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Picture Publisher

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Picture Publisher
Original authorAstral Development
Developers
  • Astral Development (1989–1991)
  • Micrografx (1991–2002)
Initial releaseJanuary 1989; 36 years ago (1989-01)
Final release
10.0 / 2002; 23 years ago (2002)
Platform
TypeRaster graphics editor
LicenseProprietary software

Picture Publisher is a raster graphics editor originally developed by Astral Development for Microsoft Windows in 1989. In 1991, Micrografx acquired Astral and took over development of Picture Publisher, giving it a massive overhaul for its third version. It was one of the first graphics editors for Windows and was lauded by technology journalists for its versatility.[1][2] Among Windows-based graphics editors, it competed with ZSoft's Publisher's Paintbrush and Aldus' PhotoStyler.[2]

Features

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Astral versions

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Versions 1.0 through 2.5 were developed by Astral Development Corporation for Windows 2.0.[3] Intended for image editing of scanned originals or digitized still frames of video, it was one of the first advanced image editing programs for Windows.[4]

Any grayscale TIFF file can be opened up in Picture Publisher; alternatively, the software can interface with a number of grayscale scanners or video digitizers. Once an image is loaded, the user can manipulate the image's tone, contrast, and brightness. The user can also perform various retouching tools, including paint, airbrush, rectangular selection, freehand masking, and copying and pasting.[4] The program also contains a number of global filters that affect the entire image.[5]: 258  As well, the user may crop, scale, rotate, and mirror their images. Once finished, the user can output their finalized image in a variety of file formats supported by desktop publishing applications, including Aldus's PageMaker and Xerox's Ventura Publisher.[4]

A key feature of Picture Publisher was its ability to bypass a technical limitation of Windows 2.0. While this version of Windows typically supports displaying only a few shades of gray when using a VGA graphics card, Picture Publisher can display and manipulate as many as 256 levels of gray (8-bit grayscale).[4] It achieves this by bypassing Windows' GDI and writing directly to the video controller card in Mode 13h. A color palette with 64 shades of gray is selected, and a bespoke GUI is presented to the user. This has the disadvantage of reducing the resolution of the display down to 320 by 200 pixels; additionally, it is not capable of displaying images in 8-bit grayscale.[5]: 257  Furthermore, some actions such as changing the size of the paintbrush and applying global filters requires the program to switch back to Windows' GDI, where the grayscale bit depth is severely limited.[5]: 258  Nonetheless, Picture Publisher can manipulate and output images in 8-bit grayscale with the full gamut preserved with every action; it was the first Windows application capable of this feat.[6]

In September 1990, Astral released Picture Publisher Plus, a separate package of Picture Publisher that added support for 8-bit and 24-bit color.[7] Astral sold the standard Picture Publisher and Picture Publisher simultaneously, the latter costing $100 more retail.[7] In February 1991, Astral released Picture Publisher Mac for Classic Mac OS (at the time, System 6), supporting both grayscale and color images.[8][9] Initially touted in late 1989, the release of Picture Publisher Mac was delayed for over a year.[10][8]

Micrografx versions

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In March 1991, Micrografx acquired Astral Development Corporation for $5 million in a stock swap, strictly for the rights to Picture Publisher.[11] For version 3.0, Micrografx rewrote Picture Publisher nearly from scratch in order to support Windows 3.0—itself an extensive overhaul of Windows 2.0.[12][2] Unlike previous versions of Picture Publisher, version 3.0 is capable of handling both grayscale and color images (up to 24-bit color depth). Micrografx based the interface for version 3.0 of Picture Publisher on the company's Windows Draw vector graphics editor. According to PC Magazine, Picture Publisher 3.0 was the first graphics editor for Windows with freely adjustable Bezier curves within its path-clipping tool.[2]

Version history

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Version Developer Release date Notes
1.0 Astral January 1989[3] Initial release
2.0 Astral October 1989[13]
2.1 Astral December 1990[3]
Mac Astral January 1991[9] Mac-only version
Plus 2.5 Astral September 1990[7] First version to support color
2.5 Astral January 1991[3]
3.0 Micrografx February 1992[3]
3.1 Micrografx June 1992[14]
4.0 Micrografx June 1993[15]
5.0 Micrografx September 1994[16]
6.0 Micrografx 1996[17]
7.0 Micrografx 1997[18]
8.0 Micrografx 1998[19]
9.0 Micrografx 2001[20]
10.0 Micrografx 2002[21] Final version; split into two SKUs: Professional (for advanced users) and Digital Camera Edition (for novice users)

