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» Home » Equipment Putting
the Equipment Pieces Together Today, graphic design projects are primarily designed on computer systems. Computer systems used for this purpose usually run one of two common operating systems, Macintosh or Windows. These operating systems help a computer to run. Though operating systems may appear similar, they are quite different. In addition, a designer will use a keyboard (to input text and to control the program), a mouse (to control the program), a scanner and at least one printer (either a black & white laser printer or a color laser or inkjet printer). Many laser printers come with PostScript enablers which are necessary to take advantage of PostScript technology output. This is the same technology that makes Adobe Acrobat files possible and cross-platform compatible. Computer files are created by using a variety of programs that are created to create one sort of document. There are many. Let's start with image software. Images come in two varieties: bitmap and vector images. A bitmap image refers to one that is dependent on resolution and is made up of pixels. Any lines that appear in this sort of image, like a photo or a charcoal drawing, are not hard edges. Bitmap images can be scanned into a computer system or can be created by an image-editing program (like Photoshop). Image-editing programs offer a wide variety of manipulation possibilities but are dependent on the color mode and file format that is used (covered in-depth in the Graphics section of this site). A vector image is one that has been created or converted to vectors by a vector-drawing program (like Illustrator or Freehand). Vectors are points that are "plotted" in this kind of program and refer to mathematical points in a file. Vector documents take advantage of PostScript technology which allows them to be output at varying sizes without any loss in quality, unlike bitmap images. If you want to design a brochure, newsletter, postcard, etc. you'll want to utilize a page-layout program like QuarkXPress, PageMaker or InDesign. These programs allow you to import vector and bitmap graphics as well as resize and color text. Text can be input directly into a page-layout program or can be imported from a word-processing program document. (Here are a few tips that may help you import text easier.) Figures can be imported into a page-layout program from a spreadsheet program. To create a Web page, you can utilize specialty HTML software or you could code the pages by hand (covered in the Web section of this site). To spice up your pages, you might use images created in Photoshop or with a specialty web graphics program like Fireworks. Animation and forms can be added through the use of a program called Flash. Slide and electronic presentations are created by utilizing presentation programs. A fairly simple one to use is PowerPoint (though its capabilities can be expanded and it can have its challenges ) while a complex program like Director is suited for training and highly-interactive presentations. Utility programs like Norton Utilities can be very helpful to keep your
systems running smoothly. A virus protection program that checks for viruses
is a good idea as are compression utilities like StuffIt
and ZipIt which compress files for archiving, emailing and transportation. Tip: There are Graphic Design classes in your area. Sign up for FREE information from top design schools.  Some
Links You May Find Useful
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ll
of the articles in this section of 
A
designer's computer system is composed of several elements. The configuration
of a particular computer system can be as unique as the individual running
it. One of the most important compontents is a 
