When to Use Adobe Illustrator vs. Adobe InDesign: A 2025 Guide
- Mark Williams
- Jul 26, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 12
[Updated 2025] This guide has been refreshed with the latest Adobe features and best practices to help you choose the right tool for your design work.
One of the most common questions designers and marketers ask is, "When should I use Illustrator vs. InDesign?" While both are essential tools in the Adobe Creative Suite, they serve very different purposes. Let’s break it down simply...
When to Use Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based design program, meaning there are no pixels involved. This makes everything you create in Illustrator infinitely scalable with no loss of quality.
Best for:
✅ Logos & Branding – Essential for creating professional, scalable logos.
✅ Icons & Illustrations – Perfect for custom vector graphics.
✅ Typography & Lettering – Create beautiful, editable text designs.
✅ Infographics & Diagrams – Ideal for clear, scalable visuals.
Why Illustrator?
Scalability: Resize graphics from business cards to billboards without losing quality.
Precision: Control every curve, path, and colour in your designs.
File Formats: Native .AI files, but exports to SVG, PDF, PNG, and EPS for flexibility.
When to Use Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a page layout tool used for combining text, images, and graphics into structured, multi-page designs. If you're creating a document with a lot of text or multiple pages, InDesign is the best choice.
Best for:
✅ Brochures & Flyers – Handles text-heavy designs with precision.
✅ Magazines & Books – Perfect for long-form, multi-page documents.
✅ PDFs & Interactive Documents – Export high-quality digital & print layouts.
✅ Newsletters & Reports – Manage complex layouts efficiently.
Why InDesign?
Master Pages: Maintain consistent layouts across multiple pages.
Text & Typography Control: Advanced paragraph and character styling.
Export Options: Save files as PDF, EPUB, or print-ready formats for professional output.
Illustrator or InDesign? How to Decide
Feature | Adobe Illustrator | Adobe InDesign |
Best for | Logos, icons, illustrations | Books, brochures, layouts |
File Type | Vector (scalable) | Page layout & typography |
Multiple Pages? | No | Yes |
Export Formats | AI, EPS, SVG, PDF, PNG | PDF, EPUB, Print-ready files |
🔹 Quick Rule of Thumb:
If you’re designing a logo, icon, or custom illustration → Use Illustrator.
If you’re creating a brochure, magazine, or multi-page document → Use InDesign.
Need to Learn Illustrator or InDesign?
If you're still unsure which tool is right for you, we run expert-led Adobe training courses for both Illustrator and InDesign.
💡 Check out our next training sessions here.
Got questions? Drop a comment below, and I’ll be happy to help!
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