which Graphics software

[rcjordan]

this from Fantomaster in the dot com morgue2 thread:

And Corel again - seems as if the coup de grace is nigh any day now: http://www.silicon.com/a38222 [silicon.com]

The questionable fate of CorelDraw brings up this topic

What Graphics software do webmasters use?

I use Lview [lview.com].

[seth_wilde]

I use Photoshop, I think it's definitely the most comprehensive graphics package (not to mention v5.5 has Image Ready built in to make web graphics a snap), but if your just making something simple you could definitely get away with something cheaper.

[oilman]

I use PhotoImpact. As far as web graphics go I would stack it up against Photoshop anyday and it costs less than $100. I don't have anything against PhotoShop other than the price - I just couldn't ever get used to they layers thing. PhotoImpact is object based and really slick to manipulate. It also imports .PSD files and can use nearly all photoshop plug-ins.

[rcjordan]

Oilman, got an url on PhotoImpact?

[Brett_Tabke]

I think that is a Ulead [ulead.com] product.

[oilman]

Ulead [ulead.com] all the way. They have some great products.

[seth_wilde]

How can you not like the layers? :) Photoshop isn't cheap but that's because it does a million different things that you would probably never use it for. However I did hear that they have a stripped down version strictly for web graphics that's much more reasonable.

(you'll have to forgive me I started using photoshop in highschool and I used it throughout art school so I'm a little biased)

[Brett_Tabke]

Paint Shop Pro here. Price is right with a fair number of features and available plugins (eye candy).

For 3d stuff, Xara3d is awesome.

[fantomaster]

Using PaintShopPro most of the time for web graphics, too. It's fast and easy, if not overly featurized.

For the more sophisticated stuff: Corel 8 and Photoshop.

A neat tool for creating favicons is MicroAngelo [impactsoft.com].

For extracting icons: Icon Extractor [gregorybraun.com].

For animated graphics we use ULead's GifAnimator [webutilities.com].

Screenshots: Hardcopy [sw4you.com]

Registered Photo Impact the other day but haven't yet found the time to study the manual - I find it not that "intuitive" by itself, though I've been into graphics (DTP/WWW) for 12+ years.

[BK]

I have them all just about. I still use CorelDraw (from the corel suite 8) but also have Adobe Photoshop, Ulead GifAnimator, and even the GiMP (which is pretty powerful for an open-source product). I also have micrografix's 3d program which makes nice text but needs optimizing in another program for best results.

Of course, my favourite graphics creation utility is called Seth. ;) Its effortless for me to use :)

BK

[tedster]

It really depends on the graphic demands of the client.

I've worked on some fine art sites, and I don't think any software except Photoshop could possibly have produced the needed results. Even so, I needed the HVS JPEG plug-in to get a small enough file size without sacrificng appearance.

PS is also required when the client supplies funky source materials. Photos with color casts and exposure/lighting problems just scream for Adobe's help. Having a good looking product shot can be criticial for online sales.

For animation, even though I think Ulead rules, nothing beats Photoshop's layers for pre-building the frames. Bronco-busting the GIF color palette is another shining
star in Photoshop's crown.

[yomebe]

If you want to see what PSP 6.0 can do www.pinoy7.com Richie Dumlao launched the new domain yesterday and it is impressive!