PSIG News: Survey results are in!
December 20, 2001

Between October and December of 2001, surveys were given out at the PSIG meetings for members to fill out and return. They were intended to provide a snapshot of where we are as a group, and to help structure the goals and activities of the group's future. Following is a summary of the member surveys collected at the fall meetings.

There are 29 "official/known" members of the PSIG. Sixteen unique surveys were turned in. Considering that a usual meeting has between 10 an 15 members attending, this is a good representation of the group, but is by no means the total picture.

Version 6

The good news is that everyone is using Photoshop, and the majority of respondents (9 people) are using version 6. We hope to have access to 6 as a group, however this is dependent on the Polytech Department and their upgrade schedule. So for now, the hands-on part of the meetings will be working with version 5.5.

Other Applications

Man cannot live on Photoshop alone. And our members reported that they use a variety of additional software with Photoshop – 20 different applications, to be exact. Of these, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe GoLive, Adobe LiveMotion, and QuarkXPress were the most used, and also the most requested applications that members want to see how to use with Photoshop.

Peripherals

Good news for scanners and cameras. All respondents reported having a scanner, and 13 people said they had a digital camera. Both are great topics for future meeting programs.

Photoshop and the Web

The existing PSIG section on the MACNJ website did not seem to get attention. That was the partial reason for the redesign which you see now. However, PSIG members do use the web for Photoshop resources. All links recommended by the members have been added to the links section.

Where We Go From Here

There were a few good recommendations as to what our programming should consist of in the future. Look for some "real-world" problems and solutions exploring a variety of Photoshop's features.

As chairman of the group, I would like to see more members get involved, from presenting their problems in the question and answer sessions to sharing their experiences, to presenting at the meetings. If anyone wants to get involved or has any other ideas to help improve our group, please let me know. Together we can keep the SIG strong and help it grow. Thank you for your support.