Hey guys!
I am new to this forum and also I don’t have any knowledge about graphics software. I am planning to buy a new laptop for my brother as his graduation gift. He wants to build his future in graphics designing. I am also planning to install graphic software in the laptop. I was just confused as to which software should I go for corel draw X4 http://www.checkoutsoftware.com/corel/core...-suite-x4_p4441 or illustrator CS4 http://www.checkoutsoftware.com/adobe/adob...r-cs4-win_p4811? I want to buy him the best software available in the market so price is no issue. Guys please help me in picking the right stuff from the right place. I am sorry if you find this post unprofessional. Many thanks in advance.

Adobe is considered the professional standard. I've never used corel, and i don't really want to try after using many adobe products.

The problem is that he may want a different type of program, like Photoshop. Ask him what he uses right now, or thinks is the best.

If your brother is a student, you have better options for a better price.

Adobe Design Standard CS4 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat Pro) are available for an academic price of under $300. Proof of status as a student is required.

Campus tech (here's the link to the software on that site: http://www.campustech.com/itemDetail.asp?ItmNo=44031033) is a reputable site that I have used often.

Some colleges also offer great discounts, too. He'd have to wait, however, until he actually was registered, had a student ID, and a course schedule to use the campus software store, though.

txtchr has a good option for you. I got my copy of Adobe Creative Suite 2 for $400 with my academic discount several years back. You also need to keep in mind what type of graphics software he's needing. If possible, the Design Standard suite that txtchr posted would be a definite good starting point.

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics program. This is great if he's planning drawing up logos, working with type, among other things. However if he's looking at doing photo editing or things like that he's going to need a raster graphics program (Photoshop in this case). Depending on what type of work he's doing, InDesign is an amazing piece of software as well. Great for anything destined for publication and print (brochures, business cards, books, catalogs, even digital booklets).

I definitely suggest to stick with Adobe though, personal preference!

Thanks for the affirmation, K-Pock. My son graduated from college with a degree in Art (graphics arts and photography). We bought him a workhorse of a computer upon graduation (still cranking) and Adobe Design Suite (the version that was currently available when he graduated from high school). This gave him the full Adobe Suite at the time: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, Acrobat. He used every one of them in his college coursework. [GoLive has since been replaced by Dreamweaver, since Adobe bought out Macromedia].

The majority of the colleges and art schools use the Adobe Suite. I have taken multiple training courses at our local campus of the Art Institute -- and all of their labs are equipped with Adobe.

FYI, though, most of these graphic design labs are Macs. Be prepared for that. Many Windows-based users who have grown up using the 3D-based programs that run on the Win platform then go into graphics design (so different from architecture and engineering) and are thrown for a loop when they have to get used to Macs. The Art Institute was completely Mac equipped, as was my son's graphic arts lab at a UT campus.

Ah, if thats the case then if i ever win some prize money from something, i know where its going...

If you'd like the Design Premium (with Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks added) in the CS4 version, it's listed on Campustech for $389.98: Campustech: Adobe CS4 Design Premium

A steal if you need the whole package, compared with what you'd pay with a non-academic price. It's the full version, even though it's labeled "academic." Definitely worth it.

oh yeah, i'll look for it around. Isn't most this stuff for college only? I'm still in high school, so i'm looking at this fall moreso. I'm still probably not going to go into anything in that area, but i can and know how to use it.

Yeah, that's gonna throw me off if I do end up finishing a design degree. I've always used Windows, I have very little experience with Macs. Too pricey for me, haha!


Yeah, the Adobe stuff to the best of my knowledge is college only. I think when I got mine they had it for high school students too if I'm not mistaken, but that Campustech store, and Academicsuperstore (where I got mine) say it's for higher education students only.

They aren't hard to learn, and they're easier than windows to move around. Hotcorners and the new feature of multiple desktop working spaces(like linux) is really nice. I dislike their mice, love their keyboards, love the operating system, but hate the compatibility and price.



I'm not dissapointed, I'm happy with GIMP right now anyways. I can use Photoshop at school, and right now i've got the 30 day trial on my computer.

The same price is available for educators. If anyone in your family is a teacher, they can obtain the software for the same price. That's how I got it for my son.

I'm not sure what the requirements are for high school students. You'd have to look on the eligibility page to determine if you qualify. Remember, higher ed may encompass grades 9-12 as well. Read the fine print. Again, this is a reputable site, as I have ordered many pieces of software from them, including the Adobe packages.

Edit: apparently that price is for higher education (college) students only. The version available for K-12 and educators is priced at just under $600 for the CS4 Design Premium Suite: Campustech CS4 Design Premium K-12/Educators This is still a savings, but not as much as I thought originally.

While it’s true that Illustrator is the professional standard vector drawing program in the U.S., I prefer Xara Xtreme. It’s a fast program that’s a bit cheaper than Illustrator and can do essentially the same things. I’ve used it for many years with lots of success.

Its gonna have to be a lot cheaper for me to consider it to go down from the professional standard to something lower. If its 50$ less, its probably not worth it to me because why not go for the most compatible and updated version?

You do realize that you bumped this when its a month old? Thats never encouraged on forums.

I don’t think Xara is anything less than Illustrator. I can't think of anything Illustrator can do that Xara can't and can't do faster and with smaller files. It’s just not yet as common in the U.S. Sorry about commenting so late, I didn’t mean to offend. I think Xara is an excellent program and should be included on this list, even if added late.

can you get me the website for it? i'm interested to learn about it some.

