folder wouldn't be correctly created on disk. This may have caused certain images in a document to disappear when saving the file.
- When creating a new business card document, it's automatically set to print a full page of cards (rather than a single card). The number of cards to be printed can be changed using the "Repeat" popup button at the bottom of the window in Preview mode.
- Fixed some shadow drawing issues related to lines w/ arrowheads.
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New Features |
- Smart Inspector. The new Smart Inspector in SOHO Business Cards appears only when needed and is context-sensitive so you only see the tools you currently need.
- Business Card Wizard. The new Business Card Wizard makes it easy to see and choose exactly the kind of business card you wish to create.
- Favorites Bin. The new Favorites Bin makes it easy for you to store and re-use designer graphics and shape artwork that you have created.
- Text Bin. The new Text Bin makes it easy for you to define, store, and re-use common text styles like titles, headings, captions, address text, etc.
- Single Window Interface. The interface has been streamlined to fit in a single window.
- Object Grouping. Graphics, text, and shapes can now be grouped together as a single object that can be moved, resized, and rotated as a single entity.
- Unlimited Layers. Artwork can now be placed on an unlimited number of layers including the standard Foreground and Background layers.
- 100+ Super-Masks. Super-masks take regular masks one step forward by giving you fine control over how the mask is applied to an image.
- 30+ Special Effects. Over 30 special effects like Sepia, Gaussian Blur, Sparkle, and more in 8 different categories (Photo Effects, Color, Blur, Distortion, Stylize, Lighting, Tile, Halftone) can be applied to an image.
- Photo Fine-Tuning. Quickly and easily adjust the brightness, contrast, sharpness, exposure, and more of any photo without permanently altering the photo.
- Photo Cropping. You can now easily crop photos to the aspect ratio of your choice.
- Crop Zooming. You can now zoom the image in a crop while you're performing the crop.
- Grid Overlay or Underlay. Now you can choose to have the grid appear above all of the artwork or behind all of the artwork for precise object placement.
- Lock & Unlock Objects. You can now easily lock a graphic, shape, or text on the design canvas so it can't be accidentally moved or deleted.
- Double-Sided Card Canvas. The front and back sides of a double-sided business card now appear next to each other on the design canvas so both sides can be conveniently viewed and designed.
- Folding Card Canvas. The exterior and interior sides of a folded business card now appear next to each other on the design canvas so both sides can be conveniently viewed and designed.
- Perspective Tool. The perspective tool lets you easily distort a two dimensional image to give the impression of depth.
- Arrow Smart Shapes. You can now easily create arrows of any size and proportion including one-way and two-way arrows.
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