Best way to design an advert in JPEG ?

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Hi all, im after some advice.

My dad runs a business and is always asking me to design up some advert for the paper or programme etc.

9 times out of 10 they ask to have it in JPEG, but i really struggle to make one.

Whats an easy yet quite good way of doing this ? Photoshop seems to be a little complex although ive managed using it in the past.

Any ideas are welcome :)
Ryan
 
You can save a JPEG file from all major graphics programmes I can think of, so it's just a matter of creating the advert in your software of choice and then saving the file as a JPEG.
 
Are you asking how to design an advert, or how to save to JPEG format? The first question can't really be answered and the second shouldn't need to be answered :confused:
 
I suppose im asking for some software recomendations that will allow me to create an advert with some relative ease and save into JPEG.
 
I suggest you work in PNG or .pst until you are finished, then export as .jpg. Otherwise you'll end up with ever-nastier compression artifacts with each save.
 
Im using photoshop and i find it difficult to simply paste an image into it and be able to move it around as if it is was an object? Can anyone explain how to do this ? Id like to able to resize the pasted image too.
Thanks
 
Honestly, if this is for a business, even if it's only your fathers, and you're not sure how to save a jpeg don't make the advert. An unprofessional looking advert can do far far more harm than good.
 
I can make an advert look just about good enough. Im no profesional and i can just about manage to make an advert in photoshop after hours of work, and easily save in JPEG.

The question im asking is: Is there an easier method to do what i want as i find photoshop quite difficult?
 
You're not making any sense, you originally asked how to design an advert and save it in .jpeg but now you're saying that you can manage that?

If you've managed to create something and save it as a jpeg then please post it up here so we can have a look to better advise...
 
Some really useful replies in here....

Photoshop is probably your best bet to make something half decent - you don't have to be a professional to design something decent and despite popular reports, not everyone is born knowing how to use the program to its full extent.

I would suggest looking at some tutorials, bash 'Photoshop tutorials' into Google or even YouTube and you should get some decent results - and from watching or reading or both you'll pick up basic things like how the tools are used - even if they are the basic ones. Layers is an important thing to look at when practicing and isn't that hard to grasp.

When you feel you are comfortable with those and have had a bit of a play about, try being more specific by looking at Logo tutorials and go from there.

It's step-by-step with Photoshop. You try to devour the whole thing and it is a much scarier task like most applications.
 
Photoshop tutorials are your way forward, it would take a mighty explanation in here to get you to do specific things, whereas having some screenshots accompanying it would be easier to follow.

My housemate raves about http://www.getpaint.net/ for its simplicity, as he can't be bothered to learn Photoshop...
 
Fireworks. Photoshop's a b****. :p

Photoshop is much more powerful, but I only use it when I need its power. Otherwise, I use Fireworks.

I think Photoshop is great, but I find using it a complete chore. Even the simplest of things aren't simple - the first time you do almost anything, you have to read a tutorial on it or spend a while figuring it out, whereas with Fireworks everything just seems a lot more obvious. You can have Fireworks completely sussed within a hours, but Photoshop would take weeks.

So yeah, if you just want to throw a few things together, I would definitely recommend Fireworks. Photoshop is the 'better' program and is definitely worth learning, but for simpler things, people can't tell the difference between something I made in Fireworks and something I made in Photoshop.
 
Fireworks. Photoshop's a b****. :p

Photoshop is much more powerful, but I only use it when I need its power. Otherwise, I use Fireworks.

I think Photoshop is great, but I find using it a complete chore. Even the simplest of things aren't simple - the first time you do almost anything, you have to read a tutorial on it or spend a while figuring it out, whereas with Fireworks everything just seems a lot more obvious. You can have Fireworks completely sussed within a hours, but Photoshop would take weeks.

So yeah, if you just want to throw a few things together, I would definitely recommend Fireworks. Photoshop is the 'better' program and is definitely worth learning, but for simpler things, people can't tell the difference between something I made in Fireworks and something I made in Photoshop.

Agreed, i use Fireworks myself..... autolayers everything you put on the canvas for starters which is a godsend in my opinion....

I'd recommend using something else to compress images though, the image compression is really funny in FW, export at full detail in FW then export the saved file from something like photoshop which will better optimise the image without it looking so crappy.... (this isnt so noticable on crappy monitors though).

Most things you will be fine exporting from Fireworks though... don't go thinking its terrible now, it's still very good, but Photoshop will do a better job imo.
 
I thought most pros used a page loyout package to design adverts. i.e quark, indesign, pagemaker, coreldraw etc

I used to use Corel Draw for logos etc and I found the page layouts unreliable, e.g. if I used a A4 layout or specified the pixels for a canvas, when I exported it, it would be a few pixels larger or shorter.

Then 3 years ago I found photoshop and illustrator and have never went back. :D
 
Photoshop + Illustrator + InDesign

The Holy Trinity of print.

As for Fireworks, why bother trying it if you already know how to use PS? It takes roughly a week to learn the basics anyway.
 
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