You might know a few ways to create charts with pure CSS. Some of them are covered here on CSS-Tricks, and many others can be found on CodePen, but I haven’t seen many examples of “area charts” (imagine a line chart with the bottom area filled in), particularly any in HTML and CSS alone. In this article, we’ll do just that, using a semantic and accessible HTML foundation.
Let’s start with the HTML
To simplify things, we will be using
tags as wrappers and elements for individual data items. You can use any other HTML tag in your project, depending on your needs.
CSS can’t retrieve the inner HTML text, that is why we will be using CSS custom properties to pass data to our CSS. Each data item will have a --start and an --end custom properties.
There are several design principles we ought to consider before moving into styling:
Units data: We will be using unit-less data in our HTML (i.e. no px, em , rem , % or any other unit). The --start and --end custom properties will be numbers between 0 and 1.
Columns width: We won’t set a fixed width for each element. We won’t be using % either, as we don’t know how many items are there. Each column width will be based on the main wrapper width, divided by the total number of data items. In our case, that’s the width of the
element divided by the number of elements.
Accessibility: The values inside each is optional and only the --start and --end custom properties are required. Still, it’s best to include some sort of text or value for screen readers and other assistive technologies to describe the content.
Now, let’s start styling!
Let’s start with general layout styling first. The chart wrapper element is a flex container, displaying items in a row, stretching each child element so the entire area is filled.
This code styles all of the columns in the entire chart. With bar charts it’s simple: we use background-color and height for each column. With area charts we are going to use the clip-path property to set the region that should be shown.
To create a rectangle covering the entire area, we will reach for the clip-path property and use its polygon() function containing the coordinates of the area. This basically doesn’t do anything at the moment because the polygon covers everything:
.area-chart > * {
clip-path: polygon(
0% 0%, /* top left */
100% 0%, /* top right */
100% 100%, /* bottom right */
0% 100% /* bottom left */
);
}
Now for the best part!
To show just part of the column, we clip it to create that area chart-like effect. To show just the area we want, we use the --start and --end custom properties inside the clip-path polygon:
Seriously, this one bit of CSS does all of the work. Here’s what we get:
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Working with multiple datasets
Now that we know the basics, let’s create an area chart with multiple datasets. Area charts often measure more than one set of data and the effect is a layered comparison of the data.
This kind of chart requires several child elements, so we are going to replace our
Let’s put the magical powers of clip-path: polygon() to use! We’re only displaying the area between the --start and --end custom properties which, again, are values between 0 and 1:
It’s important to use colors with opacity to get a nicer effect, which is why we’re using rgba() values. You could use hsla() here instead, if that’s how you roll.
And, just like that:
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Wrapping up
It doesn’t matter how many HTML elements we add to our chart, the flex-based layout makes sure all the items are equally sized. This way, we only need to set the width of the wrapping chart element and the items will adjust accordingly for a responsive layout.
We have covered one technique to create area charts using pure CSS. For advanced use cases, you can check out my new open source data visualization framework, ChartsCSS.org. See the Area Chart section to see how area charts can be customized with things like different orientations, axes, and even a reversed order without changing the HTML markup, and much more!
Matthias Ott, comparing how painter Gerhard Richter paints (do stuff, step back, take a look) to what can be the website building process and what can wreck it:
[…] this reminds me of designing and building for the Web: The unpredictability, the peculiarities of the material, the improvisation, the bugs, the happy accidents. There is one crucial difference, though. By using static wireframes and static layouts, by separating design and development, we are often limiting our ability to have that creative dialogue with the Web and its materials.
Love that. I’ve long thought that translating a mockup directly to code, while fun in its own way, is a left-brained task and doesn’t encourage as much creativity as either playing around in a design tool or playing around in the code while you build without something specific in mind as you do it. You don’t just, like, entirely re-position things and make big bold changes as much when your brain is in that mode of making something you see in one place (a mockup) manifest itself in another place (the code).
