Looking for ways to add to my skills. I use flexi now, but would like to become more versed in other programs(photoshop, corel etc.) the more i design the more i wanna learn more and get better but with limited knowledge of photoshop i get fustrated and aggervated. i wanna add more tools to the arsenal...my question is anyone have good recommendations on where to start??? thanks guys!!!
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
Quest to expand my skills
- Thread starter fisheye48
- Start date
weaselboogie
New Member
I think photoshop would be the essential next step. Follow it up with vector based progs.
you might want to just try online tutorials to get yourself more familiar with the tools and their functions.
you might want to just try online tutorials to get yourself more familiar with the tools and their functions.
Flame
New Member
Really? for a sign designer? I haven't even opened Photoshop in over a month, I find it pretty useless for daily sign designing, I'd think getting a grasp on vector programs would be a better next step.
JMO.
Letterbox Mike
New Member
Photoshop is a must if you want to expand your skills. We use it more than Illustrator anymore. Then Illustrator.
Everybody says Corel and I suppose if you never plan to expand beyond the confines of the sign industry Corel is a good tool to know, but if you want to be able to work with outside designers and agencies, learn the Adobe suite, it's the standard of the graphics industry. 80% of our clients are designers or agencies and I don't think in 7 years I've ever had someone hand me a Corel file. We get .psd, .eps, .ai, .indd and .pdf files day in and day out and knowing how to work with those is essential.
Photoshop is an incredibly powerful design program if you understand how to use it as such. It's not just for cropping raster images. Once you really get the hang of it you'll find it as intuitive to use as a vector program, if not more so. I personalyl hate page layout programs like quark or indesign, but knowledge of them is critical if you want to be well rounded, they aren't really like a vector or raster based program, so if nothing else, understanding how they work might save you from some major headaches down the road if you ever have a customer that gives you one.
If you learn well from books, the "Classroom in a Book" series is excellent and really explains how things work. There are alot of tutorial sites on the internet as well, some with video, that really walk you through the programs. Don't get frustrated, especially with Photoshop, the amount of things that program can do is staggering, the learning curve is steep and there is alot to know and understand to get good results.
Everybody says Corel and I suppose if you never plan to expand beyond the confines of the sign industry Corel is a good tool to know, but if you want to be able to work with outside designers and agencies, learn the Adobe suite, it's the standard of the graphics industry. 80% of our clients are designers or agencies and I don't think in 7 years I've ever had someone hand me a Corel file. We get .psd, .eps, .ai, .indd and .pdf files day in and day out and knowing how to work with those is essential.
Photoshop is an incredibly powerful design program if you understand how to use it as such. It's not just for cropping raster images. Once you really get the hang of it you'll find it as intuitive to use as a vector program, if not more so. I personalyl hate page layout programs like quark or indesign, but knowledge of them is critical if you want to be well rounded, they aren't really like a vector or raster based program, so if nothing else, understanding how they work might save you from some major headaches down the road if you ever have a customer that gives you one.
If you learn well from books, the "Classroom in a Book" series is excellent and really explains how things work. There are alot of tutorial sites on the internet as well, some with video, that really walk you through the programs. Don't get frustrated, especially with Photoshop, the amount of things that program can do is staggering, the learning curve is steep and there is alot to know and understand to get good results.
ok...for all you photoshop guys...is it best to learn it on your own or try and go to classes and learn from them?? i like figuring something out on my own but after playing in photoshop for a little bit now i am seeing there is alot of things in the program i just dont understand...i have the time to do either but wanna do what is more time effective
Sorry for all the dumb questions but after reading the forum there are alot of smart and very helpful people on here and figured yall would be the best source of advice
Sorry for all the dumb questions but after reading the forum there are alot of smart and very helpful people on here and figured yall would be the best source of advice
Charlie J
New Member
I can say that learning Illustrator was one of the best things I did to help myself. Photoshop being a close second. The thing I love about Illustrator is that you can still do many of the raster effects, but when you're done you still have a vector file.
And if you need a .jpg....all you have to do is export.
And if you need a .jpg....all you have to do is export.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Do you have good eye to hand coordination ??
If not, take some drawing and composition classes. Learn the basic elements of design.
If you do... take some more classes and learn the intermediate stages of basic drawing.
There's nothing better than having basic drawing skills and the concept of putting things together so they make sense to the rest of the world.
Draw your house and when you're finished, go outside and see how closely it resembles your drawing. Add the things you forgot and this will teach you to look more closely at things you want to draw and to pay closer attention to your surroundings. Perspective is the next natural step and then shading. Practice one hour a day and you'll be amazed at how much your computer skills will develop.
