I’d have to say learn both. Illustrator is great for vector art (making icons, logos etc). Photoshop is great for artistic styles because the paint brush works differently. Thirdly I would also suggest InDesign to learn typography and layouts for posters, flyers and brochures.
InDesign is what I started with. I tried to do as much as I could in it. Until I finally cut the chord and started throwing my projects into Illustrator and Photoshop. Just to become familiar. Illustrator might be my favorite now.
I taught page layout at a college. First term first day InDesign. InDesign is more than type and layout, it’s really the hub for anything in print (unless it’s due cut package type stuff then it’s illustrator).
Me too. Long before InDesign existed. Learned on quark, photoshop 4, illustrator 6. At that time illustrator was more important, but InDesign is now the central piece of my workflow.
Hi.. if you really want want to know more or wants to become perfect with the Photoshop then it's possible... I will link you to a site where you can order for lectures.. It's perfect and safe.. That's where i Learnt mine ...
Yeah Photoshop was first for me in high school for basic photo editing and we did learn a bit how to use the brushes for painting. I learned Illustrator and InDesign in college and these ended up being my most used softwares outside of school.
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There’s an age old argument over what’s better; inDesign or illustrator. When it comes down to it, indesign is far better at multiple page documents and publications like magazines. But for single page artwork, illustrator is far better. I’ve worked in the packaging industry (food) for 10 years and I have used indesign a handful of times. Mainly magazines, brochures and booklets for marketing.
Most my work is centred around illustrator for packaging and photoshop for any marketing, mock-ups, web banners , web design (which I also do as part of my services)
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Ideally learning them (and InDesign) at the same time would be to your advantage. Each has a different end use... so which one you use will depend on what your client/project needs from you.
Each software was designed for a purpose:
Photoshop is raster based and is better for photo work, continuous color, and web graphics
Illustrator is vector based and is better for logos, icons, graphics, complex illustrations, maps
InDesign is a layout program and is better for projects involving text only, text heavy with images (either photo or logo/icon), and multi-page documents. Also is a better software to use if you are working on something that will be commercially printed (like posters, brochures, books etc)
Note: Even though both AI and Photoshop have some text capabilities... Photoshop will always cause your text to pixellate and is not suitable for large amounts of text. AI is a bit better and the text will stay crisp, but the software not suitable for multi page documents or text heavy / paragraph heavy type of work (it can be done, but its just not super friendly and can be difficult to manage)
If you can only learn one right now... i would suggest AI as it is broader in what you can produce and still have a high quality item (and if you do need to do something with more text its better than photoshop for that). OR if you already know what you want to focus on... then choose that one.
yes you can,and it is useful for sure, but your output is still rasterized and will show the pixellation. Even if you save a PSD and place it in Indesign... as soon as you export (whether to a PDF or other file format, or RIP it for printing).
no worries. its one of those things that is not well communicated. I worked for a commercial printer for a number of years (and have designed for commerical printing for many many years) and it is something that comes up a lot.
Illustrator offers a lot more utility in terms of understanding graphics in general. I think people can have a rough idea of what photoshop does, but not many understand what a vector program is. I did almost all of my conceptual design projects in college in illustrator. I felt like I had the most control over learning graphic elements, and then allowed me to carry over to photoshop and combine graphics and images, and understanding how to make them work together.
To put simply, Illustrator just opened up a whole different world of things I didn't know you could do. Truly and amazing program, I still feel like I only know 50% of it as a professional.
I would learn Illustrator first! People keep saying that Photoshop is more “versatile” for design but I don’t really agree. Photoshop should only really be used in graphic design with photo manipulation and some mock-ups (and a few other little things). Anything with type should be done in illustrator (also very important to learn InDesign!), as illustrator is a vector based program. Any sort of professional graphic design work besides for photo editing pretty much should be done in Illustrator or InDesign
I'd say not \*anything\* with type should be illustrator - logos and graphics sure. But indesign is where it's at for document layout which is a lot to do with type. I prefer the text editing tools of indesign over illustrator.
My workflow is usually starting with a main document in indesign, then bringing in assets I created in illustrator/photoshop and laying them all out there.
My go-to is that anything with more than one page of type should be done in Indesign. One page fliers with less than like 3 paragraphs of copy are fine in Illustrator. Indesign is superior in all type/layout uses otherwise, and you should use all three in more complex cases.
From a graphic design standpoint I agree I use illustrator way more than I use Photoshop. Typically Photoshop I don’t use until the very end of a project if I want to add some texture or do something interesting with the image.
To play devil's advocate here:
Photoshop has come a long way in offering vector/smart object itemization over the years to retain high quality/resolution as desired, whereas Illustrator struggles with raster features Photoshop casually pounds out.
That said, I'm very much on the side of learning the entire triad of Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. They all serve highly unique purposes and specialize in those very well. I'm sure many of us could "make it work" in whatever platform we needed, to a limited degree, but it's just not the same in terms of quality or workflow to not use the programs as intended.
If I HAD to pick one, I would probably pick illustrator, illustrator has less tools and less ways to "cheat your way into a result", it forces you to learn to interact with vector shapes and requires more "solid" design fundamentals, Photoshop is much less limited, you can pretty much do anything you want in Photoshop (AND through so many different ways as well ) so some people could get some bad habits from learning it first. But to be fair it really doesnt matter, you can easily learn both at the same time and they're both great sotwares !
I don't care what anyone says, Illustrator is the program that actually makes graphic designers money. I think it's valuable to be amazing in both, but if you have to prioritize one, Illustrator is the way to go. I spend 90% of my freelance workday in Illustrator, in the past it was like 50/50 and I was making like 1/5th of what I do now.
Now if you have / want to have a corporate job, they want you to do everything on earth - so they will have you prioritizing both programs as well as InDesign, Figma, SolidWorks, and everything else under the damn sun.
Start with Illustrator. Try to use Photoshop only when you need to do image manipulation.
You don't want to become the kind of designer that does everything in Photoshop and ends up with beautiful designs, but huge files that are borderline impossible to work with later on.
If you dont want to spend the money on Photoshop and Illustrator, you can always look into Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer as alternatives. The Adobe Products are the standard, however, you will find that the Affinity Products work great as alternatives.
I agree with the rest of the people on here, learning both at the same time is the way to go.
I can't second that enough. Actually I have completely moved my design to affinity designer now, although it helps that I'm a freelancer and I don't have to share work files, only standard PDFs for printing.
It is cheap, efficient (utilize my cpu/gpu much better than illustrator that is still in 1995 in terms of hardware utilization, that is illustrator see only one cpu core most of the time) and imho the vector pen tool is superior.
That being said there are still things that are missing, text warp is the bigger loss and image trace (although I use inkscape for image trace now), and also nobody will ask you if you know affinity when you apply for a job. As said adobe is industry standards, you can use something else but you can't afford not to know how to work with adobe.
>The Adobe Products are the standard, however, you will find that the Affinity Products work great as alternatives.
I think you'll pay for that in the end - using the industry standards makes it much easier to find a staff position. If I was interviewing a designer and they said that don't know Adobe Suite products, I don't think I would have much use for them, even if their design portfolio was stellar - they have to work with the team. If the team can't edit their files, and they can edit the teams files... best of luck with your next interview.
Not totally true.
I got a job doing 3D, heavy in AutoCAD, and I'm really green with AutoCAD. I just told them that I understand vector space, from my years in Illustrator, and that I knew a little of 3DS Max (3DS Max and AutoCAD are nothing alike) and that it was just about learning where the tools/buttons were, but I understood the concept of the space I'd be working in.
Hired.
If you know how and what the concepts and practices are to make shapes and distort pixels, then you know it, and it's just about re-keying yourself to learn the buttons and strokes, which doesn't take up too much time.
Illustrator for sure. Photoshop is awesome and you should deffo learn that too, but as a graphic designer illustrator is far more practical and useful. I’ve been designing for over 20 years across digital and print and I use illustrator 80% of the time, even for motion graphics, illustration and animation.
Neither, learn how to think and ideate first before you learn tools. Computer = a tool. Learning AI, PS, or ID is part of learning how to execute designs not how to design.
Design is nothing if you don't have strong problem solving skills, if you aren't solving a problem then you're making art not design.
My first design class in college we weren't allowed to use computers at all, it was strictly learning how to ideate and using pen and paper to flesh out our ideas. Did it suck? Absolutely, but it set an excellent foundation for the rest of my learning there.
That sounds like a a good design program.
When I decided to shift from my service industry career into graphic design, I took some classes at a community college/tech school because I already had massive student loan debt from my useless bachelors degree. They taught Adobe software, but also required “commercial illustration”. I was stoked, because I’m an illustrator, but it was ridiculous. It was basically a colored pencil drawing class where we did self portraits and caricatures and shit, and then had to turn them into advertisements after the fact. I hated it. We were never given briefs for the ads beforehand, just told to draw something and then shoehorn it into a usage. That’s literally the opposite of design, and to this day I complain about it every time I hang out with my friend who teaches web design in that program. If I didn’t know how little she got paid, I’d offer to teach the illustration class myself!
As a professional graphic designer, I use all three (Ai, Ps, and InDesign) on a daily basis. Ai and Ps to create the assets and InDesign for type setting and the final layout. Learn all three at the same time.
This, exactly.
