Serif expands American beachhead

If you've ever searched for economically-priced software that does more just get the job done, then chances are you've run into Serif. The UK-based applications shop has been selling its wares in Europe for years and although its products could be purchased in the States over the Internet it didn't have a retail presence here until this spring when it gained shelf space at Fry's and Micro Center stores and appeared on the virtual racks at Amazon.com, Buy.com, Dell.com, Newegg and PC Connection. Now its product lineup--which includes a solid digital imaging editing program called PhotoPlus X2--has grabbed even greater retail presence this month with its entrance into Office Depot.

A new Microsoft Vista version of PhotoPlus X2 ($71-$79) was released by Serif last fall. It included a number of interesting new features such as an automated makeover studio for removing imperfections in portraits, a QuickFix Studio for swiftly making improvements in photos and new artistic effects such as Comic Book and Vignette, as well as the ability to burn slideshows and photos to discs.

Other programs offered by Serif include

• PagePlus X3, a desktop publishing program aimed at small businesses and individuals looking to create in-house publications such as brochures, newsletters and catalogs.
• WebPlus X2, a WYSIWYG Web site design package.
• DrawPlus X2, a vector drawing program that includes Flash animation creation functionality.

Unfortunately, Serif doesn't offer time-limited free trial versions of its software. For those of us with long memories, that's sort of ironic, since the company used to give away old versions of its applications for free--a laudable practice if ever there was one.