Illustrator CS 11.0

[brasscorpion]

Just a quick question here. Anyone deal with adobe Illustrator?

I know this is a "Painter" section but I thought I would place this here since it deals with an illustration program.

How does Illustrator compare to Painter...Adobe vs Corel.

Are they even the same type of program or do they have totally different uses. The reason I am asking is that I have a chance to get Illustrator CS 11.0 for free.

Not Pirated!!! It is an install onto my office computer through a corporate account...so the license is being paid for. Also I want know, if I was to actually go out and purchase a program...what is the best and what do most people use?

Brass

[Zaknafain]

Illustrator is a vectorgraphic program
Painter is a pixel-based program

You really can't compare them. They have a totally different range of application.

Illustrator is mostly used for graphic-related stuff
Painter is used for painted stuff

[loomer]

IF you can get it for free...do so. Illustrator is a really good program..but has totally different uses than Painter or Photoshop. When I do graphic design..I use illustrator almost all the time, and my friends who are pro-designers (movie posters, MTV,blah, blah) -it is used a lot as well.

Vector images are based on a mathmatical breakdown of what you see on a screen as opposed to a pixelated version (Photoshop, Painter). The advantage of using vector is that it can be extremely clean - and no matter how large you blow a vector image up..it will NOT lose sharpness.
Why doesn't everyone only work in vector and vector-based programs like Illustrator?
Working with vectors can be extremely difficult to make complex images. It can be done..but has an un-natural feel if you are used to traditional media, and can be very time consuming. It also does not have the flexibilty of working in a pixel-based format.
I am no leading authority on any of this..I just hope it helps a little bit.
Here is an image I did awhile ago:

This is a combination of Painter and Illustrator. The characters were done in painter, yet the design elements (ornamental frame) were done in Illustrator. Some one who combines drawings and vector images 1,000x's better than me is James Jean (www.jamesjean.com) -
He'd be a good person to look at so you can see the advantages of both and how they can be used to create images together.
good luck!

[brasscorpion]

Thanks for the help. That explained a lot of what I needed to know.

Looks like artists use both programs together.

It looks like I still need to go out and buy painter.