Which Software Is Best For Designing?
If you are a student or a hobbyist, personal computers and graphics applications have altered the way designers and fine artists work indefinitely. We review many graphics programmes that have been in the running since the beginning of this roundup. Though scores of want tobes have perished, these services have endured. Illustrator was introduced by Adobe in 1987. It launched Photoshop in 1989, the same year Corel released CorelDraw.
The collections cover a wide range of applications, from raster and vector image editing to typography and page layout (with InDesign being the primary exponent of the latter). We would supplement this with an even broader range of advanced graphics programmes, utilities, and applications.
Apart from technical functionality, one of the first choices you can make when selecting graphics software is who you want to pay: The two Adobe apps are only available as part of the massive Creative Cloud subscription suite. At the same time, the Corel products are available for a one-time fee. (This is why the pricing in the table above seems to be erroneous.) Although Inkscape is fully free and open-source, it does require you to forego certain significant creature comforts, such as simple macOS installation.

The Appropriate Equipment for the Job
Everywhere you look, there are various types of graphics. Their creators have equally vast work titles: graphic designer, user experience (UX) designer, user interface (UI) designer, knowledge architect, web designer, Illustrator, interaction designer, app designer, photo Retoucher, animator, surface and pattern artist, and type designer, to name a few. You can learn graphic design with Blue Sky Graphics.
Fortunately, we have magnificent tools at our hands, each with its designated location in the toolbox. However, as developers extend the app’s functionality and as creators adapt, those initial limits become more difficult to discern.
For instance, although Photoshop is the de facto standard for photo editing, it also generates incredible photo-realistic text effects. Nobody could have predicted in 1989 that Photoshop would become the preferred front-end web design platform (with nods to Sketch and other capable newcomers). Though CorelDraw’s strength is in the manufacturing and service bureau industries, you can use blends, gradients, and transparencies to create astounding photo-realistic vector art and illustration. Though Illustrator is not as open as Corel, it remains the undisputed champion of advanced vector graphics. Mastering the software is a sound investment for professionals who use it often.
How Have We Managed Without Them?
Producing a colour newsletter, for example, was a mammoth task in the dark ages BC (pre-computer era), requiring a team of experts and costly equipment. Before using tech, we recreated the concept (presented as loose sketches and close comps) on an illustration board after the client accepted it (using a parallel ruler, T square, non-repro blue pencil, and a triangle). Then we had to outsource typesetting of our authorised copy and written form requirements (via courier to a typesetter who had a prototype machine). A strip of photographic paper was returned to us, which we trimmed, rolled with sticky hot wax, and placed on the boards in the columns we drew. We had to submit a Photostat of some line art (created with a continuously clogging professional pen, ink, and Pro-White) that would be returned on identical paper to the galley.
To tint the art, you needed to specify a screen line value for the stat operator. We assigned various spot colours to the physical art by pasting it on several layers of acetate sheets and adhering them to the top of the board—perfectly recorded. Then we submitted photo transparencies to a colour separator, who returned with four halftone film negatives (CMYK). Naturally, the film had to be shot with each sheet on the board. After annotating our orders for the offset lithographer, we sent the mechanical boards and huge sheets of film to the print house’s stripper, who cut and integrated the film before handing it over to the printing plate creator.
The method sounds crazy compared to the processes and technologies we use now, as well as the way we build projects with the applications used in this roundup. Now, a single person may design a project, submit it to an offset print house for direct-to-plate printing, load it onto the press, and print it. Digital printing is also more convenient (though I prefer the quality of offset).
Celebrating Individuality
The eight-piece CorelDraw 2018 Suite is comparable to Adobe’s Creative Cloud technology suite. While our analysis focuses on the CorelDraw app specifically, it is rewarding to access a collection of integrated resources that allow smooth asset exchange and compatibility. While Adobe’s Creative Cloud remains the industry standard, exporting CorelDraw files to Illustrator (or Photoshop) formats is a breeze, opening an Illustrator file in CorelDraw.
Each user has unique interests, personalities, and skills, and with this trio of applications, you are certain to find the resources and processes that work best for you. Finally, you can choose the resources for which you are most comfortable—and stick with those that have timely, useful updates. It is critical that the software fosters the technological development and challenges you to develop the skills necessary to remain competitive in the face of today’s graphic design and interface sea changes.
What Direction Are We Taking?
In today’s increasingly digital environment, graphic designers will increase the appeal of their work by diversifying their expertise and talents. The work market is dominated by interface and experience design, and with the growing popularity of smart speakers and digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google’s Assistant, and Apple’s Siri, we could see an increase in auditory experience design as well.
It is fortunate that each of these programmes has tools for programming for a variety of different screen sizes. CorelDraw supports direct uploads to WordPress, and the most often asked developer hand-off is layered Photoshop archives. With the comparatively recent pixel preview mode, also Illustrator CC 2018 has an integrated workspace for web and smartphone design. Additionally, it has an Export for Screens workflow that automatically produces properties in a variety of sizes and formats—all in a single operation.