ILLUSTRATOR VS PHOTOSHOP
Illustrator and Photoshop are both made by Adobe. What are the differences between the two programs and why use one instead of the other?
ILLUSTRATOR
Illustrator is vector based and calculates mathematically from point to point.
Illustrator works with anchor points and straight or curved line segments or paths.
Objects in Illustrator will look smooth and sharp regardless of the size at which it is displayed or printed. File size in Illustrator is usually smaller in size than that created in Photoshop.
Print quality is dependent on printer resolution.
Illustrator is good for logos, typography, and illustrations and for creating sharp, smooth edges.
PHOTOSHOP
Photoshop, like the name suggests, was initially created for manipulating and adjusting photographs. Today, it is an industry workhouse with a wide variety of uses.
Photoshop is bitmap/raster/ pixel based. Pixels are tiny squares that can be seen when images are highly magnified. They are the “building blocks” of the program.
Files created in Photoshop tend to be large or “heavy”
Printout quality is dependent on image resolution.
Photoshop is good for creating/manipulating images with subtle gradations – such as photographs.
Photoshop can also be used to create (drawn or painted) artwork from scratch.
The beauty of both Illustrator and Photoshop is the ability to move back and forth from one to the other, by copying and pasting, or by exporting.
Additionally, Adobe products tend to have similar interfaces that could make it both familiar and/or confusing for beginners.
TIP – One of the most important aspects of learning any software is to know where tools, menus and palettes are located.
* All palettes are under the Window menu in Illustrator and in Photoshop.
