You've no doubt heard the phrase; Everything old is new again. And it's not that there is anything wrong with that, there just seems to be a
big wave of old things coming back. From platform shoes to the VW Beetle, while the old is back in vogue, there is new packaging and some improvements.
This is certainly true for the latest offering from
Broderbund and the ClickArt Company they acquired a few years ago. If you've ever walked through an antique store, you no doubt have marveled at the fine artwork that went into those old post cards and greeting cards.
The classic images of Santa Claus, or men and women at an event or the old flowers. Even if they are in mint condition, there is just something about the colors that tells you it is old. You find 8,500 images in
the just released collection called, Fine Art.
The collection joins the others from ClickArt including collections from 10,000 images to 200,000 images as well as special collections with Christian graphics and
Celebrations & Holidays, which I have reviewed previously.
This collection is great for anyone who appreciates the old style of artwork including black and white line art, oil and watercolor paintings, and
reproductions of old greeting cards and post cards and over 200 photographs. There are also illustrations from various children's as well as travel and reference books and more. I think this is a great companion
to the Celebrations & Holidays set or any set for that matter. Since you can get mega-packs with thousands of images, most of which you will never use, it's nice to have these collections. That way if you want
to make some cards to send out for an occasion this year and want to bring back a classic image, then this collection will have something that you will like. In addition to the images, there are some Artistic
alphabets and some free fonts. My only complaint is that the free fonts are ones you probably already have on your system-just under a different name, but that's another article.
In order to make it easier to find the
graphic or photo you want, CompuPic has been included so you can easily page through thumbnails of the images just like they are in the nice color reference manual. I really like the trend from several companies of
putting the single disk in a pouch in the back of the book as in this program so you don't lose it. And like the other collections, the images can be used in any graphics program. In the past, if you didn't own
Broderbund's PrintShop, you were out of luck. Now you can use the artwork and photos anywhere.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it's much easier to pay $30 for someone else to have gone to all of the trouble of
scanning in all of those old cards and pictures than doing it yourself. I know scanners are popular these days, but it's time consuming!
The ClickArt Fine Art collection has very minimal requirements and will
work on Windows 3.x or 95 or 98 with the appropriate hardware including 4MB RAM for Windows 3.x and 8MB for Windows 95. At least a 2X CD-ROM and 8MB of hard disk space.
The suggested retail price is $29.95.
You can get more information or buy online at http://www.broderbund.com
