Alternatives To Adobe Illustrator

[Artificial Intelligence]

I am following a tutorial where acryllic is shaped using a guide made using a vector line drawing produced using Adobe Illustrator.

I would buy Adobe illustrator for making patterns in general since I'm not good at doing it the old fashioned way but this software is too expensive to justify the expense.

Are there any suitable, cheaper alternatives you can recommend?

Edited February 10, 2016 by Artificial Intelligence

[Ferg]

Try e-bay for an older copy that will run on your present computer.

ferg

[TinkerTailor]

"Sketch-up Make" is vector based and free. It is also capable of full 3d.

Not giving tutorials, so don't ask. There are plenty online anyways.

Edited February 11, 2016 by TinkerTailor

[shtoink]

I'm a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned Inkscape yet. It's free, being continuously improved, and quite mature and stable as far as open source goes. Just take a look at the features section of their website.

[veedub3]

I personally use CorelDraw over Illustrator even though I have the full version of Adobe Master suite where I frequently use the other programs, and yep that bad boy was expensive, but well worth it for my business

You can no longer buy the latest version of Adobe products, but you can find older versions online for sale. Adobe went to a subscription service which is about $25 a month or so, or if you just want to make changes to the file you currently have, they offer a 30 day free trial.

And as mentioned above Inkscape is free, and will do the job, either way they all have a steep learning curve, it's just a matter of personal preference I guess.

Karina

Edited February 11, 2016 by veedub3

[thePassenger]

+1 @shtoink for Inkscape

Scribus is another cross platform vector based program that is available.

Curious what you decided to go for.

[Wedgetail]

Draftsight is a free download. Could be worth looking into.

[ConradPark]

Inkscape. It's free, cross platform, well documented and most likely able to do more than you will learn to do.

[JMWendt]

On 2/10/2016 at 2:44 PM, Artificial Intelligence said:

I am following a tutorial where acryllic is shaped using a guide made using a vector line drawing produced using Adobe Illustrator.

I would buy Adobe illustrator for making patterns in general since I'm not good at doing it the old fashioned way but this software is too expensive to justify the expense.

Are there any suitable, cheaper alternatives you can recommend?

I use "ArtRage 4".  Really a very nice art program for fifty bucks.  Allows you to import photographs and use them as "backgrounds" so you can sketch the lines.  Also has a great feature allowing you to duplicate strokes in symmetrical locations (so you can draw something in one corner and it appears in the other three corners rotated and perfect).    I use ArtRage 4 for all my original art, and have also scanned all the Stohlman books and any other "prefabricated" art I have into the computer to use as stencils.  Here's a sample of a piece I did last month for a leather photo album for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

[Havamal]

Just to throw in my 2 cents...

I do some side work vectoring drawings for publication, as far as free software goes you cant go wrong with Inkscape. A lot of people use it for publication because of its ease of use and as a result there are tons of tutorial videos on Youtube to help you get started.