Want to know, “What is Adobe Illustrator used for?”.
Before I list out where and how it is used, let us find out a little bit more about what Adobe Illustrator is.
What is Adobe Illustrator?
Initially launched in 1987, Illustrator is a software application that is often used for creating illustrations, drawings and a whole lot of artwork using Windows or Mac OS.
This application is being updated regularly and is now a part of Adobe Creative Cloud. Most graphic designers, web designers and artists use it to create unparalleled and high-quality images and artwork. It includes many fine drawing tools that come in handy while creating those impressive and often intriguing images. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that is Adobe Illustrator is one amongst the 10 most important graphic tools that a graphic designer should use.
What is Illustrator CC?
This is the version of Illustrator that you can get through Creative Cloud. Now, this is Adobe’s subscription service and you need to spend a couple of dollars to get access to it.
One of the most important features of Illustrator CC is that you get to synch and save your documents to the cloud. Another benefit is that it can be used to integrate with Behance, which is another site used by artists to maintain and show their portfolios.
The latest versions of Illustrator CC can even use touchscreen-compatible tools which seems to have further added to their utility.
Vector Graphics in Adobe Illustrator
One of the most important features of Illustrator, as mentioned above, is that the graphics and the images that you create in it remain constant in terms of quality at whatever resolution they are displayed. In simple words, it is possible to enlarge or minimize an image without any negative impact on its quality.
But, how is this possible?
Well, the secret to this lies in Illustrator using mathematical relationships when describing lines, arcs, etc. Furthermore, you need to understand that a vector graphic consists of polygons that make up an image. Now, these polygons are composed of vectors.
It’s worth noting that all these vectors pass through certain control points that are referred to as nodes (that have definite positions on both x and y axes on a plane)
It is interesting to note that the position of these vectors is related to each other through mathematical calculations and they can be readjusted or rather recalculated when the size of the image is altered.
This feature is what sets Adobe Illustrator apart from other tools such as Photoshop etc., that completely depends upon the resolution of the image and lose their quality when the size of the image is altered.
What is Adobe Illustrator Used for?
Here are some of the most common applications in which Abode Illustrator is used:
1. Logos
All businesses and brands need logos and Adobe Illustrator is the program that is often used to design high-quality logos that become an identity of a particular brand or business.
Not just this, Illustrator helps you create a logo as a vector graphic that can be resized as small or large depending upon your requirement and the best part is that it can be done without affecting the resolution or the quality of the picture. Even though there are other programs that can also be used to create logos, Illustrator happens to produce the best quality images/logos.
2. Business Cards
As mentioned above, Illustrator is just perfect for creating graphics and images. Thus, it is a great tool for creating business cards. It’s just simple and easy to design awesome business cards in different shapes and sizes in Illustrator.
3. Graphics for Social Media
Illustrator is not just great for creating print graphics but is also a great tool for making amazing web graphics. So, whether you want to design pins for Pinterest, or images for Insta, this is the tool that can make your task as simple as a breeze. While creating such graphics, you must use the best mouse for graphic design to make your job easier.
4. Templates for Blog Posts
Templates are important since they can help save a lot of time. Using Illustrator, you can create suitable templates and save them on your computer. Anytime you require a particular template for a blog post, all you need to do is just open the relevant template, add text and photos to it and you are done. It simplifies your job of publishing posts and no one understands this better than those who publish blog posts regularly.
5. Creating Infographics
Infographics are images that contain a lot of information about a particular topic and blog readers just love them. It is hardly surprising that infographics often get repinned on Pinterest much more than regular images or blog posts.
Illustrator can be used to create high-quality infographics providing detailed information about a particular topic. You too must use them on your blog if you want to get more viewers interested in checking out your content.
6. Video Game Development
It should not come as surprise when I tell you that some of the most popular games developed by Square Enix were first created using Illustrator. If you are someone who loves gaming then names such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest should sound familiar. And yes, both these games were first developed using Adobe Illustrator.
7. Creating Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are an important part of the marketing campaign of many brands nowadays and guess what they use to create those fine images?
You got it right!
Illustrator can be used to create ads for Facebook and the best part is that it is super easy to create suitable images in various sizes and graphics. In fact, it can be used to make multiple variations of the same ad using this creative tool.
8. Designing T-Shirts and Other Wearables
So far we have seen that Illustrator can be used to create graphics for print media, social media, videos, etc., but what makes this even more desirable is that it can also be used to create amazing images for T-shirts and other wearable stuff. You will find it interesting to note that Nike shoes, Victoria’s Secret lingerie, and Ralph Lauren shirts are often designed using this app.
9. Designing Emojis
I know you love using emojis. As a matter of fact, everyone does. Illustrator is the go-to tool that is often used to create new and refresh old emojis.
10. Creating Motion Graphics
Motion Graphics seem to be the way to go when it comes to big brands and companies advertising their products online. Motion designers first use Illustrator to create engaging designs and images and then import files into After Effects to create some amazing motion graphics.
11. Creating Hand Lettered Text
This is something really interesting. If you want hand-lettered text, you can create it with the help of Illustrator. This makes it possible to do so either by digitizing or by tracing the text with the help of the pen tool or with the live-trace function. You can also curve the text with Adobe Illustrator.
Conclusion
Adobe Illustrator is a highly useful tool for web and graphic designers and there is absolutely no end to its utility. You can virtually create any graphic or design, no matter what media form you make it for.
Talha Abid, co-founder of RoadMice is the creative genius behind the designing of this site. He is responsible for giving it a highly refreshing look. His top priority is to run this site without any glitches. He is a well-established digital marketer who loves traveling to exotic locations in his free time.