There are quite a few purpose-built fonts for writing code. The point of this site is to show you some of the nicest options so you can be aware of them and perhaps pick one out to try that suites your taste.
We used screenshots of the code to display just so we could show off some of the paid fonts without managing a license just for this site, and for fonts without a clear way to link them up (like San. Also because setting up the screenshotting process was kinda fun.
High Fives
Special high five to Jonathan Land who helped a ton getting the site together including literally all the design work. Also to Sendil Kumar who had the original idea for a blog post like this, before the idea grew up into a full blown microsite. And finally to all the contributors so far.
Work
There are still more fonts to add. If you want to add one, feel free to make a PR. Or if you’re unsure if it will be accepted or not, open an issue first. I’d like to keep any of the fonts we add fairly high quality. There is also a current bug with some of the ligatures not showing properly in the screenshots of some of the fonts. I’m sure we’ll sort it out eventually, but I’d love an assist there if you are particularly knowledgeable in that area.
Some HTML elements come with preset designs, like the inconveniently small squares of elements, the limited-color bars of elements, and the “something about them bothers me” arrows of the
elements. We can style them to match the modern aesthetics of our websites while making use of their functionalities. There are also many elements that rarely get used as both their default appearance and functionality are less needed in modern web designs.
I first blogged about responsive data tables in 2011. When responsive web design was first becoming a thing, there were little hurdles like data tables that had to be jumped. The nature of
elements are that they have something a minimum width depending on the content they contain and that can easily exceed the width of a small screen device.
This image I made then still covers the issue pretty well:
Except… maybe they don’t equally suck. If that image on the left were scrollable, then maybe that’s actually… not so bad. In fact, that’s what I’ve done right here on CSS-Tricks recently. I think it’s the safest way of handling responsive tables when you have no idea what content the table contains. That’s the case here, where I need to set up base table styles that apply to any blog post which may contain a table.
The crux of the idea of a scrollable table is to wrap it in a
that has overflow: auto; on it. That way the
inside is free to exceed the width of the parent, but it won’t “blow out the width” and instead triggers a scrollbar. This isn’t quite enough though, so here’s Adrian Roselli with the real scoop. The wrapping
If you’re going to further engineer responsive tables, there are all sorts of options. One of the classics is to display: block a lot of the elements, meaning that all the data in a row (
) ends up as a chunk of stacked content together that stands less of a chance of breaking the parent element’s width. You can get all the data labels properly with pseudo-elements. But, this only makes sense when individual rows of content make perfect sense alone. That’s not the case with every table. A table’s purpose might be cross-referencing data, and in that case, you’ve ruined that with this approach. So again, there are nice approaches for responsive tables when you know exactly the content and purpose of the table. But the best responsive solution when you don’t know is to just make sure they are swipeable.
The holidays are fast approaching. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late to get a new website online or to make your existing one look festive for the holiday season.
When it comes to decking the halls of your website with a little festive cheer, how do you do this without spending loads of money and time on it?
You’re in luck. BeTheme has a variety of pre-built websites to help you do just that. Not only that, but you can use these festive websites for a variety of occasions, like:
Hanukkah
Kwanzaa
Christmas
Boxing Day
New Year’s
You could also just use one of these sites to make your website feel more seasonal as the temperatures get colder and the snow starts to fall. (If that’s what your winter wonderland looks like!)
Let’s have a look at 4 ways you can bring a little seasonal or holiday cheer to your visitors with a festive website from BeTheme:
Tip #1: Use a Page Builder That Makes it Easy to Swap in Festive Content
Unless you’re running a business like the Christmas Tree Shops, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have holiday imagery up all year long.
The only problem, though, is that it can be a real pain having to go in, find a new theme, and then redesign your site around it… For only a month or two.
That issue is easily resolved with BeTheme, which comes with over 600 pre-built websites and two page builders — Muffin and Elementor.
Because there are so many pre-built sites available, you can easily switch to a non-festive website once the holiday season is over.
