Illustration Software Explained

Illustrations software has been around for a long time. They started out from really clunky and really basic drawing tools that didn’t really help much except for producing very basic diagrams. This category of software quickly evolved to offer robust suites of drawing tools and image manipulation features. At its core, illustrator software helps you draw and enhances your creativity by giving you tools to easily manipulate what you’ve drawn. With your talent and skill, the illustration software automates many previously manual portions of the drawing process. At its core, it helps take away the mundane tasks of drawing and automates a lot of its processes. However, the main creative core of drawing still remains. You’re still in charge of the creative process, this is just a tool to get you there. The final product is still a product of your own unique creativity. This is the key point that can't be emphasized enough - reativity and talent must still be present. Illustrator tools aren’t replacements for talent and skill. These are just automated tools that work with your creative impulses to save you time in the creative process. It is not a stand in for the ability to draw, the ability to compose and, of course, artistic inspiration.

Key considerations for finding the right illustrator software

The differences within differing illustrator software packages on the market, outside of price, vary slightly within a tight feature range because they all must share certain core functionalities. The key question to keep in mind is whether those feature differences accommodate what you’re trying to accomplish with the software. The second issue to ponder is whether these features are currently what you need or whether it is highly likely what you would need them in the near future. It's feature set needs to scale up realistically to your particular needs – both now and in the near future. The final question to consider is how intuitive the software is or how easy it is to use. Keep these key considerations in mind and you'll be sure to pick the right package for your particular situation and needs.

Avoid Overpaying/Underpaying for Illustration Software

What you’re trying to avoid is overpaying. Since there is such a wide discrepancy between the prices of illustrator software packages (we’re talking up to $300 in price variance!), it’s quite easy to end up buying a package that have a suite of features that you won’t need. That’s a waste of money. Alternatively, you could be losing money in the sense that when you buy an underpowered suite and the features that you’re looking for are not there. You end up in deep trouble because you would have to buy the more expensive suite. Basically, you wasted the amount you paid for the underpowered software package. Another related scenario is when the underpowered package does a decent job but quite anemic in terms of other features that you need now (or in the future). Since the end product isn’t as good as it could be, you could be losing money in terms of client orders in terms of the effectiveness of the creative product that you produced with the underpowered software. We have to analyze the follwing key factors with the overarching goal of not overpaying and not underpaying.

Comparing Features before purchasing an illustration software

The first consideration is feature comparison. Just like the musical genre of jazz, when it comes to illustrator software, there is a tight range of features that it should have. As much as big software companies try to repackage illustrator software, really there’s just a few basic core functions and at the very least, whatever packages you are comparing, they must have these core functions. We discuss them in succession below.

Core Functions of Illustration Software

Vector brushes are just adjustable brushes that have differing weights and appearances and lengths of strokes. This is very important in sketching and outlining images and drawings. There should be a pen tool. Again, this is a very common feature that any illustrator package should have. Other basic required tools are: tracing tools, tools for effects with texts, paragraphs, texture formatting tools, gradient features, transparency feature and last but not least, a layer feature. The layer feature allows you to put different slices of your work together so you can work on different details and then compile them to produce the final product. It also helps with editing since you can segment your editing process based on differing layers of work instead of effects you put on the image compared to having to reconstruct and dismantle the image all at once. The layering feature saves a lot of time and effort by allowing you to segregate the different features of the image. Also it’s helpful for the package to accommodate templates. The ranges of features are quite recognizable and fairly common.

The problem of comparing features “apples to apples”

The key problem that consumers comparing illustrator software run into is when the different packages label the same feature with different names or they use the same name for different features. So you have to be very discriminating and do quite a bit of a research online to make sure that they’re are correctly identifying or labelling the feature so then compare package against package, feature against feature correctly. The key here is to compare apples with apples. Since it doesn’t much make sense comparing apples with oranges, make sure that when you are analyzing software packages you line them all up based on their features. Now once you find the common features, then you can compare that with your existing needs and what your needs would be in the future. For example, if you see yourself doing flash animation in the future, then that feature must be in the package. So make sure that your mid-term to long term needs are reflected in the feature sets of the packages you are comparing.

Consider your level of technical proficiency

Many customers of illustrator software packages are primarily artists, graphic artists and creative people. They’re not technical people and they’re not geeks. The problem is when a potential customer just selects a software package because of its alleged reputation among artists without considering his own level of technical proficiency with software. This could lead to a serious problem: you buy software that you end up seldom using because you’re intimidated of using the software package. What a quick waste of $300 to $600! It’s very important to look under the hood a little bit at the software package you are considering and look at the many screenshots of dashboard interfaces and user interfaces. Look at the box for screenshots or search on the internet for varying screenshots of the illustrator software packages you are considering. The best case scenario is to download a demo, if it’s available, and check out how intuitive it is. If you see yourself as easily being able to manipulate and navigate around the dashboard and everything is self explanatory then you’re in good shape. However, if you find it really complicated and you find it hard to figure out and, most importantly, you don’t see yourself figuring it out anytime soon then it might not be the right package for you and you should look for another software package the better suits your level of software proficiency.

What should you look for in terms of Ease of Use?

The software should have a fairly simple layout so that you can easily find the functions and features that you’re looking for when you’re creating an illustration or when manipulating an image. Second, if a feature icon is not easily explained by the label, there should be a text pop up box or an alternate text that you can click when you hover over the command and would give you either help or other sort of guidance of what that feature is.

Thankfully, a lot of software packages have really invested quite a bit of their resources into making their user interface as user friendly as possible and as intuitive as possible. With time, this issue of intuitiveness should become more and more manageable as you become familiar with the software. However, the fact still remains that some packages are easier to use than others. This is definitely a key consideration because if you are primarily an artist or graphic designer, you might end up paying lots of hard-earnedy money for software you don't use much. Although you need very powerful tools, if you can’t use those feature sets because they are quite intimidating, hard to use, too arcane or are too complicated then you’re losing money. Again, you have to balance feature sets with scalability and ease of use.

The Bottom Line of Illustration Software

Illustrator software is supposed to assist you in your creative efforts, it does not replace it. However, you must have the right features for this piece of powerful software to do its job properly. Make sure that you compare similar features correctly or you might be buying the wrong software package and you would have either wasted money directly or you would have foregone serious opportunity costs. Also keep in mind the scalability of the software package. Make sure the package can accommodate changes in your own particular needs, both now, six months from now, and up to three years from now. Finally, evaluate these software packages based on your level of technical proficiency with software. Make sure that it is intuitive enough for you and that you could learn the controls because the last thing you want is a powerful piece software which you don’t use because it’s too confusing, complicated or intimidating.