Well you can use adobe, but that gets spendy. I just dowloaded xara webstyle 4 and it makes great banners and nav bars, etc. You can check it out at the URL below. :wink:

http://xara.com/products/webstyle/

Its not free, but I found it well worth the cost.

I think the Macromedia suite is pretty good. for a beginner. In Fireworks you can make almost any type of button or banner. About the price.. i have no ideea

True on the macromedia. Ive seen some great stuff. About how long does it take to figure out the basics? I may look into it.

It's easier than Photoshop.. and kinda easy to use. I learned it in a few days . Previous works in Photoshop or Flash will help you .. i like it because it's simple and i don't have to go through all the layer junk from Photoshop. When i want to make a layoout quick i use Fireworks. It also has great slicing functions.. Very good software

Photoshop is the best for you, you will find also a lots of tutorials on the Internet.

Ovi

yes i would agree with Ovi, but it would be pricey (if you wanted it legaly of course...)

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Just my 2¢...

I use CorelDRAW Graphics Suite almost exclusively and here's a few reasons why...

Flexibility:

I'm an independant graphics freelance and a professional PR (public relations) photographer therefore I don't need to work for an agency. However, even if I did want or need to, Corel GS allows me to export my files to Illustrator or Photoshop formats. It also allows me to import them from Adobe applications if needed, so the flexibility is there which Adobe products don't deliver. Corel is probably the most versatile product out there for filetype support. Hey, it's even supported jpeg 2000 format since version 11 (without plug-ins). Version 12 now supports the import of MacroMedia Freehand files.

Adobe Illustrator (AI)
Adobe Photoshop (PSD)
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
Macromedia Flash (SWF)
Windows Bitmap (BMP)
CorelDRAW (CDR)
Corel PHOTO-PAINT (CPT)
Microsoft Word Document (DOC)
Corel DESIGNER (DSF)
AutoCAD Drawing Interchange Format (DXF)
AutoCAD Drawing Database (DWG)
Corel Presentation Exchange (CMX)
GIF
GIMP (XCF)
HTML
JPEG (JPG)
JPEG 2000 (JP2)
Kodak Photo CD Image (PCD)
PaintBrush (PCX)
PICT (PCT)
Portable Document Format (PDF)
Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
Painter (RIF)
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
Targa Bitmap (TGA)
TIFF Bitmap (TIF)
WordPerfect Document (WPD)
WordPerfect Graphic (WPG)
...and many others...


Plugins:

Speaking of plug-ins, it supports most Photoshop ones as well as those made for Corel apps.

Cost:

Corel Graphics Suite includes CorelDRAW, Photopaint and several other applications and is significantly cheaper than a single Adobe product.

Features:

It can do anything that Adobe products can...and then some!

Speed:

Workflow options and simple speed of work is much faster than Adobe.

Ease of use: User customisable interface...yet another idea now taken on by Adobe CS.

If you're interested, the full Corel GS product is available for downoad and trial from Corel's site. You can also upgrade to a full install of Corel if you have any licenced version of Photoshop or Illustrator. And the educational licence is within easy reach if you're on a tight budget...and of course, you're in education!

Industry Standard?:

No, but people used to think you could only design on a Mac.....

No, but people used to think you could only design on a Mac.....

Thank God those days are over :wink:

that's a very complete presentation of Corel Graphics Suite. BUT.. i don't agree with you on the speed problem. I find the corel interface quite hard to understand and learn and for image manipulation it cannot compete with Photoshop. For DTP Corel it the best tool but things like photo retouching, webart and stuff like that i don't think it's such a good ideea