[Tino22]

Yo everyone, I'm in the process of starting a clothing line (probably hear that alot) but seriously I need to know what design software would suit font and shape based designs.
I have no experience with these type of programs so would I be better of just sticking to scanning my hand drawn designs in to the computer .

 

[Islandfever]

I prefer Illustrator over Corel Draw with the only reason being is that I was taught AI at my first graphics job 14 years ago and have used it ever since. Not much, if any experience with CD but they both are used for creating/editing vector images. Photoshop on the other hand is a completely different animal. It is a raster based program and will suit you better for creating more 'painterly' type art. I also use it in conjunction with AI, do line work in AI and add color in PS. It's good to have a vector and a raster program, whichever you chose. Someone here may chime in and give you some info on less expensive 'starter' graphics apps. I know PS has a limited version for less than 100$ I think, not sure about AI. Good luck!

 

[Fenrir]

If you're talking about Elements, unless they've decided to allow more features into it, the last time I used it all you could do was crop and change various Color Management things (brightness, levels, etc) and do various weird things to photos (Lens FLARE!!!).

I think the original poster should try to find a local class so they can have access to the software (especially if they have an open computer lab for students) without having to invest before you're ready to start working. In the meantime, play with the free programs GIMP (use GimPhoto with the GimPad add-on which gives it more of a Photoshop-style interface) and Inkscape. They're not nearly as "robust" as the Adobe versions but they have a lot of the same features. Remember, if you buy the student editions of Adobe you cannot legally use them for commercial work.

One of these days I need to play with CorelDraw. At least I can vaguely afford to buy that one.

 

[Islandfever]

If you're talking about Elements, unless they've decided to allow more features into it, the last time I used it all you could do was crop and change various Color Management things (brightness, levels, etc) and do various weird things to photos (Lens FLARE!!!).

That's it -Photoshop Elements. I have ver. 6 on my laptop. Just opened it for the first time in a while. It's not too bad. Has several paintbrushes, gradient tool, clone stamp, type tool and it looks like a full set of filters as well. Also supports layers and has the full set of layer adjustments to boot. Well worth the $$ for start up. Just checked the Adobe site and they now have ver. 10 for a hundred bux.

 

[Fenrir]

Been awhile since I touched it, if I wind up on a system without good editing software these days I toss GimPhoto/GimPad onto it. It was probably an older version I messed with. I remember I only wanted to do some basic editing and quickly gave up because it didn't have any of the tools I wanted to use. It did have a very user-friendly interface for new users, though.

 

[Tino22]

Thanks guys, from what I have seen I basically need illustrator or coral for vectors and photoshop for colour!!