Best poster-designing program

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VivaChiba

I have Photoshop but learning even the basics takes so damn long that it's not worth the ag' - I'd honestly prefer to sketch, colour and then scan a picture than spend weeks attempting to colour the said sketch.

I'm saying that so you can understand I don't want anything comlex. I'm looking for a very basic program that would allow me to move one or more images around on a 1-sheet, add background/foreground colour, text and maybe one-click add/change the colour of any images. Something that's very simple in its interface and can be learnt by playing around with.

I'm not looking to make professional standard posters, but something easy to beat out ideas with. I am, of course, able to sketch images and/or right click>save; I'm not looking for a drawing program.

Somebody recommended Serif; I've tried Word and it's not very good (or I'm doing something wrong) and as mentioned above, Photoshop is waaaay too complicated and I don't have time to learn all that.

Thanks in advance.
 
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How much time did you spend on Photoshop, because it does what you describe.

Word is a terrible program to do something like that.
Word-art is actually an insult in the designworld AND it looks very amateuristic
 
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Photoshop is still the best program to do what you described. And they are extremely basic functions of the program. IMHO it would actually be harder to do what you want in more basic software.

Watch a couple 5-minute youtube tutorials on what layers are, and also how to use the selection tool. That should get you where you need to go since you're not looking for professional-grade.
 
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There is no Goldilocks program that's both simple/easy + professional.

They're either simple and limited - or - professional and complex.
Photoshop is great, but it has a monster learning curve.

Are you printing out the posters yourself on a home printer or having them professionally 4C/CMYK printed at a print shop?
 
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What OP describes has no moster learning curve. That's pretty basic stuff. I learned that in 2 afternoons in artschool.
After that basic stuff the curve gets a lot steeper.
 
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That's why I asked: how much time did the OP put in it?

I remember I wanted to learn After Effects quickly without any help.
After 2 hours of trying without success I gave up and wrote something else, since I had 2 weeks left to make a short.
Now I have spent 100s of hours in AE I can tell I was too impatient and unrealistic.

What the OP wants however isn't unrealistic.
 
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DISCLAIMER: I am not a graphic designer and/or print artist.

Anytime I need to make a flyer, posters, or handbills I use Illustrator and Photoshop interchangeably. But I'm sure I could do it all on just one of those programs (see disclaimer).

But if you want something basic and on the fly, Microsoft Publisher will do the trick. But it does look.... not that great.

For example, my avatar was made on Ai and Ps. But it serves more than one purpose. It is actually a 3D image (vector object? if i'm using the correct term) that moves. Not something I could do on Publisher.
 
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Thanks for all the replies.

Dreadylocks,
A pity that I could never get those 5 minutes with you.

I've actually spent a several hours on-off on PS and have looked at a load of videos, but the "Tragic" Wand seems to have picked up the moniker for a reason and - maybe I'm just all thumbs when it comes to mice instead of pencils - but I have absolutely terrible control over the touchpad!

I'll try to give it another go but all those layers are damn awkward to get to grips with and it all just seems so overly complex compared to picking up a pencil... Perhaps that's my real problem?
 
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you can set the value of the magic wand in the topbar.

Layers are simple:
it's like stacking pieces of paper.

It seems you've bee watching tutorials without understanding the basics: that's always confusing.
 
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I actually find Photoshop incredibly intuitive, like a puzzle solving exercise. Once you've acquired the basic skills, you can usually work out ways to do things, through a combination of experimentation and lateral thinking.

If you can't deal with the aggravation of learning Photoshop then you're not going to be a poster designer, I'm afraid.
 
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I think you can do it. Sounds like you just need to spend more time with the tutorials. Maybe the question is, is it worth it? The trouble? Yes, it is. Or at least it sounds like it is. Once you can do those basic things, then you'll be able to work out posters to your heart's desire.

Did you try this? Find a good tutorial dealing with what you want to do, or even just showing the basics generally. Open PS. Follow along step-by-step as the tutor goes through it. Pause video as needed.
 
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WalterB,

I think you're right: I've been too consumed with looking at stuff I want to do rather than getting the gist of the basics of the program, under the assumption that they're just something I'll pick up.

I'm sure that if and when I re-dedicate myself to it, I'll master them in no time.

NickClapper said:
If you can't deal with the aggravation of learning Photoshop then you're not going to be a poster designer, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

I actually just wanted to know what program would be best to play around with ideas - I'm not aiming to be a professional, I merely want to be able knock up things to show people as concepts; I asked about a program so that I could include images that were not created by my own hand and because text is easier to play around with. When everyone suggested PS, I reiterated my previous attempts at using it.

I cannot stress enough that I want to be able to create poster concepts and not fine-tuned, professional end-products. I'm realistic in that this is an art-form as to its own and not something learnt over-night to make killer posters.


Thanks everyone for the input... it looks like PS is the way to go then.
 
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Quark Xpress is the best print design program in the industry.

Serif is a freebie and you get what you pay for. I'd recommend MS Publisher over Serif. If you have Office 365, you should already have a copy of MS Publisher.

Photshop is okay. Adobe Illustrator is a little better. But, Quark is king for poster, ad design, book design, and catalogs as well.
 
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Also, if you want your poster mass produced by a commercial printer, Quark is commercial printer friendly. True, they can print from Photoshop, Illustrator, and postscript files, but Quark is the most common one they are use to working with.
 
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Quark has been surpassed around 2002 by InDesign.
Maybe they caught up again, I'm not a graphic designer, but I have quite a few friends who are pros:
most have long since moved to Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator & Indesign.

All 3 have different strong points, but Photoshop is really the best choice for the OP.
And it has all the colormanagement stuff printers or a press needs...
 
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As I said, if you want it mass produced, Quark is the way to go. The industry is slow in changing. In submitting to magazines, publishers, commercial print, they want Quark, Photoshop, Illistrator, and some InDesign files submitted along with all associated files.

Example, if your Quark file is composed of Photoshop images, special fonts (typefaces), and settings, they must all be included for printing.

Quark has some incredible tools for integrating text, illustrations, and photos to create custom images.

Also, learn what the printers specs are for printing like lines per inch or milometer settings for saving your images. And, also include a hard copy of how you want it to look when it is printed with your own printer device.
 
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