Adobe Illustrator vs Adobe Fresco

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Our analysts compared Adobe Illustrator vs Adobe Fresco based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Vector Graphics Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Adobe Fresco Software Tool

Product Basics

Adobe Illustrator is a sophisticated software designed for creating and managing vector graphics, offering precision and scalability for intricate designs. It is particularly suited for graphic designers, illustrators, and professionals in industries such as advertising, publishing, and fashion, where high-quality visuals are paramount. The software's unique benefits include its ability to produce crisp, resolution-independent artwork and its seamless integration with other creative tools. Users appreciate features like the Pen tool for detailed path creation, the Shape Builder tool for intuitive design, and the extensive library of brushes and effects. Compared to similar products, Illustrator is often praised for its robust performance and versatility in handling complex projects. Pricing is typically subscription-based, with options for monthly or annual payments. For specific pricing details, contacting SelectHub is recommended to tailor a quote to individual needs.
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Adobe Fresco is a sophisticated digital painting and drawing application designed to cater to artists and graphic designers. It excels in providing a realistic painting experience with its dynamic brush engine that mimics traditional media like watercolors and oils. This software is particularly beneficial for illustrators, animators, and designers in industries such as publishing, advertising, and entertainment, where high-quality digital artwork is essential. Users appreciate its seamless integration with other creative tools, allowing for a fluid workflow. Unique features include live brushes that blend and interact naturally, vector brushes for scalable designs, and a user-friendly interface that supports both touch and stylus input. Compared to similar products, Fresco is praised for its intuitive design and versatility. Pricing details are not explicitly available, so it's advisable to contact SelectHub for a tailored quote. Overall, Adobe Fresco stands out for its ability to bridge traditional artistry with digital innovation.
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$22.99 Monthly
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$9.99 Monthly, Freemium
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Product Insights

