What systems do illustrators use today?

August 21, 2008 7:22 PM

I worked in printing directly for nearly 11 years. My last job that had anything to do with the industry ended in 2002. In 2002, the design side was still pretty Mac-centric. How is it today? Have people stayed with OS X and Macs? Or have they gone to PCs? I am asking for a niece who is interested in persuing 2D illustration in her college studies.
posted by tcv to technology (14 comments total)

definitely still predominantly mac.
posted by beckish at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2008

I've got three good friends who are graphic designers and they all use Macs but other than that I really have no idea. Also, our university library down here has PC's and Macs, the Macs are solely used for graphic design and video editing.
posted by BrnP84 at 7:37 PM on August 21, 2008

Still Mac here in the prepress department. Maybe 20% of the files coming in are from Windows users. But Adobe's Creative Suite, coupled with greater standardization in font types, has gone a long way towards making a sturdy Windows machine a viable workstation.

I prefer files made on a Mac because there's a small chance that things can go screwy; little things like legacy fonts, the occasional weird formatting issue, or cross-platform naming conventions can cause five or ten minute's frustration. But it's not nearly so bad as it was back in the 90's and early 00's, and certainly nothing that can't be overcome by a competent and attentive printing company.
posted by lekvar at 7:47 PM on August 21, 2008

Most of the big-time programs are cross-platform, but I'd say the majority of people that I've worked with use Mac OS. As far as hardware is concerned (i.e. if she needs a computer) you really can't go wrong with a Mac now that you're able to run Windows and OS X on the same system.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 8:10 PM on August 21, 2008

Hmmm... Is the trend to go to PCs?

Hiya there in prepress. It's where I started and went to work at a RIP manufacturer at the end. (Rampage)
posted by tcv at 8:32 PM on August 21, 2008

I work for the Minneapolis office of a very very large graphic services provider. Every single production machine in our shop is a Mac; the only PCs we have are running as dedicated servers or RIPs or used in accounting/payroll. I can't speak for the corporation as a whole, but I'm fairly certain that most of our offices are using Macs.
posted by nathan_teske at 8:44 PM on August 21, 2008

Some of our Flash coders (we're mainly a web shop) prefer PC, but all the other "creatives" are on Macs, and our company has actually been shifting consulting and account service people back to Apple when upgrade time hits.
posted by jalexei at 9:05 PM on August 21, 2008

Is the trend to go to PCs?

What gave you this idea?
posted by ook at 9:13 PM on August 21, 2008

Small web/print publisher here. All PCs running Adobe CS2. At least with text-heavy CMS cross publishing in my office, IT needs dictate windows. We're still way behind a slick XML workflow, so everything is running on custom PCS with .doc inputs and zero graphic support. Bleah.

No one but me handles images, though. And we have an extremely colorful history of website installations and printing processes. So I'm one of those statistical outliers who's doing everything the hard way. But on the flip side, working in a ugly design environment builds character.
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:32 PM on August 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Hey, small world. We use RAMPage in our shop.

A quick anecdote which leads to a larger point:
Most of the designers I talk to who use PCs rather than Macs do it out of necessity; either they don't feel they can afford a Mac powerful enough or their boss won't buy them a Mac. But many wish they could work on a Mac because that's what they leaned on.

The point of this that, chances are, your niece's classes will be taught by someone who learned on a Mac and still uses a Mac. Being the PC user in a class taught by and surrounded by Mac users won't kill her but it might make some of the instruction and collaboration more difficult than it might be.

But that's all rank speculation on my part. The best bet is for her to find out what her teachers will be using/want her to use.
posted by lekvar at 9:51 PM on August 21, 2008

Both. The design programs are nearly exactly the same, and they get more similar with every release. To make it work, get a Mac & BootCamp with either XP or Vista. Colleges sometimes have licensing agreements with companies, so it might be possible to get some of the apps for both operating systems, as well as some version of Windows.

Even if you are the most artistic person on the planet, you'll lose points with a potential employer when/if you have trouble with copying and pasting files or getting around an OS.

I'm a PC person going to a journalism design school that is nearlly 98% Macs, while my other major in printing/pre-press is about 70% PCs. I've worked really hard to get my Mac skills up to par with my Windows ones over the past few years. Now I'm confident that I can handle anything that comes along.

IMHO, it doesn't matter what platform you use, it's how well you can use what is available to to make your masterpiece.

P.S. Encourage her to take some time to learn on her own, because what they are teaching in the classes doesn't even scratch the surface. I've found that most of my teachers were trained in design before there were computers, which is good from an aesthetic point, but poor from a digital learning point, as they often struggle to translate their ideas onto the screen and end up teaching bad practices/work arounds. Read some books, watch some video tutorials, anything she can take in will help. Knowing what the programs are capable of is very important.

P.P.S. With regards to the printing major focusing on PCs, I think they are gearing us up to be able to handle/troubleshoot the coming times when most people, businesses included, will "try" to design their own stuff, encouraged by online printing options. The majority of those jobs will be from PCs, simply because of their overwhelming presence in the business world. [Sigh: dreading future MS Publisher hassles...]

MeFi mail me if she would like any other advice/help with this from a student.
posted by PixelatorOfTime at 11:04 PM on August 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I know at least two dozen designers and illustrators and they're all hardcore Mac users; to the extent that pretty militant about it.
posted by imjustsaying at 3:00 AM on August 22, 2008

Mac.
posted by miss tea at 4:36 AM on August 22, 2008

Thanks guys! This is perfect information. She has a Windows system, so she knows how to get around them.

For the next system, she wanted a Mac because, primarily, she heard they were the system-of-choice for digital artists. I knew from my print industry experience this was largely true, emphasis on the "was." I needed a reality check.

Yeah, the applications are the same between platforms, so there's little-to-no concern in that way. I know that the Mac will be a learning curve for her as, I believe, she's never touched OS X. It sounds like a Mac will be a worthwhile learning curve.

Cheers,

Mike...
posted by tcv at 7:08 AM on August 22, 2008