paulbass Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Hi everyone, after a recent thread on here about liking fellow members facebook band pages i noticed that many of the bands have really good posters advertising their gigs etc. This looks more professional and appealing. What software is used to create these posters? We use a basic software that came with a camera we use but it doesnt do the fancy stuff like manipulate the wording so you can say curve the wording or put it on an angle. If that makes sense. I'm usually left to deal with this side of things and my knowledge is pretty basic to say the least! I can manipulate the pictures but not any wording. Any help and advice would be appreciated. I've spent hours trying to figure it out and its driving me up the wall Thanks in advance peeps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owd git Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Powerpoint is good for making posters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Gimp is a freeware photo editor that is well regarded, although I haven't used it as it's Windows only. Illustrator and Photoshop CS2 are also available as legitimate free downloads as well. They are both considered an industry standard, and although CS2 is now relatively old they still have all the features you'd need (and a lot more that you'll never touch). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Photoshop. Photoshop for everything with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I use Photoshop and Indesign. Expensive, though and I'm sure that there are cheaper alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) there are several programs you could use - illustrator or photoshop or indesign would be the main ones of choice but you can produce an acceptable product with powerpoint or openoffice equivalent - ther eis no definitive answer to this question really - i mostly use illustrator but depending on what source material i am using i may do it in photoshop or i may create lements in both and combine them in one or the other later to finalise but unless you are a graphic designer` with a significant amount of experience using illustartor/photoshop without wishing to sound patronising or condescending you would probs be better off sticking with a powerpoint type program choose a program which suits your budget and technical abilities as the final product is arguably more dependent on your artistic and design skills than the software used to create it check out the various vector stock websites too as there are plenty of 'ready-made' posters available which you can adapt and modify with your own text - yes they may be recognisable as clip art but they save a lot of time and still produce a reasonably slick looking result - (edit) here is an example of one i produced last summer for local event we played at - browsed through vector stock library and spotted some vintage stamps with a beer theme - as the event was a beer festival i thought this would be suitable so just produced a quick design using the beer stamps as the basis this example was all done in illustrator but similar could be achieved in powerpoint hope this helps Edited February 22, 2015 by steve-bbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Just thought I'd add that there are lots of Photoshop templates of band flyers/posters available online that will take the leg work out of the design - the biggest pitfall for novices.IMHO. You'd still need to provide your own quality photos of the band (another potential pitfall) if you want to include band shots in the artwork, but doubtless you can find templates that work without images, or at least a template that works with a more generic image. Bear in mind that you'll need to be aware of picture resolution particularly for large artwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks everyone for all your advice... its given me several starting points and i'll see which one would suit me best. I'll start with some of the free software which is a no brainer for me and take it from there. Thanks once again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 [quote name='paulbass' timestamp='1424602661' post='2698100'] Hi everyone, after a recent thread on here about liking fellow members facebook band pages i noticed that many of the bands have really good posters advertising their gigs etc. This looks more professional and appealing. What software is used to create these posters? We use a basic software that came with a camera we use but it doesnt do the fancy stuff like manipulate the wording so you can say curve the wording or put it on an angle. If that makes sense. I'm usually left to deal with this side of things and my knowledge is pretty basic to say the least! I can manipulate the pictures but not any wording. Any help and advice would be appreciated. I've spent hours trying to figure it out and its driving me up the wall Thanks in advance peeps! [/quote] In a way asking what software people use is the wrong question. The most important part of getting a good poster (or any other graphic design) is having a good idea and the talent to be able to realise it. While the right software can make some things easier, a decent graphic designer will be able to get excellent results with whatever they have to hand. The computer and the software on it are just another tool, just like the pen, paints, Letraset or airbrushes that came before it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRhino Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Letraset? Now you're talking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I've seen very professional looking posters made using Gimp (the free program that's very similar to photoshop), though as said above - it depends on talent; I had may as well use the spray paint tool on Paint I'm that bad (which is why I always leave it to someone else). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingraybassman Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1424701487' post='2699304'] In a way asking what software people use is the wrong question. The most important part of getting a good poster (or any other graphic design) is having a good idea and the talent to be able to realise it. While the right software can make some things easier, a decent graphic designer will be able to get excellent results with whatever they have to hand. The computer and the software on it are just another tool, just like the pen, paints, Letraset or airbrushes that came before it. [/quote] This^ Suggesting photoshop/illustrator for someone who has no design experience is a bit crazy, as red said its a tool. A better use of money would be to get a designer to do it. Or use free software to get by if you don't want to spend any money. The templates idea is good for beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 [quote name='NoRhino' timestamp='1424705279' post='2699374'] Letraset? Now you're talking. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 time for a bump - here's my latest (shameless gig plug to boot haha) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.