Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator: Future for Graphic Design

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are both tools developed by Adobe. Photoshop is raster-based or pixel-based software mainly used for photo editing and laying out digital designs etc. Adobe Illustrator is vector-based software used for creating and editing vector based illustrations such as logos and brand marks. Both tools features have been refined over the years on the basis of lots of feedback and testing. Both are used in Graphic Design Industry but for different purposes.

Uses of Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is for creating and editing photos and raster-based art work. It was originally developed to improve photographs, but over time its functionality has developed to the point where it can be used to create:

• User interface designs
• Web page designing
• Banner ads
• Video graphics
• Editing pictures for print

Uses of Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is used for creating and editing vector based illustrations Vector graphics are scalable images that can be resized as per the requirement and still maintain their resolution and clarity. It can be used for creating:

• Logos
• Brand Marks
• Wireframes
• Illustrations

Some of the pros and cons of both the software are discussed below:

Photoshop

Pros

• Commonly used by designers and developers
• Work on raster images
• Many effects features
• Provides great option to work on layers and control them within files
• Designs can be exported in different formats for developers
• Widespread photography editing tools

Cons

• A bitmap graphic cannot be resized without pixelation or loss of quality
• Cannot create complex vector elements
• Elements not created in vector cannot be converted

Illustrator

Pros

• Commonly used by designers
• Work mainly on vector images
• Not a photography editing tools

• Images and elements can be ‘linked’ so they can be updated externally and then ‘refresh’ within the design as they change
• Images can be reshaped and resized while retaining all of its quality.
• Exports directly to SVG and vector formats

Cons

• Not as many effects control as Photoshop
• CPU intensive when exporting anything other than vector files
• Layers structure is not good as Photoshop

Conclusions

Photoshop will never go to be a redundant program. Apart from graphics, it also incorporates video editing, animation and 3D Design. For website designing, it will be the resilient leader for the foreseeable future.

But with the current trend for flat, minimal responsive web design, it’s seeing as if Illustrator should be considered a viable option, especially as developers favor vector output such as SVG. 
 

It would be difficult to comment which one is better. Both are used for different purposes. So, it’s better to use a combination of both depending upon the requirement to take advantage of the features available with both of them.

At ADMEC, keeping in mind both the software, we have designed short term and long term courses for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. We are at constant practice to make sure that our students learn from the basic and go to the advance level. We make them work on live Projects to enhance their skills and which will also give them a feel to see what are the latest trends in the industry.