Adobe Illustrator Reviews

The nice thing about Adobe Illustrator is you can do anything you want, as far as manipulating graphics and creating any digital artwork or illustration imaginable. It's so versatile in what you can do, that it also can seem very complex to the novice.

But if you stick with it and use it consistently or take some tutorials, once you learn the ins and outs of Adobe Illustrator, you begin to realize what it's capable of. I have used Inkscape and affinity designer and though I use affinity designer (due to the simplicity and quickness at some tasks), I always turn to Adobe Illustrator when I need to do more complex tasks.

I am old school, and typically like drawing by hand. The great thing about digital design is you can still get a tablet and draw by hand if you like. This is obvious to many people but some may not be aware or haven't made the jump over to trying a drawing tablet yet. If you haven't tried one and you love drawing with traditional media, you are going to love working with a tablet in Illustrator.

The biggest con I can think of is the learning curve. When first starting to use Adobe Illustrator is it can seem very complex. So when you're new, is a pretty big learning curve. With that said, I still am learning after 5+ years.

For this reason, I recommend taking some tutorials or classes to understand what illustrator is capable of and for learning what every tool does. Taking tutorials also gives you an insight into how to creatively use tools for different purposes.

I know when I first learned Illustrator. I had a good idea of what most tools did. But I just wasn't aware of the different use cases on how to creatively construct my artwork, actually using the tools. It was something that slowed me down, compared to just grabbing a pencil and paper and sketching out my vision.

But once you learn to use the different tools together, you start to get a flow going and you get quicker with time.

Writing about Illustrator is very passionate. One of the most important Pros of the program is its solid foundation, built over decades. Yes! Decades.

Therefore, the main resources of the illustration industry are here. Shapes, Fills, lines, vectors, compositions. Ease of basic understanding of features.

Learning curve, of the basic resources is fast. Numerous editing possibilities (the limit is your creation)
high degree of SVG compatibility.

These are, for me, the best reasons to use AI since 2011.

Against the grain, AI presents a high consumption of computer resources. RAM, VRAM, Processor, these are abundantly consumed by the program. The more you have, the more it will consume.

With the exception of the SVG format, any non-native format will have serious compatibility problems, causing constant breaks.

The learning curve for advanced items is complex and requires more effort than other programs in the same category.

However, in my opinion, the X of the question is: Is Adobe Illustrator the program of the future for vectors? or was he stuck in time and his Status Quo?

Highly versatile and powerful vector editor: Adobe Illustrator is a highly versatile and powerful vector editor that allows users to create complex designs with precision and control.Wide range of features and capabilities: Adobe Illustrator offers a wide range of features and capabilities, including advanced vector tools, rasterization, and support for a wide variety of file formats.Large community of users and resources: Adobe Illustrator has a large community of users and resources, including online forums, tutorials, and user groups, which can be helpful for users looking to learn new skills or troubleshoot issues.

Steep learning curve: Adobe Illustrator has a steep learning curve, and may be difficult for users who are new to vector editing or design.High cost: Adobe Illustrator is a paid software, and may be expensive for users who are on a tight budget.Large file sizes: Adobe Illustrator files can be large, which can be a problem for users who need to work with large files or who have limited storage space.

Adobe illustrator is completely scalable and works well with designing logos and cartoons which is what I basically do. You also have in-panel editing which makes it better. It is user-friendly too.

The fact that it offers limited support for raster graphics and that it requires a lot of patience. The loading time is also very high, comparatively.

Apart from being an excellent design software, it is a most compatible software with many files extensions. It allows us to read and manipulate our client demands in excellent speed and accuracy.

There are so many things you can do in Illustrator I only wish there could be more, things like automatic nesting objects or to improve the simplify path tool.

Wow, what an amazing software. Adobe Illustrator, although may look very intimidating when you first open it (believe me, I know), is such an easy-to-use software once you get the hang of it. But you really want to get the hang of it first.
I have found so many online tutorials (video and articles) that demonstrate how to create vector images, how to use specific tools in Illustrator, and also how to learn the basics around the program. These are beneficial to someone like me, who has received some in-school training on these design programs but had to really learn on my own once I started working. The BEST thing about this software is the large number of online resources available (for FREE) for creating, learning and utilizing Illustrator in the best possible way.

Although this product is much easier to use the more you use it or the more you have classes/training, it can be very intimidating for those who aren't in a Graphic Design role. Myself, I am not a graphic designer, so sometimes this program really confuses me. Especially when I use other programs like Photoshop and InDesign.
So, the biggest con I would say is the confusion it can cause. If you aren't a tech-savvy person, who will go on Youtube to watch tutorials on how to work on a program, then this app may be too confusing for you. The design programs require a lot of learning and patience to understand how they work. Especially a lot of on-your-own learning as Illustrator is one of those programs you learn as you go.

The possibility of having several drawing sheets in one file is great, this makes it easier to keep related collections in a single project file. I also like the many options for importing and exporting formats, with asset profiles.

