Photoshop is the go-to software for designers looking to create images with a lot of photo manipulation. Because of its dominance in the industry, many new designers don’t take the time to consider other options. But if you’ve been in this business for any length of time, you know that it’s always a good idea to keep your options open.
This article dives into why and how designers are switching from Photoshop to Illustrator on a more regular basis. Keep reading to learn more about these two design programs and whether one might be right for you. You can also take professional adobe classes to sharpen your skills!
What is Adobe Photoshop?
Photoshop is a popular image editing software used by everyone from web designers to photographers. It’s the go-to software for manipulating images, removing unwanted elements, and creating composites with multiple images. Photoshop is often used to edit photographs, but it has many other uses. You can create graphics, design websites, edit videos, and much more with it. Photoshop is great for designers who need to edit photos and create digital art from scratch. The software has a variety of features that make it an excellent choice for digital artists. With Photoshop, you can create elaborate designs, edit images, and create digital artwork from scratch. It’s a complete toolkit for digital creative professionals.
What is Adobe Illustrator?
Like Photoshop, Illustrator is a design software used by creatives in a variety of industries. But unlike Photoshop, Illustrator is specifically geared toward creating vector art. Vector art is created with lines and geometric shapes. It’s computer-generated art that doesn’t rely on pixels like photos do. Because of this, Vector art is infinitely scalable.
You can zoom in or out on it as much as you want without sacrificing quality or resolution. This makes vector art a great choice for logos, illustrations, and any other design that benefits from scalability. Like Photoshop, Illustrator is a complete design toolkit. It comes with the same tools that designers use to create layered artwork. You can create designs from scratch, edit photos, and do much more with it.
3 Reasons to Use Illustrator Instead of Photoshop
Like any other design tool, there are advantages and disadvantages to using Photoshop versus Illustrator. But there are also reasons to choose Illustrator over Photoshop. These are a few reasons to consider switching from Photoshop to Illustrator:
- Illustrator is designed for vector art- Photoshop is designed for pixel art. While you can do vector art in Photoshop, it’s not optimized for it like Illustrator is. If you do a lot of vector art, you’ll likely find Illustrator more efficient.
- Illustrator is designed for collaboration– Unlike Photoshop, Illustrator’s interface is designed to be shared between multiple users. You can easily invite other designers to view and edit your designs with ease.
- Illustrator is a more affordable upfront investment– Photoshop is a great program, and there’s nothing wrong with using it. But Illustrator is a newer program with less legacy attached to it. It’s also cheaper to buy upfront and comes with a host of useful features.
Should You Switch from Photoshop to Illustraor?
There are a couple of things you should consider before fully committing to the switch from Photoshop to Illustrator. First, you want to make sure Illustrator is a good fit for your specific design needs. If you do a lot of photo editing, you may want to keep using Photoshop.
While Illustrator offers many photo editing features, it may not have everything you need. This is especially true for designers who work with HDR (high-dynamic-range) images. While Illustrator can work with HDR photos, it doesn’t offer the same level of functionality as Photoshop. You also want to think about the time and money you’re investing in your design software.
If you’re working with a smaller budget or would like to lower your monthly software cost, you may be able to get by with using Illustrator. Adobe recently lowered the price of the full Creative Cloud suite. But the software still costs more than many designers would like to spend. If you’d like to try out Illustrator but don’t want to make a big upfront investment, you can download the free trial.
Ways to Switch from Photoshop to Illustrator
As with any big shift in your design workflow, switching from Photoshop to Illustrator can be a bit of an adjustment. You don’t want to take too big of a leap at once, or you’ll get frustrated and give up. It’s important to ease into things and make the transition as seamless as possible. Here are a few ways you can start to transition from Photoshop to Illustrator:
- Start small- When you first start using Illustrator, don’t try to take on huge design projects all at once. Start with simple designs, like logos and illustrations.
- Learn the basics– You can’t use Illustrator without first learning the basics of how it works. Fortunately, there are lots of online tutorials that can help you get started.
- Create simple designs– Before you start editing photos in Illustrator, make sure you have a handle on the basics. Then, create simple designs from scratch to get your feet wet.
- Invite collaboration- One of the biggest advantages of Illustrator is that it’s designed for collaboration. If you work with other designers, you can start collaborating in Illustrator now and ease into full-time use.
Conclusion
There are many reasons to consider switching from Photoshop to Illustrator. Both programs offer robust design tools and are excellent for creative professionals. But if you have a lot of photo editing to do or want to work with other designers, you may want to consider choosing Illustrator over Photoshop. When switching to Illustrator, remember to ease into the transition.
Start with simple designs and photo editing tasks. Then, invite collaboration and invite other designers to view and edit your designs. Remember, there’s no rule that says you can’t use both Photoshop and Illustrator. In fact, many designers do just that, using each program when it’s most useful.
