Adobe Illustrator Blues
I just interrupted a design I have been working on for a T-Shirt line that is going to be in international magazines and international stores. I interrupted my work for one reason. Complete frustration with Adobe Illustrator. I have been working with Adobe products for over 10 years now, and I would have to say that Illustrator is the most non-intuitive working tool that we have at our disposal.
Of course if a designer has to work with large printing houses and produce a lot of vectorized art we are practically forced to use A.I. because it is the format commonly accepted and widely used in the business.
But I have a warning for Adobe; if they don’t get their stuff together and start upgrading their software with designers’ real, human needs in mind, some upstart like Xara is going to come along and eat their lunch. That’s a guarantee.
I really don’t care about corporations or brand names. All I (and every designer who works in vector) wants is an intuitive program that allows us to easily create and move paths, strokes and fills without clicking a million times on microscopic nodes to just capture and adjust a selection, or have to switch between three tools to do the same. Working with the micro-mini Adobe Illustrator nodes and the micro-mini selection zone around those nodes is not only wearing on the eyes, but on the nerves as well. If you work in Illustrator you full well understand my frustration. The program seems designed to fight you every step of the way.
Yes Adobe, we all know you have been busy little bees adding all the nice little bells and whistles from new symbols to fancy little tools. It is like you are adding fins, grills, and high end stereo equipment to a car – but the thing still can’t drive straight down the road without hitting the ditch.
All we want is a program that allows a designer to easily select a node or a line and move it without going blind after 3 hours work. Xara can and has done so and I have taken to starting my basic design in that program and when I have done as much as possible in it, importing it into A.I. Xara’s nodes are actually large enough to select with one click and the path adjustment tools are so intuitive it is unbelievable. It takes half the time to do a basic design in Xara as it does in Adobe Illustrator.
Xara does have drawbacks: the layering system leaves a lot to be desired and if you are switching from Adobe Illustrator back to Xara you have to save back to a Legacy 8 or Xara will error and not open the file. For those of us working in Illustrator CS2 that can be a pain. But I would not bother doing it if Adobe could learn a lesson from Xaras intuitive ease of handling.
I thought it was just me! Thanks for speaking up about AI issues that have bugged me for years. Haven't tried Xaras, but will.
Xara certainly has its attractions. You can see some nice Xara work in the Gallery on Graphics.com -- http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album06&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
CorelDraw is a very intuitive and solid tool as well, I hate illustrator, it is so complicated and slow!
One of the main reasons that I have been a Freehand fan for years. Freehand is very intuitive and working with paths is so much easier.
But I force myself to use Illustrator because it is the "standard".
Booooooo!
I couldn't agree more Athyrius. And I'm not from the grapgic design world as most of you are. I'm from the engineering world where AutoCAD - THE program to use, is the norm.
But I do graphics on the side and after learning Illustrator, I would love to talk to someone at Adobe about AutoCAD's features that would make Illustrator a very hard to beat program.
Features like those tiny nodes are user-defined in AutoCAD, from size to color when selected and not selected, or creating a group consisting of different entities with different characteristics simply by selecting the objects and giving the group a name, or even drawing with true dimensioning, when you're drawing or listing anything.
Amen! I've been a Freehand user for years. The Adobe monster takes it over and does away with it. Now we're forced to use Illustrator. Why, or why can't they just blend the two programs. Freehand was very straight-forward and user friendly _ not to mention more acurate for technical drawings...
Having used Illustrator and various other vector programs over several years, I would say AI's still much better than most. Takes more getting used to, and the learning curve is horrible (and there's never really anyplace to put all the damn buttons), but it could always be worse.
I personally would love to see Illustrator begin to see more 3D functionality and implimentation, as well as the interface improve. The nodes don't bother me per se, but as you said, if Adobe doesn't step up and innovate AI it'll crash very quickly.
Perhaps now that they have acquired Macromedia we'll see more interesting developments.
I'll admit, I love illustrator, it is my favorite program out of the adobe Big Three design applications. But on the other hand it is also the only thing I've known. Schools have their specific tools they teach, Adobe Illy and PS are the tools to use. I never even have ventured into the Freehand that came with my studio MX package. I never wanted to commit that sort of blasphamey...but now I have my hands on Xara, and this is a program I have to use for a little bit. It's wonderful, I didnt know it had so much functionality as Adobe Illustrator. Even the auto trace is amazing! CS2 is also a memory hog, and never closes correctly on both my mac and pcs...it's always a forced quit for me. I would like to see adobe trim the fat from their monster, the consolidation of Adobe and macromedia is not a good thing in my opinion. But we shall see!
Adobe hasn't decided whether to abandon Freehand so don't fret yet. Those are just rumors. I have always used Freehand. Who cares what's standard? The industry standard is the destination (eps, tiff, jpeg, et al); not the vehicle you choose to get there.
Do yo work with Autocad? you would love Corel Draw.. they have very similar tools..
If Adobe would follow the lead of AutoCad and allow for size adjustment and colorization of the nodes as well as simplify the selection and movement of lines al-la Xara (love that right click delete) they would have a perfect product. A lot of Adobes clients have been asking for AutoCad style node resizing for some time to no avail.
Insofar as using other products such as Corel Draw; (which is a fabulous tool) unfortunately every screenprinter and billboard size printer I have worked with so far wants Illustrator .eps or .ai format. So that rather sticks us with using it for at least final production. If Adobe could blend the good elements from the other programs that would keep us from having to switch from one program to the next mid-stride.