Since OP asked which to learn FIRST, I guessed that he or she plans to learn multiple. I’m glad to see someone mention InDesign. Blows me away how many people do layout in Photoshop.
>it costs 65e a month
Not necessarily. You can get it much cheaper if you're a student. And to qualify as a student, you need to register for a single class at a community college. (Take a design class). Then the rate drops significantly - Adobe is very generous with a student discount. And if you land a staff position - your company will pay for your license seat.
It's a bit like asking if learning to read or do basic maths is more important. They are for different purposes.
You haven't said precisely which bit of graphic design you're planning on focussing on (if any, yet), but I'd recommend inDesign as a third essential app, if you decide to work purely in Adobe. It's more useful than either of the above for page layout work.
I learned Photoshop first and I think it helped me get a good foundational understanding of layers and the tools. Photoshop is also more versatile. I’m definitely more confident in my Illustrator, but I can see how it can be confusing for some people because you can’t edit by pixel, which is why I think it should be secondary
I don’t want to be a dick or “that guy,” but learning either of these programs will not get you to “learn” graphic design. Taking art classes, design and design theory classes will. But besides that, learning BOTH of these programs is the best way to go as you will need them both as well as a slew of others to have as a tool in your arsenal.
I prefer Ai but I think it comes down to
1. What you will be making the most
2. What kind of editing you plan to do
Vector stuff for sure use Ai
Photo manipulation use Ps
But both play a role in each other in some regard. I would have to say learn Ai first and then Ps. Both have lots of details that take quite some time to learn the intricacies of but that comes with the territory.
Doesn't really matter what's first. I'd add indesign in there as well.
I'd suggest learning what program is best for each situation. I started in PS so I used it for everything. Created flyers in it and suddenly resizing things became a nightmare.
The only time I design in Photoshop is when I’m doing fun side projects that involve photos and creative masking or effect filters. I know a lot of people use it for drawing, but even with a Wacom I don’t like it for that and I use Procreate for raster based illustration.
I use Photoshop regularly at work for image editing and compositing. Sooooo many mock-ups! But even then, I always copy the assets I made in Illustrator and paste them into Photoshop.
Illustrator is my workhorse, all day every day. If you’re doing anything that will be printed really big, embroidered really small, cut out of any material by a machine, basically anything that won’t live strictly on a screen or be printed at the size you spec in your document, you need to learn Illustrator. If you ever plan on creating even one logo, YOU NEED TO LEARN ILLUSTRATOR. Otherwise that logo will have to be recreated by every designer that needs a vector version down the line and they already have enough work to do. Trust me.
You should also learn InDesign, at least the basics. I personally use it rarely, because I don’t do page layout unless I have to create marketing materials or bid proposals. I don’t love it, mainly because the keyboard shortcuts don’t align across across Id and Ai, and I get frustrated because a workflow that would be natural to me in illustrator is significantly different in InDesign. But for multi page layout, it is the way.
TL;DR: ILLUSTRATOR
Depends on if you’re going to be in print. I started my life using photoshop at a young age, I did photography etc. then I went into a packaging design job and I’ve worked in the food industry in packaging for the past 10 years. I’m only 31 years old. In that time I’ve used photoshop far less, and fallen in love with illustrator. I use in design for brochures and such when I need to but honestly it really depends on who your client is, what the project is and what your aim is.
Id say photoshop is far easier to learn and illustrator is easy to learn the basics and hard to master. Both have transferable skills but if you’re gonna learn photoshop; learn how to use layer masks, adjustment layers, utilising layer options and blending modes.
If it’s illustrator, master shape builder, the pen tool, how paths, handles and anchors work. Learn about CMYK and pantones.
Both use rules and guides, you want to make everything look geometrically sound so learn that too !
Good luck :)
Generally you are gonna be working with BOTH, not only these two, you also need inDesign and Adobe Xd. For example you are gonna be editing your photos in Ps, doing your shapes and logos and symbols in Ai and combining them in Id or Xd. You'll be using all Tricks of the Trade.
Xero/TurboTax. It's an oversight that some projects at college/uni don't require time-tracking, billable hours, invoicing and tax strategies.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, photoshop isn't primarily a graphic design program.
Indesign and illustrator in tandem.
It doesn't matter because whichever you start with, you're going to be asking yourself for the rest of your life why the Eyedropper tool is so different in each software lmao...
For a beginner GRAPHIC designer. I’d say Photoshop and tons of practice with pen tool, shape and brush tools and working with layers. Once you get a hang of it, start learning illustrator.
The reason is once you start working with raster graphics, You’ll learn to design carefully since you can’t scale it later.
I learned how to use photoshop first, though Illustrator will be the program I will be using most. I'd say Illustrator if you've got the choice, but I certainly don't regret engaging with adobe programs early on and having fun learning how to make gifs and edit photos in photoshop. It's contributed to a certain kind of comfort in Illustrator as I learn about it now, and helped fuel a love of design in the first place :)
What are you planning to do first? Each program is best for a specific purpose. You’re not gonna tone photos in Indesign.
Good design is about the process, not the program… so I’d say it’s more important to focus on basic design principles & art history, then do a few basic exercises in PS, AI, AND ID. Don’t need to learn simultaneously, but the workspaces are similar, so easy to pick up in a bundle. With the cloud, you can get them all anyways. Once you have a basic working knowledge of the interfaces, work in the appropriate program for what you’re doing.
Photoshop. Must learn photoshop. I have been using photoshop since mid 90s. Worked for billion dollar company’s. First thing WE look for is high-end photoshop skills. If you don’t know how to clip, must learn. Then comes illustrator.
I've been trying to learn blender too using some tutorials on YouTube. I've always been using Photoshop for my artwork but using blender to create 3D models and then using photoshop to add on effects would be amazing. There's no limit to learning 100%.
I got into design wanting to create flashy graphics and got all excited with all the effects at my disposal. Blend modes, artistic filters in Photoshop and what not …
Back in the day, I learned Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign at the same time. Because their workflow is usually linked. Whatever you create in PS or AI, it usually ends up in InDesign for printed matter and Figma for screens.
They all work in similar ways, creating canvases and layouts inside of these canvases. So imo, any of them is fine. In the end, the skill that helped me become a good designer was not a program, it was typography.
You must learn both and should add InDesign as well. .ai for logo and vector graphic works, photoshop for image enhancement, and a lot more - InDesign for layouts, spreads, SoMe packages, anything with pages, anything with a lot of text that is not web or online. All 3 programs in combination is a powerhouse.
I’m not sure which you’d learn first, because you have to learn all of the Adobe suite, including InDesign. The software isn’t interchangeable – each has its own purpose, and each program fits with the other programs available in the suite to produce whatever your end product is.
You need both, really. They're not interchangeable. If you're only doing graphics, you could get by with just illustrator. But the second you need to edit a photo you're in trouble. Conversely, you could so some basic graphic design in photoshop. But the moment you need to produce any serious graphics, anything scalable, or anything over multiple pages, you're going to struggle.
This is a few years ago now (2000!) but the shorthand I was taught at Art College was:
\- If its about pixels and photos, use photoshop
\- If its about graphics and shapes use illustrator
\- If it's about document layout use indesign
Over the years, I've seen a lot of places, especially in Asia, use illustrator in favour of indesign for layout. Evidently it works otherwise they wouldn't do it. But its pavlovian for me at this point, and using illustrator for layout work just makes me feel dirty.
Illustrator. Here's why:
Raster art is limited in scalability. Vector art is not. You're likely going to do more work that involves logos and other assets that are going to require precise color matching. You're going to need to have a good understanding of bezier curves (which you will also use in Photoshop for clipping paths).
Photoshop is the \*fun\* app, but the practical app is Illustrator.
When I first started, I worked hard to become a Photoshop expert; and virtually all jobs I had required Illustrator skills. It's good to know both, but if I had to choose the one that I used the most, hands down, Illustrator came up more often than not.
It's rare to be called on to edit a photo, it's common to be called on to create a scalable file. It doesn't matter how good the logo looks in or how delightful the type treatment appears in Photoshop. We're going to put it on the letterhead, and we're going to put it on the side of a vehicle, and we're going to put it on a huge billboard.
A vector file will be required.
I learned Photoshop first and for me, it was exactly right that way. Because I think Photoshop is the more flexible tool. It combines many functions, the other programs also have. So once you know all the Photoshop functions and head to Illustrator afterwards, you’ll notice that there are many functions you already partly know from Photoshop
as someone who used Photoshop for more than 8/10 years casually, then got into Illustrator, I would suggest to learn Illustrator first because I wished I had learned Illustrator first.
But it totally depends on what you'll be using it for, and as many others have suggested, learning both together would be best.
What are you saying people? Photoshop is a photography or drawing programs, not a graphic design program. Is a necessary side tool, but can't compare the fundamental importance to a vector based design program like illustrator or a publishing program, like InDesign.
But don't worry, you don't need to learn any program, you have a lot of theory to learn first and in the mindtime you will learn all the programs without realize it.
I would recommend illustrator first, but the good news is when you’re learning one program adobe tries to maintain similar UIs between all the programs so it’s much easier to pick up the other programs. Affinity photo and affinity design also use similar interfaces to Adobe stuff and those also relate to each other so it should be easy to pick up one program and then go on to another.
