To pursue ACE (graphic design) or pursue Web Design knowledge

I have over 15 years of graphic design experience (corporate and non-profit sector) in the print world. I have about 5 years of basic web maintenance. At this point I'd like to take the next step in the professional world. Shall I pursue ACE (likely focused on InDesign) or take the time to learn all about web design? Any suggestions are welcomed, thanks in advance.

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Similar Messages

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!

What kind of job can I get being a Web Designer/Graphic Designer?

I run BlackReefDesigns.com, and am doing quite a bit of
business consider I don't really advertise too much. I've learned
how to do eCommerce, Flash, etc and things are progressing nicely.
I feel confident in my skills, and I realize that anything I
don't know how to do, I can learn rather quickly. The problem is I
feel I need to become more of a 'business man' if I want my company
to really move forward. I'm only 23 years old so I was thinking of
going and working for a Web/Graphic design firm so I can learn more
about the business aspect of running my own company. Im also
working towards a B.A. in Graphic Design at a larger University in
Southern California...
Just curious, with my skillset, how much money could I, or
should I be making if I went and worked for someone else? Do you
guys know anybody in Southern California that I could work for?
thanks in advance

eh, teachers don't always know what they're talking about. in
fact, i
think a lot of the posts made here are a direct result of
poor teaching.
i know that's how i got a lot of my bad habits (not from a
teacher,
per se, but my first boss who taught me some basics) a lot of
people
think they know the dos and don'ts but really don't (plus,
they tend to
change). i thought i knew a lot of stuff until i started
coming here and
learned that a lot of what i thought was the right way to do
things
actually wasn't.
come here often. and listen to what these people say because
they know
their stuff (you'll quickly figure out who the ones are that
know what
they're talking about). i can't tell you how much i've
learned in the
relatively short time i've been a part of this forum. and i'm
still
learning!
teach yourself html. you don't have to be able to write an
entire site
by hand, but at least be able to look at the code and
understand what it
means. like others said, you seem to have a good grasp of
graphic
design, but websites have to be more than graphics.
to answer your money question, it really kind of depends on
the market
where you live. you might just want to look in the want ads
and see what
kind of salaries are being offered for this type of work in
your town.
there's also resources on the web where you can see average
salaries for
various jobs in different places. yahoo has one
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/salary)
but there are lots of others if you
search for something like "compare my salary."
good luck! you seem willing to learn, which is great!
JSloanSDRE wrote:
> JoeyD -
>
> I really appreciate your input. I wish more people would
be critical of my
> work. I can't ever progress when people say 'good job,
looks great'.
>
> I've learned everything myself when it comes to web
design, and it sucks
> because I wish I could have had a teacher to teach me
the do's and don'ts as I
> think I would have progressed much farther over the last
couple of years.
>
> I have been busy working on client work and haven't
updated my personal
> website in awhile (which I realize is a big no-no if I
want future business)
> but there is really no excuse for the padding issue. I
actually just fixed it
> right now.
>
> Again, thanks for the input, and I realize I have a
loooong way to go in Web
> Design, and that is why I want to get a job somewhere so
I can learn and work
> at the same time. I think however I am proficient in
Graphic Design and am
> curious as to how much income I would have working for a
firm as oppose to
> freelancing (just in Graphic Designs)
>
> thanks again JoeyD, and any future advice would be great
>

Graphic design, desktop publishing, image management, web development?

I'm a university student studying graphic design in the uk. During workshops, we are basically only taught how to use Adobe CS4 on Macs. I've been looking into what tools are available for linux, hoping to find some quirky apps for creating/editing images, page layouts, managing large collections of images, developing websites, creating motion graphics, or producing my module file, which is a large document containing research including images, text, etc.
Looking around, the same software seems to pop up - gimp, inkscape, photoshop CS2 on wine (thanks for that, google!), latex, scribus. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for software, for any of the tasks listed above? Or any individual applications which perform a single aspect particularly well? Any software which has a more interesting use / function / outcome than the standard mac or windows equivalent? Something which might set my work or workflow apart from the technologically backward point-and-click mac users?
For example, I'm currently collating all my notes as a Zim wiki, with links to my briefs as PDF files. I can import text, images, and then export a wiki site with a custom css theme to give to my tutors when assessment comes. They'll love that It's not something I'd ever have considered doing on a Windows machine.
Go!
Last edited by saft (2010-04-13 21:21:27)