There are some things that I find confusing, as they mix what's on the project/file level and what's on the application level. For example, there are settings in the export profile that are saved within your ".ai" project, but there are others, such as the folder where "export to screens", which are at the application level. So you sometimes export to the wrong place, and you always have to know where you are exporting to, this confuses you when building game assets, for example, where there are sometimes hundreds of files in the same general project (several ".ai" ).

Easy-to-use and easy-to-learn. Its menus and toolbar are intuitive and offer a wide range of action or tools to create your artwork. Starting from simple shapes till really complex projects.

You may contact the Adobe support at any time if needed. There are also a lot of helpful resources online, so you only have to ask to figure out any issue.

It allows creating vector projects that are completely scalable and so perfect for any use.

It works on almost any OS. It is the most complete vector graphic design software at the moment, even if Affinity Designer is becoming very competitive and is turning out to be a good alternative to Illustrator.

You might encounter some bug while working on Illustrator. It may happen that the software will crash while using it so pay attention to activate the recovery option and to compulsively save your work to avoid the loss of the work done.

It's a little bit expensive, considering that Affinity Designer is increasing its features at an unbeatable price.

Work on Windows, Mac, iPad, and even on iPhone with limited features.
You can have multiple artboards when designing in Illustrator.
A lot of tools to make your workflow easier. For building shapes, it has tools like pen tool, Pathfinder and shape builder.
It has a dynamic gradient feature, which means your gradient is not limited to a linear or radial gradient. You can create a gradient with as many colors and as many points as you like and you can change the position of those color points too. Now our gradient colors can go into multiple directions. So no need to create multiple gradient layers and blend those.
Advanced features to round the corners of sharp corners. You can make rounded corner by putting value as well as you can drag a small icon near points with mouse.
One of the reason to use Adobe Creative Cloud softwares is their Echo System. You can use your work designed in Illustrator and directly Import in After Effects.
You can also copy elements from Illustrator (Ctrl+C) and directly paste it in Photoshop (Ctrl+V). And this also works in Sketch for Mac.
There are a lot of features like perspective tool, If you wanna create an illustration in a single or multiple point perspective. Blend tool, Mesh tool, 3d Effects and many more.
You can also create symbols and changing in one place will change it everywhere.
Exporting Assets are just one click away.
Tons of shortcuts to speed up your workflow.

The long learning curve, especially when you have no previous design background. So expect to invest at least 6-12 months to fully master it.

You have to fully grasp the core concepts of it when playing with paths and shapes. Joining paths perfectly using the grid may take time If you have not much experience with it.

I'm a professional graphic designer, so Illustrator has been my go-to program for working with vector art for many years. Pretty much whatever you want to do in this program, you can do if you know how. It's nice that they have been able to keep up with a lot of the crossover to web needs, like the ability to export SVG files and such.

This is a difficult question to answer because what constitutes a "con" might not actually be a con at all. It depends on your needs. I could say that it's gotten a little bloated with features I don't need, but someone else may need them and, surely, I use a lot of features that others don't need. But it does make the learning curve a bit steeper, both for newbies getting their feet wet, or experienced users using newer features. But, again, with a powerful tool comes some investment of time in learning to use it right. Similarly, cost: Adobe has sort of priced themselves out of "consumer" and into "pro-sumer" with their Ccreative Cloud. For someone like me, the price for all that great software they offer, including Illustrator, it's a good deal! For someone who doesn't need all that software (or this one in particular) as much as I do, then it might seem pricey.

Adobe illustrator is a great software for Graphic Designers to add to their collection. The software is made for creating a vector graphics and it so good at it. Over the years, I have learnt to use Adobe Illustrator to create project like Cartoon and Logo designs. It is a great software and it gets the job done easily.

One of the best option for using the illustrator is the vector-graphic which makes design a perfect still quality, no matter how the design’s size is adjusted, the resolution stay the same.

With Adobe illustrator users can easily draw a design from scratch by mastering the Pen Tool and with tons of other tools like the Pathfinder Tool, the software made it very easy to design almost anything and even beautify it with the color guide.

Adobe illustrator is great, no doubt one of the best drawing software out there, however the best can be too best.. if that makes sense. For beginners, Illustrator has so many complex features which are not easy to learn at all, even with knowledge of other Adobe softwares.

The software is also heavy while operating, it requires a very strong PC to properly use without slowing down your operations or hang the PC while at it.

Illustrator is just good for drawing, editing image isn’t recommended on the software, it lacks some basic features to edit image and working with layers on this software can be very frustrating.

Amazing interface.
They crafted it so perfectly that no other competitor can match it.

Easy to learn.
What is the best thing about any software? It should be easy to learn for a complete new person. Adobe Illustrator nails it. A person with artistic skills will learn this software in no time.

Quick support.
Are you stuck at any step or you have a bug that is stopping your project? Just contact Adobe and you will get support before you finish closing the software. Seriously, I have never seen such a swift support from any other company.

Vast amount of resources.
You don't need to worry about the help here. Millions of people use and post helpful resources on daily basis over the Internet forums. You will get many helpful professionals helping you when you are stuck at any of your progress. The best thing about this is that they will like to help you.

