14 Replies Latest reply on Sep 6, 2012 6:43 PM by Jonathan Ridley

What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

Jonathan Ridley Sep 1, 2010 5:43 PM

I work with an expert graphic designer, so have not needed AI as of yet. For those who have / do use AI to place sketch lines or other in conjunction with SolidWorks what are the benefits? Can this be applied to applying graphics? What does this process offer over a standard JPEG ?

Thank you,

Jonathan

Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

1-4EQZK9 Sep 1, 2010 10:22 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)

Hi Jonathan,

In 2006 we strived to increase our interoperability with Adobe. There was then (and still is) a big demand for opening .ai files directly into a sketch and commonly benefits designers and engineers that have logos and art work that needs to be embossed or debossed into there parts. We incorporated it in 2006 for this reason because we found it to be the most common format used in the product design industry for artwork. In 2010 we did a major overhaul of the algorithm increase the quality of what comes over from Illustrator. Prior to 2010 you did not have to have Illustrator installed on the same machine that you have SolidWorks, now with 2010, this is a requirement.

We also have interoperability with PhotoShop in that we can open PS files directly (for sketch pictures, appearance textures and decals) and if multiple layers are contained in that PS file, open just that layer or layers.

Regards

Mark
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- Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
  
  Jonathan Ridley Sep 7, 2010 1:59 PM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Mark,
  
  Thank you for that information. As we have clear lines between 2D and 3D design here in my office I will have to make a persuasive argument for this purchase.
  
  Can we simply save files and layers out from AI or PS as DXF or DWG files and then bring those in via DWG editor?
  
  Any more specifics that you can provide that would demonstrate the added value of PS and AI on my system would be very helpful.
  
  As you know I am rendering all day so if you have a source of information on how I can quickly utilize SW and PS to optimize renderings that would also be an added benefit that I have not yet implemented in our workflow.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Jonathan
  
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  - Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
    
    1-4EQZK9 Sep 29, 2010 11:06 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)
    
    Jonathan,
    
    If you are working with AI and PSD files frequently, then the ROI is pretty clear, but also for those in your office. Just think about the time they take to save out there files in a generic bitmap format, not to mention having to create the mask for you also (if we're talking about decals.) Are you having to use actual vectors from .ai? If so, there could be quality problems when the .ai beziers are converted via dxf and then into SW - that's why we ultimately one of the reason that we made the changes in 2010 to .ai and the way it opens into SW.
    
    Regards
    
    Mark
    
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- Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
  
  Jonathan Ridley May 20, 2011 3:11 PM (in response to 1-4EQZK9)
  
  Mark,
  
  So this debate in our house over here is still going on. Can you tell me something? If an AI file has linked graphics from PS can I make solid SW objects that retain the graphic links? There by eliminating the need to apply the decal in SW?
  
  I can send you some files to test.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Jonathan
  
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Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

Jonathan Ridley Sep 29, 2010 7:42 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)

If there are others who use both AI and PS in conjunction with SolidWorks I am interested in your workflow. I need to make some sort of argument for this purchase and use on my system with SolidWorks. I work with graphic designers who have AI and PS. They can provide me with any files that I need.........png, jpeg-rgb. or other. Any further suggestions or samples are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jonathan
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- Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
  
  Jonathan Ridley Nov 17, 2010 12:57 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)
  
  I still can not see the direct benefits of AI and PS with the use of SolidWorks work flows. You should have the option to work with free applications like Inkscape and GIMP2.
  
  Thank you for any images that you can provide that demonstrate the functionality of AI and PS with SW.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Jonathan
  
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  - Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
    
    Rick McWilliams Nov 18, 2010 7:54 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)
    
    I think inkscape has a much better user interface than Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape is responsive and nice. I hope that I never have to use AI again.
    
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  - Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
    
    Paul McCrorey May 20, 2011 3:56 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)
    
    Jonathan,
    
    I use Adobe AI, PS, After Effects (and other CS products) quite extensively in my work flow. I can't really comment on Inkscape and GIMP2 as I haven't used them. However, I use AI, PS and AE in pre-production and AE and PS in post production of my renders and animations. However, I understand the cost is pretty high...but for me I really couldn't live with out it.
    
    If you want - I can send you a specific example of where I used PS/AE/modo/PS/AE to produce a recent animation that came out great...unfortunately, it's not for public consumption yet.
    
    My two cents.
    
    Paul
    
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Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

irmeli rehbein May 20, 2011 4:37 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)

one neat thing is you can export your perspective swx drawings and import them into illustrator. you get clean bezier curves and you can start to fill areas with color (here only in shades of gray). it's great for doing technical illustrations, user manuals etc. doing the whole 3d illustration just in illustrator by hand would have taken much longer.
you can see the whole project at http://www.yolk.org/ under interactive&motion graphics.

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- Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
  
  Jonathan Ridley Sep 6, 2012 5:41 PM (in response to irmeli rehbein)
  
  Cool I will have to explore this
  
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Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

Jonathan Ridley Jul 16, 2012 6:22 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)

I am now going to get PhotoShop and Illustrator for my system. Can the people who use these applications comment on how they use it and the benefits of installing it on the same system as Solidworks? I am considering getting a PowerBook and might get the Mac version of PS and AI, unless you can identify some of the reasons for installing it on my PC system with SW.

Thanks,

Jonathan
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Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?

Jonathan Ridley Sep 6, 2012 5:54 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)

OK now I have the Master Suite ! So again if there are people out there who would like to share some workflow details or have some more extensive offline conversations about creating in SW and the Adobe products (Renderings and Animations, Movies) please get in touch. I also was expecting to be able to use PS files as decals. It does not look like this is possible yet. Can anyone comment?

Thanks,

Jonathan
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- Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
  
  Jeff Mowry Sep 6, 2012 6:27 PM (in response to Jonathan Ridley)
  
  Jonathan,
  
  Send me an email and we can discuss some ways of using or not using Adobe items (now that you've gotten the purchase behind you). Anyway, I can share some of how I get along--as an industrial designer--without making extensive use of Adobe products, as well as how you might find ways of working with line-work and images within SolidWorks.
  
  http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com/contact.html
  
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  - Re: What are the benefits of having Adobe Illustrator ?
    
    Jonathan Ridley Sep 6, 2012 6:43 PM (in response to Jeff Mowry)
    
    Jeff,
    
    Great ! I will contact you soon. Thanks again.
    
    Jonathan
    
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