Illustrator Alternatives

[MadDoc]

I am trying to get into web design. I am currently teaching myself PHP and MySQL.

I have never designed a website and, as such, have never used programs like Dreamweaver or Illustrator or Fireworks.

These are all expesive programs so I was wondering, what is the best program for me for designing icons, logos and other images for the website I am currently designing? Illustrator is about £300 - is there an open source euqivalent? Is a tool like Illustrator what I need?

Many thanks for any help you can offer.

MadDoc,

 

[tominated]

you could try inkscape, but that was incredibly confusing for me. Intaglio is pretty easy to use and quite cheap. also, there is lineform. I haven't tried that yet though.

 

[tomoisyourgod]

There's always Freehand as an Illustrator alternative, not sure on pricing, I know it's not as much as Illustrator thought.

I haven't used this for a couple of years, it was made by Macromedia, I don't think Adobe are updating the product as it's still MX.

 

[oscuh]

If you're doing web design and using an App like Dreamweaver, then get Flash as well. You'll be able to use Flash to do, well, Flash, but you'll also be able to create vector art for icons, logos and the like. Not the prettiest solution (I Heart Illustrator) but it'll kill a couple birds with one proverbial stone ...