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Nearly every business or profession involves making graphic documents. Computer Systems Odessa's ConceptDraw is a powerful, but relatively inexpensive cross-platform application for creating professional-looking business and technical drawings and illustrations quickly and easily.

ConceptDraw is the most comprehensive diagramming and drawing software, that works under Mac OS, OS X and Windows. It enables users at all levels to quickly produce professional-looking flowcharts, business diagrams, research layouts, organization schemes, plans and more. Computer Systems Odessa claims that ConceptDraw is the only real alternative to Windows-only MS Visio for Macintosh users.

You don't need to be an artist or have any drawing experience to use ConceptDraw. The standard program comes with more than 100 libraries with 2800 library objects and more than 50 document templates which enable users to easily and quickly draw all kinds of charts and diagrams - flowcharts, UML diagrams, web site plans, network diagrams, floorplans, timelines, organization charts and more. There is a vast selection of image material to choose from, obviating the need to draw from scratch unless you prefer to.

But if you do, ConceptDraw also features powerful drawing tools, a text editor, functions to program behavior of objects, supports OLE, HTML export, and is Internet-enabled. You can link to most anything on your hard drive, LAN, or on the Internet, as well as different pages within a ConceptDraw document. When I click the Internet button on the toolbar, Opera starts up, presumably because I don't have MS Internet Explorer installed on my Mac.

All files (including libraries) created in ConceptDraw can be seamlessly opened across the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Any object can be turned into an "intelligent" connector to help to visualize thoughts and illustrate across complex ideas, automatically adjusting their paths when you reposition objects to avoid crossing other objects. With the adjustable grid and the Snap tool you can work with precision. The Glue tool, guide lines, Alignment and Distribution tools help you accurately align objects, create equal spacings and move several objects at once.

There is even a wide selection of maps of North American and European nations, states, and provinces.

Here's the map object representing Nova Scotia, where I live. :-)

You can apply line colors, fill colors, fill and shadow patterns, and gradients to any object in your drawing. Objects also may contain text, which you can edit and format using ConceptDraw's built-in text editor. With the Snap tool, you can draw accurately and effortlessly while grid lines, guide lines or other objects (at your command) jump into place. You can use formulae to define various object parameters and behavior, giving you extensive control over objects.

ConceptDraw will import and export a variety of file formats, including GIF, JPEG, Enhanced metafile, EPS, and PICT on the Mac, as well as HTML, and you can insert hyperlinks into your drawings and assign them to objects to create Internet-ready documents. Each page of a ConceptDraw document can be saved as a separate Web page. The Professional version also supports import/export to TIFF, PNG and TGA formats. ConceptDraw is also OLE compatible, and ConceptDraw documents can be inserted into files of any program that supports OLE and vice versa. Regrettably, text files are not supported for import.

At MacWorld Expo NY last July, Computer Systems Odessa Corp. released a new Professional Edition of ConceptDraw, which includes all the features of ConceptDraw Standard, plus more specialized libraries, CAD compatibility, and as noted above, support for additional formats for easier data exchange. ConceptDraw Professional is designed to satisfy the demanding drawing and diagramming needs of software and database developers, Web designers, IT and technical specialists, managers, engineers, architects, scientists and other professionals.

In addition to the Standard version's feature set, ConceptDraw Professional 1.7 adds:

• Over 25 additional libraries (930 new objects) for such areas as:
• Network and Internet
• Process Engineering
• Chemical
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics
• Industrial Equipment
• Support for AutoCAD's DXF format makes it possible to edit drawings created in CAD applications, or use ConceptDraw drawings and diagrams in dedicated CAD applications.
• Several more graphic formats added: TIFF, PNG, TGA (import and export)
• Outline support allows to generate a chart based on its textual description and save the drawing in a textual format.
• Full PowerPoint support, which lets import PowerPoint presentations and export ConceptDraw drawings to PowerPoint for slide shows and presentations.
• You can use two-way ConceptDraw-Visio file conversion via our online service or locally
• A new, more flexible user interface.

Also see Appendix 2 for more detail on the differences between the Standard and Professional versions of ConceptDraw.

I am no expert in using object-oriented graphics software, or indeed any graphics software. I know my way around the bitmap graphics program, Color It!, quite well, and I have played around with draw programs off an on since FreeHand was called Aldus FreeHand, as well as the draw module in AppleWorks, but that's the extent of my experience. Consequently, trying out ConceptDraw Professional was both a bit of a revelation, and not a little overwhelming.

This is a big, powerful program. The application itself is a modest 6.2 MB in size, but its preferred memory partition is 40960k with Virtual Memory on, with a minimum size of 10,240k -- which I wouldn't recommend, as I got a few insufficient memory notices while checking out some of the more elaborate sample templates with the preferred 40960k configured. The entire Concept Draw Pro 1.7 application folder occupies 47.9 MB of hard drive real estate.

Speaking of those samples, they underscore the fact that with the right user skill applied (that would be user skills far in excess of mine) this program can be made to do some pretty fantastic things. However, it is testimony to the solid design of ConceptDraw Professional that I found it quite intuitive to use, in fact more so than any other vector-based graphics program I've tried. It actually makes me want to find a practical reason to create some drawings.

I do a fair bit of writing for marine industry oriented print publications, and one area where ConceptDraw's libraries could be enhanced is with some marine objects.