In order to swap out this design with a festive website, you’d first have to reset your theme (which Be provides instructions on how to do). Then, install the new site you want to use.
And if you only want, say, a new hero image in the top of your website, you can cherry-pick which parts of the pre-built site you install.
Tip #2: Effortlessly Switch From One Holiday to the Next
Let’s be honest, the winter holiday season can feel a little nuts — not just because your business has to keep up with the change of pace, but because your website has to keep in step with what’s going on.
So, let’s say you have an ecommerce site that changes frequently for upcoming sales, holidays, events, and so on. For this, you could use the BeMall pre-built site (all year long, mind you):
As you can see, it currently has a Black Friday message on the homepage. It’s not uncommon to have to transition from Black Friday or Cyber Monday into the December holidays.
Here’s how you might do that:
The update can be as minor or major as you want. So long as you use graphics and content that stay on-brand, you can easily swap out as much of your imagery as you like.
Tip #3: Use Small Animations to Bring the Holidays to Life
Holidays should be a time to lift spirits. Having a website that’s able to satisfy your customers’ needs during the holiday season will certainly help.
You might also want to think about adding small animations to your design, too.
The animations themselves don’t have to be festive, but you can use them to call attention to holiday-themed content. Take, for instance, BeParty:
You don’t need to have champagne bottles popping or streamers flying across the screen to get your point across.
This animation gives the New Year’s party balloons a gentle and natural feeling of bobbing up and down. An attention to a detail this small is sure to bring a smile to your visitors’ faces.
Tip #4: A Little Hint of Seasonal Flavor Can Go a Long Way
Holiday celebrations aren’t always big blowouts. Unless your entire business is going all-in on the holidays (or it’s a totally holiday-themed business), there’s no reason your site should have to go all out either.
Sometimes a more understated approach is best.
In that case, you’d keep your normal branded elements, imagery, and content in place on the website. But to make it feel a little more festive, you could infuse your site (at the very least, the homepage) with slight seasonal or festive touches.
For instance, let’s say you’ve built a website for a popular ski resort. Your website might look like the BeSnowpark site does normally:
The main draw of the resort is skiing, so it wouldn’t make much sense to change the graphics. However, you could do something like this:
It’s a small enough change, but the gift emoji and bigger lettering in the green button might inspire loyal snowbirds as well as first-time visitors to more quickly book their much-needed holiday getaway.
Get Your Festive Website for Christmas, New Year’s, and More
Holiday decorations, in general, stir up positive feelings of nostalgia for many people. They can also help alleviate some of the stress that’s built up over the course of the year:
Sounds exactly like how you want visitors and prospects to feel, right?
As you can see, there are many ways to decorate your website for the holidays. To do it quickly and affordably — and not completely turn your regular website upside-down — a BeTheme pre-built site is the way to go.
[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of BeTheme –]
There are many avenues that businesses and organizations can use to promote themselves. One of the more popular options these days is using social media, where brands can directly interact with their audience and promote their products or services. Being active on the various social media accounts is a great way to grow your audience and make more sales.
One of the best social media networks for promoting a brand is Instagram. However, for it to successfully work, you need a solid Instagram marketing strategy to build upon. In this guide, we’ll go over the steps you can follow to set up your own Instagram marketing strategy and get it running.
The first step is to create your account. You’ll want to set up a new profile on Instagram for your brand. Choose a name that comes as close as possible to your brand name – you may have to play around for a little while until you find something that is available. Once you create your account, you’ll want to spend some time filling out your profile. Choose a profile picture and put a link to your website in the description.
Determine Your Audience
Next, you need to have a good idea as to who your audience is. If you have been running your business for a while, you may know who it is. You can use the information on your customers to determine who is most likely to have an interest in buying your product. These are the people you will want to gear your Instagram account towards. Start learning what other accounts these people might follow, then give them a follow as well.
