A glowing pig? Intaglio uses Core Image to make it possible.

Intaglio occupies a happy medium between EazyDraw's obsessive detail and Lineform's übersimplicity. Of the three, Intaglio looks and acts the most like other Mac drawing programs you probably already know. Easing the transition even further are the app's well-illustrated documentation, AppleScript support, and substantial collection of sample drawings, clipping libraries, and scripts.

Of the three, we found Intaglio to be the easiest to learn, and it provides a few features that are missing from the others (such as a layer-based slideshow and separate ColorSync settings for RGB and CMYK). Controls for various functions are sufficient for most purposes while not being excessive, and you can find them more or less where you expect them to be. While Intaglio lacks many of the oddball features found in EazyDraw, it's hard to find features in Lineform that are missing from Intaglio. (Most notably, Intaglio has the same huge collection of Core Image effects as Lineform does.)

Our gripes about Intaglio are fairly minor: You can't fill an object with text, for example, and some functions (such as free transformations) are quicker in Lineform, requiring a Control key instead of a menu selection for access. But these are mere quibbles, made up for by Intaglio's greater depth and overall ease of use.

The bottom line. For general illustration tasks and ease of use, Intaglio sets the pace among non-professional drawing tools.

CONTENTS: Purgatory Design
CONTACT: www.purgatorydesign.com
PRICE: $89
REQUIREMENTS: PowerPC: Mac OS 10.3.9 or later, QuickTime 7.0 or later. Intel: Mac OS 10.4.7 or later.
Excellent documentation. Slideshow feature. Includes sample AppleScripts. Universal binary.

Not enough keyboard commands.