Adobe Illustrator Editor's Review

Create stunning vector graphics with this great multiplatform graphics editing tool.

Creating computer wallpaper takes a special touch and a trained hand.  However, even the trained need a helping hand. This is one of the reasons whyI really like tooks like Adobe Illustrator CS5. It’s a multiplatform graphics editing tool, and its totally awesome.

With Adobe Illustrator, you can design vector graphics with precision and power. You can draw accurately in perspective, create variable-width strokes, paint with lifelike brushes, and let your creative juices flow.  You can create distinctive designs with precise shape-building tools, fluid and painterly brushes, and advanced path controls. You'll have full control of variable-width strokes, arrowheads, dashes, and art brush scaling along a path.

You can use perspective grids to draw shapes and scenes in accurate 1-, 2-, or 3-point linear perspective, creating the look of realistic depth and distance.  You can paint with vectors that resemble real-world brush strokes; and can achieve the expressiveness of natural media with the scalability of a vector graphic tool.

You can also interact with gradients directly on your objects and control the transparency of individual colors in them as well as in gradient meshes. Adobe Illustrator lets you blend and morph one shape into another to create smooth shading, complex contours, and basic animations. Its Blob Brush allows you to sketch with a brush that generates a single clean vector shape, even when strokes overlap. You can draw naturally, using this unique tool together with the Eraser and Smooth tools.

Pros: Seemingly endless array of tools and capabilities.

Cons: Complex and expensive.

Conclusion: Adobe Illustrator CS5 is a professional drawing tool. While its simple enough for everyone to do something with, its more stunning effects and capabilities truly come to life for users with an art background, or who truly know the program. 

For example, you can use Illustrator to turn 2D shapes into fully editable 3D objects by extruding and revolving paths. By adding light and wrapping images around 3D shapes, you can easily create objects such as packaging mock-ups, and separate spot colors applied to 3D artwork.  The average user isn't going to be able to do that without spending a lot of time figuring out how the application works.