Photoshop is primarily geared toward digital photo manipulation and photorealistic styles of computer illustration, while Illustrator provides results in the typesetting and logo graphic areas of design. Early magazine advertisements (featured in graphic design trade magazines such as Communication Arts) referred to the product as "the Adobe Illustrator". Illustrator 88, the product name for version 1.7,was released in 1988 and introduced many new tools and features.

Compatibility with Inkscape. Inkscape's native format is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), which is supported by Adobe Illustrator, but the two implementations are not 100% compatible. Inkscape also exports to PS, EPS and PDF, formats which Illustrator can recognize.

Illustrator is included with Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions but can also be licensed independently. Because it is part of the Creative Cloud artwork from Illustrator can be shared with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications including After Effects, InDesign, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. For example, users often create an initial piece of artwork in Illustrator and then import the artwork into Photoshop or After Effects. Illustrator user can also create an image and export it to InDesign to include it within a book or magazine. Users also export an Illustrator image to After Effects to create an animation of the image. Similarly, artwork can be imported from Photoshop into Illustrator, where a final design can be assembled, mixing text, illustrations, and the imported image.

Uses:
1. 3D printed objects
2. Video Game Development
3. Wearable Devices
4. Package Design
5. Emojis
6. Fashion
7. Motion Graphics