Anyone out there use Claris Draw?

Theala,

Did AppleWorks v6 not cut it ? I'm sure I had to upgrade all my drawings years ago. They're all in AppleWorks now, so I think I must have gone through an upgrade process, probably into ClarisWorks v3, then v4, the v5 and maybe two years ago into v6.

AppleWorks (ClarisWorks until v4) came free with new Macs until the iWork packages came along last year. v6 is Carbonised, so runs in OSX (without Classic). It is still available for sale (I saw it yesterday).

If this sounds suitable, let us know what version of MacDraw you have all your drawings in, I'll bash off a few (on my IIci), transfer them to my PMG4 and see if they open up directly in AppelWorks v6.

Theala,

OK, reality check. I never got round to using ClarisDraw, which I think dates from 1997-1998. What I used was MacDraw and MacDraw II, from 1985 and 1990.

Now, there is a patch to 1.0v3 for ClarisDraw, and another to go to 1.0v4. The 1.0v4 patch allows ClarisDraw to save files to a disk that is greater than 2Gb capacity. If these sound like they might help you, you'll have to search for them in the Older Downloads on the Apple site. Given the amount of stuff Apple are just removing from their site, sooner rather than later might be better. I'll have a look too and post back with a link if I find it. Can't promise it will be for your version of CD, ie. US instead of International English.

EDIT:

http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/ApplicationUpdates/

I did use it years ago. I had it on my LC III as late as 1999.


John

I still do use ClarisDraw. I have tried Illustrator, Canvas, EazyDraw, and CorelDraw, as well as AppleWorks and NeoWorks, and not one of them is really suitable for my very simple needs, which are making simple technical drawings -- lines and arrows and shaded boxes and such things, exportable as eps files for inclusion in TeX documents. AppleWorks comes closest to be usable, and has some of the simplicity of ClarisDraw, but it does not allow the control of dashes and arrows, for example, that I need; it is a very "lite" version of ClarisDraw. None of the other programs comes even remotely close to the ease of use, the breadth of things that can be done. I have even made presentations with single ClarisDraw files, rather like a very powerful Keynote but without the fancy transitions. The individual frames of this presentation can be transferred, via the clipboard, to the various drawing programs I mentioned, though never with perfect fidelity. Probably Illustrator 10 does the best with this, but I find it extremely hard to do simple things with Illustrator. Now I have an intel Mac, a MacBook. So I cannot use ClarisDraw at all when I am on travel with it, because so far there is no Classic environment.

People are doing all sorts of things for the Mac now, and creating unix emulators of Windows, for example Darwine-SDK. I for one would really bless anybody who came up with an emulator of Classic on the intel, so I could use this really great graphics program ClarisDraw (also Hypercard), for which, for me, there is no satisfactory replacement out there. Surely in the Mac hacker world there is such an emulator?

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.5) intel

I used Claris CAD and liked it so much that I bought (five years ago) PowerCAD - the supposed upgraded version of Claris CAD... The makers of PowerCAD (engineered software dot com, I believe) cater to the Claris CAD and Claris Draw people. Check them out; PowerCAD reads Claris CAD files.

This all relates to my problem. I have been using MacDraw II for many years in my woodworking business. It's fine. I don't need to upgrade, or learn a new program. HOWEVER. I am now converting to an Imac with OSX, including classic. But I cannot get MacDrawII to work on the new machine. I can convert my old drawings to .pict and open them in Appleworks or Word, but I can't then modify them, which I would need to do.
SO, does anybody out there know how I can use MacDrawII on my new machine, or,convert my old drawings to a form I can use in a modern program?

Bill,

I don't know about using MacDraw II in Classic under OSX but I run it in OS9 on a G4 by reducing monitor colours to 256. I also have to open files by opening the application first then opening files via File > Open. It works fine for me.

Others have said they need to reduce monitor resolution and/or use B&W.

You might also try altering the memory, down as well as up.

As these ideas have worked in OS9 they're worth trying in Classic.

Canvas 8 is also available now as a free download (sorry I've forgotten source). That will open Draw and seems to let you edit, but I have not used it in earnest. It should run in 9 or X.

There are other priced OSX apps which will open Draw.

Michael

Michael, thank you thank you thank you! Your suggestion is so simple and it completely solved the problem. It never would have occurred to me to try that. No new program, no learning curve, just remember to switch the monitor setting back and forth. You have helped me greatly; I was just about to pop for the Design Intuition program.
Bill

Bill,

Glad it worked. I really liked Draw, it beats the draw element of AW hands down in many respects. I got a beta copy of the original in 1985 (I think) without a manual of course and it was so intuitive that even a technoidiot like me could work out most of its features. I did a lot of work in it when I was running my own business.

I think (he said, with all the confidence of a man who hasn't got a clue what he's talking about) that the problems you faced were due to memory issues because of the age of the app - even in OS7 Draw II needed 32bit addressing turned off before it would run.

"just remember to switch the monitor setting back and forth"

Out of interest is that all you have to do? I can't open documents from the Finder but have to open Draw then go File > Open.

Michael

Michael

Very interesting, and Michael's suggestion reminds me of something similar that I had forgotten: certain other very old apps that I still use myself (WriteNow, MORE) ran more stably for me in OS 8 and 9 if I reduced the bit depth on my monitor to 256 colors before opening them. Strangely enough, I no longer find it necessary to do so when running them in Classic mode under Panther. Go figure!

Yes, there are a few of us still using ClarisDraw. I use it regularily under 9.2.2. Just be sure to upgrade to the latest version (1.0v4) There also exists a number of users of the Windows version. I too have been searching for a suitable replacement that will run under OS X and open ClarisDraw documents. I'll try the Canvas 8 suggestion if I can find it, but would really like someone to release an new version of ClarisDraw.

Jack

Hi, JEJ. I don't believe it's true that Canvas 8 is legally available for free, though I have no doubt that there are illegal sources for it, like everything else.

eww,

"I don't believe it's true that Canvas 8 is legally available for free, though I have no doubt that there are illegal sources for it"

I got a free full version off a Macworld (UK) cover CD which seems perfectly legit to me. I seem to recall seeing it available on 'responsible' websites as well.

Michael

who knows where i can get an update clarisdraw1.ov4 for windows
because i tried getting a file at http://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/applesoftware_updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Application_Updates/ClarisDraw /ClarisDraw1.0v4Update.img.bin

but i can't seem to open it on windows
but i tried opening it at stuffit expander and i got this file
ClarisDraw1.0v4_Update.img
now i'm stuck on how i'm gonna open this file..
i was expecting of an .exe just like the 1.0v3 updater