Here’s the Deal

Adobe Illustrator CC vs PDFescape

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When comparing Adobe Illustrator CC vs PDFescape, the Slant community recommends Adobe Illustrator CC for most people. In the question“What are the best PDF editors?” Adobe Illustrator CC is ranked 8th while PDFescape is ranked 12th.

Specs

Accessibility VerificationNo

AnnotationNo

Exports.ai; .eps; .ait; .pdf; .fxg; .svgz; .svg; .png; .bmp; .dwg; .dxf; .emf; .swf; .jpg; .pct; .psd; .tif; .tga; .txt; .wmf; .html; .gif

FormsNo

ISO CompliancyNo

Imports.idea; .pdf; .dxf; .dwg; .fh7; .fh8; .fh9; .fh10; .fh11; .ft11; .fxg; .gif; .jpg; .jpe; .jpeg; .jpf; .jpx; .jp2; .j2k; .j2c; .jpc; .pic; .pct; .emf; .wmf; .eps; .epsf; .ps; .txt; .docx; .doc; .rtf; .cdr; .cgm; .tif; .tiff; .psd; .pdd; .bmp; .rle; .dib; .pcx; .pxr; .png; .tga; .vda; .icb; .vst; .svgz; .svg; .ai; .ait; .eps; .epsf; .ps

OCRNo

PDF DRMNo

PlatformsWindows; Mac

Rich MediaNo

e-SignaturesNo

Initial Release1987

Real-time collaborationNo

Accessibility VerificationNo

AnnotationWhiteout, Add Text/Images/Freehand/Link/Form Fields, Comment; Highlight; Markup

Exports.pdf

FormsYes

ISO CompliancyNo

Imports.xls

OCRNo

PDF DRMYes

PlatformsWeb, downloadable on upgrade

Rich MediaNo (Just images)

e-SignaturesNo

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best PDF editors?

Pros

Pro
Amazing integration with all other Adobe Software (PS, Ae, Id...)

Pro
It's the industry standard

Pro
Advanced tools

Pro
Has all the vector tools you could dream of

Pro
Flexible, non-intrusive interface

Small palette menus and the ability to save multiple menu layouts keep the UI out of the way.

Pro
There are many tutorials on the internet

Pro
Frequent updates

The CC subscription model means that major releases are no longer necessary, so existing users gain immediate access to new features.

Pro
Easy to learn

It's easy to learn how to work with this software.

Pro
Easy, fast, and free

Very easy to use, with a simple interface.

Pro
Fully usable before upgrading (upgrade has desktop version)

A lot of editing can be done on the free account, but you can upgrade to more features.

Pro
Available online and works on all popular browsers

PDFescape is available online and works on Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 2+, Chrome, Opera 9.5+.

Ad
Cons

Con
Subscription model

Illustrator CC requires a $19.99/mo (minimum) subscription to use. Adobe no longer sells previous versions of Illustrator.

Con
Heavy use of CPU/RAM

Con
Steep learning curve

Con
Very slow

Even in very good computers Illustrator is very slow.

Con
You never truly own this software

As soon as you stop paying you to lose access to the software. This should be illegal.

Con
Install useless and intrusive software

When you install any Adobe product it also installs lots of useless and intrusive software and services.

It adds two services and up to three auto-starting software that runs when you start your operating system and keep running constantly. One is for auto-updating, others for "checking" if you are not a pirate and some others that seems to be just to collect information.

Con
Imprecise coordinates

Oftentimes your 140 is 139.9997 and as a vector program it doesn't rely much on precision.

Con
No proper selection mode

In a vector-art program, the critical selection mode is the one in which objects must be fully enclosed by the selection marquee to be selected. In the simple example shown here, selecting all the circles should merely require you to draw a selection rectangle around them. But in Illustrator, there's no way to avoid selecting other objects as well, even though they're not totally enclosed by the selection box. Year after year, Adobe fails to fix this bizarre oversight, making Illustrator a tedious pain to use.