[triplebtees]

So which is better, Corel or Illustrator?

 

[Rodney]

So which is better, Corel or Illustrator?

There is no "factual" answer on this Some people just prefer one over the other.

 

[identityburn]

So which is better, Corel or Illustrator?

They each have their pros and cons, I've used both for years. Here's a few:

Color display on screen: Illustrator is better

Vector tools: Corel is better

exporting to other formats: illustrator is better

ease of use/interface: Corel is better

Masking: corel is better

selecting same element (color, stroke): illustrator is better

 

[Decal_Designs]

Obviously both programs are excellent. They both have a tremendous following and huge online support and tips.

Illustrator and Photoshop are very powerful.
So are CorelDraw and Photo Paint

It is generally excepted that CorelDraw is more user friendly.

All of these programs can do way more than most of us will ever need to create any possible design that we might think up for use in screen print, ink jet transfer, plastisol or cut vinyl t-shirts.

So let's look at it like this.

Illustrator CS2 $499 List
Photoshop CS2 $649 List
Total $1148

CorelDraw X3 Suite which includes Photo Paint $399 List
Stahls Mighty Press 15 x 15 $625 New
50 blank Gildan t-shirts $124 Delivered
Total $1148

 

[Ross B]

So, let me see if I've got this right.

1. Livetrace in Illustrator does the same thing as the new PowerTrace function in CorelDraw x3.

2. Both Illustrator and CD X3 convert bitmap graphics to vectors.

Yes?

So it's a matter of personal preference as to which one you go for. Thus, someone who has tried neither would probably do well to heed Decal Design's economic logic. Or is there some outstanding attribute in terms of functions that Illustrator has over CorelDraw x3?

 

[Rodney]

I think identityburn did a good job breaking down the differences in functions between the two in post #23

 

[Ross B]

Yes, no doubt identityburn's summary of function differences is excellent, but my main query concerned my questions 1 and 2. Is it a 'yes' for both, pls?

 

[identityburn]

Ross, to answer your question both applications have autotrace features to convert bitmap to vector. If that is all you need then either program should work fine.

 

[RAHchills]

50 blank Gildan t-shirts $124 Delivered

Are we talking white shirts at $2.48 per? Do you have a link?


Back on topic, I'm interested in Ross' second question about converting files to vector graphics in illustrator. Does that happen automatically when you save it as a ".ai" file?

 

[Rodney]

Back on topic, I'm interested in Ross' second question about converting files to vector graphics in illustrator. Does that happen automatically when you save it as a ".ai" file?

If you import a low resolution graphic into illustrator (or corel) and just save it as a .ai file, it does not automatically make it a vector image.

That's where the livetrace feature comes in. You have to have the software trace the low resolution bitmap and then the resulting image will be a vector image that you can save as a .ai, .eps, etc vector file.

PS. You can get white t-shirts for much less than $2.48 per t-shirt from just about any wholesale source (ssactivewear, sanmar, broder, alphashirt.com, etc)

 

[Decal_Designs]

....PS. You can get white t-shirts for much less than $2.48 per t-shirt from just about any wholesale source (ssactivewear, sanmar, broder, alphashirt.com, etc)

Yes, that's true, and so far I get mine from blankshirts. That was a delivered to my front door cost. I think I paid $3 per black tee delivered to my door. They would be less expensive in larger quantities to, but none of this is on topic for this thread.

Also Ross, just to be clear, LiveTrace is in Illustrator and PowerTrace is in Corel Draw X3.

 

[Ross B]

Thanks, Identityburn and Decal Designs - clear now, and appreciated.

And Identityburn - CONGRATS on your winning forum Tshirt design. Well-deserved win.

 

[RAHchills]

If you import a low resolution graphic into illustrator (or corel) and just save it as a .ai file, it does not automatically make it a vector image.

That's where the livetrace feature comes in. You have to have the software trace the low resolution bitmap and then the resulting image will be a vector image that you can save as a .ai, .eps, etc vector file.

PS. You can get white t-shirts for much less than $2.48 per t-shirt from just about any wholesale source (ssactivewear, sanmar, broder, alphashirt.com, etc)

Awesome. Thanks Rodney.

 

[Deric]

I have Photoshop 7. where can I find a tutorial on how to take an image to Illustrator and convert it to a vector image or is the Livetrace feature not available for a version that old. Thanks Deric

 

[smutek]

Auto tracing anything in any program is not something that should be relied upon as the sole means of conversion in my opinion, unless of course you don't mind 100,000 points in your document and a serious PITA if any major edits are needed.

Also, for me at least, I find it rare that I get acceptable results when auto tracing. Don't get me wrong, there have been a few instances where auto trace has saved me some time, but even with the degree of control in auto tracing applications now I would NEVER allow myself to completely rely on it.

Of course it all depends on the artwork and the way it is going to be used, but for me I find that most of the time it pays to just pony up and get to tracing. There's just no substitute for a clean vector file.

 

[smutek]

I have Photoshop 7. where can I find a tutorial on how to take an image to Illustrator and convert it to a vector image or is the Livetrace feature not available for a version that old. Thanks Deric

If I remember correctly live trace first appeared in Illustrator CS2.

For versions prior do a google search for adobe streamline.

 

[Deric]

This is most embarassing I thought that Illustrator came with Photoshop.... ...It is Image Ready. LOL

 

[Unik Ink]

Here is an example where I used a 1 color raster image, along with a spot color to create what turned out to be a very nice shirt. My customer sent me a hand drawn sketch, with the beer label scanned in, and photoshopped into the line drawing. I took the image into Photoshop, made 2 copies of the image. On the first image (black screen), I erased the label, so that I had just the line drawing. For the second screen (purple), I did just the opposite. I erased everything besides the label. I then lowered the contrast/darkness, until the label was completely black. I save each image as a separate file (grayscale mode), and then opened them both in Illustrator. I converted the label to a vector with LiveTrace, but not the outline. I wanted to preserve the slight gradient of the hand drawn line. I then printed spot colors of black and purple.