Introducing Illustrator
Graphic applications for landscape architects.
By Kevin Jordan

Kevin Jordan

In the last decade, nearly all design firms in the architectural and planning industry have switched over to using AutoCAD, and that transition has usually been followed by the introduction of image manipulation tools such as Adobe Photoshop. Currently, landscape architects are adopting a broad set of digital tools to create everything from animations and multimedia presentations to 3-D representations of design concepts. An often overlooked but highly versatile tool is Adobe Illustrator.

While Photoshop may typically be the more standard tool for non-CAD presentation work, it is primarily an image manipulation tool. Illustrator fills something of a gap between AutoCAD and Photoshop. Similar to CAD, Illustrator is a great tool for creating line art and text, but unlike CAD, it comes with a full set of tools for creating the illustrative presentation graphics and effects that most people associate with Photoshop, such as gradients, textures, drop shadows, and glows. Compared to Photoshop, Illustrator offers several distinct advantages.

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