Question for digital work.

Griffin McPherson

@lizardillo I know you mention the scaling and layer limits but aside from that what are the situations that you feel like you need photoshop for?

After the recent 3PP episode where they talked about needing to use photoshop it made me start to think I should really start learning but the thing is that photoshop ain’t cheap and I haven’t yet found myself is a situation where I felt like I really needed it. Just trying to get some more perspective on this

Kim Hunter

@griffin I agree with Jeremy. I bought a 12 inch iPad Pro and Procreate. This is my tool to learn digital and illustration. I'll enter the market as a writer with hopes of acquiring enough skill to illustrate my own work. If that happens, I'll follow the advice of our fearless leaders and ad the Cintiq and photoshop combo. At that time I'll also upgrade to a new computer. After many years of keeping my farm going with used machinery, held together with duct tape and baling twine, I've learned that sometimes it's more efficient to pay extra for the right tools that don't need tweaking.

One way to progress is to buy what you need to get started such as the iPad and Procreate and make it pay for itself by illustrating and designing small things for local businesses or for sale, like tee-shirts, etc. I made a custom birthday card for my neighbor's daughter. It cost $5 to set up and 50 cents a card to print at a local print shop. I have a paper cutter and cut and folded them myself. If you came up with a really clever holiday card, you might make enough sales to pay for an iPad in one season.Once paid for, you can purchase the next tool for your work. Cheers!

Elinore Eaton

I use an iPad Pro and switch between working with Procreate, and then I use Astropad to turn it into a Cintiq of sorts. I love this system because it is very versatile. I can take my iPad out to dinner or an airplane to work, or I can use it with Astropad to work in Photoshop. Win/win.

That said, I also have a Wacom tablet, and it's really great to be able to switch back and forth between close in drawing on the iPad, and then far away painting with the Wacom.

chrisaakins

@Griffin I was hired to illustrate movie posters for a TV show and normally I use the iPad Pro with Procreate almost exclusively. The problem was the size requirement that they needed to import them into film. The images were so large that I could only do 4 layers. Photoshop does not have that restriction. I was forced to use Photoshop to finish the images. Another thing that Photoshop does better is using fill layers and creating shadows and lighting fixes. Procreate's version of a fill layer is to color the entire layer in a color. Not at all what Photoshop allows you to do.

Also, I bought at Huion 22 Pro with the proceeds from that money. It is probably not as nice as a Cintiq but it does the job for the work I have been hired to do which so far has actually been a lot of Adobe illustrator work. (Go figure! And thanks forever to @SarahLuAnn for her amazingly helpful videos!)

lizardillo

@griffin sorry I’ve just seen this. I use Photoshop for extra image adjustments and exporting for any Procreate files. I’ve used PS for over 20 years so I know it inside-out, it’s just what I’m used to. Procreate can export as .psd files if you need to supply open layered artwork.

If you have not found any situation that you have needed Photoshop then you probably don’t need it at the moment. There is a lot of powerful features in there but if you are not feeling you are lacking anything in what you are using at the moment, you are not missing them. As long as you have your print/digital specs before you start you can make sure your files are set up correctly and work within those specifications and you’re all good. As long as the finished file is correct, that’s what matters. Procreate is just limited to the iPad’s hardware, as that improves then Procreate limitations will decrease.

A full Adobe licence is a lot of money, I only have it as I’m a graphic designer and I need it because I use the full Creative Suite and Adobe has a monopoly on the design industry. Can you still get the just Photoshop licence which is cheaper? Or try the free trial and see if it’s something you want? If you are thinking of large-scale work, design, interactive/digital, retouching images or combining photo/traditional then it’s the way to go.

There’s some good up-and-coming options to look into so Adobe’s stranglehold may loosen up a bit one day.

jenn

@jdubz Thank you for taking the time to write and share the breakdown and your perspective. It was very helpful in cutting through the marketing jargon and helps prioritize/evaluate features across the old and new models. You Rock!!

@jdubz said in Question for digital work.:

That 4k vibrant laminated etched glass screen will literally ooze vibrant colors into your ocular sockets.

LOL!!!

jenn

@ghostshipmatt Thanks for sharing your perspective. That sounds like a pretty intriguing alternative setup you have built. I'm in a similar situation, looking to replace a 2011 iMac/Intuos combo. I agree with you about the precious non-subscription version of CS, which is why I waited so long. I hadn't even considered switching to Windows though, and your positive experience is encouraging. ClipStudio Paint-EX is definitely on my radar, too.

jenn

@kim-hunter I like your business sense!

