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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe Illustrator

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Illustrator CC is a vector-based graphic design software.

    $20.99

    per month

    Cinema 4D

    Score9.7 out of 10
    N/AMaxon, headquartered in Germany, offers Cinema 4D, an animaton suite for 3D artists, which the vendor states is suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals alike, who can take advantage of Cinema 4D’s wide range of tools and features to achieve stunning results for demanding, fast-paced 3D production.N/A

    SketchUp

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/ASketchUp is 3D modeling software with an emphasis on usability. SketchUp is a Trimble product.

    $119

    per year

    Pricing
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Editions & Modules
    Yearly - Billed Monthly
    $20.99
    per month
    Monthly
    $31.49
    per month
    Yearly - Billed Upfront
    $239.88
    per year
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0.00
    per year
    For Schools (free with G Suite or Microsoft education account)
    $0
    For Students
    $55.00
    per year
    For Educators
    $55.00
    per year
    Studio for Students / Educators (Desktop version)
    $55
    per year
    Shop
    $119.00
    per year
    Pro
    $299.00
    per year
    Professional
    $299.00
    per year
    Studio (Windows only)
    $699
    per year
    Studio
    $1199.00
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Considered Multiple Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Illustrator
    This is the go-to industry standard if you are talking about vector editing platform. This comes a long way and most of the printers have illustrator to serve up for all your print needs.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Illustrator
    Although there are a few alternatives to Illustrator CC, there really isn't a single other product that holds a candle to it. I've looked at GIMP and Corel Draw, but none of them really stack up in reliability, are as universally accepted/used and is as universal as Adobe …
    Incentivized
    Maxon
    Chose Cinema 4D
    Well, I go for cinema 4D if I want to create dynamic animation instead of Autodesk 3ds Max as I can easily create that animation compared to Autodesk 3ds Max.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cinema 4D
    Great integration with After Effects made editing seamless and quick. It was a steep learning curve but not as tough as others in the market. Coupled with the AE integration, it was the tool that made the most sense.

    As a side note, I used Cinema a lot for artwork (non-work) …
    Incentivized
    Trimble
    Chose SketchUp
    Rhino is more suited for organic shapes/structures
    Incentivized
    Chose SketchUp
    I selected SketchUp because it's cheaper and more user-friendly than other software I've used in the past.