Well, you can always get inkscape, which is free like GIMP.

http://site.xara.com/products/

That's the link for the Xara products range. Not sure which program he was talking about specifically, as I've never personally used them myself. If you're doing this as a hobby than I'm sure anything that works would be fine. But, if you're trying to pursue graphic design as a career, I'd strongly recommend going for the Adobe products. They're the most widely used so compatibility issues with other designers/clients/co-workers/whoever will be almost non-existent. It also depends on what specifically you want to pursue, as things like CorelDraw and Quark might also be necessary to learn.

xara.com. The program is Xara Xtreme Pro 4.

Xara exports illustrator files. Xara, like Illustrator, is a big program that takes time to learn. I got started with it over a decade ago. I do professional design work and only once or twice have had problems with compatibility.But I work for myself and deliver finished products, so I don't often have to interact with other designers.

I'm sure the Adobe suite is a great product, too. I'm not knocking it, just mentioning that there is another option for professional design work.

Well, options are definitely a good thing. Maybe if Adobe had some more competition they'd lower their outrageous prices.

The reason I mentioned compatibility is because I was recently forced to upgrade from CS3 to CS4 due to the fact that CS3 Indesign files can't be opened in CS4 unless they are saved down. There's some kind of bug in CS4 that doesn't allow you to pre-flight a saved down file. Whether or not there was a work around, I don't know. Time was an issue and I was forced to upgrade. But, I guess that's more of an Adobe issue, anyway.

I do with adobe would consider lowering their prices, because then i'd be more than willing to pay for their software. I'm considering a student edition or something priced for students this fall when i enter college. I'm not really planning to major in that area though.

Adobe's prices used to be a lot more reasonable (although they were always on the high-side) prior to their acquisition of Macromedia and their bundling of so many titles in so few choices of editions.

As I've posted before, if you are a higher education student, you can still get Adobe products at an extremely reasonable rate. Those of us who are educators who teach this software that used to be able to get the same prices as the college students (and after all, we are required to learn this software but not provided with the package so we must purchase it out of our own funds) now must pay nearly double what we had paid previously.

If you are freelancing, creating a file and saving it into a compatible format is acceptable. But if you go in for an interview and a skills test with a firm that wants to see your proficiency with Illustrator, InDesign, Quark, or CorelDraw, you need to be able to manipulate those programs specifically. If hired, you're then provided with that software and you are expected to be able to perform their required tasks at their desired level on a daily basis. Transfer of knowledge is one thing. Knowing the finer points of a particular piece of software is another.

"The more tricks you can pull out of your pocket, the more marketable you are." -- advice from my Dad when I entered college. Hasn't failed me yet.

I understand the problems that come with working in an organization where Adobe is the standard. I also know that Adobe’s prices are outrageous largely because of a lack of competition. Fortunately, I don’t have to put up with the problems of a corporate “job,” so I’m able to take advantage of other options (not only with respect to the design software I can use). All of this is one reason I mention Xara. Obviously, if the software can’t do the job, it’s not worth any price, but I continue to believe there is another option for those of us who don’t have to work in an office.

Hello, I use Xara Xtreme too. Not only is it fast and capable of doing what Illustrator can do, it is very easy to learn. I designed my website using Xara Xtreme Pro and their website design program Xara Website Designer. My website is http://www.goodmorningsunshine.ca if you want to take a look.

You are so right. But for those people who eventually want to migrate into the confines of "corporate America," no matter what level, they need to at least be made aware of what is considered the industry standard. It's the same with using Open Office vs. Microsoft Office. We all may feel that Microsoft's pricing practices are not particularly fair, but it is the software that the majority of offices do use, so being familiar with its "quirks" is a definite advantage.

You have to remember that your proficiency at Xara, no matter where you go and what you do, is still a plus. Again -- the more you know, the better you are

+1

for Adobe products. Very intuitive to use and powerful.

Amazon.com has great deals here and there, definitely worth checking out!

The most professional softwares is Adobe. At adobe.com you can download several free trial outs of many programs (for 30 days).
I would suggest Photoshop CS2, there are a lot of on line tutorials, and really great stuff can be done with it.

I have nothing against Adobe products but I also have no reason to spend a fortune and not get any gain. Certainly, one impediment is that learning these programs is in itself, very time consuming. Another is the cost. But, mostly, there’s little incentive because do using Xara I’ve yet to not be able to accomplish anything I wanted. I understand that many folks are wedded to Adobe and I’m happy for them just as I’m happy with Xara.

Academic Superstore is also a good place to find discounts on the Creative Suite 4 (http://www.academicsuperstore.com). I would recommend the CS4. I have it and it is a must for any graphics professional. Though I have to make you aware that Mac is the way to go with this profession and software.

I LOVE Corel Draw - have been using it for many years, and each version just gets better and better. X3 and X4 have some really great tools, which for illustrating and design purposes are so useful AND time-saving.

personally I LOVE Corel, it's the program I first learned to do vectors on and it's the one I'm most comfortable with...

I think you should at least give the new one a try , I'm on X3 now but I'll be upgrading veeeery soon!!

Corel is infact a good choice, adobe i believe imho is the better choice but can be a little more complex to use, but its an industry champion and very powerful. Depending what exactly is the target goal here (ie what kind of design and end product) then check out as much info as you can yourself on all the products mentioned and you may just be able to make the correct descision yourself. But my money went on adobe cs4 and i havent looked back since!

High500

For all the stuff you probibly want to do the your best bet is going for the Adobe Photoshop suite.

Heres why:

Photoshop: Besides the fact that you can pretty much create everything design oriented here, the main purpose of photoshop is messing around with photos. Need that for designing, correcting and enhancing.

I would say GIMP. It's free! While it's not as good as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, I've seen some amazing art done on it.