What program do you use for design?

[iDrum]

As a budding artist, I'd like to know what some of you more experienced artists use to make your designs.

I have photoshop, illustrator, and flash.

Are these the tools most commonly used?

[csuribacsi]

I'm not a great artist but I have created some things.I use corel x3 and photoshop cs2

[Andreaz]

I'm still new to design too. I mostly use Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Fireworks CS3 and I am starting to learn a bit in Illustrator CS3.

[KHDZN]

Quark, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator

[Jiayi]

On top of the pre-mentioned programs, if you like animating, I guess taking a look at Adobe AfterEffects would be good as well :]

[JNT86]

illustrator is a terrible program, but it gets the job done. all of adobes interfaces are cluttered and bloated. but once you know em, i guess you know em.

[Chung Dha]

illustrator is the greatest it got way better eatures than photoshop.

[JNT86]

illustrator is the greatest it got way better eatures than photoshop.

well thats like saying that word has way better features than excel. their 2 different types of programs. what im saying is that illustrator has a horrible cluttered interface like most of adobes programs. i use inkscape which is a little bit better but free. my theory is that adobe hasnt been able to redesign the interface for fear of pissing off long- time users.

[WickedMind]

I'm using the whole CS3 suit(PS, IL, FL, AE, PR and even SoundBooth). I did take a look at other software, but the industry standard simply is Adobe. When working with other design agencies it's practical to use the same software.

The fact that adobe comes with a new program which will make all of those apps (especially for web (PS and Flash)) work better together is also a reason to stick with them.

check http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Thermo for more info

AIR and Flex are also good reasons to stick with Adobe, they just offer a total solution for your graphic, motion and web design & development.

[_Redrum]

If we're talking about CS3, the Illustrator interface is only as cluttered as you want it to be. If you didn't want/need some of the options on the screen at all times, then you can just remove them; it's not the program's fault that you choose not to do so

The problem with Inkscape is that it violates every shortcut rule known to man. One really important aspect of program development is to make sure that you're not breaking age-old traditions. That's why most programs support Ctrl+C (copy) and Ctrl+V (paste) as well as other well known shortcuts. Programs like Inkscape and Gimp break some very important shortcut rules. If you ever plan on using Illustrator, don't even consider learning on Inkscape. Experiment with it and then if you want to get serious, move on to the Adobe suite. You'll thank yourself for it when you start wanting to create designs faster and with less steps.

[Winter artwork]

Corel X4 - First program I ever learned and still the easiest for me to use

Photoshop CS3

Illustrator CS3

[ghbarratt]

I have used (and at some point owned) almost all the major graphic design software.

Currently the software I find most useful are:
1. Adobe Illustrator (I use CS2)
2. (Corel/Jasc) Paint Shop Pro (I use 9)
3. Adobe Photoshop (I use CS)
4. Macromedia Freehand (I use MX 2004)
5. (Adobe/Macromedia) Flash (I use MX 2004)

Honorable mentions:
Inkscape
GIMP
Serif DrawPlus
Corel Draw

The reason I started using Illustrator was compatibility. Before Illustrator 11 I think Freehand was slightly better than Illustrator. (It is a terrible shame that Freehand was abandoned). I also found Serif DrawPlus to be really great for features and functionality, but not good at compatibility and the registration process alone is reason enough to not buy DrawPlus.

[adammonk]

I agree with you ghbarratt, I liked Freehand better than Illustrator. To me, it just felt like it was easier to work with.
Other apps I use apart from Illustrator are Photoshop, Flash, Quark and Dreamweaver (which sometimes I could kill).

[rinaldidesigns]

ILLUSTRATOR. PERIOD. for logo/print, can't be beat.....I use it for all I can.(biz cards, menus, brochures, postcards, invites, etc, etc...its like the swiss army knife of design;)
I guess I'm so, so used to(used for 12+yr)...that clutterd, or not, I don't notice(It isn't cluttered at all, just close what palettes you don't use/need)...........I love all adobe CS suite.....(I recurrently made the switch from quark to indesign, indesign is so streamlined w/pshop, illustrator)

running on CS3 ......

[Jiayi]

Hm, with so many of you guys mentioning Quark, I sometimes wonder if it's still a good thing for aspiring graphic designers (who are still in college) to learn the program. From what I know, at my school (RISD), they don't teach Quark anymore -- but yet the name has come up time and time again in today's industry. Any thoughts?

[prijikn]

illustrator and photoshop , both are really good .Photoshop is the best design software. Photoshop tools are excellent and it's very easy to use.

[apasay]

I learned on Illustrator, but I've been using Freehand pretty much since day one....and of course Photoshop. If I'm doing 'web' graphics tho, I always use Fireworks....it's a great mix of photo/vector usage.

[adammonk]

Hm, with so many of you guys mentioning Quark, I sometimes wonder if it's still a good thing for aspiring graphic designers (who are still in college) to learn the program. From what I know, at my school (RISD), they don't teach Quark anymore -- but yet the name has come up time and time again in today's industry. Any thoughts?

Personally, Quark has everything I need. I'm not doing hugely complicated stuff really, but it's still an adequate application for me. I don't know InDesign much so can't compare them in great detail, but I wouldn't have thought they were massively different. Anyone got any opinions on the two?
InDesign might be at an advantage mainly due to the compatibility within the Adobe suite.

[Chung Dha]

well thats like saying that word has way better features than excel. their 2 different types of programs. what im saying is that illustrator has a horrible cluttered interface like most of adobes programs. i use inkscape which is a little bit better but free. my theory is that adobe hasnt been able to redesign the interface for fear of pissing off long- time users.

Not really that cluttered at all just learn the shortcuts keys and it is no problem. And allot of the keys are same with every adobe suit program.

I still rather design things with Illustrator even a website I do with illustrator rather making it in photoshop. Because you can set and edit the dimensions and shapes much easier.

Uhm beg the differ that actually photoshop have the less easier interface. If I want to use the aligning tools in photoshop you first need to select the layer then use the marquee tool to select the picture and then I can align the picture in the screen. Instead of just only having to select the layer/object to align it, which is the case in Illustrator.

Gradient tool inside photoshop is just too horrible.

[Violet]

I am a Photoshopaholic. I've been using it for about 8+ years now. I've recently gotten Illustrator after a 6 year absence, and I was happily able to pick it back up quickly. I've used Multi-Ad Creator Pro while I was working at a newspaper. It's actually a pretty fun program and handy for print ads and some logo design. And it was surprisingly pretty good at pagenation. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on Creator again.