24" iMac for Graphic Design studio workstation?

Hi there, I've been using macs since the early 90s for graphic design and have always bought their "professional" models, ie towers. These days it seems the line between iMacs and towers is getting a bit blurred... iMacs are pretty darn powerful. So I need to add a workstation to the design studio and am considering just getting a 24" iMac instead of a tower + apple display. I use Adobe CS2 apps (photoshop, indesign, illustrator, etc.) Rarely, I deal with 500meg layered photoshop images, but I don't do any sound/video stuff.
So my big question... is the iMac good enough for a full time graphic designer's workstation or should I stick with a tower? The difference is over a $grand.
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.8)

The 24" iMac is a perfect match for a graphic designer.
On the plus side, the large screen is actually 4 inches larger than the smallest Cinema Display (20"), meaning great value. Secondly, you have the small form factor and the conveinience of an all-in-one unit, and the RAM is extremely easy to upgrade, with a ceiling of 3GB; plenty to run Photoshop or Aperture. The Nvidia graphics card is very potent as well; a must for people working with high-res images.
On the downside, you still won't get the sheer performance that a tower such as the Mac Pro will offer. You also won't get the expandability. You can't upgrade the graphics card in the iMac. You also can't upgrade the hard drive easily, and USB and firewire card upgrades (necessary to keep up with todays latest connection methods for digital cameras) are out of the question.
The 24" iMac is superb. It will give you the horsepower to run even a small graphics design business. But if you are serious about graphic design as a career, still go for a tower. You will be glad you did. I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself selling the iMac and upgrading your system 3 or 4 years from now. However, if you expect to upgrade in that time anyway, the iMac is a better value.
Good Luck with your decision. I know you will be happy no matter which machine you choose!

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I think to bye imac for graphic design use purpose. kindly guide me. Is iMac best for me ?

i think to bye imac for graphic design use purpose. kindly guide me. Is iMac best for me ?

Hello artistsagar,
The word best is always subjective. It is all a question of your needs, your working practice, your available space; I could go on.
A Mac (probably a 27"one) may well be perfect. Good size screen, easily understood basic functions and a huge number of recommended programs. Just Google Mac graphic design to see what is available.

Which 27" iMac for graphic design?

Hi, I'm making the switch from pc to Mac. Firstly, I hope I'm asking this in the correct section of the forum, if not could you please suggest the best category for me.
I'm a long time PC user. I am also a graphic design student (and I do a fair amount of work as well). I work all day and often nights on the computer. I mainly use Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. I'll be learning, or at least dabbling, in most of the Adobe creative suite over the next couple of years, however those 3 are the main programs I use.
I often run at least 2 programs at the same time (ie illustrator and indesign).
I was going to get a MacBook pro, but as I never travel for work (at this stage) and I'd need to buy a larger screen anyway, I decided to go with the iMac. (Mac pro is too expensive for me at this stage)
I'm hoping to get suggestions on which iMac to go with. I'm definitely getting the 27", but I don't know which model to get, or what upgrades if any, I would need.
Keeping in mind that I'm a student, and part time worker. I can afford the i7 model (at a stretch) but would I still need to upgrade anything on top of that?
I appreciate any advice.

I'm running CS5 on both a Mac (quad core duo2, 4GB RAM) and a PC core duo2 with 6GB of RAM.
I hate to say it but PS runs much smother on my PC. So if anything can be learned from that: RAM is much more important than the processor.

New imac for graphic design?

Hello, I'm thinking about getting the new 24" imac to do some freelance graphic design. I'd like to get opions from other graphic designers or anyone else who is using cs3 about this model of mac. Are you happy with the screen and its performance?
Thanks

Here's my two cents....
I'm also a graphic designer and found that the 24" on occasion has been.....wait for it.....too big!
Funnily enough, I've just put mine up for sale in favour of a MacBook Pro...for portability more than anything but the screen was great for graphics, just not so great for anything else.
I would seriously consider checking out the 20-inch. Like I said, the 24" can be a little large for things like spreadsheets, and text documents. Even browsing the web can be a bit harsh on the eyes after a while, it is a real strain when your eyes get tired.
CS3 is perfectly adequate on a 20-inch, even CS2 which takes up more screen space effectively (thanks to CS3's new 'panels' as theyre called) is still a pleasure to work with.
After all, there's still plenty of stunning graphic design created on much less than 24"s of screen real estate!
The only time I would recommend the 24" having owned one for a year, is if somebody wanted it as a media centre, on the wall, filled with HD movies.
Just my opinion, but check out the 20", they should also have CS3 installed on the iMacs at your local Apple store, so you can see how it works on the 20 and the 24".
Hope that helps!

