Database Users

Graphic Designing

Is there any one who would like to share their opinions on what graphic designing programs they would consider?
I've started in graphic designing not long ago, but seeing how I want to pick it back up again, I was hoping if anyone could suggest any programs (Free or not) that they think is well suited. In particular, the program could be beginnner, moderate, or advanced.
So... Feel free to drop an opinion on what programs you would prefer and why?
**I'm looking for programs that could specifically help me make like for example, Splash screens, icons, and etc.
Thank you for taking your time for reading this!
(One more thing, before anyone starts to chew me out, YES, I did look through wiki, I searched forums, AND I also tried searching through xda-devleopers using Google; some topics are distantly related, but not to the point i'm trying to get.)

photoshop and illustrator are all i use.

If you are looking for freeware/oss... then gimp2 and inkscape

Same as the post above, Photoshop and illustrator. Sometimes I also use XSI Softimage to model something which I use in my designs. My main tool is photoshop though.
:edit: Forgot another important one, pencil and paper!

Photoshop or GIMP and a graphic tablet
And and if you want to do some work on your ppc as well, there's pocket artist, which basically feels like a ppc version of photoshop (of course as powerful as photoshop, but still offers lot of functionality).

Once again, I really appreciate your opinions that you have given me so far and it really HELPED!
Thank you so much, but keep them coming.
Lastly, best of all to everyone!

Photography Apps

I have a good depth of field calculator for my touch pro, but I could really use a lightmeter/exposure calculator. I have waterlevel and I have looked at kai's lightmeter... neither one has enough features to be used as a serious photographic tool. I realize that it is a long shot but is there a more sophisticated application out there... or does anyone want to take on the project?

green_tea12 said:
I have a good depth of field calculator for my touch pro, but I could really use a lightmeter/exposure calculator. I have waterlevel and I have looked at kai's lightmeter... neither one has enough features to be used as a serious photographic tool. I realize that it is a long shot but is there a more sophisticated application out there... or does anyone want to take on the project?
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Where did you get your DOF calculator from? What's it called?

darrenackers said:
Where did you get your DOF calculator from? What's it called?
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Click to collapse
http://www.olympus-europa.com/consumer/dslr_7246.htm
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/pocket_pc.shtml
and there free, please do not banned me again

[SKIN] In progress... - QVGA - "PreOneS" The Palm Pre Style for WM

I read that Palm makes a legal war against the palm pre theme, so to avoid copyright issues and waiting news to take off the skin
http://sites.google.com/site/developerdrmad/windows-mobile-projects

Preview looks good....

what are you using to skin this?

nice....will keep an eye on the progress of this skin...

JokeZony0u said:
what are you using to skin this?
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I using:
1. WAD
2. WAD desktop
3. iphone today
In this way the top bar webos style is always present!

Updated preview

It looks fantastic. Great job. Are you going to make a VGA-Version?

I don't think it would be that complicated. The PalmPre's homescreen is basically a big TaskManager. We already have "similar" apps on Windows Mobile like that on the Xperia. Just make a homescreen plugin with a large task manager like interface with the same touch gestures as the Pre. The complicated part I would imagine would be the menu.
I like your skins, but it would be best as a simple homescreen plugin. Using WAD and the likes eats up memory and the way it overlays sucks.
I'm not a programmer but there are lots of open-source projects that, if combined, could provide roughly the same effect. I think someone with some know-how could come up with it pretty quick by reusing code that is already available out there.

player911 said:
I don't think it would be that complicated. The PalmPre's homescreen is basically a big TaskManager. We already have "similar" apps on Windows Mobile like that on the Xperia. Just make a homescreen plugin with a large task manager like interface with the same touch gestures as the Pre. The complicated part I would imagine would be the menu.
I like your skins, but it would be best as a simple homescreen plugin. Using WAD and the likes eats up memory and the way it overlays sucks.
I'm not a programmer but there are lots of open-source projects that, if combined, could provide roughly the same effect. I think someone with some know-how could come up with it pretty quick by reusing code that is already available out there.
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Before starting this project I tried a lot but none of the programmers built an interface palm webos like for WM. There are iphone, android, and other but webos not so I decided to build it yourself.
I hope very much that any programmer to engage in this project and does a better job of mine!

drmad said:
Before starting this project I tried a lot but none of the programmers built an interface palm webos like for WM. There are iphone, android, and other but webos not so I decided to build it yourself.
I hope very much that any programmer to engage in this project and does a better job of mine!
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Look like PalmPre.Very beautiful and cool

really really nice hope to c a dialer =)

