Show HN: VectorStyler for Mac Public Beta | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: VectorStyler for Mac Public Beta

vectorstyler.com

9 pointscsaba726 comments

I'm working on VectorStyler (https://www.vectorstyler.com), a vector graphics and illustration software for the Mac. VectorStyler was started with the goal of providing not just a different, but also a better solution in the vector graphics and illustration software space. I believe that many requests for tools and features from designers and illustrators, have been left unanswered for long. Due to the peculiar situation the vector graphics software market is. And I hope that VectorStyler answers some of these requests.

The detailed list of features can be found at: https://www.vectorstyler.com/detailed/

If you use a Mac (post 2014 models recommended, MacOS 10.11 or newer), and would like to try a new vector graphics software, please download the public beta and let me know how it works for you.

I would love to hear your feedback on this.

Big fan of vector graphics. I convert every person to inkscape I can. This is Mac exclusive so I won't be able to use it, but what I'm seeing looks really nice. Great work.

This is great, I think that vector tools need much more competition. I have used most of them through the years, obviously, Illustrator has been the main package for most of it, though recently I have switched more to Affinity Designer, Inkscape and Krita, which has basic vector tools these days. Though I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that VectorStyler is Mac exclusive which rules it out for me sadly. I have nothing against proprietary and paid software, but I do try to at least get one that is multi-platform since I use Windows and Linux.

But I have a lot of co-workers who use Mac and as a fellow Finn I'm absolutely going to ping them to this.

Moi, Having a Windows port is on the roadmap. The base framework and UI has been compiled, the main roadblock is a boatload of Apple Metal compute code (for GPU). But there is also OpenCL (available in the Preferences) already so that might help (never tried OpenCL on Windows), or just going DirectCompute, but that is a much bigger effort. NVidia CUDA support could also be a way to go, but that limits GPU support to NVidia only.

As for Linux, well lets keep an open mind.

But let your Mac co-workers try VectorStyler out, and let me know how it works for them.

Why target largely unsupported technologies like Metal Compute over say OpenCL with a _much_ larger market share? You mentioned the complaint about Nvidia CUDA limiting GPU support to Nvidia only, but Metal Compute limits you to a subset of AMD cards to a subset of Mac versions in the wild.

You are right with the OpenCL vs Metal thing. OpenCL is supported in VectorStyler (see Preferences - Performance section). But running on a Mac (for now), requires Metal, as Apple deprecated OpenCL. OpenCL is still there, but performance on Macs is way better with Metal (this might be intentional from Apple).

OpenCL also had some Mac driver issues with some 2014 NVidia iMacs, which actually caused problems. So for now I have Metal support, and OpenCL is still there but not as good as Metal on Macs.

As for CUDA, most iMacs are with AMD at this time, and Metal still serves good both NVidia and AMD on Macs of course. Of course Metal is far from perfect, but as a small dev, Apple kind of puts you into a corner with that one.

Thinking outside of Macs (Windows and Linux), I would like OpenCL to be the choice, as it is already implemented in VectorStyler, but as I said, I don't know how much extra steps would require from the user (installing drivers, etc). CUDA is a great choice, outside of Macs, and it might be part of a Windows port.

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