Difference Between Procreate and Illustrator
• Categorized under Software,Technology | Difference Between Procreate and Illustrator
Procreate and Illustrator are the two big names in the digital art world that provide designers and illustrators the right tools to showcase their creative work. Loved by professional artists and aspiring wannabes alike, both are different digital art programs used for very different purposes. Procreate is meant for hand drawings and to be used with a stylus, while Illustrator is a professional graphics software used to create drawings, illustrations and artwork. But which one’s right for you?
What is Procreate?
Procreate is a one of the leading design apps and software designed exclusively for iOS and iPadOS. Procreate is a great tool for anyone wanting to recreate the natural sense of physical drawings with a hint of digital touch. Packed with a whole suite of creative artistic tools, including hundreds of handmade brushes, Procreate gives you everything to create lifelike strokes, textures, expressive sketches, beautiful paintings, and stunning illustrations all in a super mobile and easy-to-use interface. Procreate is basically a design app of hand drawn raster images meant specifically to be used on the iPad Pro with the creative and versatile Apple Pencil. The iPad is a powerful tool and Procreate transforms iPad into your own digital canvas that you can take anywhere you want to create beautiful artworks.
What is Adobe Illustrator?
The Illustrator is the industry-standard professional vector based graphics program designed for creating vector designs on your computer with not much of the hand drawing involved. Developed and marketed by Adobe, Illustrator is a professional graphics app that brings your creative imagination to life with shapes, colors, effects and typography. It is the one of the leading designer tools used by millions of skilled professionals and aspiring artists alike to create everything, from custom shapes, logos and icons to gorgeous artwork, illustrations, product packaging and billboards. Available for both mobile devices and desktop, Illustrator uses vector curves and shapes to build and design objects, from simple icons to logos, maps and more complex illustrations. It is fairly customizable, so you can arrange panels, tools and menus to suit your style and flow. The variety of drawing tools allows you to easily create and edit shapes, add patterns or special effects.
Difference between Procreate and Illustrator
Tool
– Both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator are amazing design tools used to create beautiful artwork from simple and complex illustrations. Both are packed with a ton of features and tools to help you showcase your creative artwork. However, Procreate is a pixel-based design app and software of hand drawn raster images designed to be used exclusively for the iPad with the Apple Pencil. Adobe Illustrator, on the other hand, is vector-based professional graphics software designed for creating vector designs on your computer with not much of the hand drawing involved.
Use
– Procreate is an iPad-exclusive design tool that allows you to recreate the natural feel of physical drawings that resemble traditional drawing but with a digital touch. Procreate offers all the necessary tools and features to let you work digitally to create lifelike strokes, textures, expressive sketches, beautiful paintings, and stunning illustrations while creating a familiar experience of pens, pencils and paint on paper. Adobe Illustrator, on the other hand, is used as part of a much larger design workflow and it does not use pixels. It allows for infinite scaling and uses vector curves and shapes to build and design objects, from simple icons to logos, maps and more complex illustrations.
Scalability
– Adobe Illustrator’s vector design capabilities are truly unmatched when it comes to scaling your designs up or down or to the exact level you want without losing the quality of the image. Vector designs are created with mathematical equations and geometric primitives, unlike raster art, which is created with colorized pixels. So, vector designs allow you to create art that is clean and which can be scaled infinitely, without any quality degradation. Procreate is not as scalable as Illustrator, but it still shines when it comes to drawing by hand with a stylus.
Procreate vs. Illustrator: Comparison Chart
Summary
While both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator are great design tools for creating free-form objects, Illustrator is industry-standard vector-based design software used by millions of skilled professionals and aspiring artists alike to create everything, from custom shapes, logos and icons to gorgeous artwork, illustrations, product packaging and billboards. Procreate, on the other hand, is a simple, easy to use pixel-based drawing tool available exclusively for the iPad to mimic hand-drawn artwork with digital tools. Procreate is one of the best drawing apps for iPad out there, but it fails to shine when it comes to scaling capabilities.
Is Procreate better than Illustrator?
Procreate is a simple, easy to use pixel-based drawing app for the iPad Pro that allows illustrators and graphic designers to create stunning illustrations and beautiful artwork. However, Procreate is a raster-based program that has its own limitations, compared to vector-based designs. It does not allow you to vectorize your work, which is something Illustrator is very good at. So, it is better, depending on what you plan on doing with it.
Do professional illustrators use Procreate?
