Adobe Illustrator Review: The Vector Illustration Victor

Adobe Illustrator Review: The Vector Illustration Victor | PCMag

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Editors' Choice 4.5 Outstanding this.$refs.template.innerHTML, onCreate: (instance) => this.tippyInstance = instance, onShow: (instance) => { this.escapeHandler = (e) => { if (e.key === 'Escape') instance.hide(); }; window.addEventListener('keydown', this.escapeHandler); }, onHide: (instance) => { if (this.escapeHandler) { window.removeEventListener('keydown', this.escapeHandler); this.escapeHandler = null; } }, onMount: (instance) => { const closeBtn = instance.popper.querySelector('[data-tooltip-close]'); if (closeBtn) closeBtn.addEventListener('click', () => instance.hide()); }, }; }, }">   What Our Ratings Mean 5.0 - Exemplary: Near perfection, ground-breaking 4.5 - Outstanding: Best in class, acts as a benchmark for measuring competitors 4.0 - Excellent: A performance, feature, or value leader in its class, with few shortfalls 3.5 - Good: Does what the product should do, and does so better than many competitors 3.0 - Average: Does what the product should do, and sits in the middle of the pack 2.5 - Fair: We have some reservations, buy with caution 2.0 - Subpar: We do not recommend, buy with extreme caution 1.5 - Poor: Do not buy this product 1.0 - Dismal: Don't even think about buying this product Read Our Editorial Mission Statement and Testing Methodologies. The Bottom Line Adobe Illustrator is the preeminent vector graphics editing software, thanks to its splendid collection of brush and text tools, ability to apply vector graphics to 2D raster objects, AI-based text-to-vector feature, and many other class-leading capabilities. Per Month, Starts at $22.99 See It PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Pros & Cons Unparalleled typography tools and features Advanced features for vector brush making Superb tracing capabilities Robust AI integrations with a singular text-to-vector tool Works seamlessly within the Creative Cloud ecosystem No perpetual license option Web version not available for Safari Adobe Illustrator Specs Name Value tr:nth-of-type(n+6)]:hidden" :class="{ '[&>tr:nth-of-type(n+6)]:!table-row': open }"> Pricing Model Subscription Edits Vector Graphics Edits Raster Graphics Touch Interface Support Publication Layout Pro-Level Typography Data-Driven Charts More Specs

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful graphic design app for drawing and painting, fine typography, illustration, and many other professional artistic disciplines. It's unbeatable for editing vector graphics, and its brush, text, and tracing tools continue to impress. Moreover, Illustrator remains on the cutting edge of creative software, consistently developing and deploying compelling new features. Illustrator's proficiency and smooth integrations with other Creative Cloud apps fully justify its high subscription costs, making it our Editors' Choice winner for vector editing and illustration.What Is Illustrator?Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editing program. For the uninitiated, Boolean curves, lines, and points define vector graphics. Unlike raster images, you can enlarge vector images infinitely without a loss of resolution. If you plan to design a huge billboard or any other large graphic for which scalability is a requisite for success, for example, you need vector graphics. Vector files also tend to be much smaller than their raster counterparts. In the image below, the object on the left is a vector graphic, and the object on the right is a raster. Left to right: Vector versus raster illustration (Credit: Shelby Putnam Tupper) Price: Expensive for a Single App, But Worth It for ProfessionalsAdobe Illustrator is available only by subscription. It costs $263.88 per year up front, $22.99 per month with an annual commitment, or $34.49 on a month-to-month basis. Adobe doesn't offer a perpetual license for Illustrator. CorelDraw's Graphics Suite, one of Illustrator's closest competitors