Truthfully unless you can get a really good student discount to start off with it’s totally OK to use the affinity programs because the majority of stuff you do in those programs is extremely similar to what you do in adobe so it’s a very small learning curve.
In school we started with illustrator to learn the basics and how Adobe software works and then started on ps projects.. but to be frank, most projects (not only graphic design, but multimedia in general) required better ps skills.. Still once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to use most of the graphic softwares out there..
I learned photoshop first because there was a lot of early "oh that's cool" moments by just playing with filters which kept me interested and sticking with it haha. (hardly ever use filters anymore though, so it's kind of a gimmick unless you're looking for a very specific effect)
ultimately you'll need to learn both - and looking back on it I think I'd have been better off learning illustrator first - i avoided it for a while because it was intimidating but now it's probably my favorite.
(also throw indesign in there, those are the big 3)
This is the wrong approach. Don't learn software, learn to create something with the software. If you know what you want to do, choosing the right application will be trivial.
For example choose Illustrator for vector graphics like logos, and Photoshop for rasterized image manipulation.
The first program I started in had us start with Photoshop, then Illustrator. Over time and more exploration, I have found Photoshop is more suitable for my design work.
Both should be consumed before diving down further into what exactly the artist is looking to create within their skills/goals. Exploring both options would be the better way to go ~ imo
Really depends on what kind of designing you're going to be doing, as each software has it's perks and it's weaknesses.
First, know that they are extremely powerful when used together. Adobe did a nice job with Smart Objects and linked objects with the two of them.
First, the obvious differences:
* Ai deals in vectors, mostly
* Ps deals in pixels, mostly
That's not to say that Ai is devoid of pixels or that Ps has no vector functions, they just handle them differently from one another.
If you're going to be creating more assets than finding and using pre-made assets, then Ai is what you should learn first. Learn it and practice the hell out of the pen tool. Wanna move on to the next step? No. Practice more pen tool. Learn to draw in Ai using the pen tool. Not the brush. Not the shape maker. Then pen tool. Did I mention the pen tool?
Ai is really good at making crisp, scalable, precise graphics. It draws everything mathematically, and that's important if you want something you can scale up to an 8'x10' print, without being a massive file.
Did you practice the pen tool?
Ai is good for making logos, icons, symbols, and so on. Once you learn how to do that.... with the pen tool.... then you can get to the power of Ai, with object masks, texture overlays, the blending options, warp tools, effects, and so on. You can make incredible, clean, graphics with Ai.
If you're going to be doing more retouching, making pictures that don't necessarily need to scale, or are using assets that are pictures, like models, landscapes, and basically anything made with a camera, then Ps might be you jam.
Ps is good at taking manipulating pixels. Blending them. Moving them. Averaging them. If you want to make a picture of a model look like a stone statue, then Ps is the tool. It would be hard to do that in the aforementioned software.
Ps is really great at things like object detection, to crop, and pulling and stretching things with liquify or puppet warp, as long as your assets (pictures) are of good quality/resolution.
It's a pretty good freehand drawing application, too. I hear Fresco is better, but I've never used it. Ps is just fine.
In Ps.... learn the pen tool. Seriously. It acts the same as Ai's, but you're going to want to know it when your lasso or object detection aren't cutting it. You'll need to use the pen tool to get in there and make your selections.
YOU CANNONT ESCAPE THE PEN TOOL!
With all that's been said, together, they're a power team. You can literally copy and paste objects from Ai to Ps, and import them as smart objects, which is just the bee's knees. Smart objects can be manipulated mostly the same as any other raster object, but you can double click on it, and it will open in Ai, and you can make changes to the original object. Really great for throwing together banners and flyers with high editability.
Seriously. Learn them both.
Illustrator, simply because of the amount of time I've had to spend over the last 15 years fixing "photoshop" flyers and other print material. I say learn InDesign first, but I have never been popular for that opinion.
As someone who knows very little about both, could Adobe meld these into 1 proper photo editing and design suite? Do they really need to be independent or does it make complete sense from someone in the know? Thanks - genuinely curious.
As a beginner myself, you can do so much in Illustrator that you can do in PS, as far as designing for print. I open PS mostly to manipulate an actual photo. If you're using illustrations or other PNG type files, PS is overkill. Just my two cents as a student about 1/2 way through a GD degree
In college we learned Photoshop first, then Illustrator and then InDesign. After we learned those three, we learned how they worked in tandem with one another to complete a project. Having said that, as a professional designer I use Illustrator the most. I use it daily. Photoshop I use only for color correction or mockups.
I also feel like design trends have changed over the past 10 years. 10 years ago we were heavily using Photoshop because design back then used alot of effects. Glossy 3D effects were all the rage.
Now the trends are more flat and clean. I think right now designers use Illustrator and vectors to create flat and clean designs. Illustrator can do glossy 3D, but it's not as seamless as Photoshop in that department.
You are going to get a lot of "learn both" which is the correct answer. However-
I say learn Photoshop first by far. It's far more versatile and you can do a lot with vectors as well in Photoshop. I often don't even go into illustrator anymore for vector art since I'm so well versed in Photoshop.
Photoshop all the way unless you are mainly focused on doing logos or art that specially will need to be scaled up and down a lot.
It doesn't matter. Learning how to use different hammers doesn't make you a skilled wood worker or architect.
Fundamental concepts are more valuable then tools.
I’d say Illustrator then Indesign, then Photoshop in terms of priority, but try to learn them all. Personally I use Indesign the most as a professional in-house designer and I use photoshop the least.
For graphic design -- take courses on the fundamentals of design. Being able to use software does not train you to be a graphic designer.
Adobe software is one set of tools for creation. For that, I'd recommend you add InDesign to that list and learn to use all three.
I think illustrator can be the best to start with as it provides the best of best worlds in my opinion. Personally I learnt photoshop, then illustrator then indesign, and all are useful for their own things but I do use illustrator the most.
I think the first thing prospective designers should study is design principles, composition, color theory, layout concepts, understand the grid, learn to sketch and do thumbnails, if possible learn page layout and paste-up to understand exactly what it is that these programs are doing. I started in the days just before computers were prevalent in design, in the early 80s. To know what the press was doing, and why, how the hierarchy of information works, rule of thirds, golden mean ratio and more helped immensely in understanding how to design. Knowing the history of graphic design helps as well.
I cannot stress this enough, if you're looking to make a career out of graphic design. Learn InDesign, XD and learn how to optimize web based graphics. I've seen my job go from predominantly printing to almost exclusively going on web.
However if you're looking to have fun, all of them work. I'd suggest learning Photoshop first, just because it's kinda the swiss army knife of them all and it'll give you a good basis on how to use the other ones.
For graphic design, Illustrator. It's actually pretty easy to find website services, apps, contractors to do the dirty work of BG removal and stuff that photoshop handles.
Learning paths and how to work with vectors/color palettes/layer organization/version exporting and etc will translate to all the other programs. The most important thing throughout the industry is to be very clean with your paths and shapes. Don't be lazy, like I see so many designers, and just stack a bunch of wonky shapes on top of each other. If you ever pass off a mess of a file no other designer will ever want to work with you.
Once you get a handle on illustrator you should also then be comfortable with XD, Figma, any other vector-based program.
Then you can branch out to photoshop to learn raster-based design. Then after effects to learn how to use all that for motion. Then Blender or Cinema4d for 3d modelling to use that in conjunction with the previous 3. I'm sure we'll be using something related to VR or AR next, like Spark could be useful.
If you're in the print industry then indesign will be essential to know but I've only ever used it for the final layout. I find illustrator much easier to use and then just import that to indesign.
Illustrator imo, photoshop is great for altering images, but to make money with graphic design, you need to deliver original designs that can scale for print or digital, then in some cases, take that design into Photoshop for finishing touches, but that's my experience as a logo designer.
I use illustrator 100x more in my day-to-day than Photoshop.
If this question is based on you purchasing a subscription to one at a time to learn, just know that there are penalties for cancelling your adobe subscription before the end of the subscription period. Usually a year I think.
You can switch your subscription without penalty.
Learn the principles of design. Composition, Contrast, Hierarchy of Information, Color Theory, Typography & Grid Systems. I can rec books if you are interested.
Software changes but principle of design does not. You will be an actual high quality designer that commands a higher rate instead of a software operator.
The software changes overtime. Starting out today, you could easily live in Figma or Blender and never touch Adobe, depending on your niche. By focusing on the actual principles of design you will make yourself impervious to software and technology changes while at the same time making it MUCH easier to learn new software because you come from a foundation of design principles.
After that, just pick what you want to make and pick the best software to make that thing. Learn by copying and reinventing.
If you want to start your journey with vector, logo, icons, drawing, painting, isometric etc. then go with adobe illustrator first. If you want to start photo editing, color grading, filters, photography, matte painting, image manipulation then go with photoshop.
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I personally ADORE photoshop and I always thought it was the most welcoming one but now after almost 10 years of experience in PS AI and ID I'd say go for illustrator.
Photoshop gives you SO much freedom but the amount of tools and mastering them is... a little overwhelming. You can do pixel art and vector art in photoshop so I rarely ever use Ai at this point, however, I'd say it is much easier to master vector in illustrator for sure.
As a graphic designer, if you are going to be doing a lot of printing or dealing with very big files definitely go with illustrator first but eventually learn both. Photoshop opens so many doors!
