New iMacs being used by Illustrators/graphic designers?

[headhammer]

having worked in both print and web design, i can safely say that the glossy screen is not an issue:

in print design, no matter how well calibrated your screen is, nothing compares to doing a print proof to be sure you have it right. i mean, if you're using a pantone colour, it's never going to look right on the screen anyway, because it's a custom ink, so my studio has never even bothered with getting it exactly right: the time and effort spent on getting a monitor just so is not worth the couple of minutes it takes to run a hard proof out of the press, which is exactly right.

in web design, there is no way of knowing what the end user has in terms of monitors or displays, so close enough is good enough. many web design studios still stick to the 216 'web safe' colours, even though that palette is so ridiculously legacy, it's not even funny anymore.

seriously, the glossy screen is not an issue in terms of colour accuracy: i'm a professional designer using one of the aluminium imacs in a professional setting as i type, and i couldn't be more pleased.

the new imac is fantastic.

 

[mrmjd]

wow. you just took what i said completely out of context, even though i was agreeing with what you said. graphics pro's dont necessarily NEED a workstation, but they DO need a decent display. it would be nice if apple included hi-spec displays in the imac, but that would push the price up. you get what you pay for.

But isn't the iMac 24 a better display? It's certainly not a tn panel, that's for sure, and has a 178 degree viewing angle.

 

[pengu]

Rubbish. I have clients and colleagues producing everything from ads to magazines on Macs that are over 5 years old. You'd be amazed how many 'old' iMacs are in use in agencies around the world.

i never said Pro's dont/can't use the thing. i actually AGREED that we don't all need mac pros. i said the iMac isn't a Pro machine. Apple do NOT target the iMac at "Creative Professionals". im not going to argue about whether they should or not, but they don't. its that simple.

 

[irishgrizzly]

Basically it's not an ideal solution, but it is a very cost effective one. At the design studio where I work we have a range of macs – older G4s, G5s with single and dual CPUs, Mac Pros. They are all on a range of monitors from good to poor. Colour is important in every job and we control it tightly, but as we do print design, even the best monitor is never going to be a substitute for a colour proof from our printer. We also make multiple proofs on our in-house printers at every stage of the project, along with working with swatch books. The iMac will find a place in the studio among the other machines.

 

[mrmjd]

having worked in both print and web design, i can safely say that the glossy screen is not an issue:

in print design, no matter how well calibrated your screen is, nothing compares to doing a print proof to be sure you have it right. i mean, if you're using a pantone colour, it's never going to look right on the screen anyway, because it's a custom ink, so my studio has never even bothered with getting it exactly right: the time and effort spent on getting a monitor just so is not worth the couple of minutes it takes to run a hard proof out of the press, which is exactly right.

in web design, there is no way of knowing what the end user has in terms of monitors or displays, so close enough is good enough. many web design studios still stick to the 216 'web safe' colours, even though that palette is so ridiculously legacy, it's not even funny anymore.

seriously, the glossy screen is not an issue in terms of colour accuracy: i'm a professional designer using one of the aluminium imacs in a professional setting as i type, and i couldn't be more pleased.

the new imac is fantastic.

Very good points. Print colour behaves very differently to screen colour, and regarding the web, people use a whole load of different screens anyway. I can't help thinking people are beginning to get far to precious over this stuff. All we need to know is the screen of the new iMacs acceptable in 2007?

 

[headhammer]

Very good points. Print colour behaves very differently to screen colour, and regarding the web, people use a whole load of different screens anyway. I can't help thinking people are beginning to get far to precious over this stuff. All we need to know is the screen of the new iMacs acceptable in 2007?

yes!

 

[darkanddivine]

What with everyone going on about the quality of the panel being low, I am curious. Is the panel in the last gen iMac better?

 

[mrmjd]

yes!

Good, I think they are too

One other thing. I'm fairly new to this. Does every new Apple product get a bit of a mauling like this upon launch? Or is this quite unique?

 

[Jimmdean]

What with everyone going on about the quality of the panel being low, I am curious. Is the panel in the last gen iMac better?

Don't worry yourself about that sort of thing. There definitely isn't enough difference to warrant not getting one if you were otherwise ready to buy...

 

[Fantomas]

Very good points. Print colour behaves very differently to screen colour, and regarding the web, people use a whole load of different screens anyway. I can't help thinking people are beginning to get far to precious over this stuff. All we need to know is the screen of the new iMacs acceptable in 2007?

Well, all depends on what it is acceptable for you and price/quality ratio. Try to build a machine with same specs and you will see how much you can save

 

[mrmjd]

Well, all depends on what it is acceptable for you and price/quality ratio. Try to build a machine with same specs and you will see how much you can save

You talking about being Dell-boy? Don't be a plonker, Rodney!

