Daniel Slatkin

Hello Fellow artist and designers

Hello Fellow artist and designers when it comes to software it can quickly break the bank, especially when year in and year out you are burdened with costly updates. Years ago when I started out Designing on the computer I spent a small fortune on the top recommended software. Unfortunately though as the years went on they became more and more out dated and the cost to update them just did not fit into the bottom line. That’s when a good friend of mine suggested I look to the open source community of programs.

All of a sudden a new world of design was opened up to me that was not always taking a bite out of my budget. There great software’s out there with huge groups of users that are more than willing to help a guy learn and expand his designing abilities. I will provide a list of the free open source software I use on a daily basis I hope this helps out.

Another great resource for free or near free software is Serif they have everything from photo editing to 3d publishing software. Most tittles are available with commercial use license for around $10 us dollars.

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Daniel Slatkin
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xer0kill

I'd just like to add one more: Inkscape vector graphics editor

I use it mostly for converting photos/drawings to vector for a stylized look. I end up doing about 90% of my work in Inkscape + Gimp.

I've used the commercial products as well, and the free stuff is up to par with them these days. No need to shell out the big bucks or break the law!

 

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Daniel Slatkin

Thanks for the Inkscape link I have bean looking for a good vector program.

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Daniel Slatkin
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COEDS

Inkscape is a great program and the price is right. I love free stuff that works . .... JB

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Daniel Slatkin

Update Blender just released a new more powerful version blender.org - Home

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Daniel Slatkin
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wormil

I tried Inkscape. Trying to save in anything other than the default format (SVG if I remember) crashed the program. Many other things would crash the program and sometimes it would just crash randomly. The guys programming it are on the right track if they can get the bugs worked out but it's not ready for prime time.

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COEDS

I always save in Eps with no issues. I use it everyday without issue. ..... JB

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Naga

There is free color management software at ArgyllCMS.com (Windows, OSX and Linux).

Re Inkscape: There were lots of problems the first time I installed inkscape.
Now (version 0.46) there are a few things, you learn to stay away from to avoid program crashes. It can still crash but mostly it will save your current work automatically.
You'll have to install a few programs like ps2edit and image magick in order to use all the available formats.
It's really an awesome program. I also have Corel Draw ver. 8, but I never use it any more.
I make most of my work in Photoshop, but use Inkscape to create different object, that I assemble in Photoshop.

I am using GIMP for some special effects, but miss adjustment layers too much to drop Photoshop.

Edit: Adjustment layers is not the only thing I miss in GIMP.

 

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xer0kill

Interesting... I've never had Inkscape crash on me or do anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps that's because I'm running Linux. I've also got 2GB of RAM which I would say is the minimum for doing any sort of intense graphics work.

 

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