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Adobe Illustrator

2 min read

Table of Contents

Tool Summary #

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program, particularly useful for creating infographics, posters, and logos.

Quick Facts #

  • Price: Part of Adobe Creative Cloud subscription – Includes a 7-day free trial, followed by a monthly fee. Discounts are available for students.
  • Platforms: iPad, macOS, and Windows
  • Recommended for: Advanced users – like many Adobe applications, this program has a learning curve and may feel complicated at first.
  • Where to Access: Adobe Creative Cloud Student Subscription. Also accessible for free on HCC lab computers and AppsAnywhere.

Things to Know #

If you’re familiar with Adobe Photoshop it is important to note that Illustrator functions differently, despite looking very similar. Illustrator uses vector graphics. Vector graphics are points, lines, curves, and shapes that are based on mathematical formulas. When you make a vector image file big or small, it isn’t a low resolution and there’s no loss of quality. Like Photoshop it has a menu bar at the top, a tool panel on the left, properties and layers on the right, and a document window in the middle. A great feature of illustrator (recently added to photoshop) is artboards. Artboards are similar to a page in Microsoft Word in that they represent the printable area. A project can have multiple artboards of different sizes.

Getting Started Guides #

Illustrator Learn & Support: Tutorials, getting started, user guide, and a community forum.

Additional Resources #

AppsAnywhere: A virtual computer lab available to UMW students offering Adobe Creative Cloud and more.

Visual Design Accessibility Guide: Tips and resources on how to make your visual design projects more accessible.

Free Media Resources: Websites offering free audio, video and graphics for your projects.

Want More Help? #

Reviewed by Rusul Abbas 07/02/24

Image Editor