admin answers:

Inkscape is an excellent choice for those on a limited budget also take a look at gimp

admin answers:

Illustrator or photoshop , dwn load free trial from these sites:

http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/

admin answers:

CafePress

http://www.cafepress.com/

What file formats do you accept for images?

Http://help.cafepress.com/hc/s-74058960/cmd/kbresource/kb-7509894886157660861/view_question!PAGETYPE?sq=file%2bsize&sf=101113&sg=1&st=636715&documentid=154988&action=view

CafePress.com supports several picture file formats. Each has different trade offs between file size and quality. Whichever format you decide on using, please remember to save all image files in RGB color mode.
“PNG- 4 MB” JPG – 7 MB / , PSD TIFF BMP EPS (AI vector not allowed)

http://help.cafepress.com/hc/s-74058960/cmd/kbresource/kb-7509894886157660861/cp_view_results_v3.html

they prefer Png file formats, Inkscape only exports as png from design, it saves as svg or other vector file formats, but you want to export design to png file, and high quality 300 ppi/dpi or best quality for file sizes,
Inkscape illustrator

http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php?lang=en

because it os vector, you can export png,
and then re-edit png in Gimp if needed,

Gimp ~image editor, has options for saving as JPG PSD TIFF BMP , EPS may require ghost script conversion plugin via ps to eps/pdf,

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

__________

DrawPlus ~ vector editing Windows

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/DrawPlus/default.asp

PhotoPlus Photo Editing Windows

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/

..

admin answers:

Inkscape illustrator,

http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape/

clipping

http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Clip-Clipping.html

http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Spheres-Hatch.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/gimpusers/discuss/72157594275652106/

not sure, but you want to make a path of outline like silhouette, or trying to continue line from end point,

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1035494626&size=o

Scribus,Desktop Publishing

http://www.scribus.net/

LineTracer

http://linetracer.sourceforge.net/

GIMP – Windows installers

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

DrawPlus

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/DrawPlus/default.asp

http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=89

..

admin answers:

Yep, press (might be apple+L on a mac). It’s under Path > Simplify.

You might find that it oversimplifies. To fix this, go to File > Inkscape Preferences > Misc, and lower the “Simplification threshold”. I set mine down to the minimum, as the more times you press Ctrl+L the harder it simplifies.

admin answers:

Have you tried the Inkscape Wiki for help?

Http://www.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Inkscape

admin answers:

Well it depends on what you want to accomplish as to what is better…

Inkscape is a graphical editor for Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) files. It’s freely available as Open Source, and is known as a stable, powerful, and highly usable vector drawing application.

Gimpshop is a Gimp modification that features menu layouts, dialogs and naming conventions similar to those found in Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Illustrator software gives you new creative freedom that lets you realize your ideas quickly and powerfully. Instantly convert bitmaps to vector artwork and paint more intuitively.

There are different flavors of some of these programs, but since I do not know what your goals are, I am listing an example of all three that I have used for three very different projects.

I like them all and have not found fault with any of them

admin answers:

An interesting layout/flowchart creation program that I use is called Graphviz. It is FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software), and though it is not quite efficient (giving me some weird loops in the arrows connecting different nodes), it is impressive and the website contains several beautiful images whose creation was actually a stress test for the Graphviz engine. Quite artistic and at the same time functional.

An example of dot file (the file format that gets interpreted and rendered into a flowchart):

/*CalcV1*/

digraph CalcV1{

//Nodes

Début [label="Commencer"];
Init [shape=rectangle, label="Init vbles"];
Inputnum [shape=parallelogram, label="JOP.sID("Entrez un nombre")"];
Doubleconv [shape=rectangle, label="Double.parseDouble() n1"];
Inputop [shape=parallelogram, label="JOP.sOD("Choisissez une opération")"];
Inputnum2 [shape=parallelogram, label="JOP.sID("Entrez un autre nombre")"];
Doubleconv2 [shape=rectangle, label="Double.parseDouble() n2"];
Switchop [shape=diamond, label="switch(op)"];
Division [shape=rectangle, label="n1/n2"];
Multiplication [shape=rectangle, label="n1*n2"];
Addition [shape=rectangle, label="n1+n2"];
Soustraction [shape=rectangle, label="n1-n2"];
Modulo [shape=rectangle, label="(int)(n1)%((int)(n2)"];
Display [shape=parallelogram, height=0.5, width=1, label="JOP.sCD("Le résultat est "+Résultat+"\nnVoulez-vous continuer?")"];
Continuer [shape=diamond, height=1, width=0.5, label="while(continuer==true){n/*Répète*/}else{/*Quit*/}"];
Fin;

//Arrows

Début -> Init -> Inputnum -> Doubleconv -> Inputop -> Inputnum2 -> Doubleconv2 -> Switchop[weight=100];
Switchop -> Division -> Display;
Switchop -> Multiplication -> Display;
Switchop -> Addition -> Display;
Switchop -> Soustraction -> Display;
Switchop -> Modulo -> Display;
Display -> Continuer -> Fin[weight=100];
Continuer -> Inputnum;
}

Simon Jones answers:

I’m a freelance graphic designer in San Francisco.

