Arcol [ raster painting program ]

[garfield]

Hello Archi fans,

Did anyone use Arcol, or its successor Arcol Desktop back in the day?
I was a fan of its painting interface, despite it only having one level of "undo".

It was not as sophisticated as Longman Logotron's Revelation ... but was a big step up from the native !Paint application.

[garfield]

Anyone with any insight on this please?

[paulb]

Anyone with any insight on this please?

No insight as such, but I remember reading about it quite a bit at the time, and I reviewed quite a bit of that material more recently. I seem to remember enthusiasm for the way it worked, but that it was also limited to mode 13, at least initially. I'm sure you'll be familiar with these articles:

"Top Drawer", Acorn User, June 1990.
"Modern Art", Acorn User, June 1992.
"Pretty packages", Acorn User, March 1994.

Looking back, it seemed that before the 24-bit colour era, all the art packages had their own compromises or limitations, and not only in the colour depth department. Some worked in the desktop, others not. Some demanded specific modes even in the desktop or didn't work properly in other modes. Admittedly, a lot changed in the era from the introduction of the Archimedes to the arrival of the Risc PC, in terms of hardware capabilities and the expectations for desktop/graphical applications.

[garfield]

Thanks for the links. I always thought Arcol was a user-friendly raster painting program.

I have not come across it as an archived ADF anywhere on the web. Pity I have long since lost my diskette!

[paulb]

Thanks for the links. I always thought Arcol was a user-friendly raster painting program.

I have not come across it as an archived ADF anywhere on the web. Pity I have long since lost my diskette!

Was it ever released in some form on a cover disk? Obviously, that doesn't conjure up a disk image on the Web, but if it was released in that way (as some older versions of various applications were), it might improve the chances of it turning up again at some point.

[garfield]

Was it ever released in some form on a cover disk?

Good question. I don't recall. I've never seen a copy listed on eBay either...

[paulb]

Was it ever released in some form on a cover disk?

Good question. I don't recall. I've never seen a copy listed on eBay either...

I can't find any immediate cover disk references. However, here's an interview with the author by Mark Moxon from back in the day:

"The Moxon Interview - Tim Humphries", Acorn User, September 1994.

Another Arcol-related article:

"Modern Art", Acorn User, September 1992.

I think quite a few people were fond of Arcol.

[garfield]

I think quite a few people were fond of Arcol.

Yeah, it was a 'sweet spot' between the rudimentary !Paint and more sophisticated packages like Revelation.

[SteveF]

Is this just a reminiscence thread, or are people actually looking for a copy of Arcol? I have a disc which claims to be it that I could upload if it's of interest.

[garfield]

Is this just a reminiscence thread, or are people actually looking for a copy of Arcol? I have a disc which claims to be it that I could upload if it's of interest.

If you could upload an ADF of Arcol, it would be appreciated!

[SteveF]

No problem! I've given this a quick test in Arculator and it appears to work. Seeing the "Chocolate" image was a real nostalgia blast, I probably hadn't seen that in 20 years...

[garfield]

No problem! I've given this a quick test in Arculator and it appears to work. Seeing the "Chocolate" image was a real nostalgia blast, I probably hadn't seen that in 20 years...

Works perfectly. Ahhhhh the memories! Thanks Steve.

[SteveF]

You're welcome!