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Developing a Workflow to Efficiently Work in Adobe Creative Suite 3

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John Ray and Mordy Golding discuss exactly what a workflow is in the context of designing and producing artwork with Adobe Creative Suite applications.They'll then show how different types of design projects rely on the broad shoulders of Adobe Creative Suite.
This chapter is from the book

    W. Edwards Deming

While you can certainly purchase Adobe Creative Suite and use just one of the applications within the collection, the real value of the Suite becomes visible when using each of the applications together in concert. One of the ways to describe the process of using multiple applications to get your work done is by defining a workflow. However, the word workflow can mean a variety of different things.

In this chapter, we'll discuss exactly what a workflow is, in the context of designing and producing artwork with Adobe Creative Suite applications, and we'll see how different types of design projects rely on the broad shoulders of Adobe Creative Suite.

What Is a Workflow?


In graphic design, a workflow comprises all the necessary steps that have to happen for a particular job to be completed. Obviously, whatever your final result is supposed to be will determine what the workflow is. If you're designing a piece that will be output to the Web, it will have a different workflow, or process, than a project that will end up on a printing press.


More so, there are organizations or design firms that handle nearly all the aspects of a project, and there are designers who might work on only one portion of a project. Some firms offer services from concept all the way through design. Some people are just photographers. Even so, photographers who understand the entire workflow not only can provide better services to their clients, but also can be more efficient and can avoid having to redo work later in the process.

Traditionally, a designer was required to possess and learn several software tools, each of which worked differently. A tremendous amount of work was required to make sure that all these tools worked together in some useful way. And maintaining them was challenging (to say the least) because each of the tools had different upgrade cycles, causing constant workflow changes.

The Adobe Creative Suite is unique because it provides all the tools necessary for a design workflow. Because of the integration among the applications in the Suite, it's easy to move your project along each step of the process. And because these applications all work in the same way, you don't have to tear your hair out learning about all kinds of programs to get your work done. Most important, Adobe has aligned each of the products in the suite to release at the same time, making it easier to develop and maintain a workflow.

As you read through the rest of this chapter, you might feel the urge to skip particular areas because they don't pertain to the kinds of things you are doing today. For example, you might want to skip anything related to the Web because you work primarily in print-related materials. My advice is to at least get a basic understanding of other workflows because you never know what might come your way. This way, if you end up getting an opportunity to do such work—even if you're going to outsource it—you'll have a complete understanding of the process and what needs to happen. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say "I lost so much money because I told them I could do it, but I had no idea how much work was involved," I'd have enough money for one of those fancy shmancy 30-inch flat-panel displays.

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