Update preview

Development continues! Added dialer

YAY give it! RELEASE NOW lol jk =D
but yes cool

Job well done.... This would go good with the WM6.5 theme I put together.
http://www.fuzeberry.com/PreFuzed.html

Looking good. Here's my little take on it. Using a modded PointUi
Slightly off-topic tip: I suggest Omnia users should use PointUi 2.0.28e if they want their phone/clock to function poperly. Any other higher version causes the clock to stick and (possibly) corrupt the green button.

subscribed!
hopefully vga support soon

WOW super nice. very clean. hope the release will be soon definately going to donate for this

WOW nice man, ill use this when it comes out. is this another wad theme?

s60nia said:
Looking good. Here's my little take on it. Using a modded PointUi
View attachment 215233
Slightly off-topic tip: I suggest Omnia users should use PointUi 2.0.28e if they want their phone/clock to function poperly. Any other higher version causes the clock to stick and (possibly) corrupt the green button.
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can you give a link to the theme your using?

Ugly apps

This is probably a bit of a stupid question with probably a very obvious answer. But why are all the apps for windows mobile all ugly?
We have HTC sense and that looks great why can't other apps keep the htc sense feel like from menus or anything instead of reverting to windows mobile style.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people for example even love ginger children.
Many WinMo apps have been written to look the way they are so that they fitted in with a standard WinMo look and feel. Others were simply designed by talentless and tasteless folk (like Steve Jobs).

Believe it or not the apps have actually got better looking recently.
ETA: If you go to the link in my sig and check my recommended apps, you'll see that a lot of apps do look nice. Slacker, Bing, etc.

I think it should be compulsory to use the Sense SDK Look 'n' Feel now for every app developed for Windows Mobile

Partly because developers != designers.
At the same time, HTC Sense is but a few years old, while Windows Mobile and its associated 'ugly' interface have been around for 10. It's a bit unreasonable to expect all the applications to reflect the updated design of a single manufacturer.

madindehead said:
I think it should be compulsory to use the Sense SDK Look 'n' Feel now for every app developed for Windows Mobile
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Thats bordering on fascism! Do you work for apple?

So it is actually possible to have a good looking app?

aLlamaWithARifle said:
This is probably a bit of a stupid question with probably a very obvious answer. But why are all the apps for windows mobile all ugly?
We have HTC sense and that looks great why can't other apps keep the htc sense feel like from menus or anything instead of reverting to windows mobile style.
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It's because WM doesn't have a unified screen size, like the iPhone for example. So the apps/games have to be made in VGA, QVGA, WVGA to name three of many many others. So the games have to be made for each naitive screen size to actually look 'pretty', and the poorer looking apps on the HD2 are made for a screen size that isn't WVGA.

Speaking of ugly apps, is there a starter's guide or someplace to look for skinning stock applications (in particular, I'm interested in Outlook, as email's one of my top use cases, and the default skin looks awful)? I can code, but am at a loss as to where to even start. I did a search on the forums to no avail. To clarify, I'm not simply looking for skins, but am interested in creating my own for specific applications. Any pointers?

Most of the newer apps (< 1-2 years) do look good, and on every screen size, take G-Alarm, Resco Photo Manager, Opera 10, etc...
Most other blunt-looking apps are several years old, and date back from when visual design didn't have any consideration from developers, they were just using the default looks and controls rather than spending as much time and effort redesigning their own UI as needed to actually develop the application's functionality. Pocket Outlook is just the same as it was 5 years ago or even more...
But now pretty much everybody agrees that custom graphics is worth it...

This really is quite a naive question... if it was all about simple, smooth looking apps we would have bought an iPhone...
Having said that, what particular programs are you looking for? Most functions of a WinMo phone can now be utilised using programs with amazing UIs.
Browser: Opera Mobile 10/Mini 5
Email: You have sense... and even when you open an individual email (where it defaults to Outlook) we have pinch-to-zoom brilliance
SMS: You have sense...
Contacts/Phone: You have sense...
Photos/Videos: HTC, or try Resco Photo Manager
File explorer: Standard one is actually fine imo, but there's also the skinnable Resco, Total Commander, Throttle Explorer
Others: Google maps, Facebook, iGO8
There's a plethora of options out there.

