The top five programs for desktop publishing...
Oct 02 '00
Actually, I could narrow this list down to the top three programs necessary for professional graphic arts work. Everyone, of course, has their own preferences, however these are the programs that set the industry standards, and programs that I have used myself - at school (graphic arts classes), at work (a graphics/publishing company), and at home (mostly designing flyers and CD covers for rock bands.) If you've ever looked in the "help wanted" ads under "graphic artists", these are also the programs they always want you to know. Here is my list...
#1) Adobe Photoshop - goshdarn, this program is impressive. If you want to do high end graphics work, you need Photoshop, whether you're working with images for print or for the web. This is the BEST program available for working with images - cropping, resizing, layering, coloring, adjusting contrast/brightness/hue/saturation, special effects, cleaning up, etc. etc. It does it all! I use this program extensively at my job, mostly scanning in images and cleaning them up (artwork). This program is so extensive and has so many features, I'm still learning it...
#2) Quark Express - If you're working with graphics to be printed professionally, Quark Express sets the industry standard for page/book making. You can create documents, books, posters, CD covers, etc. with Quark, and although it was a little harder to learn than Pagemaker (it's only competition), it seems to dominate the professional market. You can import images (TIFFs, etc,) text files, EPS files, and incorporate them together to create your documents. This program has many, many features for designing very interesting looking documents.
#3) Macromedia Freehand - Freehand is mainly used for drawing art on the computer, but it also can be used to create flyers, documents, etc., although it is not as good as Quark Express for those purposes. You can use the tools to create artwork, logos, etc. and there are many effects you can use to create interesting pieces. One very handy feature with Freehand is you can create artwork and add text, then export it as an EPS file - that way, if send it to a printer, you do not have to include any fonts with your files. I use Freehand mostly for designing CD faces - very easy to do with Freehand.
#4) Adobe Pagemaker - I actually learned Pagemaker a long time before I tried Quark Express, and I like it very much, but I rate it lower than Quark just because printers seem to prefer Quark files. Pagemaker does just about everything Quark does, and it was pretty easy for me to learn. I've used it to create CD covers, flyers, booklets, envelopes, business cards, J-cards, etc. Adobe does not seem to support Pagemaker any more, though, and is not upgrading it. I hear they are working on a new "Quark killer" application, but I haven't heard much more about that...
#5) Illustrator - Illustrator is another vector-based program (like Freehand), and basically works the same and has the same tools/features as Freehand. Personally, I found Illustrator more difficult use, and I prefer Freehand, but Illustrator is used by many professional graphic artists. It too, is a very handy program for graphic arts/desktop publishing.
Incorporating these programs together - Now, if I were to try to do graphic arts design at home, I would definately want to have Photoshop, Quark Express, and Freehand. (I actually have Photoshop 4.0 and Pagemaker 6.0). I would use Photoshop to work with all scanned images (photos, line art, etc.), Freehand (or Illustrator)to create logos, EPS files, and CD faces, and finally would use Quark Express (or Pagemaker) to put it all together. After importing all the Photoshop TIFFs (images) and Freehand files, I would use Quark to add the text, arrange it all, set the document layout, bleeds, etc. etc. These programs compliment each other quite nicely, and even though they are expensive, they are invaluable tools for desktop publishing work.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Paulblow
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Seattle, WA
Reviews written: 106
Trusted by: 34 members
About Me:
Paul Blow: A man for all seasons, a man for all reasons.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.