Best for making event flyers: InDesign or Illustrator?

[H***@adobeforums.com]

Hi everyone, I am new here. I am a novice with Adobe products, but I do have the Creative Suite. I have used Illustrator tons and am very comfortable with it. I used InDesign once to make a pamphlet.

I am part of a charity group that often puts on events. I will be making all the flyers. Printing budget is low and will probably consist of going to Kinkos and printing on A4 paper. So these flyers are really not all that involved, but I want to make them the very best that they can be.

Now my question. Is it better to use InDesign or Illustrator to make the flyers?

And as a bonus, if you know of any sites that might give me inspiration to make flyers, I would appreciate it! I try to keep my eyes peeled and learn new things all the time. I want to give credibility to our group with the flyers, and I dont want them to look cheesy or home-made. Thanks for any tips you might have!

[N***@adobeforums.com]

Heather,

Welcome to these Forums!

If these are single page flyers, either one. For multipage work, InDesign.

Take a look at Print magazine or Communication Arts magazine for getting creative juices going. I've been subscribing to both for decades!

Neil

[unknown]

What's wrong with using both? <g>

Bob

[N***@adobeforums.com]

Of course, Illustrator elements can be included in an InDesign document.

Neil

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Chances are, anyone looking at your piece, isn't going to be able to tell what software application you used to produce it. Using Illustrator doesn't mean your piece will look less impressive than had it been done in InDesign or vice-versa. You're comfortable with Illustrator, use Illustrator and don't sweat it.

[N***@adobeforums.com]

John,

My point was that for multipage documents, you're generally better off with the structure and workflow afforded by InDesign. For single page documents, of course, either way can work; and Illustrator-created elements work in InDesign, of course.

Neil

[M***@adobeforums.com]

The amount of text in the flier would be the determining factor for me. If there are any paragraphs of text, I would automatically use InDesign for its superior text handling.

[H***@adobeforums.com]

Thanks everyone for your great answers! And thanks for not laughing at my question, I can see all of you on here are professionals. Appreciate it.

[H***@adobeforums.com]

Hi Neil, unfortunately I haven't seen either of those publications in Tokyo. However the Communication Arts website provides plenty of links to professionals with their work. Thanks!

[D***@adobeforums.com]

And thanks for not laughing at my question




We try to never do that. We were all beginners once as well.

[N***@adobeforums.com]

Heather,

As Don says. Most of us who volunteer some time here do so because we enjoy helping by sharing our knowledge and experience.

Neil

[steggy]

Post by H***@adobeforums.com
Hi everyone, I am new here. I am a novice with Adobe products, but I do have the Creative Suite. I have used Illustrator tons and am very comfortable with it. I used InDesign once to make a pamphlet.
I am part of a charity group that often puts on events. I will be making all the flyers. Printing budget is low and will probably consist of going to Kinkos and printing on A4 paper. So these flyers are really not all that involved, but I want to make them the very best that they can be.
Now my question. Is it better to use InDesign or Illustrator to make the flyers?
And as a bonus, if you know of any sites that might give me inspiration to make flyers, I would appreciate it! I try to keep my eyes peeled and learn new things all the time. I want to give credibility to our group with the flyers, and I dont want them to look cheesy or home-made. Thanks for any tips you might have!

Bottom line: use Photoshop for rasterized stuff, Illustrator for vector
and InDesign for lay out.

So to answer your question: use InDesign for making a flyer. Of course
it is all possible in Illustrator, but the typographical and lay out
options in InDesign are far better.

As far as your second question goes: that is a hard one to answer;) It
all depends on the subject and your own taste. My take on it: do not
overdo stuff, make sure it all is balanced. For instance, if you use
columns make sure the columns "register", which means: the lines of text
should be on the same height, which can be assured in InDesign by using
a fixed line spacing. You can use a large header at the top, but the
subheaders should not be overdone as far as size goes.

If you go to Kinko's for simple laserprinting realize you can not use
bleed. Finally: use outlines for the fonts to avoid problems at Kinko's.

