Graphics Toolbox-Informational Post

Product: Graphics-Toolbox
Company: Great Software Tools
Price: $149 US

Over the past month or so, I've been delighted to see some of the graphics my friends over on the TOS Homeschool Crew have made using Graphics-Toolbox by Great Software Tools. When I received an e-mail from Lynda Hollar telling me that I would be reviewing her graphic software program I was thrilled. I have always been interested in graphic design but could never afford to purchase one of the photo-editing/graphic design programs on the market. We were out the door for a weekend away when I received the e-mail and I chattered happily to my husband about being able to review this product for a good part of the car ride (that's how impressed I was with just the initial e-mail). Unfortunately, 3 days later when we arrived home, I realized that I would not be able to use this program with my Mac (you need a Windows operating system). SO DISAPPOINTING!!

I have, however, been able to look at video tutorials and see the progress of other crew members' work and think that this looks like a fun and handy product. I cannot talk about ease of use or compare it to other software because obviously, I haven't been able to try it out myself. I know that many other crew members had a lot of fun with this program so I invite you to visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog to find out more about what they thought and sometimes even see some of their creative projects!

Graphic Toolbox provides you with a power tool to create your own:

• banners and signatures


• cartoon characters (or add crazy characters to your own photos!)


• personalized cards and letters


• scrapbook pages


• much more

You can edit all your own photographs and add borders and text, change colours, add textures and shading and more (however, this program is known for it's graphic design functions more than it's photo editing capacities as there are other programs available out there for photo editing and not much in terms of offering graphic design tools to the general public.

If you are overwhelmed with this program, Great Software Tools offer video tutorials and a user manual on their website. It is also possible to register for an hour long one on one training session that you might find useful (it is not cheap, BUT most people get a good overview of the program and are able to complete the project they are thinking of with this training). You can get a good idea of what this program is like by checking out their website so I strongly encourage you to take a look for yourselves! I know that this is a product that I would have loved to get my hands on, even for a limited time!