The release of Micrografx Picture Publisher 10 is something of a surprise. Less than a year ago Micrografx released version 9 of its image-editing stalwart. It differed little from version 8, which had been around for two and a half years and that wasn't a radical departure from version 7.

Having finally released an upgrade worthy of the name, sporting a great many new features, the company has now been taken over by Corel, which raises a question mark over Picture Publisher's future.

Version 10 comes in two flavours - Professional Edition, which is aimed at business users and 'enthusiasts', and Digital Camera Edition (DCE) for amateur snappers. The two share a common interface, but the DCE version omits a number of features including customisable gradients and effects, CMYK support, the bevel factory and most of the web functionality. Micrografx still hasn't grasped the fact that it's ease of use, not features (or in this case lack of them) that are important to non-professional users.

On the face of it, once again, almost nothing has changed in the Picture Publisher workspace: all the new features are accessed through additions to the menu. The Effects menu has expanded to include blur effects, unsharp mask, nature effects, light studio, texture warehouse and paint studio.

There's also a new web menu with options for gif and jpeg optimisation and export, image slicing and image map tools, a contact sheet and slideshow generator.

Image slicing

Basic tools for image slicing include a horizontal and vertical slicing tool, a grid - which slices the image into a specified number of rows and columns - and an auto slicer that uses objects to determine where the slices go. There's no tool for drawing rectangular slices and neither can you adjust slices once they've been created. There is an erase tool though, which can be used to remove the boundary between slices.

You can specify slice attributes in the image slicer options panel, which includes fields for filename, URL, target and alt text as well as basic file optimisation presets. For more advanced optimisation you need to select Customise, which opens a separate Web Optimiser window.

Several new wizards have been introduced, among them an HTML slideshow and contact sheet generator. The slideshow generator creates a frames-based page with thumbnails down the side linked to full-sized images displayed in the main window.

Effects

The other additions and enhancements are mainly in the effects department. Particle Studio produces fire effects similar in style to Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000. A number of presets are included, or you can tweak the sliders before setting the flames in motion - literally. This is without doubt the hottest new feature on offer.

Texture warehouse is another feature which we've seen elsewhere (namely KPT Texture Explorer), but is nonetheless a useful and well-implemented addition.

Texture swatches are dropped onto a central panel and mutations are generated and displayed in 12 panels that surround it. By selecting from the mutated variants and tweaking the colour, transform and layer merge mode settings, you can produce interesting texture effects.

Work in progress

It's good to see that, after all these years, Picture Publisher is finally making up some lost ground. But there's plenty still to do. Features like text on a path, web export, advanced gradients, 48bit RGB colour and a raft of special effects are all welcome, but Picture Publisher has a long way to go to match the competition for ease of use and productivity.

The problem has always been that Micrografx couldn't decide who Picture Publisher was for - advanced users or owners of point-and-shoot digital cameras. Now Corel has taken over, perhaps it will give the product some much-needed direction and its interface a long overdue overhaul. We'll have to wait and see.

Price
£99.99 (£85.10 ex VAT); Digital Camera Edition £29.99

Contact
Micrografx: 01483 747526 www.micrografx.com/uk