VERDICT: Disappointingly cut-down graphics application designed to work hand-in-hand with Expression Blend.

When Microsoft bought the innovative graphics application, Creature House Expression, there was brave talk of taking on Adobe Illustrator in terms of vector handling, Photoshop in terms of bitmaps and Fireworks in terms of web graphics...

Almost four years later Expression Design has finally been released so how does it shape up?

In terms of vector power, Expression Design builds on the core tools found in Expression Blend – though not greatly. Most notably it adds a simple Polygon tool and a Paintbrush tool which lets you draw with the wide range of creative vector and bitmap-based brushes with which Creature House Expression made its name. Otherwise the drawing capabilities are generally similar to Blend’s though Expression Design does add support for blend modes, text-on-path, envelope distortions, layer handling and basic bitmap-to-vector conversion. It also adds a range of Live Effects largely based on Photoshop’s antiquated Aldus Gallery filters.
In fact it’s slightly odd that such bitmap-based effects have made it through to release as otherwise Microsoft has removed virtually all of Expression Design’s bitmap-based capabilities – despite the fact that in previous beta releases these were almost as developed as its vector handling. Sadly the same is true of Expression Design’s web functionality with capabilities such as HTML rollover creation and advanced GIF/JPEG optimisation notable only by their absence. This is particularly disappointing as it means that Expression Design has very little to offer Expression Web users.
The obvious question is why? The answer is XAML. Microsoft has clearly decided that Expression Design’s primary function is as a partner to Expression Blend via its XAML export and by the support for direct copy-and-paste of XAML code. Unfortunately XAML’s text-based nature and the fact that it is a first release means that it is really only well suited for dealing with relatively simple vector shapes and formatting. That explains why Microsoft has chosen to cut back on the creative power Design offers – but even the capabilities it has left in, such as vector and image-based strokes, bitmap effects and blend modes, either aren’t supported in XAML or are very inefficient. The result is a deliberately cut-down graphics application that still isn’t particularly well-suited to its chosen task.
As it stands, it’s no wonder Expression Design is only available as part of the Expression Studio – it’s a handy partner for Blend but, forget Illustrator, Photoshop and Fireworks: it simply wouldn’t cut it as a standalone.

Free as part of the Expression Studio

EASE OF USE 5/6
FEATURES 2/6
VALUE FOR MONEY 4/6
OVERALL 3/6