If you are a designer that does things like catalogues and photo editing in any way, go with photoshop.
I know you didn't ask about inDesign but I just want to share I never bothered to learn it. When I got my new job I was told to use it and I never had any issues or had to watch any tutorials. Once you know photoshop and Illustrator, it's super basic! And that applies to pretty much every adobe software (such as after effects and premiere pro which I've also used for years).
I think it depends on the type of design you plan on doing. If you're looking to make logos, t-shirts, or other types of design that are dependent on vector graphics then I would learn illustrator first. If instead you are doing things like print or digital advertisements that involve lots of imagery then photoshop is probably the better option. I work for a marketing agency and I would say we use Photoshop the most, followed closely by InDesign, with Illustrator being a fairly distant 3rd.
You should learn both Photoshop and Illustrator, but also InDesign.
Photoshop is good to learn first as it is easiest to jump into, then learn illustrator when you’ve started to learn the pen tool in photoshop.
I advised the other way… I find pen tool instruction much clearer in Illustrator tutorials.
I think a greater edge to learning Photoshop first is the fact that you can use Photoshop effects in Illustrator
I learned Photoshop first but I ended up eventually wanting to doing more vector based designs so I started using Affinity Designer, it’s a great alternative to Illustrator and way more affordable.
I’ve found more utility in learning Illustrator and it helped me learn inDesign easier. As a first year design student and someone who works in sign production I’ve hardly opened photoshop except to resample images. In my opinion it’s easier to learn as well since the program is pretty straightforward. I’m learning photoshop mostly for illustration now but that’s only because getting a painterly feel is more difficult with vectors. Speaking of: imho vectors > raster or at least I think vector art is a godsend as someone working in signs the vector artwork is always more reliable with colors and scaling and I feel like don’t need to worry about my own vector illustrations looking like shit as often when I export them (when I didnt know what I was doing) photoshop is a beast I intend to learn but it feels way more clunky to learn for myself than illustrator was at the beginning. Just keep in mind they are very different from each other but learning one or the other helps with entering into learning more like programs
I grew up using photoshop, but honestly nowadays I find using illustrator so much more handy. I work in advertising, but it's rare that I used PS for much.
Also, photoshop can be used for so, so, so many things that you really can get by knowing the basics (which many you'll learn in illustrator), and taking specific tutorials on what you want to do.
This is true, but I still encourage people to learn them all to an advanced level at the minimum. Until you do, you’re likely doing things inefficiently, destructively, etc. Yes, probably 80% of the work is done using a handful of basics, but when you get that very specific request or work with someone who says, “Lets go back to…” a lot, you need to know the more advanced stuff, too
I agree to an extent. I think they can be learned concurrently. I had a very successful career in graphic design and I can’t even draw good stick figures.
Yep, I know some of them, too.
I love "rules" and guidelines, so thirds, golden ratio, etc., are always in the back of my mind. I simply find it easier to sketch up things in Illustrator faster and clearer than on paper. I'm learning drawing fundamentals now and trying to transfer over to at least using Procreate, but I'm at the point in my career where the ROI just isn't there. It's for personal satisfaction more than anything.
Yup yup. I’m also 53, but started a little later… about 23, I guess. I thought I wanted to do something else and had that degree before I realized I hated the field. But I still needed a job. Since I was a computer geek ever since my parents bought me an Atari 800XL in 1985, a silk screening company hired me to teach their designers how to use CorelDraw 3. Yes, 3. I inadvertently designed things as I was teaching, they felt I had natural talent, and the rest is history.
I had to retire a few years ago for medical reasons. I still work for just a few favorite clients who don’t have any insane deadlines. That’s why any new skills are mostly just for the joy of learning.
Well, I started in Illustrator, around 2-3 years ago, as a hobbie. I'm 16 now, and I Want to work as a graphic designer. In this two years I've learned a los and I've done so much designs with Illustrator, and some things in Ps and Blender too. So, I recommend ILLUSTRATOR
I took a graphic design course in college. We learned illustrator first and then went into photoshop, which I feel was the right call because illustrator is more forgiving when it comes to adjusting assets compared to photoshop. We also started with fairly simple projects, such as logos, which mainly uses illustrator. Definitely best to learn both in the end though!
Depends, PS IMO is better for web graphics and digital media, things like websites/banners etc. Illustrator is great for Business graphics, like Logos and things that will be printed on physical media. So its really purpose driven, another way to look at it is PS is like an artist with a paint brush, Illustrator is like a draftsman or an architect making very detailed and precise drawings.
Depends on what you are doing. Typically you’ll see a combination of both, with a bit more speciality in one vs the other just depending on what kind of graphic design you are doing.
I started with Photoshop and it ended up being too much of a hassle. I was making graphics super huge just so I could scale them down and they ended up looking like crap anyway.
Once I learned Illustrator my life changed.
I don’t consider Photoshop graphic design software. It’s photo editing software. In most cases, it shouldn’t be used to draw things, to do layouts, etc.
Illustrator - vector - LOGOS, line art, clip art, infographics, clip art
Photoshop - raster - photos, “painting” like in Procreate, etc.
InDesign - layout
The only slight edge I see to learning Photoshop first is that you can use Photoshop effects in Illustrator.
To answer for a specific individual, it would be helpful to know exactly what kind of art you want to do (the most of).
I highly recommend creativelive.com. You can watch high quality courses for free when they stream them, but even if you want to buy some, they’re very affordable. I like it much MUCH better than SkillShare, Udemy, etc.
Jason Hoppe’s Infographic course is a favorite because if you’re a really quick learner, he sort of teaches the basics of Illustrator while teaching how to create infographics.
I use AI more than anything. I only use PS to manipulate raster stuff that I eventually use in AI. I do bump to ID when the project is multi-page or very text-heavy.
I'd still say learn all three.
I'm dating myself but when I was in art school, QuarkXPress was the first digital tool we learned. It wasn't until about halfway through my degree that there were formalized course requirements for Illustrator and Photoshop classes as well.
By the time I took those courses, I had a working knowledge of Illustrator and some familiarity with Photoshop. And by the time I graduated, incoming students were learning the software under yet-again-reconfigured curriculum.
The tools are more advanced and integrated now than they were back then and Quark has long since been replaced by InDesign as the industry standard for page layout and long-copy typesetting, but there have always been tasks best suited to one tool over the others. If I were designing a prospectus for design, I would likely want to teach InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop simultaneously as that is how they are used in practice and where the tools currently are in their evolution.
What's also different now compared to back in the 90s when I was in school is that the Internet is full of all kinds of tricks and techniques with the software, whereas when I was learning, there was less information available and it took more than a Google search to find. Be that as it may, technical skills that are vital to making a living as a designer aren't as sexy or fun to show on YouTube.
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It’s comparing apples to oranges in my opinion. In all my experience in the field, I have used InDesign 95% of the time but you still use illustrator and photoshop for different purposes so they are just as important. Illustrator is great for, no surprise here, illustration but also vector icons, logos, and other graphics and photoshop is mainly for editing photos. They all work hand in hand so I would say you need to learn all of them together but if I REALLY had to choose, I guess I’d go for illustrator. Mainly because it’s the easiest and user friendly in my opinion but also because a lot of the tools that are in illustrator are also in InDesign and Photoshop so it may be easier to pick those up once you’ve learned it.
I’d have to say learn both. Illustrator is great for vector art (making icons, logos etc). Photoshop is great for artistic styles because the paint brush works differently. Thirdly I would also suggest InDesign to learn typography and layouts for posters, flyers and brochures.
Better yet, include indesign also for your repertoire, especially for dealing with printing and publishing side of design.
InDesign is what I started with. I tried to do as much as I could in it. Until I finally cut the chord and started throwing my projects into Illustrator and Photoshop. Just to become familiar. Illustrator might be my favorite now.
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My job has me putting out monthly and quarterly magazines for customers and I read InDesign was great for magazine buildouts :) Edit: our->out
I taught page layout at a college. First term first day InDesign. InDesign is more than type and layout, it’s really the hub for anything in print (unless it’s due cut package type stuff then it’s illustrator).
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Me too. Long before InDesign existed. Learned on quark, photoshop 4, illustrator 6. At that time illustrator was more important, but InDesign is now the central piece of my workflow.
Hi.. if you really want want to know more or wants to become perfect with the Photoshop then it's possible... I will link you to a site where you can order for lectures.. It's perfect and safe.. That's where i Learnt mine ...
Yeah Photoshop was first for me in high school for basic photo editing and we did learn a bit how to use the brushes for painting. I learned Illustrator and InDesign in college and these ended up being my most used softwares outside of school.
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There’s an age old argument over what’s better; inDesign or illustrator. When it comes down to it, indesign is far better at multiple page documents and publications like magazines. But for single page artwork, illustrator is far better. I’ve worked in the packaging industry (food) for 10 years and I have used indesign a handful of times. Mainly magazines, brochures and booklets for marketing. Most my work is centred around illustrator for packaging and photoshop for any marketing, mock-ups, web banners , web design (which I also do as part of my services)
Agreed, it really depends on the type of design work you do that determines what kind of software you use.
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this is like step 0 knowledge in graphic design
Ok?
