Commonly used software for graphic design include PS, CDR, AI, and ID.
In design work, the most commonly used software is Photoshop. I used to use PS to design graphic posters and roll-up banners, and it seemed to be quite easy to use. Of course, PS is best at processing pictures, color correcting, and doing special effects synthesis. In addition, you can also use PS for logo design, album layout, and business cards, but it is a little clumsy.
For those who are new to graphic design, you can start with Photoshop. After you have mastered the operation of PS software, you can then learn other software and get started quickly. At this time, you will find that the interface frameworks of these graphic design software are similar, so when learning, you should focus on understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different software, and be familiar with the operation of commonly used commands. You can choose the software in a targeted way when designing in the future. Improve efficiency.
Of course, learning graphic design ≠ learning PS, but learning PS must be the best entry point for beginners (self-learners) to enter the graphic design industry.
CorelDRAW Graphic
Suite, referred to as "CDR", is a vector graphics production tool software from the Canadian Corel company. This software provides designers with a variety of design scenarios such as graphic illustration, photo editing, page layout, and web design.
Corel's positioning of itself is professional vector graphics drawing, which is the same as illustrator's positioning.
When I was learning CDR software, it was not to learn illustrations, but I discovered at work that just mastering PS skills could no longer meet the work needs at that time. During my work at that time, I often dealt with advertising companies, and they did advertising. Almost all designs use CDR, so it was driven by the situation at that time and it was imperative to learn CDR. Therefore, I was required to master a vector software so that it could come in handy for logo design, album layout, and graphics processing in the future. I mentioned my experience of learning CDR software in the article "Personal experience, should I take a class or study by myself to learn graphic design? What is the experience of self-study...".
InDesign software, referred to as "ID", is also a design software owned by Aodbe. It is positioned in the field of professional typesetting and is a multi-functional desktop publishing application that can help you optimize design and typesetting pixels.
This software can bring great convenience when typesetting albums and books. In the past, when CDR was used to layout albums with many pictures, the imported pictures would usually make the CDR document very large. The more pictures there were, the more difficult the layout process would be, and occasionally it would cause the computer to crash. Compared with CDR's shortcomings in multi-image and text typesetting, Indesign software has obvious advantages. The imported images are stored in the document according to the path, which will not increase the size of the document. Moreover, paragraph text styles can be batched easily. The modification has greatly improved work efficiency.
If you are doing graphic design in the publishing industry, InDesign is one of the software that graphic design practitioners must learn. Of course, in addition to the typesetting of long documents, indesign can also be used for poster typesetting, business card production, and illustration drawing without any problem.
Illustrator software is referred to as "AI", and A stands for Adobe. It is an industry-standard vector illustration software used in publishing, multimedia and online images.
The English translation of Illustrator means "illustrator". For illustration designers, it is one of the indispensable software for creating artistic illustrations. Of course, in the field of graphic design, we often use its powerful and convenient graphics processing capabilities to carry out logo design, pattern graphic design, font design, etc. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 37 designers around the world using AI for artistic creation.
If you have learned Photoshop, you can quickly get started with Illustrator. You have learned some basic operations before. Of course, due to personal habits, you spend less time using Illustrator in the process of graphic design. For vector graphics, Processing is often replaced by CorelDraw. If you give me one reason not to learn Illustrator, it is this: it is a good friend of Photoshop and can work perfectly with Photoshop.
Photoshop is one of the must-learn software for beginners who learn graphic design by themselves. CorelDraw is a vector software that integrates illustration drawing, graphics processing, professional typesetting, and printing and platemaking output. It is the second must-learn software. InDesign is positioned for professional typesetting and has inherent advantages for long document typesetting. It is a must-learn. Illustrator focuses on graphics processing and is good at font design, illustration drawing, Logo design, etc.; it is optional, but you must be proficient in at least one of CorelDraw and CorelDraw.