Class:MFA Illustration 2025/Week 2

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< Class:MFA Illustration 2025
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Last Week

  • Introductions and backgrounds
  • Review class intro questionnaire
  • Open questions and discussion

This Week

  • Intro to Gear
  • Intro to healthy computer habits
  • First Assignment

Open Questions

Links

Notes Gear

Basic Hardware

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Unix/Linux

Memory (RAM)

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the working space the machine uses while an application is open. Photoshop does not store your file in RAM, it works on it there. Run out and the system starts swapping to disk, which is why a heavy layered file at 600 dpi suddenly crawls.

Whether you can add more later depends entirely on what kind of machine you bought.

Laptops: you buy it once, at checkout

On every Apple silicon Mac the memory sits on the same package as the processor. There is no slot and no aftermarket upgrade, no matter the price. This is true of the desktop Macs too: Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro all ship with fixed memory.

Most thin Windows laptops solder their memory to the board for the same reason. Two exceptions worth knowing:

  • Thicker PC laptops and mobile workstations often still use SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) slots. Kingston currently sells DDR5 (Double Data Rate 5) SODIMMs up to 48 GB, so these machines are still being made.
  • LPCAMM2 (Low Power Compression Attached Memory Module 2) is a newer replaceable module now appearing in some Lenovo and Dell machines. Real, but still a minority.

If you are buying a laptop, decide your memory at order time. There is no second chance.

What memory costs right now

Memory prices have roughly doubled since 2025 because manufacturers redirected DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) production to AI (Artificial Intelligence) data center customers. From the Tom's Hardware price index, last updated 14 September 2026:

  • DDR5, 16 GB: $239
  • DDR5, 32 GB: $409
  • DDR5, 64 GB: $889
  • DDR4, 32 GB: $190

Prices move weekly. Check the tracker before you buy anything, and check it again before you believe a deal.

Where to buy

How much to buy

Floor
16 GB. Standard on a MacBook Air. Survivable for drawing and single-document work.
Recommended for this program
24 GB to 32 GB. Handles a large layered Photoshop file, Illustrator, and a browser full of reference at once without swapping.
Video, 3D, or local AI models
32 GB and up.

On a laptop, buy memory before you buy storage. You can hang an external SSD off the machine later, you cannot hang external memory off it. On a tower, that tradeoff does not apply because both are replaceable.

Storage (Hard Drive)

Hard Drive Basics

Traditional Spinning Platters
7200rpm, 5200rpm, 4500rpm
Faster is always better!
Solid State Drives (SSD)
Standard internal drives in modern hardware.
Fast, expensive...
Flash Drives
Meh. Handy in a pinch, don't depend on them!
External Drives
Big 3.5" drives that have a plug.
Great for Archiving
Not portable, need power
Stay away from multi-drive boxes!
Portable 2.5" drives
Great for transporting files around, kinda backup.
Bus powered, many types.
Faster is STILL always better!
http://www.imore.com/mac-portable-usb-drive-roundup-best-little-drives-your-mac
Internal Drives
What do we mean by internal drive? [these!]
Cheapest storage option, great investment tho.
Need a [hard drive dock tho]
Drive Arrays
One enclosure for multiple internal drives.
http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?m=192&region=en-global&rsn1=40&rsn3=47
http://addonics.com/
http://drobo.com/ (Recommended)

Hard Drive Recommendations

Desktop Drives
Gdrives are good: http://www.g-technology.com/
A hard drive "Dock" and internal hard drives is a great low cost solution for at home backup.
Sabrent Dual Bay Hard Drive Docking Station up to 5Gbps
OWC Drive Dock USB-C Dual Drive for Mac and PC
Internal 2tb or 3tb SATA drives (7200rpm or faster) - http://amzn.to/2cPaJLW
Portable Drives
Wirecutter reviews are good, not designer/illustrator specific - https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-portable-hard-drive/
  1. Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB - http://amzn.to/2dfBjvE
  2. Lacie 2tb usb-c (fast) - https://amzn.to/2NCuSIo
  3. SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD (wicked fast) - https://amzn.to/2zqDadM

Cloud Storage

World Backup Day 2023: Best Cloud Storage Software Options
Dropbox is a force for good, my referral code to sign up is:
https://db.tt/usQuGwKR

Flatbed Scanners

Added a full guide on Scanners for artists (Mostly flatbed) to the front page.

Shopping

Shops in NYC
CAVA http://www.sva.edu/student-life/cava
5 Apple Stores
B&H photo http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Online
https://www.macsales.com/
http://store.apple.com
http://www.newegg.com
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.journeyed.com

Notes Healthy Computers

Backup Plans

  1. Manual Backup
    • Free
    • You have to do it
  2. Apple Time Machine
    • You already have it if you are using OS X 10.5 or later.
    • You need to have a dedicated external (or internal hard drive for this).
    • You can also consider a dedicated wireless Time Capsule as the storage device: http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/
  3. Backup Software
  4. Cloud Backup

Online File Storage

Mouse & Tablets

OS X 101

  • Users
  • Files
  • Your Library
    • User folder (Shift - Command - G "~/Library")

Shortcuts

  • Finder:
    • New window: command - n
    • View as icon: command - 1
    • View as list: command - 2
    • View as column: command - 3

Things to remember about healthy computers

Do this every week!

  1. Run disk utility Verify
  2. Run cocktail http://www.maintain.se/cocktail
    • Pilot, turn on all the options
    • restart
  3. Clear ALL caches
    • joshua HD > Library > Caches >
    • joshua HD > System > Library > Caches >
    • joshua HD > [username] > Library > Caches >
  4. Restart
  5. Delete trash

Introduction to Scanning (for pro Illustrators)

We will use this resource in class since we don't have a scanner in the room
Epson scanning online reference

Video Notes

Assignment

For this week your assignments outlined on this pdf:

I have cleared some space and created a Google Drive folder for the class. I will create a directory for each assignment and populate a folder for each of you.

Please upload your original scans, and any photoshop files to your folder here:

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