Which Software do you use most?

Hi People!

I've just finished a Web Design course and am now considering backing it up with a Graphic Design course. I've already bought CS3 and had assumed that Illustrator was the way to go - but a graphic design friend of mine swears by Corel??

Advice is very much appreciated!

Thanks all

Rach

 

We use Photoshop and Flash for designing graphics. Dreamweaver for PHP/ASP development. and Visual Web Developerr 2008 for asp.net projects. We use IIS 7 for testing applications.

 

Thanks very much for that - so you dont use Illlustrator at all?

 

I use macromedia fireworks to do everything regarding gfx, And dreamweaver for web designing. Have never used Photoshop or illustrator.

PS: Fireworks is mostly used for vector/animations.

 

I use fireworks and photoshop for graphics, and dreamweaver for web design. Works great

 

if you got photoshop use it it'S easy to handle and i guess most people use it

 

I need to try Gimp sometime, never have.

I came across a really cool flash based site the other day via Stumble...it looked like PS Elements or similar, even let you do layers and the whole bit...great for someone who can't afford PS like you said...I'll try to find the link

 

The only reason you need photoshop or illustrator is if you seriously plan to work professionally in the web or graphics design industry. That is working for a big design firm/company or some company that needs this done for their business.
Most companies in this industry use adobe products because they have been around the longest and the most money and the most muscle in the market.
So if you want to work for one of these companies they will usually require that you have a degree in this or some related field of study and that you have experience with this software.

Photoshop, is a bitmap or photo editing program, there are many other programs available that can do the same thing for you, such as The Gimp, which is free!
http://gimp.org/
And there are many other programs you can buy Like corel , Xara, Real Draw, etc.....
If you are working freelance from home you can use any software you like.

Illustrator is a vector based software
Corel is another alternative. Inkscape is a free vector program that can be downloaded from their site.
http://inkscape.org/
Other packages that you can buy beside Corel Draw, are Xara Xtreme, or Real Draw

As I said before if you plan to go to work for a Company in the industry, chances are that they will be looking for people that have experience with Adobe products, like Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver.

Personally I do freelance work and use Xara Xtreme and Real draw.

 

Photoshop at the very most


Then Illustrator

 

Photoshop for design layout - FormZ for 3d models - Homesite for HTML/CSS web development

 

Most definitely PuTTy.

 

Illustrator, Photshop, InDesign.

 

Wow thanks for all the replies!

I plan to work from home and already have Adobe CS3 so I guess photoshop and illustrator is the way to go. Just need to find a good course now to teach me how to use them effectively!

Anyone recommend any online tutorials? I'm pretty much OK with photoshop as we covered that in the web design course - its illustrator and vectors I'm bit (well very) hazey with!

Info much appreciated

 

I have used corel for a long time. It is a great piece of vector software. But illustrator is great too. I you have bought that, just use that and you will not need something else as a vector software. Now I use Inkscape, it is free/open source and handles my tasks very good. Good Luck!