 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group SmartDraw 3.1 Bernadette Houghton bernieh@iaccess.com.au |
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If you're in the market for a business drawing program and don't need a lot
of fancy fripperies, SmartDraw may suit you. It is a fairly bare-bones program, but has a few features that
magically automate some commonly tricky tasks. You won't have to spend a lot of time mastering its
intricacies, and if you only use it once in a while, it won't take much re-learning.
You can evaluate SmartDraw for 45 days before deciding whether to purchase it. Fully enabled 16- and 32-bit
trial versions are distributed through various online sources, including the Internet. When you go ahead and
purchase SmartDraw, you'll be sent a copy of both the 16- and 32-bit versions, a manual and a collection of
1500+ templates and prepared shapes. Similarly to other diagramming programs, SmartDraw organises its shapes
into symbol libraries, which you can add to or re-organise if you wish. Libraries cover a range of areas,
including flowcharting, electrical and mechanical engineering, space planning, network diagramming and so on.
New symbol libraries are also available from time to time on the SmartDraw Web site.
How it works
The easiest and quickest way to create a drawing is to open a template and modify the existing template
diagram. All templates contain not only pre-defined settings for specific drawing types, but also simple
drawings. For those people who find blank white screens rather intimidating, they are a great convenience.
While the templates are geared to the imperial measurement system, you can convert them to metric if need
be.
Drawing tools include Text, Line, Curve, Segmented Line, Connector Line and 18 enclosed shapes. Unlike other
drawing programs, which mostly use single tools for squares and rectangles, or circles and ellipses, Smart
Draw has separate tools for each. This makes them easier to use, since you don't have to remember to hold
down another key when creating squares and circles. Connector lines are good for creating flowcharts and
similar diagrams, since they remain connected however much you move or re-size the linked shape. There is no
freehand drawing tool, but you can access further shapes, called SmartDrawings, in the symbol libraries.
SmartDrawings are programmable at a rudimentary level - you can control their default size, how they behave
when re-sized and how they accept text (inside, above, below or not at all). You can create your own
SmartDrawings, either with SmartDraw or other Windows drawing programs, and index them so you can easily find
them later with the Symbol Browser.
There are two ways to add shapes to your page:
- You can drag them from the standard toolbar or a symbol library and drop them where you wish - shapes made this way have similar sizes
- You can click on a shape button and then drag the shape out to the size you want.
To add text to a shape, you simply select it and begin typing; the shape grows proportionally to accommodate it. Text attached to shapes this way moves and rotates with the shape. Where the text appears in relation to the shape depends on how the shape has been previously programmed. Once you've entered the text, you can't change its location unless you delete the shape, re-program it and then drag it out again. Text formatting is quite flexible, with SmartDraw having the ability to format text character-by-character, giving free rein to your bad taste! Bullets are easy to insert, and a nice touch is the Increase/Decrease Text Size button on the toolbar. I did regret the absence of a drop-down font listing, though.
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SmartDraw supports most features common to other drawing packages, including basic snap-to-grid, alignment,
object stacking, shape locking, styles, rotation, flipping and so on. You can break vector shapes apart,
change them and then recombine them. However, this only works if the shapes form a closed loop and the ends
of the lines match precisely; a very tricky process, I found. Compatible with Microsoft Office, SmartDraw can
act as either an Office "applet" or a stand-alone application. It will export and import WMF, TIF, GIF, PCX,
BMP and JPEG, and is also an OLE 2.0 server.
SmartDraw is particularly useful for creating flowcharts. Its automatic layout feature means you can simply
drop a shape onto the page to have it inserted into the chart at that point, complete with connecting lines.
Other shapes rearrange themselves without further ado, so you can insert new shapes, re-arrange them or
remove them effortlessly; the basic shape of the chart remains the same whatever you do. This is a definite
time-saver.
More nice features
- The ability to change the shape of lines, connectors and other objects with a click or two; for example, a Horizontal Double Fishbone Chart to a Two Column Organisation Chart, or a square to a circle of the same size
- Automatic centring of a drawing on the page
- Automatic dimensioning for lines and curves, with the dimensions altering whenever you resize the line
- One click resizing of an object to match another
- A Duplicate tool which recognises when you move a duplicated object, and places further duplications at a similar offset from each other
- The ability to link other drawings, programs, web pages or documents with a shape or line. By double-clicking the linked object, you can launch the associated document or program. Links are indicated by boxed cross symbols beside linked shapes.
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You can jump straight in and learn SmartDraw without opening the manual, since helpful hints appear every time you make a mistake or try something new. These are quite detailed and sometimes intrusive, but they occur only once in each drawing session. You can also switch them off when you no longer need them.
Assessment
SmartDraw is not a difficult or complex program. Most of its features are quite limited, but it does have some redeeming qualities. These include its very simplicity and its ability to perform some complex manipulations with only a click or two.You can also become proficient with very little effort, thanks to the pop-up hints and the straight-forward interface. While it is most suited to flowcharts and general business diagrams, it will do a reasonable job with other kinds of drawings as long as your requirements remain fairly simple.
Don't purchase SmartDraw for its flexibility or range of features, but if you need something that lets you create standard drawings quickly, it's worth a look.
Reprinted from the February 1998 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
