You need a library of graphic resources if you are going to work with the paper arts. The first thing you will need to do is organize your collection so you can get to it at will for any project. I have had two external hard drives for storing my graphic collection for years. Occasionally you will want to move them over to DVD for safekeeping.
I hate to tell you but hardware failure is imminent. Your computer will crash and die some day and it will take all of your graphics with it if you don't back them up. It's not "IF" it will happen... it's "WHEN" it will happen so be prepared. Get used to saving them on to an external hard drive.
An external hard drive doesn't usually go through the same wear and tear as a computer does so it should last longer but be sure to back those graphics up just the same.
You can also keep a printed record of your graphics so if you have to, you can scan them back in but you really want the originals in a lossless format like .png, .tiff or an editable format like a .psd or .xcf for the GIMP. Lossy formats will degrade with each edit or save. That's why .jpeg is not a good format to work with original graphics unless you are making them just for the web where you can compress them in size for quick download where print quality is not important.
FREE GRAPHIC PROGRAM
What's the GIMP? It's the Linux version of the equivalent to PhotoShop. Since it's open source software, it's FREE and you can go get it right now if you plan to work with graphics to make your own stash. There is a version that will work on Windows too. It will do everything PhotoShop will do and then some. Like PhotoShop, it also has a steep learning curve so play with it often until you learn how to manipulate graphics. You will use it to clean up old graphics you download for free that are in the public domain. Then you will want to print them off for your own use.
FREE GRAPHICS
Public domain graphics have no copyright restrictions so anyone can use and re-use them in any art project free of charge. One good source for quality vintage graphics with no copyright restrictions is thegraphicsfairy.com and start your own collection. They have free resources or you can buy a membership.
There are many free graphic resources on the web. Do some research for free vintage clip art. Search online libraries too. Search old books of Dover clip art libraries for vintage stuff too. Some of these are not free but many are if you just look, you can find them too.
I hate to tell you but hardware failure is imminent. Your computer will crash and die some day and it will take all of your graphics with it if you don't back them up. It's not "IF" it will happen... it's "WHEN" it will happen so be prepared. Get used to saving them on to an external hard drive.
An external hard drive doesn't usually go through the same wear and tear as a computer does so it should last longer but be sure to back those graphics up just the same.
You can also keep a printed record of your graphics so if you have to, you can scan them back in but you really want the originals in a lossless format like .png, .tiff or an editable format like a .psd or .xcf for the GIMP. Lossy formats will degrade with each edit or save. That's why .jpeg is not a good format to work with original graphics unless you are making them just for the web where you can compress them in size for quick download where print quality is not important.
FREE GRAPHIC PROGRAM
What's the GIMP? It's the Linux version of the equivalent to PhotoShop. Since it's open source software, it's FREE and you can go get it right now if you plan to work with graphics to make your own stash. There is a version that will work on Windows too. It will do everything PhotoShop will do and then some. Like PhotoShop, it also has a steep learning curve so play with it often until you learn how to manipulate graphics. You will use it to clean up old graphics you download for free that are in the public domain. Then you will want to print them off for your own use.
FREE GRAPHICS
Public domain graphics have no copyright restrictions so anyone can use and re-use them in any art project free of charge. One good source for quality vintage graphics with no copyright restrictions is thegraphicsfairy.com and start your own collection. They have free resources or you can buy a membership.
There are many free graphic resources on the web. Do some research for free vintage clip art. Search online libraries too. Search old books of Dover clip art libraries for vintage stuff too. Some of these are not free but many are if you just look, you can find them too.
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