A few years back, I was introduced to FlashPaper as a way of displaying my portfolio work online.

PDFs are most common, but sometimes the file size would be larger than a Flash file. And there were some easier zoom-in and move-around functions that I liked with FlashPaper. FlashPaper files could also be embedded in your site for automatic viewing when your site loaded.

Since most computers had a Flash viewer installed (and still do as I write this) having a portfolio in Flash wasn’t a big deal.

Now, it is.

In fact, I’m in the process of replacing my Flash portfolio pieces with PDFs.

The reason?

My iPhone, and soon-to-be-arriving iPad, don’t like Flash. More specifically, Apple doesn’t like Flash. (If you’re somewhat of a technology geek, you know the Apple vs. Adobe issue that’s been going on since the arrival of the iPhone.)

While the world doesn’t revolve around Apple, there’s enough of a user base (in the millions) that you can’t ignore the fact that their iPhone and iPad won’t display a Flash file.

I trust you can see the dilemma for someone like me who has had all his portfolio pieces in Flash.

It’s not unusual for me to be out somewhere and use my iPhone to show someone my site. But the portfolio pieces are a no-go because they’re all Flash.

Click on one of the Flash pieces and you get a pop-up that basically says, “Yeah, right. Nice try. Ain’t gonna happen.” And from there, a potential client moves on.

With an iPad, my site and portfolio will look even nicer, but I’m going to feel silly if I can’t show people my actual work while we’re on my site. And I certainly don’t won’t people who are browsing the web on their own with those devices to give up and move on.

It doesn’t matter whether you have an iPhone/iPad, or even if hate Apple… the fact is millions of people will be using those two devices. Don’t lock them out from viewing your site and your work.

I know it’s nice to get fancy with your site and portfolio, tossing in whatever technical tricks might be available. But what good is it if large groups of people can’t see it because of technical limitations on mobile devices?

Yes, you could also have a mobile edition of your site. For a freelance direct market designer who works mainly on print projects and doesn’t have website experience, I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble, but that’s just me.

You could hire a specialist in website design to help out. But I know most people reading this blog are beginning direct market designers and my guess is your budget doesn’t cover a web designer at this point. You’re still in DIY-mode when it comes to your site.

As always… just something for you to think about.

When you run a graphic design business, you feel both the excitement and fear of upgrading your computer software. Over the last number of months (and in the next couple of months), we’ve had a number of software upgrades to consider.

For PC users, there has been Windows Vista, Office, QuarkXPress 7 and Adobe’s CS3 products.

For Mac users, QuarkXPress and CS3, along with Leopard that was released last week, and Mac Office which comes out early next year.

When I worked for Microsoft testing Windows, I knew what to expect by the time a new version of Windows was available. That made upgrading a much easier decision. Now, as both a PC and Mac user, and one that has no ties to Microsoft (or Apple for that matter), a new operating system is something to be carefully considered.

Already, there are scattered reports of Adobe CS3 not working 100% with Leopard, so I guess it will be some time before I upgrade my Mac.

But let me give you a little advice to help you make operating system upgrades go a little smoother. (And this will also save you lots of time if your hard-drive crashes and you have to start from scratch.)

1. Create an inventory of all the software you use or depend on for your business. That includes any font management programs, FTP programs, etc. Sometimes we forget programs that we don’t use often, or third-party plug-ins that aren’t obvious. Any one of these might not work after an operating system upgrade, so you want to have an accurate inventory or what you use so you can investigate how it might work after you upgrade your operating system.

2. Next to each software title, note the serial number. This is especially important for software you downloaded where the serial number is sent separately in an e-mail. It’s easy to misplace these serial numbers if you haven’t come up with an organized way of keeping track of them. If you have to reinstall software, you’ll want those serial numbers handy.

3. If the program lends itself to it, take screenshots of your settings or preferences, or export the settings if possible. For example, if you have lots of sites configured in your FTP program, make sure you have that information in a separate place.

Take all that information and either make a hard copy, or an electronic copy, and keep it in a safe place.

4. For your downloaded software, collect all the installation files and put them somewhere easy to find on your hard-drive or burned to a disc in case you have to reload them later. If you installed from a CD, put all those CDs together so they’re easy to find. Unfortunately, a common solution for software that doesn’t work after an operating system upgrade is to reinstall the software. If that’s the case, you don’t want to waste time tracking down all your installation discs or files from various locations.

5. In your browser, bookmark the specific website support pages for your key software. This way, you can quickly find out if there are any updates or what information is available when you’re planning to upgrade your operating system. There’s nothing worse than upgrading your operating system only to find, for example, that your FTP software won’t work with the new operating system and a fix won’t be coming for a couple of months. This is something you want to investigate before you upgrade. And don’t forget to export your bookmarks and keep them in a safe place in case something ever goes wrong with your computer.

Admittedly, it’s a bit of pain to go through all this. But after having upgraded numerous times over the years, I can tell you that taking these steps and keeping your information current is easily worth the up-front time it will take.

When you’re running a freelance design business that is so dependent on your computer, you can’t afford any more downtime than is necessary.

The Christmas/New Years holiday allowed me to get caught up on some podcasts that I had fallen behind on. And in one case, it allowed me the chance to watch all the podcasts of one title I had mentioned here, but never had the time to watch. (It was put on the back burner during my recent move.)

WOW! Was I ever missing out by not watching it sooner.

The podcast is The InDesigner .

Again, allow me to say WOW!

As you might guess from the title, the podcast is about Adobe InDesign. The first few episodes were audio-only, but it’s now video and what a difference it makes.

Unless you consider yourself an InDesign expert, you’re going to learn something. And unlike some of the Photoshop podcasts I subscribe to (which are excellent) each InDesigner episode is going to give you something that you’ll probably be able to put into use immediately.

Host Michael Murphy is an Adobe InDesign Certified Expert and works as a designer for a what I’m guessing is a trade magazine. When you see samples of his work that he uses to illustrate InDesign techniques, you’re going to understand just how amazing InDesign can be.

I subscribe to about eight design-related podcasts, all of them valuable and full of stuff I can use in my business. But The InDesigner is the only one of these podcasts that I actually save on my computer so I can refer back to it if I have to. (Some of this stuff is easy to forget unless you use it everyday.)

The podcast is free, so if you’re an InDesign user and not subscribed to it, you’re flat out missing the boat. Get yourself started on the right foot this year, download all the “back issues” and then keep up with the new ones.

I tried finding a podcast related to Quark since I do have to use that software from time to time, but came up empty. If you know of something, let me know.

Some time back, I may have mentioned Proxy, Adobe’s free online magazine. Turns out they’re relaunching the magazine as Adobe Magazine for Creative Professionals.

The magazine will come out online quarterly, and still be free. You can sign-up now so you get the word when the first issue comes out in January.

You can sign-up here. That site also has links to the prior issues of Proxy.