Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
13 years ago
Sat Nov 20 2010, 03:33pm
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
My parents are being very generous and looking at getting me a Bamboo tablet for Christmas. And possibly even an art program to go with it. And now here's my dilemma: I have no idea what would be best for me. I would like to be able to manipulate images, for competitions on here, but also of course create entire images from scratch, probably for the purpose of my art major work next year.
So I was hoping that one of the wonderfully arty people might advise me on the best programs?
13 years ago
Tue Nov 23 2010, 10:33pm
well you have 3 options photoshop cs5 gimp or ms paint.
photoshop is the most powerful of the 3 it has many tools heaps of which you probable will never use but it also costs a bunch to unless you want to pirate it. its what the professionals use
gimp is almost as powerful as photo shop but because it is free and open source software it doesn't cost a cent and because of this it has a huge about of community developed addons it also has a scripting language called "FU" that is based on python to make scripts to automate boring jobs. this is the one i have had the most experience with and is my favourite
ms pant is by far the best out of the lot and it comes pre installed on all windows computers :P
13 years ago
Sat Nov 20 2010, 10:58pm
Well, first of all, I don't actually know what a 'Bamboo tablet' is, so that might tell you a little bit about how much I know about computers. ;P
But out of the three programs mentioned above, I'd say definitely go with photoshop. :) You can do a lot of different things with it - it's got pretty much everything. Especially for manipulating photos or images. I've never tried to create an original image using it, but I'm sure it can be done. :) The only down side is that because there are so many different tools/settings, I find it a bit difficult to use, but that's only because I don't use it very often. I'm told you get used to it. (Plus it also helps if you try reading some instructions, I guess. ;P ).
I use gimp a lot, mainly because it's free and a bit less complicated than photoshop. It works pretty well for my purposes, but I do find it's a bit limiting when it comes to creating original images or editing photos. It definitely doesn't have the same scope as photoshop.
As for paint, I absolutely can't stand it. :P Maybe it's testament to my lack of computer skills, but the only thing I manage to do with paint is draw random squiggles or coloured shapes. :P I tried to make a lady-bug with it once, but even that didn't work. Still, I know a lot of people who like paint. Maybe I just don't know how to use it properly. :P
Oooh, I recently got a small Intuos 4, which is smaller than a Bamboo, but it is higher quality and costs about the same
Paint is just...Out of the question. If you want to make good stuff, then use photoshop. I haven't used GIMP before, so no help there... :/ But yeah, photoshop is really good because you can change brush dynamics and use filters and so many things. :)
the best program i have used to create images from scratch is gimp it has many many ways to change the brushes and create your own brushes
oh and photo shop costs around $600
Mystic Guildmistress
13 years ago
Mystic Guildmistress
Mage
I've used GIMP and Photoshop elements before. Photoshop elements is just a cheaper version of Photoshop with less of the features. And I have no idea about graphics tablets sorry.
I'd suggest GIMP if money's an issue because you can just download it online and it has all of the features, and there are plenty of tutorials on the web for it.
Though, Photoshop has more features and it's meant to be used for advanced image editing work. If you do get photoshop and want to create and edit photos, I wouldn't go for the cheaper Photoshop Elements because, as I've found, you get annoyed when you find some of the tutorials have features that your version of Elements doesn't have. So Photoshop (probably one of the current CS series) would be a great investment, but it does range in the 600-700 hundreds from what I've seen.
Something else you might want to look at is Corel Draw, which is more for creating images. I don't have a lot of experience with it, but there should be info pages on the web for it.
Good luck finding the right products for you, Arwen :)
I did see this but didn't respond because you guys had it covered / said pretty much what I would have said :P
I've sent a PM to you Arwen but I'll paste it here too in case it helps others?
Basically Photoshop is the design industry standard, and does both. I used to have a wacom that I used in Photoshop to hand draw, and I use it for every other image I make on here too.
The only other program that's worth mentioning is Autodesk Sketchbook Pro - this is very advanced, ideal software but for drawing/sketching, but not manipulating images, so you'd lose that functionality.
IMO your best bet is Photoshop - not only will it do everything you need but it will give you experience with the program the design industry use, and if you want a career in design it's best to get into what you'll be using as soon as you can.
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Thanks for the feedback everyone :)
Re: Gimp- I do have the program, however I find that it sometimes malfunctions and freezes on me when I try to use some features, and really gets a bit annoying. Especially with the random nature of it. But I do agree that it's pretty good.
Re: Paint- yes it's improved a lot, but not enough for me to accept it as the best program for me to use; I still find it somewhat difficult to manipulate.
Re: Photoshop- definitely think this is the way to go, and I'm looking at the Premium Design Suite. I took your advice Agyllian and had a look for student discounts and the best I've found for it is $314 :)
So thanks again :D
I have the old version of the Bamboo tablet and I love it to pieces. It has a permanent spot under my keyboard because I use it so often. Just make sure when you buy your tablet that the window size is one you will be comfortable working with. The one I have is roughly 8x6" and its perfect. Any smaller and I think I'd have ripped my hair out.
Re: Design Premium Suite: I paid more than that for only 5 programs, so it is a really good price, but if you are only buying it for Photoshop and/or Illustrator, you could save some money by getting the Standard package instead. Or, buying Photoshop on it's own as Min suggested.