Ever since I bought my first computer I've always regarded the pospect of 3D imaging on-screen - with the opportunity to rotate the image in any direction and dump it down to printer - as being well beyond my programming capabilities.

Well, with Super 3D Plotter II, I can not only do just that but much more at a fraction of the time and cost it would have taken me.

Disc-based, the program auto-boots without Basic. It can display complex drawings in low, medium and high resolutions. Menu-drive, the first options enable you to Load or Create.

Luckily the program has plenty of images stored on disc. Until you get used to the complex array of instructions for creating your image, the best way to see what Super 3D Plotter II can do is to load an existing image. Having made your choice another three options are engaged: Display, Edit and Save current image.

Images are loaded into memory in medium resolution mode and can be changed to either low or high resolution at the touch of a button.

The main feature of Super 3D Plotter II is its ability to rotate in any direction. Using a combination of keystrokes, left to right movement can be combined with up and down direction to achieve a really impressive display of bit-mapped graphics.

Each time the image moves all the lines that make up the display change position so as to give the impression of basic animation. The speed at which your display rotates can be altered and at any time you can freeze the image to take a closer look at the display or dump the screen to printer.

Any image can be viewed in a range of perspectives by using the freeze button selectively, thus allowing the image to continue moving in one direction - say left to right while the up/down movement is frozen.

If you want to get closer to the image, just hit the magnify button until you achieve the desired result. Your image can also be enlarged/reduced and kept in true perspective at the same time.

You can produce hard copies at any time providing you set up the printer control before loading up the main program.

Super 3D Plotter II is automatically configured for Epson and compatibles only, although by adapting the printer configuration file it should work for the 1029 Dot Matrix printer. More comprehensive dumps can be obtained by displaying the image in hi-res mode.

Other useful facilities are screen save, which will save the entire screen in a 62-sector MicroPainter format called Picture.

And if you really want to get creative, you can overlay a screen.

Just think of it - your favourite picture as a background with your 3D image displayed as the foreground.

Further designs can be achieved by image trailing: Instead of lines being erased and redrawn when your image is moving, you can alter the functions to leave old lines on the screen and still have the computer draw new ones.

Creating images is somewhat harder than controlling a screen display, but a tutorial is written into the manual which eases you into the intricacies of creating your own masterpieces.

There are two methods of data input: The Interactive Graphic Editor lets you use the joystick to define and position coordinates, draw connecting lines and link the whole image into a 3D drawing.

The safest way to plot your designs is to use the old-fashioned system of pencil and graph paper, then either type in the coordinates or move the joystick around the screen until you reach the desired position.

The other method of data input is the Image Data Editor - all the commands are entered from the keyboard. In some respects this method can be easier to use once you understand the philosophy of 3D design.

Whichever method you use, there are plenty of commands available to edit and retry positions before saving the image to disc.

Using the joystick input routine I entered the coordinates for the cube image tutorial and within ten minutes had the design rotating around the screen.

I was surprised at the ease of constructing an image, although the more complex the design, the greater the need to use graph paper and pencil.

The manual is 56 A5 pages printed on yellow paper - an extremely important part of the package. You also get an A5 Help card which outlines the function of each key. All this is packaged in a sturdy plastic box.

In conclusion, I was surprised that such complex images could be so easily produced. The author has obviously put an immense amount of time and effort into this and should be congratulated.

Whether you're a budding graphic artist or just a plain doodler, this program wouldn't go amiss in anybody's collection.