Multi OS support.
If you have a latest version of Adobe Illustrator, you can use it across many different OS. Be it Windows. Be it Ubuntu. Just connect your create cloud account and you don't have two worry about your operating system.

No pixelation!
So, most of the people struggle with one thing in the graphics industry and that is pixelation. But with the vector technology of Adobe Illustrator, you don't have to worry about the pixels anymore. You can zoom your art in a microscopic level and it'll still be crisp and clear.

Hight system resources.
So, it's very safe to assume that you're going to need a good computer to properly use Adobe Illustrator. It's a very advanced software with countless features that will use up your system resources.

Can't handle digital images very well.
As the purpose of Adobe Illustrator is to create vector art, it's not coded very well to be compatible with digital images that contains pixels. Pixels cannot be converted into vector so don't confuse photo editing softwares with illustrations softwares.

Very complex interface from other Adobe products.
Since it's a very powerful software, Adobe couldn't compromise on the complexion of its user interface. Artist will have to get used to the interface before starting to work on complex projects.

Easy to use after some practice. The commands are approachable for a firsttime user and varied enough to fulfill the needs of a very experienced user. It is quite practically a blank canvas for vectors with which you can do anything you might need in static graphics and manipulate to your desire with a drag to copy command. After mastering the pen tool, you might find illustrator to be an alluring alternative to sketching or prototyping by hand because of how quickly things can be drawn out while still be very precise with aid of snapping/ grids. The combination of the shape tool with pathfinder allow the user to reach complexity of forms in few simple steps. It grants any user a higher level of craft without much effort. The more you use it, the more you discover. It becomes an essential tool for anyone who learns how to use it. Essentially anyone can find a reason to use Illustrator and pretty much anyone can get a hold of it within half an hour. Since it uses the same language and ecosystem, the Illustrator environment will be very familiar for anyone who has had the pleasure of playing around with Photoshop. An illustrator document also communicates well across other software for example, motion graphic, 3D modeling & printing, laser cutting, etc. It's a standard that will afford a user plenty of flexibility. If I had to choose only one design tool to depend on for the rest of my career, I would choose Illustrator.

Some commands / tools are hard to discover until you are in dire need of them and are forced to do an online search for a solution. There are a few commands that do not match up with other software in the Adobe ecosystem which can get confusing. (i.e Indesign / Photoshop / XD). Based on your computer's GPU performance, you may get strange glitches in the rendering of a graphic when the file gets large which can make working with that file a hassle- this however does not happen very often and there still are many workarounds. Adding effects can make the file sluggish as well. Managing groups and different appearances within a group can become cumbersome as things become nested within the layers. To some degree, the user has to learn the Adobe way of doing things which may not be entirely intuitive at first but makes a lot of sense once you figure it out. For those who are new to Adobe they will have to learn to organize their filling system as assets such as a linked image can otherwise disappear from a file and must be retrieved. Unfortunately, you cannot make sweeping changes across multiple artboards, but instead must individually edit each item.

I give 8 out of 10 ratings to Adobe Illustrator as my favorite vector-based design program. At Fullstop, we provide professional graphic design services and work on complex illustrations, infographics, flyers, different types of packaging, brochures, and icons. We've been able to do all these things with the help of Adobe Illustrator mostly. It allows to create, draw, and combine different shapes in a simple way. You can add text to your design and by using the masking technique, you can hide or show different parts of an illustration. There are plenty of other drawing tools that help you to completely transform your artwork. Gradients, colors, and strokes provide you with great help to make the best visuals. You work on layers and do plenty of cools things with your artwork. Adobe Illustration lets you export SVGs and your assets for other web and print designs. To be honest, there are so many tips and tricks that you can only discover by using the software, so if you are a design professional with an aim to excel in graphic design, you have to have Adobe Illustrator.

You need to have some knowledge of the design tools and technique before using Adobe Illustrator. It can be difficult for beginners as there are so many tools. You need to be patient while learning how to use it professionally. You can't work with Illustrator unless you have a big screen. Likewise, it requires a lot of storage space and it is costly too.

For an experienced Adobe user, this is an easy software to pickup because it is structured in the same manner as the other Creative Cloud applications. Tools and layering is all the same which makes it easy to adapt too. The greatest individual/unique benefit is that it allows for A LOT more freedom for design than, namely, Adobe Photoshop. The reason I compare the two is that you could theoretically use them for similar static graphic design purposes and get relatively similar end results. However, Adobe allows for far more functionality and flexibility to create and design static imagery, and is far more tailored to true artwork than editing.

Some of the functional tools are not as easy to manipulate in comparison to other Creative Cloud apps. Using Photoshop as a semi-comparable rival for static graphic design-specific purposes; for the application of manipulating objects and text, I found Illustrator to have a steeper learning curve than Photoshop. Since it allows you to delve into more aspects of manipulating the objects, and to create vector imagery out of anything (or just about) that you create within an ai document, I found myself inadvertently altering objects in ways I was unfamiliar with. To be fair, I did not take any formal coursework or tutorial prior to diving in to using Illustrator, all was self-taught after having more extensive experience with Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.