• Aug 12, 2016 Whether it’s creating a logo design, designing social media graphics or putting together a brochure, Adobe has created the perfect app solutions with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. This collection of apps is crazy powerful, and each one is packed with dozens of features that are optimized for specific types of projects.
  • In what follows, we're going to show you how you can use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe InDesign (all available through an Adobe Creative Cloud membership) to make a flyer at your nonprofit. Each application is specialized to do different things, but ultimately, you can create a flyer in any of the three.

Namely Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. These three software have a number of similarities but also many differences. Their uses vary depending on the graphic projects you want to do. They can be also very complementary on many graphic projects.

Today I would like to clarify a lot of misconceptions regarding the Adobe Products. But most importantly the best practical approach on using “three” basic design platforms created by Adobe. This article/tutorial covers mostly the three practical software to use for art and design, which are, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. As more and more features get added from version upgrades and update patches, it is important as a designer to understand which software is the best solution to reach the optimal results in your freelance projects or your personal projects.

Adobe Photoshop

There are a lot of tutorials on Adobe Photoshop. As a matter of fact, there are so many tutorials that focuses on Photoshop that many people contact me stating that there are not enough tutorials on Illustrator or Indesign. It is a good thing that there are a lot of tutorials on Photoshop, but there are some negative side effects within widely vast available information. These tutorials help you become an expert on this software. The problem: The vast information network on Photoshop tutorials also causes people to become “too comfortable” with Photoshop and tend to “try” to do everything with Photoshop alone.

What is Photoshop?

The most important thing to know about Photoshop is that it is a pixel based program. Photoshop was primarily created in the beginning as a photograph enhancing tool and not so much anything else like it is used today. Adobe has recognized that many users were starting to use Photoshop to create elaborate UI designs, web page graphics, banner ADs, text effects and more. Adobe then started rolling out features that help designers create images for print, web, motion graphics and so on. However, again, the problem is that there are certain times when Photoshop is not needed (gasp!) to create certain projects.

Photoshop is generally used for:

  • Photo enhancement/Photo color correction
  • Software/Web/Mobile UI design
  • Web graphics
  • Motion graphics
  • Special effects

Common mistakes/misconceptions

One common misconception is the idea that it is good to use Photoshop to create stationary systems and logo’s. For the sake of yourself, please take this idea outside the window. Let’s talk about business cards as an example. There is an alarming number of tutorials online that shows you how to create business cards in Photoshop. These are what I call “bad tutorials” that teaches you the wrong way of creating a business card. Despite the result and outcome of these tutorials being amazing, or perhaps you can even get it printed and it will look fine, it is a bad practice to get into an habit. Just because the result looks fine don’t mean the practice is the best way.

First off Illustrator type is by far superior in print output than Photoshop is. Yes Photoshop can output type, and even in vector “paths”. Yes Photoshop can bring in vector objects as “smart objects”. Yes Photoshop can draw paths using the pen tool. But the most important thing out of all this is that IN THE END, it is outputted as pixel data. Yes I am aware that it also depends on the file output. For instance, .TIFF does not output vector data but does output layer information and transparency. But .EPS does support vector output, yet it still doesn’t mean this is the best practice to do so. So should you never use Photoshop to create business cards? There are times you actually want to use Photoshop to create business cards.

When it is justified to use Photoshop for business cards and other print projects

If your business cards contain any textures, photography, special effects, blurs (not that I am encouraging this), or any type of pixel based design, Photoshop is obviously the best way to go. However, remember to output ANY pixel based art work in 300 ppi resolution with CMYK color mode. Do not output it RGB. If you have Photoshop filters in your artwork, changing your work to CMYK mode, or even applying certain filters in CMYK mode seem to look desaturated or not look too good.

To work around this: Create all your special effects, filter effects, etc. in RGB mode. Flatten the work (merge layers) after you feel that your work in Photoshop is complete, and change the color mode to CMYK. Again, you will regret not switching color modes to CMYK after you send it off to the printer. Your result will look significantly different than you hoped for.

When you should never use Photoshop for print projects

For the love of all things that you love, do not use Photoshop to set type in your print projects. It is important to note that I am not saying you should never use the type tool in Photoshop. I am stating that it is not a good idea to use it in print projects.