My daily routine involves waking up, turning on the computer around 9am and working with very few breaks up until I go to sleep at 2am (if I’m lucky). Usually my email inbox will have messages from clients about the projects we have going on. I’ll usually have something like 5 or 6 different projects all happening at the same time. It’s up to me to make sure I keep all my projects on-track, which is sometimes very challenging (i.e. Stressful). Every day is a matter of figuring out which project needs my attention most urgently in order to hit all the deadlines. Every client has a project manager, and he or she will communicate with me throughout the day via email and on the phone. They might have some new information for me or need to check on my schedule for a meeting (and if somehow I’ve become late with a deadline they’ll be calling me to figure out our emergency plans!)

My clients are a very diverse group: advertising agencies, branding companies, corporate training providers, product design firms, skateboard companies, book publishers, etc. They call on me for an equally wide variety of skills: art direction, creative strategy, production management, print design, interface design, traditional illustration, Flash animation, information design, presentation design, photography, logo design, packaging design. When you freelance, you never know what skills you’ll need. If you’re smart, you’ll keep learning new things all the time. If you keep at it long enough, eventually you turn all your hobbies into work (hooray! More work!)

I also spend a lot of time on each project doing things that don’t seem creative at all: estimates, timesheets, invoicing, bookkeeping, dealing with taxes, licenses, royalties, etc.

I’m very fortunate to be so busy and with such good clients. But it’s the kind of luck that comes only after you spend 14 years working your butt off, constantly learning new software, new techniques, picking up old techniques from folks who have been doing this longer than you have, etc.

Let’s see, in an average week I’ll spend about 90% of my time at my desk, with iTunes music keeping me company out of my old speakers, and with my brain buried inside of creative tasks using software like Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Flash, Acrobat Pro, PowerPoint, QuickTIme Pro, iPhoto, Google SketchUp — switching back and forth from OS X to WIndows XP to test files in various browsers and platforms. The other 10% of an average week is spent running around to meetings with clients, or with prospective clients — talking about new projects, current projects, discussing creative plans, trying to convince them to pay me quicker, etc.

Most of these meetings take place in San Francisco, and I’ll usually take a cab (and forget to get a receipt). But frequently the meetings are down in the Silicon Valley somewhere, so I need to keep my car registered and running.

Meetings definitely get in the way of getting work done, but they’re a part of life when you run a freelance business. You need a constant flow of new work to keep you busy, or else you’ll have no money. And it runs out real quick living in San Francisco.

Far too often I end up having to pull all-nighters to hit deadlines. I’m well acquainted with Boobah keeping me company on TV at 4:30 am and then continuing to work nonstop until after another sunset. It’s not fun. There is frequent swearing. But this is the price of freelance freedom. Mainly it’s because all of my clients like to imagine they are my only client, and I’ll sometimes get overlapping deadlines even though I try my best to avoid it.

Well there you have it. That’s my wonderful life as a freelance graphic designer.

Simon

admin answers:

I see graphic design as a very important part to ensure that business run smoothly and people can identify things easyer. If you have a image on a box in a factory, it will take less time for the employee to identify what might be in the box. Kinda like you see arrows pointing “this way up.”

If your talking about how a logo or label is used to influence sales of a product, I would say that graphics definitely get justified in the end. That is if it is a well thought out logo and design, one that represents your company as well as your products.

Pictures and Images can be understood by anyone, Visual graphic/arts is a universal language. “A picture can say a million words,” in the end you would likely save money on advertising, if pictures are used instead of words.

admin answers:

..
Gimp ~image editor,

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Inkscape. Draw Freely.

Http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php?lang=en

PhotoPlus

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/

DrawPlus

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/DrawPlus/default.asp

Scribus,Desktop Publishing

http://www.scribus.net/

PagePlus Free Desktop Publishing

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/default.asp

Color Picker

http://www.eltima.com/products/free-color-picker/

Google SketchUp

http://sketchup.google.com/

KompoZer – Easy web authoring

http://www.kompozer.net/

_________

Tux Paint for fun and family, including pets, with noises,

http://www.tuxpaint.org/

..

admin answers:

45 Best Freeware Design Programs

http://www.snap2objects.com/2007/07/20/45-best-freeware-design-programs/

admin answers:

Multimedia, as you probably understood from your course doesn’t just consist of creating media for web sites.

Multimedia can range from creating a advertising clip for a company, to helping game companies arrange/design there new game intro clip.

admin answers:

Hey Erica!

Wow! You’ve asked a tough one! That’s like asking “How high is Up?”

As a graphic Designer, I have worked many different jobs. I’ve worked for sign companies designing signage, running their sign design and layout computer, sculpting the 3-D billboards, 3-D digitizing maquettes into the computer for eventual routing, painting, and designing silkscreen masks. I have airbrushed, designed layouts for newsletters, magazines, greeting cards, and so on. I have done so many things that I can’t even rememer! And the funny thing is, I studied scientific illustration, not design! Right now, I do 2-D cad which gets translated to G-codes to run variouse milling machines. It’s a lot of fun, =-)

Here’s an article that may help answer some of your questions,
http://www.designtalkboard.com/design-articles/job-descriptions.php

I recommend checking out all the job boards, see what’s out there.

Most Graphic Designers I know are only making about 22-30k . its a job you do for love

Good Luck!