Preserved Topic: ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR DESIGN PROGRAMS? (Page 1 of 1)

Hi, I'm new to the Asylum; am lost! Didn't know where to post so took a guess... Just got a new Gateway 700 series compu... am interested in getting recommendations for a well-rounded design program for newbie learners like me. Met someone who showed some of his work and taught me a few things. Got hooked! Can't remember the name of what he uses, though. I was thinking of PhotoShop,but, which version? Etc...
Will appreciate any help and advice you give me!

ps--Design/Graphic; freehand.

[This message has been edited by MYSTIKA (edited 10-23-2001).]

Welcome to the asylum, MYSTIKA!!! Beware of wakkos, he'll only try to steal your black pills!! And be on the look-out for krotchmonkey clones, they're lurking around everywhere!! I'm sure that shii will come along shortly, and get you squared away.
To your question:

Photoshop 6.0 is what I use, and can only recommend it! It's wonderfull!



[This message has been edited by WebShaman (edited 10-23-2001).]

[This message has been edited by WebShaman (edited 10-23-2001).]

Yes welcome. Design Program?
Well that's kind of a general description...it's helpful to know what you want to do with it....If you want to design Newsletters and stuff that is more along the lines of layout, then Quark or InDesign are good. If you want to create line art and cartoons and stuff, Illustrator and Freehand are good and so is Photoshop...um I can keep going here...but I won't...

Welcome MYSTIKA,

Well recommendations for design software really depends on what you want to want to do as graphics. The person you met and showed you a few things he might use PHOTOSHOP or Paintshop pro there the most poplar programs out there, but there they range from £99 to £600. There is GIMP which is free and can get you started in digital design/graphics. They?re all good but most of us here use Photoshop 4 upwards as it the best software for doing all sorts of design/graphic work.

Hope is helps

[edit - Dam you guys type fast or is it just me neing slow ]



[This message has been edited by Darkshadow (edited 10-23-2001).]

Hi!!! Thanks for answering so quickly! I see you are a Photoshop fanatic. How easy was it for you to get a hang of it? I'll gladly accept Shi's advice, though I don't know her, I'm sure if you recommend her, she must be good. Toemuncher? Will kibble 'n bits keep him at bay?! Hey, have not gotten any Pills just yet....how long before us newbies get any? The black ones that good,huh? Must find meds.....

Photoshop 6 for graphics.

Dreamweaver 4 for HTML

:: Max ::

Hi DarkShadow!
Paintshop, that is what the guy I met showed me. How does it compare to the other one you mentioned? And, Gimp, how does it do against the other two? Sorry, so many questions!
Jeni, thanks. I just edited my request to include what I want it for. I really appreciate the info. you all are providing me with. Thanks! BTW,where the meds?

Hi, Ducati!
Dreamweaver? Do you use it often? I am just learning about all this....this interest of mine just might turn into something more than just a hobby. Easy to learn? That guy did tell me something about design and html...obviously, I have a lot to learn!

Well first you need some kind of Graphics program. I would personally go with Photoshop. There is many tutorials for it on the net that you can go over. Plus, what can I say, sky is the limit...

Second, (and I know few people here will :slap: me) get some kind of editor. My favorite - Dreamweaver 4. It puts all the tables together, pretty much drag and drop. Preview in browser of your choice, add adctions, layers, CSS and after you might want to get some extra stuff from Micromedia site. I love the program, it makes it a lot easier for me. I can make a site, look at the code and see how it was build. Of course you still need to tweak it a little but still...it's lot fater than:

N O T E P A D , which I wouldn't even attempt to open and start coding for the simple fact of WASTING TIME ON SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE 5 TIMES FASTER.

Now, you will have people in here tell you :" Be a man, code by hand" or "Dont' have machine do human's work" or :" Was it your creation or programs?" or something liek that. In any case, do whatever is easier for you. For me Dreamweaver was the answer and I would recommend it to anyone. I love it.

:: Max ::

MYSTIKA: How does Paintshop compare to the others.

Well I did use Paintshop pro for about year until I met photoshop 4 at my college about a year ago, since then I have not looked at any other drawing/graphics software exsept Illustrator and Freehand. I think Paintshop pro is good for starters then procress to photoshop, as I used Paintshop pro for a while I can say its good and it did teach me the a lot about how images are produced digital and about some basic tools.
Now gimp is free and it was the second software I use after MS piant it ok for basic things but not as good as Photoshop and Paintshop pro, but worth a look as it's free .

The best advice I can say is to try the demos all of them and others you might find and then choose which one you like the best, then learn it until your happy with it.

Hey MYSTIKA!!!

Welcome Welcome Welcome! I am sure that you will get a lot of different answers, so most people will tell you what they use and let you decide what you like best.

Here is what I like to do. (I am guessing you mean design as in web page design)
First when I want to make a web page I think hard about what I would like it to look like.
Then I scetch it out on paper first, not even going to the computer.

After that, I go to Photoshop and make a sample "mock up" of what the initial web page would look like. Usually using a size of 800x600 for the canvas. This way I know what it will look like as far as space on a smaller screen (mine is 1240x1020). I use an old version of PS (5.0). I got a great price for it since it was an older version.

I am not sure where you are but here in the States there are a lot of used book stores that also sell used Software. It would probably be worth your while to check them out. I got Photoshop for $45.00 !!!!

Then I take any logo's or graphics that I did and slice them up (there are many tutorials on this)

Next step would be to use Mr. Max's HTML Beatuy to do the coding of HTML (it's free!!!!) If you are going to hard code the pages yourself, instead of letting a program like DreamWeaver do it for you, this is the best!

The last step would be to test it in an old version of Netscape, and Opera just to make sure that it looks the same. Being sure to test it on every version of browser that I could.

If you need help in the coding part there are many tutorials and such on the web, or you can always ask it here. This is a great place to learn about JavaScript, DHTML, Server Side stuff, etc...

This is probably more info than you were expecting but I tend to ramble.

Hope that helps.

C:\

Yeah man.. if you have any questions just ask here... I learned a lot from folks here...

Hell, after 7 months of doing it I got my first client!

:: Max ::

MISTIKA - if you are serious about design (you wish to make a living from it) - then get Photoshop, and learn it. There is nothing better, and the amount of tuts for it are enormous. If you are just going to do it as a hobby, then I would suggest one of the others. It's also a question of cost (good programs don't come cheap - with the exception of Max's HTML Beauty!). the same goes for coding - if you are going to seriously do design, learn to code by hand. Saves a lot of hassles, when a client wants something individual. And its not all that hard...