Photoshop vs. Illustrator: Part 1

Aug 05

Illustrator, Photoshop, Product Review, Tutorials

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator in a no-holds-barred battle to the death!

WARNING! This blog post contains foul language and dirty underhanded insults. The (harsh) opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of Go Media Inc. or Adobe Inc. Please do not read further if you are pregnant, have a weak constitution or are currently on prescribed psychotropic medication.

Only Go Media is brave enough to bring these two power-house applications together and ask the question: Which is the superior go-to design and Illustration tool: Photoshop or Illustrator? Combatants, take your corners, LET’S GET IT ON!

Opening Remarks:

Ps: Illustrator is like that shitty kid you grew up with that always breathed through his mouth and really liked drawing these illustrations of half naked woman with huge boobs… wishful thinking illustrator. The fact of the matter is Photoshop is way more relevant in the lives of the majority of creative people out there. PERIOD. Face the facts, go back to your corner and play with your pen tool.

Ai: Photoshop you ignorant slut! Bloated obsolete relics like you and Print Shop need to know when your time has passed. Oh, but let’s all cling to an aged and decadent past. You can “paint” in Photoshop. You think this somehow pays tribute to the Renaissance masters. I’m afraid not. If Leonardo da Vinci were alive today he’d bitch slap you and all your air-brushing users. His entire generation was pushing forward, innovating, advancing. The only advancing You’ve done in two decades is to steal my tools! If Michelangelo were alive today he’d be using me. Why? Because the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is HUGE! Only vector graphics are equipped to handle such a large surface. You would wet your pants and go crying to mommy if you were faced with a canvas that big. So, let’s place Photoshop where it belongs: in a time capsule.

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator

1. What app is best for logo design?

Ps: First off, ‘logo design’ means many different things. We could be talking about a Logotype, icon, symbol, etc. What we always know for sure is the mark has to be functional and have the initial integrity and quality preserved since its inception. It is from this stance that I ground my attack against Illustrator… You crash more times than Helen Keller driving a Pinto. How the hell can I utilize your premiere feature of vector creation to the fullest when at most I get three hours of productivity?? Bush league. (side bet: $100 says there are at least 10 exclamation points in the Illustrator response…trite.)

Rebuttal: Ai: Gosh Photoshop, it sounds like the problem is your 386, not Illustrator. I suggest you upgrade your computer along with that greasy comb-over on top of your head. Even on your decrepit old computer any self respecting logo designer will take those three hours on Illustrator over a full week on Photoslop. Face facts – logos are clean simple marks with sharp crisp logotypes. Everyone but your cave-dwelling users develop logos as Vector art. No room for fuzzy pixelization here. Score: Illustrator 1, Photoshit 0.

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator

2. What app is best for drawing, painting or illustrating?

Ai: I would never rest on the laurels of my name alone, but c’mon! My name is Illustrator! I wasn’t given that name because I was designed to wipe your baby’s ass! Likewise, Photoshop, you were designed to edit photos! That, and to SUCK, but I digress. You approach illustration by trying to simulate traditional painting techniques, namely: airbrushing. I, on the other hand, utilize the full power of the computer to advance the process of illustration. Just to name a few: Pen tool, Shape tool, Brush, Pencil tool and symbol sprayer are all Illustrator originals that you stole. What did Photoshop have – an airbrush, that’s it. If you want to create something in Photoshop, you better have a camera to help you get started.

Rebuttal: Ps: You’re right Illustrator… If I were to work with you I wouldn’t need to take my own source pictures… I could just download and live trace a low-res version right off of Google Images. Original! I remember when seamlessly tracing things was a crux part of my workflow too (LOL).

Just because you’re named ‘Illustrator’ doesn’t mean anything you hack. Any sort of illustration, be it a drawing or painting, is best when not limited by fundamental capabilities or restrictions. You limit our users far too much and for what… the benefit of scalability? Who cares, just work at actual size. I stole your functionality because you clearly don’t know how to fully utilize them. Take a pick: The unhinged creative powers of Photoshop, or, The one-track train of thought Illustrator.

3. What app is best for web design

Ps: Two things…

1. Being that Illustrator is Vector based, who in their right mind would design a website in it knowing the graphics would need to be rasterized. Cut out the middle man, use Photoshop.

