New Mac User navigating the world of graphics requests help.

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Greetings.

I am new to the world of mac, receiving a new iMac recently as a gift. Man, i wish would have made "the switch" sooner!

Previously I used a very old version of photoshop for graphics design and utilized microsoft publisher for design of pamphlets for my business.

Now that I have made the switch, I have transitioned into GIMP for mac for my graphics design needs and have yet to find a replacement for publisher. My questions are as follows.

1) Is there an "easier" way to do text effects in GIMP than the tutorials I have found online? (example :30 GIMP Text Effect & Typography Tutorials Collection) In photoshop, I could do some basic text effects with just a couple clicks of the mouse. GIMP does not seem to have that functionality.

2) Is there a suitable replacement for Publisher in the mac world? this does not have to be anything overly elaborate, as my pamphlet designs are fairly simple (some text over a faded picture is about the extent of the "fanciness"

Thank you very much for any input you can give.
 
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You have 2 easy choices, there are more but I am narrowing it down to 2.

Unfortunately, dont expect to find a conversion tool for MS Publisher - its notorious in the design world for not exporting or transferring to any other program without spending a lot of money.

1. Scribus - an open source DTP program similar to Publisher - give it a try it's completely free
Scribus - Scribus.net

2. Apples pages - a great easy to use layout app that comes with some good templates and will set you back $15 - I think, my link to the app store gives me a pounds sterling cost

Oh, and just to add, if you want a more mac like alternative to GIMP, there is Seashore, based on GIMP but a more mac like photo editor
http://seashore.sourceforge.net/The_Seashore_Project/About.html
 
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I've used Scribus on Linux, and it's a really good program, definitely similar to Publisher and easy to navigate. Won't run on my PowerPC4 Mac, but lucky for me I can it on a Windows machine. So I can testify for that. :)

In regards to the text effects in GIMP I am pretty sure you can do text effects, but they are very basic like the ones you can do in Photoshop, let me go and explore GIMP on my machine and I will let you know, as I definitely remember doing some basic text effects in Gimp not so long ago. (I am a photoshop user now).
 

chscag

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2) Is there a suitable replacement for Publisher in the mac world? this does not have to be anything overly elaborate, as my pamphlet designs are fairly simple (some text over a faded picture is about the extent of the "fanciness"

The closest program, IMO, you'll find that resembles MS Publisher is iStudio Publisher currently being sold at the Mac App store. It's $17.99 US and very easy to use. I used MS Publisher for years and was disappointed there was no version for the Mac, that is until I found iStudio Publisher. I actually prefer it over my copy of MS Publisher.
 
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Thank you everyone for the input. I am still looking for additional information to creating text effects in GIMP. As an example, I am looking to create a text effect to make my text look like candy canes (red and white striped) for an upcoming advertisement I am working on. The link i provided shows a way to accomplish this in GIMP, but I have not been able to make the steps work.

Thank you again!
 

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