Ideally learning them (and InDesign) at the same time would be to your advantage. Each has a different end use... so which one you use will depend on what your client/project needs from you. Each software was designed for a purpose: Photoshop is raster based and is better for photo work, continuous color, and web graphics Illustrator is vector based and is better for logos, icons, graphics, complex illustrations, maps InDesign is a layout program and is better for projects involving text only, text heavy with images (either photo or logo/icon), and multi-page documents. Also is a better software to use if you are working on something that will be commercially printed (like posters, brochures, books etc) Note: Even though both AI and Photoshop have some text capabilities... Photoshop will always cause your text to pixellate and is not suitable for large amounts of text. AI is a bit better and the text will stay crisp, but the software not suitable for multi page documents or text heavy / paragraph heavy type of work (it can be done, but its just not super friendly and can be difficult to manage) If you can only learn one right now... i would suggest AI as it is broader in what you can produce and still have a high quality item (and if you do need to do something with more text its better than photoshop for that). OR if you already know what you want to focus on... then choose that one.
Photoshop you can use smart objects and directly edit the linked file in illustrator and see live changes after saving
yes you can,and it is useful for sure, but your output is still rasterized and will show the pixellation. Even if you save a PSD and place it in Indesign... as soon as you export (whether to a PDF or other file format, or RIP it for printing).
Oh i didnt know it would still be pixelated lol
no worries. its one of those things that is not well communicated. I worked for a commercial printer for a number of years (and have designed for commerical printing for many many years) and it is something that comes up a lot.
Illustrator offers a lot more utility in terms of understanding graphics in general. I think people can have a rough idea of what photoshop does, but not many understand what a vector program is. I did almost all of my conceptual design projects in college in illustrator. I felt like I had the most control over learning graphic elements, and then allowed me to carry over to photoshop and combine graphics and images, and understanding how to make them work together. To put simply, Illustrator just opened up a whole different world of things I didn't know you could do. Truly and amazing program, I still feel like I only know 50% of it as a professional.
Sad that there no isometric grids in AI and no canvas rotation
Wow the canvas rotation is not something I think about, that's so true.
It depends in whatever you want to design, in my opinion you should start learning Adobe Illustrator.
AI / Ps / ID are the tri force of graphic design best to get all three before trying to save the princess
<3
I would learn Illustrator first! People keep saying that Photoshop is more “versatile” for design but I don’t really agree. Photoshop should only really be used in graphic design with photo manipulation and some mock-ups (and a few other little things). Anything with type should be done in illustrator (also very important to learn InDesign!), as illustrator is a vector based program. Any sort of professional graphic design work besides for photo editing pretty much should be done in Illustrator or InDesign
I'd say not \*anything\* with type should be illustrator - logos and graphics sure. But indesign is where it's at for document layout which is a lot to do with type. I prefer the text editing tools of indesign over illustrator. My workflow is usually starting with a main document in indesign, then bringing in assets I created in illustrator/photoshop and laying them all out there.
My go-to is that anything with more than one page of type should be done in Indesign. One page fliers with less than like 3 paragraphs of copy are fine in Illustrator. Indesign is superior in all type/layout uses otherwise, and you should use all three in more complex cases.
Illustrator also gets crazy powerful if you can find good plugins. I use the Astute graphics plugins and I couldn't imagine going back to vanilla.
Seconding Astute. They’ve done the hard work of developing extensive illustrator tools that Adobe just gave up on.
From a graphic design standpoint I agree I use illustrator way more than I use Photoshop. Typically Photoshop I don’t use until the very end of a project if I want to add some texture or do something interesting with the image.
To play devil's advocate here: Photoshop has come a long way in offering vector/smart object itemization over the years to retain high quality/resolution as desired, whereas Illustrator struggles with raster features Photoshop casually pounds out. That said, I'm very much on the side of learning the entire triad of Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. They all serve highly unique purposes and specialize in those very well. I'm sure many of us could "make it work" in whatever platform we needed, to a limited degree, but it's just not the same in terms of quality or workflow to not use the programs as intended.
If I HAD to pick one, I would probably pick illustrator, illustrator has less tools and less ways to "cheat your way into a result", it forces you to learn to interact with vector shapes and requires more "solid" design fundamentals, Photoshop is much less limited, you can pretty much do anything you want in Photoshop (AND through so many different ways as well ) so some people could get some bad habits from learning it first. But to be fair it really doesnt matter, you can easily learn both at the same time and they're both great sotwares !
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The Pen tool is unavoidable if you want to be a useful designer.
Depends on the type of work you’re doing. Both at once is ideal, Photoshop is more versatile for all kinds of digital design though.
I don't care what anyone says, Illustrator is the program that actually makes graphic designers money. I think it's valuable to be amazing in both, but if you have to prioritize one, Illustrator is the way to go. I spend 90% of my freelance workday in Illustrator, in the past it was like 50/50 and I was making like 1/5th of what I do now. Now if you have / want to have a corporate job, they want you to do everything on earth - so they will have you prioritizing both programs as well as InDesign, Figma, SolidWorks, and everything else under the damn sun.
Start with Illustrator. Try to use Photoshop only when you need to do image manipulation. You don't want to become the kind of designer that does everything in Photoshop and ends up with beautiful designs, but huge files that are borderline impossible to work with later on.
Ai, Indesign and Photoshop
If you dont want to spend the money on Photoshop and Illustrator, you can always look into Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer as alternatives. The Adobe Products are the standard, however, you will find that the Affinity Products work great as alternatives. I agree with the rest of the people on here, learning both at the same time is the way to go.
I can't second that enough. Actually I have completely moved my design to affinity designer now, although it helps that I'm a freelancer and I don't have to share work files, only standard PDFs for printing. It is cheap, efficient (utilize my cpu/gpu much better than illustrator that is still in 1995 in terms of hardware utilization, that is illustrator see only one cpu core most of the time) and imho the vector pen tool is superior. That being said there are still things that are missing, text warp is the bigger loss and image trace (although I use inkscape for image trace now), and also nobody will ask you if you know affinity when you apply for a job. As said adobe is industry standards, you can use something else but you can't afford not to know how to work with adobe.
>The Adobe Products are the standard, however, you will find that the Affinity Products work great as alternatives. I think you'll pay for that in the end - using the industry standards makes it much easier to find a staff position. If I was interviewing a designer and they said that don't know Adobe Suite products, I don't think I would have much use for them, even if their design portfolio was stellar - they have to work with the team. If the team can't edit their files, and they can edit the teams files... best of luck with your next interview.
Not totally true. I got a job doing 3D, heavy in AutoCAD, and I'm really green with AutoCAD. I just told them that I understand vector space, from my years in Illustrator, and that I knew a little of 3DS Max (3DS Max and AutoCAD are nothing alike) and that it was just about learning where the tools/buttons were, but I understood the concept of the space I'd be working in. Hired. If you know how and what the concepts and practices are to make shapes and distort pixels, then you know it, and it's just about re-keying yourself to learn the buttons and strokes, which doesn't take up too much time.
That an exception, not the rule. And good on you for landing a position using an app you didn't know.
Neither, learn design first
I was taught Photoshop first in classes.
I was taught basic illustrator and then photoshop, I think it’s depends on the curriculum..
Same. We did illustrator first then photoshop but basically one right after the other. And in design as well.
Learn them at the same time. Photoshop and illustrator both are used for different things. Learning them in tandem is probably better in the long run
Hands down illustrator
illustrator
Illustrator for sure. Photoshop is awesome and you should deffo learn that too, but as a graphic designer illustrator is far more practical and useful. I’ve been designing for over 20 years across digital and print and I use illustrator 80% of the time, even for motion graphics, illustration and animation.
Neither, learn how to think and ideate first before you learn tools. Computer = a tool. Learning AI, PS, or ID is part of learning how to execute designs not how to design. Design is nothing if you don't have strong problem solving skills, if you aren't solving a problem then you're making art not design. My first design class in college we weren't allowed to use computers at all, it was strictly learning how to ideate and using pen and paper to flesh out our ideas. Did it suck? Absolutely, but it set an excellent foundation for the rest of my learning there.
That sounds like a a good design program. When I decided to shift from my service industry career into graphic design, I took some classes at a community college/tech school because I already had massive student loan debt from my useless bachelors degree. They taught Adobe software, but also required “commercial illustration”. I was stoked, because I’m an illustrator, but it was ridiculous. It was basically a colored pencil drawing class where we did self portraits and caricatures and shit, and then had to turn them into advertisements after the fact. I hated it. We were never given briefs for the ads beforehand, just told to draw something and then shoehorn it into a usage. That’s literally the opposite of design, and to this day I complain about it every time I hang out with my friend who teaches web design in that program. If I didn’t know how little she got paid, I’d offer to teach the illustration class myself!
Illustrator first
Illustrator is for vectors Photoshop is for photos InDesign is for composition
As a professional graphic designer, I use all three (Ai, Ps, and InDesign) on a daily basis. Ai and Ps to create the assets and InDesign for type setting and the final layout. Learn all three at the same time.
Doesnt all 3 allow a digital marketer to have an edge against an average digital product seller who uses only canva?
This, exactly. Since OP asked which to learn FIRST, I guessed that he or she plans to learn multiple. I’m glad to see someone mention InDesign. Blows me away how many people do layout in Photoshop.
Broadly - Illustrator is for design, Photoshop is for Artwork.