Never use Photoshop to create logo’s. The obvious reason is because pixel data cannot be enlarged without distortion. If you create the logo in vector format, your logo will be scalable to any size forever.

Adobe Illustrator

What is Adobe Illustrator

Well as the program states, Adobe Illustrator is a vector based drawing program. It is primarily used to create vector graphics that require to be scalable in print and for future uses. Adobe Illustrator is very similar to drawing programs like Adobe Fireworks (Macromedia Fireworks in the early 2000’s), and Corel Draw. It is superior in creating logo’s and logotype, and has an awesome type setting system within the program. Adobe Illustrator does one thing Photoshop can never meet up to its standard, and that is vector output. Whatever you create in Illustrator is scalable to the infinite power.

Illustrator is generally used for:

  • Logo/Logotype/Monogram/Insignia design
  • Type setting for stationary systems/print campaigns
  • Web graphics
  • Motion graphics
  • Vector paintings/Illustrations

Common mistakes/misconceptions

Although Illustrator can be used to create websites in the fullest degree, Photoshop is still ideally the best program in creating UI designs and other graphical elements for your website. Of course it will not be as harmful as creating business cards in Photoshop, but you will quickly find that the snapping feature in Photoshop is much precise in terms of pixels than Illustrator is.

Illustrator cannot do animation. If you are looking to do flash animation, Illustrator will not do this for you. The best practice is to create graphics in Illustrator and bring them into Flash for the principle animation.

Illustrator filters do not work the same way as Photoshop filters. You will be surprised in how many people think the filters work the same way as Photoshop. This is false.

The prime time to use Illustrator

As stated above, Illustrator is excellent for logo design, trademark design, logotype, type setting stationary systems, and creating greeting cards or wedding invitations.

After the release of Illustrator CS4, it is now possible to create simple to complex brochures, annual reports, and even books in Illustrator CS4 and up. The only draw back to this is that it does not have master page utility in Illustrator like Indesign. It also does not support book templates and page numbers like Indesign. Although Illustrator CS4 and up has support for multiple artboards to create “pages”, it is simply there to create short page brochures, or when you want to output multiple PDF pages of your design variations to show your clients.

Illustrator also has cross platform compatibility with Aftereffects. Importing .EPS files that contain text drawn in Illustrator is essentially better than importing .TIFF files that contain text drawn in Photoshop. Aftereffects support vector data to a certain degree during production (continuous rasterize).

Adobe Indesign

Adobe photoshop illustrator indesign

There isn’t much confusion making when it comes to Adobe Indesign. Since Adobe Indesign itself is pretty specific in terms of what it can do and what it doesn’t do, while Photoshop and Indesign both share similar tools, interface, and abilities to create web graphics to in almost identical level.

Indesign is generally used for:

  • Editorial design
  • Book design
  • Multiple page brochures
  • Annual reports
  • Interactive PDF documents

Common mistakes/misconceptions

Although it is possible to “draw” objects in Indesign, it is not superior to drawing as it is with Illustrator. You should not draw elements in Indesign, but instead, use programs such as Illustrator or Photoshop to draw out the elements and import them into Indesign. Indesign also does not have filters like Photoshop. Creating a logo in Indesign is next to impossible.

Although there isn’t much misconception with Indesign, there is much wide spread debate about Illustrator having better layout support than Indesign. Indesign however has better layout support, if not, identical to Illustrator.

When to use Indesign

If your project consist of a print project that has multiple pages or a master layout, Indesign has the master page function to do this. Indesign also has excellent support for 3 column layouts and so on. Creating type wrap in Indesign is much straightforward than Illustrator.

Illustrator vs. Indesign

  • Illustrator does not have master pages.
  • Illustrator cannot define page numbers.
  • Indesign cannot draw objects as well as Illustrator.
  • Indesign does not have filters, as Illustrator does.
  • Indesign has superior type wrapping tools, while it maybe a bit confusing with Illustrator.