2. Flash movies are the only logical application of vector graphics. Even so, once the movie or animation is published to the web, it functions more so as a video and it loses its vector quality.

So really the only logical thought being that the value of a vector graphic lies in the actual development of movies in Flash. Sweet. Now you have to buy an additional (expensive) piece of software so you can start publishing your faux websites to the internet. Not to mention the exorbitant amount of time you’ll spend learning how to actionscript. Good Idea.

The web at its best is cohesive and unrestricted. Flash is a proprietary piece of software which requires its own player and works to carve out its piece of the internet. That’s ok and all, but calling Flash programming ‘web design’ in its most pure sense, is like trying to include Canada in the United States.

Rebuttal: Ai: Pretty sensitive about that Flash app huh Photopoop? Me thinks thou dost protest too much. You hardly made any argument for yourself before spending the rest of your time attempting (pathetically) to bash Flash. The facts are these: In Illustrator you can design a web page with more tools than Photoshop offers, you can export slices from Illustrator just like in Photoshop (sorry, no extra steps here.), and oh yeah – if you do use the considerable advantages of Flash – your file is already prepped for it! I’m surprised you would suggest that Flash puts MORE restrictions on website creation. Is that why the most dynamic and artistic sites on the web use it? Seems you’re suffering a little Flash envy there buck-o!

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator

4. What app is best for working with type

Ai: From Wikipedia: “Adobe Illustrator was first developed for the Apple Macintosh in 1986 as a commercialization of Adobe’s in-house font development software and Postscript file format.” Type (fonts) are vector graphics. Illustrator is a vector based software. Photoshop handling type is like Phyllis Diller handling an eyebrow pencil: the results are not good! Heck, “type” isn’t even an option on your primary navigation!

Once again, Adobe has (poorly) tacked on some other program’s functions to their pathetically misguided old software. If you want to thread some text in Photoshop, sorry, you can’t do it. Type on a path? No. Type in a shape? Nada. Vertical type on a path? Nyet. Convert text to paths? Nope. Change case? Nay. Must I really go on? I’ll admit – I’m starting to feel sorry for you, you poor little photo editor.

Rebuttal: Ps: Someone definitely did their homework. Because I CLEARLY cannot type on a path or shape or even vertically for that matter… that shit’s just way outta my league….

Photoshop Vs. Illustrator

Weak!

Coming Soon: PART TWO. Will Illustrator crash? Will Photoshop fix his comb-over? And WHO WILL DIE?

Go Media is a creative agency based in Cleveland, Ohio. We specialize in Brand Development, Website Design, and Illustration. We deliver effective designs with legendary customer service, giving our clients an unparalleled experience.
Hire us for your next creative project. learn more | contact us

application, battle, death, design, fight, Illustrator, logo, Photoshop, Photoshop vs. Illustrator, software, tools, versus, vs., web, Web Design

This post was written by:

William Beachy - who has written 38 posts on GoMediaZine.

I was born in the Louisiana bayou and slept on a mud floor until I was 16. Ok, that's not really true. I grew up in Cleveland Hts. Ohio and had a nice cushy bed. I was drawing constantly as a child, took art classes and eventually became the "class artist." I graduated from The Ohio State University's department of Industrial Design. I have always been trying to blend my passion for illustration with solid Graphic Design. Go Media was the culmination of my passion for both business and art. I'm trying to build a company that is equally awesome for the designers AND our clients.

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  • Coheed
    This might have been a decent and useful article if the author hadn't tried so hard to be funny. The result is just annoying and painful to read.
  • Bismarck
    I think this post is mean to be funny and at the same time being kind of real, but mostly funny. wasn´t annoying for me to read, soooooo ill be waiting for part II the revenge of the fallen
  • I gotta agree. I stopped reading after the opening remarks. I skimmed through but it was more of the same.
  • Loving the custom robot art for this post!
  • Hilarious! (I'm siding with Photoshop) ;)
  • hmm. Photoshop and Illustrator are like Apples and Pears, for me.
  • best blog post ever! :)
  • jamesmadson
    I imagined Nick Swardson writing that article. Loved it.
  • No, not a cliffhanger!
  • Photoshop was my first love but Illustrator is pretty good
  • Very entertaining article, can't wait to see more.
  • elisa_p
    This was a great and funny article, I do believe they both have their places in the design world. I prefer Illustrator for logo design while I like Photoshop for web design. I can't decide which I like better though.
  • How ridiculous. It's like oh what should I use to build this desk a hammer or a saw? Sometimes you need both, kind of depends on the job don't ya think?
  • overithiswire
    Haha, bill this is great! I love how you made them look like auto-bots!!
  • Nice post, and the good humorous tone to it ;-)
  • Wait, wait....there is error:

