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Adobe Illustrator vs Adobe Photoshop

Adobe has created two fantastic tools for graphic design and editing in Illustrator and Photoshop. Each has specific advantages that make them worth using. Both are available through a subscription through the Adobe Creative Cloud.

Here are the reasons why Illustrator can provide you with certain advantages.

• It is a vector-image product, allowing users to scale their images to virtually any scale.
• It provides consistency in product branding, whether you use a logo, a mascot, an icon, or a brand ambassador.
• It is capable of creating print-ready designs on a single page, which makes producing business cards, flyers, or posters much easier.
• It allows you to set type for your images, allowing your text to be fully edited into any shape so it can be transformed to meet your specific needs.

Here are the reasons why Photoshop can provide you with certain advantages.

• It works with uploaded images so they can be perfected. Retouching an image with the extensive set of options on this platform can make it perfect.
• Editing artwork for digital or print is possible. Drawings, paintings, or digital graphics can all be edited when using this tool.
• Digital images are easy to produce and export for a variety of needs. This tool allows you to optimize each image so that it performs as expected.
• There is access to layers so elements can be moved around on the image, making adjustments at the level of the pixel so that every change is correctly formatted to any user screen size.

Although Adobe Illustrator is a powerful tool that can accomplish many different tasks, it is not always the perfect platform for any project. If you need to edit an image, Illustrator struggles to complete this task. Photographs and artwork have few options that can be used to make a direct edit on an image.

For editing, Adobe Photoshop is a better option.

Illustrator does an excellent job with projects that only need to be printed on one-page. It is arguably the best one-page platform that is available right now. If you have a project that requires multiple pages, however, there isn’t a lot of flexibility available to users. It is still better than Photoshop in this area.

The best Adobe product for multi-page projects to use would be InDesign.

When Should I Choose Something Besides Photoshop?

Photoshop does an excellent job when an image needs to be edited, but it isn’t the best tool to use if you’re trying to create a logo. It is a platform that is for existing images. If you already have a logo that needs editing, you could potentially use Photoshop, but even then, it isn’t recommended. A logo typically needs to have multiple levels of size availability. Enlarging it will create a pixelated effect.

For logo management, Illustrator is often a better option because of its size scalability features that are available.

Photoshop struggles to handle images that require high levels of textual content. A headline or a short phrase on Photoshop is easy enough to handle, but if you need to go beyond 1-2 sentences, you’ll find it to be a frustrating tool to use. It’s good for advertising copy or the occasional graphic to be displayed on a website or social media.

For graphics with larger areas of text, Illustrator is a better option as well. Because of its text-editing features, you’ll have more options available to you when it comes to finalizing your design.

What Is the Best Option to Consider?

The best option for Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop is the complete collection. For $50 per month, you gain access to the entire suite of Adobe products. This includes InDesign, Illustrator Draw, and Typekit.

You can also choose to subscribe to a monthly subscription plan for the individual tools for $19.99 per month, plus whatever local sales taxes that may apply. You can prepay the plan if you wish as well, but there isn’t a discount to do so. Without a contract, the price goes up to $29.99 per month, but can be canceled at any time.

If you only want Illustrator and Photoshop, you could subscribe to both individually at $39.98 per month with an annual contract. That would save about $10 per month over the full Creative Cloud subscription.

Whatever you choose to do, Illustrator and Photoshop both provide powerful options for designers to create their best work. Know the strengths of both platforms to ensure that you make the right investment.

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