I'm building a computer for my brother-in-law and i need opinions on some good art/graphics stuff to install on it for him.he hasn't used a computer much but he wants one to do his art stuff on.he's really good,so i need some good programs to install.


the specs of the comp will be:

80 GB HD
AMD Athlon 64 2.4 Ghz Processor
512 MB Ram (will probably be upgraded to 1 GB later)
it'll be running Win XP

why not let him use photoshop it's pretty organized with alot of plug-ins and add-ons.

Corel Draw is a great one and it isn't too expensive.

as a graphic artist.. i'd give him the adobe suite if you can get your hands on it for a reasonable price.. i.e. illustrator, photoshop, indesign, dreamweaver, etc. and get cs3 if you can.. its' the ****. also corel draw isn't a horrible program either.

cute kiddies singing

I never pay for stuff...there's always warez sites

Every digital artist should have photoshop

pfft,pay for it?what the hell is that?i can get all that stuff free

Thanks Brian.


As for Adobe Suite... LOVED IT... but if it's a "just starting out" thing... Adobe might be pricey...
I got spoiled when I was a graphic designer... LOVED working with the Adobe software... presently, I do low-end marketing pieces and have to create them in MSPublisher....

as a fellow graphic designer... I agree with what she said. Any Adobe product is what he would use by todays standards in the field, ie... Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and version CS3 is a must, but if he is going into any webdesign, or animation, he will need dreamweaver. If he is not sure of these programs, he can go to Adobe.com and download the free tutorial for InDesign before he purchases it. And if he or you or anyone you know is a student, you can get it much cheaper.

Can't give much advise in the software area, but noticed your hardware specs. you need at LEAST one gig and a good graphics card to start. The rest should be fine. I would recoomend 2 gig, you can get that now in 667 MHz for under $100, so worth the investment for any types of graphics and multimedia stuff.

Hope this helps! :)

well this Mobo takes DDR2 800 and for now i'm just starting with 512 because i can get it for $15

Careful on the MLB..cause its the most important part of the build. And even though it can take 800MHz DDR2 it should still run 667 fine, you don;t have to run the 800. :) I like the ASUS boards myself. :)

this Mobo is a Biostar TFORCE TF520-A2.alot of people don't like Biostars but the Biostars that i've used,i've never had any problems with them.Yeah Asus makes good mobo's but my BIL is on a budget,so i'm going with Biostar because Asus is a little more costly

new egg has that board for 34.99

correction 59.99 came up 34.99

on search but 59.99 on site

yep,that's where i'm ordering it from.i get all my computer parts from Newegg

yea i am laying out a micro system

for dj and karaoke

trouble with laptop is copy protecting usb external drive

i build a micro i can internalize drives

put a plate across usb ports

not hook up front ones

and encrypt the drive

i know there is an encrypting program with

double layer security because i know

a business that uses it but

they wont inform me of the name of it

hmmmm...i can ask around on some sites i know,if you want i'll let know know what i find out.

photoshop is a good all in one thing, he or you will need to look at wants available depending on what he likes too do. i like photo editing (family pics) but you can get profession grade stuff too.

Adobe Suite CS3 is supa exciting.


Buuut... as for free stuff... hmm. And of course it's a PC so I don't know jack.

PaintShop Pro is pretty cool. I started out on that when I was 14. It's very cheap.

Corel Draw I hear is a good one too.

If you had a Mac I could recommend Gimp and Gimpshop. They are almost exact to Photoshop.

If you can get programs for free, like i do, i had Suite however i got a letter in the mail, oh well i guess thats what happens what the compupter downloads for 3 days straight, you start to assume =)

FireWorks- is a good program for the Begining user
PhotoShop-For the Advanced user
Adobe Suite is for the Expert user
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Torrents, i wont say anything else or ill get banned =)