Friday, January 11, 2013

What are the best programs out there to do what Adobe Suite does in Linux?

Q. I'd like to start working in Linux (Kubuntu) and I'm looking for programs that manage to get all the work I currently do on Adobe Suite in Linux. Can anyone advise me on what programs should I use? Something similar to Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Flash. I can live without Dreamweaver. Thnx!

A. I use Ubuntu. There is a Linux answer for everything except Flash. JavaFX is under rapid development and will offer Flash / SMS Silverlight effects with pure code (no authoring environment yet, but a demo was shown at JavaOne).

You can run the older Flash authoring tool in Linux using a windows emulator called WINe. WINe does not run Adobe Suite.

Gimp = Photoshop. InDesign is krap to begin with. You can do page layouts with Scribus, but let me tell you, Scribus is much like the original Aldus Pagemaker. Inkscape is a capable vector arts program much like Illustrator. I recommend FontyPython for font management.

Since I switched to Linux, I never missed the products you mention but I will add it took some getting used to. But hey, remember back all the time you spent to learn how to make Adobe products perform and apply that time to Linux solutions. Keep a Win box available with a good anti-virus software on it. You'll need to make sure whatever products you produce In Linux from web artwork or downloads doesn't hurt other Window computers. But really, Linux is the faster solution for graphics and programming.

What exactly is so great about linux?
Q. I have tried Ubuntu out once but I didn't really see the point of it and I ended up going back to windows 7. What does linux have to offer that windows does not (apart from the fact that its free)? I'd really love to learn more about linux and play around with it (especially customizing it and tweaking settings to personal preference but I don't know if that's what it's about).
Oh and can someone also please recommend a (or perhaps a few) versions I should try out?

A. I'm so glad you ask this question!
Well, linux is great from many points of view. I hope you take your time reading this, and I hope this will prove helpful to you! :D

1. The main one, which is definitely the best thing for an every-day user is the fact that Linux is virus-free. No antivirus, no problems at all with malwares or malicious software.

2. Open source. Open source doesn't mean ONLY that it's free. Aside of the fact that you have FREE licensed OS, there is a huge open source community, constantly working on your linux version (we call them distributions), fixing bugs, or dangerous leaks and making it better, and better every day. With linux, you will always benefit from the latest updates, which is great.

3. Great security. Having no viruses, being open source (constantly updated), with Linux you can be sure you're system is as secure as it can be. As for myself, I feel secure ONLY on Linux.

4. Optimal. Linux is, no doubt, optimal! It is very fast, even on slower computers. As an example, at the Informatics Olympiads in my country, they test the sources both on Windows and Linux, and Linux is faster all the times, sometimes even twice. Linux is faster because of it's relative simplicity, because of it doesn't have all those additional programs which Windows needs for pretty much everything to slow down your computer.

5. Support for all standard formats. With Linux, you are off to go from the moment you install it. It supports pretty much EVERY standard format there is. In windows, to emulate an .iso you need a program (in Linux you don't; of course you can install, if you want a nice user interface), In windows to unzip a .zip you need a program (in Linux, you don't) etc. etc.

6. Great control over your OS. In Linux you got the Terminal, which allows you to do EVERYTHING you want (including to screw up your computer, believe me :)) ). Basically, in Linux you control the system. In Windows it's different, Windows is a closed box, you can only see it's outside. You are forced to use what they give you, how they give it to you. In Linux you can use what you want, how you want. And that's nice.

7. Just like the OS, you benefit from a lot of open source software, which (some of them) are great! Like GIMP instead of Photoshop, Blender instead of... well instead of nothing because Blender is the best out there for 3D Modelling (IMO)..., Inkscape for vector graphics etc.

8. WINE. If you still need a certain program from Windows which doesn't have a version for Linux, there is WINE. WINE is basically a thing which lets you install and run Windows programs as your Linux would be Windows. You can very well install MSOffice, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, anything you want. Even games! Yes, you can play windows games on linux with WINE. For some of them, you may get even better performance than on Windows itself. With a little bit of learning it's ropes WINE will make you forget about windows.

9. Customization! That's another great thing of Linux. On Linux you can customize, tweak, modify anything at your pleasure, given that you know how to do it. Of course, some of the things you can customize easily, some of them harder, but there's always that feel of happiness when you make your system look like you want to. And when you know you did it!

At first, I would suggest you to use a dual boot: Windows 7 and Linux, so that you can switch to Windows whenever you need, until you get familiarized with linux. For this, it is necessary to install Windows first, and then Linux with it's bootloader so that it recognizes both Windows and Linux at boot.

Finally, as you requested, here are some versions (distributions, like I said, or shorter distros):
1. Ubuntu - it is great, user friendly. If you want full customization you should try older versions of Ubuntu, like 10.10 or 11.04. http://ubuntu.com/

2. Linux Mint 12 - the distro I'm using now. It's as great as Ubuntu, if not greater. It's interface is very very nice, and I love it. http://linuxmint.com/

Have a nice day, and good luck on learning the ropes to this great system, Linux!
I hope I helped!

Where can I find Old Hebrew Letters in Vector form?
Q. Im a graphic designer at a t-shirt company and sometimes we do designs for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Occasionally, people request Hebrew Letters in their design. Does anybody know where I can get the Hebrew letters in a Vector format or very very high resolution file?

A. There are Hebrew TrueType/OpenType fonts from Windows, and Mac, and some FreeType fonts for Linux.
Adobe's software have ME ("Middle East") versions that supports writing from right to left, but even the normal versions let use Hebrew fonts (you just have to type from left to right, which shouldn't be a problem if you don't know Hebrew anyway)




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