Re: Image optimization

Denise:

The short answer about other software is: Yes--lots of it!!

However, there are so many to choose from that you will no doubt,
receive dozens of "this is the best" 's from the members on this
list.

Well--we are no different--so here goes ...

Smart Saver is a good little program for what it does and even
though we have lots of "high end" programs, we still use it every
once in a while cause it's so easy and quick.

But -- It wont help you all that much for print work. To do
"print" graphics, (especially if you get into four color print
separations), you need good quality applications.

The generally accepted standards are:

Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics.
Adobe PhotoShop for bitmapped photos.
Adobe PageMaker or Quark Express for page layout.

The above represents nearly two grand worth of software. We know,
cause we once had them all. After my first "retirement" when the
price of upgrading all those became a little overwhelming, I
discovered Canvas. www.deneba.com/

Canvas, (now in version 7), combines all of the above tasks, plus
most web work, in one program and what's more important, lets you
COMBINE both types of graphics with every kind of text attribute
you can dream up.

And all this for slightly more than the price of Paint Shop Pro,
(using Canvas' "competitive upgrade" price).

Granted, there are some that would poo-poo any combination type
program as being just another MS Works. But like I say, we had
the big three on our machine, and now--working with Canvas-6--we
have yet to discover anything that Canvas can not do. It even
allows the use of PhotoShop plug-ins. The pre-press people we
deal with have no problem with it and it's PDF export filter
seems to produce a PDF file that works just fine.

Are there downsides?? In a way, yes. The program does so many
different things, it will take a while to learn them all. But
even an old dog like me managed to learn "one trick at a time".

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
http://www.temercraft.com
http://www.newsredding.com/


>
>I'm looking into buying some software for the local university's
multimedia
>resource center. I've been looking at Ulead Smart Saver Pro for
this
>purpose. However, in addition to web graphics, I need software
that is
>capable of reducing file sizes (without loss of quality) for
printing. Is
>Ulead the way to go, or is there better software out there for
both the Web
>and for print?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Denise
>deevin(at)mun.ca
>
>

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