Graphic Design

Wardifo

My wife is a photographer now, and in school was a Photograhpy major with a minor in GA. I am a software developer, and an all-around geek of all trades.
My advice, if you are short on cash spend the money on memory. The more the better. You will get MUCH more bang for the buck with a 1.83gHz machine running 2gb RAM than getting a 2.16gHz with 512mb.
That said, do not, I repeat, do NOT but the RAM from Apple direct. My advice would be to get a 1gb SINGLE DIMM (make SURE its a single DIMM), then purchase RAM from a third party, like Crucial (http://www.crucial.com) or Corsair. I have personally used Crucial for about 15yrs, and their products are ROCK SOLID! Ask any geeks you know, and they will probably say the same thing.
Also, invest in a Wacom graphics tablet. This is a MUST for any GA or Photography student. You need at least a 6x9, but a larger one would be better. It takes some getting used to, but once you do your throughput and quality will greatly improve.
Hope this helps.

Similar Messages

2013 MacBook Air for graphic design?

I've been looking at the new 2013 13-inch MacBook Air for quite some time now. I'm a graphic designer, so I'll be looking to use Adobe CS6 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat) and Aperture. Also of course, the general things such as Safari, Mail and iPhoto.
I have the new 27-inch iMac at home, which serves as my main machine. 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz, 32GB RAM (8GB at the moment - upgrading soon), 1TB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX with 1GB. I love it!
I absoloutely love the MacBook Air - it's a lovely design, so lightweight and the new 12 hour battery life is just epic!
If I were to get the MacBook Air, I would definite upgrade to these specs;
- 1.7GHz dual core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz (although I'm told the i7 will drain battery quicker, and isn't much faster?)
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB Flash Storage (or possibly 256GB - bare in mind, I have a 1TB external hard drive).
So I guess the big question is... Will the new 2013 13-inch MacBook Air, with these specs, be sufficient for my needs?
Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The problem of the MacBook Air is the GPU, and Adobe apps don't support the GPU of your MacBook officially because it's an integrated GPU.
Sincerely, if you want to use that type of applications, the only valid Mac is the 15-inch MacBook Pro. It includes a quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM (with the possibility to add up to 16 GB), a 500 GB HDD (with possibilities for bigger HDDs and SSDs) and a NVIDIA GPU which will work with your applications without any problem. Also, you can modify the RAM and hard drive without voiding the warranty.
If you want to give the MacBook Air a try, buy it and see if your applications work properly. You have 14 days to return it if it doesn't work as you expected, but to be sure, go for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air is designed for home tasks

Need Help Building a Graphic Design/Video Editing PC

Greetings everybody, my name is David, and I'm hoping to get a little assistance building a computer system either from scratch or from a couple of computers I have picked out.
I hope this that doesn't sound unrealistic but I only have around $600 in my budget to build a Graphic Designer machine. My intentions are to get a subscription to Adobe cloud so I would have access to all of Adobe CS6 products. (I won’t be using any of the Touch or Game developers applications.)
I would like to post two links to two machines that I picked out that are in my price range and would like some advice as to whether or not either one of these machines have enough processing power to be able to handle all Adobe CS 6 products.
I am aware that neither one of these machines have a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and that I would have to purchase one and add it. Which leads me to my first question; are the processors on either one of these machines capable of handling a GPU that is on the Adobe recommended list for processors?
And secondly, if I were to build a machine from scratch, is $600 enough to build a machine that is capable of handling Adobe CS6 products? When building a machine from scratch can you tell me what the minimum requirements are for a motherboard? Or are there any sites that offer specific advise for building PC's for graphic design?
I noticed after looking through the list of recommended graphics processing units that the majority of those are very expensive, in the $500-$3000 range. Can you please recommend a graphics processing unit that is in the $200-$300 range that would be fully adequate to handle Adobe products? Also what things do I need to take into consideration when building the machine from scratch to ensure that all my hardware is capable of handling Adobe CS6 products.
What do I need to add to either one of these prebuilt computers to make them Adobe-ready, If they are in fact worthy at all?
Here are the links for two machines that I have picked out:
http://www.costco.com/HP-Pavilion-p6t-Desktop%2c-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%8 4%A2-i3-2130-3.4GHz.product.100010197.html
http://www.costco.com/ZT-Desktop%2c-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%84%A2-i5-3470- 3.2GHz.product.100027436.html
I do realize that neither one of these machines have a graphics card in them. Can you tell by looking at the specifications on either one of these machines, whether or not your typical graphics card would fit inside the case If they are indeed worthy in all other respects?
And I realize that I mentioned that I only had $600 to spend, however if either one of these prebuilt machines are powerful enough in all other respects, I don't have an issue waiting a month or two before buying the graphics card and installing a little bit later.
Thank you in advance for your input.
Sincerely,
David

