4 replies to this topic

[Brent]

Hi - I'm new to the board, and have been reading through the threads on freelance work.

My background is in GIS - both data analysis and map production (mostly with a city planning department). ArcMap is all I have ever used to produce maps, although now I'd like to expand my range a bit - I know the graphic capabilities of ArcMap are limited and there are a bunch of different options for other programs to create maps.

I'm interested in graphic design and am willing to put some time in learning new software, although I'd like to avoid having to purchase/learn more than one additional program.

Any advice?

[razornole]

Hi - I'm new to the board, and have been reading through the threads on freelance work.

My background is in GIS - both data analysis and map production (mostly with a city planning department). ArcMap is all I have ever used to produce maps, although now I'd like to expand my range a bit - I know the graphic capabilities of ArcMap are limited and there are a bunch of different options for other programs to create maps.

I'm interested in graphic design and am willing to put some time in learning new software, although I'd like to avoid having to purchase/learn more than one additional program.

Any advice?

If you are interested in graphics, then illustrator (or any vector program) would be a must. However, I would also recommend the Adobe's creative suites so you could have photoshop as well. There are other programs out there for free or cheaper but I am not too familiar with them. I'm sure others will post about those programs.

kru

[Nicholas_C]

As mentioned Adobe suite is nice if possible. Even if you work primarily in GIS sometimes you will get files from clients (logos, etc.) that you need to be able to convert to a GIS-friendly format. Also the MS Office products and Winzip or the equivalent.

[natcase]

Illustrator is a hard program to replace (especially since Freehand was left high and dry...)

If you are formatting paper publications, InDesign is hard to beat, although some do still use Quark Xpress for page layout. Do not under any circumstances use Microsoft Publisher—printers will curse you forever.

Photoshop is a little easier to replace—I've used Seashore, for example, and find it reasonably useful.

There are also some cartography-specific programs out there which may be of interest. OCAD and Ortelius come to mind.

[matt]

Brent -

Adobe CS is very good. Illustrator is great, especially since ArcMap can export directly to it (.AI format).

To get your feet wet, and preserve your budget, I would try open source software first.

Inkscape is a good Illustrator option and will open .AI file.

GIMP is an excellent Photoshop replacement.

Good luck - let me know if you have any questions!

- Matt