Illustrator vs. Photoshop

  • Illustrator has superior vector support, while Photoshop has limited.
  • Illustrator does better page layout than Photoshop.
  • Illustrator does not handle pixel art the same way as Photoshop does in terms of effects.
  • Photoshop is superior for photo enhancing.
  • Photoshop creates precise pixel based UI designs compared to Illustrator.
  • Illustrator supports multiple page output for PDF while Photoshop does not.
  • Photoshop layers is much straight forward than Illustrator. Organizing elements is much easier in Photoshop because of this.
  • Illustrator supports the “Place” (Importing graphics) command through dynamic file linking. Photoshop’s “Place” command is strictly embedded into the .PSD file and is not linked. This means that you can make changes to a certain file outside of Illustrator and you can reflect the changes in Illustrator using the Links panel. In Photoshop, whatever you place is permanent. Photoshop Creative Cloud 2014 now supports linked images using the “Place” command.
  • Illustrator exports .EPS file formats better than Photoshop.

Indesign vs. Photoshop

  • Indesign creates page layouts while Photoshop does not.
  • Indesign links elements or design objects from various locations in your hard drive. Photoshop does not. It is all placed in the document.
  • Indesign supports multiple pages for PDF and print. Photoshop is all one document.
  • Photoshop has filter effects while Indesign is limited.
  • Indesign supports XML, Photoshop does not.
  • Indesign supports vectors, imports .AI and .EPS with vector data encoded. In Photoshop this gets converted to paths or pseudo vector. The final output is still pixel based.

I hope this article was helpful to you. If you have some insight please let me know by commenting below. If you feel like I was wrong or I should add something to this article, please mention it in the comment section. You can also see more of where this came from over on our website: www.outsourcenola.com Happy designing!

Learn about the Pantone Plus color libraries used in Illustrator.

Pantone Plus modernize the way Adobe applications use spot colors from color book manufacturers. Adobe Illustrator, along with InDesign and Photoshop, uses the Pantone Plus Series® of color books. Pantone Plus includes the PMS colors, replacing the earlier Pantone Matching System®.

Note:

Pantone Color Libraries in Adobe applications, such as Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, are available under a business agreement between Pantone and Adobe. This agreement does not cover all the Pantone color libraries, therefore, you might not find certain Pantone libraries in Illustrator and other Adobe applications.

In addition, both these applications have independent update cycles, so recent updates to Pantone libraries may not be immediately available under Adobe applications.

You can update the color libraries using the Pantone Plus Digital Libraries Installer. For more details, see Pantone Color Manager.

Adobe Illustrator has three types of color swatches: process, global, and spot.

Process and global color swatches are related to the document color mode. Changing the document color mode from CMYK to RGB converts the process or global colors. Changing the document color mode back again is a second conversion, not a return to the original color.

Unlike process and global color swatches, spot color swatches preserve the definition and color modes (CMYK, RGB, LAB, Grayscale, HSB, or WebSafe RGB) in which they are created.

Color swatches can be created by either of these:

  • users
  • color book manufacturers such as Pantone

Color system manufacturers create standardized colors for communicating color information across apps and processes. These standardized color libraries are called color books.

The Pantone Plus Series® in Illustrator includes ten libraries:

  • PANTONE+ CMYK Coated
  • PANTONE+ CMYK Uncoated
  • PANTONE+ Color Bridge Coated
  • PANTONE+ Color Bridge Uncoated
  • PANTONE+ Metallic Coated
  • PANTONE+ Pastels & Neons Coated
  • PANTONE+ Pastels & Neons Uncoated
  • PANTONE+ Premium Metallics Coated
  • PANTONE+ Solid Coated
  • PANTONE+ Solid Uncoated

The filename extension of these color books is .acb.

Adobe Photoshop Illustrator And Indesign Master Online Training Bundle

Before CS2, spot colors from Pantone and other systems used CMYK values as the color definitions. CMYK values were whole numbers.

Pantone color books, introduced in CS2, use Lab values as the color definitions. The equivalent CMYK values aren't always whole numbers.

The filename extension of these color books is .acbl.

In Adobe Illustrator, you add named color swatches, such as manufacturer-supplied spot colors, to the document swatches.

Spot colors in the Pantone Plus Series® use Lab values. There are no CMYK definitions for spot colors in the Pantone Plus Series®. Therefore, to add Pantone Plus spot colors to your document swatches, define spot colors using Lab values.

To define spot colors using Lab values, choose Spot Colors from the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), select Use Lab values specified by the book manufacturer, then click OK.