Your HP Costco link results in an out of stock message
Your ZT Costco link is very likely NOT expandable due to the VERY small power supply... so you will likely NOT be able to add a video card later
For PPro video editing you want an nVidia graphics adapter http://www.pacifier.com/~jtsmith/GPU.HTM and even the low power nVidia may be too much for that computer
Also, for video editing, you need a MINIMUM of 2 hard drives... and trying to edit HiDef video with an i5 will be a study of waiting for things to happen
As Harm said... a $600 computer will work for everything EXCEPT video editing
This DIY list is just about twice your budget, but it will work for video editing
Intel i7 3770 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121599
16Gig Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148600
Mid-Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
750w Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171053
500Gig Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
500Gig Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
1Terabyte Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
GTX 660 Ti 2Gig
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809
120mm x2 Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103060
Keyboard & Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109232
Sata DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Use Win7 64bit Home if you will NEVER go over 16gig ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992
Use Win7 64bit Pro to use more than 16gig ram
BluRay writer if you want to write BluRay discs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106369
2 hard drive MINimum, I use 3 (as listed above)
My 3 hard drives for video editing are configured as...
1 - 320Gig Boot for Win7 64bit Pro and ALL program installs
2 - 320Gig data for video project files, and temporary files
When I create a project on #2 drive, the various work files follow,
so my boot drive is not used for the media cache folders and files
3 - 1Terabyte data for all video files... input source & output export files

I've got a MacBook pro 15' running 10.6.6. I want to use an external monitor for my graphic design work running Adobe software and thought I'd try an HD TV. I ran a Mini Display to HDMI lead to the TV but the picture quality was disappointing.

I've got a MacBook Pro 15' running 10.6.6. I want to use an external monitor for my graphic design work using Adobe software and thought I'd try an HD TV. I ran a Mini Display to HDMI lead to the TV but the picture quality was disappointing. I also tried a Mini Display to VGA lead and that wasn't much better. I tried all variations of resolutions in System prefs - Displays but nothing helped. Am I getting something wrong? Thanks all.

In addition to pixel density, you are up against the translation driver card in the TV.
If you read the fine print of computer-resolution-capability in the TV user guide, you will see a chart as tall as the manual page. At the top is the smallest resolution capable, at the bottom is the full use of the 1080p in the TV.
Mac falls into the top 25% of the page, maxing out at 1366x768 often. This is because the TV control card is expected to do too much of the work, but is not designed for computer-monitor processing.
I looked at the resolution charts on 2 TVs before deciding to buy a 1080p LCD monitor that has a TV interface/connector. Computer monitor first, TV second. But the thing is only 27 in. Good thing TV is not as important to me as it is to others.

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!

I'm a Graphic Designer and Animator with a Mid 2012 15" MBP...Programs slowing need up grade

Hey everyoe,
I'm a Graphic Designer and Animator with a Mid 2012 15" MBP. My programs get REALLY SLOW, ToonBoom Harmony and Sometimes Illustrator, HELP! I upgraded my Ram to 16GB LONG time ago and it's made a big difference but still the stuff I make is semi complicated/detailed I can't imagine this is the strength of my MBP I refuse to accept that. WIth that said HELP ME PLZ!!! I have deadlines and I dont know what else to do! Steve Jobs my life is your hands right now man...

