Adobe Graphics Software

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What Do All of the Adobe Pro-grams Do?Adobe creates a lot of programs, many of which I found myself unfamiliar with until recently. Most people know about Flash, Photoshop and Adobe Reader. But those aren’t the the only programs Adobe develops. Here’s a quick guide to understand some of Adobe’s software programs.

What is Adobe Photo-shop?Photoshop is the go-to image editing and manipula-tion software used by almost everyoe in the industry. Photoshop excels in working with raster (bitmap) graphics and is capable of producing highly detailed compositions. While originally intended to be a photo manipulation program, Photoshop has been taken up by digital painters and design professionals in both the classroom and workplace.

Recent versions have brought in functionality for wor-king with 3D designs, though the program still prima-rily garnishes the most respect in its photo manipulati-

on and post-production ability.

What is Adobe Illustrator?Illustrator is the Photoshop of vector art, also known as resolution-independent graphics. By comparison, Photoshop is used to create raster art, also known as bitmap graphics.

Raster vs. VectorThe key difference between the two is that vector has less detail but can be resized larger infinitely without loss of quality. Vector is also comprised of lines, cur-ves, and geometric data. Whereas in contrast raster graphics are composed of individual pixels. Illustrator is typically used to create logos and graphics for bu-siness cards, infographics, clipart, and icons. Because vectors are not size dependent, a design could be used on a small card but then scaled to the size of a billbo-ard without a loss in quality. Another thing to note is that vector can be easily converted to raster, but it is a one way transfer as raster cannot be converted back without difficulty.

What is Adobe InDesign?InDesign does page layouts. It allows you to produce and preview documents for magazines, both in print and online across mobile and desktop platforms. It of-fers more precision with typography than Photoshop, but less in the graphics department. InDesign is made for publishing. Ideally projects rendered are newspa-pers, posters, and other marketing material. The way InDesign works allows content producers to easily pie-ce together the layouts for multipage magazines and documents. InDesign operates seamlessly with the rest of the Adobe suite, to enhance creative ability. The latest version incorporates interactive HTML within documents to allow web publishing.

Overall, if you need to create a layout for something with a lot of text and graphics, InDesign is just about the best software out there for it.

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Adobe PhotoshopWhat is Photoshop?The most important thing to know about Photoshop is that it is a pixel based program. Photoshop was primarily created in the beginning as a photograph enhancing tool and not so much anything else like it is used today. Adobe has recognized that many users were starting to use Photoshop to create elaborate UI designs, web page graphics, banner ADs, text effects and more. Adobe then started rolling out features that help designers create images for print, web, motion graphics and so on. However, again, the problem is that there are certain times when Photoshop is not needed (gasp!) to create certain projects.

• Photoshop is generally used for:• Photo enhancement/Photo color correction• Software/Web/Mobile UI design• Web graphics• Motion graphics• Special effects

Common mistakes/mis-conceptionsOne common misconception is the idea that it is good to use Photoshop to create stationary systems and logo’s. For the sake of yourself, please take this idea outside the window. Let’s talk about business cards as an example. There is an alarming number of tutorials online that shows you how to create business cards in Photoshop. These are what I call “bad tutorials” that teaches you the wrong way of creating a business card. Despite the result and outcome of these tutorials be-ing amazing, or perhaps you can even get it printed and it will look fine, it is a bad practice to get into an habit. Just because the result looks fine don’t mean the practice is the best way.

Illustrator superior in printFirst off Illustrator type is by far superior in print output than Photoshop is. Yes Photoshop can output type, and even in vector “paths”. Yes Photoshop can bring in vector objects as “smart objects”. Yes Photo-shop can draw paths using the pen tool. But the most

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important thing out of all this is that IN THE END, it is outputted as pixel data. Yes I am aware that it also depends on the file output. For instance, .TIFF does not output vector data but does output layer informa-tion and transparency. But .EPS does support vector output, yet it still doesn’t mean this is the best practice to do so. So should you never use Photoshop to create business cards? There are times you actually want to use Photoshop to create business cards.