Micrografx also published lightweight versions of Picture Publisher under the name Picture Publisher LE across various version, usually bundled with scanners.[22]: 263 

References

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  1. ^ Larish, John J. (1993). Photo CD: Quality Photos at Your Fingertips. Micro Publishing Press. p. 86. ISBN 9780941845090 – via the Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d Simon, Barry (April 14, 1992). "Picture Publisher 3.0: A Rich Set of Tools for 24-Bit-Color Image Editing". PC Magazine. Vol. 11, no. 7. Ziff-Davis. p. 42 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c d e Safi, Quabidur R. (August 17, 1992). "ZSoft, Micrografx products let users see the big picture". PC Week. Vol. 9, no. 33. Ziff-Davis. p. 78 – via Gale.
  4. ^ a b c d Picarille, Lisa (March 13, 1989). "Software adds real-time image editing to Windows". PC Week. Vol. 6, no. 10. Ziff-Davis. p. 22 – via Gale.
  5. ^ a b c Poor, Alfred (September 25, 1990). "Between Black and White: 6 Gray-scale Editors". PC Magazine. Vol. 9, no. 17. Ziff-Davis. pp. 237–265 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Barron, Donna (January 30, 1989). "Scanners improve publishing's image". PC Week. Vol. 6, no. 4. Ziff-Davis. pp. S8 et seq. – via Gale.
  7. ^ a b c Staff writer (October 1, 1990). "Enthusiasm for Windows 3.0 shows no sign of slowing up". PC Week. Vol. 7, no. 39. Ziff-Davis. pp. S43 et seq. – via Gale.
  8. ^ a b Abernathy, Aileen (April 1991). "Desktop Publishing". MacUser. Vol. 8, no. 1. Ziff-Davis. p. 35 – via Gale.
  9. ^ a b Staff writer (January 7, 1991). "News briefs". PC Week. Vol. 8, no. 1. Ziff-Davis. p. 35 – via Gale.
  10. ^ Watt, Peggy (September 25, 1989). "Astral Shows Macintosh Version of Its Updated Picture Publisher". InfoWorld. Vol. 11, no. 39. IDG Publications. p. 14 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Staff writer (March 21, 1991). "Micrografx buys Astral for its Picture Publisher". Computergram International. GlobalData. p. CGI03210006 – via Gale.
  12. ^ Garretson, Rob (May 1992). "Micrografx's easy image editor". PC World. Vol. 10, no. 5. IDG Publications. p. 48 – via Gale.
  13. ^ Staff writer (October 30, 1989). "Software applications packages". Computerworld. Vol. XXIII, no. 44. IDG Publications. p. 53 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ Borzo, Jeanette (June 8, 1992). "Picture Publisher does more for less in Version 3.1". InfoWorld. Vol. 14, no. 23. IDG Publications. p. 29 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Mallory, Jim (June 30, 1993). "Micrografx ships Picture Publisher 4.0 for Windows". Newsbytes. WP Company. p. NEW06300007 – via Gale.
  16. ^ Mallory, Jim (September 20, 1994). "Micrografx ships Picture Publisher 5.0 for Windows". Newsbytes. WP Company. p. NEW09200030 – via Gale.
  17. ^ Cringely, Robert X. (September 23, 1996). "Pick and choose: The grapevine is ripe with the fruit of your inquiries". InfoWorld. Vol. 18, no. 39. IDG Publications. p. 142 – via Gale.
  18. ^ Scott, Jeffrey C. (November 1997). "Give your graphics a new image". Computer Shopper. Vol. 16, no. 15. SX2 Media Labs. p. 425 – via Gale.
  19. ^ Staff writer (October 1998). "Picture Publisher 8". Computer Shopper. Vol. 18, no. 10. SX2 Media Labs. p. 286 – via Gale.
  20. ^ Joseph, Cliff (August 2001). "Picture Publisher 9". PC Magazine. Vol. 10, no. 8. United Kingdom: ZDNet. p. 72 – via Gale.
  21. ^ Joseph, Cliff (February 2002). "Picture Publisher Professional 10". PC Magazine. Vol. 11, no. 2. United Kingdom: ZDNet. p. 37 – via Gale.
  22. ^ Jones, Mitt (April 14, 1992). "Nine Desktop Scanners That Do It All". PC Magazine. Vol. 11, no. 7. Ziff-Davis. pp. 247–297 – via Google Books.
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