Is It Worth Getting Adobe Illustrator?

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Is It Worth Getting Adobe Illustrator?

I am thinking of getting adobe illustrator with my photoshop plan but I do know how to draw .

I mostly want it for the image tracer tool .. take my own photos and clipart that I bought on DVD or CD .. and turn them into vectors.

Mostly of all I want adobe illustrator for paper-pattern & tiling making ,

I just lovemaking for scrapbook ... my own textures, papers-patterns , and photoshop styles more then anything ..

So I was not sure if it was worth just buying it just for these purpose since I do not draw. I heard it comes with shapes .. but I do use allot shapes in my projects .. Does illustrator come with allot shapes? & pre-made vector templates ?

Thanks Allot for any advice

Does Adobe still do 30 day trials? You might be able to try it before you put it on your plan.

Illustrator has a pretty steep learning curve, even if you're very familiar with Photoshop. They're two very different programs.

Inkscape is a great, free alternative. It obviously doesn't do everything that Illustrator would, but it's pretty good for a free program. There are other alternatives - both paid and free - but Inkscape is a good place to start.

Bev> smiley I learned Illustrator in school b4 I learned PS in school, I never got the entire pattern drama series in PS, it is a breeze to make patterns in Illustrator.... because it was made for that, PS is a photo manipulation app that is best at that, not at making vectors or patterns.

Adobe is still doing the 30 day trials and if you follow their |university| thing, their tutorials, you cannot go wrong. They have the most beautifully worked out lessons with free downloads and video tuts.

One way of getting massive discounts is to be a student. *it is only 9.99 Australian for the photo deal and 19.99 Australian for CC with student ID . Adobe is pretty liberal as to that. I like to take handy classes at the community college, just finished a plumbing class. Plumbers are so expensive.
Yes, Adobe is worth it, their fonts alone are worth it.

Thank you Trish and Bina for the advice ..
Bina it is good to hear it is easier in Illustrator, I make more patterns and textures then anything and I have been making them in photoshop and paint shop pro .

Trish I will try the Inkscape first , and if it does what I want that would be great.. but if not I will try the free trail .. of Illustrator first .. unfortunately I am not a student to get the discount .. I love my photoshop plan but was not for sure if .. worth adding the Illustrator ... or not for those 2 projects

Thanks for the help

Bev. Let us know how it worked out for you in Inkscape, please. I am really curious as to that. I checked it out once and was put off by it really fast but I cannot recall why now.... I think Illustrator is only available with the entire CC package... it is one huge set of apps that you might never use all of. You might be able to buy an older version of Illustrator on ebay or gumtree tho.

You can definitely find older copies of Illustrator on eBay, but if you're looking for the pattern maker you need Illustrator CS6 at the least, as that's when it was introduced. Patterns in older versions of the software are doable, but probably about as annoying as doing it in Photoshop (Photoshop you generally use the offset filter, Illustrator you need to know your measurements so you can copy things and offset them correctly within your workspace).

Amanda> good to know about CS 6, thanks.

The two things you mention, the trace option and the pattern making, are the main things I use Illustrator for. If you really like making patterns I think Illustrator is worth it just for that. I don't know why I spent so many years making patterns in Photoshop. Illustrator is the place to do it.

You may be surprised at how easy it is to make simple drawings in Illustrator, even without skill (speaking from experience). And using the different shapes to make things is also a good option.

I love Illustrator but I do find it difficult to learn. My mistake was thinking I could figure out Illustrator on my own since I've been using Photoshop for 20 years. Nope! lol My advice is to be patient and look up tutorials on YouTube. Once you get the hang of how it works, it'll get a lot easier.

I also use Inkscape for most of my vector graphics. Give it a try!