As a manufacture of some cutting machine for graphic designing, we would like to give some advice on what sort of computer/software to design graphics[graphics?:graphics pattern] .
Computer
The new Imacs with computer and thin screen all in one are great giving you a nice large screen (19″ or 24″) without taking up to much space. I would go for at least 2GB memory, the more the better if you are using Photoshop a lot and any 3D packages.
Printer
An A3+ Inkjet printer is ideal for printing[printing?:printing cutting finishing solution] out any visuals required, possibly postscript colour management software – Iproof (gave me loads of problems) or Print[Print?:printing image graphic cutting solution] Fab, try out the demos of these before you buy them (I wish I had).
Fonts and Font Management
Mac system software now comes with built in Fontbook for managing fonts or you could look at a third party font management system such as Suitcase
Several fonts will come with your Mac and software packages. More can be bought from many sources such as linotype and Faces.
Software
Adobe Creative Suite can give you all the packages you would need for most design for print jobs – Photoshop for image manipulation, Illustrator for vector work, Logo design etc, InDesign for page layout, Acrobat for creating print ready PDFs.
I still prefer Quark Xpress for page layout over InDesign but many designers are now swapping/have swapped over to Indesign. As a package Creative Suite works out far more cost effective than having to buy Quark Xpress plus Photoshop and Illustrator.
Scanner
Most images these days are supplied digitally so a fairly basic scanner is usually fine. Mostly I use mine for scanning in sketches of logos etc. I would go for an all in one black and white laser, copier, scanner.
Backing Up
An external USB firewire hard drive or some free online storage space if ideal for backing up your work
Cutting machine
Cut the printed pattern with high precision, make sign board samples, printed on the thick foam board, advertising[advertising?:advertising material cutting machine] sign board, you need to cut the shape.
