Hello folks, I am thinking on converting from windows to an Ubuntu or maybe even Kubuntu. But there is one major thing holding me back and that is the graphic design applications. As I am considering a career in the field of graphic design.

I've discovered that I can get programs like PS CS2 converted accross which is great. But there are 2 things that I want to know:

1) Is Linux used often in the graphic design industry?

2) Would I be disadvantaged by running my converted software on Linux in comparison to sticking with windows? And if so, how so?

3)Would those disadvantages be strong enough for me just throw the use of graphic design on Linux out of the window? Or should I stick with it?

Also I am not very keen on using The Gimp. I do use it and its a fine program. But I'd like to stick to my Adobe and Macromedia programs.

Lots of graphical tools on Linux:
The Linux Motion Picture Pipeline
http://linuxmovies.org/software.html

I think you'll find that Macs are the choice of the graphic design industry. I work for Australia's largest book publisher and know for a fact that all our (around 15) graphic designers use Macs.

Daniel Primed,

Welcome to LQ!

I grew up in the graphic's industry. Though I use Slackware
Linux as my primary OS, there are no comparable open source
replacements for Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. Because of
these two apps, I must still have a Windows OS.

I'm running WinXP Pro inside QEMU inside Slackware, but it
doesn't provide native speed. It does allow me to run those
apps without shutting down Slackware and running Windows,
but still ... it's running Windows.

Mac is just an OS ... the programs (such as Photoshop) work
the same on Windows as on Mac OS ... period. I know because
I've been using Photoshop since about version 3. For years
different buddies who run Mac's have tried that argument,
but it doesn't hold water. A .tiff file from Photoshop on a
Mac is no different than a .tiff file from Photoshop on a PC.

Mac's have cute little sounds that most artistic type people
drool over; plus their GUIs are much nicer than Windows or Linux.

And Mac has the same lack of virus, trojans, and worms as Linux.

But, Mac's are overpriced ... a PC will do the same job, and if you
know enough, and spend the time and money, you can secure Windows
enough to prevent those things. It's just that Windows by default
is purposefully designed so that it is totally unsecure.

This is now mostly based on tradition--rather than any technical advantage. As Bruce Hill already observed, Windows will do the same job.
How do you do that?? Last I checked, WINE/Crossover would only support up to maybe version 6.

General:
One big thing missing in Linux is color management. There is work going on to fix that, but no way to know how long it will take

Another thing that is difficult for me. Though my printer is only an
inexpensive HP desktop, I can get reasonably accurate color from the
driver HP provides for Windows. But the one they provide for Linux will
not get any resolution above 600x600, which is crippling; and the color
is not nearly the same or as good. And as posted by pixellany, there is
no color management for Linux ... yet.

To belabor it a bit more.....I think Printing is the #1 weak spot in Linux. None of the drivers are as good as the ones you get with Windows, Mac, etc.
What continues to bug me is that Linux has a way of "losing" its printers. If you configure a printer, and then add another one, it can forget how to find the first one. I have never taken the time to find what the consistent patterns are.

Thanks for the help guys. Damn I was looking forward to making the move over to Linux. But thats okay, I guess. I already have a nice slew of Windows programs that'll keep me going. Thanks for the help guys.

BTW I found a few tutorials on the crossover on the Ubuntu forums.

ps cs2 is supported in wine. (i've seen it working. It's allmost the same speed as on a windows installment)

My mistake--Crossover only advertises support up to v. 6 or 7.

Actually, my issue with Crossover/Wine and Photoshop is in installing upgrades. At least in Crossover, there seems to be no way to swap CDs to let the PS install pgm read the earlier version of PS.

Your input gives me the motivation to try harder...

"1) Is Linux used often in the graphic design industry?"

No

"2) Would I be disadvantaged by running my converted software on Linux in comparison to sticking with windows? And if so, how so?"

By "converted" yo mean trough WINE? Then yes. Either way, stay away from Windows. The interface is too cluttered and ugly if you use it as a design or art tool.

"3)Would those disadvantages be strong enough for me just throw the use of graphic design on Linux out of the window? Or should I stick with it?"

Neither Linux nor Windows are that great for professional design. But it won't hurt to learn some FOSS design apps.

I honestly recommend Mac OS X for Graphic Design. Ubuntu is my the only OS in my current computer and I cann't complaing now because it's used for general computing, but next year I will study Industrial Design and will get a Mac (...and virtualize Ubuntu, some *BSD or the "distro of the month" to test... and even develop FOSS).

Apple + Adobe/Macromedia apps are used in the industry because of its usefulness, and there's also lots of 'creative apps' for Mac. WACOM tablets 'just work' on a Mac (...there's also Painter), for design a tablet is simply superior to a mouse. The hardware in general is reliable. The interface is comfortable for someone with a sense of style (which includes serious designers, artists and musicians), doesn't get in the way and is consistent (with apps that follow Mac OS X HIG the consistency is greater).

The FOSS community is making advances in general, but free interfaces and 'creative apps' are still lacking. The platform (hardware and OS) are NOT designed, developed nor tested to work together 'as a glove' (your hardware may not be 100% tested for every bit of software you use). The Mac, taken as a full platform (hardware + OS) and the software designed and developed to work as Macs apps, with its historical and current focus on the 'creative class', is currently IMO the best digital tool for design.

With that said, I've used Inkscape and will gladly run it under Mac with X11. It's a great app for vector works. The GIMP has good functionality, but still lacks support for some types of graphics (ie: 16 bit images, CMYK color) and the interface is sometimes distracting. Blender seems very good, but difficult to learn (still worth the time spent).

But the experience of running Photoshop under Mac is better than running Photoshop under Windows. I have switched from Windows to GNU/Linux because I cann't stand the Windows 8-bit (2000), teletubbie (XP) or ultra-glossy (Vista) interface. Free interfaces aren't better than Mac OS X ...although Ubuntu's version of GNOME is quite good.