Illustrator on the iPad works intuitively with your Apple Pencil so you can design on the go from anywhere, even offline – it’s never been easier to take your creativity to new places. Merge or cut graphics with quick, intuitive Pencil gestures to remove unwanted areas.
Make your graphics pop with effects, and access over 18,000 fonts, 20+ color palettes, up-to-the-minute live streams from famous creatives, and guided tutorials. Plus, your Illustrator work is automatically synced to the cloud, so you and your team can always access the latest version from your desktop or iPad.
• Natural ways to draw — Make lines and curves using the Pen, Pencil, and Brush tools • Pinpoint editing — Create perfect graphics without quality loss with Smart Delete, Simplify Path, and more
• Polygon shape creation — Make objects out of circles, triangles, squares, and stars
Adobe Illustrator: Graphic Art
Illustrator on the iPad works intuitively with your Apple Pencil so you can design on the go from anywhere, even offline – it’s never been easier to take your creativity to new places. Merge or cut graphics with quick, intuitive Pencil gestures to remove unwanted areas. Make your graphics pop with effects, and access over 18,000 fonts, 20+ color palettes, up-to-the-minute live streams from famous creatives, and guided tutorials. Plus, your Illustrator work is automatically synced to the cloud, so you and your team can always access the latest version from your desktop or iPad. • Natural ways to draw — Make lines and curves using the Pen, Pencil, and Brush tools • Pinpoint editing — Create perfect graphics without quality loss with Smart Delete, Simplify Path, and more
• Polygon shape creation — Make objects out of circles, triangles, squares, and stars
Best iPad For Digital Drawing in 2023 (Video)
The new iPad Pro 12.9 inch, armed with an M1 chip, fantastic display, and up to 2TB of storage, is probably the best tablet you can buy today. The new iPad Pro 12.9inch screen features new Mini LED technology or Liquid Retina XDR. Overall, the result is a beautiful visual experience, super crisp image, and improved brightness.
Another big update is that the powerful and impressive M1 chip is now in the iPad Pro, making it the fastest device of its kind and bringing the performance of the iPad Pro to a whole new level.
But to be honest, the Apple Pencil 2 is already is the best stylus on the market today for artists, designers, creators, or anyone who prefers hand-written notes. And while it would be fun to see what Apple can come up with to improve this pencil, I am not complaining that it did not happen this year. It would work excellent for professional and full-time artists, designers, and illustrators.
Procreate vs Illustrator for iPad
Procreate and Illustrator for iPad represent two schools of thought when it comes to digital art creation: pixels vs. vectors. That’s a big deal, because the type of art that you want to create can be heavily influenced by the elements you use to make it.
Vector graphics and art are produced using a series of mathematical equations that tell your program the precise location of the points on your document to create curves and shapes. The downside here is that vector-based graphics often lack the creative (bitmap-based) brushes and coloring options that you see in raster-based apps.
While this does give rasters some distinct advantage in terms of shading and color variety, it also limits scalability. When you try to scale pixel artwork past a certain point, images become blurry and soft around the edges as your software tries to spread the same number of bits across a larger surface area.
The nature of vectors allows them to be infinitely scalable making them great for large-scale uses like billboards, or vinyl murals. As a lettering artist, I often use Illustrator to plot points using the Apple Pencil and the Pen tool to create a vector drawing of a sketch.
If you’re looking for a more traditional feel to your drawing experience, you have a choice of three types of vector brushes in Adobe Illustrator: #caption#In both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator for iPad, you can use traditional drawing tools to mark out lines in a natural way. However, when you do this in Illustrator, you’ll notice that your lines (paths) are actually marked with small boxes called anchor points. #alt#An image representing a black line drawn on a white canvas in both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator for iPad.
The line drawn in Adobe Illustrator is marked by various anchor points — represented as small, white boxes — along its length. If you want to merge traditional art with the technical markup that Illustrator provides, you can use the Vectorize tool. Not to mention, you can easily incorporate both programs into your workflow by starting a rough sketch digitally in Procreate and bringing the image into Adobe Illustrator. While Procreate operates on its own, Adobe Illustrator can rely on other apps like Capture to handle functions like color palette creation.
#alt#An image depicting the user interface for Adobe Illustrator with toolbars located on both the left- and righthand sides of the app window. Procreate is even simpler in its presentation, featuring just two rows of tools on the top left and right of the screen and sliders for Brush Size and Opacity. Other features, like editing your brush settings, are hidden behind a series of menus that allow for fine-grained control over your visual experience. #alt#An image depicting the user interface for Procreate, which features a limited selection of buttons along the top menu bar and left side of the application to maximize the drawing canvas (located in the middle of the screen).
Both apps are actively maintained and see regular updates multiple times a year, so there’s always a lot to explore and be excited about as an artist.