    "(...)Change case? Nay. (...)"

    Say what? If you don't know how, it doesn't means that you can't.

    And I agree with that: "It's like oh what should I use to build this desk a hammer or a saw? Sometimes you need both, kind of depends on the job don't ya think?"
  • kristindesigner
    Ha, such a good article. I agree its always like Photoshop and Illustrator are fighting. But i do use InDesign and Photoshop the most so sorry Illustrator.
  • Illustrator is AWESOME!
  • jpedroribeiro
    Fun and informative! Love posts like this. I'd say I'm more of a photoshop kind of guy but I know it doesn't do everything.
  • Basically, a Photoshop vs Illustrator fight would go something like this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaDWpvzMaPM
  • prafuitu
    Q: What app is best for web design?
    A: Fireworks FTW!
  • hehehe. no.
  • Jake Stevens
    I really really really wish that there was more substance to this article. The concept is nice, but it seems as though humor was more of a focus than actual design insight. If I wanted humor, I would have gone to another site.
  • ralphcontreras
    Great article. Illustrator and Photoshop are both super great software. But it take the right tool for the right job. sometimes Photoshop is better then illustrator, and other time Illustrator is the better choice.
    -Shazam!
  • Agreed, I use each for what I feel their respective strengths are. And I use InDesign where I feel both are lacking, for certain projects.
  • I think it's always fun to give a persona to the applications we use every day, but I always had a different vision for how Illustrator and Photoshop would speak. In any case, you might find this Illustrator vs. InDesign smackdown an interesting read: http://rwillustrator.blogspot.com/2007/10/illus...
  • Heh, seems to me that the author is specifically pissed about the handling of type in PS. Which also is my primary reason for siding with Illustrator. That, and how you handle gradients and selecting objects. I could go on
  • Name
    Ai & Ps should be fused. Maybe Adobe could call it Illustrop or Photostrator, or just Adobe Awesome! ('Aa!' for short.)
  • William_Beachy
    I'm glad (almost) everyone is enjoying this post.

    The first draft of this post was three times longer and full of facts and figures. After a few designers around our office read it, their response was: "Yawn. I was falling asleep, really boring, like reading a technical journal."

    So, we decided to keep it campy, short and fun.

    I hope everyone enjoys it despite it being a little light on substance. In the end analysis the desk building analogy is right on. Of course we recognize that these are unique tools with their own set of advantages, but that wouldn't make for a good fight. So, screw Photopoop. It sucks!
  • I like them both. They both have their shortcomings. It depends on what exactly you are utilizing them for . . . both practical in different ways.
  • Not the best comparison, but still entertaining.
  • DAVID J
    That was funny!! GO ILLUSTRATOR!! (cuz I use it more)
  • Sadly it's a tie. They both suckle the nethers of goats.

    AI: I want to personally kick the nut hole of whomever named the pen tool.
    (I have nothing against the dude or she dude, it's just that I am old enough to have drawn with pens, the real ones. Nut hole kicking may be avoided with a simple name change)

    Time Rape tool would be far more appropriate.

    I will say I wish that live trace had never been invented, it is a sinful plague that must be vanquished. This ever happen to you? "Can someone convert this .psd to vector?" -Cringe

    PS: Why no Kuler panel Tough guy?

    I have seen amazing art done with both programs, but just imagine what we could do if we had software with just half the shortcomings, what a beautiful world we could make.

