Vector Programs

[rmgreen]

I am upgrading my PC (Windows Operating System).

I have on my old PC CS3 Adobe Illustrator and used it. I only use a very small part of Adobe Illustrator. The normal work I do with this program is to scan in a design for printing out transfers of paper/transparencies. Layout lettering and sometime use the wrap feature. Being able to increase/decrease the size of designs and lettering. These are about the extent of my requirements of a program. Illustrator is not very intuitive. I am not interested in a subscription whereby the payments never end.

Recommendation would be appreciated.

 

[tdelewis]

I also use Adobe but I'm sure there are other programs out there that are less expensive. Perhaps Corel Draw I am wondering if many use it.

 

[rmgreen]

I also use Adobe but I'm sure there are other programs out there that are less expensive. Perhaps Corel Draw I am wondering if many use it.

Thanks for your reply Adobe Creative Cloud? Illustrator is about $20.00 per month or $1200.00 per year? or do you have an older version that is a stand alone program?

 

[Leonardo]

Inkscape is a great program. It is free, open source and cross platform software (Windows, MacOS and Linux).
You will not be disappointed using it. Plus, you can download it for free, give it a try and, if you do not like it you can the look for another one without loosing any money.

 

[rmgreen]

Inkscape is a great program. It is free, open source and cross platform software (Windows, MacOS and Linux).
You will not be disappointed using it. Plus, you can download it for free, give it a try and, if you do not like it you can the look for another one without loosing any money.

Thank you Leonardo.

 

[Leonardo]

You are welcome Roger!

 

[tdelewis]

My Adobe costs $250 a year.

 

[rmgreen]

My Adobe costs $250 a year.

You are right my math is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Goldjockey]

Affinity designer is worth a look too. There is a version for PC, and the one time cost is $50 (no subscription). Currently I believe it's on sale for $25 so very affordable as well. I have the Mac version (paid $25 on sale), but will be installing the PC version on my Windows laptop. For a total of $50 forever, it makes a $20 a month subscription from Adobe seem pretty unattractive.

Have bee using it on the iPad (currently $10) to trace work from Procreate into vector format. Very quick and intuitive to learn. Files should go cross platform seamlessly.

 

[silvermon]

Inkscape is a great program. It is free, open source and cross platform software (Windows, MacOS and Linux).
You will not be disappointed using it. Plus, you can download it for free, give it a try and, if you do not like it you can the look for another one without loosing any money.

I have used Inkscape for more than 15 years, for a variety of applications. It seldom disappoints.

 

[rmgreen]

Affinity designer is worth a look too. There is a version for PC, and the one time cost is $50 (no subscription). Currently I believe it's on sale for $25 so very affordable as well. I have the Mac version (paid $25 on sale), but will be installing the PC version on my Windows laptop. For a total of $50 forever, it makes a $20 a month subscription from Adobe seem pretty unattractive.

Have bee using it on the iPad (currently $10) to trace work from Procreate into vector format. Very quick and intuitive to learn. Files should go cross platform seamlessly.

Michael, Thanks will take a look. I use so little of these programs and that's probably due to my learning curve that paying for $20 a month subscription just does not make sense for my usage.

 

[Goldjockey]

Just a quick note. Had heard of Inkscape but hadn't tried it until Leonardo recommended it. I downloaded it, and really like it so far. It works very similarly to CorelDRAW, but with a simplified interface. Very user friendly. It's much less complicated than Designer, but seems to much of the functionality of programs (like Corel) costing 100's of dollars. No IOS version, but pretty darned nifty for a no cost (as in free), open source program!

 

[rweigel]

Hi Michael,

What kind of graphic tablet do you use with inkscape? I hooked the iPad Pro up to the PC with Easy Canvas, but that did not work as I had imagened.

 

[Goldjockey]

Unfortunately Inkscape he’s not been ported to IOS, so we just have, PC, Mac, or Linux versions, no iPad. Have been considering getting Astropad Pro for Mac as it allows IPad to mirror the Mac Screen, and be used like a Wacom tablet. Pretty slick... That might be worth looking into as a workaround, or just because you can use your iPad as a drawing tablet for your Mac (if you use one).

 

[rweigel]

The test I did with Inkscape, iPad and Easy Canvas resulted in:

-the 24“ Windows screen was exported to the 12.9“ iPad
-YES, I could use the the apple pencil there with Inkscape
-BUT due to the big difference in size and my lack of experience with inkscape it felt very unnatural, and after some years of iPad drawing I probably have to develop the „psychological graphic tablet gear“ first, as my apple pencil usually acts directly at the object

Therefore I did not experiment further…

Cheers, Ralf