Photoshop nd Illustrator are two of Adobe's massively popular graphics programs.

If you're working on a new project, you might have a hard time figuring out which of the two programs will work best for you, since on the surface they seem so similar.

We've compiled some of the main differences between Photoshop and Illustrator to help you get started.

Photoshop

Photoshop is one of the most popular Photo Editing Programs for modifying already created images or graphics, like photos, and is Adobe's most popular program.

Photoshop is raster-based and uses pixels to create images. so if you're scaling something up or down, it can lose its quality very quickly.

Photoshop is a popular choice for web graphics, photo editing and designs since those projects will stay at a fixed size.

Editing photos is awesome in Photoshop, because it includes a lot of unique filters, special effects and tools.

Another great benefit of Photoshop is that you can have complete control of your projects, since you can edit your graphic pixel-by-pixel.

Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is an advanced vector-based Digital Drawing Software. So, unlike Photoshop's pixel-based format, it uses mathematical constructs to create vector graphics.

In Illustrator, a line is composed of two dots connected by a computer algorithm, instead of just a line of pixels. Because of this, Illustrator is used often to create logos or anything that may need to be printed or displayed at different sizes.

A vector graphic will never lose its quality if it's scaled up or down. Illustrator will also give you a better print output since it's not resolution dependent.

A drawback of Illustrator is that it can't be used easily to modify images that are already created, since there are limited filters and image editing tools available to you.

Do You Need a Drawing Tablet for Photoshop and illustrator?

Using a stylus on a drawing tablet makes editing and drawing much more natural than using a mouse, and allows you to work faster and more accurately too.

Pen Tablets for Photo Editing help a lot to people who suffer from carpal tunnel, no matter how long you work with a stylus, you’ll never feel tired or get a soar wrist.

While using a mouse you only have your wrist movements whereas while working with a pen you get a full range of motion with your arms and wrists.

Graphics Pads are absolute positioning devices while mice are of the relative positioning variety. Your clicks and selections will be accurate with a tablet as your pen cursor position will be mapped precisely to your screen.

Drawing Pads have pressure sensitivity, something a mouse simply does not have. so you can draw like a pen or pencil, applying thicker or thinner strokes as you go. This makes it better suited for photoshop and illustrator especially when you are doing detailed work.

You can also control the shape of the strokes by simply tilting the pen, a feature that is better for high-end professionals.

The shortcut keys on tablets reduce the need to switch between tools, allowing you to concentrate on the work at hand. This enables you to work faster and eliminates the tedium and strain that come with performing seemingly repetitive tasks.

Investing in a graphics pads for photoshop and drawing pads for illustrator can help you take your digital art and design skill to the next level.

Conclusion

You'll come to find that some people just prefer to use one software over another, but sometimes it's best to use Photoshop and Illustrator together.

For example, you may need to add some text to an image you need to edit. Maybe you need to add a watermark to a photo for your blog or over an image for your portfolio.

It's best not to add any text to an image in Photoshop since it can distort, so transferring the edited photo to Illustrator and then adding the text there will give you the best result.

One is definitely not better than the other, they're just different. Understanding the basic differences between Photoshop and Illustrator will help you make the decision about which software is best for your next project.

Photoshop's primary use is for the correction, manipulation and compositing of photographic images while Illustrator's primary use is for creating, manipulating and compositing vector illustrations.

Both are extremely useful and serve their own purposes well.

Which you need depends on the type of work you intend on doing. Here's a very short list that might help you.

Illustrator can import photos but it is primarily an illustration tool mainly for drawing and creating raster images for art, advertising and website illustration.