IMac vs Mac Pro for Graphic Design Studio

We are upgrading the macs in our in-house graphics department (3 mac users) and wanted to see if anyone had advice on weather to choose a high end iMac or the new 2014 Mac Pro. To help here is what we do on our macs (currently 20inch iMacs).
Photoshop - Photo retouching, Editing, Compositing sometimes many layers
InDesign - Layout from posters to banners to 100 pg books.
Dreamweaver - Internal and external websites design and maintenance
Illustrator - graphics simple and complicated (large and small illustrator files)
Flash - Some animation
(Video Editing) Final Cut - Conversion from Windows Media Files and editing of short videos
We often have many of these programs open at once in addition to MS Office (outlook word power point).
For a maxed out iMac 27 to a mid range mac Pro there is roughly $2000 difference or so (once you buy the monitor you need for the Mac Pro). Do you think the applications we use above would greatly benefit from the MacPro vs the iMac? We don’t really do any 3D work or rendering. But we do want the computers to last several years and need them to be very reliable. I have to submit proposal and any advice would be helpful!
Thanks,
J

I wish there was a sticky for this as "iMac vs nMP" is common daily question and very much the same basic specs and needs.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5772339?tstart=0
As in past, 6 (or maybe 8) cores, base memory so you can save and upgrade from 3rd party.
Monitors vary too much in cost range, and you can do better outside Apple, but are one time cost.
A Mac Pro only needs to be replaced half as often, can be upgraded (cpu, RAM, flash SSD storage, even GPU). Hard to other than Apple stopping support in 5-6 years or software by then catching up or putting more demands on computers.
An iMac is not going to run as cool and quiet and because of its shape has to be allowed to run hotter it seems. You can stress and pound on those Xeon systems all day max it out and it is quiet beast.
See what a graphic and tech professional has in recommendations:
www.macperformanceguide.com
Also, www.barefeats.com has done some app testing and FCP-X is one place where the dual GPU pays off.
the "nMP" is actually called "Late 2013" but I agree, other than a few 10s of t housands sold would better easier to be called an Early 2014 (there could be a Late 2014 as well).
Reliable = Mac Pro - mine is going to be 8 yrs old and is better today than it ever was only if I found the need to run Mountain Lion or above or App Store's newest version of say iPhoto is that an issue (security updates though would be nice to see).

What is the best wide format printer to use for graphic design?

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Had 2 Phaser 7700's - excellent print quality - large footprint, overpriced and consumeables are expensive
Currently have a Konica Minolta Magicolor 7450 - print quality close to the Phasers, large footprint, good price, consumables much cheaper than the Phasers - Noisy, not great in a small office.
No FHE with the OKI but it looks like a nice machine. Best to find a dealer and check out print quality and if you have small space watch out for the fans humming it can get overwhelming intrusive.

Best monitor for graphic design?

Hi -
I am thinking of buying a mac mini to use for graphic design and I just wanted to get some opinions from any other designers using one. Whilst I'd love to be able to afford an iMac it's just out of my price range at the moment. I was thinking of buying the basic mini along with an Eizo Foris FS2333 23 inch monitor which I've read good things about. Does anyone else use the mini for InDesign, light Photoshop work and Illustrator? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

Hi, no experience with them, but Eizo monitors seem to always be praised, if the Mini+Eizo is cheaper than the iMac, I'd go that way.

What is the Best Power MAC G5 for Graphic Design and Video Edit

I need the Best Power MAC G5 Processor CPU
and Ram HDD Graphic card for Graphic Design and Video Edit
and the name of the Processor
how much the price

Hi GabreilKnight;
You are aware that the PowerMac G5 is no longer being produced hence if you find one it will be on the used market?
For what you are looking at doing I would suggest that you consider a Mac Pro instead.
Allan

Hi, I planned to purchase a laptop for me to use for graphic design ..could let me know which laptop would be the best for me to use ? Thank you!

