A good clip art library is essential for me since I do graphic work. Many of the designs I use are black & white and need to be of good quality. One of the books/CDs in my clipart library is the Trees & Leaves CD-Rom & Book from the Dover Electronic Clip Art collection.
The Book
There are 399 designs on 48 pages in this book. Each image is different, and the images are in various sizes from small to large. All the pictures are black & white and printed on both sides of the page. The paperback book measures 10.8" high x 8.3" wide and is thin at .2" deep.
The pages are white and are good quality paper. Each page contains an assortment of images depicting various trees and leaves, an average of 7-10 images per page. Every illustration is assigned a 3-digit number. At the bottom of each page is an area where the 3-digit number is listed with a description of its image [ex: 157.Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa).]
Even though a table of contents is not printed in the front of the book, the types of plant-life are segregated and labeled at the bottom of each page near the page number. If more than one plant variety is featured on the page, the different species are listed at the bottom of the page. For example, some of the listings include:
Yews and Hemlocks
Firs Cypresses and Cedars
Cedars and Juniper
Redwoods and Sequoia
Spruces
Spruces and Pines
Oaks
Maple Family
Hickory and Ash Families
Fruit Trees
The CD
The book comes with a CD located in a clear plastic envelope at the back of the book. The CD is clearly labeled “Dover Trees & Leaves – Electronic Clip Art for Macintosh and Windows”. A beautiful rendering of brown leaves on a tan background covers the top of the CD.
When the CD is opened, there are four icons visible. The first one is titled “Images” this is where the actual pictures featured in the book are located. Two other icons open indexes of the material in the book: 1) Common Names and 2) Scientific Names (of the trees and leaves). The indexes are alphabetical and refer to the image number in the book [example from the Common Names index: Aspen, trembling...257, 258, 263, 277]. The remaining icon is a “Read Me” file that lists pertinent information about the CD and its contents, including troubleshooting and usage information.
All the images are saved in six different formats on the CD. Each format has its own file folder for easy location. The formats are: bmp, eps, gif, jpeg, pict and tiff.
The Images
I use the images on a PC computer with the Windows XP operating system. The back of the book lists the system requirements as Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP or Macintosh (all versions) and a CD-ROM drive.
With 399 designs, there are a lot of images choices in this set. The pictures are beautifully rendered, everything from simple line drawings of leaves to more detailed forest or pastoral settings. Most of the images are of trees, branches, leaves, acorns, pine cones and even some fruit images.
It’s amazing how many different varieties of plants are featured. Here is a sampling: alder, apricot, basswood, birch, chestnut, cypress, dogwood, elm, fir, ginkgo, hackberry, hemlock, hickory, ironwood, juniper, larch, magnolia, mangrove, maple, oak, orange, pagoda tree, palm, pignut, pine, quince, sassafras, spruce, tulip tree, walnut, willow, yew.
Even though I print the images on paper, Dover Publications suggests that these images are good for hobbyists, those doing fabric painting, decoupage and other crafts.
My Experiences
I’ve used a variety of images from this CD, though not all of them. I’ve also experimented by printing out images in all six of the formats. It’s interesting to note the differences in the images depending upon the format in which they are saved in. Viewing the images on my monitor, it is clear that the eps format displays the greatest detail.
When the images are printed on my 600 dpi (dots per inch) HP LaserJet printer, for the most part they look terrific. Sometimes the image doesn’t look as fine-lined as it does in the Dover book. The different image formats also print in different qualities. For example, when I print the same image in all the formats (ex: a tree with part of the ground visible and a small building in the background) ... not all the images are of equal quality. The eps, pct, tif and bmp are of the best quality, showing the most detail. The gif image printed smaller than the others and the gif and jpeg images printed less detail.
I print the images on white paper (usually 20- or 40-pound copy or laser paper) and also on card stock. The images print well and look clean on the page. Most of the images are of fine quality with much detail. Some images resemble pen and ink drawings with simpler lines.
A great feature of these images is that I can open them in Photoshop (or another image viewing/editing) program. I can rotate the images or resize them. One thing that I love is that I don’t have to clean the images before using them. If you have worked with images before, you may have experienced extra pixels around the image that create a blurred or fuzzy look. These images are crisp with clean backgrounds.
It is easy to view the images, too. One way is to browse the book and locate images then note the 3-digit item number beneath them. Then find that item number on the CD, choosing your choice of image format. Another way to view images is to open the CD and double-click on the Image file folder. Choose the image format you want to view and make sure you are viewing the images using Thumbnails. That way you will see the images. You can also open a photo-imaging program such as Photoshop and open the images from the CD so that they appear in the program. If you are using a publishing program, such as MS Publisher, you can open and insert the images directly from the CD into the document.
I needed a clip art library that was permission-free so that I didn’t have to worry about copyright infringement. Dover states: “You may use them for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project.” If you need to use more than ten images, you can contact Dover Publications for additional permissions.
Purchasing
I bought this book from Amazon.com for $10.17. It’s retail price is $14.95.
Summary
The Trees & Leaves CD-Rom & Book offers me a variety of plant-life clip art that is easy to use. No more scanning images or searching the internet for copyright free clip art. It’s a comfort to know that quality clip art is at my fingertips ... and I don’t have to worry about permission to use it.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Additional Information
ISBN # 0486996115
Please read my other reviews in the Dover Electronic Clip Art Series:
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