    Great article. Oh and I take back all those mean things I said, artist are passionate people, I hope you understand.
  • Personally, I love the Pen tool. Although agreed it should be called the Path tool instead.
  • Not too sure why my previous comment is gone? Was just saying that I, personally, can't "paint" with Illustrator. Doing precision typography and shapes, yes. Photoshop is the only thing I would use to illustrate a complex scene or painting.

    Kudos to those that can draw in Illustrator, however.

    p.s. third time trying to respond to this article; now I'm using my Twitter login. ):
  • amatatomba
    I'll constantly get asked by people what the difference between Illustrator and Photoshop is, or when I mention Illustrator someone will say "I like Photoshop better". Then I have to spend an hour explaining the difference. It's exhausting lol.
  • We have to vote with Illustrator since we used that from the day 1.
    PS (We even draw directly into illustrator) : http://www.vimeo.com/1824280
  • This could have been a funny post, but I think comparing those two programs is just pointless. It's like disussing what you'll need for putting a picture on your wall, a screwdriver or a drilling machine - well guess what, you'll most likely need both.

    There is no "better program", each of them has a purpose. The fact that some functions are available to both is just to avoid needing both of them all the time (exporting your illustration to PS just for some drop shadow would be pretty annoying, even if the function is more of a photoshop-function).

    And with Smart Objects, theres no need to choose for a good workflow. So I'm sorry, as much as I like and appreciate the quality of the gomediazine, I find this particular post merely entertaining but mostly misleading :/
  • But very cool illustrations ;)
  • I only tend to use illustrator when needs must for example using the live trace or creating vectors for flash! I used Photoshop before illustrator but I must say it is so much better for web 2.0!
  • Very creative way of putting your points across, I think they both have their uses, but I tend to use illustrator for logos, graphics and flash and photoshop for web design.
  • This was pretty funny
  • I love the Adobe Gundams. Are they tweaks of existing images or re-created from scratch?

    This is just like superhero meetings: they fight until they realize they have a common enemy (the Job!) before teaming up to defeat it.
  • William_Beachy
    @ David Boni - Sorry your posts were disappearing, I PROMISE we weren't deleting them. We leave everything up, good or bad. Must be a technical glitch.

    @ Jason - Gundams were Turbo Squid stock, modeled and lighted by Jeff, then put into scenes and backgrounds by me. Also, your last comment may be prophetic!
  • See.. The main element in those header designs were created in 3d, not ai or ps... They both suck for creating highly stylized or realistic 3d models. Come on ai and ps, get your shit together.
  • Yay, I'm a prophet!
  • funkchunk
    Illustrator and Photoshop are like Power Rangers, both have their strengths and weaknesses - but together they are like some kick ass super robot.
  • infectedrobot
    i love both programs, photoshop is cool as much as illustrator is, so if you want the ultimate designers weapon, use both of them
  • edgarmesa
    GUNDAMS!!!!
  • saraelizabeth22
    I feel like time could have been spent on something more important. This was a funny article, but the fact is Illustrator and Photoshop need not be compared like this. They are completely different programs that are good for completely different things and I use them as such. End of story. I don't like one better then the other, they are tools. This article is the first of GoMedia that I wouldn't approve of. There is no point to it, and designer's already know these differences. (Even us student designer's)
  • avangelist
    I hope this is how the 'new look' gomediazine is going to continue. It will be one less thing clogging up my RSS
  • Dennis Rodman's Brother
    Man, this is one of the most narrow, short sighted posts i've read on this site-a shame, because most of the other ones are intelligent and relevant.

    Use the tool that works best for you on the particular job is all i can say. Sometimes, it's better to use one, the other, both or even a different tool.
  • I died at:

    Photoshop you ignorant slut!

    Ha ha, but seriously, when I got started teaching myself these 2 pieces of software, I went with photoshop first. I thought it had all the bells and whistles. heck, I even saw a vid on youtube where someone made a photo of a really fat woman into a slender model-type woman. Impressive!

    But, I gave up trying to learn photoshop when my T-shirt printer told me to use a vector program. that's when I found out about Illustrator. I'm a wizz in neither of them, but I do make designs for shirts, so I use Illustrator.