Create a Content Calendar
Perhaps the most important part of your Instagram marketing strategy will be your content calendar. The best way to get results from Instagram is by regularly sharing content that people want to see. If you don’t post often enough, your audience may forget about you.
A good way to avoid this is by scheduling content in advance. When you schedule Instagram posts, you can plan ahead of time how often you want to post. Try to create different kinds of content, such as posts, stories or even going live, and keep your Instagram feed regularly loaded.
Make Use of Hashtags
To start growing your audience on Instagram, you’ll need to get your content in front of more people. A good way to do this is by making use of hashtags. Hashtags are words or phrases you can add to your post, preceded by a # symbol, that users can click on. When a user clicks on the hashtag, they’ll see all other posts that have this tag in them. By using multiple hashtags on each post, you can group your content with a wide range of categories and get other people to notice them.
As Instagram is a social media network, you’ll want to use yours to interact with others. When people comment on your posts or ask questions, you should do your best to reply to them. If other users post pictures about your product, leave a comment on the photo. You should also make sure to respond to any direct messages you receive. If you can engage with your audience, you’ll bring in more followers to your account.
Promote Your Instagram Elsewhere on the Internet
Another strategy to gain followers on Instagram is by promoting it elsewhere. For starters, you should have a link to it on your website. You can do this by including a simple text or image link, or you can use a social media plugin.
Besides that, post links to your Instagram to your other social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. If someone is following you on one social media account, they are likely willing to follow you on another one as well. Use any opportunity you find to let your audience know about your Instagram account and the type of content they can find there.
If you have the budget for it, running ads on Instagram is another good way to grow your audience. Ads on Instagram will display your content to an audience that you target. You can define your audience by a range of factors, then have your posts appear in their feeds. Best of all, you can decide your budget, so you can start small and see if Instagram ads are right for you.
For more information on how to get started with Instagram ads, please visit this guide.
Analyze the Results of Your Campaign
The last thing you’ll want to do is analyze your results. As you run your campaigns, you should track what works well and what doesn’t. For example, if your audience seems to like one type of post over another, you should consider posting more of that type of content. Besides, as you gain more followers, you can study what your audience looks like. You can then use this when targeting your ads or developing new products.
Finally, you should measure how much of your traffic comes from Instagram. This way, you know how well Instagram performs compared to your other sources of traffic, such as Facebook or search engines. From there you can determine whether you want to spend more or less money on Instagram promotions.
Get Started with Your Instagram Marketing Campaign
When done properly, Instagram can be one of the best sources of traffic to your website. Instagram can even be used to make sales directly, giving you another source of revenue. The key is posting regular content to an audience that is interested in it. From there, it’s just a matter of being consistent and getting more followers to your account. By following the steps above, you should be able to get started with a strong Instagram marketing strategy.
Most of the time, the only thing standing between a curious user and a successful purchase is the right piece of marketing.
Once a prospective buyer identifies a problem they want to solve, they enter what we know as the awareness stage of their purchase journey – as they look for potential ways to address their need. As a brand, you should always strive to generate awareness by offering valuable educational content to capture potential customers at this crucial stage.
But how can you achieve that goal consistently and effectively? Well, I’m glad I asked 😉
In this article, I’m going to guide you through some of the best picks of the marketing toolbox that help you nurture leads and drive them straight to your business.
Simple but powerful content-marketing strategies such as running contests, using animated videos, and social media promotions can reshape the way audiences think about your company and the products or services you offer. Use them right, and you’ll build a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
So, let’s get started!
Showcase Expertise with Helpful Reading Material
Remember the days when you had to go to a library to find information about a subject? The Internet has become the first place most people turn to when they need help solving a problem or when they want to learn a new skill.
Long-form articles and eBooks are a goldmine for dedicated shoppers who want to read everything they can get their hands on before making an informed decision. Offering valuable information about a topic related to your area will transform you into an industry expert in their eyes.
Accessibility is key, so make sure your material is easy to find and free to download. That way, you’ll show users that you’re not solely interested in selling or making a profit: helping other people will help your business along the way.
