Graphic Design Software

Those who feel that they're ready to be a graphic designer simply because they have an artistic flair may find themselves in for something of a surprise. Graphic design is a very technology-heavy industry. It not only requires a sharp aesthetic sense, it requires mastery of graphic design software, a knowledge of different production processes and a solid understanding of printing, both digital and offset. Graphic designers are skilled professionals and their clients demand a great deal of them every day. Learning the software provides a convenient means to learn the more diverse aspects of the field.

Graphic design software serves as sort of a bridge between the world of creation and the world of production. These software suites allow a skilled designer to correctly format their work, right down to the palate used, for immediate production. Understanding the way the software makes this possible allows a newcomer to understand a bit about various printing processes and web design requirements. While it won't provide a comprehensive education in those fields, it does provide enough knowledge to ask the right questions when the occasion demands as much.

A good example are the differences in color formats. Screen colors are rendered in a format called RGB while print colors are rendered in CMYK. These abbreviations have to do with the colors combined in the process to replicate the entire spectrum. On a color video screen, the colors red, blue and green are combined in various amounts to create all other visible colors. In print, cyan, magenta, yellow and black-denoted by "K"-are combined to create the colors. Even knowing what these menu options mean gives a bit of information about color technique and can help make understanding the production process easier.

Graphic design software also saves documents in several different formats. The compressed formats used for web work betray the fact that screen resolution is far less detailed than print resolution and that fast download times are imperative. The very large files used for print production indicate not only how detailed the process is, but that materials such as photographs must be taken at a much higher resolution for print than is required for the web. Mastering graphic design software can not only make a graphic designer more productive, it can increase their knowledge of the many different processes involved in creating the materials they design; a benefit for them and their clients.