I first encountered Broderbund's THE PRINT SHOP back in my old Commodore 64 days of the
mid 1980s. Although there were other graphics programs at that time for the old 8-bit, 1 megahertz machines, THE PRINTSHOP was what I used most. I'm not sure if it was how intuitive the program was (and still is), but
even when using other programs, there were always features in THE PRINT SHOP I could use.As I move ahead 11 years to DELUXE ENSEMBLE III, there are some important similarities. First, just as in 1986, I still have
never once opened the book to figure out how to use all the features of THE PRINT SHOP. In fact even if you've never seen the program, I'll bet you will be able to print out something really nice the first time you
double- click it's icon. Now not everyone is quite as intuitive as I am, so you may have to reference some special feature, but I haven't found any easier way to make stationary, signs, cards or banners.
The second
thing about PRINT SHOP, even from it's early times, is that graphics and fonts are plentiful. And I don't mean just a group of things you'll never use. I have always gone over to whatever version of PRINT SHOP I was
using to a graphic or make a fancy title for use in another program. The same is true in the new version. PRINT SHOP DELUXE ENSEMBLE III has over 5000 graphics and 100 fonts and includes a simple graphics finder so if
you want all the graphics that include trees, just type "trees". No more paging through lists for that perfect graphic.
Those of you familiar with THE PRINT SHOP DELUXE ENSEMBLE II know that the program will
create Greeting cards, Signs & Posters, Calendars, Banners, Labels, and Stationary. With DELUXE ENSEMBLE III, the first major enhancement is the fact that it's 32-bit and for WINDOWS 95 only. (A version is available
for WINDOWS 3.1 users.)
Along with the added speed of true 32-bit processing, the new version adds something for those who spend more time reading E-mail than Snail Mail-- Online Greetings. Now, if you don't want to
spend the money to send a card the old fashioned way (or you forgot it was Aunt Bessie's Birthday until it was already that day), you can E-mail a colorful card. All that's required on the other end is a program that
will read .JPG files and an E-MAIL address.
Other major enhancements include a dictionary and thesaurus as well as being able to make 1/2 page greeting cards instead of just 1/4 page and they have increased the number
of input filters adding things like JPG, etc. Despite all of the great things I can say about THE PRINT SHOP, the one negative is their proprietary graphics format. While being able to import graphics from most other
programs, the only way to get a graphic from the PRINT SHOP library is to load the program and either copy the graphic to the clipboard or load a separate exporting program.
Besides that small inconvenience, I would
certainly recommend PRINT SHOP DELUXE ENSEMBLE III whether you want to make calendars and cards for yourself, or use it's great graphics and features for professional projects as addition to other programs like
CorelDraw! In fact I saw a newspaper ad the other day with a PRINT SHOP background and graphics. The Minimum System requirements include: 486 33Mhz processor with 8 meg of RAM (16 MEG recommended) 15 MEG of hard drive
space (full install takes 51 MEG) CD ROM Drive, SVGA monitor/display card with 256 colors (640X480) and a Windows compatible mouse.
Additional reviews by Doug Hess Jr. are available at his
