Adobe trials

Since my last post, I have spent more time using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. As I have now downloaded full trials of the softwares, I have developed a better understanding of how to use each of them and what they are best for.

Using Adobe illustrator is fairly similar to Photoshop, especially in terms of the interface. Comparing the use of pixels (photoshop) and vectors (illustrator) highlights the differences between the two. When using vectors with the brush or blob brush tool, it is easy to see that Illustrator gives the design created a much sharper finish. When drawing with pixels it does also give a fairly sharp finish, however when opening photoshop images in illustrator, the quality difference is clear to see. Photoshop is the best software to use for picture editing in my opinion, it has so many options and effects that can completely transform the look of an image.Illustrator seems to be the best for creating logo's and custom made background designs, it has the cleanest final image and is very useful in terms of being able to calculate the sizing of images and using mathematics to align and straighten images within the documents. This has allowed me to create a more equal and consistent looking outcome without 'going  by eye'

Using InDesign is very different to Photoshop and Illustrator, it has more detailed features involving transitions and hyperlinks, as well as being able to add interactive images and buttons which can link to other pages, locations and websites. To me, InDesign seems very useful for making web intended outcomes. It has so many web options which are relatively easy to apply, use and test. The buttons feature is one of my favourites, as it allows you to be creative with your interactivity, you can easily add different styles of buttons and choose what you would like the button to do when it is used in html or SWF.

I have been using these 3 softwares to create the outcomes for my final portfolio, as well as for my Nature at Risk assessment which I will be uploading. When using these softwares at Uni, we use the Apple Macs, which I have had trouble getting to grips with. However, as well as having the trials on my Windows computer, I have also had a chance to use the software on the Mac and compare how it is used on both. Personally, I find the softwares much easier to use on Windows, simply because it doesn't merge the interfaces the way it does on the Mac. It seems easier with Windows, to switch between softwares and have different images open in each at the same time. However, this is just because I am more used to working with Windows. Using the Mac could be seen as easier because it DOES merge the interfaces, at times it seems like you are not using separate softwares (when using photoshop and illustrator), which makes editing the same image in different softwares seem quicker and simpler.