While Procreate has a nice presentation that centers your focus on your artwork, it can be a challenge to move beyond the basic functions of the app.
Since 2012, Adobe has been using a monthly subscription model for their entire suite of programs, and Illustrator for iPad is no exception. If you’ve never tried Adobe Illustrator before, the Single App Plan comes with a 7-day free trial which lets you test it out before you commit to the monthly subscription.
Adobe regularly offers deals and discounts (sometimes up to 40% on their plans), so you can save big if you buy at the right time. The Procreate team has paid a lot of attention to their users and has taken care to engineer their apps are properly optimized for the latest Apple devices.
While Adobe has a long legacy of desktop software, their history in the mobile space is still relatively new. Procreate, on the other hand has been around for over 10 years, allowing them to position themselves in a way that has made them trailblazers for digital art creation on the iPad.
While Adobe is seemingly playing catch up, Procreate’s innovations have made it possible for them to adapt their mobile experiences to the current landscape. In the 5.2 update, they worked hard to increase the layer limit amount across the newer iPad models.
The mobile app doesn’t offer support for all object types like gradient meshes, or effects like adding blur, or drop shadows. The good news is that Adobe is always taking suggestions for features from users, so be sure to let them know if you’re running into roadblocks around cross-compatibility.
While you’re able to use Illustrator on your iPad and desktop, the limitations to certain features and object support can make parts of your document behave strangely.
If you’re really looking for an app that you can use on other devices besides iPad, I suggest you check out our review of Adobe Fresco vs. Procreate right here. This tool features a left sidebar with export options, including Format, Color model, Quality, Resolution, and Artboard selection. This is one of the best features that’s been carried over from the desktop program because you can include multiple ideas and versions of a concept in a single document.
Adobe Fresco users can export their documents straight to Illustrator for iPad or desktop. This file export list is extensive because Procreate has animation capabilities as well which call for support of motion formats. The Page Assist feature is definitely nice to see from Procreate but the export capabilities are a little less intuitive and will take longer depending on your format. #caption#The Home menu in Adobe Illustrator gives you quick ways to create new art, access recent files, and more. This is a newer Illustrator feature where comments can be added to work in progress, and sharing project files with others can be done through a shareable link. This means your documents are syncing and saving in the background and you’ll be able to pick up where you left off on desktop or mobile.
Procreate relies mainly on the iCloud backup of your device and your initiative to manually save your work to your Files app. Unlike with Illustrator, anything that you delete can’t be recovered so you should be very careful when managing your files.
The fact remains that no matter which app you choose, neither is perfect, and having a good workflow for saving and backing up your devices is still something all artists need. Keep in mind that Illustrator for iPad also allows for a .PSD export, so it would be possible to transform your vector art into a pixel-based format, if needed, at the cost of scalability. Procreate offers a greater selection of versatility when it comes to brushes and true-to-life shading, but vectors have their own distinctive art style. Adobe Illustrator for iPad is a great program when I need added flexibility in the scale of the work I’m creating.
A majority of the work that I do is created on my iPad, so having access to Illustrator enhances my mobile workflow. Without a doubt, both Procreate and Illustrator for iPad are exceptional apps with a lot to offer, depending on your needs and artistic style. Paperlike adds friction and stroke resistance to your screen so that you can create smooth, precise lines when drawing with your iPad and Apple Pencil. No matter which app you use, your Paperlike will help you get a better feel for creating on your iPad with the increased resistance that offers a more natural drawing experience.
Drawing & Vector Design App for iOS, Android
The paid version includes new brushes from Kyle Webster and access to Photoshop on the iPad.
Procreate vs Illustrator for iPad
Procreate and Illustrator for iPad represent two schools of thought when it comes to digital art creation: pixels vs. vectors. That’s a big deal, because the type of art that you want to create can be heavily influenced by the elements you use to make it. Vector graphics and art are produced using a series of mathematical equations that tell your program the precise location of the points on your document to create curves and shapes. The downside here is that vector-based graphics often lack the creative (bitmap-based) brushes and coloring options that you see in raster-based apps.
While this does give rasters some distinct advantage in terms of shading and color variety, it also limits scalability. When you try to scale pixel artwork past a certain point, images become blurry and soft around the edges as your software tries to spread the same number of bits across a larger surface area. The nature of vectors allows them to be infinitely scalable making them great for large-scale uses like billboards, or vinyl murals. As a lettering artist, I often use Illustrator to plot points using the Apple Pencil and the Pen tool to create a vector drawing of a sketch.
If you’re looking for a more traditional feel to your drawing experience, you have a choice of three types of vector brushes in Adobe Illustrator: #caption#In both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator for iPad, you can use traditional drawing tools to mark out lines in a natural way.
