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Thorn-EMI have the "ultimate graphics package" for the Spectrum 48K which has almost everything.

On loading, something I found tricky - but then I find working a phone-box difficult - you are presented with a choice of control. I used a joystick, which is essential for any serious graphics work. Then comes a blank screen with a flashing cursor and you can start to draw.

Using this mode of BRUSH you can change its thickness and whether you want to draw straight lines or arcs or circles. By referring to the information window, you can see what is going on behind the screen. I found this to be a trifle confusing, as you have lots of numbers floating about.

Leonardo has an interesting feature of WINDOWING, with which you can invert, draw and shift the image contained in the WINDOW. You can magnify parts of the picture. This is a very useful piece of graphics as it is difficult, if not impossible, to work on a picture using the clumsy pixels displayed on the screen.

Colouring was fine though I found the Spectrum a hard taskmaster for my puny memory. Which key does what? Luckily, the instruction manual has some keyboard maps to help, but overlays would have been better.

Various other features were Mirror Images, Word Printing, 3-D Drawing and UDGs (User Defined Graphics). You also have an uninspired selection of standard characters in memory to use if and when you want them. I didn't.

The manual, although comprehensive, was far too technical for the average user and really you'd need to be a seasoned designer to get instant results.

Powerful and pretentious. But cheap!