Help me to distiguish

 

Which one is best? Photoshop? Firework? Others.

It's subjective, i personally use illustrator and photoshop, but i know there are people on here who use fireworks for web layouts. And they're all pretty expensive solutions.

 

Theirs a fair few people using gimp, because of the price tag, and while i've never used gimp, it does appear to be pretty good software, with alot of features.

 

Photoshop & Gimp are both bitmap programs

Illustrator & Fireworks work vector (not sure if fireworks is entirely vector?)

 

Can't comment on Corel, i only know it from the free demo's they were always giving out in pc magazines when i was younger, and that's the limit of my knowledge on that one.

It's subjective, i personally use illustrator and photoshop, but i know there are people on here who use fireworks for web layouts. And they're pretty expensive solutions.

 

Theirs a fair few people using gimp, because of the price tag, and while i've never used gimp, it does appear to be pretty good software, with alot of features.

 

Photoshop & Gimp are both bitmap programs

Illustrator & Fireworks work vector (not sure if fireworks is entirely vector?)

 

Can't comment on Corel, i only know it from the free demo's they were always giving out in pc magazines when i was younger, and that's the limit of my knowledge on that one.

Fireworks does both bitmap and vector, I have been using CS4 just recently and was very impressed, But have stayed with Photoshop simply because thats what I know and I can work a lot faster with it.

 

I have tried gimp and found it to be very capable, but no matter what program I try I always end up going back to Photoshop. so I guess photoshop gets my vote for its versatility.

I'm definitely no graphics whizz but I love Fireworks.

Never really got the hang of Photoshop tbh.

The Fireworks interface seems more intuitive to me (maybe because I've used it for so long?).

I've been dabbling more and more with GIMP recently and although it takes a bit of getting used to, it is a great piece of software.

Won't be replacing Fireworks in the near future though

I did use Fireworks a few years back as it seemed pretty simple, but once I figured out Potatoshop I've never looked back. I still don't really get how to work Illustrator.

From time to time I try other things, even photoshop for a while, but I always end up going back to Corel Draw Suite. I actually think peoples preference has a lot to do with what they have learned to use in the past. I have been using corel draw since it's first version, and before that Corel DrawPerfect. At the end of the day this remains the program that I can get the most out of. I understand how it's transparencies work, color palettes, mesh tools and what not work, so it just ends up being the program I open first when I want to do some serious work. I also think it is great value for money as it packs with a fantastic bitmap tracer, okay bitmap editor, superb vector graphics editor and doubles as an exceptional desk top publishing application. So at the end of the day, when I am forking out lots of money, Corel is the easiest to justify. An older version of the suite, which I have also came with a great animator which I still use from time to time.

 

For a much cheaper option, I have been much impressed with Paint Shop Pro. Definitely got much more kick than adobe elements which is probably a similar priced offering.

 

The gimp, I just never seem to be able to get to work for me. But lets face it, nothing beats the price!

 

I have never used Firework so can't comment.

 

I also, at a stage, loaded and used for a short while the MS Expression Suite (still use expression web) but did not like the graphic editing program enough to persevere.

Thanks everybody for your help.

I use photoshop, easy to use.. simple.

hi all,

 

looking at this thread and the poll, it appears photoshop is king on the design front despite the expense. I've used eary versions of both dreamweaver and PS at uni and had a copy of DM mx & PS cs1 but I dont have those now. As I'm only programming with HTML & CSS I'm not getting the full use out of the Dreamweaver cs4 trial I downloaded and think notepad will do for now. It does appear apparent that there is no subtitute for a good solid design software package.

 

My question to all is...

 

...As I'm just starting out in a self-taught freelance web designer venture, is it worth investing in Photoshop CS4 for the £500+ price tag from adobe? I want to do this legitimately so my budget is key. As far as work goes I've recently received a job from someone by word of mouth which I'v nearly completed, but after that I may not get further work for weeks/months? My CS4 trial expires soon, so whats your general feelings on this one?

 

Any advice is good advice...

Personally I think that photoshop is a very expensive program and not worth it!

Personally I think that photoshop is a very expensive program and not worth it!

 

Thanks, that's my only issue with it really.. £££££!!!!!!

Just my opinion. I use Fireworks, Photoshop and Illustrator most of the time in designing. Fireworks was really meant for the web and optimizing. If I have a large size photoshop file you can just open it in Fireworks and save it and automatically the file is converted for the web. I guess all 3 are good.

Photoshop falls short in terms of vector drawings.. and it SUCKS!!! when it comes to text manipulation in addition to image manipulation. I hold Photoshop in great esteem and I learned to use it *before* I learned to use Illustrator or FireWorks, but it's horrible having to work symultaneously with Photoshop AND MS WORD because Photoshop simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of paragraphs.

 

My vote goes to FireWorks, all the way.

 

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Looking for web design tips?

I use the GIMP and have found the transition to Photoshop quite hard. I haven't spent much time with Photoshop but it seems less convinient from a 10 minute play about the other day.

 

GIMP, for web design, is more than enough. As a web designer/developer and not a graphics designer that's all that really matters to me. In terms of professional graphics design I don't know, never been there. Yes it's free and no it's not intended to be Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro etc which is reflected in the fact it's a brilliant piece of software in it's own right, even if it wasn't free.

 

Everyone moans about the interface of GIMP. Under a Linux environment with workspaces it's brilliant. It really excels with Linux distros as Linux is generally more productive functionality and has better window management.