Differences between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
Having worked for an Adobe Authorized Training Center for the past 10 years, I often ask students what is the difference between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
First, let me say that the three programs are actually owned and developed by the same company, Adobe Systems, the world leader in the development, web design and e-learning. The three programs are also grouped in Adobe Creative Suite, which is an excellent and affordable way to purchase this software.
I think part of the confusion is that some tasks can be performed in more than one of these programs. For example, you can find the drawing tools available in Photoshop and InDesign, Illustrator, although the predominant vector drawing program. The key to getting the most out of these three programs is to understand what are their main functions are and how they can be used together.
Ok So take each program separately. We'll start with Adobe Photoshop, which is probably the best known of the three. Photoshop is an editing software primarily used for professional image editing bitmap images and image manipulation. Bitmap images are images that are defined by their pixel structure. In other words digital bitmaps can be broken down into millions of tiny pixels and each pixel has its own attributes. Bitmap images are sometimes also called raster images.
The most common type of bitmap image is a photographic image. Whether on film and scanned into the computer or digital shooting, images are made up of millions of tiny pixels. Then simply Photoshop is a tool used to edit photographic images. It also has the ability to do many other things, but the basic function of Photoshop is to edit Photographic images.
If you go down to your local newsagent and pick up any magazine, chances are very good that the pictures in this magazine have been edited or altered using Photoshop. Sometimes adjustments can be minor such as subtle lighting or sharpening adjustments, and other times they could be major like applying a filter or special effect. Photoshop is used for retouching - ever wondered why models and movie stars never have any cellulite or a double chin - the answer is Photoshop. Often, an image may include some different images were merged together to form a montage. This effect can also be created in Photoshop.
Adobe Illustrator on the other hand is a vector drawing program. Vector images the other main type of digital image. Unlike bitmaps, vectors are constituted by a series of lines and shapes which are defined as mathematical formulas. Vectors are very good at creating images that contain large sections of the same color. For example a navigation button on your website, your company logo, or a non-photographic image would be created as a better carrier. Illustrator is a vector drawing tool first in the world, so if you have been responsible for creating any form of art "flat" as a company profile, including logos, sign work, letterheads, etc. chances are that you are using Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe InDesign is the newest of the three programs and a layout or editing program. InDesign is used to collect stuff like corporate brochures, documents, magazines, newsletters or advertisements. InDesign's specialty is working with documents that contain a large amount or type text.
Often designers will use all three programs on the same project. For example, we recently created a new course this so we used Illustrator to create our logo and some other vector graphics, we used Photoshop to apply a special shadow effect to some bitmap images, and finally we imported all Illustrator and Photoshop elements in InDesign where we added the copy and defined the layout.
Quality graphic design can make or break the image of any business. Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, plus a little training can give you the vital edge to succeed in a very competitive world .......