Great - I never knew about Gimpshop From the web site, it sounds fantastic - I love the power of GIMP and of course its price (can't get better than free eh? ) and the ability to follow Photoshop tutorials is something I miss with it because so many tutorials out there are Photoshop only.

Thanks for the link dude
Dan

Anytime Dan

I use Adobe Photoshop Cs3 and Flash CS3 Professional

Photoshop for photos, Illustrator fort vectors.

for all my graphiocs i use gimpshop

its pretty much the same as photoshop but instead its free

legend 1234

I use Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop.
I've only recently began to use Photoshop because i used to find it a lot more difficult than psp, but from what i've seen so far, it's definitely amazing and way worth the work of learning how to use it. If you were to buy a software, it should definitely be ps. (:

I use Photoshop and Illustrator although i rarely design on Illustrator.

I use Ulead PhotoImpact (various versions) for the bulk of my image editing. Next to that I use Corel Paint Shop Pro. I have Photoshop, but rarely use it. I'm so proficient in PI and PSP that Photoshop feels foreign to me when I try to use it.

Most folks I know use Photoshop. For small edits like resizing images, I use Irfanview. But you won't achieve the results you're speaking of with Irfanview. It's really just for basic changes.

Without doubt, the best graphics software are:
- Illustrator: for vector design work
- Photoshop: for raster design work

That said, i personally enjoy Coreldraw more than illustrator.

Im using Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Im gonna buy CS3 soon ^^ )

I used gimp when i were a just starting learning gfx'ing.

I have used Photoshop, but now I use Gimp a lot (even though I still own Photoshop CS2).

I use photoshop, because the real magic involves the blending options. Very yummy. It transforms crap into ART.

I highly recommend it.

What? Nobody mentioned Adobe InDesign? Blasphemy!

Well, it doesn't come cheap. Still, the name of this forum in graphics software you use, not own.

I primarily use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. I occasionally dwell in Adobe Photoshop, but the majority of my work is vector-based and I use InDesign for type and print ready.

i cant believe people use paint for graphical work its impossible

Originally Posted by bathtubs

What? Nobody mentioned Adobe InDesign? Blasphemy!

Well, it doesn't come cheap. Still, the name of this forum in graphics software you use, not own.

I primarily use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. I occasionally dwell in Adobe Photoshop, but the majority of my work is vector-based and I use InDesign for type and print ready.

that's because we're primarily talking about production for web grahpics

I use Photoshop for web design and Illustrator for vectors.

Originally Posted by davemies

that's because we're primarily talking about production for web grahpics

I Thought we were talking about Graphics design in General. I didn't see anything in the Thread starters post focusing on primarily Web design. Unless I missed it.

This was the Original post from the Thread starter!

Originally Posted by jamestl2

I've seen some amazing entries over in the Graphic Design Contests forum, and I was curious about how they're made.

I'm not asking for fellow members to reveal their designing secrets, just wanted to know what your using to make the spectacular graphics .

I was thinking about attempting a few drawings or so (I'm not a designing specialist by a long shot), and see how I do. The only resource I have is paint (which I'm sure isn't enough to create them).

Do you see anything that relates to primarily Web Design there?

I think the majority of the posters are simply expressing the differences between software & what they are good for based on their personal use.

Being a 2D creative vector graphics designer primarily myself. my opinions are based on Vector software being one of the most flexible tools available for Both Web & Print (Seeing that you can export into optimized web images or render in Vector for print using CMYK palettes).

Vectors naturally being Layered / Editable / & Fully scalable without losing detail is a bonus. Not to mention that if you are working with 100% Vector (Paths/Points & "NO" Filters / transparencies / Gradients / or other effects") & render/convert into several different Vector formats, the client or print shop can do all their own editing no matter what vector software they use .

The only downside to converting to other vector formats is that during conversion Filters / transparencies / Gradients / or other effects are either embedded as bitmaps (Meaning they can no longer upscale without losing quality) or they are lost completely. It's good practice to try & stay away from Filter effects, thus allowing you more flexibility with cross software compatibility & enabling you to provide formats the client can edit in what ever vector software they own (Most clients cringe at having to buy a different software just to be able to do a minor edit on a design they purchased from you).

At any rate, I hope all the information on this thread was helpful to the Thread Starter

scorpion agency - yep but as we're in a web design forum i assumed we were only talking about stuff for the web.
no criticism intended, hence the winking smiley (winkey?!).
i'm quite happy and interested to discuss print graphics too, and re-purposing to the web

incidentally, do you find you have enough control over stuff exported to the web (i.e. png, gif, or jpeg) from things like indesign/illustrator (i only have limited experience of that) or do you take stuff into photoshop or fireworks from there, then export?

Originally Posted by davemies

scorpion agency - yep but as we're in a web design forum i assumed we were only talking about stuff for the web.
no criticism intended, hence the winking smiley (winkey?!).
i'm quite happy and interested to discuss print graphics too, and re-purposing to the web

incidentally, do you find you have enough control over stuff exported to the web (i.e. png, gif, or jpeg) from things like indesign/illustrator (i only have limited experience of that) or do you take stuff into photoshop or fireworks from there, then export?

The flexibility of vector software gives full control over both web & print graphics, no need to export than import into a Paint/Raster software like Photoshop.

Most vector graphics softwares now days are coming equipped with slicing tools as well, so one doesn't even need to move it to a paint software for that either. You can slice it up & export it with standard xhtml / tables (Web ready) - Then convert it to Css if you like afterwards.

The newer Vector softwares even come with image optimizing features for Color Bits / Transparency / Etc... prior to exporting in web ready images.

Special effects features also come with Vector software now days (Though once an effect is used, it can Not be converted to another vector format without losing quality).

Photo shop was created for Photo's originally & then stretched out into more web friendly usages over the course of it's updates. It's Still a Paint/Raster software with more limitations than Vector softwares can provide.

You also have the option of going for one of the Newer Vector / Paint / Raster / FLASH / CAD / PDF Editing softwares on the market today that combine all in one package. Matter of fact my Primary Graphics tool (Software) is just that. Serif DrawPlus X2 combines everything I listed above (And then some) into one package & only cost me $100.00.

So there are alternatives now days that can fit the majority of the Print/Web spectrum's

I've been a loyal Serif User for 3 years now. All my web & print work has been with their software. Adobe isn't the only solution, they just spend more in advertising so people recognize them

Serif (U.K.) | Adobe (U.S.A.)