[b***@adobeforums.com]

Hi
here's a philosophical answer:
The software you are most skilled at - is the best one to use ;-)

[N***@adobeforums.com]

baad,

Bad idea -- if it's the wrong software for the job.

Neil

[I***@adobeforums.com]

True. Foe example, some know their way around Powerpoint and use it as a graphics app as well as a presntation tool! Not good!

Ian

[D***@adobeforums.com]

And I remember the day when computers were new to my old University, and the application that drove installation was Lotus 1-2-3. Many people I taught were amazed when I showed them WordStar: they had been doing their word processing in Lotus.

[unknown]

Post by D***@adobeforums.com
they had been doing their word processing in Lotus.

I still think AmiPro was the best word processor.

Bob

[b***@adobeforums.com]

Hello? Real world calling... If Ian knows his way around Illustrator what's wrong with using a software he knows? Moving from Ill. to InDesign is not as quickly done as Adobe claims. -and of course PPoint is not for making graphics... but that was not the question

[s***@adobeforums.com]

I think what Neil was suggesting baad, is not to use just ANY app for the job if you know it. In other words, Photoshop is not the best tool for the job, so the advice, use whatever you know, is not the best advice if the person is only familiar with Photoshop. It may be wise in that case to learn Illy or InDesign.

[N***@adobeforums.com]

baad,

Stan has it right.

If Ian knows his way around Illustrator what's wrong with using a software
he knows?




But that is not what you said in post #11. Even so, as I said in post #1, Illustrator is fine for single- or double-sided flyers. But the more pages, the less suitable it is. A printer is not likely to accept a pile of single page or spread Illy files for a multipage document graciously.

Neil

[Michael Kazlow]

This exact question came up at work today. The person in question was
ordering ID, but it was on the only program available for content
creation for flyers, posters, and all artwork. I suggested that if only
one program for artwork, posters, and flyers, I'd go with Illy. However,
if I had my choice I'd go with the Design Standard package, since there
are uses for Illy, PS, and ID (and of course Acrobat). In the end we
will try to get the package, but the choice if ID or Illy depends upon
not only what you need to do, but what other tools are available to help
you out.

I'd hate to do multi-page documents in Illy (or PS), but I'd also hate
making ID my sole artwork program as well.

Mike

[N***@adobeforums.com]

I agree with Mike on the choices.

And not to fuzz us the issue, personally, I tend to use page layout software as the foundation for most work, and paste Illustrator and/or Photoshop elements in place. Why? Overall flexibility and ease of setting text and editing layout, text and graphics. Of course, if a job was more suited to working directly in Illustrator or Photoshop, I'd skip the page layout software.

Neil

[J***@adobeforums.com]

But that is not what you said in post #11.




Neil, it appears that baad was posting the philosophical answer because Heather clearly stated "I have used Illustrator tons and am very comfortable with it." The answer is clear.

Post #12 sent us on a tangent.

[s***@adobeforums.com]

I once did a multi-page document in Illustrator before, what a nightmare. It was when I knew Quark but hated it, and before I knew InDesign. Oh if only it was around at that time....

[N***@adobeforums.com]

From experience, I've found that in China and Japan, Illustrator (especially a lot of older versions of Illustrator) seem to be a favorite of printers. QuarkXPress and InDesign are less commonly used. It still doesn't change that it is neither designed for, nor is ideal for multipage jobs.

Neil

[J***@adobeforums.com]

It still does not change the fact that this thread is about a single page flyer. I'm still lost why we're throwing curve balls on this thread. Heather should use the app with which she is most familiar: Illustrator.

[N***@adobeforums.com]

And you're just argumentative for the sake of being argumentative.

[J***@adobeforums.com]

I'm not arguing with you Neil. I'm pointing out that a host should be a bit more intelligent than to assume baad was comparing any more than the two apps Heather was discussing. There's no need to shut folks down because you cannot comprehend their advice.