I ran a catalog department for 5-1/2 years. Print and web content. Maintained a 3,000 page catalog, indexes and supplement, created monthly and seasonal promotions (some were 1,000 pages+), created/maintained all the images for 47,000 items.
I had Adobe Creative Suite and I preferred to use Gimp.
1 application could open any document, not need for the bloated “bridge” software.
I grew to love Image Magic for sizing the images. Powerful command line tool. I used it to size 80,000+ images for the initial print to web conversion. Started the program after 5:00 PM and when I came to work in the morning, it was done.
I am primarily a Linux computer user now. First used that OS in 1984-85. I seldom fire up a Windows machine any more.
What OS combinations work for me these days:
1) Mac OS X (for things like MS Office, which is needed for exact document compatibility, and Photoshop) and frankly, the full driver compatibility with well built laptop hardware (linux can be a hellish experience for that);
2) MacPorts to bring things like ImageMagick and other Linux tools (like Inkscape, and open source engineering tools) over to the Mac; and
3) Linux, in the form of VMs running on my Mac laptop, or older hardware sitting around the house. This way I can have compute jobs running to completion while my laptop is sitting securely in its backpack while I’m on the go.
As time goes by, I’m less reliant on any particular Mac app - but the Mac hardware, and using Mac OS X as the base, for driver support - becomes the boring but well-working foundation of the whole system.
#20 I use GIMP. Youtube has many videos on how to’s.
I own CorelDraw X3 and use that also.
I found that GIMP was able to do some things easier then Corel or Photoshop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSmn-NeqBA
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/