However, when you do this in Illustrator, you’ll notice that your lines (paths) are actually marked with small boxes called anchor points. #alt#An image representing a black line drawn on a white canvas in both Procreate and Adobe Illustrator for iPad.
The line drawn in Adobe Illustrator is marked by various anchor points — represented as small, white boxes — along its length. If you want to merge traditional art with the technical markup that Illustrator provides, you can use the Vectorize tool.
Not to mention, you can easily incorporate both programs into your workflow by starting a rough sketch digitally in Procreate and bringing the image into Adobe Illustrator.
While Procreate operates on its own, Adobe Illustrator can rely on other apps like Capture to handle functions like color palette creation.
#alt#An image depicting the user interface for Adobe Illustrator with toolbars located on both the left- and righthand sides of the app window. Procreate is even simpler in its presentation, featuring just two rows of tools on the top left and right of the screen and sliders for Brush Size and Opacity.
Other features, like editing your brush settings, are hidden behind a series of menus that allow for fine-grained control over your visual experience. #alt#An image depicting the user interface for Procreate, which features a limited selection of buttons along the top menu bar and left side of the application to maximize the drawing canvas (located in the middle of the screen).
Both apps are actively maintained and see regular updates multiple times a year, so there’s always a lot to explore and be excited about as an artist. While Procreate has a nice presentation that centers your focus on your artwork, it can be a challenge to move beyond the basic functions of the app. Since 2012, Adobe has been using a monthly subscription model for their entire suite of programs, and Illustrator for iPad is no exception. If you’ve never tried Adobe Illustrator before, the Single App Plan comes with a 7-day free trial which lets you test it out before you commit to the monthly subscription.
Adobe regularly offers deals and discounts (sometimes up to 40% on their plans), so you can save big if you buy at the right time. The Procreate team has paid a lot of attention to their users and has taken care to engineer their apps are properly optimized for the latest Apple devices. While Adobe has a long legacy of desktop software, their history in the mobile space is still relatively new.
Procreate, on the other hand has been around for over 10 years, allowing them to position themselves in a way that has made them trailblazers for digital art creation on the iPad.
While Adobe is seemingly playing catch up, Procreate’s innovations have made it possible for them to adapt their mobile experiences to the current landscape. In the 5.2 update, they worked hard to increase the layer limit amount across the newer iPad models.
The mobile app doesn’t offer support for all object types like gradient meshes, or effects like adding blur, or drop shadows. The good news is that Adobe is always taking suggestions for features from users, so be sure to let them know if you’re running into roadblocks around cross-compatibility. While you’re able to use Illustrator on your iPad and desktop, the limitations to certain features and object support can make parts of your document behave strangely. If you’re really looking for an app that you can use on other devices besides iPad, I suggest you check out our review of Adobe Fresco vs. Procreate right here. This tool features a left sidebar with export options, including Format, Color model, Quality, Resolution, and Artboard selection. This is one of the best features that’s been carried over from the desktop program because you can include multiple ideas and versions of a concept in a single document.
Adobe Fresco users can export their documents straight to Illustrator for iPad or desktop. This file export list is extensive because Procreate has animation capabilities as well which call for support of motion formats.
The Page Assist feature is definitely nice to see from Procreate but the export capabilities are a little less intuitive and will take longer depending on your format. #caption#The Home menu in Adobe Illustrator gives you quick ways to create new art, access recent files, and more. This is a newer Illustrator feature where comments can be added to work in progress, and sharing project files with others can be done through a shareable link. This means your documents are syncing and saving in the background and you’ll be able to pick up where you left off on desktop or mobile. Procreate relies mainly on the iCloud backup of your device and your initiative to manually save your work to your Files app. Unlike with Illustrator, anything that you delete can’t be recovered so you should be very careful when managing your files.
The fact remains that no matter which app you choose, neither is perfect, and having a good workflow for saving and backing up your devices is still something all artists need. Keep in mind that Illustrator for iPad also allows for a .PSD export, so it would be possible to transform your vector art into a pixel-based format, if needed, at the cost of scalability.
Procreate offers a greater selection of versatility when it comes to brushes and true-to-life shading, but vectors have their own distinctive art style. Adobe Illustrator for iPad is a great program when I need added flexibility in the scale of the work I’m creating.
A majority of the work that I do is created on my iPad, so having access to Illustrator enhances my mobile workflow. Without a doubt, both Procreate and Illustrator for iPad are exceptional apps with a lot to offer, depending on your needs and artistic style.
Paperlike adds friction and stroke resistance to your screen so that you can create smooth, precise lines when drawing with your iPad and Apple Pencil.
No matter which app you use, your Paperlike will help you get a better feel for creating on your iPad with the increased resistance that offers a more natural drawing experience.
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