 

[soosy]

having worked in both print and web design, i can safely say that the glossy screen is not an issue:

in print design, no matter how well calibrated your screen is, nothing compares to doing a print proof to be sure you have it right. i mean, if you're using a pantone colour, it's never going to look right on the screen anyway, because it's a custom ink, so my studio has never even bothered with getting it exactly right: the time and effort spent on getting a monitor just so is not worth the couple of minutes it takes to run a hard proof out of the press, which is exactly right.

in web design, there is no way of knowing what the end user has in terms of monitors or displays, so close enough is good enough. many web design studios still stick to the 216 'web safe' colours, even though that palette is so ridiculously legacy, it's not even funny anymore.

seriously, the glossy screen is not an issue in terms of colour accuracy: i'm a professional designer using one of the aluminium imacs in a professional setting as i type, and i couldn't be more pleased.

the new imac is fantastic.

Exactly what I was going to say as a graphic designer doing mostly web work. Yes you can spend a ton of dough on a high-end monitor and calibration tools... which I would consider if I was doing really high-end work... but I think the majority of us just calibrate our monitors best we can and rely on Photoshop's preview modes and printed proofs.

For web, there are going to be a ton of people viewing my work on glossy screens anyway. And for print, who's to say it doesn't help you when your output is glossy paper? Ok, maybe that's stretching it, but bottom line is I think color accuracy concerns have always been way overblown.

Edit: I should add I haven't actually used a glossy display day to day yet, but I'm planning on ordering one of the new iMacs for that purpose.

 

[irishgrizzly]

I think lots of these threads popping up are from people looking for reassurance before slapping down 2 grand on a new machine. Fair enough, I'd want to know any pitfalls before paying so much.

But I reality colour gamut will only be an issue for very few of them. It's just not that big a deal. My best friend earns a living shooting pictures on a 4 grand camera but before he sends them to the newspapers he checks them on a crappy dell laptop he bought 2 years ago. I laugh at him that he's not got a high end apple monitor to preview his stuff on. (granted they the design dept. at the paper will correct levels before print) But he takes great shots and makes a great living from it. He's thinks I'm a geek for getting excited about colour fidelity – which I am.

 

[soosy]

What with everyone going on about the quality of the panel being low, I am curious. Is the panel in the last gen iMac better?

Just the 20" is lower quality than last gen I believe. However, it's no worse than what's on the laptops and there are plenty of designers using those!

 

[renai-spirit]

no, they dont. but if they're doing anything where colour accuracy is important they will have a decent monitor. it's well documented that glossy screens do not represent colours ACCURATELY, and as noted, the iMacs use the lower spec LCD panels. this isn't an OPINION, its a FACT.

despite your opinion of the quality of the imac's display, i am afraid that the iMac is indeed used by professional graphic designers. for example, our office until the middle of last year used 20" G5 imacs, and is about to get 2 of the new 24" models to supplement our quad G5s. we specialise in motion graphics for broadcast. the company next door to us also uses them, and does work for print, web and broadcast. whilst apple may not view "creative professionals" as their primary market, of course they are aware that creatives do make use of imacs.

if anyone is truly serious about colour and especially for grading work, then they should be spending $20k+ on a grading-quality HD LCD monitor. fortunately, us mere mortals probably wouldn't notice the difference between that and a c.$7k HD video monitor

 

[mrmjd]

I think lots of these threads popping up are from people looking for reassurance before slapping down 2 grand on a new machine. Fair enough, I'd want to know any pitfalls before paying so much.

But I reality colour gamut will only be an issue for very few of them. It's just not that big a deal. My best friend earns a living shooting pictures on a 4 grand camera but before he sends them to the newspapers he checks them on a crappy dell laptop he bought 2 years ago. I laugh at him that he's not got a high end apple monitor to preview his stuff on. (granted they the design dept. at the paper will correct levels before print) But he takes great shots and makes a great living from it. He's thinks I'm a geek for getting excited about colour fidelity – which I am.

Great insight and speaks volumes!

 

[mzd]

well, i'm a designer and i bought a new 24" iMac, glossy screen and all. it is for home use (i will design on it - mostly flyers) but i am also coming from a 19" CRT that has, guess what, a glass screen.
and honestly, even the print stuff i've done on my existing setup doesn't match the print. in fact, based on the last job (cd booklet) i've had printed, the new iMac screen sounds like a closer representation to the print. the print was much darker and more saturated than on my computer.
but again, this is for home use. at work i'm on 2 dell 19" UltraSharp LCDs.

 

[i.Feature]

I personally think that is irrelevant. Does the iMac come with a sticker on the side saying "iMac not recommended for Photoshop, Quark, Illustrator etc.". I know for a fact that the iMac is used in many agency studios around London!

It's very irrelevant. I'm working right now on 2.16 Core 2 duo, 24" imac with 2gb of RAM. It's great for all my needs as a designer and runs CS3 and Quark great. I don't do video so i can't attest to that. But for print design it is a very capable machine.

