Sketch vs Illustrator: what graphic design software suitable for your purposes?
Illustrator has plenty of features that will be useful to professional artworkers.
Sketch is fast and easy-to-use, which makes it popular among UX designers developing interfaces. So, let’s review them closer.
What Is Sketch?
Sketch is a vector graphics editor for macOS. It’s used to design the interfaces of mobile applications and websites. Using it, you can also create interactive prototypes.Adobe Sketch is actively used by such companies as Apple, Facebook, Google. Sketch has great possibilities of integration with other software and web services like InVision, Marvel, Jira, Zeplin and Avocode.
In Sketch, you can share your designs with interested parties, get comments and feedback, share your ideas through links to browser-based prototypes. It’s very easy to maintain the design process here.
Sketch: Strengths and Weaknesses
Perfect for web and mobile layouts. In Sketch, designers are accountable to ideal pixel layouts. The program uses grids, snap to grid and snap to pixel functionality, which means that you won’t face half-pixel renders or not qualitative alignment. It is extremely important in the world of responsive design/numerous screen sizes and resolutions.
Vector outputs. Your graphics will scale nicely as Sketch has vector outputs. Illustrator also provides them so this aspect might be controversial when comparing Sketch to Illustrator.
Symbols. Designers of interface tend to reuse several elements, including navigation, buttons and icons. In Sketch, you can adjust symbols and reuse them in a design. When you change the main symbols, this modification automatically applies to all your designs.
Mirroring designs. This is a very nice option to work with clients. You can mirror all your designs straight to their devices. In this way, the whole team can see how the designs look on their phones and computers.
Easy to add ready-made screen layouts. It’s rather difficult to choose perfect sizes for your design, especially given the fact that all screen sizes and resolutions are different. Sketch offers a library of ready-made artboards for iOS devices and adaptive layouts for web designs.
Good for mobile and web interfaces but not good for logos. Sketch performs well when you create mobile and web interfaces. However, it’s not effective if you want to create custom logos, complex illustrations or extensive print designs.
You need to get used to it. The majority of Sketch functions are similar to Illustrator. However, after using Illustrator for years, I wasn’t able to switch to Sketch and work there as confidently.
Only for Mac. Sketch was developed for Mac only. If you own a Windows computer and compare Photoshop vs Sketch, keep in mind that the latter isn’t compatible with your system.
- Find out about the best free drawing software.
What Is Adobe Illustrator?
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor. Designers use it for different purposes: advertising, greeting cards, posters, books, graphic novels, storyboards, magazines, newspapers, etc. The program has a wide range of drawing tools, color and text management possibilities.Adobe Illustrator offers all the necessary tools for creating great logos, icons and graphics. It’s a vector-based design software, which means that it can scale to fit mobile screens and billboards size and still look sharp and qualitative. If you are interested, you can compare Illustrator vs Photoshop.
Illustrator: Strengths and Weaknesses
Suitable for all systems. You can work with this program no matter if you use PC or Mac. You can use it even on an open-source operating system. If your computer is not older than 5-7 years, you can freely use Illustrator on it.
It perfectly integrates with other Adobe products. If you have experience in using Flash or Photoshop, working in Illustrator will definitely be pleasant for you. As soon as you master this software, you will be able to create anything you can think of.
Vectors allow you to work with high-resolution graphics. Such features of graphics software can be helpful as, in this case, pixels won’t bother you in your graphic design. This will let you work with high-resolution graphics in the best way. As a result, you will have an even, clean image for digital or print use, depending on your wishes.
You can work on several web pages at the same time. When you work on a website, sometimes you have to work on a few pages at the same time to understand the full design concept. With Illustrator, you can easily do it.
Limited image editing. The reason why a lot of people choose to work in Illustrator is to create the initial design there and then switch to Photoshop to make final touches. Illustrator offers an advanced level of vector support, nice page layouts and great special effects. However, you will have to perform the final touch-up work using other similar software.
It doesn’t support pixel art . I have already mentioned that a big benefit of Illustrator is not having to deal with pixels. However, it can be a drawback too. Sometimes, you might want to work with pixel art, but you won’t be able to do it here.
It will take you some time to master the program. If you don’t have experience in working with one of the previous versions of Illustrator, you will have to spend some time to master it. Even with the most recent release, advanced users of Illustrator admitted that it took them some time to get familiar with its new features.
- Read about more Illustrator alternatives.
Sketch VS Illustrator: Price
Comparing Sketch VS Illustrator in terms of price, I can tell the winner at once and it’s Sketch. Its price is $99 for a one-time payment. To use Illustrator, you will have to pay each month.
- Adobe Illustrator annual plan, paid monthly – US$20.99 per month
- Adobe Illustrator annual plan, prepaid – US$239.88 per year
- Adobe Illustrator monthly plan – US$31.49 per month
- Sketch individual plan – $99 for a one-time payment
- Sketch for teams – $9 for a user per month or $99 per year
If you are not sure which software to choose, you can test the software during the trial period. Use Illustrator for free for 7 days and Sketch – for 30 days. Also, you can learn how to get Illustrator for free.
Sketch Vs Illustrator – Who Wins?
Comparing Illustrator vs Sketch, I must say that Illustrator is better in terms of age and integration. Since Illustrator exists for about 30 years, it integrates with InDesign, Photoshop and other Adobe software. If integration is important for you, you should choose Illustrator.
Both Sketch and Illustrator use plugins in order to reduce the number of recurring design tasks. However, with Sketch plug-ins, it’s simpler to integrate CSS (web page formatting).
In terms of the simplicity of exporting, comparing Illustrator to Sketch, I must admit that Sketch performs this task better. You can move any element from it right to a folder, browser or desktop. Illustrator, in its turn, has an advantage over Sketch in working with different file types.
With Sketch, you can use one canvas for your entire design. In Illustrator, you can easily use plenty of different files for a single project, especially for web design.
Also, when choosing Sketch or Illustrator, you need to remember that you can use Sketch only for macOS. Illustrator wins here as you can use it on both macOS and PC.
Freebies
No matter which graphics editor you choose, each of them will allow you to create excellent logos and banners. For creative projects, use these free fonts.
Artonica Font
It’s one of the best fully legible fonts for logos. The combination of thin and thick lines, sharp and round edges will give your text an excellent look.
Bardane Font
With this font, your text will definitely draw attention. It provides an interesting combination of thin and thick lines, curvy swirls, and additional lines inside or under the letters. All this will look great on any creative image background.
Chalsyn Font
It will be a great serif font for you if you are searching for a good logo font. The letters have thin and simple lines that will make the text look very interesting. The font is particularly suitable for projects that require a clean and unobtrusive typeface, while its distinctiveness lies in its subtle refinement and straightforward elegance.
