So, why not do everything in Illustrator, and then just place the file as a linked image? Because it’s easier to work with those shapes if they are actual paths inside your InDesign layout instead of placed images from Illustrator. And much clip art comes in EPS (vector) format. Illustrator’s live effects make it easy to warp simple objects into special shapes. Illustrator has the tools to create shapes such as spirals and arcs that would be difficult to do in InDesign. So why do so many people use Illustrator as their primary vector-drawing program? Isn’t the Pen tool in both programs the same? Well, yes, but there are so many effects or techniques that InDesign just can’t do. (I do know one famous InDesign expert who uses a page layout program, such as InDesign, as his primary drawing program, but he did the same when he used QuarkXPress.) When it comes to working with vectors, your primary vector drawing program is most likely Illustrator. Moving vectors between Illustrator and InDesign That’s where the ability to move vectors becomes important.

Someday you may find that you need the vector shapes created in one program in another. But there are vector tools in InDesign and Photoshop as well.

Most designers use Illustrator to create their vector graphics. Unlike pixel art that can look lousy when scaled beyond a certain point, vectors are mathematical objects that can be scaled up and down with no loss of information. Vectors (aka paths) are very powerful items.

Export illustrator to indesign