Hi, I planned to purchase a laptop for me to use for graphic design ..could let me know which laptop would be the best for me to use ? Thank you! Pro or Air

Someday - and no one knows when that day will come - maybe all applications will be able to take advantage of the Retina display. But for the present, not many do: including all Adobe applications. There was a demo of Photoshop at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference of Photoshop running at native Retina resolutions but no one at Adobe in marketing is saying when, if or how the upgrade may be coming. It could be a week, it could be a year, it could be 2-3 years. No one knows. And only Apple app's (for the main part) are really utilizing the native Retina display.
I've seen some demos of some applications (Apple's) that take advantage of the Retina display and they're awesome. But in actually working in the here-and-now I've heard quite a few gripes, particularly on the Photoshop forum, of menus looking pixelated and/or 'blurry' so I'm not quite ready to jump into the Retina display boat just now. Don't get me wrong - others have ad are very, very pleased with their selection. But until Retina displays are available on larger monitors, the maximum work area that you're going to be able to use is 15" - and that's simply not enough room for full-blown graphic design. Then there's the cost factor - for the $4,000+ you spend for a completely full-blown Retina kit, you can get a standard MacBook Pro, 16 GB of RAM, a fast SSD and even the Apple Thunderbolt Display for the same amount.
The standard MacBook Pro isn't better than the Retina display: it's just different. And I think (and this is only my opinion - other graphic designers should feel free to jump in here) that it's the best computer that you can get for your specific purposes. And, towards that goal, I have to recommend a very good external monitor (there's nothing more annoying than having to use InDesign in a single-page mode rather than side-by-side because your monitor isn't big enough).
Remember that this is only my opinion and that others might jump in with their own. But I was in the electronic pre-press business for more years than I care to admit and we always - always - worked with at least 19" monitors (and that's back when dinosaurs actually ruled the world).
I hope that others will jump in with their comments. I'm going to follow this thread and see!
Good luck,
Clinton

I want to buy macbook air 4th generation i5 but i want to use it for graphic design it is suitable for that or not

i want to buy macbook air 4th generation i5 but i want to use it for graphic design it is suitable for that or not i will use corel draw ,photoshop ,and illustrator in windows 7 it will work properly in 4th generation i5 mac air

Hi T,
Either of these will give you the info you seek:
http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

Mac Pro buying advice for Graphic Design

I am going to be purchasing a Mac Pro and was hoping I could get some advice on the right set-up for what I do. I use CS4 heavily on the Mac for graphic design spending a good amount of time in Photoshop working with files that can easily go over a few gigs (when working on convention booth displays, etc.). I also use my Mac for casual video editing in iMovie, and use Apple's other great offerings like iWeb, iPhoto, etc.
My main questions are:
- I'm leaning towards the Quad. I keep my Macs for at least 5 years. Is that a good decision?
- If I do go with the Quad should I opt for the 2.66 or 2.93?
- At the moment I am running 8 Gig on my current Mac, should I configure this new one with 8 Gig?
- Is the Radeon the correct card choice for a heavy Photoshop user?
I hope these questions aren't ones that have been asked a thousand times. It's a lot of money to spend (especially right now) and I want to make sure I configure it correctly for what I do.
Thank you in advance for your input.

Hi hatter,
Thank you again for your responses. That really helps clear up the RAM situation. I think that is part of what swayed me towards the 8-Core as opposed to the Quad. Please correct me if I am wrong, but looking at prices of RAM on Crucial I see that if I wanted today to put 16 Gigs of RAM in a Quad-Core it would cost me $1200 (for 4 4-Gig chips using all slots). However if I was going to put 16 in the 8-Core I could do it for $400 (8 2-Gig chips using all slots. Actually it would only be $200 more since I configured my Mac with 4 2-Gig chips from Apple for an extra $100). Seems like having more slots open will save me money when I want to upgrade ram since I don't have to go for the 4-Gig chips. That coupled with the theory that Snow Leopard is around the corner and will take advantage of the 8-Core it seems like opting for a low end 8-Core vs a high end Quad is worth the $300 difference.
Side note: Are there any reports that say running more 2GB chips is worse than running fewer 4GB chips? Just curious.
Even though I understand that the processor speed makes a difference I am hoping that the advantages of more RAM slots and future benefits of Snow Leopard, CS5 and other apps that will take advantage of the 8-Core in the near future will make it the right decision. If I could afford a faster 8-Core obviously I would opt for that but with a jump of $1,400 to the next processor speed I am afraid it is out of my reach.
Regardless I'm sure I will feel very spoiled as soon as I unwrap this beast and get it up and running. Then in a year I'll give into the temptation of slipping a SSD in for the boot drive and I'll have to find a way to contain my excitement. I have a SSD on my laptop and WOW what an amazing difference it really is.
Wow, these forums are great. I can't believe how helpful all of your responses have been. I feel much more informed and was able to order my Mac today not feeling like I was shopping in the dark.
Thank you all again!

