Finding the right graphic design software for beginners can be challenging. There is a lot to choose from and all of them offer something different. With so many options out there, it isn’t easy trying to find the best one. For this reason, we decided to take some time and research some of the top rated graphic design software available and figure out which ones would be best for beginners
Graphic design is very important whether you are looking for graphic design software free or any of the best graphic design software for beginners online. A good graphic design will give you better chances to get noticed. But it can get complicated for newbies to get started. This is why I have created a review on some of the best graphic design software in 2021!
Burst
Burst is an image-hosting database that offers hundreds of professionally-taken public domain photographs. Images on Burst come with a creative commons zero license for free commercial use. This means the you can download professionally taken photographs for use in everything from marketing to web-graphics to print advertisements.
Finding quality photographs is no easy task. Shooting professional photographs on your own can be costly and time-consuming. If you’re a small business owner, you know that money and time are two things you can’t afford to waste.
You could pay for stock-photos, but with expensive licensing fees and complex legal requirements – purchasing stock photos can end up being more hassle than it’s worth. With Burst – you can browse stock photos, download them and upload them into your marketing materials – all in a couple of clicks.
Canva
Canva is a free graphic design tool that can be used to make everything from Facebook posts to album covers to advertorial posters. Offering a number of ready-made templates for things like marketing emails and social media posts – Canva has become an increasingly popular tool for non-experienced graphic designers looking to give their designs a more professional polish.
Canva’s strength is in its easy-to-use drag-and-drop design interface that allows users to select from millions of fonts, graphics, icons and photographs. With Canva, you can easily arrange elements onto a template to create professional-looking designs.
It’s wildly fun and incredibly easy to play around with text, images, icons, borders and shapes to create your own designs. Even if you’re not the creative type – Canva offers a number of ready-made, preloaded professional templates with fully-customizable text and formatting options.
Pixlr
You can either use Pixlr locally on your computer or on the web, which gives you some flexibility for creating things offline.
This tool isn’t as easy as Canva, but your imagination is the limit.
GIMP
Often regarded by most experts as a free alternative to Photoshop, GNU Image Manipulation Program GIMP is a graphic design tool created for image composition, photo retouching, and image authoring. Its interface is similar to that of Photoshop, making it easy to use for those familiar with adobe photoshop.
Perhaps the only major drawback of this software is that it contains a few glitches and bugs and is slower than adobe photoshop.
Crello
This very affordable video and graphic design software is perfect for anyone looking to create a business card, flyer, logos, animated graphics, and brochures. With over 18,000 templates, Crello makes it easy to design your preferred graphic. Also, there are free tutorials on Coello’s website that guides beginners. Crello’s pro version goes for AU$10.84 per month and allows for collaboration on projects. However, you may choose to use the free version, which has limited features.
Vectr
If you’re looking for free online graphic design software that you can use to create graphics, Vectr could be a great option. You can use it online on a web browser or download its program. The software is ideal for creating resumes, typographic logos, business cards, memes, social media headers, etc.
One of Vectr’s best features is the ability to share URLs in real-time. This means you can work in teams to create your desired graphics. However, you will need to have an account to create and save your work.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a free online photo editing tool that can be used on any desktop computer or through a mobile app. While there are paid versions of the app with more features – the free version still offers a ton of basic photo-editing and touch-up tools.
From PicMonkey’s use interface, you can upload your own photos, crop them to your liking, adjust their brightness and contrast, add filters and a whole lot more. My personal favorite feature to PicMonkey is the portrait editing capabilities. PicMonkey has special portrait touch-up tools to fix blemishes, remove wrinkles, reduce shine, boost blush and more. Professional photo-editing can be costly and time-consuming – but with PicMonkey you can give your photographs a professional edge in a matter of minutes.
Piktochart
Infographics have become one of the most widely used tools for businesses and organizations in both digital and print media. You can attribute this popularity to the convenience of using infographics. They’re a clear, effective and artistic way to present data without losing the attention of your reader. With internet-users being bombarded by information and attention spans steadily decreasing – infographics are quickly becoming the modern tool for presenting information in a fun and interesting way.
Professional-looking infographics can be tricky to create with expensive graphic design software – and that’s where Piktochart comes in. With Piktochart – you can create beautifully-designed infographics using a ready-made templates and your own data sets that you can input manually or import it from a spreadsheet program. Piktochart makes it easy for any business owner to present their info in fun and interesting way without having any prior knowledge of graphic design.
Coolors
Any graphic designer will be able to tell you about the importance of color when it comes to branding. It’s nearly impossible to think about an iconic brand like McDonalds and not think of the bright, golden-yellow arches accented by a vibrant red background.
The truth is that graphic designers make very calculated decisions about which colors to use. Professionals have spent years studying – not just color harmony in design – but the psychological triggers associated with certain colors and ways to make an audience experience a certain mood based on the colour palette being used.
Without being a professional – simple design decisions like which colors to use together can seem daunting. That’s where Coolors comes in handy. Coolors is a free tool that allows you to upload any image and automatically generate a harmonized color scheme by sampling colors in the image. From there – you have the option to save your color palette or make adjustments to one or more of the colors in your pallette and auto-generate complementary colors. This means you can create complex, harmonious color-schemes without having any sort of graphic design experience.
Lucidpress
This is free-to-use graphic design software that runs in your browser. The software allows you to create videos, newsletters, posters, business cards, flyers, brochures, and magazines. Its ease of use makes it perfect for beginners and non-designers. Lucidpress’s main disadvantage is the absence of a comprehensive image library.
Conclusion:
Graphic design isn’t easy, but it is an interesting field to break into if you’ve got an eye for detail, an understanding of technology and the ability to work under pressure. To break into the world of graphic design, you need basic graphic design software that will allow you to create your own designs and display them in a cohesive way.