Advice needed w/ creation graphics

from WinCustomize Forums
Hi everyone,
I'm new to skinning and graphics and I would like to start creating my own themes. The question I have is, what kind of programs do I need to get started? I know Adobe Photoshop is popular, but Corel Draw also has a following. I never done anything with graphics and would like some advice on where to start learning and what to use. All help is appreciated, thanks.
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Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
if you wanna start free, go with hte GIMP.
if you wanna start for under 100 dollars go with jasc's paintshop pro.

nothing takes the place of photshop.

corel draw is a vector art program, and although even i have been known to skin in vector on occasion, the art form is generally done with a pixel pushing program (bitmaps).
if you got corelphotopaint with corel draw, that would work...

there are folks around (jafo) who skin using MSpaint, so you can't get too low or too high.

nothing takes the place of photoshop.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yes, as kenray said, a software is just a software. It's how comfortable you feel with a given one. Most people use Photoshop, some use PaintShop Pro, some use the Gimp. The quality of the work is ralely subject to the software you use. Paul Boyer, proabably the top DesktopX designer, uses Corel exclusively and swears only by it. So it's all a matter of personnal tastes, and budget of course.
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I use Paint Shop Pro and have been using it since version 4. It's easy to use, makes great graphics and costs just under $100 US. Paint Shop Pro is compatible with Photoshop Plug-ins (like the Kai's Power Tools series).

Bryce is great for 3D graphics, but it's not cheap (around a couple hundred dollars).

Photoshop is used by graphics professionals. It's very good but expensive, and not as easy to learn.

That's just the tip of the iceberg for software programs, but those are the ones I've used.

There are graphics tutorials available on the web for popular software. Just do a keyword search in Yahoo and you should be able to find them. Good luck.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm glad to know there is so many options. I can't believe that people use MSpaint, I thought that program was worthless. I've got so much to learn. I'll check around for some tutorials and give the other programs suggested here a try. Thanks for the guidance