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Software

Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

By Brien Posey August 21, 2013, 8:15 AM PDT

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Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Five apps for creating business graphics

Five apps for creating business graphics

Thisrngallery is also available as a TechRepublic Article.

Businesses large and small periodically need to createrncustom graphics for marketing and other purposes. Although Photoshop is oftenrnthe tool of choice for creating business graphics, it is far from being thernonly tool available. This article discusses a variety of graphical tools thatrncan be used to create varying types of business graphics.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a1_Corel X3 1.jpg
a1_Corel X3 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Corel Painter 1

Corel Painter 1

Five Apps

rnrn

1. Corel Painter

rnrn

CorelrnPainter is a relatively high end graphics editor. Even so, it isrnsurprisingly intuitive. Anyone who has a minimal amount of experience withrngraphics editors should have little trouble using this utility. Even so, therernare plenty of advanced features thrown in for good measure. Some of the morernadvanced features include layering, effects, and the ability to creaternanimations.

rnrnCorel Painter sells forrn$429, but a 30-day trial is available for download.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a2_Corel X3 2.jpg
a2_Corel X3 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Corel Painter 2

Corel Painter 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a3_Corel X3 3.jpg
a3_Corel X3 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Corel Painter 3

Corel Painter 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a4_Corel X3 4.jpg
a4_Corel X3 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Corel Painter 4

Corel Painter 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a5_Corel X3 5.jpg
a5_Corel X3 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Corel Painter 5

Corel Painter 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b1_Actual Drawing 1.jpg
b1_Actual Drawing 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Actual Drawing 1

Actual Drawing 1

2. Actual Drawing

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ActualrnDrawing isn’t what you would normally think of as an application forrncreating business graphics, but in the interest of variety I wanted to talkrnabout it any way.

rnrn

Actual Drawing is a Web development utility. The reason whyrnI chose to include it is because often smaller organizations struggle to creaternvisually appealing Web content. Actual Drawing allows you to build Web sitesrnwithout writing any code. Of course there are plenty of tools that do that. Whatrnmakes Actual Drawing unique is that it places a very heavy emphasis onrngraphics. The application has its own graphics editor that even offers featuresrnsuch as effects and layering.

rnrn

Actual Drawing sells for $59.00, but a free trial version isrnavailable for download.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b2_Actual Drawing 2.jpg
b2_Actual Drawing 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Actual Drawing 2

Actual Drawing 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b3_Actual Drawing 3.jpg
b3_Actual Drawing 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Actual Drawing 3

Actual Drawing 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b4_Actual Drawing 4.jpg
b4_Actual Drawing 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Actual Drawing 4

Actual Drawing 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b5_Actual Drawing 5.jpg
b5_Actual Drawing 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Actual Drawing 5

Actual Drawing 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c1_scanahand 1.jpg
c1_scanahand 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Scanahand 1

Scanahand 1

XXXX

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c2_scanahand 2.jpg
c2_scanahand 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Scanahand 2

Scanahand 2

3. Scanahand

rnrn

Scanahandrnis a utility that can be used to create custom fonts. Sometimes a graphic justrnisn’t complete without just the right font to go along with it. When you can’trnfind the font that you need, you can use Scanahand to create it. The softwarernworks by providing you with an empty template. You can print out the templaternand then draw the letters for your font. As an alternative, you could use arngraphics editor to create the letters. Once the template is completed, you canrnscan it and then create a font.

rnrnScanahand sells for $59.00,rnbut a free trial version is available for download.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c3_scanahand 3.jpg
c3_scanahand 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Scanahand 3

Scanahand 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c4_scanahand 4.jpg
c4_scanahand 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Scanahand 4

Scanahand 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c5_scanahand 5.jpg
c5_scanahand 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Scanahand 5

Scanahand 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d1_Chasys 1.jpg
d1_Chasys 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Chasys Draw IES 1

Chasys Draw IES 1

4. Chasys Draw IES

rnrn

ChasysrnDraw IES is a free tool that rivals commercial tools. Although it isrnprimarily a graphics editor, Chasys Draw IE5 can also be used to creaternprojects such as animated cursors, videos, and screencasts.

rnrn

As a drawing or photo editing tool, Chasys Draw IE5 willrnlikely be suitable for all but the most demanding applications. The applicationrnis extremely feature rich and can be extended through the use of plugins. Thosernwishing to use Chasys Draw IE5 for marketing purposes will be happy to knowrnthat it is capable of producing print quality CMYK images.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d2_chasys 2.jpg
d2_chasys 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Chasys Draw IES 2

Chasys Draw IES 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d3_Chasys 3.jpg
d3_Chasys 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Chasys Draw IES 3

Chasys Draw IES 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d4_chasys 4.jpg
d4_chasys 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Chasys Draw IES 4

Chasys Draw IES 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d5_chasys 5.jpg
d5_chasys 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Chasys Draw IES 5

Chasys Draw IES 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e1_photo to cartoon.jpg
e1_photo to cartoon.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Photo to Cartoon 1

Photo to Cartoon 1

5. Photo to Cartoon

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Photornto Cartoon is a utility that can convert a photograph into a cartoon. Thisrntype of application makes it easy to create graphics even if you have nornartistic talent.

rnrn

The interface is simple. You merely load a photo and thenrnuse slide bars to control the complexity of the outline and the number ofrncolors. You can also add a speech bubble or edit the image.

rnrnPhoto to Cartoon sells forrn$25.00, but a free ten use trial is available for download.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e2_photo to cartoon 2.jpg
e2_photo to cartoon 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Photo to Cartoon 2

Photo to Cartoon 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e3_photo to cartoon 3.jpg
e3_photo to cartoon 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Photo to Cartoon 3

Photo to Cartoon 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e4_photo to cartoon 4.jpg
e4_photo to cartoon 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Photo to Cartoon 4

Photo to Cartoon 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e5_photo to cartoon 5.jpg
e5_photo to cartoon 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create business graphics with these tools

Photo to Cartoon 5

Photo to Cartoon 5

Disclaimer: CBS Interactive Inc. isrnnot responsible for the content of the publisher’s descriptions or user reviewsrnon this site. We do not encourage or condone the use of any software inrnviolation of applicable laws. CBS Interactive Inc. does not sell, resell, orrnlicense any of the products listed on the site. We cannot be held liable forrnissues that arise from the download or use of these products.

rnrnCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

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By Brien Posey
* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator
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