Well I'm certainly not advanced, but I use gimp... Never felt comfortable with PS (any version). A friend of mine, on the other hand, is more comfortable with PS, but is trying out gimp after that whole fiasco about CS5 using something that gimp has had for years. For vector graphics, you don't really need anything beyond inkscape. Gimp covers creating/editing images and page layouts. For managing large collection of images, I just have the filesystem. I have a /common partition, and images go in /common/images. Then I can group certain images by "genre" I guess you'd call them. Wallpapers have their own directory sorted by resolution. I can just use something like:
% ls /common/images/wallpaper/**/*.{png,jpg}
If I needed a list of images. I could probably use awk and imagemagick to give me an html page with thumbnails.
When I write my lab reports, I use vim and LaTeX (haven't tried vim-latex yet). I can include whatever images and text I want. The text is usally split between several raw data files and the report itself. At first it may seem odd to type process instead, but after you make your own document classes, it all makes sense and you can start to really streamline everything.
For XHTML + CSS, I just use vim.

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.

IMac G5 suitable for graphic design?

OK, here is my situation. I am graphic design student in the UK about to start my third and final year. I use photoshop and indesign A LOT, and can have big image files, biggest I have go to is 300MB though this is very rare, and is normally 150 - 200MB maximum. I am considering getting either a Power Book with 2GB RAM as I am student so chances are I will be moving sometime within the next year, though I would not carry it around with me after when at college though chances are I would have to sometimes, or I am considering getting a iMac G5, with 2GB RAM, which would stay here in my flat, and also get a small cheaper iBook, load that up with 1GB RAM and a 100GB hard drive, and use that for any work on the go, as chances are these will be much smaller files or will require little editing. I also like the fact that the iBook is much sturdier and will last longer, something which I need from all machines as chances are I wont be able to afford to buy a new one in a year or two's time. So I am looking for either a Power Book maxed out, or an iMac and an iBook. I have considered a Power Mac but they are too large and probably too powerful for what I will be doing on it, and I would like at least an option of taking worth with me. What would you recommend for a Graphics Student?

I have an 20inch imac g5 with 1gb of ram and it is really fast for adobe CS2 and quark 6.5. I have no problems with big files or having several applications / files open at once.
I also have a G4 ibook with 756mb ram - its a bit slow for graphics and the screen is a bit small for graphics work Its great for surfing the web or short term graphics work away from my desk.
If portability isnt a requirement then i would suggest you get a 20inch imac!
Dont forget to visit the apple education store (on your uni network) and i'll get really good discount! Also if you need software adobe cs2 is £200 for students, and quark is £150 (office is £100 which is always handy to have to get those windoze uses compatible.).
As far as bumping up the ram...its always cheaper to add ram from places like cruical. I got a single dimm of 1gb when i ordered the imac, but in a year or so i will add another 1gb.
If you live in halls or a 'not so secure' student house then dont forgot to get insurance! all apples have security slots for around the house - i just have the imac chained to a desk (cant see it as its behind so not spoiling the aesthetics!). Portables aren't always covered when away from home.
You might want to look at portable hard drives rather than bumping up the internal hard drive - this will offer you some portability to take work (big files) to uni from home etc... i think students can get a ipod cheaper so that would be one option (if the student loan stretches that far!)
Good luck with your final year... i am sure whatever you invest in will serve you well in the big wide world of graphics! enjoy!

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!

New 2015 MacBook for Mobile Graphic Design?

I would love to buy the new MacBook. I am a graphic designer who is slowly moving over to front-end web development. I'm sure that even the 1.1 Core M in the new MacBook is more than capable for front-end web dev, but occasionally I do a bit heavier photo editing and design, specifically in Photoshop. I'm not looking for lightning speed here, as I have a hefty machine at the desk for heavier workloads, but I would like for the MacBook to be able to suit my mobile needs for at least a few years, and I hate being tied down to a desk. I'll upgrade every 3-4 years regardless, but will it last even that long, and will I just run into stress over the lack of speed? Obviously we can't know exactly how this thing will perform until tests are done, but I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks.

Very few people have gotten their hands on the new MacBook and so far I've not seen any benchmark tests. The Intel Core M was designed to be extremely energy efficient and to run cool and aimed especially for tablets and Windows dual use computers. The MacBook also ships with only a 8GB RAM option. I have no doubts about the suitability of a new MBA for your tasks but the MB? I'd suggest taking a wait and see attitude.

