Adobe Photoshop

**classeium.com** · 10-04-2006, 06:36 AM

Hello.

I'm going to be making logos, drawing cartoons from scratch and doing photo manipulation and editing. Which offers more for my needs, adobe illustrator or photoshop?

Advice would be great, I just want to make the switch from macromedia fireworks.

Thanks,

**ChipJohns** · 10-04-2006, 09:09 AM

Logo creation must be done in Illustrator.

Drawing cartoons (Ahh, the beziere tool!) too best done in Illustrator.

Photo manipulation and editing is best done in Photoshop.

You scenario provides the best description of what are the differences between Illustrator and Photoshop.

A good graphic designer has both in her/his arsenal...

Chip

**LadynRed** · 10-04-2006, 04:07 PM

Actually, there is a 3rd alternative, which is cheaper than both PS and Illustrator, but a VERY good program. XaraXtreme is a vector graphics program like Illustrator with a full complement of effects you can use. AND it also has tools for Photo manipulations. For under $100, its a very good tool.

**carterdea** · 10-09-2006, 12:22 AM

Or you could look into Gimp and Inkscape. They are free open-source alternatives to both Photoshop and Illustrator.

**classeium.com** · 10-10-2006, 05:50 AM

Thanks guys. I tried gimp before, its nice. I also know friends with photoshop, i think ill ned up getting that anyway.

Thanks alot. Great Help.

**webdune** · 10-14-2006, 12:24 PM

Logo creation has be done in Illustrator.
Vector much better for print

**ChipJohns** · 10-14-2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdune

Logo creation has be done in Illustrator.
Vector much better for print

This brings up interesting side point of which to use and when...

Sometimes we have a tendancy to match graphic programs with the medium we are working with. This really isn't the case.

Vector for Print / Photoshop for Web. This isn't a true analogy. A graphic artist is going to use both programs for both medium.

The true analogy is: photoshop is used for a piece that is primarily dealing with photographic images. Illustrator is normally used when these images are not involved. Many times, especially in print layout, both are used to create one piece. Take for instance an add layout in a magazine. If the majority of the page is photgraphic in nature, 9 times out of 10 Photoshop is going to be used.

However, try using photoshop to create a graphic that is going to be on the side of a Wal-mart truck. Remember that your document will have to be original size. Imagine trying to manage a photoshop file that is 20 feet wide by 6 feet high.

Depending on your PERSONAL PREFERENCE you are going to use one program more than the other. (The fact is that there are many jobs that can be created just as effectively on either.) If you plan on calling yourself a graphic designer, you must be able to use both effeciently and effectively.

Even though I tend to use Illustrator a bit more than Photoshop, if you told me that I could only have one- Hands down, you gotta have Photoshop. That would have to be my choice.

**mgraphic** · 10-16-2006, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChipJohns

However, try using photoshop to create a graphic that is going to be on the side of a Wal-mart truck. Remember that your document will have to be original size. Imagine trying to manage a photoshop file that is 20 feet wide by 6 feet high.

I've done some designing for roadside billboards in Photoshop before, and created the design with a scale of 1.25" = 1 foot at 600dpi. It all depends on the printer's requirements really.

**ChipJohns** · 10-17-2006, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgraphic

I've done some designing for roadside billboards in Photoshop before, and created the design with a scale of 1.25" = 1 foot at 600dpi. It all depends on the printer's requirements really.

Yes, this is possible. When you did it mgraphic, how did you scale the photographic content? What kind of format did the photographic file come in? Did you use an offline file, or did you deal with the photographic content directly? Output to eps?? Just curious.

**mgraphic** · 12:54 AM

I have not yet designed any with photographic images, only computer generated graphics.

<plug>
examples:
http://www.kmarshall.com/portfolio/CLC_BILLBOARD.JPG
http://www.kmarshall.com/portfolio/C...BOARD_0822.jpg
</plug>

Just sent a CMYK tiff file to the printers on a CD

**ChipJohns** · 10-17-2006, 01:44 AM

Nice looking design mgraphic. Many billboards are overdone by people who don't know what they're doing. These are Great Billboard designs! From a graphic design and a marketing perspective as well.

When you introduce raster art into the process things do change a bit, of course. You can't scale the amount that you did on these boards. Your files will be much, much bigger.