When to use Photoshop for business cardsIf your business cards contain any textures, photogra-phy, special effects, blurs (not that I am encouraging

this), or any type of pixel based design, Photoshop is obviously the best way to go. However, remember to output ANY pixel based art work in 300 ppi resolu-tion with CMYK color mode. Do not output it RGB. If you have Photoshop filters in your artwork, chang-ing your work to CMYK mode, or even applying cer-tain filters in CMYK mode seem to look desaturated or not look too good.

CMYK and RGBThe work around to this: Create all your special ef-fects, filter effects, etc in RGB mode. Flatten the work (merge layers) after you feel that your work in Photoshop is complete, and change the color mode

to CMYK. Again, you will regret not switching color modes to CMYK after you send it off to the printer. Your result will look significantly different than you hoped for.

Do not use Photoshop for typeFor the love of all things that you love, do not use Photoshop to set type in your print projects. It is im-portant to note that I am not saying you should never use the type tool in Photoshop. I am stating that it is not a good idea to use it in print projects.

Never use Photoshop to create logo’s. The obvious reason is because pixel data cannot be enlarged with-out distortion. If you create the logo in vector format, your logo will be scalable to any size forever.

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When to use Ado-be PhotoshopPlain and simple, Photoshop is for creating and editing photos and raster (pixel) based art work. The program was originally developed as a tool to enhance photo-graphs, but over time its functionality has developed to the point where it can be used to create:

• User interface designs• Web pages

• Banner ads• Video graphics• Editing pictures for print

Because there is so much information about Photo-shop out there in the form of tutorials and guides, some people feel that it’s all you need – a one stop shop. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The problem is that there are instances when you don’t need to use Photoshop, and should in fact be using Illustrator or InDesign.

Don’t’ create logos in Pho-toshopDo not create logos with Photoshop – It’s a bad idea that will do nothing but cost you time and money. Again, Photoshop is pixel, or raster based. If you cre-ate a logo with it, the files that it creates can not be enlarged or manipulated in the same manner that an Illustrator-based logo can.

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Adobe IllustratorWhat is Adobe IllustratorWell as the program states, Adobe Illustrator is a vec-tor based drawing program. It is primarily used to cre-ate vector graphics that require to be scalable in print and for future uses. Adobe Illustrator is very similar to drawing programs like Adobe Fireworks (Macro-media Fireworks in the early 2000’s), and Corel Draw. It is superior in creating logo’s and logotype, and has an awesome type setting system within the program. Adobe Illustrator does one thing Photoshop can never meet up to its standard, and that is vector output. Whatever you create in Illustrator is scalable to the infinite power.

Illustrator is generally used for:Logo/Logotype/Monogram/Insignia designType setting for stationary systems/print campaignsWeb graphicsMotion graphicsVector paintings/Illustrations

Common mistakes/mis-conceptionsAlthough Illustrator can be used to create websites in the fullest degree, Photoshop is still ideally the best program in creating UI designs and other graphical elements for your website. Of course it will not be as harmful as creating business cards in Photoshop, but you will quickly find that the snapping feature in Photoshop is much precise in terms of pixels than Illustrator is.

No animationsIllustrator cannot do animation. If you are looking to do flash animation, Illustrator will not do this for you. The best practice is to create graphics in Illustrator and bring them into Flash for the principle animation.

Illustrator filters do not work the same way as Photo-shop filters. You will be surprised in how many people

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think the filters work the same way as Photoshop. This is false.

The prime time to use Il-lustratorAs stated above, Illustrator is excellent for logo design, trademark design, logotype, type setting stationary systems, and creating greeting cards or wedding invita-

tions.

After the release of Illustrator CS4, it is now possible to create simple to complex brochures, annual reports, and even books in Illustrator CS4 and up. The only draw back to this is that it does not have master page utility in Illustrator like Indesign. It also does not sup-port book templates and page numbers like Indesign. Although Illustrator CS4 and up has support for mul-tiple artboards to create “pages”, it is simply there to create short page brochures, or when you want to out-put multiple PDF pages of your design variations to show your clients.