Procreate is ideal for digital illustration and is equally loved by professional designer and illustrators who want to have more creative control over their artwork. Procreate is an iPad-exclusive app, so anyone who want to have the freedom to create images on the go, iPad can be a powerful tool
Is Procreate better than Photoshop?
Procreate is for anyone who is comfortable with a raster based program and likes to create specific artwork with a lot of customizations. After all, the iPad is a powerful tool that gives you the freedom to draw and paint digitally whenever and wherever you choose. But, Photoshop is the predominant photo editing and manipulation program that comes with professional tools to bring your ideas to life.
The best Illustrator alternatives in 2022
The best Illustrator alternatives are well worth considering if you want to avoid paying for an Adobe subscription. Part of Adobe's Creative Cloud suite of apps, Illustrator remains the industry standard vector art software for a reason, but there are alternatives.
Illustrator has dominated digital art, illustration and graphic design for a long time, and we still rate Illustrator as the best vector program in our pick of the best graphic design software. But if you're looking for Illustrator alternatives, our team of reviewers has some recommendations.
Whether you no longer want to pay for a Creative Cloud subscription or simply fancy learning to work with a different interface, this list will start you on the adventure of working with Illustrator alternatives. Some of these options have a one-off fee, some require a subscription, and some are even free or have free versions. Our reviewers have tested the tools to see how they compare and we've taken on board feedback from other designers too in order to evaluate each program's feature set, versatility, ease of use and use of resources (see more about how we test software).
If you're looking for more creative tools, see our pick of the best Photoshop alternatives and the top iPad apps for designers. Or if you want to stick with Illustrator, get Adobe Creative Cloud now (opens in new tab) or learn everything you need to know in our article on how to download Adobe Illustrator. Otherwise, read on for the best Illustrator alternatives.
The best Illustrator alternatives today
(Image credit: Beth Crane)
(opens in new tab)
01. Affinity Designer The Adobe Illustrator alternative overall Specifications Price model: One-off purchase System: Windows, Mac, iOS Recommended for: Professional designers Today's Best Deals £47.99 (opens in new tab) at Serif Europe UK (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Feature-rich + Very reasonable one-off cost + Works on iPad Reasons to avoid - Not the industry standard
We reckon the best all-round alternative to Illustrator is Affinity Designer. First launched in 2014, this vector editor from British software company Serif has gradually grown in popularity and influence, and for good reason. Not only is it powerful and feature-rich, but its one-off purchase price (£48.99, discounts are sometimes available) is far cheaper than an Illustrator subscription.
Unencumbered by legacy code, the software tends to run a little faster than Illustrator, or a lot faster if you have a relatively new Mac (which is largely why it won an Apple Design Award). Can it do everything that Illustrator can? There are some gaps, which we detail in our Affinity Designer review, but generally, yes. Working with other designers who use Illustrator isn’t usually a problem either because Affinity Designer can import and export AI and PSD files.
Affinity Designer also boasts a few features that Illustrator doesn’t have, including the ability to switch between raster and vector workspaces within the same tool, one-million plus zoom, and unlimited redos. You can also use the full version of Affinity Designer on iPad (for £19.99, but currently half price), with optimised features for the Apple Pencil.
A screenshot from Sketch, one of the best Illustrator alternatives (Image credit: Sketch)
02. Sketch One of the best Illustrator alternatives for UI design Specifications Price model: One-off purchase System: Mac Recommended for: UI designers, UX designers, web designers, app designers Today's Best Deals Visit Site (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Great for UI and icon design + Simple and user-friendly Reasons to avoid - Mac only - Not as comprehensive as Illustrator
If need a vector drawing program primarily for digital design, then Sketch (opens in new tab) is probably the best of Illustrator alternatives, as long as you’re using a Mac. First launched in 2010, Sketch's strong focus on UI and icon design quickly led it to become the industry’s go-to software for app and website prototyping.
It’s not a fully comprehensive drawing programme, so it doesn't have all the features offered by Illustrator. You wouldn’t use it to create complex illustrations or art. But by the same token, it has a simpler and more user-friendly interface that makes icon and UI design quick and easy.
A Sketch licence costs $99 and will give you one year of free updates. Once your licence has expired you can still use the app for as long as you want, but you will need to renew if you want the latest updates.