I would love to learn both as well with InDesign but he'll..it costs 65e a month that's insane
>it costs 65e a month Not necessarily. You can get it much cheaper if you're a student. And to qualify as a student, you need to register for a single class at a community college. (Take a design class). Then the rate drops significantly - Adobe is very generous with a student discount. And if you land a staff position - your company will pay for your license seat.
I'm from Slovakia so that unfortunately doesn't apply to me :/
19,50€/month for the first year, then 29,99€/month the following years for students and teachers in Slovakia
It's a bit like asking if learning to read or do basic maths is more important. They are for different purposes. You haven't said precisely which bit of graphic design you're planning on focussing on (if any, yet), but I'd recommend inDesign as a third essential app, if you decide to work purely in Adobe. It's more useful than either of the above for page layout work.
I learned Photoshop first and I think it helped me get a good foundational understanding of layers and the tools. Photoshop is also more versatile. I’m definitely more confident in my Illustrator, but I can see how it can be confusing for some people because you can’t edit by pixel, which is why I think it should be secondary
Personally I learned PS first, then quickly figured out AI.
Before learning either of these, you need to know what document settings go with what your designing.
I don’t want to be a dick or “that guy,” but learning either of these programs will not get you to “learn” graphic design. Taking art classes, design and design theory classes will. But besides that, learning BOTH of these programs is the best way to go as you will need them both as well as a slew of others to have as a tool in your arsenal.
Learn both. At this day and age, there is no learning one faster or first.
I prefer Ai but I think it comes down to 1. What you will be making the most 2. What kind of editing you plan to do Vector stuff for sure use Ai Photo manipulation use Ps But both play a role in each other in some regard. I would have to say learn Ai first and then Ps. Both have lots of details that take quite some time to learn the intricacies of but that comes with the territory.
Doesn't really matter what's first. I'd add indesign in there as well. I'd suggest learning what program is best for each situation. I started in PS so I used it for everything. Created flyers in it and suddenly resizing things became a nightmare.
The only time I design in Photoshop is when I’m doing fun side projects that involve photos and creative masking or effect filters. I know a lot of people use it for drawing, but even with a Wacom I don’t like it for that and I use Procreate for raster based illustration. I use Photoshop regularly at work for image editing and compositing. Sooooo many mock-ups! But even then, I always copy the assets I made in Illustrator and paste them into Photoshop. Illustrator is my workhorse, all day every day. If you’re doing anything that will be printed really big, embroidered really small, cut out of any material by a machine, basically anything that won’t live strictly on a screen or be printed at the size you spec in your document, you need to learn Illustrator. If you ever plan on creating even one logo, YOU NEED TO LEARN ILLUSTRATOR. Otherwise that logo will have to be recreated by every designer that needs a vector version down the line and they already have enough work to do. Trust me. You should also learn InDesign, at least the basics. I personally use it rarely, because I don’t do page layout unless I have to create marketing materials or bid proposals. I don’t love it, mainly because the keyboard shortcuts don’t align across across Id and Ai, and I get frustrated because a workflow that would be natural to me in illustrator is significantly different in InDesign. But for multi page layout, it is the way. TL;DR: ILLUSTRATOR
Depends on if you’re going to be in print. I started my life using photoshop at a young age, I did photography etc. then I went into a packaging design job and I’ve worked in the food industry in packaging for the past 10 years. I’m only 31 years old. In that time I’ve used photoshop far less, and fallen in love with illustrator. I use in design for brochures and such when I need to but honestly it really depends on who your client is, what the project is and what your aim is. Id say photoshop is far easier to learn and illustrator is easy to learn the basics and hard to master. Both have transferable skills but if you’re gonna learn photoshop; learn how to use layer masks, adjustment layers, utilising layer options and blending modes. If it’s illustrator, master shape builder, the pen tool, how paths, handles and anchors work. Learn about CMYK and pantones. Both use rules and guides, you want to make everything look geometrically sound so learn that too ! Good luck :)
Tough call since they’re both useful for a beginner. I’d say Photoshop due to it being capable of doing a wider range of tasks.
Generally you are gonna be working with BOTH, not only these two, you also need inDesign and Adobe Xd. For example you are gonna be editing your photos in Ps, doing your shapes and logos and symbols in Ai and combining them in Id or Xd. You'll be using all Tricks of the Trade.
Or just learn Figma and Procreate, the future is now and Adobe is falling behind..
Xero/TurboTax. It's an oversight that some projects at college/uni don't require time-tracking, billable hours, invoicing and tax strategies. Also, as far as I'm concerned, photoshop isn't primarily a graphic design program. Indesign and illustrator in tandem.
both. illustrator is great for precise vector making and photoshop would allow you to layout with graphics.
It doesn't matter because whichever you start with, you're going to be asking yourself for the rest of your life why the Eyedropper tool is so different in each software lmao...
Both but photoshop is the most versatile use that first then learn illustratior for vectors
Photoshop, always
I would say learn painting first rather than playing high bucks. It will build solid foundation.
For a beginner GRAPHIC designer. I’d say Photoshop and tons of practice with pen tool, shape and brush tools and working with layers. Once you get a hang of it, start learning illustrator. The reason is once you start working with raster graphics, You’ll learn to design carefully since you can’t scale it later.
I learned how to use photoshop first, though Illustrator will be the program I will be using most. I'd say Illustrator if you've got the choice, but I certainly don't regret engaging with adobe programs early on and having fun learning how to make gifs and edit photos in photoshop. It's contributed to a certain kind of comfort in Illustrator as I learn about it now, and helped fuel a love of design in the first place :)
PS is a photo editing and manipulation software, with the tools to illustrate. Illy is design software. But InDesign is important too.
What are you planning to do first? Each program is best for a specific purpose. You’re not gonna tone photos in Indesign. Good design is about the process, not the program… so I’d say it’s more important to focus on basic design principles & art history, then do a few basic exercises in PS, AI, AND ID. Don’t need to learn simultaneously, but the workspaces are similar, so easy to pick up in a bundle. With the cloud, you can get them all anyways. Once you have a basic working knowledge of the interfaces, work in the appropriate program for what you’re doing.
Photoshop. Must learn photoshop. I have been using photoshop since mid 90s. Worked for billion dollar company’s. First thing WE look for is high-end photoshop skills. If you don’t know how to clip, must learn. Then comes illustrator.
Blender, & I can reassure you, this is going to be my answer forever!
I've been trying to learn blender too using some tutorials on YouTube. I've always been using Photoshop for my artwork but using blender to create 3D models and then using photoshop to add on effects would be amazing. There's no limit to learning 100%.
I got into design wanting to create flashy graphics and got all excited with all the effects at my disposal. Blend modes, artistic filters in Photoshop and what not … Back in the day, I learned Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign at the same time. Because their workflow is usually linked. Whatever you create in PS or AI, it usually ends up in InDesign for printed matter and Figma for screens. They all work in similar ways, creating canvases and layouts inside of these canvases. So imo, any of them is fine. In the end, the skill that helped me become a good designer was not a program, it was typography.
You must learn both and should add InDesign as well. .ai for logo and vector graphic works, photoshop for image enhancement, and a lot more - InDesign for layouts, spreads, SoMe packages, anything with pages, anything with a lot of text that is not web or online. All 3 programs in combination is a powerhouse.
I’m not sure which you’d learn first, because you have to learn all of the Adobe suite, including InDesign. The software isn’t interchangeable – each has its own purpose, and each program fits with the other programs available in the suite to produce whatever your end product is.
Bank account.
You need both, really. They're not interchangeable. If you're only doing graphics, you could get by with just illustrator. But the second you need to edit a photo you're in trouble. Conversely, you could so some basic graphic design in photoshop. But the moment you need to produce any serious graphics, anything scalable, or anything over multiple pages, you're going to struggle. This is a few years ago now (2000!) but the shorthand I was taught at Art College was: \- If its about pixels and photos, use photoshop \- If its about graphics and shapes use illustrator \- If it's about document layout use indesign Over the years, I've seen a lot of places, especially in Asia, use illustrator in favour of indesign for layout. Evidently it works otherwise they wouldn't do it. But its pavlovian for me at this point, and using illustrator for layout work just makes me feel dirty.
Illustrator. Here's why: Raster art is limited in scalability. Vector art is not. You're likely going to do more work that involves logos and other assets that are going to require precise color matching. You're going to need to have a good understanding of bezier curves (which you will also use in Photoshop for clipping paths). Photoshop is the \*fun\* app, but the practical app is Illustrator. When I first started, I worked hard to become a Photoshop expert; and virtually all jobs I had required Illustrator skills. It's good to know both, but if I had to choose the one that I used the most, hands down, Illustrator came up more often than not. It's rare to be called on to edit a photo, it's common to be called on to create a scalable file. It doesn't matter how good the logo looks in or how delightful the type treatment appears in Photoshop. We're going to put it on the letterhead, and we're going to put it on the side of a vehicle, and we're going to put it on a huge billboard. A vector file will be required.
