Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Everybody's business is different. But for most of us, having a copy of Illustrator should be a non-debatable and foregone conclusion. Whether you design with it or not, it is invaluable just for dealing with the files that will come your way.
The reason is simple .... it is the industry standard vector based drawing application and PostScript as it relates to both AI and EPS is the most frequently used computer language in graphics design and production. Adobe Illustrator is the most widely used illustration and vector drawing/ design application in the world. I would guess that if you totalled up the installed units of every graphics and signmaking application in the world, it would not be close to how many copies of Illustrator are in use.
Sign work (and other graphic endeavors) comes in two basic varieties:
1. Text and graphics that you design, setup or create
2. Text and graphics that has already been setup and you are functioning as a producer of that design.
In my business, something along the order of 25% to 30% of the jobs I do are brought to me on a disk, CD or are sent over the internet. Those jobs are either complete, ready-to-produce designs or may be just part .... but usually they are the essential ingredient in what I am being hired to do. Of those jobs, about half are either AI or EPS and, these days, easily 75% are saved in a version which is higher than my signmaking software (Omega 2.0.2 and FlexiSign 7.5) or my copy of Corel can open. This isn't because they are so advanced or complex - rather it's because the designer has no appreciation of the need to save in a lower, more universally readable format.
In my business, that amounts to between 10 and 20 jobs a month that we would not be able to open the files and proceed with doing our work. The math is pretty easy here: I cannot afford not to have a copy of Illustrator on my computer ... even if I never use it for anything other than opening files.
And I do use it for much more.
The reason is simple .... it is the industry standard vector based drawing application and PostScript as it relates to both AI and EPS is the most frequently used computer language in graphics design and production. Adobe Illustrator is the most widely used illustration and vector drawing/ design application in the world. I would guess that if you totalled up the installed units of every graphics and signmaking application in the world, it would not be close to how many copies of Illustrator are in use.
Sign work (and other graphic endeavors) comes in two basic varieties:
1. Text and graphics that you design, setup or create
2. Text and graphics that has already been setup and you are functioning as a producer of that design.
In my business, something along the order of 25% to 30% of the jobs I do are brought to me on a disk, CD or are sent over the internet. Those jobs are either complete, ready-to-produce designs or may be just part .... but usually they are the essential ingredient in what I am being hired to do. Of those jobs, about half are either AI or EPS and, these days, easily 75% are saved in a version which is higher than my signmaking software (Omega 2.0.2 and FlexiSign 7.5) or my copy of Corel can open. This isn't because they are so advanced or complex - rather it's because the designer has no appreciation of the need to save in a lower, more universally readable format.
In my business, that amounts to between 10 and 20 jobs a month that we would not be able to open the files and proceed with doing our work. The math is pretty easy here: I cannot afford not to have a copy of Illustrator on my computer ... even if I never use it for anything other than opening files.
And I do use it for much more.
