Is there a particular software you guys recommend for crating logos? need easy to use and not too expensive. any suggestions.

If you can spare about $US100, then I highly recommend Paint Shop Pro 6 or 7 (latest version) at http://www.jasc.com - does most of what PhotoShop can do and is very easy to use.

Depends on what you want to spend

Photoshop is the be all to end all and i love it

but the price tag follows suit with its abilities

Originally posted by wiley
Depends on what you want to spend

Photoshop is the be all to end all and i love it

but the price tag follows suit with its abilities I disagree. For logo creation, I think the best software is Illustrator. The vector drawing tools are much better than the simple ones provided (clumsily) by Photoshop, and for logo design, scalability is key. You don't want to get locked into a bitmap-only image that can't be used in large print format if you can help it.

I agree with the_pm about this point. That if you want a scalable solution.

Oh dear...here we go...:rolleyes: ;)

I use CorelDRAW Graphics Suite (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel2/Products/Content&pid=1047023490143&cid=1047023490143) for everything I do... can do anything Photoshop and Illustrator can (and then some!) but it's much cheaper for a full suite of apps.

The above is right about vectors. No designer worth his salt would ever create a logo in bitmap format unless it was absolutely necessary. :)

I am using both CorelDRAW Graphics Suite and Adobe Illustrator. But mostly I use CorelDRAW. But these programs not cheap.

Most people would say Photoshop.

Yeah I agree with gghosting, I would definetly say photoshop. Photoshop 7 is better than the latest photoshop CS In my opinion. Maybe its because im used to it I don't know, but that version (7) should be cheaper to buy now so I would go with that one.

Originally posted by gghosting
Most people would say Photoshop.

Most people would say that, but that's because they don't know the difference between raster graphics and vectors. Most experienced graphic designers would know that vectors are the only way to go. Like the_pm said, scalability is key to logo design.

Yup. For a logo, you need a vector image. I like to use Photoshop, and while their vector tools are...limited...if you get creative, they can be more than enough.

Once you make the logo in Photoshop using their vector tools (they call it "shapes"), you can save it as a custom shape. THis makes it really easy to "stamp" you logo on pictures as a watermark, print it at various resoltions, etc.

I've always used fireworks to create logo's. I've tried photoshop, but for some reason it seems impossible to draw anything with it. you draw one image, and it won't let you add to it. I guess i'm just used to fireworks and flash mx for grafix.

Illustrator or freehand are, indeed, the best tools for this job. Photoshop is a bitmap tool, with some vector capabilities added in 5.5. It never was and never will be aimed at logo design.

However, if you can't afford the $500+ for either of those tools, take a look here: http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/ . Microsoft bought creature house's expression and, for the moment, you can download both the mac and PC versions free of charge. It's decent enough vector software at no charge. I'm not complaining :)

I think the thread starter made a decision four years ago ;)