I'm confused!

[cynaunltd]

I would like to begin creating original graphics, banners, buttons etc. for my website. Unfortunately I don't know squat about graphic design software. I'm confused. Can Paint be used to create graphics from scratch? If not, what would be the best, easiest to learn and cheapest way to go? I don't want to have to use pre-existing images or clip art.
Thanks much.
www.cynaunltd.com

[blastradius]

For what it sounds like you are wanting to do I would suggest using a vector based graphics program. I am sure others will have some good examples of cheap to free programs that are available.

But I would suggest using macromedia freehand, adobe illustrator, or corel draw. Simply in that if you are just starting to learn these type of programs, then these programs will have the resources you will need to learn.

although you could use paint to create some good quality graphics. But the tools are limited and it will take you a lot longer to create, and your end result would probably not be as good as if you had used one of these other programs.

[voodooboy]

Your best route is either a Macromedia package consisting of Freehand, Fireworks and Flash, or an Adobe suite with Photoshop (which includes ImageReady) and Illustrator.

Now you are looking at $1200 dollars either way you go. Both options have their own learning curve to deal with, but they are industry standard and well worth the investment.

If price is your biggest concern, I would probably suggest Paint Shop Pro by JASCO Software. It will run you about $80 dollars and does most of what Photoshop and ImageReady can do on a very simplified scale. I have used it in the past (10 years ago) and found it to be a decent product then, so I imagine it has improved considerably over time and the price surprisingly has not gone up that much.

And if you are that virgin to design software, I would also suggest investing a little money in some night classes at your local tech/community college. Most tech schools have one to day supplemental courses that cover a considerable amount of information for the given time, and cost around $75 - $175. It will give you a good foundation to start with and then you can expand on that base as you use the tools.

[JMuncy]

Hello,

Microsoft paint should never be used for any type of graphical work. It's just so un-easy to work with and the final result is alwasy a dissapointment. Personally I am a Huge fan of Macromedia's Fireworks. If you are doing online work for banners and such like you said I would suggest this route for you. There are plenty of online resources for you to learn it quick. For Fireworks 2004 the price is $299...

You can always try it with the free 30 day trial to see if it suits you... http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=fireworks

That might be kind of steep for you, but I do belive that this would be the best offer for you, based on what you want to do.

Hope this helped...

J.Muncy

[davebarnes]

I think you need three (3) pieces of software.

1. If you want to create an image that will used in multiple sizes you want a vector graphics program. For example, logos are typically used in multiple sizes. Plus, you will want to use the logo in print at some point in time.
A vector graphic program (Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Macromedia Freehand) will allow you to create images which are infinitely scaleable up or down without loss of fidelity. This means smooth edges no matter what the size.
Personally, I use Illustrator because I started on a Mac long ago. It is expensive, but is worth it.

2. For items which will not be resized use software that creates bit-map or raster images. Just remember that if you resize a bit-map image, it will become jaggy and not look good. Examples of these types of images are: banner ads, navigation buttons.
I personally use Adobe Photoshop and love it. But, I would recommend that you look at Photoshop Elements as an alternative. Photoshop is $700 and PE is $80. I believe that PE is as good as P when it comes to creating buttons.
There are times when I use Illustrator to create the image and then import into Photoshop to make the final GIF or JPEG for the website.

3. For animated GIFs, I use GIF Movie Gear (www.gamani.com). For $40 it does one thing: creates animated GIFs.

4. I would also suggest taking some training. Products such as Illustrator and Photoshop have learning curves that are straight up. These products do so many things that getting started can be daunting.

[tholt576]

I would like to begin creating original graphics, banners, buttons etc. for my website. Unfortunately I don't know squat about graphic design software. I'm confused. Can Paint be used to create graphics from scratch? If not, what would be the best, easiest to learn and cheapest way to go? I don't want to have to use pre-existing images or clip art.
Thanks much.
www.cynaunltd.com

Since you said "cheapest" I suggest you go with Zoner Draw 3. You can download it for free from their website. They also have a Zoner Draw 4, but it's only free for 30 days. I've created some logos and what not with ZD3 and I'm quite pleased. It's not illustrator but It's also not hundreds of $$. If you are doing web design for a living you might want to listen to these other people who are doing web design for a living, but it sounds like you are like me and you have one website that is the real business and you are home brewing.

[computers]

I use Pait Shop Pro, although I do have Illustrator and Corel Draw, I prefer PSP. You can download a 30 day evaluation of PSP from their site www.jasc.com. Another program you might want to consider is LogoCreator www.thelogocreator.com, it is a very user friendly program.

[adposter]

PSP would be a good try. If you're looking for something easy to use graphics software then i'd say, JASC's PaintShop Pro 8 is the one. As what "computers" said there is a 30 day evaluation of the product. Since you are just starting out then you can try out PaintShop Pro 8 which is the latest version by the way. PaintShop Pro also comes with Animation Shop 3 wherein you can create animated banners and all that. It does it's job for beginners actually.

As you progress, then you can try out PhotoShop and Corel but they're quite expensive.

Jon

[rzastrow]

I started out several years ago with an early version of Paint Shop Pro (v 3.0). JASC now produces a suite of graphics programs and I own several of them.

Corel and MacroMedia's Fireworks seemed too complex for me, primarily because I am not a graphics artist.

For three years, I have been happily using ULEAD's Photo Impact and have just upgraded to PhotoImpact XL. Because photographs are the single most important image type on my web site, PI is best for me.

ULEAD offers a 30-day trial and the fully-functioning trial program that is packed full of useful tools and objects. I found that it was well worth the $89 price (50 if you're upgrading).

http://www.ulead.com

[adposter]

Corel and MacroMedia's Fireworks seemed too complex for me, primarily because I am not a graphics artist.
http://www.ulead.com

Corel is a great vector graphics program and they also have PhotoPaint. I started out using Corel Draw when I was in college and it was quite easy to learn and it was still version 4 at that time. But now they have version 11 I think? So things must've changed, and I have not touched it since then. And yes Ulead is also a good one too, for the price.

I guess for "cynaunltd", it's already listed here what she needs. She just needs to choose which one she prefers, and since all these programs have 30 day trials, she can try them out and later on buy what she prefers.

Jon

[jandel1313]

For dirt cheap and able to quickly throw out buttons and banner bannermaker pro is great. The image quality is defiantly only web quality. At only 39.00 USD to download, it is not too bad. You can control the backgrounds and text on any of the styles it offers. Now this is not good for anything other than making buttons, banners, skyscraper ads (tall banners), and "boxed in" images and text. If you are looking at serious image work macromedia and adobe are the ways to go. I personally use just about everything in both macromedia and adobe. The price is the only thing I do not like about either of those company’s software.