Comparing Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
Neeraj Charaya | 8th June 2017
Adobe InDesign undoubtedly the best tool for prepping print designs and I usually prefer this whenever I need anything related to printing. Books, magazine cover, flyers, etc anything you name it, all can be easily tackled by this software.
Photoshop can be easily good or even better than InDesign at some places but it shouldn’t be overlooked.
These Photoshop and InDesign ‘’pros” and “cons” are based on my experience in developing the design in print design. If you are also an indecisive print designer then you can also share your feedback or “pros” and “cons” on the software Photoshop and InDesign.
Photoshop Layer System
Devoted designers are more reliable in using Photoshop layers to their full potential than InDesign. Layer panel is made according to the easy use.
In InDesign you will notice that there is no preview image option in layers which is very important and indicates you the content of the layer.
RGB Working Mode
Photoshop’s auto colour mode feature when you create a new document is quite appealing. This is because most photos sourced from a digital camera will be rendered in RGB colour and assigned an RGB ICC Profile. Obviously, there is no good for print design as we want to able work in CMYK.
In InDesign when you create a new document, you are asked outright for the Intent of your design i.e. is it for print or the web? Which makes it simpler for the new print designer.
Multi-Page Designing
Photoshop is not suitable for multi-page designing if you are willing to create a multi-page print document which includes text alone or text with the image then choosing InDesign rather than Photoshop is a wiser choice. Photoshop is better suited for single page design which emphasises images, visual effects/images, filters, etc.
In InDesign you can easily play with multiple pages particularly when text needs to run on between pages. It is made especially for this kind of work when you want to design a book so that you can bring a number of sections or chapters together by exporting these as a book for print.
