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Review: OmniGraphSketcher

July 26, 2010

Overview

OmniGraphSketcher is an iPad app from The Omni Group designed to assist in the making and editing of graphs for presentation purposes. It was first developed as a program of the same name for the Mac. It enables you to build a chart around existing data imported from another program, draw your own curves and fills, or use a combination of both to create professional looking charts and graphs.

Features

With OmniGraphSketcher you can either import data from another source (Numbers for example), or you can just freehand draw lines, curves and data points. I tested this by creating a simple spreadsheet in Numbers of data representing the growth of the App Store. I copied the information and then pasted it in OGS. The shade feature beautifully fills in above, below or between lines and dynamically moves if you adjust the curve it is attached to. This worked nicely to fill different colors below the curve representing which iPhone was the newest for that time period. I couldn't find enough iPad app data to draw a curve, so the ability to draw in my own rough estimate of which section represents those apps was very convenient. Lines, points and other elements were easily formatted to have different thicknesses, dashed types and colors just by highlighting the element, then tapping on the information 'i'. I was also able to add labels just by touching and typing in the text which can also be formatted in similar fashion including 44 fonts. Output is accomplished in a variety of ways including email, email PDF, copy and paste, 'copy as image' and most recently, VGA output.

Breakdown

The Good OmniGraphSketcher utilizes the iPad's screen real estate to make the usually mundane process of editing graphs fun again. It enables you to make precise, aesthetically pleasing graphics without the bother of equations or extensive data. Sketch recognition works nicely interpreting and smoothing shaky hand-drawn lines. If elements are attached to each other, they move together in a manner somewhat resembling professional computer aided drafting software (CAD). Color palettes are a nice touch, especially to those who don't know that green and velvet don't usually go together (such as myself). The document interface is the same as the iWork suite for iPad, so you probably already know how to use it. App is developed by a company with extensive experience in software design and the resources to offer adequate support. Half the price of the Mac version. The Bad It feels more like an In App purchase for Numbers than a stand alone program and the $14.99 price is probably to high for non-business users. Although it is advertised as a 'precise charting application' with 'no complicated equations necessary,' it would be nice to have an equation feature built in (even if it were an obscure option) for students, teachers and others waiting to be freed from a lifetime of colorless, pixelated TI-89 graphs. An import document feature would be more convenient than the copy and paste feature currently used to import data.

The Verdict

OmniGraphSketcher does what it advertises to do. It enables a non-professional to make professional looking charts and graphs in a considerably short amount of time and export them in a variety of formats. However, without more features, few outside of the business community will find this otherwise fantastic program worth the 15 bucks.