NEWSFLASH:
We’re officially in recession. Isn’t that a shocking revelation? Unless a bailout is coming your way, maybe now’s a good time to save some green on your company’s publishing software needs. People often ask me “what’s the best software choice for my newsletter?” (or brochure, business card, mailer, etc.) Of course, no single software package fits everyone’s needs. This is my list of top picks for professional grade tools, available on the cheap.

Word Processor

Go-Go Clinton/Bush years: Microsoft Office: $420

Obama’s change: Open Office: FREE at http://openoffice.org.

It’s hard to believe that more people aren’t using this amazing, fully functional office suite, which is available for a free download. Once a bit rough around the edges, the last few years of open source development have added a lot of polish to the program. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database, powerpoint alternative, and even a draw program.

Page Layout

Real Estate Boom: Adobe InDesign CS4: $694

The Bubble Bursts: Scribus: FREE at http://www.scribus.net

Sure, I’d love all your projects to come in from clients using QuarkXpress, or Adobe’s flagship Creative Suite. Then again, Scribus represents a rock solid contender in the page layout category, once you get used to the quirky looking user interface.

Photo Editor

Dow at 11,000: Adobe Photoshop $630

Retire on tomato soup for dinner: GIMP : FREE at http://www.gimp.org

Let’s face it; you probably don’t need more than a few of Photoshop’s tools, commands and functions. All of its most important functions can be found in yet another open source project: GIMP. It’s nothing like the program you may have seen a few years back, while poking around in Linux. There’s even a hack to give it the look and feel you’ve grown to love (or hate) in Photoshop.

Open source software has come a long way in recent years, thanks to the generosity of the programming community. All of these programs are available in Windows and Mac versions, and the resulting output files are fully supported at Copies&Ink.

In upcoming posts: We’ll talk about some of the key features in these programs, and how they might apply to your work. Keep posted!

I have no clue as to all the things you can do with FinderPop for the Macintosh. But if you just use it to sort your way through a messy desktop or to switch between applications, you should get it. Best of all, it’s free. Donations will be accepted by the publisher.

OK, it may not be terribly original to build a font manager that looks almost identical to ITunes (including a built-in font store), but the venerable type founder, Linotype was shrewd to do so. There’s got to be a boatload of overlap between graphic designers and ITunes customers. I cut my teeth growing up with Linotype equipment, and the company’s entry into digital typography is long overdue.

I’m imagining that the market for font management software isn’t exactly vast. Hence there hasn’t much new to consider, certainly not from Adobe. Yet the need to organize your fonts remains as important as ever. So a FREE font manager that really works is a great addition to the Mac arsenal. (PC version out soon!)

Linotype is betting on the convenience factor here: click and buy. After all, Adobe isn’t the only game in town. I bet someone in San Jose got chewed out for not thinking of this first.

BTW, the ability to switch your fonts on and off as needed, helps your computer run faster. Thanks to Copies&Ink Graphics Manager, Dave McPherson for pointing out this find!

Free download from Linotype Corp.

Here’s a freebie that you shouldn’t pass up if you own a Mac, or even if you’re just thinking about getting one It’s a streamlined tool designed to crop, watermark, resize, rotate and automatically send images to a list of locations you can define in advance. It’s a small app, so it starts up and runs fast. It’s been updated for the Leopard operating system.

OK, it doesn’t support CMYK production, but it’s a perfect fit for a quickly modifying photos for online or personal use. It will automatically send images to your FTP server or Flicker account. Pretty cool. No Windows version as of yet. Here’s the download.