Programs For Graphic Design

 

A Few Programs For Creating Graphic Designs

This is an article for beginners, that may be getting into POD (print on demand) with little to no prior experience.

Choosing the right software for your computer and smartphone will be a factor in your success.

If you can't or don't have time to master or at least learn basics you won't get far. 

Even outsourcing designs you would still need to edit and scale those designs to a larger number than one.

To begin your business or steps into this industry to see if it's for you or not,, though its all win because of the zero cost factor, some will just not get it.

First, if you have no experience or very limited let's look at the two types of design: 

Graphics                                                                    

If you go this route, where you want to create and publish your own graphics heavy shirts or designs, you will need a heavy program. 

I think if that your route you may have some experience with graphic design, or you are learning, good at drawing, have great ideas, etc. 

Those are definitely not prereqs, you could just have a passion and want to learn and develop that.  

Text Based

Text-based is what it says and there are a lot of designers crushing that end of things.

Some creators will add a small graphic somewhere in the design, usually a commercial attrition free one ( meaning you can use it freely for commerce without paying anything)

Always check that they are not copyright, there is a ton of ways to do so. 

Even pull the image into Chrome and do a reverse lookup...basically it will show all the places that image is displayed and you will quickly find if its legal or not.

On to a couple of programs:

Gimp

This is an open source FREE editor, compared to Photoshop.           

It is probably the most popular and should be looked at. With thousands of great tutorials on youtube, there isn't much you cant do, as long as your computer can handle it.

It's every bit as good as photoshop. I tried running it on an old laptop running Linux,..not enough processing power.

Also, I tried on an older MAC not even close. I hear its better on the newer models.

This is a sure-fire winner if your computer can handle it, the learning curve is steep but you can learn as you go. This will help you later on your POD journey.

Inkscape

This is also open source and FREE. It is basically a full featured design program. 

I did not have much luck with this one either, my Mac won't run it and the old Linux laptop forget it.

Big steep learning curve, but remember youtube is your best friend for learning. 

Not as many tuts as some but still tons and anything you would need you can find.

Give it a shot it may be better for you, I also run a few other things that may conflict.

There are comparisons to Illustrator, but I think that's more of what you can do than the setup.

Definitely, a go if you want to go next level.

PIXLR

This is a pretty easy and simple editor FREE online. Works  and some say like Correl though I have used Corel Draw and don't see it ( I'm Not An Expert)

It works well as a text-based editor and has enough to do much more.'

You can use layers and all the rest of that good stuff, there may be a few limiting factors there but as I say its plenty good enough.

A Few Other  Options

These ones except for Corel Draw I have never tried but hear people say they use them.        

• Canva ( I have heard people use this to great success for MBA, I use it for different things)
• Corel Draw ( It does work and it's pretty easy)
• Paint ( I guess its possible)

These are just a few there are a great many.

Keep trying them until you find one that fits.

Adobe Illustrator-Photoshop

 And you can't look at this stuff without looking at the AI lineup.

Illustrator is really awesome, as well as is Photoshop.

The drawback is cost, they are monthly subscriptions and not cheap.

I won't go into what you can do as I`m sure even the folks who have no experience know a bit about these guys.

If your a student or have a student in the home perfect you will save a ton.

The obvious is that the learning curve is steep but worth it, there are literally thousands of youtube videos covering almost anything you want to learn.

Affinity

This article wouldn't be complete without mentioning Affinity. Touted as an Adobe Illustrator replacement, this app has made a splash on the graphics scene.

Low cost around $50 bucks USD at this time its a deal.

There are a couple of builds one is like Photoshop as well. Both can be bought for Ipda or Desktop all flavors.

It's pretty straight-forward, runs well, even on my old MAC.

This runs really well on Ipad as a drawing app as well as designer. There are quite a few tutorials out there for this one so learning is not hard if you want to spend the time.

If you are familiar with other graphics software this will be fairly easy, just a bit to adjust to a new setup(interface).

Phone Apps

This is one of the cool things about smartphones, do we still say smartphone? some of the apps are really cool and it gives you, total mobility.

There are MBA accounts that use only apps if you can believe that and successfully.

Think about how many phrases or ideas have slipped by because you forgot them bt the time you got to your computer.

 Basically, text-based but good stuff

 There are a few on the market now, but the Over iPhone App is the one I hear the most about. 

These are just a few of the possibilities out there and really are not meant to influence anyone. Just options, as Usual, there are no affiliate links in my articles, Enjoy

I hope this small article helps in some way if you have anything to add or a resource to share please feel free to comment

Any questions are welcome but I will answer as I can.

All the Best and The Very best in your POD journey.

EJ