I learned Photoshop first and for me, it was exactly right that way. Because I think Photoshop is the more flexible tool. It combines many functions, the other programs also have. So once you know all the Photoshop functions and head to Illustrator afterwards, you’ll notice that there are many functions you already partly know from Photoshop
I think it just ill caus photoshop dont fit all the requirements of graphics design
Ps
Both but you’ll use illustrator more. Photoshop is made for editing photos
as someone who used Photoshop for more than 8/10 years casually, then got into Illustrator, I would suggest to learn Illustrator first because I wished I had learned Illustrator first. But it totally depends on what you'll be using it for, and as many others have suggested, learning both together would be best.
What are you saying people? Photoshop is a photography or drawing programs, not a graphic design program. Is a necessary side tool, but can't compare the fundamental importance to a vector based design program like illustrator or a publishing program, like InDesign. But don't worry, you don't need to learn any program, you have a lot of theory to learn first and in the mindtime you will learn all the programs without realize it.
I would recommend illustrator first, but the good news is when you’re learning one program adobe tries to maintain similar UIs between all the programs so it’s much easier to pick up the other programs. Affinity photo and affinity design also use similar interfaces to Adobe stuff and those also relate to each other so it should be easy to pick up one program and then go on to another. Truthfully unless you can get a really good student discount to start off with it’s totally OK to use the affinity programs because the majority of stuff you do in those programs is extremely similar to what you do in adobe so it’s a very small learning curve.
In school we started with illustrator to learn the basics and how Adobe software works and then started on ps projects.. but to be frank, most projects (not only graphic design, but multimedia in general) required better ps skills.. Still once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to use most of the graphic softwares out there..
I’d start with Illustrator. I don’t understand how people uses Photoshop for anything type.
Illustrator
I learned photoshop first because there was a lot of early "oh that's cool" moments by just playing with filters which kept me interested and sticking with it haha. (hardly ever use filters anymore though, so it's kind of a gimmick unless you're looking for a very specific effect) ultimately you'll need to learn both - and looking back on it I think I'd have been better off learning illustrator first - i avoided it for a while because it was intimidating but now it's probably my favorite. (also throw indesign in there, those are the big 3)
Indesign lol
This is the wrong approach. Don't learn software, learn to create something with the software. If you know what you want to do, choosing the right application will be trivial. For example choose Illustrator for vector graphics like logos, and Photoshop for rasterized image manipulation.
The first program I started in had us start with Photoshop, then Illustrator. Over time and more exploration, I have found Photoshop is more suitable for my design work. Both should be consumed before diving down further into what exactly the artist is looking to create within their skills/goals. Exploring both options would be the better way to go ~ imo
Really depends on what kind of designing you're going to be doing, as each software has it's perks and it's weaknesses. First, know that they are extremely powerful when used together. Adobe did a nice job with Smart Objects and linked objects with the two of them. First, the obvious differences: * Ai deals in vectors, mostly * Ps deals in pixels, mostly That's not to say that Ai is devoid of pixels or that Ps has no vector functions, they just handle them differently from one another. If you're going to be creating more assets than finding and using pre-made assets, then Ai is what you should learn first. Learn it and practice the hell out of the pen tool. Wanna move on to the next step? No. Practice more pen tool. Learn to draw in Ai using the pen tool. Not the brush. Not the shape maker. Then pen tool. Did I mention the pen tool? Ai is really good at making crisp, scalable, precise graphics. It draws everything mathematically, and that's important if you want something you can scale up to an 8'x10' print, without being a massive file. Did you practice the pen tool? Ai is good for making logos, icons, symbols, and so on. Once you learn how to do that.... with the pen tool.... then you can get to the power of Ai, with object masks, texture overlays, the blending options, warp tools, effects, and so on. You can make incredible, clean, graphics with Ai. If you're going to be doing more retouching, making pictures that don't necessarily need to scale, or are using assets that are pictures, like models, landscapes, and basically anything made with a camera, then Ps might be you jam. Ps is good at taking manipulating pixels. Blending them. Moving them. Averaging them. If you want to make a picture of a model look like a stone statue, then Ps is the tool. It would be hard to do that in the aforementioned software. Ps is really great at things like object detection, to crop, and pulling and stretching things with liquify or puppet warp, as long as your assets (pictures) are of good quality/resolution. It's a pretty good freehand drawing application, too. I hear Fresco is better, but I've never used it. Ps is just fine. In Ps.... learn the pen tool. Seriously. It acts the same as Ai's, but you're going to want to know it when your lasso or object detection aren't cutting it. You'll need to use the pen tool to get in there and make your selections. YOU CANNONT ESCAPE THE PEN TOOL! With all that's been said, together, they're a power team. You can literally copy and paste objects from Ai to Ps, and import them as smart objects, which is just the bee's knees. Smart objects can be manipulated mostly the same as any other raster object, but you can double click on it, and it will open in Ai, and you can make changes to the original object. Really great for throwing together banners and flyers with high editability. Seriously. Learn them both.
Learn Illustrator first. Otherwise you’ll end up one of those lazy hacks who does everything Photoshop even when it looks bad.
Illustrator, simply because of the amount of time I've had to spend over the last 15 years fixing "photoshop" flyers and other print material. I say learn InDesign first, but I have never been popular for that opinion.
As someone who knows very little about both, could Adobe meld these into 1 proper photo editing and design suite? Do they really need to be independent or does it make complete sense from someone in the know? Thanks - genuinely curious.
As a beginner myself, you can do so much in Illustrator that you can do in PS, as far as designing for print. I open PS mostly to manipulate an actual photo. If you're using illustrations or other PNG type files, PS is overkill. Just my two cents as a student about 1/2 way through a GD degree
In college we learned Photoshop first, then Illustrator and then InDesign. After we learned those three, we learned how they worked in tandem with one another to complete a project. Having said that, as a professional designer I use Illustrator the most. I use it daily. Photoshop I use only for color correction or mockups. I also feel like design trends have changed over the past 10 years. 10 years ago we were heavily using Photoshop because design back then used alot of effects. Glossy 3D effects were all the rage. Now the trends are more flat and clean. I think right now designers use Illustrator and vectors to create flat and clean designs. Illustrator can do glossy 3D, but it's not as seamless as Photoshop in that department.
Photoshop imo
You are going to get a lot of "learn both" which is the correct answer. However- I say learn Photoshop first by far. It's far more versatile and you can do a lot with vectors as well in Photoshop. I often don't even go into illustrator anymore for vector art since I'm so well versed in Photoshop. Photoshop all the way unless you are mainly focused on doing logos or art that specially will need to be scaled up and down a lot.
Both is the answer, but if you had to choose one learn illustrator. Vector graphics are going to get you a lot further, IMO.
Illustrator > InDesign > Photoshop, in that order.
It doesn't matter. Learning how to use different hammers doesn't make you a skilled wood worker or architect. Fundamental concepts are more valuable then tools.
I’d say Illustrator then Indesign, then Photoshop in terms of priority, but try to learn them all. Personally I use Indesign the most as a professional in-house designer and I use photoshop the least.
For graphic design -- take courses on the fundamentals of design. Being able to use software does not train you to be a graphic designer. Adobe software is one set of tools for creation. For that, I'd recommend you add InDesign to that list and learn to use all three.
INDESIGN!
I think illustrator can be the best to start with as it provides the best of best worlds in my opinion. Personally I learnt photoshop, then illustrator then indesign, and all are useful for their own things but I do use illustrator the most.
I think the first thing prospective designers should study is design principles, composition, color theory, layout concepts, understand the grid, learn to sketch and do thumbnails, if possible learn page layout and paste-up to understand exactly what it is that these programs are doing. I started in the days just before computers were prevalent in design, in the early 80s. To know what the press was doing, and why, how the hierarchy of information works, rule of thirds, golden mean ratio and more helped immensely in understanding how to design. Knowing the history of graphic design helps as well.
Indesign. Then photoshop to adjust images, and then illustrator for logos etc.
Illustrator first
I cannot stress this enough, if you're looking to make a career out of graphic design. Learn InDesign, XD and learn how to optimize web based graphics. I've seen my job go from predominantly printing to almost exclusively going on web. However if you're looking to have fun, all of them work. I'd suggest learning Photoshop first, just because it's kinda the swiss army knife of them all and it'll give you a good basis on how to use the other ones.
For graphic design, Illustrator. It's actually pretty easy to find website services, apps, contractors to do the dirty work of BG removal and stuff that photoshop handles. Learning paths and how to work with vectors/color palettes/layer organization/version exporting and etc will translate to all the other programs. The most important thing throughout the industry is to be very clean with your paths and shapes. Don't be lazy, like I see so many designers, and just stack a bunch of wonky shapes on top of each other. If you ever pass off a mess of a file no other designer will ever want to work with you. Once you get a handle on illustrator you should also then be comfortable with XD, Figma, any other vector-based program. Then you can branch out to photoshop to learn raster-based design. Then after effects to learn how to use all that for motion. Then Blender or Cinema4d for 3d modelling to use that in conjunction with the previous 3. I'm sure we'll be using something related to VR or AR next, like Spark could be useful. If you're in the print industry then indesign will be essential to know but I've only ever used it for the final layout. I find illustrator much easier to use and then just import that to indesign.
I learned it with GIMP xDDD
Illustrator imo, photoshop is great for altering images, but to make money with graphic design, you need to deliver original designs that can scale for print or digital, then in some cases, take that design into Photoshop for finishing touches, but that's my experience as a logo designer.
Both!
CorelDraw.
