Leaving Corel for Adobe - advice

[costabunny]

Hi all

I have been a Corel Draw user since v2. Currently I am on 11 (and 10 in Windows). With Corel not doing new stuff for the mac it is time for me to go with something newer.

I am looking at the CS5 Design Premium (I get the student discount) which has Illustrator and InDesign.

I use Corel Draw for leaflets, stationary, posters and card designs (business and greetings). I guess I am asking for some advice on InDesign and Illustrator - which is for what use? I am confused as to what is the better one for me to get to grips with first coming from the Corel world.

For practice I have CS3 for the moment so I won't be buying any books just yet. I am looking at a couple of the dummies books for when I get CS5 in a month or so (when I get my intel mac to run it on ).

Anyone have any advice at all here for me (I do use photoshop so the 'Adobe' way isn't totally alien to me).

good book/site suggestions always welcome

 

[design-is]

Hi costabunny

I'm not familiar with Coral I'm afraid, not used it for many years. However, as a basic guide, use the software as follows:

Photoshop - bitmap image editing, graphic creation & photo manipulation.
Illustrator - vector image editing & creation, logo work, detailed/custom typographic work.
InDesign - layout work, putting all the elements together, documents, leaflets, books etc.

Hope that helps a little...

/Doug

 

[mBox]

Hi costabunny

I'm not familiar with Coral I'm afraid, not used it for many years. However, as a basic guide, use the software as follows:

Photoshop - bitmap image editing, graphic creation & photo manipulation.
Illustrator - vector image editing & creation, logo work, detailed/custom typographic work.
InDesign - layout work, putting all the elements together, documents, leaflets, books etc.

Hope that helps a little...

/Doug

Its about time ...kidding aside, itll be a fun ride but you will run into a few old habits that never die. If youve worked on CorelDraw that long, Im sure some of the tools will be familiar to you.
Good luck
P.s. the above post (design is) is on the nose with workflow

 

[jampat]

Sign up for lynda.com. They have pretty good tutorials on many things (including illustrator and indesign).

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Photoshop - bitmap image editing, graphic creation & photo manipulation.
Illustrator - vector image editing & creation, logo work, detailed/custom typographic work.
InDesign - layout work, putting all the elements together, documents, leaflets, books etc.

Excellent synopsis. I would add, though, that I use Illustrator for "graphic creation" unless it's something involving photo images. My (even simpler) version of how I use Adobe CS:

Photoshop: image manipulation, web graphic design
Illustrator: vector graphics, typography, logo design
InDesign: layout, typically using elements I've created in PS and AI

 

[Rendergroup]

I'm a Corel Draw user also and I find that working with nodes in Illustrator is a pain in the ****
Nothing and easier to work the nodes in Corel Draw.

You will find that there's no perfect program on earth.... someones have its pro's and con's.

 

[costabunny]

Thanks for the advice so far guys n gals.

I think Ill have to give lynda.com a miss for a while (cant afford new subscriptions right now). - going to look for some used books for now.

Also looks like I wont get any practice with InDesign as its not working (some random error that I cant seem to remedy) but Illustrator works for the time being so I'll have a play (I have one project to mess with).

 

[mBox]

Thanks for the advice so far guys n gals.

I think Ill have to give lynda.com a miss for a while (cant afford new subscriptions right now). - going to look for some used books for now.

Also looks like I wont get any practice with InDesign as its not working (some random error that I cant seem to remedy) but Illustrator works for the time being so I'll have a play (I have one project to mess with).

not the greatest but Ive met designers that will actually just use Illustrator for their lay-out needs. Some got that idea when Pagemaker got replaced by InDesign, and hey were not too easily impressed. Im sure its better now. I for one came from Quark and Freehand. I dont do a lot of layout (Motion Graphics and 3D mostly) but have been using all of the above for many years.

 

[Jim Campbell]

I'm a Corel Draw user also and I find that working with nodes in Illustrator is a pain in the ****

Nodes?

Cheers

Jim

 

[FourCandles]

Nodes?

Cheers

Jim

= anchors in Illustrator I believe.

 

[mofunk]

iTunes and Adobe tv has a lot of tutorials to get you started.

Also, idk if this is in your area but local public library has a lot of CS books. Although they aren't the current CS5, you can still learn how to use the software. Most colleges will have current books to borrow though.

My local library also allows downloading of books which makes it convenient when I don't have time to drive to the library.