2012 MacBook Pro 13" i7 for Graphic Design?

I want to get a computer for Graphic Design. However, the price for the 15" models are too much for me as a student. Would the new 2012 MacBook Pro 13" with i7 processor work great for programs such as Adobe CS6, iTunes (mainly video watching) and iMovie?
Also, I will eventually upgrade to 256gb of Solid State so keep that in mind.

You can never change, at least not unless Apple says they will do it for you. As of now, they say "what you buy is final".
If you want to risk needing to buy a new system if your needs grow, then feel free to buy it -- it is your money.
But, as wjosten said, all we can give is opinions.
Retina displays are nicer ... when zoomed in ... than hi-res 15 in displays. I know that because I looked at them in the store.
But I do not design graphics, so cannot tell if that extra edge is necessary for the task.
Retina may work out just fine for you, or may not.

Processor for graphic design application: dual-core i5 or quad core i7?

I am planning on buying a MacBookPro, and I am comparing the processor options. Using the MacBook for graphic design – Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign – will I see a significant difference in performance between the 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, and the 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7? I will typically need multiple files open at once, but I will not be doing any video editing or gaming. If going with the dual-core i5 won’t be too slow, I’d like to save that money! Thanks.

Thanks for answer!
That means I should take the Dual Core (i5),because I don't play games very often.
But Portal 2 should work?!
At the moment I have a PC with 2,4 Ghz Core 2 Quad and it works fine
Please explain with more information

What is the best free app for graphic design for mac

what is the best free app for graphic design for mac

Good place to look for software:
http://www.macupdate.com/
And for free alternatives to some popular software packages:
http://alternativeto.net/
(If you see an ad there for something called MacKeeper, ignore it and on no account install it - it is malware.)
And there is of course also the App Store!

RMBP 13" vs MBP 15" for graphic design major?

I'm going into an art school that requires a MacBook Pro, because my major is graphic design.
I'm also interested in studying animation and bit of architecture/drafting.
I'm told that a 15" MBP is recommended for graphic design students, because the larger screen will be more convenient when working.
My problem is that 1. it is a bit pricey and 2. it's too heavy to carry around campus and elsewhere all day.
I was also told that 13" rMBP would be better, because of the retina screen, portability and speed.
The problem is, does the retina screen work well with photoshop and other applications, and how would my work look on the regular MBP and vice versa?
And as for the optical drive, is the absence of it an issue?
Thanks for your time everyone, if you have any suggestions then I would love to read them!

I'm of the opinion if your in the 15" market and need a powerful machine, a Mac is the best choice as you get OS X along with it and the ability to do many things well, including running Windows and virtual machines, thus having the best of everything and plenty of options.
Anything below the 15" MacBook Pro you can get for a fraction of the price for performance on the "other" platform if all one is going to do is basic junk.
Despite the "Pro" name, the 13" doesn't have the extra dedicated graphics processor (nor four cores) like the 15" has. You'll need it to play most all 3D games or rendering 3D fast. Some developers have tried to work with the Intel HD graphics for 3D games and the results have been terrible as it's so underpowered compared to the dedicated graphics.
You'll need to check with MathLab for the minimal hardware specifications.
8GB of RAM isn't going to make much of a performance difference, just run some things a bit faster, able to run more things at the same time.
128GB SSD is a joke, you'll burn that up in no time and be on external drives a lot. Most people need 500-1TB of on board storage space now.
Really sorry you bought such a under performing machine for your needs, perhaps if you asked here first you would have gotten a better assesment and advice.
You purchased based upon price and weight, which doesn't jive with the performance you require.
The 13" is a cramped little screen with annoying reflections that will spend more time on your chest than on your lap or desk.

24" iMac for Graphic Design studio workstation?

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