Create Engaging Explainer Videos
Reading material is a great addition to your inbound marketing strategy, but there’s no better method than video marketing in terms of engagement.
A professionally crafted explainer video has the potential to captivate audiences from the moment they press “play”, and cram tons of information into just a few seconds of animation.
In order to get your explainer video right, you need to address your audience’s main pain points by using a compelling narrative with a relatable character. Guide your audience through the what, the how, and the why of your solution, and finish with a strong call to action.
The example below is an explainer video from Blume Beverages, a super-food drinks manufacturer. Notice the piece’s educational tone, teaching the viewer about where the main ingredient of their product, and where it comes from. Unlike a traditional ad, you know that the goal of the piece is to educate and inform because the brand’s name and logo don’t appear until the 30-second mark.
Organize Fun Contests and Sweepstakes
Everybody loves the feeling of winning a contest, regardless of the prize. Online contests and sweepstakes offer brands an entertaining way of interacting with their clients and attract new leads.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then the recent popularity of giveaway contests on social media (more on that in just a bit!). Plus, if there’s a good prize at stake, chances are people are going to share it with their friends and make it go viral.
To maximize effectiveness, your prize should be related to the products or services that your brand offers, like a generous discount or a gift shop for your store. This will help you attract valuable leads that are actually interested in your product.
Gain Visibility with Social Media Promotions
In the current digital landscape, brands that don’t invest time in building a social media presence are missing out on new leads.
But you don’t have to be an influencer to make your profile stand out. One of the easiest routes to gaining new followers is to offer exclusive promotions on your social media. Active users are drawn to limited-time discounts, for example, that you can announce through a post or a story.
And while social media algorithms can feel sort of a mystery for many brands, there are tons of ways to reach new audiences, like using relevant hashtags or paid for advertised posts.
Optimize Your Landing Page for New Visitors
Optimizing your landing to attract traffic to your site involves a mixture of user-friendly design and careful keywording. It would take an entirely separate piece to discuss this topic deeper, but there are a couple of helpful insights you can start applying to your landing page today.
For starters, do research on the trending keywords of your target audience. What specific words are they using to look for products or services online? Use them in your landing in a natural way, especially in the headings and your website’s title tag.
Another popular feature in landing pages is the contact form. Not everybody loves filling out forms, so make sure you only ask for the basics, like name and e-mail. Your sales team can later use these contacts and send them valuable content or attractive promotions.
Parting Thoughts
Inbound marketing is all about starting a conversation with your audience. Once they find about your brand through an article, a video, or a promotion, then it’s your job to gain their trust.
That being said, the digital world can sometimes feel like a fiercely competitive arena full of companies fighting to get your target’s attention.
But as I’ve shown you in this article, the best opportunity you have is to offer curious visitors valuable content they can’t find anywhere else. Reach the hearts and minds of your audience, and they will stay loyal to your brand.
Manufacturers are catching on that eCommerce is a necessity. Product-focused distributors and retailers are becoming more customer-centric, and manufacturers are beginning to realize that they, too, must change the way they approach selling.
While some manufacturers already have an online presence, they depend on rigid legacy systems that cannot accommodate modern customer expectations or effectively manage back-office functions. With an industrial eCommerce platform, manufacturers can streamline complex processes and offer an experience satisfying B2B buyer needs.
Why are manufacturers slow to embrace eCommerce?
Digital eCommerce offers numerous benefits to manufacturers, yet many have reservations about moving online or re-platforming from their existing systems. These concerns are not without merit. Understanding where they come from can help manufacturers identify how to address them properly.
Manufacturers run on tight schedules, so any disruption is likely to be met with resistance from upper management, the IT department, and other stakeholders. Leaders must create a robust strategy, sell the idea to their peers while working within their budget and resources.
Manufacturing tends to be a complicated and resource-heavy process, so cost remains another obstacle to digitalization. Few believe they can implement their eCommerce project in-house, and many have doubts about the investment and experience required to implement modern digital experiences.
