From: "M.G. Gallagher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: itunes 2
Pure practicality. When software catches up to publishing, I will.
I can only speak for myself as a small independent AD working for a medium-sized ad agency, so feel free to discard my experience -- but most of the printers/service bureaus/publishing types we deal with -- including the customers who proof things -- have moved up to at least Acrobat 5.0 compatibility, which makes a PDF workflow viable IMHO. Still having problems reminding ADs to not use the new 6.0 format (which is not backward compatible, but for those who don't know I should mention that Acrobat 6 can save in backward-friendly formats). I also have to remember to save Quark projects that go out (rare) in 5.0 format (or use Quark 4 in Classic, which actually works surprisingly well), and remember to save Illustrator work in backward formats for PC compatibility (it's rare to find a PC person who has current versions of anything, actually!).
Moving to PDF proofing and PDF seps was a godsend for me. Clients never have a problem opening documents, see it exactly the way I want them to, and can't "mess with it" or steal it (they get "screen-rez" PDF proofs). OS X's native ability to make PDFs out of anything works very well and most importantly, it's quick to MAKE pdfs.
I've had surprisingly good luck sending high-res PDFs made with InDesign to printers, even with separations or complex effects like transparency and shadows/complex trapping etc. The only annoyance I have with InDesign is that you MUST have all your colour files in either RGB *or* CMYK or the resulting PDF will have tiny white lines around the graphics. Grrrr. Quark just converts em if you've forgotten to, and makes the (large) PDF just fine every time (though the file is bloated and usually has to be run through Acrobat 6's "reduce file size" to get it back into shape).
I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on Quark, Photoshop, Acrobat, etc. upgrades for use in the real world. Neither is my publishing employer until we have to replace all of our numerous Macs. I actually kept 8.6 on my other iMac because it's so stable.
Totally understood. You have the best of all possible reasons not to upgrade to OS X, though (looks at watch) that means your employer hasn't upgraded his machines in at least a year ... it's probably "coming up on time" for that upgrade, and perhaps the boss would want someone around who's already done the transition on their own machines to help with expertise ... might be worth a little extra to them ... :)
It is becoming obsolete for some stuff. Also, until the most recent version of OS X came out, it was a headache. This isn't just about home use, iLife, etc. There are some outstanding uses and features in OS 10.x.x., but it just isn't practical (including dollarwise) for me. I actually still use much older Macs for writing and editing, too.
For writing and editing, any G3 is overkill. I know a very popular, nationally-published author (not a household name, but a syndicated columnist) who uses one of the first fruit-coloured iMacs to run her entire business -- writing, editing, billing, accounting, AOL etc. Everything works perfectly -- why should she change anytime soon? Sure she's missing out on the iTMS and some other nifty stuff, but that's not what she uses a computer for at this stage. Her next machine will probably be an eMac, and even THAT will be way overkill for her -- but I guarantee she'll get more fun out of it. :)
_Chas_
"If you want to encourage your kids to color outside the lines, think creatively and zig when the other kids zag, get the Mac. On the other hand, if you want to teach your kid that life is full of frustration and that anything worth getting takes plenty of patience and hard work, a Windows machine should do quite nicely."
-- D. Plotnikoff
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