Tips for Graphic Designers
As a graphic designer, you want your computer to perform well and at its best speed. That is why a lot of professionals in this field choose Macs over computers with Windows operating systems.
On the other hand, if you will not take proper care of your Mac and won’t do regular maintenance work, your computer will start underperforming and slowing down your workflow.
To help you be as productive as possible and have your Mac running as fast as it can, today, we will share 8 Mac tips for graphic designers.
Tip #1: Deal With the Scratch Disk Is Full Error
If you use a Mac for your work, it is very likely that sooner or later, you will have to deal with the scratch disk full error. The scratch disk is a space on your hard drive that stores temporary files created by software like Photoshop.
At first, these temporary files will help you open certain project files faster, but after some time, it will only slow down your computer. Therefore, to clear the scratch disk, it is best to download a specialised application.
Tip #2: Use Free Apps to Plan Your Time
Planning your time is important when you work as a graphic designer. More to it, you need to track your deadlines and plan how much time you need to spend on a project per day to complete it in time before the deadline comes.
Surely, you can download paid apps for those which are packed with features but as you own a Mac, take advantage of using the App Store that has plenty of free apps for time planning, such as Todoist, Toggl, or Workflow. Also, if you work for a design agency, you might want to look for an effective group communication tool such as Slack.
Tip #3: Make iPad Your Second Monitor
Mac is a fast and efficient computer that is ideal for a graphic designer. On the other hand, if you travel a lot and choose to purchase a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro instead of an iMac, you might struggle with the small screen as you work with graphics and multiple tools.
To easily solve this issue, you can use an iPad as your second monitor if you own one. More to it, you can add up such accessories as Sketch Board Pro as a stand for your iPad. This way, you will not have to purchase a separate monitor, and an iPad will not take a lot of space when traveling.
Tip #4: Manage Storage
To keep your Mac running smoothly, you need to make sure that you always have enough disk space. If you run lower than 10%, you may notice that your Mac has started to underperform and function much slower than usual.
To keep up with the storage situation, you can check it by clicking on the Apple symbol from the top menu, going to the About This Mac option, and choosing the Storage tab. On the Storage menu, you can also click the Manage button to access four options that will help you create more storage space.
Tip #5: Quit Resource Hungry Applications
If the change in your Mac’s speed is pretty sudden, it might be because some of the apps that are running in the background are using large amounts of system resources.
To find out which of the apps are so resource-hungry, click Command + Space to open the Spotlight Search. Then, type in “Activity Monitor,” open it, and check the CPU tab to see which apps to quit.
Tip #6: Update macOS & Apps Regularly
For the macOS and all of the tools that you use to function properly, you need to update both the operating system and the apps regularly. Often, these updates include performance and security improvements.
If you forgot to install an update, you can find the macOS updates in System Preferences and app updates in the App Store.
Tip #7: Trim the List of Startup Items
A slow booting computer is both annoying and time-wasting. If you are experiencing a very slow startup process, you may want to take a look at your login items list and remove some apps from it.
To edit the login items, click the Apple Icon, go to System Preferences, Users & Groups, and choose Login Items. Here, you can either add or remove apps from the list. Make sure you only keep a couple of necessary ones.
Tip #8: Keep a Clean Desktop
A clean desktop can help you become more productive and even make your Mac perform faster. The more items you have on your desktop, the slower your Mac will become because it uses additional system resources to display thumbnails on your screen.
For a quick clean up, you can use Stacks that will group the files on your desktop by their type. To do so, open the desktop, click View from the upper menu, and choose the option Use Stacks.
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