    Even though SketchUp isn't as complicated as the others- there's no limit to what you can do once you play around with the program.
    Incentivized
    Chose SketchUp
    Inventor is more for the manufacturing of complex products and Revit is more for large projects. Each of them has a different output so I don’t see them as direct competitors.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    66 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    23 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    59 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    67 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    58 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    62 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Small Businesses
    GIMP
    Score8 out of 10
    GIMP
    Score8 out of 10
    Autodesk Maya
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe PhotoShop
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe PhotoShop
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Adobe PhotoShop
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (110 ratings)
    9.7
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (47 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (25 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (14 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe IllustratorCinema 4DSketchUp
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    It is the only tool that I use to create logos. It gives me the flexibility to create sharp text and marks and they can then be resized at will, color changes in a second and perfect way to export. I know that some people use Illustrator for document layout, it is not ideal. While I can easily create documents here, it really is InDesign that is the perfect tool.
    Read full review
    Maxon
    Photorealistic Rendering (it takes a LONG time to render for print, but it's insanely realistic). Commercial Production Graphical Integration into print materials (and digital) We did a lot with brochures and billboards. Hi Res rendering takes hours, but the output set us FAR apart from the run-of-the-mill competition we had.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    SketchUp is great for individually studying options for building design. It is an awesome conceptual tool to be able to quickly model and manipulate a building to study different designs. It is not good for complex geometries, especially curves. Surfaces have a hard time registering and cutting into one another. It also eventually needs to go into Revit to be more realistic as it is not good as a documentation tool
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • Vector graphics for scaling to large sizes
    • Filling an object with a texture
    • Easily adjusting and expanding an artboard to fit the size of the content (especially for infographics)
    • Compatibility with other Adobe CC programs, but also exporting for PPT graphics
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    • Seemingly endless selection of tools
    • clear and powerful manipulation tools
    • effect use of hotkeys for navigating the 3D space
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • Quickly exploring solutions in 3D: We get a lot of "what if" and "what would that look like" questions. While hand-sketching and hand-drafting can be fairly quick, SketchUp allows me to quickly create 3D and 2D views of a detail or solution, change dimensions and materials in a flash, and show a client or installer the plan in minutes.
    • Creating professional design documents in LayOut: Projects of any scale need good documentation. Using a combination of SketchUp and LayOut, I can create a Design Intent Set, plans for permitting, a set for mechanical trades to mark-up, etc. Having clear, appropriately-scaled drawings with dimensions or notations is a must, and we don't always have the time or budget to get an architect involved!
    • Using live files to guide discussions: Not all clients are "visual" people, so opening their model and orbiting around their space in real time has been extremely helpful. Clients and trades enjoy the perspective views so much that we often include them in the full-sized drawing sets to give a good "overall" view of the project intent. For complex or tight spaces, sometimes un-rendered plans and elevations just aren't enough!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • It's tough to master. If you haven't used Adobe products like Photoshop or Illustrator before, there is a lot to take in.
    • It would be great to have some better options to preview the final product if you're creating a multiple page document.
    • Better integration and pricing points with Adobe Stock for the useful stock images to complete your projects.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    • Weak UV mapping interface.
    • Redshift integration is not 100% seamless yet.
    • Weight-mapping is a nightmare.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • Ability to import Revit files and libraries.
    • Ability to export true curved vector linework. There are some workarounds, needs to be refined.
    • Create an OPEN MAPS connection. Since the split from Google, the source for high-quality aerials is limited.
    • Ability to dock all menus to the master window on a Mac
    • Ability to develop dockable menu trays on a Mac
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    While Adobe Illustrator CC is one of the only true design software out there, it really stands heads above the other products. It's clean UI and menu structure is easy to navigate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    No answers on this topic
    Trimble
    We typically wait a few years in between renewing, as even older versions are powerful tools for modeling, and we make sure the amount of feature changes are worth the re-investment.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Adobe
    There's a bit of a learning curve to this software vs other similar tools that can take some time to learn and get familiar with but the amount of functionality that Adobe Illustrator CC offers is quite large compared to simpler tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    For reasons mentioned before: an intuitive interface and speed of the viewport, speed of loading, and ease of plugin integration. The MoGraph module encourages experimentation and the creation of highly modifiable scenes. Crashes are extremely rare and the support team and community are hyper-responsive to requests for help. For real... Maxon's staff hangs out in Slack and Discord communities, regularly assisting users with issues. No support ticket required.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    It is very user friendly and easy to learn. It's simplicity allows for a low learning curve so more people can learn it faster. The downside is that most schools are no longer teaching it, so many younger professionals come out of school not knowing it and knowing more complex software and they have a hard time "dumbing down" their skillsets
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    I normally already know how to do whatever I'm trying out, but the documentation (as well as a simple Google search) makes any question quick to resolve. The Adobe boards themselves are a fantastic resource, especially for resolving questions between new programs and iterative releases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    Maxon's staff regularly hangs out in Slack and Discord communities, ready to assist. This goes beyond the support ticket system, which is also extremely robust. Hundreds of optimizations and bugs are fixed in every patch, even when the user experience is already 99.9% smooth. This is a proactive, not reactive, support and engineering team at Maxon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    Sketchup is so intuitive; I can't recall ever looking for official support. However, there are many user forums online that can answer more questions. The usefulness of the online forums is, however, tempered by the fact that there have been many versions of the software under different ownership and support regimes, and thus finding the right information for the right version of the software can be a challenge.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    It was very easy to purchase and download.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    No answers on this topic
    Trimble
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    I chose Rhinoceros 3D because it is accurate to make drawings in it and it is better to make drawings in Rhinoceros 3D and then put them in Adobe Illustrator. But while printing or scaling it is much easier to put it in Adobe Illustrator. This makes the whole printing aspect of it much easier.
    Read full review
    Maxon
    Well, I go for cinema 4D if I want to create dynamic animation instead of Autodesk 3ds Max as I can easily create that animation compared to Autodesk 3ds Max.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    We have not evaluated any other competing software to this one. I heard about this software from a friend who teaches how to use it. She showed me in just a few minutes and I was HOOKED. I saw immediately the possible help it would be to my business. Thank you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Helps us quickly and easily create and manage numerous logos
    • Cloud libraries allow us to access commonly used colors, fonts, logos and other design elements quickly
    • We are able to provide high-quality, scalable college logos for print and digital which give us a more professional, credible look.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Maxon
    • Producing quality training content reduces mistakes and improves ebitda for our restaurants
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • It's good in the sense that you can quickly make a drawing and speeds up the design process. Not sure how to quantify that from a ROI perspective.
    • Also, good for editing an image after the fact. We can easily add a dimension that was forgotten in the original image.
    • Allows team members to understand a design easier than on other software platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots