Adobe Ink and Slide Takes Digital Art to a New Level
Technology has the potential to better our lives in the areas of work, home, and play. We’ve moved further away from writing and sending physical letters to emailing and communicating via social media. Artists have the option of drawing on the computer, no longer limited to paint brushes and pencils. Architects and artists alike have a new medium to work with: Adobe’s premier design tools, Ink and Slide. The process of creating perfect lines and shapes are made easier for the business mogul and casual artist alike. You may be content with your standard pen an paper, but this hardware makes translating your ideas to the computer easier and more efficient. Before you spend your hard- earned cash on a drawing tablet, consider the iPad compatible stylus and ruler duo for your next artistic purchase:
The Hardware
Adobe’s first hardware products, Ink and Slide, are making creative strides in the movement of digital artwork creation. Ink, the stylus, replaces pens, pencils, and markers, eliminating the need to shuffle through a box of art pencils to find the medium with the perfect lead hardness. Slide, the ruler, helps you make perfectly straight lines with little effort. Each tool has the potential to make detailed and on- point artwork with less effort than if you were using a pen, paper, and a standard ruler. Plus, if you make a mistake, you can erase the error and no one will notice.
The Apps
Currently, the hardware is usable on the iPad only, however the applications associated with the tools are free. Adobe Sketch, the app for the artists, has five standard tools available to create your artwork: a graphite pencil, ink pen, markers, and an eraser. Your Adobe Ink is the single tool you need to utilize all five digital tools available in the app. You can easily switch through each digital medium in the app’s dropdown menu, as well as choose from a large variety of colors. An artist’s entire workbench is in the palm of your hands.
Adobe Line is a must have for architects and digital, geometric shape-shifters. You can draw perfect shapes and lines with minimal effort, tracing objects accurately and much more quickly than with the standard pen and paper. The app provides guide lines and vanishing points to help you create an accurate draft that is appropriate for the workplace. Of course, the only hardware tools that you need for this app are Adobe’s Ink and Slide. If you want to try either of these apps, but don’t have the supported Ink and Slide, you can still download them and create works of art with the stroke of your finger.
The Charge
The hardware charges by connecting to the included USB plugin. Additionally, you can check the battery status of the hardware via any of the connected apps. Unfortunately, if the device isn’t fully charged, then you won’t be able to work with it. If you use the device daily, plugging it in at night with the rest of your electronics should guarantee that you will not have to worry about going to work with a dead stylus!
The Cloud
Creative Cloud for the iPad and iPhone syncs with your hardware and automatically saves your work, allowing its members to easily access their projects and artwork wherever they are. Storage plans range from $9.99 a month to $69.99 a month, however if you’re working from multiple computers (at home, at work, or on your iPad in the park), it’s worth saving your items in one space, completely avoiding a lost USB fiasco.
Adobe’s Ink and Slide is a trendy piece of equipment that is absolutely functional. They’re compatible with iPad and iOS7 software- if you already have an iPad (with iOS7), then the only thing you need is a stylus. If anything can make our daily activities less of a hassle and more enjoyable, then practical tech is the answer. In this case, Adobe’s Ink and Slide may be the practical answer for digital mock-ups for both the artist and architect alike. What are you waiting for? Back to the drawing board!