Key Features of ConceptDraw in detail:

• Libraries
There are over 100 task-related libraries featuring more than 2800 library objects, plus the ability to create new libraries. There are libraries for web design and networking, business and marketing diagrams, floorplans, electric circuits, UML, database structuring, engineering, mechanics, computers and networks, chemistry and many more.

When you select and open a Library it appears in a palette beside the document window. Icons depicting the various library objects can be either dragged and dropped into the document, or just double-clicked to insert them.

You can open multiple Libraries simultaneously, which stacks the Library palettes with their title bars showing. When you click on a on a title, that library is summoned to the front of the stack so that its objects may be accessed. Library palette selection contents can be viewed either as icons or text.

• Smart Connectors reshape automatically when the objects are moved. Each object can be transformed into a connector. Automatically connect multiple objects.

• Cross-platform compatibility
All ConceptDraw files (documents, libraries, template files) created with the Windows version of the software can be opened and edited with in the MacOS version, and vice versa. File formats are 100% compatible, no conversion is needed.

• Internet integration
In ConceptDraw, it's possible to add hyperlinks to launch other applications and Internet/intranet addresses from within a document, providing access to Web resources right from the drawing page. By exporting to HTML format you can make a complete Web page in a few seconds and publish your ideas through your corporate intranet and the Internet. You can send your documents by e-mail, or search the Web from within the application.

• Tools
Apart from a set of common drawing tools, such as Line, Ellipse, Rectangle, etc., ConceptDraw features 17 tools for dimensioning and alignment, automating most tedious tasks. The Stamp tool makes it easy to create or connect multiple objects.

• Precise Drawing
ConceptDraw has everything you need to produce very precise drawings. Customizable grid, guide lines and tools for automatic dimensioning and alignment Up to 9 layers supported.

• Intelligent Objects
ConceptDraw allows the user to create objects controlled by formulae and mathematical functions. A wide selection of such smart objects already come with the program, and you can also create your own.

ConceptDraw Pro includes an excellent manual in HTML format, as well as a comprehensive Library Guide document with 136 pages of data and illustrations of the various Libraries in PDF format.

If you're already familiar with an earlier version of ConceptDraw, new stuff in Version 1.7 includes:
• A new operation, Substitute, lets you replace an object with another one (from a library or from the same document), unifying their form, but preserving the initial object's formatting, text and connections to other objects.
• A new Printing option is added, Fit to Page, which lets you fit the document page to the given number of the paper sheets (1, 2, 4, ...) in printing. The new setting is available in the File / Document Properties dialog, on the Printing tab.
• The Preferences dialog adds the setting for the Internet Searching system to be called. The http://www.google.com/ searcher is set by default.
• A new Zoom option is added, All Objects, which adjusts the zoom level so that all the objects on the page fit into the document window. This option is set by default for all documents you open.
• Improvements in the Picture Properties dialog (for exporting to a graphic file):
• A Preview window is added. The dialog now displays the actual dimensions (width and height) of the picture you will obtain.
• The application adds a number of new shortcuts.
• The menu adds new items for the tools which were previously available from the toolbars only.
• Selecting Text objects: a Text object can now be selected by clicking on the text itself, not on the box which is invisible.
• Adding Connection Points: when you put a connection point over an object (no matter whether selected or not), the new connection point is now assigned to this object, rather then to the primary selected one (as it was the case in previous versions).
• For the EPS file formed by exporting a document to the PostScript format, the Preview is now available.
• The Open and Save As dialogs now work with all the formats supported (including picture formats, HTML, etc.).
• The Text Toolbar adds the Background Color button.
• When you quit the application, the state and positions of all the toolbars and of the library window is preserved for the next session.
• The File menu adds the ConceptDraw-Visio Converter option. It opens the page for Online Conversion at the www.conceptdraw.com Web site. You can upload your document for conversion there.
• Changes in the libraries:
- MindMappingShapes.cdl,
- Marketing.cdl.

Mac OS only
• Toolbars:
- The toolbars can now be positioned vertically or horizontally.
- The toolbars were divided into smaller parts, nad now you can hide the ones you use most seldom.
- Additions in the Toolbar dialog: now it lets you show/hide the toolbars and set their orientation.
- The Status Bar is extended and behaves now as a separate window.
- Improved docking and resizing for the Library window.

System requirements:
For the Mac OS/ OS X version (Carbonized):
• Mac OS version 8.6 or higher, with CarbonLib 1.1 +; or Mac OS X
• PowerPC 603e or higher (G3 recommended)
• 32 MB of RAM
• 40 MB of free hard drive space
• CD-ROM drive (for installation)

I like this program. It's a lot of fun, and as I noted earlier, I look forward to using it for some real production drawing. The program is fun to use, and I found it satisfactorily speedy on my 233 MHz PowerBook G3, although larger documents took a couple of seconds to open. It should really fly on a faster machine.

I had one crash that required a restart, but aside from that, which probably was due to the Finder running out of memory (I had a lot of other applications open), ConceptDraw Pro proved admirably stable.

I'm giving ConceptDraw Pro 1.7 four smileys.

ConceptDraw Pro 1.7 sells for $249, or $125 if you're upgrading from ConceptDraw Standard.

A ConceptDraw Pro Demo is available from: http://www.conceptdraw.com. This evaluation edition restricts print, save, export, and copy functions.

For more information, visit:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/CDProfessional/cdprofscr.shtml