Graphic Design Programs

Meatballsub · Post by **Meatballsub** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:22 pm

I'm looking for a good graphic design program that will primarily be used for web design. There are so many options out there, I'm not sure what to pick. Can anyone recommend a few programs that can accomplish what I need it to do?

Momoka · Post by **Momoka** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:30 am

MS Paint and html in notepad. The manly way

.

Comes down to how fancy you want it to look. I'm inclined to recommend Paint.Net, just because it's open source. Gimp is good for pixel art, if you like doing things in a nitty-gritty way. (Buttons, mainly)

Skullduggery Studios · Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:33 am

Yeah, Gimp is pretty good. I prefer Photoshop, just because of the usability, but it may not be great for somebody who can't afford it. (I saved for QUITE a while...)

Good luck finding a good one, though!

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:37 am

I heart InkScape

Skullduggery Studios · Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:32 pm

Post a link? I never heard of it.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:34 pm

http://inkscape.org

it is a vector drawing program, not pixel based.

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:21 am

Graphics Gale is one of the better Pixel Art applications out there, well suited for palette manipulation and layers. A good upgrade from MS Paint as well and highly recommended for those that have been using MS Paint up till now.

Also, I wouldn't recommend GIMP except for specific things it can do Paint.NET and Graphics Gale cannot. Its interface is too messy and clunky to justify recommendation.

Skullduggery Studios · Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:40 pm

I have Graphics Gale. My big complaint with it is the user interface. Either you're drawing every pixel by hand, in which case it would be easier to just use the OHR engine; or there's something I'm missing because I can't find it.

http://inkscape.org

it is a vector drawing program, not pixel based.

Thanks. I was too lazy to Google it with dial-up.
Vector? Huh? Scuze my ignorance, but what are vectors?

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 1:49 pm

I have Graphics Gale. My big complaint with it is the user interface. Either you're drawing every pixel by hand, in which case it would be easier to just use the OHR engine; or there's something I'm missing because I can't find it.

Here is an image of where you change brush settings:

#1: The brush size. Drop down list gives you several brushes to use kind of like MS Paint does. They don't anti-alias, so they're still suited for pixel art for if you need a larger brush.

#2: Pixel pattern. This is useful if you are dithering. It puts your first and secondary colors into a pattern that you can paint easily or even flood fill.

I would recommend Graphics Gale anyway even for OHR, because the color replacer tool and ability to alter or use a 256 color palette are very invaluable for working with OHR resources, and it's good for pixel art in general.

Skullduggery Studios · Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:44 pm

Hm. Thanks. That dithering tool should be helpful.

Skullduggery Studios · Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:46 pm

Hm. Thanks. That dithering tool should be helpful.

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:02 am

I think I can also recommend Allegro Sprite Editor. It can actually save .gif files, so it should work well as free .gif making software, and I am liking its user interface.

RMZ · Post by **RMZ** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:18 pm

Not sure of your budget. But at my job, I use Dreamweaver, Flash CS3, and Photoshop to do all my stuff. Flash would be a luxury for you, depending on what you're trying to do. If you just want a simple page with images on it, go with PS and DW and you can make some real professional pages.