Comparison Of Stained
Glass Software Options

You don't have to have any high-end graphics programs to create quality stained glass patterns, any inexpensive software such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop Elements will work perfectly well. Also, free software for the PC called MS Paint comes on every PC sold and for the Mac, I recommend Seashore. If however, you do have some professional software such as Illustrator or Photoshop, you will of course be able to create patterns easily.

If you have a program that allows you to work with bezier curves such as Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop or Illustrator you will be able to create clean quality patterns that will make working with them much easier and will also allow you to sell a quality finished pattern... if that is one of the things you are looking to do.

Here is a comparison of a close up of a pattern made by both bezier curves and free hand curves:

Bezier Curves	Free hand Curves

As you can see, the bezier curves are much cleaner and professional looking. There is a bit of a learning curve to master the bezier's, but it is well worth it in the long run.

One other option is software specifically developed for making stained glass. The one software package we have found to be the best for this is Glass Eye 2000. With this software you can create precise designs that are easier to view and edit than any pencil and paper drawing. Also, you can create, edit, scale, and print completely within the program. It has the essential features found in expensive high-end CAD systems, but it's designed specifically for stained glass.