    I use BOTH if I'm feeling creative and want to make a nice desktop wallpaper for myself :)
  • haha well done man, loved it and Ai ftw:)
  • I think comparing PS to AI is comparing apples to oranges. Sure, they share some similarities, but they're still VERY different and both do specific things well.
  • ClownShoes
    I'm a very serious person, and I don't like it when people who write articles don't take me just as seriously.
  • gonzalo
    Ha, ha, haaa.... 'your mamma was a darkroom....hilarius...!!!
  • It will be a tie!

    If there was a program that did the same thing as both, PS and AI would just fall of the face of the Earth.

    Thus, we need both because they contribute in their own ways to accomplishing different tasks.

    TIE IT IS, THEN!
  • lorettarobinson
    I thought this was pretty funny, but i think illustrator is kicking ass right now. :( I love photoshop more.. give photoshop some love with a photo editing question... lol
  • hahaha!! Very nice.. I love this article. very funny... More debate on part two. can't wait. hahahah!!!
  • I really like reading this site because of the professionalism it displays. I'm not trying to bad mouth the writer, or the post, just give my opinion. It could have been an interesting post without the swearing and jokes, if anything I found it less appealing... and some of the language distasteful. I just wouldn't have expected it from you guys.
  • I think a lot of the commenters are forgetting this article was meant to have a bit of humor to it, other than just your ordinary "Which program should I use for what job?" write-up. Have a laugh, people!
  • Well, I read this the other day and didn't comment because I thought I was just in a bad mood - which I was.

    Reading it again, in a pretty good mood, well... not really feeling this.

    I generally come here to be engaged and look forward to new posts, this was a let down. Not that I have anything against humor, but this wasn't very funny either.

    No offense to the author and much love for GoMedia, but this was kind of bad, like Jerry Seinfeld stand-up bad.

    haha, seriously, I have no idea why this moved me in such a not good way, but it did.

    Regardless, rock on GoMedia crew!

    :)
  • peejworks
    This article was hilarious! I loved it! Clearly the author has spent a lot of time using BOTH of these programs and recognizes, deep beneath his sarcastic exterior, that to be a great designer he is bound to both pieces of software.

    Any Noobs who were walking in here expecting to have their hands held and guided through a feature by feature comparison of both programs might be upset. But I for one was thoroughly entertained by the article and actually a bit sad when it ended!


    I think I only ever get to the end of 15% of the web content I start reading.

    Kudos!

    I'm going to go look for other posts by this author. Hilarious!



    On a more serious note. I began my design journey on Freehand. (stupid cheap college!) and naturally migrated to Illy. For a LONG time it was my preferred software. But somewhere along the line, I slowly started to get more familiar with Photoshop. Unfortunately I now find I'm in photoshop WAY more then Illustrator. But I almost never use one exclusively. They play very nicely together. I think the second half of this article should be them making up after the fight and then making sweet sweet love to each other. The union of their combined strengths will produce much better design babies!
  • William_Beachy
    Well, it seems like everyone either loves it, or hates it. I guess we at LEAST scored in the category of PASSIONATE. I'm glad our readers have strong opinions.

    Don't worry - lots more serious professional posts coming. That - and part two of this battle (VERY SOON!)
  • Yeah PS definitely better for designing websites than AI. So many times I've come across the problem of an AI web design that looks great when printed out but when rasterized to 72 DPI you can't read the fonts, see images etc. PS lets you see exactly what the website will look like at screen resolution.
  • Haha! It's good sometimes, to take life less seriously. I totally enjoyed this.
    Very entertaining. What more could one ask for?
    ummm maybe 'gradient mesh'? GO Illustrator Goooooooooooo
  • Michael Benjamin
    great article.. made some good points and LOVED the humor.. thanks..
  • "photopoop" tee hee

    Seriously though, a proper grown up knows that no one program can stand alone. The computer and it's associated "Adobe Awesome" is just a tool and only helps you to realise your idea once it's been formed in the tiny tunnels of your brain.

    Other people already made this point though.

    Also did you draw the illustrations for this post in Ps or Ai?
  • photoshop can do everything illy does and a ton more
  • sirhc18
    Nice SNL reference, not sure how many people got that. Funny article, both powerful programs. Seriously, Art is made by people not programs, neither one is better creatively, but they have their strengths for situations.
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