According to research, it was found that visual information is easier to interpret than textual information and hence one should use images in works that require customers’ attention. Presentations, Webinars, Educational lectures, etc. all activities use images for transmitting information in an easy and effective manner. These images can be created using different software like Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw, InDesign, etc. So we will compare two commonly used software which is Inkscape and InDesign to find the right one for users.
What is Adobe InDesign?
InDesign is an advanced image manipulation and page layout designing software. It was developed by Adobe Incorporation in 1999 as a desktop publishing software. It was built using C++ and is available in around 24 languages. It fulfills a wide variety of tasks like creating, brochures, designing magazine covers, e-books, etc.
Advantages of InDesign
- It allows saving assets in the library for later use hence cutting down the repetitive work.
- Components of an image are separated using layers that reduce errors during complex designs.
- Along with good features, it offers good customer support as well.
- It allows integration with other Adobe software like Adobe Spark, Illustrator, etc.
Disadvantages of InDesign
- It consumes more resources as compared to other image editors.
- No backward compatibility means files created in the new version cannot be opened in the older version.
- It has compatibility problem among different versions like file created in the latest version is not supported by old versions.
What is Inkscape?
Inkscape is free and open-source computer software that is mainly used to create vector images. Its format is SVG which means Scalable Vector Graphic means the image’s pixels will not rupture on the zooming. Inkscape is easily available for various operating systems like Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac, etc. It was first released on 2 November 2003, and the stable release was in 2021 on 27 September. It provides various manipulation tools with an easy interface for images like moving, rotating, scaling, and skewing.
Advantages of Inkscape
- It contains good rendering tools for exporting digital artwork in high quality.
- It offers Bitmap tracing features that can easily trace bitmap images.
- It contains design templates for helping beginner artists.
- It has a large community due to its open-source manner.
Limitations of Inkscape
- Some common file format support is missing like JPEG.
- It also does not have a layer management feature.
Following is a table of differences between InDesign and Inkscape:
|
Category |
InDesign |
Inkscape |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | InDesign is a page layout designing software for creating flyers, e-books, brochures, etc. | Inkscape can be defined as an image editing and manipulation software to produce and modify SVG images. |
| Collaboration Feature | It offers collaboration features to ease teamwork. | It does not provide collaboration features. |
| Integrations | It can be easily integrated with other software like Canto, Marq, Image Relay, etc. | It can integrate with Blissfully, Lottie Files, etc. |
| Software Category | It is a desktop publishing software. | It is vector graphics editing software. |
| Pricing | Its subscription starts at $20.99 per month. | It is available for free to its users. |
| Spell Check | It offers inbuilt spell-check functionality for checking errors. | It does not offer spell-check feature. |
| Trial Period | The trial period of InDesign lasts for 7 days. | It does not offer a trial period as it is free software for a lifetime. |
| Custom Functionality | It does not allow the implementation of custom functionalities. | It allows programmers to implement custom functionality using Python. |
Conclusion/Summary
On comparing InDesign and Inkscape it can be easily concluded that beginners should go for Inkscape as it is free and easy. It also has all the designing tools available in paid software while InDesign is good for users who want to design professional logos, icons, illustrations, etc.