Canva Versus Adobe Illustrator

Canva versus Adobe Illustrator always reminds me of the famous contest between ease of use and capabilities. Spoiler alert! It's not what you may think that one application is better or worse than the other. As so often in life, it depends on what you use them for.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is the heavy-weight among the vector-based drawing programs and made its debut in 1987 initially for the Apple Macintosh.

Adobe Illustrator is made for professionals, and it takes time to learn how to correctly draw — or rather construct — your illustration. But once you master the skill, the proverbial sky is the limit. Adobe Illustrator's main advantage is that your drawing entirely consists of vectors.

Vector graphics use points, lines, curves, angles, and shapes to create stunning artwork.

The power of vector-based images is particularly evident when you need to scale them to however large or small you want them to be. There is no loss in quality. You can scale a vector graphic from the size of a thumbnail to the size of a billboard and then back to the size of a thumbnail with no loss in quality. The thumbnail-sized image contains the same information as the giant billboard-sized picture. And it retains it even when you shrink it.

The endless scalability makes Adobe Illustrator an excellent tool for logos, icons, illustrations, and poster art — anything you might need to scale later to make them fit a website, flyer, yard sign, or banner. You can also easily convert these files into a Scalable Vector Graphic, or SVG for short, and use them as icons on your website.

Canva

Canva is a popular intuitive web-based application focused on ease of use and fast results. Canva is made for do-it-yourselfers who do not want to rely on pricy graphic designers for an Instagram post. It offers countless professionally designed templates for all kinds of purposes. Whether you are looking for a birthday invitation, a pin on Pinterest, or a post on Facebook or Instagram, you can be sure that Canva offers a great-looking template in the correct dimensions that can give you a head start. You can also import your vectorized logo from Adobe Illustrator or export your Canva artwork as an SVG or PDF.

But Canva shows some limits due to its web interface, available typefaces, and overall functionality when you need to design a complex graphic or submit a print-ready file to a commercial printer whose staff will review your file using Adobe Illustrator as many do.

Canva vs. Adobe Illustrator — My Take

Canva versus Adobe Illustrator is not one or the other. We use both, depending on the client, the circumstances of the project, and which application gives us the fastest results. Since we use Adobe Illustrator exclusively for logos, icons, business cards, and flyers, Adobe Illustrator often saves us time because we can easily reuse logos and icons already created with this application.

However, if you do not want to spend countless hours learning Adobe Illustrator or paying a graphic designer, Canva will save you a lot of time and money. Canva is intuitive, easy to understand, and gives you access to a wealth of professionally designed templates and stock photos at a reasonable subscription price, so you can get amazing results fast.

What Is SERP?

The search engine results page uses 17+ Google features to aggregate, structure, and display relevant search results without having to click on every web page.

Everything Starts With Your Brand! Why Branding Is Crucial for Your Success

A brand that resonates with potential customers creates loyalty and valuable repeat business, but it also attracts new customers through free word-of-mouth marketing.

7 Reasons Why You Should Have a Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is a phenomenal tool for small companies to connect with potential customers, especially when they are local.

How Fear of the Unknown Can Reduce Your Conversion Rate and What You Can Do About It

In eCommerce, familiarity rather than creativity is the best approach to alleviate the fear of the unknown and, ultimately, increase your store's conversion rate.

Your Logo Isn't Separate From Your Brand

Like a musical symphony, your logo and your brand must be closely linked and perfectly orchestrated to effectively tell your brand’s story and create its memorable signature look and voice.

Gradients Are the Latest Trend in Web Design

Web browsers have supported gradients for some time. They are increasingly used in web design templates to add uniqueness to your website or online store.

Can an Expensive Website Template Make up for Low-Quality Photos?

The effectiveness of your website's brand storytelling depends on how much your layout, visuals, and texts are balanced.

Focus on Your Target Customers When Designing a Website

Present your brand coherently across multiple channels while appealing to your target customers through the same look and feel on social media, in print media, or on your website.

Do You Still Ask Your Customers to Print, Sign, and Scan a Contract?

If your processes are not smartphone-optimized, appealing to customers will become increasingly challenging.

A Website Needs to Be More Than Just Look Great

A simple, uncluttered, and functional website that feels familiar and renders correctly on any device, appears in search results, and offers lots of relevant information will attract more visitors in the long run.

Illustrations, Web DesignStefan MeuserJuly 28, 2022General, Marketing, Email Marketing, Logos