Photoshop: Do I really need it and why?
Seamus:
So I am getting ready to layout my first book in INdesign. Done several dry runs without art. Our illustrations and cover art will be ready soon. People tell me I must use photoshop to put art in my layout. Is this true? Why? Can I just use the images that my artist sends me (which he sets up in photoshop anyways), without using photoshop myself? What are the cheaper alternatives if I really need to use a program like photoshop. Are there any problems I should be aware of when putting art into my INdesign layout?
reason:
It's not true. Use GIMP. There's probably a fair 0.1% of instances where you'll need to do something that turns out to be easier in photoshop, but you'll never save enough time to make it worth paying for.
http://www.gimp.org
Ben Lehman:
You should be able to place (File->Place) into InDesign with no difficulty whatsoever.
yrs--
--Ben
Vordark:
Regardless of what anyone else might tell you, Photoshop is the best choice for image editing software, and will likely be for the foreseeable future.
But...
You almost certainly do not need to use it. The GIMP is free and it's basically equivalent to the second-to-last version of Photoshop. There may be some brand spanking new features the latest version of Photoshop has that aren't in the GIMP, but it's unlikely your project will absolutely require them. The only real gotcha with the GIMP is that it's interface isn't as slick or as intuitive as Photoshop's, but this is less true of the latest version of the GIMP.
greyorm:
Not to mention, most of the brand-spanking new features found in Photoshop are things only super photo-editing geeks and digital artists will ever really need to use or care about, and even they will never use all the tricks available. You can easily get by on a version of Photoshop from a number of years ago, so not having the latest and newest will really not cause you any harm, as the basic, core features are likely all you'll ever find yourself utilizing (meaning: just because the GIMP is behind the curve, it doesn't matter one bit for your, or most people's, purposes).
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page