Back to intuitive - Old ideas

I'm not the only one. I found this post online after looking at 'pattern' pallet in the latest Photoshop and only finding trees and useless patterns.  Look at MacPaint with the halftones right out front on the opening of the software.  I know new software has to hide things because it does 1000 times more than 1985.  Plust it's called Photoshop, not paint or draw. Illustrator is worse than Photoshop for being intuitive.  Long ago Adobe bragged about how InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop were getting very close to the same type of interface.  Yesterday I opened up the Settings.... in each. They are TOTALLY different. With the same settings in totally different places. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. How long would it take to make the settings closer to being the same in each program?  I know they can't be the same because they do different things but if you look... there are some settings that are the same.. and in different places in different orders. In 2023.   

Here is MacPaint.  Even Superpaint and Ultrapaint hid some of the patterns if I remember correctly. MacPaint was a one trick pony.  Sorry it posts so small. Here is the link.  https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/87612/1bit-macpaint-style-dithering

Again I'm talking about simplicity. NOT going back to old computers or even lowering the features in software.  Nor being romantic about the old days. I'm talking UI people getting clever.  It's kind of like, we've been to the moon, but never been back. Kinda.  Now we want back... and find it really difficult.  because it is.  It's difficult to make something powerful yet simple and foolproof.

This is a post I found online of another person wanting much the same. I don't want dithering. Dithering was horible. But the fill patterns were great.  I could make them all in photoshop I guess. But I use Sketchbook and have asked them to add patterns.  

There is NO software in this day that is as easy to use as Ultra-Paint, SuperPaint etc....

From Wiki The SuperPaint system was a custom computer system built around a Data General Nova 800minicomputer CPU and a hand-wired shift register framebuffer. This system had 311,040 bytes of memory and was capable of storing 640 by 480 pixels of data with 8 bits of color depth.

It doesn’t matter if it was easy to use—a 640 x 480 pixel, flattened, 8-bit RGB image with no color management would be pretty much useless for today’s output requirements.

I'll just note that, with a few exceptions, all these systems and software still run.

So, you're not using (or returning to them)... because?

The truth can sometimes be hard to accept:

You can only live in the PRESENT. The past is like a memory (or a cancelled check).

I am a child of the 80s and I lament the demise of the Amiga up till this very day. I loved DeluxePaint, and rendered images in the first 3d apps. I worked with the very first versions of Photoshop.

Yet I am also a realist and we should be aware of nostalgic feelings dominating our perception of the past. Many people feel that the past was better somehow than current times. Obviously this is flawed thinking.

What I can do now for free in Blender utterly blows anything away I did in the 80s and 90s in paid software. The speed at which I can render scenes is mind-blowing. It's almost magic. And it gets better each year.

Free open source software like Krita and Blender allow me to create beautiful art that was just plain impossible in the 80s and 90s. I remember paid-for applications from that time, and I shudder at the thought of how limiting they were. No layers. Max 16/32 colours. If we were lucky we had 256 colours at our disposal.

And the hardware we had to put up with: remember the 640 by 400 pixels resolution and 16 colours? On a flickering 14" CRT that was painful to look at? Now I am working on three large 27" high resolution screens, no flicker in sight, amazing picture quality. And everything works so FAST and smooth. Of course it depends somewhat on the hardware: I have a reasonably powerful machine. Browsers fire up in a second. I can work with graphics files of several gigabytes, and they load up faster than low-res 32 colour imagery on my old Amigas.

I feel honoured to have been part of the rise of home computers since the beginning of the 80s. I love retro computing, and I still run an Amstrad 6128 for fun. But make no mistake: I wouldn't go back to using those for real work.

As for TypeStyler: it still exists. https://typestyler.com/index.html

As for Ultra-Paint or SuperPaint: sorry, there are scores of great intuitive painting apps out there that do a better job that those two (like ArtRage, SketchBook, Realistic Paint Studio, and others). And mobile platforms feature a number of very good and simple to use ones (such as Procreate for the iPad).

For example, when I am not painting in Krita or ClipStudio, I like to doodle in Realistic Paint Studio, which is a fun art program that emulates a physical drawing/painting experience. It's super simple to use -- anyone can pick it up in minutes. And loads of fun! Check it out:

UltraPaint or SuperPaint just don't compare: neither on usability / easy of use nor on features. But I do agree that sometimes I grow tired of Krita or Photoshop and their more technical GUIs. Which is why I fire up RPStudio for a reprieve. Or grab a drawingpad and a real pencil 😉

Regarding TypeTwister: I recall this software. Looking back it produced (sorry) pretty campy looking type effects with insufficient control over the final look. At the time focused applications and utilities that concentrated on a very particular effect or job were more popular. Which makes sense since graphics software wasn't nearly as feature rich as it is nowadays.

In short, those smaller utility tools were pushed out of the market for the simple reason that design software grew up to accommodate the requirements of professional artists and users. And in my opinion I'd rather have those tools integreated in the main design software.

That said, you'd only have to look online for legions of web-apps and services that provide in similar "anyone can design a <<fill in your design project>>" with gazillions of pre-made templates and presets. Do they look good? Sometimes. Do they look generic? More often than not.

Anyway, I do understand where you are coming from: the 80s seemed a simpler time for computing and design apps. And in a way that is true. But please: let's not forget how limited those tools and the supporting hardware actually were. I disagree that simple design software is no longer available - quite the contrary. Art software has never been more accessible, for all ages, and for all skill levels. Free and commercial software too! It's never been better!