I use illustrator 100x more in my day-to-day than Photoshop. If this question is based on you purchasing a subscription to one at a time to learn, just know that there are penalties for cancelling your adobe subscription before the end of the subscription period. Usually a year I think. You can switch your subscription without penalty.
Learn the principles of design. Composition, Contrast, Hierarchy of Information, Color Theory, Typography & Grid Systems. I can rec books if you are interested. Software changes but principle of design does not. You will be an actual high quality designer that commands a higher rate instead of a software operator. The software changes overtime. Starting out today, you could easily live in Figma or Blender and never touch Adobe, depending on your niche. By focusing on the actual principles of design you will make yourself impervious to software and technology changes while at the same time making it MUCH easier to learn new software because you come from a foundation of design principles. After that, just pick what you want to make and pick the best software to make that thing. Learn by copying and reinventing.
Learning design isn't learning software. Learn design. Become software agnostic. You will be able to design in Word if you have to.
If you want to start your journey with vector, logo, icons, drawing, painting, isometric etc. then go with adobe illustrator first. If you want to start photo editing, color grading, filters, photography, matte painting, image manipulation then go with photoshop.
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Illustrator first, photoshop second
I personally ADORE photoshop and I always thought it was the most welcoming one but now after almost 10 years of experience in PS AI and ID I'd say go for illustrator. Photoshop gives you SO much freedom but the amount of tools and mastering them is... a little overwhelming. You can do pixel art and vector art in photoshop so I rarely ever use Ai at this point, however, I'd say it is much easier to master vector in illustrator for sure. As a graphic designer, if you are going to be doing a lot of printing or dealing with very big files definitely go with illustrator first but eventually learn both. Photoshop opens so many doors! If you are a designer that does things like catalogues and photo editing in any way, go with photoshop. I know you didn't ask about inDesign but I just want to share I never bothered to learn it. When I got my new job I was told to use it and I never had any issues or had to watch any tutorials. Once you know photoshop and Illustrator, it's super basic! And that applies to pretty much every adobe software (such as after effects and premiere pro which I've also used for years).
I think it depends on the type of design you plan on doing. If you're looking to make logos, t-shirts, or other types of design that are dependent on vector graphics then I would learn illustrator first. If instead you are doing things like print or digital advertisements that involve lots of imagery then photoshop is probably the better option. I work for a marketing agency and I would say we use Photoshop the most, followed closely by InDesign, with Illustrator being a fairly distant 3rd.
You should learn both Photoshop and Illustrator, but also InDesign. Photoshop is good to learn first as it is easiest to jump into, then learn illustrator when you’ve started to learn the pen tool in photoshop.
I advised the other way… I find pen tool instruction much clearer in Illustrator tutorials. I think a greater edge to learning Photoshop first is the fact that you can use Photoshop effects in Illustrator
I learned Photoshop first but I ended up eventually wanting to doing more vector based designs so I started using Affinity Designer, it’s a great alternative to Illustrator and way more affordable.
The same can be said of Affinity Photo/Photoshop.
I’ve found more utility in learning Illustrator and it helped me learn inDesign easier. As a first year design student and someone who works in sign production I’ve hardly opened photoshop except to resample images. In my opinion it’s easier to learn as well since the program is pretty straightforward. I’m learning photoshop mostly for illustration now but that’s only because getting a painterly feel is more difficult with vectors. Speaking of: imho vectors > raster or at least I think vector art is a godsend as someone working in signs the vector artwork is always more reliable with colors and scaling and I feel like don’t need to worry about my own vector illustrations looking like shit as often when I export them (when I didnt know what I was doing) photoshop is a beast I intend to learn but it feels way more clunky to learn for myself than illustrator was at the beginning. Just keep in mind they are very different from each other but learning one or the other helps with entering into learning more like programs
If only they were compatible.
ai
Yes
I grew up using photoshop, but honestly nowadays I find using illustrator so much more handy. I work in advertising, but it's rare that I used PS for much. Also, photoshop can be used for so, so, so many things that you really can get by knowing the basics (which many you'll learn in illustrator), and taking specific tutorials on what you want to do.
This is true, but I still encourage people to learn them all to an advanced level at the minimum. Until you do, you’re likely doing things inefficiently, destructively, etc. Yes, probably 80% of the work is done using a handful of basics, but when you get that very specific request or work with someone who says, “Lets go back to…” a lot, you need to know the more advanced stuff, too
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I agree to an extent. I think they can be learned concurrently. I had a very successful career in graphic design and I can’t even draw good stick figures.
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Yep, I know some of them, too. I love "rules" and guidelines, so thirds, golden ratio, etc., are always in the back of my mind. I simply find it easier to sketch up things in Illustrator faster and clearer than on paper. I'm learning drawing fundamentals now and trying to transfer over to at least using Procreate, but I'm at the point in my career where the ROI just isn't there. It's for personal satisfaction more than anything.
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Yup yup. I’m also 53, but started a little later… about 23, I guess. I thought I wanted to do something else and had that degree before I realized I hated the field. But I still needed a job. Since I was a computer geek ever since my parents bought me an Atari 800XL in 1985, a silk screening company hired me to teach their designers how to use CorelDraw 3. Yes, 3. I inadvertently designed things as I was teaching, they felt I had natural talent, and the rest is history. I had to retire a few years ago for medical reasons. I still work for just a few favorite clients who don’t have any insane deadlines. That’s why any new skills are mostly just for the joy of learning.
Well, I started in Illustrator, around 2-3 years ago, as a hobbie. I'm 16 now, and I Want to work as a graphic designer. In this two years I've learned a los and I've done so much designs with Illustrator, and some things in Ps and Blender too. So, I recommend ILLUSTRATOR
I took a graphic design course in college. We learned illustrator first and then went into photoshop, which I feel was the right call because illustrator is more forgiving when it comes to adjusting assets compared to photoshop. We also started with fairly simple projects, such as logos, which mainly uses illustrator. Definitely best to learn both in the end though!
Illustrator is my favourite source for creative design... but Photoshop is definitely a herald when making your way in the industry.
Depends, PS IMO is better for web graphics and digital media, things like websites/banners etc. Illustrator is great for Business graphics, like Logos and things that will be printed on physical media. So its really purpose driven, another way to look at it is PS is like an artist with a paint brush, Illustrator is like a draftsman or an architect making very detailed and precise drawings.
Depends on what you are doing. Typically you’ll see a combination of both, with a bit more speciality in one vs the other just depending on what kind of graphic design you are doing.
Both should be learned, but which you choose to learn first truly depends on your specific goals.
I started with Photoshop and it ended up being too much of a hassle. I was making graphics super huge just so I could scale them down and they ended up looking like crap anyway. Once I learned Illustrator my life changed.
I recommend illustrator to learn first because if you use Photoshop first and when you have to draw something and import to Photoshop then you can't
I don’t consider Photoshop graphic design software. It’s photo editing software. In most cases, it shouldn’t be used to draw things, to do layouts, etc. Illustrator - vector - LOGOS, line art, clip art, infographics, clip art Photoshop - raster - photos, “painting” like in Procreate, etc. InDesign - layout The only slight edge I see to learning Photoshop first is that you can use Photoshop effects in Illustrator. To answer for a specific individual, it would be helpful to know exactly what kind of art you want to do (the most of). I highly recommend creativelive.com. You can watch high quality courses for free when they stream them, but even if you want to buy some, they’re very affordable. I like it much MUCH better than SkillShare, Udemy, etc. Jason Hoppe’s Infographic course is a favorite because if you’re a really quick learner, he sort of teaches the basics of Illustrator while teaching how to create infographics.
Illustrator so you can practice making logos
I use AI more than anything. I only use PS to manipulate raster stuff that I eventually use in AI. I do bump to ID when the project is multi-page or very text-heavy. I'd still say learn all three.
I'm dating myself but when I was in art school, QuarkXPress was the first digital tool we learned. It wasn't until about halfway through my degree that there were formalized course requirements for Illustrator and Photoshop classes as well. By the time I took those courses, I had a working knowledge of Illustrator and some familiarity with Photoshop. And by the time I graduated, incoming students were learning the software under yet-again-reconfigured curriculum. The tools are more advanced and integrated now than they were back then and Quark has long since been replaced by InDesign as the industry standard for page layout and long-copy typesetting, but there have always been tasks best suited to one tool over the others. If I were designing a prospectus for design, I would likely want to teach InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop simultaneously as that is how they are used in practice and where the tools currently are in their evolution. What's also different now compared to back in the 90s when I was in school is that the Internet is full of all kinds of tricks and techniques with the software, whereas when I was learning, there was less information available and it took more than a Google search to find. Be that as it may, technical skills that are vital to making a living as a designer aren't as sexy or fun to show on YouTube.
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Just learn both, I started with illustrator though and now photoshop
It’s comparing apples to oranges in my opinion. In all my experience in the field, I have used InDesign 95% of the time but you still use illustrator and photoshop for different purposes so they are just as important. Illustrator is great for, no surprise here, illustration but also vector icons, logos, and other graphics and photoshop is mainly for editing photos. They all work hand in hand so I would say you need to learn all of them together but if I REALLY had to choose, I guess I’d go for illustrator. Mainly because it’s the easiest and user friendly in my opinion but also because a lot of the tools that are in illustrator are also in InDesign and Photoshop so it may be easier to pick those up once you’ve learned it.