Photoshop or Illustrator for Logo Design?

Many starting out with logo design may wonder if they should use Photoshop or Illustrator. Well, which is the better option? As with many areas of life, it depends on the use case, the designer, and other variables, so let’s dive into which software suits your needs better.

There’s a common misconception that Illustrator is the end-all-be-all for logo design. The true answer is more complicated than that but for the majority of designers and modern use cases, Illustrator offers them everything they could possibly lead, which is why this saying comes up so often. Essentially, if you are on the fence and either work for you, Illustrator is generally a better option.

Now let’s go over the main differences between Photoshop and Illustrator. At its core, Illustrator is a vector-based program while Photoshop is bitmap-based. What does this mean? Well, vectors are not images per se, rather it is just an instruction of how to construct an image (Kind of like one of those dot to dot worksheets). As a result, no matter how much you zoom into a vector image, it will not lose pixel quality, and the lines on the drawings will be just as sharp. Photoshop, on the other hand, is based on pixels, so when an image is zoomed in, you can start seeing the blocks of the image. For example, most modern text/fonts are vector-based so no matter how much one zooms into some words, the edges are just as sharp whether it be the size of an ant or a New York billboard.

When dealing with pictures taken from a camera, all of these pictures are bitmap no matter what. As a result, it is better to work with these photos in Photoshop or Lightroom (if you want another article comparing these two products, stay tuned!) and then overlay text in Illustrator. However, in Logo Design, it is rare that pictures are used at all, rather it is all made digitally inside a program.

So should you use Photoshop or Illustrator? If you’re making a standard modern font that will be used in phone apps, computer programs, and websites, Illustrator is the clear option. A vector-based program is very useful as it can output icons that look great when on a TV or a cellphone. However, if you are working on a logo with fine arts/physical arts elements (Think about acrylic or water paintings), Photoshop will give a more pleasing image to the eye. When making logos/art digitally that emulate real-life artistry, a bitmap-based program emulates it more effectively as all physical art is essentially also bitmap. Harsh digital corners turn into soft edges of a paintbrush. Just make sure that you work at the correct size logo and export it in the right size as well for Photoshop, as it is much harder and almost impossible to resize an incorrectly sized artboard without losing significant quality.

We wish you the best of luck on your graphic design journey! If you guys have any questions or requests, be sure to let us know and we can help you guys ASAP!