Your printer asking for 600 dpi at 1.25":12". This made the final output around 60 dpi (probaly due to the graphics involved). I was surprised when I learned that most billboards are somewhere around 30 dpi. Arrg... Imagine that. I always thought 150 was a low res...

Anyway, thanks.

**mgraphic** · 10-17-2006, 02:00 AM

Thanks for the compliment! (actually this week for work I get a chancce to design three billboards for work that will display in NYC - very exciting for me as a designer).

If you think about it - the distance that it is viewed, you don't see the resoulution imperfections. Back when offset printing was more popular for this medium, they used to enlarge the dot pattern much bigger, where if you were looking at it right in front of your face, you could not tell it was an image of something.

Current popular methods of large format printing is digital large-format inkjets (mostly tiled) and/or screen printing with UV inks.

**hotcomputers** · 10-20-2006, 10:48 AM

i think Logo creation can be done also in PS and also in Illustrator

if you have a good idea you can make it also with a pen and after that you can scann it

**SHydroxide** · 10-29-2006, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotcomputers

i think Logo creation can be done also in PS and also in Illustrator

if you have a good idea you can make it also with a pen and after that you can scann it

I was going to say, I'm an Illustrator-tard. I've almost never used it.

I do all my "logo creation" (though I wouldn't suggest that I do much of that anyways...) in Photoshop. Hell, I do EVERYTHING in Photoshop. It's that versatile.

**Jolo** · 11-01-2006, 05:33 PM

Provided your logos aren't too complex you could probably get away with using Photoshop for logo design too (in vector format) using shape layers...

**NeoWeapon** · 11-08-2006, 12:02 AM

you can make easy logos in ps, just use the pen tool for making the shapes and much much more

**ctess** · 11-09-2006, 11:30 AM

This leads me to a question. I'm a website designer but my stronger side is coding backends, etc in php. I'm barely mediocre with my designs, I know enough to get me by. I will use the bigzy contest as an example. If you look around the edges when saved on a transparent bg it adds the whites edges. I know what is causing it but I don't know why since I used paths for everything. I zoom in to 1600% and I cna clearly see that the edges are rasterized even on the vectored objects. Is this because I made them paths instead of shape layers?

I have illustrator as well I'm just not as familiar with it and the hotkey commands as I am with PS (most are the same). I know the difference between rasterized and vectored but what in the world is causing this?

I even tried to change the dpi, thinking maybe it was just the resolution of the image I was working with but that didn't work either.

**ChipJohns** · 02:39 PM

Hi Chris,

This is due to antialiasing. The gradual blending from one color to another.

When you create the file you need to know what color the image is going to sit on. When you save the file as a gif file you need to select this color during this process.

This image shows the save for web dialogue settings.
You need to set the matte color to what the background will be.

(click on each image to see a bigger version)

aa1.jpg

Notice the color I choose. You can see the effect.

aa2.jpg

You can turn anti aliasing off. But, its not a pretty picture.. Notice the jaggies.l They do not blend in.

test2.gif

One way to help with this is to use text and shapes that lend better to this. Notice that using arial for instance works a little bit better. This image also has a transparent background but the jaggies are not as appearant:

aa3.gif

-- -- -- --
Rastered images. When you creat a vector image and save it for use on the web. i.e. gif or jpg, you are transforming this image into a rasterized version. Once saved as a gif for instance this version of the image is not a vector, but raher a resterised version.

The reason we create a logo in vector format, is becuase this image will probably need to be used in more application than just on our web page. If we want business cards we will use it. If we want an add in the paper or a magnetic sign, or painted sign on our car/truck, we will use the vector version.

Another reason to create a graphic that is not a logo in vector is just for prefference. Some of us are more comforatble with vector creation.

<added>

When you increase magnification to 1600% you will see jaggies simply due to the limitations of your display. No matter how good your monitor is, it still has the limitation of the size of a pixel.

**ctess** · 11-09-2006, 07:52 PM

ahh ok, I understand now. Yeah I figured the matte thing out but he requested that it be completely transparent and to the best of my knowledge the only way to do that and to make it look good without jaggies is to use a png format but like said above, IE does not support png formats very well.

Thanks for the heads up.

**JenHajek** · 11-10-2006, 05:36 PM

I agree that both programs are an neccesity for a Graphic Designer.