Excentro for Mac

Excentro for Mac allows for the creation of unique vintage designs, but its lack of modern security and limited usability make it difficult to recommend for most users.

Excentro for Mac comes as a free trial version that lacks the ability to save. The complete application requires a hefty payment of $500 to unlock. The program downloaded fairly quickly over a high-speed Internet connection. Instructions did not come with the program, but after searching the readme file, there was a link to a manual on the developer's Web site. It was also unclear if technical support was available. The program's main menu is complicated and difficult to decipher. In fact, there are at least five separate menus, one for each of several sub-options, along with the main menu displaying the constructed image. These images are designed to be essentially watermarks, which, until recently, were used to keep currency and other documents from being counterfeited, easily. Those methods have been replaced by other, more secure techniques.

While functional, Excentro for Mac's complex menu and limited applications mean that it will only be helpful to a very few users who need to create secure documents and are willing to shell out the money to do so.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of Excentro for Mac 1.9.9.

• Addition of 'Clipping Masks' and 'Clipping Stroke Masks' as a convenience feature.
• Images for 'bas-relief' effect can now be individually selected.