Another barrier to eCommerce is effectively maintaining relationships and communicating with existing partners. Manufacturers within different industries see change differently and must ensure all elements work within partner and customer expectations.
What advantages does eCommerce offer to manufacturers?
The demographic shift is impacting the way we interact with one another: While baby boomers and Generation Xers felt comfortable with the fax, phone, or in-person interactions, the younger demographic is not. Most of us are accustomed to online experiences, and this trend will only grow. To grow sales and increase loyalty, manufacturers must offer B2B buyers, who are already making the majority of purchase decisions, highly customized and personalized online experiences.
Improved efficiency.
Advantage 1: Efficient operations. A B2B eCommerce platform enables efficiency, cost savings, and streamlines processes for manufacturers in all industries. An online eCommerce catalog eliminates the need to print costly product catalogs. It reduces time-consuming tasks such as maintaining catalog relevancy, cross-checking data, and manual data entry. It opens the door for integrations with the ERP, CRM, PIM, and other systems, optimizing countless back-end processes.
Advantage 2: Order accuracy. Manufacturers must deal with large, complex orders and all kinds of buyers. Fortunately, many purpose-built B2B eCommerce solutions support customer-specific price lists and RFQ processes. When combined with customizable back-office workflows, it leads to personalized and seamless ordering. Aside from making the purchase experience easier for the customer, it reduces errors and saves time processing orders.
Advantage 3: Better analytics. Online customer data offers manufacturers valuable insights into growing their business. For example, an eCommerce platform can collect purchase and sales data, returns, and shipping data, and more. This data is crucial to better project trends and optimize inventory and fulfillment. This data can guide the product development team to improve the product, better direct sales efforts, and help marketing teams target customers.
Increased revenue.
Advantage 4: Unlock revenue sources. The pandemic has clearly demonstrated that moving online is the only way to offset falling sales at physical locations. An online store opens up new traffic sources to traditional manufacturers. When coupled with a strong SEO strategy and a mobile-friendly storefront, an online store can help them build a sizable customer base and sell more to them.
Advantage 5: Lower costs. A digital presence requires much fewer resources in terms of staff, upkeep, and rent associated with physical locations. For example, a flexible, B2B-focused eCommerce platform makes it easy to add additional components, features or launch new digital storefronts. Physical stores, by contrast, demand much more upfront and ongoing investment.
Advantage 6: Passive earnings. A well-executed eCommerce presence will handle complex back-office processes with automated workflows and empower customers to manage their orders with self-service. Automation takes the pressure off salespeople and expands operating hours. In turn, manufacturers can sell 24/7, and staff can pursue other opportunities that help boost revenue.
More customers.
Advantage 7: Gain brand awareness. ECommerce is an excellent source of marketing for manufacturers. They can increase discoverability through search engines, especially since B2B buyers are increasingly relying on Google to research companies. This added visibility is not only excellent for promoting products and growing sales; it can also drive additional business to a distributor or retail partners.
Advantage 8: Customer-centric focus. Unlike traditional channels, digital commerce enables more effective customer data use, which opens up opportunities for personalization. Sales staff can use this data to personalize the website or recommend products to customers. For example, manufacturers can build a self-service portal with product descriptions, shipping information.
Advantage 9: Omnichannel. By moving online, manufacturers can accommodate customers that move between communication channels and devices. Today’s customers expect to place the order online, visit the mobile app, and call a sales rep the same day. At the same time, they expect brands to offer a consistent experience every step of the way. When manufacturers provide unified experiences, they grow conversions and their customer base.
Business growth.
Advantage 10: Opportunity to innovate. Digital commence empowers manufacturers to innovate in areas like customer service, sales optimization, and strengthening the supply chain. Manufacturers can streamline the quoting process, accommodate multiple decision-makers over numerous roles, enable easy re-ordering, and support unique payment terms and shipping options.