(Image credit: Corel Corporation)
03. CorelDRAW An Illustrator alternative that still has a big following Specifications Price model: One-off purchase or subscription System: Windows, Mac, browser, iPad Recommended for: Illustrators and artists Today's Best Deals £299 /year (opens in new tab) at Corel Corporation (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Feature-rich + strong community of users Reasons to avoid - Not the industry standard - Expensive
First launched in 1989, CorelDRAW is an Illustrator alternative that has a big following among artists and illustrators. In fact, it's hard to say whether CorelDRAW or Illustrator is the 'better' tool. Both are packed with features and both have their passionate advocates. Because the interfaces and approaches are quite different, fans of each tool will argue, with equal vehemence, that theirs is the easiest to use, but there’s no real objective way of settling this.
CorelDRAW isn't exactly a cheap Illustrator alternative, but it is more flexible in terms of how you can pay because you can get the software in several ways. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2021 is available for a one-off payment while the new 2022 version requires a subscription. It adds in new features including dynamic asset management and a faster adjustments docker for photo editing. There's also CorelDRAW standard, which is aimed at enthusiasts rather than professionals.
It can easily import Adobe AI and PSD files, so there are no problems with compatibility, and CorelDRAW now has a browser-based app and iPad app too, making it easier to use the program on the go. It does work out a little cheaper than Illustrator but really the main reason to choose CorelDRAW over Illustrator would be if you prefer the interface and workflow. If you’ve never used it, you might want to take advantage of the free trial to see how it feels in practice.
(Image credit: Inkscape)
04. Inkscape The best free Adobe Illustrator alternative Specifications Price model: Free System: Windows, Mac, Linux Recommended for: Linux users, cash-poor students and startups Today's Best Deals Visit Site (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Free + Lightweight + Runs on Linux Reasons to avoid - Can be slow and laggy
Inkscape (opens in new tab) is a free and open source vector editor using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as the native format. It’s lightweight, so will run on quite low-powered computers, but it’s surprisingly capable for a free tool, with a lot of useful features including layers, object grouping, drawing, shape, calligraphy, pencil and pen tools, path simplification with variable threshold, bitmap tracing and Boolean operations.
Inkscape natively supports opening or importing a range of formats, including SVG, PDF, EPS, AI (Adobe Illustrator) and CDR (CorelDraw). As well as Windows and Mac, it will also run on Linux. The main downside lies in its performance: it can be quite slow and laggy at times. But for a student or beginner wanting to create digital illustrations and vector graphics for free, and not wanting to spend any money, it’s an excellent choice.
(Image credit: The Corel Corporation)
05. Corel Vector One of the best cheap browser-based Illustrator alternative Specifications Price model: Subscription System: Browser Recommended for: budget-conscious designers Today's Best Deals Check Amazon (opens in new tab) Visit Site (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + A reasonable set of tools + Compatible with AI and Sketch files + Cheaper subscription than CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Reasons to avoid - Online only
Corel VECTOR is a new option from Corel and it's worth considering as an Illustrator alternative if you want browser-based vector software at a cheaper price. The software used to be called Gravit Designer, and it used to offer a free option.
It now requires a subscription, but at $69.99 a year, it's cheaper than the full professional CorelDRAW Graphics Suite – and cheaper than Illustrator. The interface is clear and intuitive, and we've found the program could cope with jobs running from icon design and prototyping to vector illustration and animation.
(Image credit: Vectr)
06. Vectr Another free Illustrator alternative Specifications Price model: Free System: Web browser Recommended for: Linux users, cash-poor students and startups Today's Best Deals Visit Site (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Free + Easy to use + Handy collaboration tools Reasons to avoid - Lacking in more sophisticated features
Vectr (opens in new tab) is a completely free, browser-based illustration tool that offers a quick and easy way to get started with vector editing thanks to its intuitive interface. As it’s based in the web browser, anyone with an internet connection can use it, and that makes it quite straightforward for multiple people to collaborate on a design, too. Each image has a bespoke URL you can share with others, and you can export your finished work as an SVG, PNG or JPEG file.
Overall, Vectr is super-simple, which can be seen as a positive or a negative. It can't replace the feature-rich capabilities of Illustrator, Affinity Designer or CorelDRAW, but that means it has a very low learning curve (there are very good tutorials featured within the app itself). If you’re a beginner looking to create, say, a social media graphic with minimum time and effort, this is a sound option.
(Image credit: VectorStyler)
07. VectorStyler An Illustrator alternative with a good range of brushes Specifications Platform: Windows, macOS Payment model: One-off payment Recommended for: Illustrators who want a range of brushes Today's Best Deals Visit Site (opens in new tab) Reasons to buy + Large range of vector brushes + Intuitive, easy-to-use interface +
Reasons to avoid - More expensive than competing options with a one-off payment
VectorStyler is a relatively new Illustrator alternative that seems to be expanding its offering. It used to be available for Mac only but there's now a Windows version too. Its big sell is its wide range of scalable vector brushes and the inclusion of tools that some users might miss in other alternatives to Illustrator, such as a shape builder, a blend tool and a pattern tool.