 

[rainydays]

wow. you just took what i said completely out of context

Oh yes I did, sorry. It wasn't on purpose. I though you replied to my comment about pro's using iMacs.

Anyhow, I don't know what you mean by graphics professionals, but it's a very wide field. Color accuracy isn't important to everyone.

I personally have a problem working with some consumer displays, but it rarely has to do with color accuracy, because just as with audio monitors you have to learn how it works so that you'll know how things look to the rest of the world, especially when doing web design. My problem has more to do with bad viewing angles and backlighting issues.

I bought this fairy cheap Samsung display when my high end CRT died because I needed something to work with while waiting for the iMac. It's a matte display, which is indeed nice, but the colors are way oversaturated and it's impossible to calibrate it right. But I don't mind that, it took a couple of weeks to learn how it works. The problem is that several times when doing a design jobs, I've asked myself "hey, I didn't remember putting a subtle gradient there, but it looks nice" just to realize that it's the uneven backlighting that fools me.

Anyhow, as someone pointed out, when doing web design you know that it's going to be viewed on a lot of crappy uncalibrated displays, and even though having a high end display can be helpful sometimes it is just as discouraging to view the final work on a "real world" display and find that it just looks horrible and that you have to adjust it to work with regular displays.

It's similar to music production really. For a long time Yamaha NS-10 was THE monitor in studios world wide. Was it because it sounded so good? No it sounded terrible. But then it must have been very accurate and detailed? Not really. The NS-10 was produced to generate the sound of the "avarage home stereo", and it has been said many times that if you are able to make a mix sound good on a pair of NS-10 is will sound good anywhere.

It's not exactly the same thing with web design, but it's not far from it.

 

[coolie]

Yes, I am using the new iMac for both freelance illustration and design. I bought the 24" model, which arrived at my doorstep yesterday.

First of all, this glossy screen issue has gotten WAY out of hand. It's a complete non-factor. I have a lot of lights in my office, both natural and man-made, and none of them create any significant glare on the monitor. Unless you are shining a light directly into the face of the screen (something that would also wash out a matte-finish monitor), you'll experience no problems. Even if there WAS glare, the bright LCD would cancel it out anyway. Bottom line. Don't worry about it.

As someone else said, this glossy screen crap is a red herring. Most people have not seen or played with the new iMac, let alone put one in their homes. It's a solid, well-built computer, and perfectly suitable for production work. Anyone who says otherwise is just a message board troll, and not an actual user.

Any Illustrators or graphic designers using the new iMac professionally? How are you getting on with the screen... does the glossiness affect your work negatively in any way or would you recommend it? Thanks

 

[mrmjd]

Yes, I am using the new iMac for both freelance illustration and design. I bought the 24" model, which arrived at my doorstep yesterday.

First of all, this glossy screen issue has gotten WAY out of hand. It's a complete non-factor. I have a lot of lights in my office, both natural and man-made, and none of them create any significant glare on the monitor. Unless you are shining a light directly into the face of the screen (something that would also wash out a matte-finish monitor), you'll experience no problems. Even if there WAS glare, the bright LCD would cancel it out anyway. Bottom line. Don't worry about it.

As someone else said, this glossy screen crap is a red herring. Most people have not seen or played with the new iMac, let alone put one in their homes. It's a solid, well-built computer, and perfectly suitable for production work. Anyone who says otherwise is just a message board troll, and not an actual user.

message board troll, I love that

 

[Broken Friday]

Whom said the 20" isn't ideal for the Graphic designer, or Illustrator... I HIGHLY DISAGREE. I know Pixar artist, who have picked up the iMac 20" and hasn't complained. If you're a good artist, that little shift won't mean "shift" to you.

Even if you are a crappy artist, it still won't mean anything. Stop complaining people, and upgrade your artistic skills.

 

[rainydays]

I know Pixar artist, who have picked up the iMac 20" and hasn't complained.

For personal use I suppose?

 

[chope]

I'm an illustrator, and after 7 months of waiting for a new iMac, I just purchased last years 20 inch 2.16 off the Apple Store online refurbished. I went to the local Apple store and checked the new ones out and all I could see was Beck's giant head staring back at me, reflecting from the display behind me. Granted I will not have anything close to the lighting at the Apple store but still, glare is nothing I want to fight or spend $1500 dollars on. I'm kind of bummed to be buying old hardware, but it seems like the specs are not to dramatically different from the new iMacs, and I saved $400.

 

[mrsgeek]

Me! I bought a delicious 'little' 20 inch Imac and am now using it at home for graphic design. Can't fault it - it's all I'd hoped for: fast and good to look at
And I agree about the whole glossy screen issue being a COMPLETE non-issue. I think my mac at work suffers from more reflections in the office than this one.