Journal
Graphic Applications: A Brief Overview
by Jen Pennington
While many Rhizome clients are comfortable with Microsoft Word – and Word is a terrific application – Word is rarely Rhizome’s tool of choice as a design program. Programs like Adobe® InDesign or Quark® XPress, with imported links from Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator files, offer greater flexibility and higher quality design options. Below is a brief description of some of the more common programs Rhizome uses and the purposes they serve.
Adobe Photoshop: Photoshop is a rasterized, (meaning pixel-based) creative image-editing standard program. Designed to work with photographs or other digitally created artwork graphics, many Photoshop files have layers that can be edited later. “Flattened” versions of these files can also be exported to for use in Web pages and print applications. Some well known formats and extensions include: .TIF, .JPG, .PSD, .GIF, .BMP, .EPS and .PICT.
Adobe Illustrator: This is a vector-based (meaning scalable-line drawn) programs that is used to create scalable logos, text graphics, specific dimensional renderings, and any artwork that needs to be sharp and clear. A scalable file is a file that can be made larger or smaller without losing design integrity because it is not pixel-based. Additionally, Illustrator supports the scaling and line image integrity needed by signage makers to ensure clean color on a large-scale.
Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress: InDesign and QuarkXPress are desktop publishing programs that can import graphics made from Photoshop, Illustrator, or Freehand. Designed to handle both small and large projects, they are ideal for everything from flyers and stationery to posters and catalogs.
Adobe PDF: PDF stands for Portable Document Format. PDFs allow to be seen by anyone on any platform using Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader. PDF files retain the formatting and appearance of their native files and is the industry standard for delivering information in a convenient, easy-to-open format.
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