With the Pantone Plus Series®, Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop CS6 and CC all contain the color libraries from Pantone, enabling seamless exchange of book colors from one app to the other. And because the spot colors use Lab values, the visible results are much closer to the real inks available. Using Lab values for spot colors also reduces the difference of appearance between the Normal and Overprint Preview viewing modes.

CMYK, as a color mode, has a fairly limited gamut. Representing Pantone spot colors in CMYK values results in a wider difference of appearance between printed output and digital artwork.

When workflows demand that Pantone colors use CMYK values, Adobe recommends that you use the Pantone Plus Series® global colors instead of spot colors. If you must use Pantone spot colors that use CMYK values, see the following workarounds.

Workaround 1: Replace Pantone Plus with older Pantone color books

Adobe Photoshop Illustrator Indesign Package

  1. From the folder Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC]/Presets/[language]/Swatches/Color Books/, remove all the libraries that have names starting with Pantone+.

  2. From an older version of Illustrator (CS2-CS5), copy all the Pantone libraries with extension .acb and place into: Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC]/Presets/[language]/Swatches/Color Books.

  3. Copy all Pantone libraries with extension .acbl and place into: Adobe Illustrator CS6/Presets/[language]/Swatches/Color Books/Legacy.

  4. Relaunch Illustrator, and open all the document profiles from:

    • Mac OS: [user]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC]/[language]/New Document Profiles

    -or-

    • Windows 7: [drive]/Users/[user]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC] Settings/[language]/[binary]/New Document Profiles

    -or-

    • Windows XP: [drive]/Documents and Settings/[user]/Application Data/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC] Settings/[language]/New Document Profiles
  5. For each profile, choose Spot Colors from the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), select Use CMYK values from the manufacturer's process books, then click OK.

  6. Save and close all document profiles, then restart Illustrator again.

Workaround 2:Make older Pantone libraries available for missing colors

Use this workaround only if you encounter missing colors in legacy documents opened in Illustrator CS6 or CC. It is not recommended to use older Pantone libraries to add new colors to a document.

  1. From an older version of Illustrator (CS2–CS5), copy all Pantone libraries with extension .acb and place into this folder: Adobe Illustrator [CS6 or CC]/Presets/[language]/Swatches/Color Books.

No. There is no change in this process. To add a spot color to a document, open the color book and click the desired swatch.

In Illustrator CS5 and earlier versions, which included the older versions of the Pantone color books, most spot colors from Pantone had two definitions: Lab and CMYK. In addition, the default setting in the Spot Color Options dialog box was CMYK. CMYK values took priority over Lab values. The spot color added to the document usually came with CMYK values.

If you need the same spot colors to be identical in CS5 (and earlier) and CS6/CC, take the following steps, see Workaround 1: Replace Pantone Plus with older Pantone color books.

This workaround makes the Pantone spot color uniform across different versions of Illustrator. However, it could impact cross-product workflows with InDesign and Photoshop, if you are using the Pantone Plus Series® with these apps.

No. Files from earlier versions open successfully. Spot color definitions are preserved along with their original definitions.

An exception: opening legacy files that contain linked PSDs or TIFF files that have spot channels from older Pantone color books.

Importing PSDs and TIFF files with spot channels containing older Pantone colors

PSD and TIFF files that contain spot channels from color books retain a link to the color book. When you place-link such files in an Illustrator CS6 or CC document, the system searches for the color information for spot channels in the installed Pantone Plus color books. If an identically named color is found in any of the available spot color books, the system fetches it and links to the file or opens the legacy file. (This process is also true for opening legacy ai/eps/pdf/indd files that contain links to such PSDs or TIFFs.) During this process, there can be a slight difference in how the color appears (compared to Illustrator CS5 or earlier). There are two possible reasons for the difference of appearance:

  • The Spot Color Options setting may have been CMYK in the older Illustrator version, and Lab in CS6 or CC.
  • Pantone may have changed the definition of the color in Pantone Plus.

If the color used in spot channels isn't found, Illustrator displays a warning and places the file with the spot color turning black. However, it retains the color as a spot color (Illustrator converts the color to a default black spot for the swatch values instead of coverting it to a process color).

For workarounds, see Workaround 1: Replace Pantone Plus with older Pantone color books and Workaround 2: Make older Pantone libraries available for missing colors.

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