Illustrator for ipad

[pmace]

My Adobe Illustrator subscription includes a version for my ipad. I’ve been playing with it and while it does not have all of the tools the regular version has it does work fairly well.
Does anyone use this or is Procreate still the go-to ipad app? I like Illustrator because it is already vector based. I need to try doing the rough sketch in Procreate then importing to Illustrator and vectorizing.

 

[Travis_UT]

I have used procreate and I like it a lot but it is not vector based so scaling stuff is challenging. I have recently been playing with Afinity Designer which is vector based and can do a lot but I have been unable to get the brushes to act just like procreate.

 

[rweigel]

Vectornator. Free and (meanwile) well documented Vector Graphic app for Mac and iPad. Use 71% spirals for the backbones…

The functions in Adobe Illustrator that I would like (e.g. smoothing a vector by stroking it with the pencil) where not included in the iPad version when I tried it last.

Cheers

Ralf

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Far too much emphasis goes into which program to get the perfect drawing complete with shading lines etc etc. The fact is the transfer is only as good as your printer and how small you want it. So a whole lot of time and energy going into vectorising is a pointless exercise.

Drawing in ProCreate as it is a lot more intuitive than illustrator/vector programs which involve smoothing, node manipulation etc etc. Procreate is a as good as you can get for good old fashioned pencil and paper. Learn to draw intuitively because you need to do this on all sorts of unusual shapes………..point/click/menu/smooth/tap/double tap/click/click click doesn’t help your drawing skills.

To vectorise jpg from Procreate in Illustrator do the following (I’m sure other programs do this as well)

Only draw main cuts for transferring..........leave the shading lines out of it.

Export drawing as a *jpg

Import or place into Illustrator

Image trace > expand > ungroup (and get rid of everything you don’t want)

Size to whatever you want.

Reverse and Print in whatever medium you want.

Job done.

Learn to be consistent with how you set up files from the get go and this process will only take a couple of minutes or so.

I use an Epson inkjet printer with pigment based inks, Pictorico inkjet transparencies and a homemade brew of 10% approx oil based damar varnish and 90% approx IPA. I get 100% transfers every single time.

AllenClapp has written a lot of excellent words on pigment based inks that are well worth reading and explains it far better than I ever could.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[pmace]

Far too much emphasis goes into which program to get the perfect drawing complete with shading lines etc etc. The fact is the transfer is only as good as your printer and how small you want it. So a whole lot of time and energy going into vectorising is a pointless exercise.

Drawing in ProCreate as it is a lot more intuitive than illustrator/vector programs which involve smoothing, node manipulation etc etc. Procreate is a as good as you can get for good old fashioned pencil and paper. Learn to draw intuitively because you need to do this on all sorts of unusual shapes………..point/click/menu/smooth/tap/double tap/click/click click doesn’t help your drawing skills.

To vectorise jpg from Procreate in Illustrator do the following (I’m sure other programs do this as well)

Only draw main cuts for transferring..........leave the shading lines out of it.

Export drawing as a *jpg

Import or place into Illustrator

Image trace > expand > ungroup (and get rid of everything you don’t want)

Size to whatever you want.

Reverse and Print in whatever medium you want.

Job done.

Learn to be consistent with how you set up files from the get go and this process will only take a couple of minutes or so.

I use an Epson inkjet printer with pigment based inks, Pictorico inkjet transparencies and a homemade brew of 10% approx oil based damar varnish and 90% approx IPA. I get 100% transfers every single time.

AllenClapp has written a lot of excellent words on pigment based inks that are well worth reading and explains it far better than I ever could.

Cheers
Andrew

Thanks Andrew. I agree that Procreate is much closer to drawing with a real pencil and is much easier for large scale objects like scrolls and general layout of an item. After using Illustrator for a while I’ve gotten used to importing and vectorizing. I like the pencil tool on Illustrator for small stuff you can draw one stoke at a time because of the smoothing function.
I’ve resisted electronic drawing because I feel you introduce a whole layer of complexity that isn’t necessary. My next project is to draw on paper, scan it into a file then vectorize that so it can be scaled, reversed and printed for transfer. IMHO it’s tough to beat good old paper, pencil and an eraser for creativity.

 

[Sam]

Drawing on paper and then vectorizing is messy, but it might be just fine if you can tolerate the mess and get a decent transfer for engraving. Drawing in Procreate and exporting as Andrew said will produce a very clean output which can be vectorized with a much cleaner result.

The only time I vectorize a design is if I need it for teaching and want the absolute cleanest possible result which I can also scale if need be. Also, I have had GRS laser engrave designs for some of my classes and their laser requires a vector path.

Affinity Designer is a damn good vector app for iPad, but I only use it for outlines, not thick-thin graver type cuts and lines. It's great being able to draw vector lines with the pencil instead of a mouse.

FWIW, I have drawn a couple of thousand+ vector scrollwork illustrations using Illustrator, but Procreate is what I use 98% of the time now. I use mostly illustrator for scaling and printing.

 

[pmace]

Drawing on paper and then vectorizing is messy, but it might be just fine if you can tolerate the mess and get a decent transfer for engraving. Drawing in Procreate and exporting as Andrew said will produce a very clean output which can be vectorized with a much cleaner result.

The only time I vectorize a design is if I need it for teaching and want the absolute cleanest possible result which I can also scale if need be. Also, I have had GRS laser engrave designs for some of my classes and their laser requires a vector path.

Affinity Designer is a damn good vector app for iPad, but I only use it for outlines, not thick-thin graver type cuts and lines. It's great being able to draw vector lines with the pencil instead of a mouse.

FWIW, I have drawn a couple of thousand+ vector scrollwork illustrations using Illustrator, but Procreate is what I use 98% of the time now. I use mostly illustrator for scaling and printing.

Thanks Sam. I certainly see the advantages of using Procreate over Illustrator for drawing. I guess I need to work some more with Procreate. I was just excited that you could use Illustrator on an ipad rather than being tied to the computer. Unfortunately no single app does it all. Thanks.

 

[Sam]

Thanks Sam. I certainly see the advantages of using Procreate over Illustrator for drawing. I guess I need to work some more with Procreate. I was just excited that you could use Illustrator on an ipad rather than being tied to the computer. Unfortunately no single app does it all. Thanks.

Affinity Designer is 10x better than Illustrator for iPad as far as I'm concerned. It's an excellent app.

 

[pmace]

Thanks. I will give it a try. Does it play nice with Illustrator on the desktop for printing?