This open source trinity suits my needs pretty well. While I no more work on the project mentioned here, since this was written, that newsletter was resigned into a more robust magazine format with a lot more content and pages, and the same software combination worked out well.

The only issue I’ve had with these is colour matching, and that is usually due to the ignorance of the printers/colour seperators who just don’t know what they’re doing. If you happen to use the same software as them (InDesign, Quark etc) like most people, sheer chance makes the colour profiles match up well enough to not make a difference, but if you depend on them actually making use of embedded colour profiles to get proper print reproduction, many low-end print production people just don’t cut it.

The other great open source package is Blender. That’s always been great and showing more promise by the day. I’ve come to prefer the free alternatives to the Adobe crowd and the “industry standards”. The only improvement I await as compared to those, is that the GIMP needs to get a lot quicker in the way it works. Since the team has been working on a complete re-write of the low level image handling code (GEGL), I’m sure that too shall come to pass. I haven’t tried Krita, which is also supposed to have a lot of promise.

As far as being a polymath, thanks for the compliment. Don’t know if the label fits really, but that’s just the way I grew up. I never let myself believe I couldn’t do something, a trait I owe to the guidance of my parents, I’m sure. I think ultimately it comes down to maintaining that delusion rather than any inherent ability.

Also, I’m sure your lively children impart to you powers and abilities you might not yourself appreciate at the moment.

Samir

I was just browsing around before bed, saw the word Gimp. Was looking for a clue about the cameras you use, digital DSLR (brand loyal, or just certain tech)? Then I saw GIMP. I thought, wow, I don’t know if I’d ever respect copyright if I lived in the UAE or that general vicinity (not that I do now, but I’m occasionally paranoid as protections become more sophisticated with packages such as CS4).

I’ve used all 3 of these, and in fact, I usually just install these for clients who want something installed immediately, but free, and I always sing their praises. I see it as my little good deed in the Bazaar outside the Cathedral. How hypocritical that I still use the “other” trinity far more often (ps, ai, indesign).

You are now the 3rd person in my circle of friends, who has turned out to be a polymath derivative. Art, photography, graphics, etc. and pretty much anything you become curious about, you do well with. More than just well actually, you do very well.

Those years in the desert. How strange the sight that comes through the dust and the silence. Nostalgia makes them better to me now that I’m older, wider, and can’t keep up with my kids who run around me giggling. Thank the gods for netbooks!

peace,
~p