Computers are part of the artists' professional practice. Sometimes for the actual content of your work, but in every case, the computer is used for bookkeeping, writing bills, communicating, publicity and promotion.

Purchase
As well as making the choice between a desktop or a laptop, you also need to choose an operating system. The most commonly used operating systems are Windows and Mac OS X. Which choice you make depends on your personal preferences and the purposes which you use your computer for. People who work in creative professions often strongly prefer the operating system Mac OS X, which runs on Apple computers. The most common software programmes are available for Windows as well as Mac OS X.

Do you have little budget, think about buying a secondhand computer. This can be better than a cheap supermaket deal.

Talk to people who work with the same applications. Find information on the internet on forums and of course the best price. A depreciation period of three years is customary.

Speed of the computer
There are a number of ways to improve the speed of your computer without having to make new purchases:

• Make sure that the desk top is not overcrowded
• Throw away what you do not need
• Do not forget to empty the trash after a tidying up operation
• Defragment your hard disk now and then
• Give your computer an update each year: remove and reinstall everything.
  

Questions
The better you can formulate your question, the faster and easier you will find the answer. Use Google or the electronic reference work that can be found in the menu of the programme in question under Help. Look for your subject there. You will usually also find a summary or an introduction that makes it all clear.

Prevent loss of files
Losing files containing your work is a disaster, of course… and this is not an imaginary risk. The mechanical parts of the computer, such as the hard disk, may crash or break down without prior warning. It is, therefore, a sensible precaution to store everything you make in two places. Make copies (back-ups) of your work regularly and store them on a CD, DVD, an external hard disk or a USB stick.

To be perfectly sure that you won’t lose your work, store your back-ups at another location, for example, in a safe.

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