Beer Labels- Corel Draw Or Adobe Illustrator?

[fancy]

Hi,
I have searched the topics in here and read some info on making labels etc. For anyone who has used either or both or who has an opinion, which is the better software to use for making labels. I will more than likely use vector graphics but then again I may not. It will depend on what pics I use I guess.
So....
Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator?

Thanks
fancy :icon_cheers:

 

[Cocko]

Hey Fancy,

I personally prefer Illustrator.... BUT

Don't forget the ole' faithful, Photoshop AND check this site out for some help:

http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Photoshop/1

Hope it helps!

Cocko.

 

[Goofinder]

If you're not already tied to Corel Draw/Illustrator, have a look at Inkscape which is similar. It's free, and should do everything you need for some labels.

 

[wambesi]

Illustrator.

I use it everyday at work being the software I'm trained on but I did use Corel quite a few years back - mind you I had no idea then how to use vector image packages so it quickly got put away!

Another reason I love Illustrator is it ties in so well with (albeit Adobe) other packages such as Photoshop, Flash and Indesign.
Vector images IMO are the way to go for logos as you can scale them easier for one thing amongst many other reasons.

 

[caleb]

As an ex-professional designer, I'll say that Illustrator is pretty much the industry standard for creation of graphic designs. Most of the logos and other imagery you see around was probably done using it.

That doesn't mean that other software is no good or won't work. Although I haven't used Corel I imagine it would be just as capable as any other modern vector graphics package. Macromedia Freehand would also do the job.

I would advise to use what you have, or whichever you feel most comfortable using. You'll probably hit the limits of your personal creativity before you hit any limit of the software.

As for Photoshop, remember that it is a bitmap based picture editor. Its strength is in editing things like photos and scanned illustrations, paintings, drawings, etc. Things with a lot of color graduation, shading, complexity, etc. Basically, images where you're editing pixel by pixel.

For laying out a logo, label or similar, it is best to import any photo or drawing type images into Illustrator or other vector based package for final layout once they've been edited in Photoshop. There are technical reasons why this is so, but if you don't know, I'm not going to explain in detail here. Just accept that the final result will look much better once printed, and be easier to scale to size later if you want it bigger or smaller.

 

[samhighley]

As a graphic designer I can tell you that Illustrator is the way to go. As mentioned earlier it is the industry standard.

You want to create vector images in Illustrator (no quality degradation as it scales), rather than raster images in something like Photoshop (quality degrades as it scales).

 

[Steve]

As an ex graphic designer:

Illustrator: Aston Martin
Coral draw: The old rusted ute with no wheels out the back paddock (absolutely useless)

Cheers
Steve

 

[warrenlw63]

:lol: I'm only wishing I was an ex Graphic Designer

To be really honest having had experience with both you can really get the best out of either. Personally speaking a beer label logo is not really software-intensive enough to make either packages a bad choice.

FWIW I use CorelDraw X3 and love it. Go with what works for you. The user input becomes more important than the software.

Warren -

 

[caleb]

:lol: I'm only wishing I was an ex Graphic Designer

Not if you went through what I went through to become one, you wouldn't.
I still only earn about half what I used to 10 years ago when I WAS doing that stuff...

 

[fancy]

I must say all EXCELLENT feedback, thank you :icon_cheers:

Goofinder
If you're not already tied to Corel Draw/Illustrator, have a look at Inkscape which is similar.

I did come across that in a search and have bookmarked it. I will definitely have a look.

Cocko
Don't forget the ole' faithful, Photoshop AND check this site out for some help:

I also have bookmarked the photoshop tutorials to go through, thanks

wambesi
Another reason I love Illustrator is it ties in so well with (albeit Adobe)

What is Albeit?

Well last night I started playing around on Corel Draw (because I already have it). I have made some headway with layering of images. I would like to try Illustrator too as it is accessible to me. It is quite obvious with the comments that a lot of pro's use Illustrator and people also have good success with Corel. I guess as a couple of you said, it will come down to my preference of use in what will suit me. :unsure:

 

[wambesi]

What is Albeit?

Meaning "even though", as I stated that another reason I love it so much as I can import the images into other packages - although these also tend to be from the same company.

As mentioned you will find that you can do pretty much the same in either packages, just the steps will be different. There will be some differences and functionality as well but for the most part you will be able to get a decent product from both.

Only late last year we switched over from Corel, by we I mean my trade at work. I was lucky and have only moved into this trade recently and was trained on the Adobe suite.

Go with what you have - and make sure you post the results in the labels thread!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Try GIMP, it is free and very good. Works best under Linux ( like most things ), due to its seperate windows for toolboxes and is a raster based editor

http://www.gimp.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP