TshirtGuy

As a long-time, off and on user, I just wanted to provide my first feedback, particularly after using Illustrator the last few weeks. And quitting other options long before that. First, I'm a "semi-pro" user and not a graphic designer by trade. I made designs that I sell in various online marketplaces. I have a "real job" the rest of the time. That said, after attempting to learn Illustrator -- mainly because of the more robust options like Offset Path and Text Arcs, etc. -- I really appreciate the ease of using AD out of the box. In particular the alignment and "hints" (not sure what they are officially called) are great. Maybe Illustrator has settings that can be changed but moving items around on screen and getting them to actually align and lock up with each other is just not as simple as AD. As well, the AD onscreen tips that show distances and lock in objects as you move them to be symmetrical is fantastic as far as my needs go. Yesterday I just discovered -- late to the party I'm sure -- how to create a color swatch from an image. WOW. I used an old 1970s movie poster and it provided a perfect 70s style retro color palette. And fast, and the ability to adjust the number of colors? That's seriously great shit. Meanwhile Illustrator does have the Adobe Kuler themes but 7 out of 10 times it wouldn't load on my computer. Just not as elegant a solution. Anyway, not to pump too much sunshine because there are things that AD could add that would pretty much make Illustrator 100% obsolete in my humble view -- the two biggest being a Shape Builder function and Text Warp effects for my purposes -- but for the price paid and the benefits received, it's great. If and when 2.0 is released (hopefully with those features) and requires a new purchase, I'd buy it instantly especially if it's just another one-time purchase. Such a great deal in this day and age of "let's do a subscription model and charge a customer for life for one product" Thanks to the developers and testers, etc. etc.