this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
23 points (96.0% liked)

Linux

8070 readers
41 users here now

Welcome to c/linux!

Welcome to our thriving Linux community! Whether you're a seasoned Linux enthusiast or just starting your journey, we're excited to have you here. Explore, learn, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for open-source software and the endless possibilities it offers. Together, let's dive into the world of Linux and embrace the power of freedom, customization, and innovation. Enjoy your stay and feel free to join the vibrant discussions that await you!

Rules:

  1. Stay on topic: Posts and discussions should be related to Linux, open source software, and related technologies.

  2. Be respectful: Treat fellow community members with respect and courtesy.

  3. Quality over quantity: Share informative and thought-provoking content.

  4. No spam or self-promotion: Avoid excessive self-promotion or spamming.

  5. No NSFW adult content

  6. Follow general lemmy guidelines.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I'm trying to build a workstation for my wife who is a graphic design by trade. She has only ever used Window so I thought that this would be a great way to introduce her to Linux. I just have some questions about getting this project off the ground.

  1. Am I better off buying a cheap, prebuilt desktop and adding some extra parts like a GPU and more memory or building it from the ground up?

  2. For a distro, I was thinking about Linux Mint but would other distros be better options?

  3. Other than GIMP, what are some essential software for graphic design and digital art on Linux?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] mrfriki@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Hi, graphic design span many disciplines and each one will have different requirements. Unless she does some short of 3D or video rendering intensive workloads GPU doesn’t matter that much. Im am UX designer (formerly graphic designer) and a powerful CPU, something like an AMD Ryzen 5800x or similar, plenty of RAM (at least 32Gb) and SSD HD (nothing fancy, anything will do) should be enough. Sadly, design software hasn’t evolved enough to take advantage of better performance.

However I’m not a Linux user (although have been considering it) so my main concern would be how the software she uses is Linux compatible or can be properly emulated without performance or stability issues. If she is working professionally FOS software won’t do it, you need default industry software.

I mainly use Figma and to lessen extent Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Figma can run entirely in a browser but I’ve seen reports of slowdown (to the point of being unusable in some distros). Adobe apps seem to be very hard to emulate to the point of seeing people recommending using a Windows VM. So I rather start checking the software rather than the hardware.