How Did You Set Up Your Art Department?

[RisingSunGraphics]

Was curious as to how most of you guys went about setting up your art department in regards to hardware and software. Looking for those golden answers that make screen-printing so fun, like how you went about roughing it with some piece of junk computer, 10-year old software and rickety ass printer before you eventually upgraded things as time went on.  Part of the reason I love this business!

[Sbrem]

Well, when I started digital, Photoshop was at 2.0, Illustrator 88, Freehand 2.0 (all mac) so there wasn't any old stuff to get. But, I'm currently running a Mac Clone from Power Computing using system 9, for Flexi-Sign 5.5 to run my Roland PNC-110 24" plotter. It has Illustrator 8 on it for edits. Of course, I started with stapled mesh too on ricketty frames that held almost no tension...

Steve

[3Deep]

What are you all talking about I still working with my crap stuff LOL... I started out on a mac and could not fine anyone in my area for repair service so I moved to pc.  I moved from win95 and laser printers with vellum to XP computers,epson 1520 to 3000 printers with inkjet films and I still there now.

Darryl

[bimmridder]

You mean I can somehow upgrade from Rubylith?

[Sbrem]

You mean I can somehow upgrade from Rubylith?

Well, kinda, a plotter cuts Rubylith or Amberlith really well. Of course, you'll still have to apply shading film for the tints

Steve

[bimmridder]

damn, I knew there was a catch

[GaryG]

I remember my brother-in-law working on a Mac Quadra and hearing
in chugging along with the clock icon spinning while the mega file was
assembling itself together.

Just married, told my wife I had to have one of those. So a Mac newbe
twenty years ago, went out and bought a G3. With a scanner at a Mac
"creative center" store shelled out $6K! Eek, crazy eh? She said I was nuts,
and kind of felt so. But it was a springboard to a long string of Apples that have
been so productive not to disappoint. Upgrade every other Creative Suite
and good to go. Don't know about the new cloud Ill/PS though.

Happy days when we switched from laser to inkjet for output.
We were very skeptical using laser on velum for a decade, but with AccuRip it is a breeze.

[TCT]

When I first started working at a shop at 14, I learned on a accordion style camera in a dark room. That REALLY made the term "camera ready art"  make sense. As the years went on I convinced the owner to get a scanner and up to date computer. Then we used the dark room for recreational things high school kids do.... I mean for storage

[RisingSunGraphics]

What are you all talking about I still working with my crap stuff LOL... I started out on a mac and could not fine anyone in my area for repair service so I moved to pc.  I moved from win95 and laser printers with vellum to XP computers,epson 1520 to 3000 printers with inkjet films and I still there now.

Wow, still on the 3000?!  That thing's a beast!  13 years ago, it was the first printer I worked with.  Fast forward a few years to running a shop in Tempe, AZ and they had a 3000 as well.  Hated always having to play with getting the films to load in correctly but you gotta hand it to Epson with that one.  Definitely wasn't built to break like everything else is nowadays.

[RisingSunGraphics]

Upgrade every other Creative Suite
and good to go. Don't know about the new cloud Ill/PS though.

I still need to do some more research on the cloud computing thing.  I'm not terribly sure what their intentions are in regards to how it works.  I tend to stay behind about 2 generations when it comes to upgrading my Adobe products.  If it comes to having to save all of your files in the cloud to be able to use CS7, they can kiss my ass.  No way I'm going to do that.  If you have to log in every time you want to use the program, again, I've got two cheeks they can plant their lips on.  Either way, like I said, I have to take a better look at it to see how they're going to run that operation but from what I've seen so far, doesn't look like many artists are too happy about the transition.

[tpitman]

From what they post on their site, CS6 is the last version they'll publish on disk. I bought the Standard Design version of 6 late last year after comparing pricing of the "cloud" and the expected lifespan of the disk-only version. I previously had the premium design version of CS5, and comparing pricing of premium CS6 to the cloud subscription, the cloud was only slightly more expensive than the disk version over a period of 2 years.
You don't have to keep your files in the cloud. They do offer some free space to share files, but it's not required. You download all of the programs you want to use, and pay for their use on a monthly basis. Single app options are also available. It basically works on the "free trial" model where you have 30 days to use the product. It will stop working if you haven't paid for the next month, based on your subscription service.
For those of you out there who keep using older versions going back 3 or 4 versions, you'll need to hang on to those and keep a machine that will run them. One option is to purchase only the software you need on a month-to-month basis for features your older software doesn't have, as you need them.

It wouldn't surprise me if other vendors followed suit. It operates like Lynda.com does for tutorials, and would probably eliminate illegal use of software downloads from torrent sites and via software keys posted online.

[RisingSunGraphics]

From what they post on their site, CS6 is the last version they'll publish on disk. I bought the Standard Design version of 6 late last year after comparing pricing of the "cloud" and the expected lifespan of the disk-only version. I previously had the premium design version of CS5, and comparing pricing of premium CS6 to the cloud subscription, the cloud was only slightly more expensive than the disk version over a period of 2 years.
You don't have to keep your files in the cloud. They do offer some free space to share files, but it's not required. You download all of the programs you want to use, and pay for their use on a monthly basis. Single app options are also available. It basically works on the "free trial" model where you have 30 days to use the product. It will stop working if you haven't paid for the next month, based on your subscription service.
For those of you out there who keep using older versions going back 3 or 4 versions, you'll need to hang on to those and keep a machine that will run them. One option is to purchase only the software you need on a month-to-month basis for features your older software doesn't have, as you need them.

It wouldn't surprise me if other vendors followed suit. It operates like Lynda.com does for tutorials, and would probably eliminate illegal use of software downloads from torrent sites and via software keys posted online.

Thanks for the input.  It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out.

[Chadwick]

Interesting is perhaps not the word I would use, but yeah.
We're gonna see alot more of this unless we all complain loudly, but they'll likely shove it through regardless.
You never really owned the software you use, you leased it.
Now, they are taking it to a whole new level.

[AdvancedArtist]

Great question are you sure you want me to reply to this question.. I will ask that one time before I do so. Fact is I will put some facts on this thread that will make waves if I reply honestly. I have Art Directed multimillion dollar shops and well.. you know. Question is do you want the truth?