Collaborating with a Graphic Designer

Hello,
I am going to be working on a new website for my employer and
I was
hoping some of the web professionals could give me some
advice.
I did our previous website by myself using Dreamweaver 4 and
Fireworks
4. When creating the visual look of the old site, I used
Fireworks to
create a mock-up of the way I wanted the page to look. I then
used
Dreamweaver to create a web page that duplicated the mockup.
Any fancy
graphic images (such as the masthead) were sliced up using
Fireworks and
imported as an HTML table into Dreamweaver. This worked
pretty well for
me while working solo.
However, for this new website I will be working with a
graphic designer.
What is the best way to take the graphic design that she
produces and
translate it into HTML+CSS in Dreamweaver? Can I use a
process similar
to what I used while solo? (i.e. let the designer create a
mockup in a
graphic program and then try to duplicate it in Dreamweaver
as best I
can with HTML and importing graphics as needed.) Or is there
a better way?
Keep in mind that the designer we are using is not
knowledgable about
creating websites or using tools like Dreamweaver/Fireworks.
I believe
she uses with Photoshop/Illustrator/Quark Xpress. (I will be
talking
with her tomorrow.)
Also, what software should I plan on ordering? I am planning
on
upgrading our software to Adobe CS3 Web Standard. But if she
is using
Photoshop, should I get plan on getting the Premium version?
Can
Fireworks import Photoshop files well, or do I need
Photoshop?
Thanks for you help.

Deaf Web Designer
Perhaps I should correct my sentence, that in my opinion
(once I was a
graphic designer) photoshop and illustrator was a great tool
for me both
to create web images for the web and for print design. The
save for web
dialog box has helped me a lot for optimizing the web images.
I also used firework for creating websites. But It seems for
me that
photoshop and illustrator is very perfect for me to create
artwork both
for the web and print design. No matter how complicated the
job, the two
programs were indeed very helpful for me.
I'm not saying that fireworks is bad for creating web images.
Since this
program is only for the web design (I really think so).
Remember that
Will's designer is only familiar with both program. I think
it would be
wise for his designer to stick with his tool rather than
learning a new
tool.
But. for years, even though I had fireworks, Photoshop and
Illustrator I
choose to stick with both program to works. So user friendly,
and both
program share the same interface.
I don't think that Illustrator is mainly for vector-based
application,
mobile developer also use its capability for creating svg
images, and
also for animation. And photoshop is not only for creating
bitmap, it
also often use for beautifying video and 3D animation.
Whatever it is, choose what you like. As long as you are
comfortable
with it.
Cheers
Deaf Web Designer wrote:
> Dreamworms,
>
> I am afraid that you provide inaccurate information
about primary purpose of
> Photoshop and Illustrator.
>
> Illustrator is mainly a vector-based application, while
Photoshop is a
> high-end image editing application (which is a
bitmap-based image editing app).
> While Fireworks is ideally a web image *and* web graphic
(including
> fundamentals of vector-based and bitmap-based app),
where Fireworks does a nice
> job in opitmize the file size that is specifically
designed for faster-loading
> web images or web graphics. To make it work, you need to
have a better
> understanding on how Fireworks works.
>
> As for workflow between Photoshop, Illustrator,
Fireworks and Dreamweaver, it
> can be accomplished. But again, you need to know and
understand the primary
> functionality and the primary difference between these
applications per se.
>
> But when you say "Photoshop and Illustrator are the
image editing tools that
> are perfect..." that is very inaccurate statement.
>
> Cheers, Brian
>
>
quote:
Originally posted by:
Newsgroup User
> Photoshop and Illustrator are the image editing tools
that are perfect
> for the web.
>
> Will G. wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I am going to be working on a new website for my
employer and I was
> > hoping some of the web professionals could give me
some advice.
> >
> > I did our previous website by myself using
Dreamweaver 4 and Fireworks
> > 4. When creating the visual look of the old site, I
used Fireworks to
> > create a mock-up of the way I wanted the page to
look. I then used
> > Dreamweaver to create a web page that duplicated
the mockup. Any fancy
> > graphic images (such as the masthead) were sliced
up using Fireworks and
> > imported as an HTML table into Dreamweaver. This
worked pretty well for
> > me while working solo.
> >
> > However, for this new website I will be working
with a graphic designer.
> > What is the best way to take the graphic design
that she produces and
> > translate it into HTML+CSS in Dreamweaver? Can I
use a process similar
> > to what I used while solo? (i.e. let the designer
create a mockup in a
> > graphic program and then try to duplicate it in
Dreamweaver as best I
> > can with HTML and importing graphics as needed.) Or
is there a better way?
> >
> > Keep in mind that the designer we are using is not
knowledgable about
> > creating websites or using tools like
Dreamweaver/Fireworks. I believe
> > she uses with Photoshop/Illustrator/Quark Xpress.
(I will be talking
> > with her tomorrow.)
> >
> > Also, what software should I plan on ordering? I am
planning on
> > upgrading our software to Adobe CS3 Web Standard.
But if she is using
> > Photoshop, should I get plan on getting the Premium
version? Can
> > Fireworks import Photoshop files well, or do I need
Photoshop?
> >
> > Thanks for you help.
>
>
>
>