Advantage 11: Expand to new markets. The right eCommerce solution makes it easy to scale to new verticals, markets, and geographic territories. Flexible solutions help brands expand to new markets and react to opportunities before their competitors. Besides B2B selling, many manufacturers choose to retain some control of the selling aspect (B2B2C) or sell direct-to-customer (D2C). These trends are growing in popularity as manufacturers diversify their businesses.
Advantage 12: Future-proof their business. A flexible eCommerce platform is the best insurance policy for the future. With the right features and extendability potential, there’s no need to worry about replatforming or growing out of the platform. It becomes easy to scale, roll out new products, storefronts, and reach new business verticals when the opportunity calls for it – all while maintaining experiences customers will remember and come back to.
Conclusion
When manufacturers start their search for an eCommerce system, many face the decision to adopt a B2C platform for their B2B needs. Manufacturers have varied customers, complex approvals, product configurations, and ordering requirements. They need customizable workflows, seamless ERP, CRM, and PIM integrations, and other B2B-specific features.
Unfortunately, many B2C solutions fall short of these needs. That’s why it’s imperative for manufacturers to never lose track of their requirements during vendor selection. When selecting an eCommerce solution, pay attention to the platform’s features, flexibility, and robustness. Remember: your eCommerce strategy is not just an “online shop” for your manufacturing business: it’s a technology central to your sales and operations, must with current processes, and must be able to accommodate all your future needs.
If you are just starting out as a designer, deciding between Photoshop vs Illustrator might not be an easy task.
So, we’ll lay out some facts for you to decide which one of these Adobe products is a better fit for you.
Let’s start off with the basics.
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design software that is developed by, well, Adobe. The first version of Illustrator came to life in 1987. It has been regarded as the best vector graphics editing software by PC Magazine in 2018.
Vectors are points that are used to create perfectly smooth lines. They are scalable images that no matter how large or small you make the size, they look the same when it comes to resolution and clarity. You can zoom up to 900%, and you’ll have sharp & clear designs.
If you want to create a design from scratch, Adobe Illustrator is a great fit. It gives you the flexibility to create a design that you can also freehand to get the best results.
As above mentioned, if you are on a vector-based project such as logos, designs, or any other type of project, Adobe Illustrator is the way to go.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster-graphics editor developed and published by Adobe, Inc in 1988. It’s been a standard in the digital art industry ever since.
As the name itself suggests, if you are looking to work on images, whether it is editing or enhancing the image, Adobe Photoshop is the way to go. Photoshop is also great for raster-based art since the program itself is raster-based and uses pixels to create images.
Photoshop was originally developed for photographers, but over time it has grown to help all kinds of artists with their work. It is now widely used for interface designs, web pages, video graphics, banners, and the creating and editing images.
Photoshop vs Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are both great graphic design apps, but they have features that make them best for certain tasks and projects.
If you are looking to work with vectors, Adobe Illustrator is the way to go. If your work is pixel-based, you should go with Adobe Photoshop since it uses the pixel-based format to show images.
Illustrator enables you to create precise, crisp, and editable vector graphics. As aforementioned, these graphics stay sharp in any size. You can use flexible shape and drawing tools to create great-looking logos, icons, other types of illustrations that’ll look good on a business card or a flyer.
Illustrator works great for artwork that is going to be used in various mediums, and for various types of artworks such as typography, infographics, and one-page design.
However, If you are looking to create multi-page documents, using Illustrator is not a good idea. It doesn’t have the features that are used to set up master pages.
Adobe Photoshop is great for working with pixel-based images that’ll be designed for print, web, and mobile applications. You can use Photoshop to create flyers that have heavy images, posters, web and app designing, videos, animations, and editing 3d images.
Both these programs have their strong points, and graphic designers usually use both. To have the best workflow, it’s always best to have all the options available in your arsenal.
That being said, if you have a tight budget and can afford to purchase just one, make sure to go with the one that fits your specific graphic design needs.
