Microsoft Beta Software Code Named "Acrylic"

Thank you for taking the time to download and install this beta software product!

“Acrylic” is the codename for a new professional design tool that brings together the richness of pixel-based painting and the flexibility of editable vector graphics for a more fluid and flexible creative workflow. With Acrylic you can create sophisticated designs and graphic elements for your on-screen, Web, and print projects. We hope you will enjoy exploring this exciting new application and would greatly appreciate any and all comments, bug reports, and general feedback you can share with us.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

Feedback

Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/expression/ for information and links to community forums and ways to submit feedback to the "Acrylic" team at Microsoft, including bug reports.

Getting Started

Double click on the "acrylic.msi" file to start installation of the program.  You must have Administrator rights on your Windows XP machine to install the program.  Please read the End User License Agreement carefully.

Once you have started the program, press the F1 key or choose the Help menu's User Guide menu item to view the extensive help content.

Key Feature Areas

• Vector and Pixel Tools: Paint on pixel layers, create objects and insert images on vector layers, convert between vector and pixel layer types, create selection masks by dragging vector objects to pixel layers, and more.
• Expressive Pixel Painting Engine: Create realistic pixel paintings using the pixel brush engine.  Create your own multi-component brushes for expressive power; use them to paint with gradients, textures, smudging, and paint thickness.
• Pixel Selection Tool: Automatically create tight and accurate pixel selections on complex shaped image features with just a few simple in/out region markings.
• Live Effects: Apply image effects and color correction filters on a per object or per layer basis to either vector or pixel based elements.
• Variations Palette: Paint with variations in hue, saturation, lightness, strokes, stroke width, and transparency.
• Image Stitching: Stitch together individual photographic or scanned images into high quality panoramic images.
• HTML Workflow: Create rollover and popup buttons, preview your artwork in Pixel Preview mode, and export to HTML format with auto-slicing capabilities.
• Hint Palette: Quickly access contextual information regarding the currently moused-over tools and palettes.

System Requirements

The following hardware and software are required to create images with Microsoft Acrylic:

• Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2
• 733 Mhz processor with MMX or equivalent
• 256 MB of RAM
• 150 MB available disk drive space
• 800x600 monitor resolution with 24-bit color
• Mouse and/or digitizer tablet

Recommended system:

• Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 or greater
• Pentium 4 processor with MMX or equivalent
• 512 MB of RAM
• 500 MB available disk drive space
• 1024x768 or greater monitor resolution with 24-bit color
• Pressure sensitive tablet supporting the WinTab API or a Tablet PC

Known Issues

• Pixel painting has not yet been optimized and the performance is slow. Optimization work is currently in progress and drastically improved performance will be delivered in the final release.
• Importing of .ai files can results in blank documents and under some circumstances application instability.
• Exporting to non-.xpr vector formats does not persist pixel layer data.

Samples

We have included a number of sample files to give you ideas and inspiration.  You will find them in the Samples subdirectory, by default located in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Code Named Acrylic\Samples\".