Illustrator and After Ef-fectsIllustrator also has cross platform compatibility with Aftereffects. Importing .EPS files that contain text drawn in Illustrator is essentially better than import-ing .TIFF files that contain text drawn in Photoshop.

Aftereffects support vector data to a certain degree during production (continuous rasterize).

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IllustratorAdobe Illustrator is an advanced vector-based soft-ware. So, unlike Photoshop’s pixel-based format, it uses mathematical constructs to create vector graph-ics. In Illustrator, a line is composed of two dots con-nected by a computer algorithm, instead of just a line of pixels. Because of this, Illustrator is used often to create logos or anything that may need to be printed or displayed at different sizes. A vector graphic will never lose its quality if it’s scaled up or down.

Illustrator will also give you a better print output since

it’s not resolution dependent.

A drawback of Illustrator is that it can’t be used easily to modify images that are already created, since there are limited filters and image editing tools available to you.

When to use Adobe Illus-tratorIllustrator, as its name suggests, is for creating and ed-iting vector based illustrations such as logos and brand marks or other design elements. Vector graphics are scalable images that can be sized as small or as large as you need them to be, and still maintain their resolution and clarity.

Not for multi-page docu-mentsWhile it is possible to create multi-page documents with Illustrator for items like brochures or annual re-ports, there are a few drawbacks to using the program

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in this way: Illustrator doesn’t have a way to setup master pages the way that InDesign does. This is a necessary tool when you’re building documents that use templates.

No page numbersIllustrator doesn’t allow you to automate page num-bers. This is another feature InDesign supports, which can be especially useful when dealing with larger docu-ments.

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Adobe IndesignThere isn’t much confusion making when it comes to Adobe Indesign. Since Adobe Indesign itself is pretty specific in terms of what it can do and what it doesn’t do, while Photoshop and Indesign both share similar tools, interface, and abilities to create web graphics to in almost identical level.

Indesign is generally used for:

• Editorial design• Book design• Multiple page brochures• Annual reports• Interactive PDF documents

Common mistakes/mis-conceptionsAlthough it is possible to “draw” objects in Indesign, it is not superior to drawing as it is with Illustrator. You should not draw elements in Indesign, but in-stead, use programs such as Illustrator or Photoshop to draw out the elements and import them into Inde-sign. Indesign also does not have filters like Photo-shop. Creating a logo in Indesign is next to impossible.

Better layoutAlthough there isn’t much misconception with In-design, there is much wide spread debate about Il-lustrator having better layout support than Indesign. Indesign however has better layout support, if not, identical to Illustrator.

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InDesignNow that you know the difference between Photo-shop and Illustrator, there are a few other Adobe graphics software that you probably have wondered about, like InDesign.

InDesign works best when it comes to making multi-page layouts with a lot of written content, like maga-zines or books. It’s still best to stick with Photoshop and Illustrator to create graphics and then send them over to InDesign if you’re working on a book or PDF, since you’ll have more options and control over your creations. But don’t worry, InDesign will preserve the

vector images you created in Illustrator.

When to use Adobe InDe-signThere should be no confusion about when to use In-Design – its specific purpose is for laying out printed materials; that’s what it is designed to do. This could be brochures, newsletters, ads, business cards or books. Virtually anything that is made up of a combi-nation of blocks of text, photos or other artwork. Its purpose is to take the elements that you create in Il-lustrator and Photoshop and put them together in one place.

Multi-page layoutsInDesign excels at projects that require multi-page layouts or master layouts where one theme reoccurs on multiple pages. Its text wrap functionality (where you can literally wrap text around images or objects) is much simpler and easier to use than it is in Illustrator.

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People can, and do, put together layouts with Photo-shop or Illustrator. However, in doing so, they often create files that are needlessly huge or put together in ways that are not optimal for commercial printers to use. InDesign, however, packages everything for you – all of your fonts and images. It does this so that you can hand off these materials to your printer and they can make your layout work in the exact manner that you intended.

Limitations of InDesignWhile InDesign is a powerful tool, it does have its limitations. For one, it doesn’t have any photo editing capabilities. InDesign does give you the ability to draw vector graphics, like those you might find in a logo, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what you can do with Illustrator.

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