Over the last few years hardware and software technology has taken off, making it more affordable for people to purchase digital cameras, scanners, printers and software that wouldn't have been available a few years ago. In addition, computer crafting, graphic creation and postproduction work is being done on scans, photos, and digitally created graphics. This has opened up many options for people from the novice to the advanced and the hobbyist to the professional.
There are many options available and challenges in choosing what type of software will work best for you. For example, what type of software will suit your needs, what kind of peripherals such as cameras, scanners, printers, card readers, and the additional items available? Most products come with software that automate many tasks for you or make it easier for you to apply. At some point there will become a time you want to do more, add special effects, save as a graphic file that can be used in other programs such as Bryce, Poser, Adobe Illustrator Corel Draw, set the resolution and more complex tasks. The variety of possible types of software that comes with your equipment does not give the user the ability or flexibility to achieve results that you may want, hence the user is limited by what the software can do.
When you take that first step towards using a program that allows you the control that you want it can be scary. All the new options, buttons and names of options can be overwhelming. Software is expensive and the help manuals that accompany it are of little help.
What program do I want to use? The first step is doing your research, asking other people questions about what works for them, read reviews of the different types of software, try out demos. You can utilize this research with answering the following questions:
1. Do you want to play; do simple things for family and friends?
2. How much money do you want to spend?
3. How much time are you willing to take to learn the software?
4. Do you want to print your photos and graphics?
5. Do you want to make graphics for the web or email?
6. Is it important to learn how to use your software efficiently so you can submit photos or graphics for publication?
7. Does your work include desktop publishing? Are you going to be putting together brochures, booklets, business cards, newsletters, letterhead and other items that desktop publishers work with?