  • Scalability: Adobe Illustrator allows for the creation of vector graphics that can be scaled infinitely without losing quality, making it ideal for logos and branding materials that need to be resized for different applications.
  • Precision: The software offers precise control over anchor points and paths, enabling designers to create intricate and detailed artwork with exact measurements.
  • Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications like Photoshop and InDesign, facilitating a smooth workflow for projects that require multiple types of media.
  • Versatility: Supports a wide range of file formats, allowing designers to export their work for various uses, from print to web to mobile applications.
  • Efficiency: Features like artboards and reusable symbols streamline the design process, saving time and effort when working on complex projects with multiple components.
  • Customization: Offers extensive customization options for brushes, effects, and styles, enabling designers to tailor their tools to fit specific project needs and personal preferences.
  • Collaboration: Cloud-based features allow for easy sharing and collaboration with team members, ensuring that feedback and revisions can be managed efficiently.
  • Consistency: The ability to create and apply styles and templates ensures brand consistency across different design elements and projects.
  • Learning Resources: A wealth of tutorials, forums, and community support is available, making it easier for users to learn new techniques and solve problems.
  • Innovation: Regular updates introduce new tools and features, keeping the software at the forefront of design technology and allowing users to stay competitive in the industry.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Available on both Mac and Windows, ensuring that teams with diverse hardware setups can work together without compatibility issues.
  • Professional Output: Produces high-quality, print-ready files that meet industry standards, crucial for professional designers working with clients and print shops.
  • Time-Saving Automation: Features like actions and scripts automate repetitive tasks, increasing productivity and allowing designers to focus on creative aspects.
  • Color Management: Advanced color tools ensure accurate color representation, essential for projects that require precise color matching, such as packaging and branding.
  • Accessibility: Offers tools and features that help create designs accessible to a wider audience, including those with disabilities, aligning with inclusive design practices.
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  • Seamless Integration: Adobe Fresco integrates effortlessly with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications, allowing for a smooth workflow transition between programs like Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Natural Drawing Experience: The software offers a realistic drawing experience with its Live Brushes, which mimic the behavior of real-world media such as watercolors and oils, enhancing creative expression.
  • Cross-Platform Accessibility: Available on both iPad and Windows devices, Fresco enables artists to work on their projects anytime, anywhere, without being tethered to a single device.
  • Cloud Document Support: With cloud document support, users can save their work in the cloud, ensuring that their projects are always backed up and accessible from any device.
  • Vector and Raster Flexibility: Fresco allows users to work with both vector and raster graphics, providing the flexibility to create scalable designs or detailed illustrations within the same project.
  • Time-Saving Tools: Features like the Magic Wand and Lasso tools streamline the selection process, saving time and increasing productivity for complex projects.
  • Collaboration Capabilities: Adobe Fresco supports collaborative workflows, enabling multiple users to work on the same project, facilitating teamwork and idea sharing.
  • Regular Updates: Adobe consistently updates Fresco with new features and improvements, ensuring that users have access to the latest tools and technologies in digital art.
  • Customizable Interface: The user interface is highly customizable, allowing artists to tailor their workspace to suit their personal preferences and enhance their creative process.
  • Extensive Brush Library: With a vast library of brushes, including those from Adobe Capture, artists have a wide range of tools at their disposal to achieve their desired artistic effects.
  • Learning Resources: Adobe provides extensive tutorials and resources, helping users of all skill levels to master the software and improve their digital art skills.
  • Performance Optimization: Fresco is optimized for performance, ensuring smooth operation even when working with large files or complex compositions.
  • Community Engagement: Users can engage with a vibrant community of artists and designers, sharing tips, techniques, and inspiration to foster growth and creativity.
  • Professional Output Quality: The software supports high-resolution outputs, making it suitable for professional-grade projects that require impeccable detail and clarity.
  • Innovative Features: Adobe Fresco continually introduces innovative features, such as motion tools for animating drawings, expanding the creative possibilities for users.
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  • Vector-Based Design: Create scalable graphics that maintain quality at any size, ideal for logos and illustrations.
  • Artboards: Work on multiple canvases within a single document, streamlining project management and organization.
  • Pen Tool: Draw precise paths and shapes with control over anchor points and curves, essential for detailed vector artwork.
  • Shape Builder Tool: Combine, edit, and merge shapes easily to create complex designs without switching tools.
  • Gradient Mesh: Add depth and dimension to objects with smooth color transitions, enhancing realism in illustrations.
  • Live Paint: Apply colors to any section of your artwork, even if it's not a closed path, for flexible coloring options.
  • Type Tools: Access a wide range of typography features, including kerning, tracking, and vertical text alignment.
  • Image Trace: Convert raster images into editable vector graphics, preserving detail and allowing for further customization.
  • Symbols: Reuse elements across projects by creating symbols, which update automatically when edited.
  • Appearance Panel: Manage multiple fills, strokes, and effects on a single object, offering advanced styling capabilities.
  • Blend Tool: Create smooth transitions between objects and colors, useful for gradients and complex shapes.
  • Perspective Grid: Draw and align objects in perspective, making it easier to create realistic 3D-like illustrations.
  • Clipping Masks: Control the visibility of artwork by using shapes to mask other objects, useful for creating intricate designs.
  • Pathfinder Panel: Perform complex shape manipulations like unite, subtract, and intersect to refine your designs.
  • Brushes: Customize strokes with a variety of brush types, including calligraphic, scatter, and pattern brushes.
  • Creative Cloud Libraries: Access and share assets across Adobe applications, ensuring consistency and collaboration.
  • Integration with Adobe Stock: Search and license high-quality images and graphics directly within the application.
  • Customizable Workspace: Tailor the interface to fit your workflow, with options to save and switch between different layouts.
  • Export Options: Save your work in multiple formats, including SVG, PDF, and EPS, for versatile use across platforms.
  • Live Shapes: Adjust properties of shapes dynamically, such as corner radius and side count, without losing editability.
  • Isolation Mode: Focus on a specific part of your design by isolating objects, simplifying complex editing tasks.
  • Smart Guides: Align and position objects with precision using dynamic guides that appear as you work.
  • Asset Export Panel: Export individual elements or entire artboards quickly, optimizing for web and mobile use.
  • Color Guide Panel: Generate harmonious color schemes and explore variations to enhance your design's palette.
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  • Live Brushes: Simulate real-world painting with watercolors and oils that blend and bloom naturally on your canvas.
  • Vector and Raster Brushes: Access a wide range of brushes, including vector brushes for scalable artwork and raster brushes for detailed textures.
  • Multilayered Compositions: Organize your artwork with unlimited layers, each with customizable blending modes and opacity settings.
  • Cloud Documents: Seamlessly save and access your projects across devices with Adobe's cloud storage integration.
  • Time-lapse Recording: Capture your creative process in a time-lapse video to share or review your artistic journey.
  • Touch and Stylus Input: Optimize your workflow with support for touch gestures and pressure-sensitive stylus input for precise control.
  • Customizable Brushes: Tailor your brush settings to suit your artistic style, with options to adjust size, flow, and dynamics.
  • Color Dynamics: Experiment with color variations using dynamic color settings that change hue, saturation, and brightness with each stroke.
  • Selection and Masking Tools: Precisely edit specific areas of your artwork with advanced selection and masking capabilities.
  • Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud: Enhance your workflow by integrating Fresco with other Adobe apps like Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Reference Layer: Use a reference layer to maintain consistent linework while coloring on separate layers.
  • Text Tool: Add and customize text elements within your compositions, with options for font, size, and alignment.
  • Perspective Grids: Create accurate perspective drawings with built-in grids that guide your lines and shapes.
  • Motion Tools: Animate your artwork with frame-by-frame animation tools, bringing your illustrations to life.
  • Export Options: Export your work in various formats, including PNG, JPG, and PSD, for versatile sharing and printing.
  • Snap to Shape: Quickly create perfect shapes by drawing freehand and letting Fresco automatically refine them.
  • Symmetry Tools: Achieve balanced designs with symmetry tools that mirror your strokes in real-time.
  • Brush Import: Import brushes from Adobe Capture or Photoshop to expand your creative toolkit.
  • Interactive Tutorials: Learn new techniques and tools with built-in tutorials that guide you through the features of Fresco.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Work on your projects across Windows, iOS, and iPadOS devices, ensuring flexibility and mobility.
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Product Ranking