Which new MacBook Pro is best for a graphic design student?

Hi there, I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on which new MacBook Pro to get. I'm a graphic design student who would like to be able to use Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator at the same time, while also web browsing (I tend to have a million windows open). I won't be using the computer for any video work or heavy gaming.
Here's what I do know: I'd like the retina display, and I need the 8GB of memory (do I need more?). Other than that, I'm not too sure about what specifications I need. I'm not super knowledgeable about all of this, so apologies if these are very elementary questions. Any help would be much, much appreciated. Here are my main questions:
1. Would you recommend getting the quad core i7, or is i5 fine? For i5, do I need to pay attention to the difference between 2.4GHz and 2.6GHz?
2. What exactly is PCle-based flash storage, and would you recommend 256GB or 512GB?
3. What's the difference between Intel Iris Pro and Intel Iris?
Thanks so much!

1) Depending on which software you'll be using most of the times a quad core has more benefits (since it's more future proof). Not all software supports multiple cores (and thus rendering the extra cores of the quad "useless" if it's not supported).
2) PCI-e is what we use in desktops to attach for example a graphic card. Previous hard drives used a cable to connect it with the motherboard (in the old days we used IDE, now recent hardware uses SATA3). Basically because it's directly connected to your motherboard (there's more to it but to keep it simple) this will allow it to read and write faster from and to it. (Double the speeds of your regular SSD)
3) I reckon (haven't checked into it) that the base core speeds are clocked higher on the Iris Pro and probably has more dedicated ram to it.
What a graphical student wants would be most likely a quad core CPU with a dedicated graphics card. The extra is storage is nice if you reckon you'd need it. (I mostly work on cloud but keep my current projects on my drive because then I'd have faster access to it).

Best Camera for Graphic Design

I am a Web Designer and Graphic designer in American Samoa. I am looking at cameras for when local clients want me to do work.
What is the best one to get. I want a professional grade, not some $49 special from Wal-Mart.

Bill & Brendon, I have a G1X which I got to replace the G10 my wife has decided is now hers The G10 has totally changed my wifes approach and enthusiasm for taking pictures, mainly because her pictures are soo much better than with the little cheap compact she was using.
However, and it's a pretty big 'however' IMO, a G series camera is a convenient carry around camera that gives good results (the IQ from my G1X is at least as good as the Canon prosumer level DSLRs that I get to process files from, but it sure as heck is not a DSLR, and does not give the sort of control you'd need for a working camera. I actually PM'd the OP to keep an off topic thread growing (but it happened anyway) I suggested a used 5D2 and a Canon 100mm macro lens. That combination would be capable of outstanding product shots, and a lot of what a web/garphic designer might need to shoot.
BTW I get to process files from different assistants/second shooters, and can compare IQ. From the Canon range, the 5D variants can always match the image quality of my 1D bodies (I use 1DsMK3 and a 1DMK4 bodies). The prosumer cameras I have delt with don't come close, and even 7D shots fall short). Remember that is from processing many hundreds (probably thousands) of images from those cameras, so first hand experience.
As for my G1X, I got it as a carry around camera, and to take on overseas holidays as I am fed up with lugging heavy camera gear around, but I not yet convinced that I will feel comfortable relying on a compact camera.

Best monitor for beginning graphic designer?

I am starting out in graphic design. I have been doing a good amount of design for the web and a bit of print also. My laptop is just not cutting it for screen space and I would like to get a monitor that has decent color clarity, etc so that the colors I use will be as true to life as possible. I don't want to design something and have it come out a totally different color when I print it.
My price point isn't so great, I'm looking to spend about $300 at the most but preferably less. I will be using the monitor with a Macbook Pro & Dell Studio laptop. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a decent monitor to get within this range?
Thanks!