Maz0327,
if you boot into Safe mode, log in, and run your graphic design and animation apps, do they run just as slowly then?

Hi! I'm a Windows XP convert... switched to an imac about 4 months ago and am LOVIN' it As a graphics designer I did use a feature on my Windows machine which I really miss on my mac... beaing able to see a preview of one of the images in a folder on top

Hi! I'm a Windows XP convert... switched to an imac about 4 months ago and am LOVIN' it As a graphics designer I did use a feature on my Windows machine which I really miss on my mac... beaing able to see a preview of one of the images in a folder on top of the folder icon. In other words, in Windows, you can see the first image that is inside the folder as an icon on the folder itself. Is there a way to do this on the mac? Maybe some software program that will do it? Thanks for you help!

It would be brilliant if Apple could make picture folders behave like events in iPhoto. You could see a photo on the folder, and also mouse over it to change pictures.
But no, there's not an application I'm aware of that does this. You can manually make a picture the folder icon, but it's a tedious process.
Unfortunately this is another example of how dated and worn out the Mac's interface is. The concept of using a file folder as the icon for a directory of images is so 80's. You could use coverflow, but that only helps once you're in the directory itself. Or use iPhoto or Aperture, although they just do photos. Or try Lyn as an alternative: it has a sort of iTunes-like interface, and makes it easy to organize photos without having to put them in iPhoto. And it can display photos that are already in Libraries.
But you'd probably need a Finder alternative. I use Leap, which displays any type of document. It also does tagging, which is another huge omission in the Finder. More like Windows Explorer (although still no photo on folder icons).
Another very stylish Finder alternative, especially useful for pictures, is FileBrowse. I don't know why it hasn't gotten more attention. It DOES put photo previews on the folders it shows. And allows one-click expansion to show the photo enlarged. It's super fast, and even allow you to group/sort by camera or flash! It really has to be seen to be appreciated. It works in Lion, although it doesn't seem to be have been updated lately. http://www.filebrowse.com/index.html
Rob

As a graphic designer, I am creating ePubs that will be seen on iPads running, ios5, ios6 and ios7. Each version displays the page differently. Is there a way to make the display consistent on all systems?

As a graphic designer, I am creating ePubs that will be seen on iPads running, ios5, ios6 and ios7. Each version displays the page differently. Is there a way to make the display consistent on all systems?

As a graphic designer, I am creating ePubs that will be seen on iPads running, ios5, ios6 and ios7. Each version displays the page differently. Is there a way to make the display consistent on all systems?

Graphic Design? Would imac 24" be good choice?

I am a Graphic Designer, currently using Creative Suite 2 (soon to be upgraded to CS3) and I need a new Mac for home. A Powermac takes up too much space, so I'm thinking about an imac with a 24" monitor and I have a few questions for the experts:)
Which imac would work best for graphics?
Is the monitor acurate for Pantone color matching?
Is the 24"monitor on the imac clear and bright?
Is Leopard a stable OS?
I also need an (inexpensive) color laser printer. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch!
Suzi (Machead since the beginning of Mac history)

Suzi,
1. All of howwow's points were spot on.
2. I have the 24-inch iMac and the screen is brilliant. Bright and sharp. I personally bought a BTO machine with just the CPU upgrade to 2.8GHz. I use Illustrator and Photoshop everyday in building websites, but I am not a color freak like some people (http://www.kokias.com) I know.
3. For serious color calibration look at:
a. http://www.colorvision.com - Spyder
b. http://pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79&ca=2&s=0 - Huey and its upgrades
4. Backup software. SuperDuper! is great and is expected to be Leopard-compatible within a few weeks.
5. External hard drive. Buy the largest you can afford. Get one with a quad (USB, FW400, FW800, eSATA) interface. You need one large enough to backup your internal drive and then even more capacity for Time Machine. Take a look at drives from OWC at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/400+USB2/
6. Memory. The iMac now supports up to 4GB of RAM. Buy the minimum configuration from Apple and then buy a 4GB kit from a 3rd party. It costs only $96 USD for 4GB from (for example) http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/
7. Printer. I really like our new Brother HL-4070CDW. Color, laser, duplex, wireless. More at http://www.brother-usa.com/printer/ModelDetail.aspx?ProductID=HL4070CDW and only $473 from Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/2nd5wz
8. Adobe and Leopard. More at http://www.adobe.com/support/products/pdfs/leopardsupport.pdf

Which imac would work best for Graphic Design?