#1

among all
Vector Graphics Software

#4

among all
Vector Graphics Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Color Management
Drawing and Illustration Tools
Effects and Filters
Typography Tools
Platform Capabilities
Collaboration

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Fresco
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Collaboration Color Management Design And Layout Drawing And Illustration Tools Effects And Filters Platform Capabilities Typography Tools 77 100 80 100 100 96 100 95 71 48 72 67 84 62 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

50%
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67%
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Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Adobe Illustrator and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Color Management and Drawing and Illustration Tools.

Color Management Award
Drawing and Illustration Tools Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Scalable Graphics: Create graphics that can be resized without losing quality, making them ideal for various uses like logos and print media.
Industry-Standard Precision: Design with precise control over shapes, lines, and colors, ensuring professional-level results.
Versatile Toolset: Utilize a comprehensive set of tools for drawing, editing, and typography, enabling diverse creative expressions.
Seamless Integration: Experience smooth workflow integration with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications, streamlining design processes.
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Realistic Brushes: Adobe Fresco offers "Live Brushes" that mimic the blending and behavior of real-world watercolors and oils, creating a natural and authentic painting experience.
Vector Brush Capabilities: Fresco includes vector brushes, enabling the creation of scalable graphics without loss of quality, ideal for logos, icons, and illustrations that need to be resized.
Seamless Photoshop Integration: Fresco integrates smoothly with Photoshop, allowing users to easily transfer files and continue working on projects across both applications, streamlining workflows for users already familiar with Photoshop.
Cloud Storage and Accessibility: Fresco utilizes cloud storage, enabling users to access their work from various devices, making it convenient for individuals who switch between a studio setup and working remotely.
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Cost: The subscription-based payment model can be expensive, especially for individuals or businesses with limited budgets.
System Requirements: The software's demanding system requirements may necessitate hardware upgrades for optimal performance, potentially leading to additional expenses.
Learning Curve: Beginners may find the software's extensive features and interface challenging to learn, requiring a time investment to become proficient.
Performance Issues: Working with large or complex files can lead to performance issues like lag and freezing, potentially impacting project deadlines.
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Limited Typography Tools: Adobe Fresco lacks comprehensive text editing features, making it unsuitable for graphic design projects that heavily rely on typography.
Vector Editing Limitations: While Fresco offers some vector drawing capabilities, it falls short of the robust tools and features found in dedicated vector graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator.
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Is Adobe Illustrator truly an illustrious choice for vector graphics, or does it fall flat? User reviews from the past year paint a largely positive picture of Adobe Illustrator, highlighting its position as a leading industry standard for vector graphic design. Users consistently praise its robust toolset, particularly for creating logos, illustrations, and typography, emphasizing its versatility across various design needs. The software's seamless integration with other Adobe products like Photoshop and InDesign is also frequently commended, streamlining workflows for many. A standout feature is its ability to handle complex vector editing, ensuring designs remain crisp and scalable for any application, from web graphics to large-format printing. However, the subscription-based model draws criticism for its cost, particularly for individual users and smaller businesses. Some users find the software resource-intensive, requiring powerful hardware for optimal performance. While the learning curve can be steep for beginners, the abundance of tutorials and online resources helps mitigate this challenge. Overall, Adobe Illustrator emerges as the go-to choice for professionals and aspiring designers seeking powerful vector editing capabilities and industry-standard compatibility, despite its subscription cost and resource requirements.

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Is Adobe Fresco the graphic design software equivalent of a breath of fresh air, or is it just a lot of hot air? Adobe Fresco has garnered a largely positive reception from users, particularly those seeking to mimic traditional art techniques in a digital space. Its intuitive interface is praised for being accessible to both novice and seasoned digital artists. The software's standout feature, "Live Brushes," has been lauded for its remarkably realistic emulation of traditional mediums like watercolor and oil, providing an authentic drawing experience. This, combined with the ability to seamlessly blend raster and vector brushes, makes it a versatile tool for a wide range of artistic styles. However, some users have pointed out areas where Fresco could improve. For instance, its oil painting capabilities are not as robust as those found in more specialized apps like ArtRage. The absence of certain features, such as a magic wand tool, and limitations in vector brush control have also been cited as drawbacks. Seamless integration with the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem is a major plus, facilitating easy file sharing and workflow continuity across devices. However, the subscription-based model, while offering advantages like updates and cloud storage, might be a sticking point for hobbyists who might find better value in one-time purchase apps. Overall, Adobe Fresco is best suited for artists who prioritize a digital experience that closely mirrors the feel and flow of traditional mediums, especially if they are already integrated into the Adobe ecosystem.

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