Adobe Illustrator

I fell in love with digital art on my ipad 2 pro and Procreate. I want to take the next step and get a system that is more powerful. It seems that Illustrator and a Wacom tablet is the default setup. Any wisdom from the group on what to get to start out? The Wacom Intuos medium tablet looks to be a comfortable size.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi pmace,

I am not certain a desktop is more powerful perse compared to an Ipad in relation to what you use it for. It will be more flexible, certainly. What I mean is that for most digital artists its a dream to draw "on the screen" just like you do on your ipad pro right now. Those are called screen tablets if im not mistaken and before the ipad pro the wacom cintique was pretty much the standard. Nowadays there is some competition on that market but last time I checked, which was a while ago, it was still very hit and miss (esp with drivers) with the offbrand devices.

Your ipad pro is, for a screen tablet, a fantastic device. When it comes to sketching I think it will be hard to find a better desktop setup unless you are willing to invest in a Wacom equivalent which is very expensive.

When it comes to Illustrator as a software. I absolutely love it and have used it professionally for quite a few years. I think you know the differences between vector and raster very well. From my experiences so far I am not certain you need to have a complete vector package such as Illustrator. Unless you want to vectorize all your sketches? I think if you ink your sketches, scan them and play some with the levels you can get to a quality that will be more then enough for transfers. If its enough for transfers you don't need to vectorize it imo. Vectorizing them will be slow either way, even when compared to cleaning them up digitally with a raster drawing software (just create a new layer and use an inking brush with stabilize on). Even the free packages fully support that feature nowadays. It means you can trace cleanly in minutes.

That said, last discussion we had involved repeating borders and the like. For those kind of things I think Illustrator is a wonderful package. I don't think Adobe creative suit is very expensive nowadays. It is subscription based but that also means you could try it out for a month or a few months and just cancel it if you don't like it. I suggest going for a broader set of applications and at the very least include photoshop (its probably a package deal anyway). That is just convenient to have for any image manipulation and it will be great to clean up/tweak product photo's as well.

There are always free packages as well. I like paint.net (different from default windows paint) for simple photo manipulation, Krita for drawing/sketching (absolutely wonderful package with great brushes) and Inkscape can be used for vector (slightly less user friendly/polished compared to the other free apps).

Hope this helps you a bit and ofcourse all of this is just personal opinion.

JW

Thanks JW. I downloaded a free trial of Illustrator to see how it works. So far it's doing just what I want it to do. I can size things to-scale like a practice plate with a border on it. The nice part is that you can isolate objects and manipulate them at will. That's the frustrating part of Procreate.

I have no problem spending the money to get a tool that is going to make things more productive. I was looking at AutoCAD because that's what I'm used to but Illustrator seems to be more suited to our work, especially when paired with a tablet and pressure sensitive pen.

The only down side it I can't sit at the dining room table like I can with my ipad. Well, if I'm in the shop at least I'm closer to the printer.

Thanks for the advice.

pmace said:

Thanks JW. I downloaded a free trial of Illustrator to see how it works. So far it's doing just what I want it to do. I can size things to-scale like a practice plate with a border on it. The nice part is that you can isolate objects and manipulate them at will. That's the frustrating part of Procreate.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, that is one of the great benefits of vector. To do the same with a raster image you have to be very intentional with your layers and you will always have to deal with resampling when scaling. Another thing vector does not have a problem with.

pmace said:

I have no problem spending the money to get a tool that is going to make things more productive. I was looking at AutoCAD because that's what I'm used to but Illustrator seems to be more suited to our work, especially when paired with a tablet and pressure sensitive pen.

Click to expand...

You are right, it is much better suited for this task than Autocad. Autocad is a true technical drawing application while Illustrator is for, well, illustrations. It sounds simple but for what you want to do with it you are indeed much better of with Illustrator. Its workflow is excellent and nowadays you can even freehand in it.

pmace said:

The only down side it I can't sit at the dining room table like I can with my ipad. Well, if I'm in the shop at least I'm closer to the printer.

Click to expand...

I would definitely keep sketching on your ipad. Or just draw on paper and scan it. There is little that is going to beat for speed, control and comfort when it comes to drawing unless you go for a cintique or equivalent at your desktop.

If you go for a "normal" tablet you will have to get used to drawing flat while looking at the screen. You can definitely get used to it, plenty of artists work that way, but it will never be as convenient as drawing where you look.

Your most welcome. I hope you enjoy your new toys and options

JW

So, I've been "singing" the Affinity Photo and Designer "song" for some time on this site ... acknowleging it as a very capable and affordable substitute for Photoshop and Illustrator. A one time investment of $50.00 bucks ...its a "once and done" investment. Not that you don't already know this but, the "free Adobe download" is just an attempt to get you drink the "Kool-aid" an once your kinda figure it out how to use it, then the monthly charges start.

FYI As you read this the Affinity team is also working on an iPad Pro version....keep and eye out for that release.

I have been working with the MAC version for a while now (BTW they do have a PC version too). Yep, and while there are some differences you're gonna have to "come up the learning curve" little ... tho nothing that is too difficult. If you have been working with Photoshop / Illustrator (and Coral Draw maybe), your transition curve won't be too steep. The main benefits that Im excited about is not having to subscribe to use the software (no monthly charge - do the math) or as in the past some crazy inflated purchase price.

Affinity has many "how to" help Youtube videos on how to use as well as a great online support community to assist / support.
Anyway, enough of my preaching ... consider taking a look ... you might be surprised ... this application is a very capable and IMHO worthy of your review.

Thanks Archie. I'll take a look at Affinity. The price is right that's for sure. If it will do what I need it to do it's a bargain.

I've used Illustrator professionally for hundreds of vector illustrations for 11 years now. I couldn't be without it. If you need vector, there is no better.

Thanks Sam. What size Wacom display tablet do you prefer?

I used the 21" for a long time. I also have the 13" which is quite nice as well. I used it to do the FEGA master logo. I don't use it much and am thinking about selling it since I use the iPad.

If you decide to get rid of it let me know. I'm gonna stay with the mouse for a little while until I get a handle on the commands. The manual is only 500 pages long so it may take a little while.

You can usually get a good deal on the Adobe suite student version that includes Illustrator and Photoshop at a local college book store.

That's a good idea. I'll check the local Community College. Thanks.