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Illustrator CC - Essential Graphic Design Tool, Mobile Apps Could be WAAAAYY Better
August 29, 2017

Illustrator CC - Essential Graphic Design Tool, Mobile Apps Could be WAAAAYY Better

Shane Hoffer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Adobe Marketing Cloud

I am a freelance designer, so I just use it on my own. I mostly create logos for school sports teams, company t-shirt designs, signage (trade show-type), digital signage, graphics for web use, and I do some logo/uniform design as a hobby for my own enjoyment. I have also done a lot of birthday invitations for friends and family.
  • Precise graphics - making an exact sized graphic, down to the pixel is important for me and Illustrator does this particularly well.
  • Vector art - making a design that can be blown up as large as you want or as small as you need is a huge plus for me.
  • Transparencies - I utilize the "transform" feature quite often; I do a lot of cut outs and transparencies and nothing does this better than Illustrator for me.
  • The mobile app for Illustrator is just a very rudimentary tool and lags far behind in functionality compared to other vector graphics mobile apps; the lack of bezels in the mobile app is the biggest piece missing for me.
  • When new versions come out, it seems like tried and true functionality that has been a keystone of the product gets buried under a deluge of the newer, less useful features. Typically they do not get rid of old features completely, but they either rename them or move them under a different menu.
  • All of my work is pro bono so this does not apply to what I do.
  • I pay for Illustrator CC and it is expensive for my what I do, but I use it because it is what I know and is the most powerful product that I know of for what I do.
  • idraw and graphic
I enjoy drawing on my iPad, but the Adobe apps are over simplified and do not have the essential functions that the desktop versions do have. I have used iDraw but it kind of fell by the wayside and I moved on to Graphic by Autodesk for working when I am mobile. I do have a surface that I use when I know I will have a desk where I can use a mouse simply because I prefer Illustrator. I would really like a mobile version of Illustrator for the iPad for those times between my daughter's competitions and I am stuck either waiting in my truck or in a gymnasium. I like to use my stylus to add points and control bezels on the iPad.
When making crisp, complicated designs that need to be enlarged for banners or signs, there is no better option than Illustrator. Designing with Illustrator is the best way that I know of to create designs with transparencies, different stroke outlines, and making "knock-out" designs - i.e. when you want to use the negative space as a design element.