I'd recommend learning enough to get by in both if possible, but then focus on one program or the other. Also, if you're being nit picky, tabbed browsing in Illustrator is nice, but having multiple instances of Inkscape open isn't hugely worse, plus, if one crashes the rest are fine. Also, it doesn't save your toolbar layout in between sessions, which is about 5 seconds of arranging and opening stuff every time you open the program, which is kind of annoying. You can get around it by using shapes on a locked 'artboard' layer and then exporting specific selections, but it's definitely not as efficient as exporting all of your artboards in a single click. Inkscape also lacks multiple artboards, which is a big drawback as well (another limit of SVG). I use my copy of InDesign CS6 for anything that is even slightly type heavy.

Plus if you find it lacks a feature, you can learn C++ and start adding to the program yourself! (Also, linux support, which is important to me).Īll that being said, to be fair, it's really shitty at setting type, or really doing any kind of typography at all, which is a limit of SVG. Inkscape is free and open source, so you genuinely own your copy. This is just my personal preference, but I like to buy my software once and then own it forever. Lastly, the reason that made me committed to first switching, was adobe's change to a subscription model. Plus, this type of cloning is natively supported in web browsers, and again contributes to smaller file sizes.

You can edit the parent and watch the child clones update in real time, which is great for making symmetrical, 'kaleidoscopic' art. Inkscape also handles creating clones/symbols much more fluidly. I also prefer the way that inkscape handles node selection, and how easy it is to make different types of nodes while drawing a path. It also makes the creation of svgs for web use much easier.

This makes for smaller file sizes because the program isn't saving pre-rendered drop shadows, etc. I'm one of the few, and I switched for several reasons! For one thing, I like the native support of svg filters.

(tl dr - I use Inkscape for its native svg support, better (in my opinion) node selection tools, more fluid clone / symbol editing, and opensource / free nature.)

Inkscape free graphic design