Producing quality posters

[KingPrawn]

Can anyone help. I'm looking for software to produce pro band posters. I use a Mac book pro. I've tried using word and PowerPoint. Just don't cut it. I can't get publisher for Mac. Google searches bring up a mind field of free etc. I'd like something user friendly. I'm not a complete Luddite in the IT department.

Thanks in advance

[JoeEvans]

I've always used Photoshop for that kind of graphic design, which is probably a bit OTT but it definitely does the job...

[Drax]

I use 'friend with photoshop' - posters are simple to someone fluent in it, takes 5 mins and looks great.

[Silvia Bluejay]

I work on the Junkyard Dogs' posters in Photoshop Elements, which is a cheap, 'lite' version of the program, and does all I need for posters, from the simplest to the most complicated design. Quick learning curve too, especially if you have previous experience of page design (for instance Quark).

Edited December 30, 2015 by bluejay

[EliasMooseblaster]

There's always GIMP - Gnu's free, open source equivalent to Photoshop. It's available for Windows and Linux so I'd be surprised if you can't find a Mac OS port.

[BigRedX]

The trick to getting some decent posters is to have some good ideas in the first place. The the software you use doesn't matter.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Yes it does. No point in having good ideas and then losing the will to live through attempting to use MS Word to turn them into posters.

[alittlebitrobot]

I second the GIMP suggestion but, above all, just keep it really simple. Not too many colours, and make sure the text is high-contrast and in a legible typeface.
You can achieve that with almost any software but at least GIMP is so popular there are plenty of tutorials.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1451503628' post='2941077']
I work on the Junkyard Dogs' posters in Photoshop Elements, which is a cheap, 'lite' version of the program, and does all I need for posters, from the simplest to the most complicated design. Quick learning curve too, especially if you have previous experience of page design (for instance Quark).
[/quote]

Bluejay's nailed it, also P'shop Elements is aimed more at photography than design work - though it is good at both. It means that once you get even vaguely familiar with it you'll be able to make better band pics to use on your posters.
This time of year especially you'll get a copy of Elements in the sale at PC World I would imagine.

There's also a company called Serif who make a lot of generic programmes, they'll negotiate themselves to hell to get a sale & their stuff is very easy & commercial print friendly. - Downside is they're hard to stop pestering you with follow up calls.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Big_Stu

[Mykesbass]

Having seen the OP, and before seeing the posts from EliasMooseblaster and alittlebitrobot, I went off to have a look at what was available and came across the awfully named Gimp and decided to give it a go. Now my software skills are pretty basic, but with the help of a couple of youtube guides I managed to create a fairly basic poster that was infinitely better than past attempts on MS Word. I'd highly recommend it.

[smaz]

If you're on a Mac & don't want to spend out on Photoshop, maybe give Pixelmator a try - it's fairly cheap, think it has a trial too:

http://www.pixelmator.com/mac/

It may be more for photo editing though, but I'm sure you could go someway towards decent posters with it.

You can also buy pre-made posters pretty cheap, like from here:
http://graphicriver.net/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&term=band&view=grid&sort=&date=&category=print-templates%2Fflyers&price_min=&price_max=&sales=&rating_min=

You would need photoshop/similar to edit them though to fill in the blanks, or as suggested above ask someone with the software & the knowhow.

[KingPrawn]

Cheers All !!

[Zenitram]

If you do end up doing it in Photoshop (or Gimp), layers are the key. Do every element on a new layer, save as you go and it all becomes much easier.

Layers and masks are the things to get the hang of, I'd say.

[Truckstop]

Get it printed on good quality paper too, makes all the difference in the flesh.

[Zenitram]

Don't get it printed on flesh.

[toneknob]

I've recently signed up to Canva, https://www.canva.com. Not got around to using it yet. so if you beat me to it, let us know how it goes.

[DavidMcKay]

I'd thoroughly recommend Affinity Photo - the new kid on the block that is being touted as a Photoshop killer: https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/

Having used it and Pixelmator I believe Affinity Photo has the edge. Current cost is £29.99.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1451511773' post='2941199']
Yes it does. No point in having good ideas and then losing the will to live through attempting to use MS Word to turn them into posters.
[/quote]

I would disagree. IMO the key to getting a good looking poster is having some design skills in the first place.

Having decent quality tools will make the job easier, but it's by no means an absolute requirement.

And there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do something awesome with MS Word. After all it's only a glorified typewriter and typewriters are capable of some spectacular images:

Edited December 31, 2015 by BigRedX

[DavidMcKay]

Regardless of what software you go for, as long as it can open and edit PSD files then you will be able to download lots of free PSD files, posters and images to modify to suit.

Saves you from reinventing the wheel - and the quality of much of the free stuff is excellent.