I agree node selection in AI can be a bit of a pain but I've gotten used to it. However I do have to say everytime I have to fire up CorelDraw I cringe. Between the layers window, the color palettes, the lack of industry standard terminology, especially in typography, and other basic items I find it an extremely frustrating program to build illustrations in, and I use it as a major part of my day. That's just the interface issues, other ones include it's inability to rasterize its own files to print on occasion because it can't negotiate the translation of its own filters from a raster image to print. Then there's the issues surrounding getting output to press and such. One is compatibility between various packages, I've seen logos designed in CorelDraw with specific Pantone colors imported into other packages go terribly wrong when it comes to matching colors in the final output. Sorry, I have to be a dissenting voice but I'll stick with Illustrator only because I'm garanteed of the results but I will also be one of the ones hoping and pushing for improvements in the package.
I have no problems what-so-ever with Illustrator I find it to be very intuitive, effective, and that I am able to do achive nearly any goal or look I set with it; in fact I have taken off work at the shop this Monday in order to have the AI CS daisy tattooed on my rear.
I've used Freehand for 14 years. It's easy. Xara looks good though. It doesn't work on a Mac though does it?
Thomas, that is exactly why I always go back to A.I. for final drafts of all printed work. "getting output to press and such." as you stated.
I would say it would be a good experience to see the difference in the node-line manipulation, perhaps try another program on some basic outlines. Yes, you can 'get used' to dealing with difficult program quirks- it doesn't mean they have to remain difficult.
And FinalDraft- that is waaay TMI - lol.
All I can say is thank gosh, I thought it was me. I've used CorelDraw since ver 1 and can't remember reaching for the manual, though I must have in the beginning. It has always been ahead of Illustrator, in features and just plain usability. I do it all in Corel and export it as .ai and everyone's happy. Right now Illustrator is the most expensive import filter I have ever owned for those times I get sent an Illustrator file.
Freehand was always better and easier than Illustrator! A Freehand user for more than 16 years, I've recently been forced to use Illustrator in my new job (on a PC, no less) and find it not nearly as straightforward as Freehand, although, I must admit it's better (CS2) than it used to be.
I started using CorelDraw in the first version and still have version 10 on my PC. I started using Illustrator about 5 years ago on a Mac and always get frustrated with the nodes. I can create an illustration much faster in Draw and then import to Illustrator for color and shading effects. Most of what I do these days is in Photoshop and I love the program.
Try turning on Smart Guides in Illustrator. You might be surprised at what you have been missing.
Smart guides in Corel!! lovely!!!!!!!!!!!
I am retired, 70 years of age and love just having Xara to play with and invent stuff with to showcase to friends and family.What does that tell you about Xara.Had it since it came out I think; Can't afford the latest but have V5 and its great too.
I wish no one would speak about Xara as it's really my "secret weapon" and the less people know about it, the better for me :)
For real, Xara is my tool No1 hands down.I have all the other software, Illu CS2, Freenhand MX and whatnot but nothing beats Xara in terms of the learning curve and easyness to use.
My actual workflow is like i create the actual artwork in Xara, export it to .ai and use Illustrator only for the exporting/converting part and to be on the safe side CMS-wise.
I know there must be hundreds of options in Illu that i haven't used yet or am even aware of but the great thing is, i don't have to as creating the actual piece cab never be as easy as it is in Xara - so i'm using Illu as an overprized luxury conversion tool only :)
This combo really works best for me.
Now forget about Xara again, because i want to stay ahead of the competition a little longer :D
I have been using Xara since it was called CorelXara, then Xara, Xara X, Xara X1 and now Xara Extreme.
I find it fast, easy, enjoyable to use. Designing simple text logo and vector graphics design is a breeze.
Tried AI and CorelDraw but stick to Xara Extreme for its speed and easy learning curve.
Thank God someone else besides me despises Illustrator ... I have forced myself to adapt to its inflexibility for years but have always relied on FreeHand for my vector work ... like others, AI is, for me, an overpriced filter that is necessary for when ad agencies send files done in the 'industry standard' format ... (somebody thought that would be a cute joke on us all, right ... ?) ... I'm still waiting to see what Adobe does with FreeHand now that they've succeeded in removing their competitor from the market ... btw, DOES Xara work on a Mac ... ? Haven't tried it yet, but it sounds awfully doable ...
Xara is in the process of porting Xtreme as an open source Linux product. The process is proceding nicely from what I have heard. Can you beat that? Twice the capability of AI at an open source price.
Xara is great, Xara is fast, Xara is fun, Xara is effective, Xara makes me happy and rich.
Xara is on Linux already.
Would you explain how to make an object to be Pantone 385 C color in Xara?
Would you explain how to make a composite into hexachrome Crystal screen by Xara?
So, there are the layers and the colors of the dark side of Xara. The twilight zone is type. The bright side are the speed and the pix features.
Since CorelXARA. I still use Xara.
I purchased Xara because I was on a budget with my start up freelance business and thought it would do until I could afford Adobe Illustrator. Years and years later, with a successful graphics and website business running, I have not found a single reason to change to Adobe, Corel or anything else. Xara has everything I need and more! You are SO right that Adobe needs to get a clue and start paying attention to what they are really offering their customers, before those customers wise up and switch to Xara.