Vector Program of Choice??

[whispers]

I really have no great talent in any VECTOR applications (save Flash) for drawing and design. I figured it is time to buckle down and at become decent in at least one of them.

So I am curious as to what you all use/prefer?

Like Adobe Illustrator, Fireworks...etc..etc..actually anything you use..and why you think it is better..than so and so....

Also about learning curves & resources please

-whispers-

[aversion]

hehe, never use flash for drawing stuff :P

for web stuff I use xara x, a neat little vector app that does everything you need it to, including exporting to swf, eps, etc. It's not as fully featured as illustrator et al, but it's smooth and has a great workflow.

I use illustrator for print stuff or more complex jobs.

[qetret]

If your`e familiar with PS, then you will find Illustrator easier to handle.

[whispers]

I am very familiar with PS...but I find using Illustrator frustrates me....that damn PEN tool (bezier curves..or something)....lol

I will look into thepros and cons of both..thank you.

-whispers-

[aversion]

Originally posted by whispers
I am very familiar with PS...but I find using Illustrator frustrates me....that damn PEN tool (bezier curves..or something)....lol

I will look into thepros and cons of both..thank you.

-whispers-

that's what i love about xara x, it has bezier stuff that's soooo easy to use compared with illustrator/photoshop/etc, you can do all the same stuff, it's just so much easier! There's perspective tools, bevels, etc etc.

[whispers]

hmmm....maybe you should get some comission on this. LOL...you are doing a good job on selling me it. I will check it out tomorrow....I am reading the boards..and mesing with PS and soon it will bed. 1:00 here..

-whispers-

[aversion]

haha, no commission but I swear i don't know why everyone doesn't use this app, it's a third the price of illustrator etc and perfect for web stuff, I can do layouts in xara ten times faster than in anything else.

check it out here, here's an image from their gallery:

[whispers]

Very Impressive. Know how much it runs off hand?

-whispers-

[aversion]

I think it's about $120

[qetret]

Compared to Illustrator, if it is as good as Aversion says, then it would be my choice. If you buy it and its no good, then simply blame Aversion

[stone.cold.steve.austin]

is that your passport photo aversion? lol jk.

richp

[stone.cold.steve.austin]

Originally posted by whispers
I am very familiar with PS...but I find using Illustrator frustrates me....that damn PEN tool (bezier curves..or something)....lol

I will look into thepros and cons of both..thank you.

-whispers-

oh yea forgot to say heres a cool tut on the pen tool, b4 i watched this i had no idea how it worked:

http://www.lynda.com/products/videos...le_movies.html

(you can thank the cat woman for it)

[phacker]

I trained with both CorelDraw and Illustrator, and I find that I turn to Flash for most vector work. I've tried Xara, it's pretty good...but the more I work and stretch in Flash the more I find it can do. I do miss the brushes and textures the other programs like CD and Il and Painter have, and sometimes I'll take something into one of the other programs and apply one, then export it as a swf and finish it up. But even that is becoming a rare occurrence. I seem to be able to find ways of doing those type of things in Flash. I've tried Freehand a few times, just couldn't get used to it. All of these tools have a bezier, and when I was starting out that's the tool you use, but I didn't miss it in the earlier versions of Flash and I've only used it once in MX.

[rea]

Originally posted by whispers
Very Impressive. Know how much it runs off hand?

-whispers-

I have worked with various vector programs the one that stands out you can use in any situation is Corel Draw. I have more years using Illustrator but I never found illustrator easy It has problems like the guid lock you always have to unlock guides to move them. Stupid little things like that frustrate me when I am trying to work on something. Corel is alot easier to manage. Plus it has a great tatorial that comes with the program, It has a whole bunch of fonts and clip art. The program also makes it easier to do 3d art. You can creat great 360 degree art for logo rotations to be used in flash or just as an animated gif.

[phacker]

I agree with rea on CorelDraw, compared to Illustrator it's much more intuitive. I know this is sacrireligious(sp), everyone is going to tell you Adobe is industry standard, but if you can do it faster--that says something.

[whispers]

Thanks for the knowledgable posts gang! I really appreciate it. I have almost ALWAYS used PS for everything I have every needed...never really got into vector images/drawing But I find that for logo design and easy scalability you need to be proficient in at least ONE!!

I think I will continue to mess with Illustrator (after I watch the PEN tut) and also experiment with Corel Draw (what version..is it 10 now?) In another post I read about alot of the plug-in/add-ons that CD has..like tight bevels..and textures..Illustrator has nothing like this?

Thanks again for the tips.

-whispers-

[phacker]

Actually it's up to version 11 now. I still only have ten--it had a few bugs so I am not in a hurry to upgrade...too busy learning Flash MX. I usually buy the graphics combination package that comes with PhotoPaint, Rave, Trace and CorelDraw: although I haven't openned alot of them in the past year. I still appreciate Corel products and their support. Those of you who haven't tried them should, before you run them down. They've been around for along time and actually helped get computer graphics off the ground.