Purchasing Software / Hardware
by CreativePublic

Well, this is the part that costs so much money. Most designers, or those wanting to get started, have little money to spend on these products. Listed in this section are areas you can go to purchase software and hardware at discounted prices. Make sure and "price shop" for deals. Some software packages now come bundled together with all programs ranging from design to the Web.

If you are a student, you might consider purchasing a student version. This will allow you to save a substantial amount of money. Keep in mind that there may be software restrictions that may hinder you from using the software for commercial use. Always check with the software manufacturer for restrictions before purchasing anything.

As for hardware, Mac or PC will do the job the same; however, I am a Mac man myself and after working on both platforms for several years, I have concluded that the Mac offers a more stable environment and is less clunky. Again, this is my personal preference.

When purchasing hardware you should consider what the industry standard is. For most print designers, Mac is the way to go. For Web, animation and TV, its a close battle between Mac and PCs. Reason being, PCs are used in a small percentage of print shops but have not fully taken off yet. Most print shops are Mac based and prefer to receive Mac files. If you have a PC, make sure your service provider can take your files. Whether you're on a Mac or PC, make sure you're able to cross platforms. This is vital if you are to be a flexible designer. It's a good idea to get Virtual PC for the Mac if you are doing Web design. This allows you to test cross platform, and is an economical way to have the best of both worlds whether you are doing print, Web or animation design.

Below is a suggested list of hardware and software to get you started in business. Click on the shopping links for vendors that can help you with these purchases. (Macromedia and Adobe offer bundled packages for web and print software):

Software for Print:
• Adobe Illustrator (Illustration and page layout program)
• Adobe Photoshop (Photo alteration and special effects)
• Adobe InDesign or Quark XPress (Page layout)

Software for Web:
• Adobe Golive or Macromedia® Dreamweaver (Web site design programs)
• Adobe Illustrator (Illustration and page layout program)
• Adobe Photoshop (Photo alteration and special effects)
• Macromedia Fireworks (Web image editing program)

Other software:
• Microsoft Word or AppleWorks (word-processing)

Hardware:
• Pentium III or Mac G-3 or higher computer system
• 256mb of ram or more (the more ram you have, the more programs you can have open and the better the applications will operate)
• 10 Gig hard drive or larger
• 17 inch monitor or larger
• Graphic card with resolution up to 1152 x 870
• USB and Firewire ports
• Scanner with optical resolution up to 1200 x 1200 or higher (HP, EPSON or UMAX - both offer quality scanners)
• CD burner 32 speed or higher
• Zip disk drive
• Keyboard and mouse
• Color printer (prints up to 11x 17 or larger
• B/W laser printer (prints up to 11x 17)

It will cost you in the range of $3,000 to $7,000 to get set up with all the equipment needed to get started. All of this depends on the model types and prices of additional items. Shop around to find the best price, but watch out for "too good of a deal" and be careful for remanufactured products. These products come with a limited warranty and may not last as long as you think.

Shopping links
Software
adobe.com
macromedia.com

Hardware
apple.com
pricewatch.com

Warehouses
macwarhouse
pcwarehouse

Printers / Scanners
hp.com
epson.com