This Illustrator alternative can handle Illustrator files, and you can also import AI brush collections. We've found the interface to be easy and intuitive, and there are plenty of interesting filters and tools. The downside is that at $95, VectorStyler is twice as expensive as Affinity Designer, which tops our list of the best Illustrator alternatives, and there's no iPad app or wider ecosystem of other software. That said it does have those features that Affinity Designer lacks, so it will be worth the money for some users.
Read more:
5 Best Adobe Illustrator Books for Beginners (2022)
I know there are a lot of video tutorials for Adobe Illustrator, but learning Adobe Illustrator from a book is actually not a bad idea.
Many of you might think if there are so many online resources available, why would you need a book?
The book teaches you some important concepts about graphic design and illustration that most tutorial videos don’t. Video tutorials are good for solving specific problems that you search for, while books are teaching you about Adobe Illustrator in general.
Actually, the books also come with practice and step by step guide which is good for learning the tool deeper instead of only learning how to solve a specific problem. I think it’s a good idea for beginners to start with a book for a more systematic way of learning.
In this article, you’ll find five awesome books for learning Adobe Illustrator. All books on the list are beginner-friendly, but some are more basic while others are more in-depth.
This book has both Kindle and paperback versions so you can choose how you prefer to read. There are 20 chapters explaining the basic tools along with some productivity tips and learning resources in the last two chapters.
This is a good option for Adobe Illustrator CC users who are beginners. The book explains the basic concept of Adobe Illustrator and shows you how to use some basic tools to create shapes and illustrations in an easy way so that beginners can get the ideas easily.
This book has some excellent graphic examples that you can refer to when running into problems. You’ll learn how to create different projects following the examples just as you would in a classroom.
There are different versions, including the latest 2022 version, but the 2021 and 2020 versions seem to be more popular. Isn’t it always like, the newer the better?
Unlike some tech products, the year of the books actually doesn’t get outdated, especially when it comes to tools. For example, I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator in 2012, although Illustrator has developed new tools and features, the basic tools work the same way.
No matter which version you end up choosing, you do get some online extras. The book comes with downloadable files and videos that you can follow and practice some of the tools you learn from the book.
Note: The software doesn’t come with the book, so you’ll need to get it separately.
You’ll learn the very basics of Adobe Illustrator from this book, the author guides you through the software and teaches you how to use some of the basic tools, including how to use different tools to work with shapes, text, image trace, etc.
It’s a good choice for complete beginners because it’s very easy to follow the images and steps, and it includes some tips for beginners. However, there aren’t many exercises to do, which I think it’s important for beginners to practice as learning.
The book covers the basics that can help you get started as a graphic designer, but it doesn’t go too deep, almost too easy. If you have some experience with Adobe Illustrator already, this is not the best option for you.
As the book name says, a complete course and compendium of features, yes! You’ll learn a lot from this book from creating vectors and drawing to making your own typeface.
The author Jason Hoppe has more than 20 years of experience in teaching graphic design, so the book is tailored for learning Adobe Illustrator effectively and professionally. By the end of the “course” (I mean after reading this book), you should be able to create logos, icons, illustrations, play with colors and text freely.
Besides the step-by-step guides and his in-depth explanation of the software, he included some practices that you can download as well. If you want to be an Adobe Illustrator pro, practicing is the best way to get you there.
So I highly recommend you make full use of the resources the book provides because you can use some of the practices in your own project someday.
While some of the other books focus more on software tools and techniques, this book takes you through the practical use of Adobe Illustrator in graphic design. It teaches you how to use Adobe Illustrator tools to create different types of graphic design like posters, infographics, branding for business, etc.
The lessons from this book are mainly project-based, which teach some real-world skills that will help you prepare for your future career. You’ll also find around eight hours of practical videos and some interactive quizzes for improving your professional skills.
Final Thoughts
Most of the Adobe Illustrator books I suggested on the list are good options for beginners. Of course, there are different levels of beginners as well. I would say if you have no experience at all, Adobe Illustrator for Beginners (No.3) and Adobe Illustrator CC for Dummies (No.1) are your best options.
If you have some experience, for example, downloaded Adobe Illustrator and started exploring the program by yourself, know a few tools, then you can try other options (No.2, No.4 & No.5).
Have fun learning!
