or photoshop

Macromedia Fireworks

Or Photoshop Elements if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars. Paint shop Pro is good also.

DON'T LAUGH! . . . When all else fails Mcirosoft WOrd - yeah? It can do it too!

However - Me use:

Paint Shop Pro + Microsoft PhotoDraw + Publisher - Really loads of stuff in these.

Try doing a "Copy" direct from "Preview" screen and pasting directly into any Graph-Pac.

Grazie

Ulead Photo Impact. Like Paint Shop Pro you can do a lot of sophisticated things in there -- add different textures, art effects, gradients to your backgrounds and text, reshape anything, add a little blur to keep your menus from "twittering" (learned that from Riredale). Has unlimited layers for you to design in, easier than Photoshop to work in. Etc. Etc. Has a learning curve, but I've been using it for several years and (like Paint Shop Pro) keeps getting better and better.

P.S. Incredibly cheap. I picked up Photo Impact 8 on sale about 5 months ago for $60!

I use easy cd creator for the layouts. It allows you to import most anything. Works great saves a bunch of time. I import from Photoshop elements. I often take digital pictures of like the wedding cake or the happy couple and put them on the DVD cover.

Actually i have just started using PaintShop Pro. I found it difficult to do some of the layout work that i wanted. Ive only given it a week off or on, so i am not going to give up. I might run through the manual one more time. ANy good sites/ forums for Paint Shop with tutorials or walkthroughs?

I really just wanted one program that could do anything from labels to Posters. I will try some of the programs mentioned. Any lesser known programs that i might want to check into?

Thanks.

Hey starixiom, it depends on your needs. To do the really slick "pro" stuff, you'll need at least three kinds of applications: A vector based drawing application (Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand), an application that lets you manipulate rastarized/bitmapped images (Adobe Photoshop/Fractal design Painter) and a 3D modeling package (Alias WaveFront Maya/Discreet 3D Studio Max). Going this route will set you back at least $4,000.00, plus the time/expense it takes you to learn the software. However, knowing how to use this kind of software for video or print can get you into some pretty sweet jobs. On the other hand, if you just want to make covers for home DVDs then the MS Publisher/Paintshop Pro route may be for you. Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Shawn

What about a "semi" pro solution? Just joking. I think we all want professional quality at rock bottom prices. But like you said it might cost a little more than i want to spend (even at student discount prices.) I can see why you would use the first two types of programs, but why would one use a 3D modeling package? How would that help in making covers and posters?

"I can see why you would use the first two types of programs, but why would one use a 3D modeling package? How would that help in making covers and posters?"

For making cool textures nothing beats a good 3D modeling package - because you can make interesting shapes, add cool textures to those shapes and light those shapes. The only thing that limits what you can produce with say... Maya or 3D Studio Max, is your imagination (once you understand the software). Check out some of this stuff... http://www.3dlinks.com/gallerydisplay.cfm?tid=Abstract&startrow=1

Thanks,

Shawn

starixiom:

www.jasc.com
http://www.computer-training-software.com/paint-pro.htm
http://www.pinoy7.com/ (THIS is a NICE one!)
http://www.putertutor.net/
http://mardiweb.com/web/

... among others

I believe Ulead version cool3D 3 And (ulead 3D studio) and up you can make Higher res images for print.
Neato has a free and better almost free label making utility that works real nice for formatting.
www.neato.com

Low cost that packs a wow factor.
Cheers,
W

I use Ulead Photo Impact to work with raster graphics, and Visio as a general purpose layout software.