Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the program of choice when it comes to manipulating and enhancing photos. Working within simple layers; you'll find handy tools, filters, and effects to stylize and create artistic photos.
- Working with photos
- Editing or manipulating photos
- Building mock-ups
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading page design and layout application that lets you create, preflight (a.k.a. quality check for printing), and publish beautiful documents for print and digital media.
- Creating multi-page layouts
- Building text-heavy layouts
- Designing magazines and newspaper layouts
- Making newsletters, booklets, and brochures
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based design program.
- Designing logos and branding
- Drawing or illustrations
- Single page designs
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is not recommended to design printed pieces such as postcards, brochures, posters, flyers etc. The software is limited in the ability to add bleeds. The control of the color and layout is also limited.
Word is best used for:
- Creating letters
- Creating handouts with few images
- Creating tests, exams, or quizzes
- Writing papers with few images such as a thesis or essay
How do I access Adobe software?
Vancouver Island University has a university wide license for the Adobe Creative Cloud. It is available to VIU Faculty, Staff and in some VIU Computer Labs. Please see the table below for access information.
