First Impressions Printing - How To

How-To: Choosing a Program

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Choosing the Right Program

There are many choices to make when it comes to graphic design software. These programs all offer many powerful options, but they are not all the same. Understanding which programs are best suited for a task can help save time and get better quality results for your final printed piece.

PHOTO EDITING
Adobe® Photoshop©

Photoshop© primarily uses raster images, which means your image is made up of tiny pixels. This allows your computer to render photographs with incredible detail; however, the quality of your image is limited by the image's resolution. Photoshop© offers you the most flexibility working with raster images. It is best suited for preparing and adjusting photographs for placement in your final layout.

Sample Uses: Adjusting the colors or brightness of your photos, changing color modes, adjusting image resolution, layering or masking your photo, adding special effects.

LOGO DESIGN/ILLUSTRATION
Adobe® Illustrator©

Illustrator© uses vector graphics, which are mathematically-defined shapes based on points and lines. This means they can be scaled to any size and never lose quality; however, they do not support the same level of detail as raster images and are generally limited to shapes, curves, and simple gradients. Illustrator© allows you to create and edit vector graphics, making it ideal for creating versatile custom graphics that can be used for many different applications.

Sample Uses: Creating logos and other corporate-identity images, making custom borders, creating artwork for large format printing, line-art illustration.

Quark© and InDesign© offer the most options for working with text and pages and are also designed to import and manage files from other programs. They also offer the easiest options for preparing your files to send for printing. This makes these programs the best option for creating your final page layout.

Sample Uses: Laying out your business cards, brochures, newsletters, etc., creating hi-resolution PDF's to send for printing.