You would be hard pressed to find a graphic designer that doesn’t use a MacBook or an iMac. But did you know that there are some things you can do on your MacBook to get the most out of it if you are using it for graphic design – Tip #1: Speed up your Mac No one wants to deal with a computer that is annoyingly slow, especially not when it comes to your graphic design. There are a bunch of things you can do that will be discussed in detail to help you optimize your MacBook. But here is a small snippet of what you can do to speed up your Mac – clean it regularly, restart your system, get rid of unnecessary files and optimize storage. Tip #2: Use the right software There are designated applications that are industry picks that work really well on the Apple laptop. If you try to use a watered down version of it or an alternative, you may not get the right results. For instance, if you are looking at photography software for mac, then your best options are to choose from Preview (a free in-built tool), Apple Photos, Luminar or Adobe Lightroom. The tool you choose depends on the complexity of the task, your level of expertise and comfort using it and the output you are looking to get out of it. Tip #3: Update your system and apps It is imperative that you always run the latest operating system and version of the app. Along with performance issues, there are some important security patches that get released that are necessary for you to install so that your data is safe and your computer is fast. Tip #4: Upgrade your RAM Your computer’s performance is largely dependent on the amount of RAM. If you have an older MacBook, you may run into performance issues when trying to render your videos or photos. You can upgrade your system by increasing your RAM. Or, purchase a new laptop that has at least 32 GB of RAM. Tip #5: Close other apps When you’re trying to get your graphic design work done, close all other apps except the ones you need. This will free up RAM and make your work much faster. If you cannot afford to quit all other apps, try to identify the ones that are resource intensive by looking at the Activity Monitor and closing those at the very least. Tip #6: Clean up your Mac The easiest way to speed up your laptop is to clean up unnecessary files and get rid of apps you no longer need. For graphic design especially, a lot of cache data is created by those apps so it is essential you clear your cache regularly. It only takes a couple of minutes but you will notice a measurable improvement once you clear your cache. You should do this on a regular basis. It does take time to go through all the files if you are doing it for the first time or try doing it regularly. You can use cleaning tools designed for this purpose to find duplicate files, temporary files, old files that can be deleted safely. Tip #7: Have a clean desktop You may not have known this but the icons on your desktop take up space in your RAM. Since all screenshots land on the desktop along with important files, it is important to keep it as decluttered as possible. You can either manually sift through all your screenshots and make sure you still need them or delete them once you’re done with it. The other way to have minimal icons on your desktop is to use the ‘Use Stacks’ option. This neatly arranges all your icons into larger categories and folders. This decluttering also prevents visual clutter that can lead to cognitive fatigue. So, it has multiple benefits if you intend to use the MacBook for graphic design. Tip #8: Get rid of startup items There are a lot of apps and processes that begin as soon as you launch your computer. These are called login items. Most often you do not need any of them and you can prevent these from starting up in the first place by visiting your System Preferences and disabling these login items. Tip #9: Have the best configuration Having any MacBook is not going to give you the best results. You need to have the right configurations. For instance, you should have at least 8 GB of RAM but try to purchase the model that has the highest RAM. For internal SSD storage, you should purchase the 256 GB model otherwise you will start running out of space almost immediately. Similarly, you also need the right graphics card like an eGPU and finally have the best possible display. In summary The MacBook is a good option for graphic designers given its popularity and with a little bit of upkeep and maintenance, you can have a far better experience using apps and the MacBook in general for your graphic design work.
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