Canvas X is a drawing, imaging, and publishing computer program from Canvas GFX for

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

Development

Canvas GFX's origins date back to 1986. The original idea for Canvas came from Jorge Miranda, Manuel Menendez, and Joaquin DeSoto, the founders of Deneba Systems Inc. of Miami Florida, for

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

computers—part of the wave of programs that made the

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

revolution. The first version was unique in many ways; not least because it was released as both an application and a

desk accessory A desk accessory (DA) or desklet in computing is a small transient or auxiliary application that can be run concurrently in a desktop environment with any other application on the system. Early examples, such as Sidekick and Macintosh desk accesso ...

. In the latter form, it could be used while another program, e.g. PageMaker, was running simultaneously; very handy in that time of single-program operation. Canvas provides tools for creating and editing

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

and

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

. It is used for

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

page layout In graphic design, page layout is the arrangement of visual elements on a page. It generally involves organizational principles of composition to achieve specific communication objectives. The high-level page layout involves deciding on the ...

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, presentations, and publications in printed and

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

formats. From its inception, Canvas differed from other graphics applications because it combined tools and file formats for both vector graphics (line art) and raster images (photographic and other pixel-based), adding word-processing and page-layout features such as multiple-page documents and master pages in subsequent releases. The user works in a window, which is the familiar "page on a pasteboard" analog used by many DTP and vector graphics programs, but in that window, which might be a single illustration page or one page of a multi-page magazine, book, web site, animation or presentation, the user can create or edit and layout text, vector graphics and raster images. Canvas also emphasized technical drawing in addition to artistic illustration features. With Version 3.5, Deneba went cross-platform, releasing a version with file-format compatibility for Macintosh and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

computers. At Version 5, Canvas was completely rewritten for both platforms and included a QuickDraw 3D-based palette for creating 3D primitives and renderings. Version 7 of the software saw an internal extrusion engine being used instead of QuickDraw 3D. At version 8, it was the first of the complex graphics programs to be "

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" to run on both

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

and Mac OS X. In April 2003, Deneba Systems was acquired by ACD Systems of Victoria, BC, Canada, the developers of Windows image editing and handling software such as

ACDSee ACDSee is an image organizer, viewer, and image editor program for Windows, macOS and iOS, developed by ACD Systems International Inc. ACDSee was originally distributed as a 16-bit application for Windows 3.0 and later supplanted by a 32-bit ...

, before the release of version 9. Canvas development continued in Miami, under the aegis of ACD Systems of America. Later, in 2017, it was spun out as Canvas GFX. With the introduction of Canvas 11, support for the Macintosh platform was dropped, making the application Windows-only. Canvas is available in a standard and extended version. The once-optional Scientific Imaging module is now integrated into Canvas and provides enhanced input-output filters for file formats commonly used in science and engineering visualization. The

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(GIS) module provides tools for use in mapping and GIS-based data analysis. Following the release of the Windows-only Canvas X 16, Canvas Draw for Mac was released, reviving Macintosh support (though on a separate roadmap from the Windows version) after a decade-long hiatus. While Canvas started out as a prosumer program in the general graphics/DTP market and continues to be the first (even only) tool of many professionals in such fields as graphics design, advertising, marketing, and DTP, it is less known in the consumer/prosumer market today than programs marketed by larger companies, such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and CorelDRAW. It has been better known in academic and commercial enterprises.

Version history

Versions of Canvas public releases: *Canvas 1.0 (Macintosh) – 1987 News mentioning that Deneba Software is about to release Canvas *Canvas 2.0 (Macintosh) – 1989 *Canvas 3.0 (Macintosh) – 1991 *Canvas 3.5 (Macintosh and Windows) – 1992 *Canvas 5 (Macintosh and Windows) – 1996 *Canvas 6 (Macintosh and Windows) – 1998 *Canvas 7 (Macintosh and Windows) – 1999 *Canvas 8 (Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows) – 2001 *Canvas 9 (Mac OS X and Windows) – 2003 *Canvas X (Mac OS X and Windows) – 2005 *Canvas 11 (Windows Vista) – 2007 *Canvas 12 (Windows XP, Vista, 7) – 2010 *Canvas 14 (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8) *Canvas 15 (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8) – 20 November 2013 *Canvas X 16 (Windows 7, 8, 10) – November 2014 *Canvas Draw 1.0 (OS X 10.9, 10.10) – August 2015 *Canvas Draw 2.0 (OS X 10.9, 10.10, 10.11) – November 2015 *Canvas Draw 3.0 (OS X 10.10, 10.11, macOS 10.12) – June 2016 *Canvas X 2017 17.0 (Windows 7, 8, 10) – October 2016 *Canvas Draw 4.0 (OS X 10.11, macOS 10.12, 10.13) – June 2017 *Canvas X 2018 18.0 (Windows 7, 8, 10) – December 2017 *Canvas Draw 5.0 (macOS 10.12, 10.13, 10.14) – July 2018 *Canvas X 2019 19.0 (Windows 7, 8, 10) – November 2018 *Canvas Draw 6.0 (macOS 10.13, 10.14) – June 2019 *Canvas X 2020 20.0 (Windows 7, 8, 10) – October 2019

References

External links

* {{Vector graphics editors HTML editors Vector graphics editors Raster graphics editors Classic Mac OS software Windows graphics-related software MacOS graphics-related software Technical communication tools

Development

Version history

References

Further reading

External links