Adobe Illustrator is the best software to use when creating vectors of shapes, making typographic effects, and scanning hand drawn images to make digital traces for smooth lines. When using illustrator, images will be less pixelated or altered if the images are expanded and stretched. The flexible art board space also lets a user work outside the page space, and still keep the work visible. You can use this platform to make digital logos for websites or prints, design layouts, or even scan in a hand drawing to make cleaner lines.
How to best use Illustrator:
- Make vector shapes out of low resolution images, for example: logos, icons, emojis, silhouettes, drawings, etc.
- Layout has a simple setup for shape building and vector making vs. other Adobe platforms
- Color guide is easier to handle. Simply shows groups of matching color schemes, vs. Photoshop color guide has more in depth options
- Has more complex grouping options: can select groups, and then groups within groups
- Connecting lines and paths are made easier, and bold lines are already traced and created while making a pathway
- Good for project sketching; can scan and upload a sketch that can be traced and become non-pixelated
Compare:
Illustrator vs Photoshop
- Illustrator works more in vectorized images, where lines are smooth no matter what the size of the project, and Photoshop works mostly in pixels
- Illustrator has a much more flexible art board space which allows designs to be created and visible outside the canvas
- In Photoshop, creations are confined only to the canvas
- This makes illustrator great for sketching design ideas because they can easily be pushed to the side