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Acrylic is the codename for Microsofts new vector- and pixel-based editing tool that is supposed to be a direct competitor to PhotoShop and other graphic tools (e.g. Ulead PhotoImpact).Although it is mainly aimed at professional graphic designers it has features also relevant for private photo editing or webdesign. Like with MS AntiSpyware, Microsoft acquired a fully functional and developed product along with its product team: This time its a Hong-Kong-based Company Creature House who developed Expression which is the fundament of Acrylic. Now lets get into Acrylic Beta and try out a few functions this editing suite has to offer:

Downloading and installing Microsoft Acrylic

1. Open this page and click Download Acrylic (Beta). You will then be redirected to a Microsoft Passport Login page - sorry to say that you have to use your passport to download this.

2. Having entered your login data Microsoft wants to know even more about you: It appears you have to fill out a complete personal data form.

Hint: Filling out isnt really necessary. Just click Continue and youre free to download the 77,6 MB file.

3. Unpack the ZIP-File (Right-click on it, select Extract and follow the assistant). Double-click on Acrylic.msi to start the setup assistant. Since Microsoft currently doesnt offer additional features it is alright if you apply the common Next, Next, Next... method.

4. Go to your start menu and start Microsoft Code Named Acrylic.

Bottom line: Although Microsofts decision to get on your nerves with the annoying passport routine and a superfluous personal data survey remains unsolved we like to point out that the installation went pretty easy and without a glitch (on several test machines).

Interesting information: If you take a look into the Microsoft Code Named Acrylic Folder you will find the Eula.doc which says that this test version will expire on December 31, 2005 or when the final version is released. Perhaps a little hint that we can expect RTM in (very) late 2005 or early 2006.

Requirements: Acrylic requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

Using Acrylic

Having started the program it appeared to me that it really looked like a mixture of PhotoImpact (which Im using on a regular basis for this page or other design elements) and PhotoShop (which Im using to save screenshots for the magazin Im writing for).

1. On first startup you see the following elements:

Layer List - Resembles the PhotoShop layer architecture

Hint - A small Windows with (sometimes) useful tips

Paint Style - Specifies the color, depth, style etc. of your brush

Toolbox - Choose between the object selector, brush, text elements, zoom, a red eye brush tool and other functions.

2. We click on File/New and expected a dialog box to appear that lets you set the size, color depth and so on. But nothing happened. Just a plain white standard size new image appears. I decided to fool around a little with the brushes and drew a house, a cat, a tree in different colors, shapes and fillings. Now we see the GREAT difference between a true photo editing suite like PhotoImpact and Acrylic: All strokes and self-made elements are true vector-graphics which mean they are based on mathematic formulas instead of pixels. Increasing the size of an object doesnt result in a loss of quality but rather in a perfectly shaped object.

This part of Acrylic is fun to play with since it is very intuitive. Not intuitive at all: You have to use the left and upper ruler to move the picture around. No scrollers on the side. So not even Microsoft itself keeps up with the standard rules for scrolling. Furthermore, at first I found it almost impossible to cut a part out of a picture Ive loaded: You have to select a part of the picture with the Picture Selection Tool (Shortcut: M) and then move it with the Pixel Move Tool (Short cut: V). There should be ONE tool for selecting and cutting out elements like in PhotoImpact. I guess, after a while you are really into it and pretty fast but it could be easier, nevertheless.

3. Acrylic has a basic set of effects and filters which are nice to play with. But people who know PS or PI or any other photo editing suite also know effects like an unsharp mask, blurring, glow effects, coal drawings etc. However, we believe that Microsoft is going to add some nice new filters to the final version so we dont want to judge this (or any other) feature yet.

Bottom line: Acrylic is fun to play with and offers a great vector graphics possibility but it has yet to be more intuitive and innovative than the current old bulls.

Sandro Villinger,
July 6, 2005