In that price range it's unlikely you get a monitor that works for all situations, especially since Macs and PCs use different Gamma and have other differences in their color rendering. Most cheap PC monitors simply don't work that well on Macs since they are obviously tweaked towards Windows. You would need to tweak them for Mac and if they don't allow to store different profiles, you may end up doing this over and over again. It's not hopeless, though. Even cheap monitors can be good. I'm using an Asus 27" which is amazingly close to a standard sRGB profile, so checking their product line in the 23"/24" might fit your budget.
Mylenium

SUGGESTIONS NEEDED: Graphic Designer needing to organize my graphic library

Ive been wanting to find a better way of organizing my extensive library of the following (Vector & Raster art): Backgrounds, Raster/Vector Patterns, Logos, Icons, Vector Design Elements, Fonts (I use FontBook), print & web templates, Stock Photos, ALOT of vector art, anything from flourishes to multi colored complex images, Web Design stuff (icons, buttons, banners...etc.) and last but not least Adobe CS native color swatches, patterns, gradients, actions, and brushes. I am sure I left out some, but you get the idea.
I have been building my large collection over the period of 4-5 years and has grown to 40g of internal HD space to house these in loosely catergorized subfolder (i.e., Vector Art, Stock Photos, PS plugins (gradients, brushes, ETC) backgrounds/Textures, so on and so forth. I would love to store my Data externally but with the throughput speeds of USB, am not wanting to slow down Bridge anymore than it already is. But help with external storage and accessing files quickly would also help
As your probably thinking it is getting to be a pain to manage and even worse finding or searching for items, considering alot are generically names from packages Ive acquired (i.e. 132456.eps. flower00234.jpg, etc.) Bridge helps alot but I am trying to catergorize and keyword folders or images this as clean as possible hopefully thru manually doing it on a system recommended or using a 3rd party software to apply metadate like keywords that will be searchable is IDEAL!
I am starting to use Lightroom 3 to manage and catalog my StockPhotos (not to many), but love the functionality of the keyword and meta data features within LR.
So that is what I am trying to accompish:
1. organize all my art in to specific catergories
2. hopefully use metadata and keywords within the OS or a 3rd party program to make items easily searchable within the Finder or Adobe Bridge.
3. Properly manage and store art as it comes to me several times a day to keep everything current so I can do a backup of just my Design files, every month or so to keep stored off computer or on the cloud.
Any suggestions(software/procedures), links, or general help on this issue is greatly appreciated!!
Thanks Again for any help lended!!! Any anyone that is willing to help me thru this and is interested in Graphic Design tools or graphics, I can definitely share ANYTHING from my collection for helping
Drew

