Good project management software

[gonnabuyamac]

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

[InLikeALion]

I use FreshBooks.com. Also, a lot of the big guys use Basecamp from 37 Signals, but that might be more team project oriented.

[shecky]

i have found that simple = better. a lot of project management software sounds great in terms of features., but a lot of it is bells and whistles and really all you need is a task list and a spreadsheet.

i use Excel and TextEdit.app to keep track of everything in our studio. one day i might go up to a databse like FileMaker but for now it is unnecessary. Finances are all in Quickbooks Pro, but we use Excel spreadsheets for tracking who owes us what, etc..

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by gonnabuyamac

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

What you need is just a task list or a "do to" manager. Project Managers are typically oriented to projects with 50 or 100 people working on 10,000 interrelated tasks. they do things like critical path analysis, resource leveling and so on.

[Phil A.]

Personally, I'm a big fan of OmniPlan, but it may be overkill for what you want

[one3]

If you are looking for something simple, than "Things" is a good task manager that can break lists into projects. It's a nice interface too if that's important to you (and has an iPhone app for it too):

http://www.culturedcode.com/things/

It all just depends on the level of detail you need. If you want something a lot more robust than maybe try Studiometry:

http://www.oranged.net/studiometry/

Currently I just use a very simple task list program that I'm quite fond of. Not many features but a clean and simple interface and easy to use. It's called Anxiety:

http://anxietyapp.com/

I use freshbooks.com for invoicing now.

[vigorblade]

Originally Posted by gonnabuyamac

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

Not sure if this was already recommended, but for me the best software for this is OmniFocus. I have the desktop version and the iphone version. It may may take a little getting used to, but once you get used to it, it's great. Get a trial version and see if it works for you. BTW I am also graphic designer / graphic artist, so I can relate with your need to keep track of many creative projects. Hope that was a little helpful.

Wow ! My first post.

[ezekielrage_99]

Things, iCal an OmniPlan would be your best option. I use iCal via my Mobile Me account it works, looks good and allows me to plan my week so what more does a person need?

[ChicoWeb]

I struggled with this at my firm. Some are so complex they are almost unusable, so I made my own

The important parts for me where the priority, client, project name, then associated pending and completed tasks for each. I designed the system to be overly simple so my employees didn't get overwhelmed and enjoyed using it.

Some features

New Projects or replies appear in full marroon as seen below.
I can create projects for my employees and give them full requirements and attach any documentation or logo artwork.
I can associate tasks with projects for each employee. They will get an email saying they've been assigned a task.
They can reply and comment, just as I can on the task.
They can upload their comps - This also makes nice links for my clients to view comps and for print companies to download high large zips.
I can view everyones tasks on one screen
I can mark tasks as completed
Update priority, phases, etc.

Personally I use Daylite (http://marketcircle.com/daylite/) to monitor myself and leads.

[cdcastillo]

May I suggest trying Bento (personal database from FileMaker) to track your projects, this has the advantage of easy customization to better serve your needs. Combine this with iCal schedule management and I think you have a winner...

Just an example: here, a goofy one, I know, but still, an example.

[scotty96LSC]

Originally Posted by cdcastillo

May I suggest trying Bento (personal database from FileMaker) to track your projects, this has the advantage of easy customization to better serve your needs. Combine this with iCal schedule management and I think you have a winner...

Just an example: here, a goofy one, I know, but still, an example.

Bento would be a good choice if you want to build something yourself. There are templates to help with that.
We are a Filemaker Pro training facility but all of us use Bento for personal project management.

[detz]

Check out http://www.invoicejournal.com for free invoicing.

I've tried Basecamp and some open source project management stuff but I'm not organized enough to use these. :-)

[sharonrot]

I needed a simple project managment and tried a few, this one is good:
RationalPlan Multi Project for Mac

enjoy,
Sharon

[lucidmedia]

For a to-do list I love "Things"

For project management, I have used Merlin.

Many project managers at the studios I have worked with use Microsoft Project.

[ryanhunt]

The best project management software I've used is Merlin - it's the closest thing on the Mac i could find to Microsoft Project.

It's not cheap, but it's really powerful and fairly easy to pick up and learn. Supports importing/exporting to/from MS Project files

http://www.projectwizards.net/en/products/merlin

[stevejeff]

@ Thread Starter

You can try PlanningForce. Its really robust & efficient for me. Even cost effective & more over VFM ! You can download a trial from their website http://www.planningforce.com/ . You can use it, you will not regret!

[northerngit]

Another option is Process:

http://www.jumsoft.com/process/

It was given away free recently as part of a MacHeist bundle.

[mike268]

Originally Posted by ChicoWeb

I struggled with this at my firm. Some are so complex they are almost unusable, so I made my own

The important parts for me where the priority, client, project name, then associated pending and completed tasks for each. I designed the system to be overly simple so my employees didn't get overwhelmed and enjoyed using it.

Some features

New Projects or replies appear in full marroon as seen below.
I can create projects for my employees and give them full requirements and attach any documentation or logo artwork.
I can associate tasks with projects for each employee. They will get an email saying they've been assigned a task.
They can reply and comment, just as I can on the task.
They can upload their comps - This also makes nice links for my clients to view comps and for print companies to download high large zips.
I can view everyones tasks on one screen
I can mark tasks as completed
Update priority, phases, etc.

Personally I use Daylite (http://marketcircle.com/daylite/) to monitor myself and leads.

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

From what you've posted, this looks like almost the perfect solution for my studio. Have you ever considered releasing this to the public?

[peter105]

Use the project management software calculator from the following link http://www.valleyspeak.com/index.php...ost-calculator
to calculate your project management software cost.

[peter105]

Use the project management software calculator from the following link http://www.valleyspeak.com/index.php...ost-calculator
to calculate your project management software cost.

[design-is]

For a one man band, Billings might be worth looking at! Not too complicated and does a cracking job of tracking time

[ChicoWeb]

Originally Posted by mike268

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

From what you've posted, this looks like almost the perfect solution for my studio. Have you ever considered releasing this to the public?

Probably Not...it wouldn't be a bad idea, I just don't want to have to support it. There are also several interfaces for creating new projects and such that would need a lot of love... It works great for what we want, but may vary for others.

[just85]

Originally Posted by ryanhunt

The best project management software I've used is Merlin - it's the closest thing on the Mac i could find to Microsoft Project.

It's not cheap, but it's really powerful and fairly easy to pick up and learn. Supports importing/exporting to/from MS Project files

http://www.projectwizards.net/en/products/merlin

Have you used the iPhone component to this? Is there a useful dashboard?

[hugothomsen]

Originally Posted by gonnabuyamac

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

The combination of Billings, Merlin, Things and OmniOutliner is superior to anything I have used on Windows. From an integration point of view Billings and Merlin exchange data - OmniOutliner is excellent for meeting notes, and Things for private actions that do not go into the PPlan.

Merlin exports smoothly to MS Project, which is critical for me, running projects involving several other PMs, all stuck with Windows, and imports equally smoothly. For Billings, I can invoice straight based on project output.

In general, the investment has been worth it - I looked at OmniPlan and found it inadequate. I tried using FlexTeam (from App4Mac) after stupidly buying it - in practise it is a shining example of how Mac should NOT be designed - hopeless software, no integration, no flexible reports, clunky. For that reason I didn't try their Projector software either as I expected to waste my time on that, too.

So ... DayLite is a good piece of kit, too, but I find it annoying when using it in anger (tried it out for a month). Ended up where I am, absolutely happy and with no problems whatsoever.

Cheers,

Hugo

[rimac]

try <www.workflowmax.com> beats them all