Customer Reviews

Your Handwriting 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If I had known in advance that this program contains CDilla spyware / malware, I would not have bought it. I ordered the product already... but I guarantee it will make a quick trip to the trash-bin UNOPENED.

Many thanks to the reviewer who recently pointed out, this program contains CDilla.

For those of you who don't know what CDilla is:
It's spyware, which means it reports across the internet to let the mfr. know if you're making extra copies. It's also malware, because it interferes with your CD copying... not just preventing certain copyrighted CDs from being copied (OK, OK) but also just plain preventing your CD burner from copying random CDs properly...whether there's a legitimate reason for preventing that copy or not.

CDilla sets itself up on an undeclared, self-created partition on your hard disk. Yes, that means it goes in and changes your partition table !!! For some users, that's going to be a real problems, because monkeying with the partition table is NOT a good idea...particularly if you have several partitions, dedicated to several flavors of operating system (Windows and Linux, for example... with a LiLo-type partition to provide you with a boot-time menu so you can choose which operating system to boot).
Here's a quote from extremetech.com's site, one of many articles about C-Dilla, particularly C-Dilla on Intuit's TurboTax software. (Intuit-TurboTax's version of C-Dilla wasn't different from any other version of C-Dilla, just got alot of attention because TurboTax *was* very popular software until C-Dilla became a part of it.)
From the article:
"Likely the biggest problem users have expressed, is the level at which the TurboTax licensing agreement is managed and protected with the SafeCast/C-Dilla technology. People believe C-Dilla infiltrates their system in a very insidious manner, and uses memory and resources even when TurboTax is not loaded. And some believe it has caused them serious compatibility problems with non-related CD writing operations. (PC Magazine and ExtremeTech will be conducting some tests next week to see if we can duplicate some of these problems). [....] or your customers still looking to exit TurboTax for good, the uninstaller at this link now fully removes components of SafeCast/C-Dilla that were previously mostly impossible to remove."

You can use the search engine at extremetech.com to find this article and related C-Dilla articles, and the very interesting discussions about C-Dilla, what it does, why folks dislike it intensely, etc. etc.

In short, C-Dilla is an extremely strong reason for any PC user to avoid this product. Buy something else instead. If you're planning on using this product at work, forget it... your Info Technology manager will have a cow if he/she knows that you're installing destructive trojan/spyware (C-Dilla) on the company PCs. If you've already installed this software on a PC at work, let your IT manager know IMMEDIATELY, so he/she can take steps to remove it. (Indications are, though, that it's extremely difficult to remove, and many uninstall programs do NOT remove C-Dilla properly.)

Data Becker has created a fine product that actually does what it says it does. Based on samples on ones handwriting, it creates a TrueType font suitable for use in any documents created on a Windows or other TT-compatible computer. I have downgraded the product, however, because it's copy-protected. Not just copy-protected, but using C-Dilla, one of the more obnoxious copy-protection schemes in existence. Of course, there is no mention of that until the install routine actually installs C-Dilla on the PC, after which it's a major nightmare removing the "curse" should one desire to later. I don't have a problem with software publishers protecting their property, but this is major overkill for a $20 program. Had I known ahead of time that C-Dilla was used, I'd never have bought it, despite its excellent performance.

The software is very easy to use. It does work best if you use a fountain pen. Ballpoint pens are not recommened. Felt tip pens can give you letters that are too large, or blurry, which will require a lot of etrxa time to edit after they are scanned. I've created a few different fonts very quickly. It does take a while to get it just right, but, it is very easy to fix the letters and characters to get them just the way you want them.

One other thing. The box says that you need a flat-bed scanner. This may not be true for all circumstances. I have a sheet-fed scanner cartrige, (IS-32), for my Cannon s400 printer. The proof sheet scanned into the program, using the cartridge, just fine. I used the OCR setting in the scanner driver. Sending an e-mail attachment with the text in the personalized font was very easy. The whole thing works like a charm.

I ran the program on a computer with a 1.2 G Celeron processor, running WIN XP with 256 RAM.

It is really great. It took about half-an-hour. I still need to tweak the letters a bit, but it is far better than I expected. If every one knew about this software, I think it would be very popular. It would also blow those companies that charge 200 bucks to turn your handwriting out of the water. One thing I would like to recommend, use a Calligraphy pen. I am not sure how much they are, but the result is better. Use only the tip, not the wide part. I am sure you can get a Calligraphy pen at Wal-Mart or a local art store. I am going to start a crusade to tell everyone about this software.

I purchased the item as art is a basic hobby of mine and I wanted to design my own unique, readable font/typestyle. I have actually not used this software yet, but I did set it up on my computer. Just from reading the instructions, the software seems quite capable of handling what I want to do and that is to convert my own calligraphy styles into a computerized writing. I can actually spend the time to create the perfect letters and then have them computerized...It will probably take me a few weeks for me to do this (not the software) as I am working on the type of strokes I want and the depth/thickness and fine lines of the letters, and I am a basic calligrapher but I have vision of what the letters should look like...

The instructions say that one can just create a few letters and the rest will done by the software, but the more letters one adds, the better the simulation. It allows one to edit and manipulate the letters to a certain extent. One can create several different types. I would say this software has a variety of letter design applications. This is quite exciting. I am not familiar with most computer design software as my art hobby has not taken itself fully to a computer (yet, anyway), but I can say that this is really nice software because one can add one's personal touch and one can also use it for email.

I will add to this review after I am finished with my letter designs and after I have fully used the software.