Okay, so this question has probably been asked so many times by so many people that it's almost irritating to some of you, but...
What programs are you using to design the stuff you post here? What's good for design work?
I started thinking about it recently, and I realized that one of the great weaknesses in my Web-Fu is graphics design. Aside from the generic windows paint I've never messed with anything like that, and I'm itching to get started. "When the student is ready, the master will appear," and all that.
I would like this to be a kind of near comprehensive listing of what graphics programs you prefer and why, and ideally which ones you'd advise one to stay away from, and why. I'm not made of infinite money, but when I get into learning a prog the learning curve factor isn't a big issue...
Thoughts and opinions will be appreciated.
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
Stick with Paint.
It's low tech and pixel-vased tools are the best and it come free on your computer!!!
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
To clarify: Paint is good if you have the intelligence and ability of a BWC, and the time spent using it is a decent alternative to typing illegible posts on message boards.
However, if you have a little more go-go juice in your brain, Use PhotoShop or CorelDraw. I mostly Photoshop pictures, since im more art oriented with me school graphics and stuff. Actually, my education is veering towards a focus in layout and text design, so my best work comes from Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics and Quark Express for layouts and stuff, but i prefer Photoshop and PC programs for non-print media like webpages and online art... actually, I often use Paint for a starting point because of its widspread availability and functionality. But the end of graphics it is not.
I'm hooked up because i often lounge at school for 8-10 hours at a time. Getting these programs at home would involve $1000s of dollars or a lot of downloading from shady fileshare.. the second of which id be willing to do, if i had the connection speed.. one day....
but as a starting point, search for free or cheap or demo programs that advertise 'being like' the ones i said.. there are a few around that you can get at home and use with low maintenance, despite the fact they are just knockoffs (and ultimately less functional, unfortunately) at home, i use a cracked demo of Lview, which is a passable PhotoShop ripoff with some serious problems in the plugin department. im sure there are some budget basement Quarks and Adobe Illustrators out there that can be had and used.
an fer chrissake, software does not an artist make.. try to think about things like balance, layout, the motion of the eye and other stuff that many of the quote-unquote artists on the web know nothing about.. making the majority of webpages and online art these days flashy yet ultimately deficient. look around and see what works, and what doesnt, and figure out why, to learn.
wow.. intense.
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
I actually tried PSP once. Didnt like it, too many stuff that was unfilmiliar to work with, pluse I could only use it for 30 days.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
yes, much too many stuff.
and remember kids, things that are unfimiliar are bad! don't lern from them...
your preference to Paint does show that you wish to stay as topical as possible on the subject of drawing. But i think the learning and delving into new things is the only way to grow artistically.
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
It's not so much I dont want to than I'm not ready for it yet. Ive only been designing for 3 months now...
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
when you are trying to manipulate the little details like whether the ship is 289 meters or 305, youll appreciate the use of things like gradations, shadow and anti-aliasing.
but actually not everyone is really going to have the skill for that..
the thing to remember, software-wise, is to find what you like and go with it. I use photoshop a lot, for work and play, and i not only like it, i NEED it.. its indispensible for some of the things i am trying to do.. but when it comes down to some types of effects i just need to use Paint to draw it first, then maybe take it into another program that respects the line weights more when resizing or warping... so dont be afraid to go after the image you have in mind by using old programs or techniques rather than being limited by one program's capabilities.
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
I've been using Macromedia Freehand 7 for Macintosh for the last 4 years. I've never used anything else, so can't really compare it with other programs, such as Illustrator or CorelDraw. It pretty much does everthing I want it to do, so I'm happy with it. It's considered professional level (which I'm not), but wasn't all that hard to learn.
I got Freehand fairly cheap (about $150, along with Fontographer, Photoshop clone and a 3-D modeler I've never used) through a competitive upgrade from CorelDraw, which I also never actually used but was bundled with WordPerfect (my word processor).
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
I use CorelDRAW 10. But I started out with version 7. And that's good, because 10 is infested with annoying bugs. Adobe Illustrator seems to be the best choice if you are used to the Mac. I have no experience with Designer.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Then there's always the good ole pencil and paper. And if you want to get super crazy, throw some acrylics into the jumble
I know...not really a program, but still loads of fun.
As far as programs, Photoshop is my boy. I've tried Illustrator, but never got to the point where I felt like I didn't suck at it. Most of the stuff I do lends itself better to the use of Photoshop than Illustrator, anyhow.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
After starting out with Paintshop Pro, I could never get the hang of Photoshop. I've tried Photoshop 5.5 LE, 6, and now I have 7. I've tried Fireworks 4, which is a Photoshop clone. I have Freehand 9 kicking around somewhere, never tried it, really. I pretty much stick with Paintshop Pro.
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
Basically it comes down to what you perfer. When I tried Paint Shop, it was good but I didn't like it. Paint can do shading and anti-alising, but it just not as obvious, so it requires wirk.
[ July 15, 2002, 15:24: Message edited by: Ed BWC ]
Posted by Treknophyle (Member # 509) on :
FreeHand, Photoshop, Fireworks.
love 'em.
Posted by Lobo (Member # 669) on :
Corel draw 10 rocks...ahh and Adobe Photoshop.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Hm. I don't know what anti-alising is, but if you mean Anti-Aliasing, then MS Paint can't unless the 2000 Windows or XP came up with a radical new variant.. did it?
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)