News

Since Vectoraster 8 has now been live for a bit more than 2 months we're now discontinuing Vectoraster 7.

Existing users will still be able to get support and re-download the old version from Support: Legacy downloads, but it will no longer be available for download or purchase for new users.

A new major update of the macOS graphics application Vectoraster has now been released. Vectoraster is a tool for creating custom vector and halftones and raster patterns based on images or gradients. Vectoraster 8 adds new dimension with keyframe animation support, letting you animate all raster parameters and source layers.

Vectoraster is built with designers in mind, giving you detailed control over the raster pattern, point shapes and how the points vary, all while giving you a real-time view of the result as you change parameters. When you're done you just copy or export the result as vector graphics or a pixel image, or animations to video file or image file sequence.

Main new features in Vectoraster 8

• Animation support. Animate raster parameters and export the result to video or a sequence of frame files.
• New source layers model. Sources are now more like layers in other graphics software and can be moved, scaled and rotated individually and blended together.
• Improved preview drag editing. Edit source layers, gradients, distortions or raster pattern parameters by dragging graphical handles in the preview.
• Advanced noise sources. New dynamic noise layers generating perlin or billowing noise you can then apply to any parameter across the raster.
• Secondary point transformations. You can now apply two separate dynamic scaling or rotations to raster points, for example adding randomization to a source-based value.
• Apply file raster settings. You can now quickly apply all raster settings from a different VRaster file, while retaining the sources in the current file.
• Dark Mode interface support. Interface now adapts to system interface mode, and lets you switch between dark mode and light mode.

For the full change log with all changes and improvements, check out the
Vectoraster 8 version history.

A new version of Vectoraster 7 has been released. This 7.4.10 update doesn't contain any new features but should hopefully ensure compatibility with the upcoming macOS 11, along with some other small bug fixes.

Another update to Vectoraster 7 has been released. This update adds some improvements in terms of improves support for dragging and dropping image clippings from other applications to use as sources, and fixes some isses related to saving and loading VRaster files with a large number of points in the rasters and a bug withc zooming out too far with track pad zoom gestures.

In addition to this there are also some under the hood improvements to technical logging and error messages in case of various problems.

The next generation of Vectoraster, Vectoraster 8, is now in beta testing. There is no set release date yet, but most major features are now implemented and the plan is to test and improve the new version during the summer for release sometime after that. You can check it out below and sign up for a release notification or if you want to help out beta testing.

Some of the main planned new features in Vectoraster 8:

• Animation support. Animate raster parameters and export the result to video.
• New source layers model. Sources are now more like layers in other graphics software and can be moved, scaled and rotated individually and blended together.
• Improved preview drag editing. Edit source layers, gradients, distortions or raster pattern parameters by dragging graphical handles in the preview.
• Advanced noise sources. New dynamic noise layers generating perlin or billowing noise you can then apply to any parameter across the raster.
• Secondary point transformations. You can now apply two separate dynamic scaling or rotations to raster points, for example adding randomization to a source-based value.
• Dark Mode interface support. Interface now adapts to system interface mode, and lets you switch between dark mode and light mode.

Vectoraster 8 will require macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) to run.

A new update to Vectoraster 7 has been released. This update is very much a regular maintenance update with fixes to a number of smaller issues and adds a couple small of improvements.

• Negative Point aspect values are now allowed.
• Fixed a problem with loading files that use unavailable fonts.
• Fixed a small precision problem in the diagonal spacing of alternating raster points with the same spacing option enabled.
• Improved technical diagnostic information in the support/feedback dialogue.
• Improved connection security and handling of network problems during license syncing.

Another update to Vectoraster 7 has been released. This improves support for importing a whole range of new image 3:rd party formats to be used as source images or custom points, including photoshop psd, tga, raw and more.

In addition to this there are some under the hood fixes and improvements, and you can now access more detailed license information in the About panel.

Another small update to Vectoraster 7 has been released. This updates adds access to your system Photos library via the browse dialogue (under Media in the sidebar) so you can easily use your photos as sources, and also fixes some issues with the font selection panel for Text sources.

I've added Vectoraster 7 to producthunt.com. So if you use that, take a look at let us know what you think!

A small update to Vectoraster 7 has been released today. This is another small patch, this time fixing a precision problem with exporting thin strokes on small filled point shapes.