Ghostshipmatt

@jenn - Happy that you found it helpful!
I really like the brush engine that's built into CSP. When I started using it back in 2010ish, Photoshop couldn't come close to the feel of 'natural media' that CSP does (though it seems like they've gotten considerably better). If you go the CSP route, I can't recommend the brushes that Ray Frenden made. I think they're $20, you'll get way more than you'll probably ever use, and it's nice to have options. Drawing on my current set-up is really fun.

Yes, I was really happy to get out from under the "thumb of Apple" when I switched over to a Window's machine (though I'm not certain Microsoft is wildly better?). One thing that I'm not super stoked about is the seemingly never-ending updates every time I boot up my machine, but whatever it takes to keep it secure and up-to-date, I suppose.

jdubz

Oh one thing I was meaning to mention about the Windows vs. Apple as a main computer, I'd seriously look at the Mac Mini as a main machine if you're in the market and have any interest in staying in the Apple ecosystem. I'm not partial to either one personally. They both definitely have their own pros and cons.

But if you want to stay in Apple but the price point isn't all that appealing, the Mac Mini is my preferred device by a mile. I use the current generation M1 Mac Mini at the office and it's a ridiculously good machine. With the stock configuration somewhere around $600, I regularly work with multiple 500mb to multi gigabyte files in Photoshop, playing music, and running 30-40 tabs at all times with smooth performance all day every day.

Unlike the iMac, it's headless so you buy your own monitor and hardware for it, and you can keep upgrading those without upgrading the whole thing. I just put a 34" ultrawide 4k monitor on mine and it was super nice to have that same flexibility to go down to Costco and buy whatever thing they had on sale just like I can do on Windows desktop computers.

I'm a fan of both - I use Windows at home and Mac at the office. I honestly don't think one is better than the other. It really just comes down to what ecosystem you feel most comfortable with. To me, the Mac Mini price point takes away much of the "apple tax" most of their other products have and gets you really close to what you'd pay on the Windows side.

jenn

@jdubz thank you so much, that is very helpful information. Your solution to the Mac dilemma sounds pretty appealing. I was suspicious of the M1 and it is reassuring to know that it delivers. Having the option to pick and choose hardware is definitely a plus too.

jdubz

@jenn Yeah I think the question was adoption. It's an ARM based technology. So the only way to get performance out of it is if companies like Adobe wrote versions of their software to work in that environment.

If it's not, what the M1 is doing is using emulation to let older x86 programs run, which is basically all of computing right now.

Both AMD and Intel are working on a lot of ARM based technology, so I think the future is pretty bright there. Pretty much everything we use from office apps to art apps have ARM versions available.

If you can wait until the Fall this year it might be worth waiting just to see what the price point is going to be on the M1 pro that's supposedly coming in the Mac Mini. If anything, it might drive down the cost of the baseline model significantly.

jenn

@jdubz thanks again for the tips. Patience usually does pay when it comes to buying technology, doesn't it? Unfortunately I personally will need a machine sooner at this point. I've already dragged my poor iMac as far as it can go.

Jeremiahbrown

@jenn
Since you need it fairly soon, rest assured, the M1 Mac mini is still a beast and will most likely suit your needs. Unless you're doing a lot of 4k video editing even the base 8gb model will work extremely well. Apple's next event is in early March (the 8th if I remember correctly?) so, since it's just around the corner, you could wait for that to see if anything new gets introduced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9bUb1kCESM

jenn

So I did it, I bought the M1 mini with confidence, thanks to everyone's advice and detailed responses to my questions. (@Jeremiahbrown @jdubz @Ghostshipmatt @lizardillo)

I also found a local deal on a used 22HD cintiq that I couldn't pass up, and again everyone's advice helped me to make that decision, so thank you! For anyone who is curious, it is a model DTK-2200/K and has a DVI cable for the screen and USB-A for the pen. My Intuos 4 pen works with it, but I may splurge on the newer pen later.

I tried it out on Clip Studio Paint, and the resolution looks good enough for my current purposes of learning and updating my portfolio.

YAY!!!

Thanks again !!

lizardillo

@jenn Great news

The 22HD is a robust bit of kit. Mine has had this crack down the screen for a couple of years now and it has not affected it one little bit. Probably lucky it’s in that area between the menus and artwork that is a bit of a dead area if you’re right-handed. I think it will last forever as long as they keep updating the drivers for it.

Enjoy your new set-up! ️

jenn

@lizardillo oy, sorry about your screen but glad it still works! Thank you for the encouragement and reassurance.

jdubz

@jenn Yay congrats! I think that sounds like a pretty sweet setup with a long life ahead of it.