Photoshop vs InDesign or both?

[NM PDI]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about wich software to use. I am making assembly manuals (kinda LEGO style) for multiple mechanical installations wich i render out in another software.

I have been working with photoshop for a few months now, but it has some difficulties, and when i ask about it here on the forums i almost always get told to move to another Software like InDesign.

Yet my renders are not always 100% correct and i also sometimes need to tweak it a little. But then i can render the image again for 1,5 hours or edit it within PS for 10/20 minutes.

So my question is, if im making manuals/ workbooks, yet also need to edit some things, what should i do? Should i stay with PS and just try to work around the problems, or switch to InDesign, where i dont know for certain that i can edit my renders? Maybe both? But i dont know if the company wants to give me that budget...

Would love to hear all of you guys opinion.

-Nick

[D Fosse]

Photoshop is the worst possible tool for anything involving text and graphics. It will rasterize (i.e. butcher) everything on output. Photoshop is strictly for pixel-based raster images.

If you have vector illustrations, use Illustrator.

Then Place the images in InDesign. Text and layout elements are made in InDesign.

In short, you need both (or all three depending on type of illustration)

[NM PDI]

The problem is i have 0 experience with editing and i am nearly completely self thought with both editing and rendering.

So i dont know what any of those terms mean or what the implications are. 

Pixels i know, but dont renders also contain pixels? 

I appreciate that you give me solid advice, but im just so new to the scene its a lot what all of a sudden opens to me haha.

[davescm]

To expand a little on D Fosse's correct response, if by 'Render' you mean the ouput from a 3D rendering application, then yes that would be a raster image (formats include TIFF, PSD, jpeg , png, EXR etc). Those images can, and should be edited in Photoshop.

Vector images are different. Instead of being stored as pixels, they are stored as a set of instructions i.e draw a line from point A to point B....etc  Image formats include AI, SVG etc  These are edited in Adobe Illustrator.

Page assemby, where you combine raster images, vector images and graphics along with text should be done in InDesign. It is the right tool for that part of the process and will output in standard formats for printing such as PDF without rasterising the text.

Dave

[NM PDI]

Thanks Dave!

By rendering i do indeed mean with a 3D rendering software, i use Autodesk 3ds Max wich can output in many types of formats. but by the looks of it thats all raster image's (indeed .tiff .jpg .tga etc.).

But your advice would be to get both? And not just PS ór ID?

Would love to hear from you, then i can discuss it with the higher ups.

-Nick

[jane-e]

@NM PDI 

I agree with DFosse and Dave to use both.

All text should be in InDesign. Use File > Place for images, PDFs, etc. This will put a link to the original file in the InDesign document.

When you need to edit an image, right-click the image in the document or in the Links panel and choose Edit in Photoshop (or Illustrator). Make your edits, then Save and Close the image. The link will automatically be updated in InDesign.

InDesign has a learning curve. Try LinkedIn Learning and look for sessions from David Blatner and Ann-Marie Conceptión.

Jane

[NM PDI]

Thanks Jane,

But now i am kind of wondering, what is the biggest benefactor of InDesign? The way i make my sheets now in PS, it does not look that bad, but what impact would InDesign have on my sheets exactly?

[jane-e]

Photoshop uses a canvas. InDesign uses pages. 

InDesign has headers, footers, excellent type controls, ToC, Index, text that can be linked throughout the document, and so much more. Trying to create a text-heavy document is an excercise in frustration — it would be like using a screwdriver when you need a hammer.

Jane

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Yes my advice would be to get both and probably the most cost effective way would be a subscription to the CC package . That way you get access to Photoshop , InDesign and Illustrator along with many other applications some of which you may not use or only use occasionally, but they can get you out of trouble in specific scenarios.

InDesign is designed from the ground up for page layout and that includes multiple pages,spreads (where an image crosses the centre of a double page) for books and booklets. Text flows easliy from one text box to another so that, as you adjust the layout on teh page, your text is adjusted as you work.  It has all the formatting tools for setting up bleed, margins and columns for text. Images placed in InDesign are linked to their originals so if an image is edited, you will see a warning in InDesign and clicking it will update the image in InDesign. Image formats can be mixed in a document as can different colour profiles.
As far as quality is concerned, it can directly print to a postscript printer (many laser printers) without rasterising the text. This leads to clearer, sharper text particularly in small sizes. Preparing industry standard, print ready PDFs for commercial printing, is also straightforward.

Using the right tool for the right job means that you are not constantly looking for workarounds or putting up with poorer quality output.

Dave

[NM PDI]

Thanks for the advice Dave and @jane-e. Its greatly appreciated. 

But Dave, i cant seem to find the "CC Package" anywhere. Do you mean the "Complete Creative Cloud" package by that? Because seems really nice ofcourse, but that woulds nearly triple the price of my subscribtion.

But if i maybe mis-looked and it did not cost 3x as much, you guys have convinced me to get InDesign!

[jane-e]

It's called "All Apps". 

It may or may not happen, but Adobe frequently has a sale for the first year on or before Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the USA. 

Jane

[jane-e]

Keep an eye on this site. Right now the only offer is for student pricing, but it says Black Friday 2024 is on its way.

https://www.adobe.com/il_en/products/special-offers/black-friday.html

Jane

[davescm]

As Jane, says below, the cheapest way to get two apps would be the Photography plan and InDesign. If you think at some stage you will need three apps (e.g to get Illustrator) then the CC plan is the way to go.

Here in the UK they are priced :

Photography plan £9.98/month (as an annual plan paid monthly)
In Design as a single app plan : £21.98/month (as an annual plan paid monthly)

Making a total of £31.96/month.

A CC plan is £56.98/month, as an annual plan paid monthly, although the website shows a current offer of a price reduction to £27.98 for the first three months and then £56.98 for the remaining 9 months of the year. That would give you access to Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Acrobat which are directly related to what are doing as well as many other applications.

An annual plan paid monthy means there is a 12 month commitment but it is a lot cheaper than a month by month plan (which can be cancelled anytime but costs £85.48 /month for the CC plan)

I hope that helps

Dave

[NM PDI]

Hi,

I read here that it would be better to use Illustrator and InDesign.

But i dont know if anyone here has some experience with the licencing part of it. But if i would want Illustrator and also InDesign it would cost me 26,5 EU in the month, twich wich would mean it would be 53 euro's in the month, as opposed to the 24 Eu the month for only photoshop. Anyone got any tips on this part? Can you combine it? Or what do you guys recommend.

[jane-e]

@NM PDI 

Adobe offers a specially-priced Photography plan in addition to single-app plans. The least expensive way is to get the Photography plan for PS and the single-app plan for InDesign.

The single-app plans have two prices: monthly or annual commitment, paid monthly. If you are using three apps, the Creative Cloud All Apps starts to make sense.

Jane

[Jeff Arola]

Many users and/or companies use Adobe FrameMaker for manuals.

https://www.adobe.com/products/framemaker.html

https://community.adobe.com/t5/framemaker/ct-p/ct-framemaker