Dont mind one bit, if i can pass along any advice to help someone, Im happy to do so.
first off....My art catalog is mass collections of various file types, and media uses, so I started by keywording by some of these keywords; Vector, Web Graphics, Stock Photos, Patterns (Vector/Raster), Textures, Backgrounds, Shapes/Objects (vector/Raster), and after indifiying a sorting the various files, just in folders and sub-folders, under one main Artwork Directory, and that helped me organize them for transfering between my home office, to my work server. After that it was pretty much a breeze except for one issue I ran into (I will explain at the end). Since I run Bridge at Work and at home, the structure and navigation to search for files by catergory was alot easier, by mimicking the same setup on both Bridge for PC at work and Bridge for Mac at home. the last step I did to help refine things a little better, I keyworded two things within Bridge to make the search faster, and it was just these tags, Vector, Raster High Res, Raster Med-Low Res. I also use the ranking/star system to tag my most used, favorite. 1 star for frequently used, and 5 star for my favorite art packages. When I use the word "favorite", in my terms that is art that i see potential to use in future designs and good clean art that Ive never used, so I can incorporate new designs. That might not be the best way to do it in Bridge, but after bouncing around alot of approaches this eems to work just fine for my graphic/web design needs.
One more thing that I do as I acquire new art, is make a Folder with a custome icon to stand out, that is labeled Un-Catergorized art. And as I download art unless I use it right away, I drag and drop into that folder. I was advised to not do this and label and file appropriately as soon as I aquire stuff so I dont get behind, but to aleviate that, I have made automator actions that move all files that have been in the folder for more than 5 days to move into a diferent folder (Delete Me), and have put an automation on that folder to delete files that are 3 days or older (in that folder). It may sound like alot of work just to remind, but by adding another automator action in Mac OSX to email me when the first move is made, It trained my mind to process all new art every friday like clock work, and have since stop using the email action and the delete after 3 days action! With the size of my library....getting close to 60gig....and consisting of a wide array of different media, I found this to work for my workflow.
Give this a thought, because this may help you in some way, but everyones catalog is different.
The only current problem/issue that I am trying to resolve at the moment is catergorizing and tagging (somehow) all my Creative Suite Plugins for PS, and LR. Because it is getting pretty extensive, with patterns, actions, swatches, shapes, styles, etc...
The issue I ran into with processing VECTOR art in Bridge CS5, was the lack of support for previwing .EPS files, and took a good chunk of my vector art and converted to a native AI file to be able to view the preview in bridge, but there is work arounds I found.
Bridge has really been awesome for someone like me, and learn something new about this robust program everyday.
As far as PS & LR plugins, I could theroretically just add everything I get to their respective plugin system folder on my drive, but I move them around alot and found it easier to search my folder structure and COPY/PASTE plugins in the system folder as needed and clean out the system plugin folder every so often.
I just installed CS5.5 Master Collection last night, and even though Bridge isn't the same build as the changed DW 5.5, and indesign 5.5 (all the rest of the master collection for the most part NOTHING changed, even though its labeled as 5.1 instead of 5.0 or 5.5. So I will be doing some research on this to see if any new features were added in Bridge but doubt it
Hope this helps! and feel free to ask anymore questions
Later, Drew

Graphic Designer here, need to convince my company i need a mac (not a pc) !

Hey guys,
I'm looking for the ultimate guru's for a Mac vs. PC debate in a corporate office/firm setting. Basically, trying to convince CEO and IT why I need a mac. I'm a graphic designer for a land development firm. Work close with Landscape Architects and Civil Engineers.
I'll take concept sketches and/or AutoCAD files (that are converted for me) and pretty them up in photoshop or illustrator, do planned development books in InDesign. Web services are offered, but it's not the primary vs. print.
I'm currently working on a Dual-Core Xeon Dell workstation windows XP. Years ago up until 04' I was all about PC, but now have been accustomed to my mac.
At home, I've got a Dual Dual-Core Xeon 2.66 that I love dearly, multitasks very well.
I need to write up a report how this will communicate how I do my job better if i had a mac in the workplace instead of PC. I know that's a far-fetched statement, but trying to sell them on having me use a mac for my services while the entire office can cope with their PC network. I would appreciate any elaborate feedback and insight.

Welcome to the Apple Community Frank.
If you aren't using iCloud Keychain, it may be asking for your admin password. Where exactly are you looking.

Rate My Graphic Design Projects

If a freelance graphic designer would like to get feedback from other (hopefully knowledgeable) designers concerning their own designs, is there a website(s) that allows one to upload their works and have people comment? There are many times the people around me comment on what I create, but I know they don't actually "know why" a design is good or bad. I would like to have technical feedback on what I create and not possible biased feedback from the people I know. I can't get any negative (or should I say construtive) feedback because I'm sure no one wants to offend me or say something in which they know nothing about. I compare this to a person who doesn't know anything about cooking to be a judge about food. Sure, they can say if the food is good or bad, but I want to know the WHY of their opinions.
I taught myself everything I know about graphic/web design and I have never really been evaluated by another graphic designer. I'm certainly not looking for priase, but professional feedback. So, are there any websites/services out there for something like this?

I cringe when I hear anyone suggest uploading content to the internet. If I were you, I'd get in touch with area ad agencies or art school graphic design departments where they would be happy to critique your work one-on-one. Many questions come up when viewing a portfolio. For instance, what is the client's objective? What was the client's budget and how did you comply with it? Where are your sketches? I, for one, like to see "thought" process rather than a bunch of flash on a screen. Not that flash is bad, but I like the nuts and bolts of it all. How did you solve the client's problems? How did you go about selecting that photo? Who art directed the piece? On and on like that. Another question for you. How is anyone going to know you really did that piece? Just because you said you did it? Won't wash. Think about it. Go out and see people. Get feedback where you can defend the process and bolster up your knowledge of the tools required to "design".

To pursue ACE (graphic design) or pursue Web Design knowledge

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