Photoshop or Illustrator?

[illwauk]

Not sure if this is the correct place for a question like this. If not, I apologize.

I've decided to try and turn this hobby of mine into something of a career and get some formal training. There's accelerated courses offered for both Photoshop and Illustrator over the summer. My question is, would it be wise to take both courses at the same time... or would I be better off taking one in the summer or one in the fall? And if so, which should I take first?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

[Davidson]

id take them together if i had to do it again. altho they differ quite a bit and there is the potential to slightly confuse and contaminate knowledge of one with the other, ultimately they are designed to work in tandem.

if i were to try and concoct a rough analogy, i guess i would say that altho learning both spanish and french at the same time may confuse slightly, they are both underpinned by latin and together serve ones end to becoming a linguist. by that i mean, the use of both ai and ps are there to help you as a designer and on some level have similar principles at work. man cannot live by bread alone, so to speak.

although, if you had to learn one first for practical reasons, i would start with illustrator. as a designer i think its probably more foundational. but as i say, its a tough call and both are essential in design.

[Quillz]

I'd personally learn Illustrator first. The way I see it, you first design something in Illustrator, then do further edits in Photoshop, then put it into some kind of spread in InDesign, etc.

And while there is the possibility of getting the products confused, there are also a lot of similarities. Many things in Illustrator work the same in Photoshop, etc.

[tBBP]

I'd think it to be best to take both, but not at the same time. Do one over the summer, then one in the fall. And if you want my advice, I'd do Photoshop first, then Illustrator. Illustrator involves a bit of a learning curve (namely with the whole Bezier curve thing--you'll learn about it), but it's good to learn how to edit your images--or create new ones--and it's also good to learn how to manipulate in vector as well. (Then once you find out you can actually do some limited vector work in Photoshop, you'll begin to see how these two programs can fit together).

Then...depending on how far you wish to go with this, if you wanna do any kind of print layout work, learn InDesign or Quark (personally, I prefer InDesign since it's interfaced with both PS & Illy, meaning you can edit the native file and it'll automatically update in InDesign). But that's taking things a lil' too far...gotta crawl before you walk.

Either way it goes, best of luck to you in your classes...and on your prospective career progression.

[elsephen]

This reminds me of this:

http://www.gomediazine.com/tutorials/photoshop-illustrator-part/

[oddball]

The honest answer is, there is no right or best answer. As a professional, I use both about the same. If I'm editing an image, I'll do it in Photoshop. If I'm creating an illustration, I'll do it in Illustrator (shocking on that, I know), but taking one before the other is not necessary and you can take them at the same time. Photoshop is photoshop and has its pluses and minuses as does Illustrator. Illustrator's pen tool is head and shoulders above Photoshops and so is the gradient tool. If you can take them together, go for it, why wait to take one then the other? It's not like Pre-Algebra and Algebra, they are both just Algebra and it's just how much learning you can take. If you have them at home, then you will play with them at home, but they probably won't build upon each other. Sure they have similar tools, but they're different and so you'll use certain tools in Photoshop and certain tools in Illustrator.

[JayJaxon]

I started with Photoshop learning on my own and through the use of tutorials that can be found pretty much anywhere. Everyone told me to get to the next level I needed to know Illy. But for some reason I will mess around in there for a few minutes and get frustrated that I can't do something and go back to my comfort zone (Photoshop) I am determined to learn Illustrator so I can show off more of my artistic ability. So I am going to start taking a class on it. I feel it's the only way I won't get frustrated with it.

I totally agree that both are essential and I'm glad I'm really good at one of them. I just need to get the hang of the other. But I would suggest learning both at different times because it will be a lot to take in just to learn one.

[illwauk]

This is all great advice... thanks again!

If cost isn't an issue, I'll probably take both courses at the same time (unless someone can give me a reason why I shouldn't), but damn you Bucco for tossing a monkeywrench into my decision for which one I should take first

[chuckymack]

I took 'em both at the same time and haven't had any problems. It takes a minute to memorize all of the keyboard shortcuts, but that's to be expected.