I am a Graphic Designer, currently using Creative Suite 2 (soon to be upgraded to CS3) and I need a new Mac for home. A Powermac takes up too much space, so I'm thinking about an imac with a 24" monitor and I have a few questions for the experts:)
Which imac would work best for graphics?
Is the monitor acurate for Pantone color matching?
Is the 24"monitor on the imac clear and bright?
Is Leopard a stable OS?
I also need an (inexpensive) color laser printer. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch!
Suzi (Machead since the beginning of Mac history)

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
The 24" iMac uses a superior LCD panel to the 20" model and so is certainly better suited to your purposes. I don't know how badly having a piece of glass in front of the display would affect you as a designer though.
The display certainly is clear and bright. I use it on it's lowest brightness setting.
Leopard is stable but it's worth checking that drivers for any devices that you currently rely on are available. For example I have to go back to my 10.4.11 iMac G4 to use my scanner. Personally I can't get iCal to alarm in Leopard but that's a fairly minor gripe.
As this is the forum for much older iMacs I'd suggest re-posting in the Intel iMac forum and even Mac OS 10.5 Printing forums for better informed opinion:
<hr width="200">
G4 (aka Flat Panel): Intel:
Click image to go to correct forum.
cheers
mrtotes

I am a studio graphic designer needing to purchase a color jet printer to handle small business takes. I am trying to decide on the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4530 All-In-One Printer OR the HP Officejet Pro Premium e-All-in-One (need second tray for envelop

I am a studio graphic designer needing to purchase a color jet printer, for my iMac, to handle small business tasks. I am trying to decide between the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4530 All-In-One Printer OR the HP Officejet Pro Premium e-All-in-One (need second tray for envelopes).
Do you have any recommendations?

I am a studio graphic designer needing to purchase a color jet printer, for my iMac, to handle small business tasks. I am trying to decide between the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4530 All-In-One Printer OR the HP Officejet Pro Premium e-All-in-One (need second tray for envelopes).
Do you have any recommendations?

How much ram and processing power in my imac will meet my graphic design needs?

Hi,
I'm in the market for a new imac. I'm trying to figure out how much ram I'll need and which processor will be sufficient for my graphic design needs.
I'm gonna need it to be robust enough to have InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator open at once along with spotify, safari with many tabs open, and a couple other apps including evernote and game from time to time. Also, I'm gonna be managing a good deal of fonts in font explorer. How much ram and processing power will I need in my imac to keep everything snappy with all these apps going at the same time?
Any advice on this would be much appreciated. Feel free to include any other relevant information you think I should know.
Thanks, Nick

Computers are out of date when you open the box
Ok, getting serious, that iMac should be a viable workhorse for what you want for a good five years, and taht depends on how much ram you put in it, add really fast external storage, and so on.
Didn't throw this in earlier so as to not influence the discussion: my daughter is the senior art director, VP, at a graphics design firm in NYC. Has been in the business for a number of years. When she changed out her Mac at work, bought, or company bought, the 27" iMac model just before the latest, with maxed out CPU/GPU, and storage. They maxed the memory to 32 GB for her, then added a 30" Apple cinema display so she has almost 5' of display in front of her. There is nothing she cannot have open all spread across that display area. She works almost exclusively in print media, occassionally condescends to do web stuff. And has a massive array of RAID drives hanging on it. But that is a setup an individual would be hard pressed to go with.
At home she uses a MacBook Pro with top cpu and display but that is all.
The point, just how massive do you want to go depends on how fast you have to work; in the office where time is money you need tons of horsepower. At home, you scale it to your abilitty to juggle other tasks at the same time.
I think your choices have been great, the discussion has focused on what is important and especially what can and cannot be changed in the future.
Best of luck setting this up.

