Please recommend graphics application for Web Development

[astaab]

Hello,

I've used Adobe Fireworks on Windows for years and liked it. I switched over to Mac OS X exclusively and had my CS3 license transferred to Mac. But Fireworks sucks so badly on Mac that it's not worth it.

Does anyone have recommendations for a graphics editor that supports layering, text, shapes, export optimization for web graphics, etc.? Basically, what do you other web developers/designers use for your own work?

Thank you very much for your feedback!

Andy

 

[TEG]

Photoshop. They are basically the same program, but with some minor differences.

TEG

 

[astaab]

Thank you for your fast reply, TEG. Photoshop is $649 and that's way out of my price range. Does anyone like Pixelmator? I'm very open to alternatives that are lightweight and Cocoa-based.

 

[Trajectory]

Photoshop.

Same here.

 

[pointycollars]

I've never worked with Fireworks, so I don't know what its features are or what it does.

I use Photoshop, with Illustrator as a sidekick for vector graphics. Illustrator is definitely handy if you do any Flash work, for creating lightweight vector graphics that can be directly imported.

Do you have the entire creative suite (or the "web premium"), or just Fireworks?

EDIT: Nevermind that last part, I think you answered it while I was typing this reply

 

[astaab]

Hey Pointycollars,

I have "Web Standard CS3". Does not include Photoshop. I'm real happy with the text editing and FTP tools on Mac (using a combination of TextMate, BBEdit, and Coda + Transmit to see which combo I like most). But for simple graphics editing, I seem to be stuck...

Andy

 

[sickmacdoc]

Well a LOT of people seem to be pretty happy with the open source program GIMP, often in reference to it being a free alternative to Photoshop with a ton of power.

You might want to be sure to check it out at http://www.gimp.org/features/