Creature House Expression
Encyclopedia
Creature House Expression was a vector graphics editor
initially developed by Creature House
in Hong Kong
, then Ray Dream, then Fractal Design Corporation and later MetaCreations as a companion to then-Fractal Design/MetaCreations Painter
. At the time, Creature House was an independent Hong Kong software studio. Expression tried to duplicate Painter's UI as close as possible and was available for Mac OS and Windows.
Some time after Fractal Design and MetaTools merged into MetaCreations, a public company, management decided to thin out the product portfolio and focus on a more specific audience. Expression ended up back with Creature House who released two versions of the software under their own brand name, Expression 2 and Expression 3.
Eventually, Microsoft purchased Creature House and continued development under the code name Acrylic. In 2007, the original Expression application became part of Microsoft's Expression Studio
suite of applications, rebranded and rewritten in WPF
as Microsoft Expression Design
. Windows
XP and Vista versions are available, although Mac OS X
support has officially been discontinued.
Vector graphics editor
A vector graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to compose and edit vector graphics images interactively on a computer and save them in one of many popular vector graphics formats, such as EPS, PDF, WMF, SVG, or VML....
initially developed by Creature House
Creature House
Creature House is a company acquired by Ray Dream, Fractal Design, Corel and at last Microsoft in September 2003. They developed a powerful vector graphics software package called Expression which has since become developed and released as Microsoft Expression Graphic Designer as part of the...
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, then Ray Dream, then Fractal Design Corporation and later MetaCreations as a companion to then-Fractal Design/MetaCreations Painter
Corel Painter
Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative...
. At the time, Creature House was an independent Hong Kong software studio. Expression tried to duplicate Painter's UI as close as possible and was available for Mac OS and Windows.
Some time after Fractal Design and MetaTools merged into MetaCreations, a public company, management decided to thin out the product portfolio and focus on a more specific audience. Expression ended up back with Creature House who released two versions of the software under their own brand name, Expression 2 and Expression 3.
Eventually, Microsoft purchased Creature House and continued development under the code name Acrylic. In 2007, the original Expression application became part of Microsoft's Expression Studio
Microsoft Expression Studio
Microsoft Expression Studio is a suite of tools for designing and building web and Windows client applications and rich digital media contents.- Overview :...
suite of applications, rebranded and rewritten in WPF
Windows Presentation Foundation
Developed by Microsoft, the Windows Presentation Foundation is a computer-software graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0. Rather than relying on the older GDI...
as Microsoft Expression Design
Microsoft Expression Design
Microsoft Expression Design is Microsoft's commercial professional illustration vector and raster graphic design tool for web images based on Creature House Expression, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003. It is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio suite...
. Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
XP and Vista versions are available, although Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
support has officially been discontinued.
Skeletal stroke
Expression uses a unique technology called skeletal stroke. There have been a few research papers on this technology, including the work of Alex S. C. Hsu and Irene H. H. Lee, who are the original developers of Expression.See also
- Microsoft Expression DesignMicrosoft Expression DesignMicrosoft Expression Design is Microsoft's commercial professional illustration vector and raster graphic design tool for web images based on Creature House Expression, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003. It is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio suite...
, the new product based on Creature House Expression - List of vector graphics editors
- Comparison of vector graphics editorsComparison of vector graphics editorsA number of vector graphics editors for various platforms exist. Potential users of these editors will make a decision based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the feature set, usability of the user interface and the focus of the program. Some programs are more suitable...
Download Creature House Expression from Microsoft
- Archive.org archive of home page
- Windows version (57.3 MB), requires registration
- http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/5/d/a5d625a5-2e3d-4e9c-8608-6de48d7b569f/CreatureHouseExpression3_3.exe, direct link to above file, does not require registration
- Mac OS 8/9/X version (55.8 MB), requires registration; there are versions for Mac OS 8Mac OS 8Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It represented the largest overhaul of the Mac OS since the release of System 7, some six years previously. It puts more emphasis on color than previous operating systems...
/9Mac OS 9Mac OS 9 is the final major release of Apple's Mac OS before the launch of Mac OS X. Introduced on October 23, 1999, Apple positioned it as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever," highlighting Sherlock 2's Internet search capabilities, integration with Apple's free online services known as...
and Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
in the archive- Update to Mac OS X version for Mac OS 10.3.5; fixes a startup problem (2.9 MB), no registration required
- November 1996: Fractal Design Ships Expression for Macintosh