June 5 - 12:05am EDT   It is a common fact the Mac is great for creating and working with graphics, but for too many people, the idea of drawing anything, especially on the computer, is too intimidating. Even worse, most graphics programs for the Mac assume you’re already an experienced graphics artist who won’t mind spending $400 or more for a high-end program loaded with every possible feature. Fortunately for aspiring artists, Toon Boom Studios has teamed up with artist Peter H. Reynolds (author of the books “The Dot” and the “Judy Moody” series) to create Animation-ish. [full story]

April 16 - 8:05pm EDT   plasq has announced the release full screen children's drawing application -- dubbed Doozla -- featuring simple free-hand drawing and color tools, webcam and tablet support, entertaining color-in templates and background images. The tool has four creativity modes: drawing - free-hand drawing on a background, coloring in -- add color and lines to the character templates provided, draw on background -- draw characters and objects into the provided background scenes and Webcam Drawing - use your webcam to capture a picture and draw on top of it. Doozla contains a pro-level drawing 'vector' engine underneath a child-accessible interface. [full story]

February 21 - 11:45am EST   Ilexsoft today unveiled HighDesign 1.8, a major update to its professional CAD application, featuring over 50 new features and improvements. HighDesign Professional supports the AutoCAD DWG and DXB file formats, from v9.x to 2008, while both Standard and Professional versions support DXF from v12.x to 2006. The Professional version can export projects as high-quality TIFF images. HighDesign 1.8 Standard sells for $150, while the Professional version is available for $350. [full story]