Graphic Design programs - What do you use?

[Era]

I've got Gimp on my Mac, and I'm curious to know what other people use. I've got some Graphic Design programs my way, and I'd like to know what the most powerful / user-friendly programs are. ;]

Do any of the programs have preset filters (like Photoshop)?

Thanks!
~Era

[Ellie who has 0%]

Adobe Illustrator (totally need to buy or get it from someone. Yay for epic student discoount! This program is normally used to create images. I don't know why people >> cling to photoshop for that, since its marvelous for editting...once you know its true high pontential. It have some effects in Photoshop such as its filters, and working with vectors are awesome, because they aren't pixels. Yes Illustrator = vectors art, and whoever is the baffoon thinking that vectos can be done on Photoshop...are ridonkulous.)

Adobe Photoshop (Totally need to buy or get i from someone. wooo student discoount. It's more for editting pictures than creating, but people still find ways to lean onto it. It's awesome once you get to know all of its other tools like layer masking, etc.)

Sai (using a 30 day trial atm. It's nice though. It's like photoshop minus the filters, but you can rotate your images to tinker with at different angles, which is neat for me since I have a tendency of drawing at an angle.)

[Era]

Yeah. I do know the difference in vector and pixel art, but since it'll be namely web design, I don't really mind. ^^ Most of the time, though, I like vector art for professional work, Photoshop is good for boxes, colors and filters... I just can't pay for it right now, but it's still good to know. ;3

Thanks for the reply. I enjoy the feedback.

[Ellie who has 0%]

<< you might can get >> epic student discount 8DD. I think it's like 90% off >> i think << no quote me on that XD don't want Adobe to tackle me

[Kuri, Queen of Feels]

im acctually in Computer Graphics right now! lol

I use mainly Illustrator(CS, CS3-5) and Photoshop (7-CS5), but apperently unlike Ellie, I find Photoshop better then Illustrator, mainly because its wwaayyy eaisier to use.

Now I'm not saying Illustrator is bad, but they way I'm doing things latley, is illutrator is good for line art, and then photoshop is good for the acctuall coloring, and cool affects, like shiny things and such.
This maybe be just because of my personal dislike for illustrator, but I loves teh Photoshop much more because its Not path based ( i don't know a better way of phraseing that)

I'd say that if ur a patient person, use Illustrator... and if you're not use photoshop XD ( I fall somewhere in the middle)

[Era]

I've used both. ^^ I actually have them at my school, but don't have time to use them outside of work-based stuff, and don't have them on my Mac. I will be going home for awhile for medical testing, so I won't have 'em at my disposal, but I'm looking at plenty of time for projects.

I tend to like Photoshop's user-friendliness more than Illustrator, but I dunno. I like the quality of Vector Art, but the simplicity of Photoshop. xD And Livetrace on Illustrator is for the win.

That being said, thanks for the tips and the replies guys! =]

[Charme]

>.> I kinda passed all my college courses with <95 percent.

Illustrator is amazing for coloring, shading(if you know how), and, of course, line art.

Photoshop is just plain great. When you practice at it for a while, you can do anything on it (except Vectors).

Both programs are great, but Photoshop has so much more potential because it is built intuitively. It can bend and shift a thousand different ways to fit the user's needs, with enough creativity, of course. It can be used in so many different ways that Illustrator becomes almost unnecessary. If you can only get one or the other, get Photoshop.

[Bluey.:*]

I use Photoshop CS5. It's AMAZING!!!

Once you learn how to use it (just look up tutorials online) you can make some amazing graphics. All the graphics I made for this site were made on CS5.

I've never tried Illustrator...but now I'm curious.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Oh yes, if you're a doodle spaz check out the Bamboo Fun Tablet.

It's a drawing tablet with the 7.5 inches x 5.1 inches active touch screen that allows you to interact with your computer giving a pen on paper feel unlike the Wacom Intuous. With Bamboo it features some programs such as Adobe Elements 7, Corel Paint, and Nik Color aaall for $199, in comparison to an Intuos small 6.2 inches x 3.9 inches...is $229.

[Zephiris]

Yes, yes, Bamboo Fun all the way. Adobe Elements is almost exactly like the Photoshop, minus pen tool and a few other trinkets.