Show your art

New tablet new art, using art flow. New layer paint app also available it's labeled layer paint he very nice.
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium HD app

That's excellent!

This is what I got in me so far LOL :laugh:

Cool pic

Go cowboys
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk now Free

atg284 said:
This is what I got in me so far LOL :laugh:
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No worries, those are more my speed.

Nobody posts artwork done on their GN10.1 2014 anymore?
Here's something i painted recently using Artflow Studio and PS Touch

Wicked mate!! Kudos

Hi, long time forum lurker, first time post.
Image done in sketchbook pro

these are my best so far lol

This is my most recent, though I did many on my 2012 10.1. I have only done 2 on the new one so far.
Actually I will post both of the ones I've done on my 10.1 2014, why not.

Haven't really started to explore the artistic side of the Note and can't wait to start either tbh but this was my first attempt - not the best I know but a start anyways.
P.s I love minions haha
https://www.dropbox.com/s/owuzwg3l67hk8rq/2013-11-28 17.54.54.jpg?m=

Another painting i did using Artflow Studio and PS Touch

Reiman76 said:
Another painting i did using Artflow Studio and PS Touch
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I havent heard of artflow studio before, I usually use sketchbook pro....
What is Artflow Studio like? Any advantages over sketchbook?

nirurin said:
I havent heard of artflow studio before, I usually use sketchbook pro....
What is Artflow Studio like? Any advantages over sketchbook?
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It's pretty similar to SketchBook in terms of what it does although it doesn't have the wider selection of fancy preset brushes. I've listed below a few advantages (and disadvantages) which made me use it more than SBP:
Pros:
- More layers on a 4K canvas. Depending on what tablet you use, you can have 16 layers even if you max-out the canvas size.
- More levels of undo and redo function (can probably go over 100 if you adjust the settings). I think SketchBook only has 10 levels of undo and redo. You can even undo layer merging in Artflow.
- More layer blending options.
- Smoother brush engine, particularly if you want to replicate pencil work. IMO anyway since experience is subjective.
- Awesome customer support. They actually listen to customer's problems and reply to you personally and quickly. And more often than not, will issue an update that will fix your problem quicker than the devs at Sketchbook Pro.
- More frequent improvement updates that introduces enhanced or added features.
Cons:
- No portrait mode.
- Fewer preset brushes.
- No Copic color presets (i kinda miss this the most)
Here's a few screenshot of the interface of Artflow:

Reiman76 said:
Cons:
- No portrait mode.
- Fewer preset brushes.
- No Copic color presets (i kinda miss this the most)
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No portrait mode? Thats kind of a biggy, I dont think I've drawn anything on my note 2014 in landscape mode, it just seems more comfortable in portrait for sketching... I'm surprised that it is locked to landscape, seems strange!

nirurin said:
No portrait mode? Thats kind of a biggy, I dont think I've drawn anything on my note 2014 in landscape mode, it just seems more comfortable in portrait for sketching... I'm surprised that it is locked to landscape, seems strange!
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Yeah, at first it kind of bothered me too since i came from SBP. But i learned to live without portrait mode when i think of the fact that this is the same way i draw digitally on my laptop using a graphics tablet since i don't reorient my laptop monitor to portrait just to do portraits. But i think the devs are working on integrating portrait mode, it's just a matter of time before its implemented.

Reiman76 said:
Nobody posts artwork done on their GN10.1 2014 anymore?
Here's something i painted recently using Artflow Studio and PS Touch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man you do some nice work. Going save and see what it looks like a a wallpaper. Thanks please post some more when you get done. I wish I can do that. Make the next one a little more dirtier. Also is there any place to download sketch or drawings that I can paint. Just want play around. Thanks
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

lucky 69 said:
Man you do some nice work. Going save and see what it looks like a a wallpaper. Thanks please post some more when you get done. I wish I can do that. Make the next one a little more dirtier. Also is there any place to download sketch or drawings that I can paint. Just want play around. Thanks
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
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No problem. I also use my paintings as wallpapers too (i post screenshots of them over at the Android community on Google Plus). Btw, when you say "dirty" you meant it literally right? lol
You can use the Droidiris app to look for images on the web you might like to paint.

Reiman76 said:
No problem. I also use my paintings as wallpapers too (i post screenshots of them over at the Android community on Google Plus). Btw, lol
You can use the Droidiris app to look for images on the web you might like to paint.
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"when you say "dirty" you meant it literally right?"
Ya lmao thanks for app tip.
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app