Can we discuss GetCraft apps and the beginning of Slopware movement?

Subpath

My question is: what kind of monsters are we actually feeding
when we use these AI tools?

What is the point of trying to spite Adobe on the one hand, while simultaneously
propping up AI—or the tech giants behind it—by using their products?

After all, Adobe’s sphere of influence is still somewhat limited. AI, by contrast, poses a
threat to our entire society and could leave us at the mercy of tech dictators.

One only needs to look around to see that employees are already being monitored
by AI in the workplace; it should be clear that the real battlegrounds lie elsewhere entirely.

Daniel

@Subpath: Agreed. Albeit, I am not also convinced that out and out anti-AI argument either. Simple reason. You can use Unsloth, for instance, download the whole AI LLM on your desktop (you must have a muscular GPU) and create a firewall rule for the application. Now you have an LLM that sends zero telemetry to providers. You can even train models with your own data on your own computer. This is what I've been trying to do. I have a monstrously powerful laptop. This one --> Work: Windows 11 | Intel i9 14900HS (24 Cores/32 Threads) | GeForce RTX 4070 | 64 GB RAM. I intend to use it purely as a AI lab for my ideas. I see no harm in this. Do you?

Subpath

@Daniel

If one look for a way to make the use of AI justifiable, one will certainly find one,
and it is surely possible to try to mitigate the risks.

In my view, however, this does not really change the fundamental problems associated with AI.
I am certainly not someone who is hostile toward technology. Yet, amidst all the enthusiasm, one
ought to take a closer look at what lies behind it—and never lose sight of whether the future we
are heading toward is truly the one we want for ourselves and for those who come after us

Daniel

@Subpath: But AI has already existed for ages. For decades. Games use AI for NPC for decades. Even very old games. The only difference we have now is the size and type of AI. That's it. By running AI on your computer, you take power away from providers. I see zero problem with this.

Subpath

@Daniel

I have absolutely no problem if others hold different opinions;
these are simply my own thoughts on the matter.
There are certainly some helpful tasks that AI can handle.

My concern is more about the capabilities/power that AI places in the hands
of people who might not have the best intentions.

Then again, it doesn’t even have to be someone with malicious intent;
a simple mistake may be enough.

gotanidea

I tested the latest VectorCraft and was really impressed, because it solves two VectorStyler's biggest problems:

Preferences > Scale Strokes & Effects checkbox that works exactly like Illustrator's. This is essential for complex vector illustration and VectorStyler still doesn't have this crucial Illustrator's feature
Blazing fast typing performance in complex artwork that contains thousands of text characters. Typing in VectorStyler with this type of complex document is excruciatingly slow and it hasn't been fixed for years

Daniel

@gotanidea Text is indeed the Achilles heel of VS. Here, the dev must spend time not looking at Adobe, but at Xara's handling of text. It is about as intuitive as text handling ever got in 30+ years within a vector app. Also, PL has a superb Text on Path feature that remains unrivalled. It allows you to mount a single curve with multiple lines of text and deal with them each individually. Text on curve distortion, baseline shifts, and repetition (where a single word can repeat multiple times around a curve) is handled with elegance found elsewhere. If I had a few hours, I can provide some highly valuable pointers on how to make it easier. I already have in the mega thread. The answers are in Xara.

VectorStyler

@Daniel I would be interested to know what to improve on the Text on Path feature.
There is already multiple line handling and bending the text along the path (instead of just aligning).

monsterfox

@VectorStyler https://youtu.be/-6Vf8d1rXGo
We still need a control handle to adjust the text spacing.

Daniel

@monsterfox: I agree. PL's text on path is vastly superior to even FreeHand's. You can see the options here.

0.0 %

monsterfox

@Daniel Is this open-source software? I haven't tried it yet. I'll give it a go sometime.

Daniel

@monsterfox No it is paid software. But it has 30 day trial.

Evaelo

@Daniel said in Can we discuss GetCraft apps and the beginning of Slopware movement?:

PL has a superb Text on Path feature that remains unrivalled

What is PL?

Daniel

@Evaelo PhotoLine.

monsterfox

@Daniel
Is this the one? It looks quite different from the interface you showed.

Daniel

@monsterfox That's the one indeed. That's the default view. You can completely tear it apart and rebuild it.

Including entirely new icons. Let me know if you need help with this.

Evaelo

@Daniel
Ah, thanks. I also have it. Really interesting software. My wife use it though as her hobby is photography.