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afroAnt

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 18, 2011
155
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I'll be starting my own graphic design business soon and I would like to know what other programs would I need? Such as font programs, colour selector programs (e.g. colorschemer), etc. I already have the Adobe Master collection and Gimp.
 
Ok I'll bite...

If your starting a design business and don't understand the basic tools needed then I'd suggest maybe starting a business may not be the first step you should be pursuing.

But in answer to the question cs5.5 should be fine though it really depends on what you're designing for. Is it digital, print, broadcast, mobile, etc... ?

Medium will usually dictate tools.

Colour pickers I'd suggest going with kuler as for font I'd suggest checking google, generally I design for broadcast thus the font packs are usually supplied to coinside with branding guidelines.

Good luck.
 
I'm just curious to see what other people use, thanks for your input! Also I'll be dealing with print and digital.
 
If you're interested in handy utilities, I highly recommend Sneak Peek Pro. It lets you do Quick Look for Illustrator, InDesign, EPS and Freehand files.

As long as Illustrator files are saved as "PDF compatible" Quicklook works just fine from 10.6 onwards. You can place live .ai files in your InDesign documents if you use the PDF compatible option, too.

(Yes, I know it makes the files bigger. What is this? 1993?)

Cheers

Jim
 
I'm looking to start a band. Are guitars a good instrument to use?
I'm thinking of going into construction. Will I need any hammers?
I'm going to open a cake store. What kind of recipes should I use?

129108525942749319.jpg


Also-

Not one to prejudge, I can't help but sense some upcoming software piracy in OPs future?
 
I'm looking to start a band. Are guitars a good instrument to use?
I'm thinking of going into construction. Will I need any hammers?
I'm going to open a cake store. What kind of recipes should I use?

Image

Also-

Not one to prejudge, I can't help but sense some upcoming software piracy in OPs future?

Hahaha very funny. I'm just making sure I have the right tools before I start. It's not like I'm saying should I get/would I need Photoshop or Illustrator, I'm just asking are there other tools out there that I may need as well or that are very helpful. And also I buy all of my programs.
 
Why are some of you guys bagging me out for no reason? I'm just asking a simple question. I have the skills and I want to use it to earn some money. I'm a type of person that wants to make sure everything is right. So if your not going to answer the question then don't answer. I'm not trying to be rude but it's quite annoying! To the others who have help with answering the question Thank You very much!
 
If you are starting a graphic design business, why did you opt for Adobe Master Collection?

Surely you would have been fine with Adobe Design Standard or Adobe Design Premium.
 
If you are starting a graphic design business, why did you opt for Adobe Master Collection?

Surely you would have been fine with Adobe Design Standard or Adobe Design Premium.

That's because he pirated it and has no idea how to use it.

Why are some of you guys bagging me out for no reason? I'm just asking a simple question. I have the skills and I want to use it to earn some money.

If you have the skills you won't be asking what "programs" you need to "make money".
 
Adobe Master Collection would be a Ferrari for a cab driver... Design Standard will do unless you want to go into webdesign.


This one you'll find for free on the internet:
Learn how to use joboptions, get some good color profiles, install them and learn everything you can find about exporting a perfect PDF file for print, web or devices.

Link for European profiles: http://www.eci.org/doku.php?id=en:downloads

Buy yourself a Pantone swatch book and use daylight to check your work. Know how to use coated or uncoated profiles.
 
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Not necessarily true. My university offers Adobe CS 5.5 Master Collection to all students for free. He may just be looking for what tools to use in addition to the Adobe programs.

I was of the understanding that University supplied software could not be used for commercial venture, it's against the agreement to the university that Adobe supplies. To expand I'm not talking bought student editions rather "direct marketing" copies to students, I believe discreet did something similar about 10 years ago.

The idea being a free copy will entice graduates to use and fork out big bucks for a version they legally can use.

@Consultant I'm guessing the phrasing of the initial point was a little ambiguous and really implied as "another tooler in the mix". Well that was my impression at least, softwarez + computer = designer which may or may not be the case.
 
I was of the understanding that University supplied software could not be used for commercial venture, it's against the agreement to the university that Adobe supplies. To expand I'm not talking bought student editions rather "direct marketing" copies to students, I believe discreet did something similar about 10 years ago.

ezekielrage_99, Adobe changed its license several years ago. Using student-liscenced software for professional work is just fine now. You are right that by getting access to a free or cheap version it helps cement using adobe tools later in their career when they are ready to buy.
 
ezekielrage_99, Adobe changed its license several years ago. Using student-liscenced software for professional work is just fine now. You are right that by getting access to a free or cheap version it helps cement using adobe tools later in their career when they are ready to buy.

Sorry should have been a little more clear. I'm not saying student licensed editions I understand that they can be used for commercial means, I am talking university provided editions to their students it's a different licensing arrangement. May colleges and university provide a free copy for students with the limitation they cannot use if for commercial ventures or freelancing.
 
Not necessarily true. My university offers Adobe CS 5.5 Master Collection to all students for free. He may just be looking for what tools to use in addition to the Adobe programs.

Exactly! I got the Master Collection free from my school for my graphic class. I'm just looking for other tools to use in addition to the master collection. I've talked to my teacher about the agreements for the master collection and he said it was fine to use it if I wanted to use it in a business.
 
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Suitcase Fusion is an excellent font auto-activation and management program.

Transmit for FTP - fast, great GUI, and you can mount the servers as drives on your desktop to work with them.

BBEdit - if you do hand coding of HTML.

It all depends on what areas of design you are focusing on and what you are looking to do. Are you solely a graphic designer? Do you work on video, web design, photography...?
 
Suitcase Fusion is an excellent font auto-activation and management program.

Transmit for FTP - fast, great GUI, and you can mount the servers as drives on your desktop to work with them.

BBEdit - if you do hand coding of HTML.

It all depends on what areas of design you are focusing on and what you are looking to do. Are you solely a graphic designer? Do you work on video, web design, photography...?

I'll be doing print for now (logos, posters, flyers (for email too), etc) and maybe later on I'll be doing web design (I'm still learning it).
 
saw this on another site a couple of days ago.. hope this info will be of some use to you:

http://i.imgur.com/V2ZAt.jpg

it's a list of some of the applications and online services popular in the design community. it's not a set-in-stone kind of thing, but it should point you in the right direction.
 
"...all the gear and no idea..."

I love how nowadays owning photoshop makes you an artist, how owning a camera makes you a photographer.
 
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