In another lesson..... draw whatever you feel like doing and this will further your creativity or what many call.... 'thinking outside the box'.
Good Luck..............
If not, take some drawing and composition classes. Learn the basic elements of design.
If you do... take some more classes and learn the intermediate stages of basic drawing.
There's nothing better than having basic drawing skills and the concept of putting things together so they make sense to the rest of the world.
Draw your house and when you're finished, go outside and see how closely it resembles your drawing. Add the things you forgot and this will teach you to look more closely at things you want to draw and to pay closer attention to your surroundings. Perspective is the next natural step and then shading. Practice one hour a day and you'll be amazed at how much your computer skills will develop.
In another lesson..... draw whatever you feel like doing and this will further your creativity or what many call.... 'thinking outside the box'.
Good Luck..............
OldPaint
New Member
COREL.........is what you need to learn. most VECTOR SIGN PROGRAMS, work more like corel then ILLISTRATOR. CORELS PHOTOPAINT..........does all i need with BITMAPS.
ILLY & PHOTOSHOP, after learning COREL.......seems so awkward and slow.
SIGNLAB, is COREL on streroids. even FLEXI, has a choice to make your work area look like COREL.
ILLY & PHOTOSHOP, after learning COREL.......seems so awkward and slow.
SIGNLAB, is COREL on streroids. even FLEXI, has a choice to make your work area look like COREL.
Flame
New Member
good post
I STRONGLY disagree. It is a weak design program, if not just mostly because of it's lack of good text editing tools. What if you want to arch your text? How many steps would that take? Kern them? Adjust the curve on the swoop of an S to make a logo???
ABPGraphics
New Member
I heard a rumor that the New Flexi upgrade will have a feature that will allow you to change your workspace to "Cricut"
Mike Paul
Super Active Member
Do a little searching on the web and you will find a lot of free tutorials or you could go right here.
http://www.lynda.com/
http://www.lynda.com/
neato
New Member
Corel can save to any of those files too. Wonder how many of those files you received were actually created in Corel. I work in Corel all day, but 9 times out of 10 send the files as PDF's or AI.
rjpjr
New Member
Bigdawg
Just Me
That's why I believe a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator is what's essential... if you really know how to use photoshop and smart objects it is seamless inbetween...
I disagree with your reasoning, but I agree on learning Illy first. Mostly because he can already get around in Flexi and the concepts are the same vector-based concepts. Illustrator offers some raster tools, but I much prefer to integrate with Photoshop.
Craig Sjoquist
New Member
Yes better understanding of software is a must these days as a good designer craftsperson.
What is more important is a safe craftsperson and good understanding of design
Have you read Mike Stevens mastering layout or Dan Antonelli logo design
How about your clip art collection, magazines, become a premium subscriber here, these kinda things really start putting you in a designer mind set, things that let your mind create I guess....
Even though I had creative and good ideas when I first started designing and crafting advertising... I knew going to school and learning proper was best ..so I did after my 1st year
What is more important is a safe craftsperson and good understanding of design
Have you read Mike Stevens mastering layout or Dan Antonelli logo design
How about your clip art collection, magazines, become a premium subscriber here, these kinda things really start putting you in a designer mind set, things that let your mind create I guess....
Even though I had creative and good ideas when I first started designing and crafting advertising... I knew going to school and learning proper was best ..so I did after my 1st year
weaselboogie
New Member
Sure. He has a grasp on flexi; photoshop would be a nice addition to his current vector knowledge.
Letterbox Mike
New Member
Honestly My guess is none or next to none. I spend alot of time in alot of ad agency's and designer's offices and I've never seen a single corel box or book but in pretty much every one I see box after box and book after book of adobe products. They use Adobe creative suite because they have the graphics gamut covered from animation to web design to page layout to illustration and on and on, and every program integrates perfectly seamlessly together. No other software manufacturer covers all of the design bases, and no other software will work as well with an adobe product as another adobe product. My point is if you want to be a well rounded designer or at least want to be able to accept files from customers with the least amount of headache it's good to learn at least the basics in the most widely used programs out there.
And Flame, give Photoshop a chance already!
You would really be amazed at what a good design program it is. It's definately different than a vector based program but that doesn't make it bad, just different. There are alot of things in it that I think are actually more intuitive than a vector program. But Gino's right, all of these programs are just tools. If you can't design, you can't design, doesn't matter if you're using a pencil or photoshop. If your design skills are weak, hone them first, then move on to translating your vision through whatever program you choose.