24" iMac good enough for graphic design?

I'm looking into getting a Mac so I can work from home for the next few months (back surgery). I use the Adobe CS as well as other graphic related applications. While I know getting a Mac Pro would be the best option it's also a very expensive option (I need the 23" monitor as well). Would the top config. of the iMac be suitable for moderate graphic design use? Currently at the office I am using a Dual 2.5 G5 so I'm not expecting top of the line performance. Just something that would work as well as my work computer. I do realize it is not expandable however after a few months it will just become a computer I use for typical home use. Thank you in advance.

Hi Barry, I did as you said and searched on the forum. What I found was this entry that pretty much sums it up. It's pretty much identical to my situation. Turns out CS2 runs at about half speed under Rosetta. Even the oldest G5s seem to out perform it. I guess that's it, I start looking for an old G5. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Below is the entry I found that says it all.
Re: Intel iMac and Adobe CS2
Posted: Mar 24, 2006 3:30 AM in response to: Sam Anderson
I've been using a 20" Intel 2 GHz iMac with 1 GB RAM now for just over a month and use Adobe CS2 on it and I'm incredibly disappointed with the performance of the software under Rosetta. So much so that I regret buying the Intel version and wish I'd bought a good old G5 processor model.
The main issue is speed. I upgraded from a Dual 866 mHz G4 and am encountering slower performance with CS2 on my new iMac than I did on that. Illustrator is especially excruciating to use. Another issue is that I can only run two CS2 apps at the same time never three. If I try, one of them randomly crashes. Reinstalls haven't cured it either.
I've called both Adobe and Apple in order to resolve the problem and neither have a solution. Adobe's view on it is that CS2 and earlier were not written to work on the Intel machine and so they cannot address any support problems with patches or updates. Their only solution is waiting until CS3 is released in Autumn which will be Intel compatible.
Based on this experience my advice would be to wait until CS3 is released before you buy one. Otherwise just grin and bear it if you have to have one now!

It's the Mac book air good for graphic design and video editing ?

I'm into graphic design for clothing logos etc. and I'm a photographer my question is, is the Mac book air good for these things?

ideally a 15" would be best for same, as referring to the 15" macbook Pro.
For a photographer, which I used to be long ago, either the Air or Pro are close in form factor for travel with only one moving part, and SSD.
The retina display in combination with the 15" would be idea as best choice for photo editing and graphic design.
http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/

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

2007 iMac vs New MBP for Web/Graphic Design?

Hey everyone,
I'm a web/graphic designer currently using a Mid-2007 iMac and looking to upgrade to the top level MBP for better performance and mobility. I'm usually running a few programs at a time (photoshop, indesign, illustrator, safari, spotify, etc) and my current setup seems to be bogging down lately. Given the specs below, will I see a big boost in performance by upgrading to the MBP? On paper 2.4ghz vs 2.8ghz doesn't seem like a lot, but I know the RAM, graphics card and whatever "turbo boost" is all play a big role as well. Any advice?
Current iMac:
-Mid-2007 iMac - 24"
-2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
-ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
-500 GB SATA Disk
Potential MBP:
-2.8GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
-16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
-512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
-Intel Iris Pro Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB of GDDR5 memory

Hi Bee!
Thanks very much for your advice!
However, why do you suggest the 21.5" over the 27"? Do you think it is worth the extra screen size, because I can afford either?
It seemed to me that the iMac was the best option also - I'm in need of the power, but I'm still deliberating over size.
Also, on a side note, do you know of any iPhone apps that can help me with transferring files from home to college I'm getting an iPod Touch as part of the new deal Apple are running and I just wondered if there were any apps that I would find handy for transporting files etc.?
Thanks again!

Graphic Design

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