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Which tools do you use for your graphics if you are not a graphic designer?

F

frank100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 9, 2012
15
0
After some time googling around, I still cannot find a good tool for a problem I guess that most iOS and Mac programmers have. Most of the icons I deal with are in PNG format, but you know, that is not a good format if you want to resize, specially whenever I want an extra small version for a table cell.

On the other hand there are also free icons in PSD, and usually the format given by most graphic designers.

I own Pixelmator and it suits my editing needs... except when it comes to resizing icons because of its awful vector graphic support. I don't want to buy Photoshop because Pixelmator does everything else I need, however I am usually stuck with a PSD file and unable to cut / resize the icon I want.

I have seen many vectorial and/or vector graphics tool, but when working with icons I usually just want to cut / resize an icon from a PSD file with vector graphics. What do you use for you icons? What is out there at a reasonable price if you just want to resize? I have some tools that helps you to get the right size if you want an icon for a navigation bar, push button, menu, table cell... but that is just a minor wish.

For the people with more experience dealing with graphic designers. I could even make this question more generic: Which alternative tools (non $$$ Adobe) do you usually use to deal with the work given by graphic designers?
 
Last edited:
Your posting is a little confusing because both PNG and PSD files are pixel-based graphic files and not vector-based graphic files.

Two good alternatives for Photoshop (= pixel-based graphic files) are GraphicConverter ($40 shareware; http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/188/graphicconverter.html) and GIMP (free; http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/News/News.html). I know for sure that GraphicConverter can work with PSD files but I don't know whether GIMP can do it.

Alternatives for Illustrator (vector-based graphic files) could be Inkscape (free; http://inkscape.org/), Lineform ($80 shareware; http://www.freeverse.com/mac/product/?id=6020) and Sketch ($50 shareware; http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/)

It would be great if you could post some of your experiences here if you try any of these applications.

Greetings - desertman
 
takeshi74 said:
Clearly state your budget. Don't just assume that your notion of reasonable is universal. For many, Adobe apps are reasonable.
Click to expand...

considering I just want a tool to resize I would not like to spend more than 20$ for only that feature. Looking at low end graphic tools I could conceive buying a program for no more than 100$

Photoshop alone ranges between 700$ and 1300$ and that does not seem an acceptable price range for a tool I might need no more than one hour every month. I would be ok with the >3,000$ of the whole suite if I were using it 8 hours a day.

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desertman said:
Your posting is a little confusing because both PNG and PSD files are pixel-based graphic files and not vector-based graphic files.
Click to expand...

well, I know that PNG is a pixel-based graphic format. However I thought that PSD can be pixel-based or vector-based, unless of course, I am confused with Adobe Illustrator files.

I do have seen some packages icons which claim to be vector-PSD files, however they do pixelate when resizing with Gimp or Pixelmator
 
My non-graphic artist friend uses Adobe Fireworks for a lot of his graphic needs. PhotoShop is way beyond him, if that gives you an idea of Firework's skill level. :D
 
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