These three graphic apps are very powerful in their own right, but would You create an 8 page catalog in Illustrator or Photoshop or create a company logo in Indesign? Using the right app for the right project makes the design process better and design becomes more efficient because designers can work faster to create more options for their clients in less time.
Adobe Photoshop
The app was originally designed as a comprehensive solution for creating, editing and retouching any type of raster image. Since then, Photoshop has evolved a full slate of tools that allow users to do so much more. Fine artists use it to draw, sketch and even paint digitally. Photographers use it to adjust and transform their photos with color and lighting. Production designers use it to create web-ready digital images.Use Photoshop when
- It’s time to retouch photos. Need to color correct a photo? Or tame some flyaway hair? Or digitally zap a zit? Photoshop = photos. And there’s no better tool.
- You need to edit artwork for digital or print. That could be a photo, painting, drawing, or anything else. Photoshop is the right tool to make sure every line, shadow and texture is in place. Then, you can use that artwork anywhere, either on its own or in a Illustrator or InDesign project.
- You want digital images for the web like social media images, banner ads, email headers, videos etc. Creating these images in Photoshop will ensure they’re right size and optimized for the web.
- You have to create a website or app mockup. Layers make it easy to move UI elements around, and because Photoshop is a pixel-based editing program, you’ll know that your design is sized correctly for any screen size.
- You want to get fancy with animation and video. Today, cameras can not only shoot fantastic photos, but they can also capture some pretty sweet video, too. Photoshop makes it easy to cut together simple video clips and add graphics, filters, text, animation and more.
Instead of Photoshop, Use another app when: