Have you ever needed to design a cool poster or logo for one of your projects? If so, you’ve probably know how hard it is to find the right software. In this article, I’m going to talk about some of the best graphic design software you can use when you want to create cool t-shirts, posters, or logos. After reading this article, you’ll know more about some of the most popular and easy to use graphic design software.
Here are the best easy to use software for graphic design.
Affinity
Best for affordable drawing
Most people consider Affinity to be the budget-friendly version of illustrator. It’s easy to see why. Like illustrator, there’s a lot of functionality to experiment with, like easy color swatching and a grid system so you can ensure you’re creating your designs at just the right scale. Affinity also shares Illustrator’s “snap” function to allow you to lock elements in place.
Key Features:
- Works anywhere: Affinity works with Mac, iPad, Windows, and other operating systems, so you can design wherever you like.
- Grid and snapping: Create a grid system to help you make the most of your angles and spacing or create a more intuitive layout. Snapping ensure you can lock products into position.
- Multiple environments: You can work in both pixel and vector art environments without having to jump between applications.
- Workflow tools: This is a product designed for productivity. You get access to a ton of features like saveable histories and keyboard shortcuts.
What we like:
- Lightweight speed: Unlike Illustrator, Affinity doesn’t take up a huge amount of space on your computer. You can pan and zoom at 60FPS, access live previews and enjoy features with smooth speed.
- Flexibility: Make designs as simple or complex as you like. The Affinity Designer has an engine that can genuinely handle hundreds of objects with no lag. The company advertises “thousands”, but we didn’t put that to the test.
- Live outlines and grids: It’s easy to create accurate designs when you can create live outlines and grids to suit you.
What we dislike:
- Some limitations on your exporting options for files (no AI)
- No artificial intelligence enhancements like with Illustrator
Pricing: A one-time fee of $49.99 is all you need to pay.
Xara Designer Pro X
Best for web and print
Xara promises to be one of the world’s fastest graphic design software tools, and it does quite well in that regard. Whether you’re building advanced design elements like web pages, or you’re just editing components of your visual portfolio, Xara has you covered.
This product is also somewhat more intuitive than some of the other design products on the market because of its flexible layout and interface.
Features:
- Complete all-in-one platform: Xara aims to bring all of the design products you need together in one space to save you more time and money. You’ll have a suite of products for web graphics, photo editing, and illustrations in one place.
- Drag and drop: A drag and drop interface makes any kind of editing or creation super intuitive. It’s also much easier to leverage the direct-action tools which help you to speed through your projects, such as gradient filling, or transparency.
- Undo/Redo: You can roll back through your changes as often as you like and zoom in by 25,000% to see the most granular details of your designs.
- Collaboration: Like many pieces of leading graphic design software, you can collaborate on projects with your team through Xara’s cloud functionality.
- Text handling: Full word processing style control over all your text, perfect for online publications and website pages.
What we like:
- Straightforward web design: Designing online pages is quick and easy with page layout tools and text control that combines with drag-and-drop functionality. You’ll get projects done a lot faster with this tech.
- Cloud capabilities: The ability to upload your content to the cloud and share it with colleagues is a nice touch, particularly for hybrid teams.
- Tons of file formats: You can sync files with your Google Drive or Dropbox, as well as Adobe PSD, or export in a range of bitmap types and file formats.
- Convenient interface: You really can find everything you need in one environment, from blending for illustrations, to photo editing.
What we dislike:
- Not available outside of the Windows operating ststem
- Can be a bit exhausting in certain places. The masking feature feels clunky
Pricing: Lifetime license is available at $299.00. Additional version upgrades bringing latest features are available for an additional fee every few years.
Canva
Best for templates
What could be easier than building all of the graphics you need in a template format? Canva is a product built specifically for people with essentially no design knowledge at all. However, you can still create a huge selection of products here.
There are templates for social media, email marketing campaigns, events, and more. Plus, you’ll get access to a vast range of stock photos and graphic resources.
Key Features:
- Photo editing: Make simple changes to photos for your website, like adding effects or removing unwanted distortions. There are also filters for social media.
- Stock resources: Access extra creative content for your blogs, emails, and other marketing campaigns. There are millions of videos, photos, and templates available. A fraction of these resources are also free.
- Templates: Templates are one of the things that make Canva so appealing. With templates already pre-made for certain websites CMS environments or social media sites, you can’t go wrong with your designs.
- Drag-and-drop editor: The drag and drop editor is a breeze to use. You can work with videos, photos, elements, and templates in this environment. It’s quick and easy to access fonts and stickers, as well as visual effects and animations.
- Social scheduling: Schedule your posts to go live within your Canva account.
What we like:
- Simplicity: Canva is delightful to use. You can search for stock images and videos in seconds, drag and drop elements into place, and experiment with a huge range of filters and effects.
- Free plan: If you’re not sure how many visual assets you need yet, you can start with the free plan and work your way up.
- Versatile: You can create a lot of different kinds of graphics easily with Canva, including logos, Facebook posts, email marketing templates, and landing pages.
What we dislike:
- You don’t get the full control with Canva that you get with more advanced marketing tools. There aren’t as many layers as possible and advanced features to explore.
- Can be a little slow as a browser-based product.
Pricing: The free version supports up to 15 designs a month, with around 8,000 free templates. The pro version gives you access to hundreds of thousands of extra templates and resources for $99.99 per year.Try Canva
…or check out our Canva Review
Vectr
Best for in-browser editing
This graphic design software fits into two of our categories today. It’s free, and it’s easy to use for beginners. Vectr is a browser-based application that allows you to make basic graphic assets. You can edit layers of photos, design web pages, and access a range of tutorials to guide you.
Key Features:
- Web-based editing: There’s no need to download any dedicated software, because you can do everything in your browser. You’ll also be able to share documents in real-time for collaboration purposes.
- Scalable vectors: Vectr allows you to scale vectors to any size without compromising on clarity. There are both Vector and Raster options available.
- Cross-platform performance: You can sync your Vectr account across multiple platforms and download an app for your desktop.
- Knowledge guide: Vectr offers a range of tutorials and educational resources to help you learn how to use the software.
What we like:
- Accessibility: Since you can access Vectr on the web, you don’t have to worry if you don’t have a lot of space on your laptop or PC for extra software.
- Collaboration: The ability to work alongside your colleagues makes Vectr feel like a more professional tool, though syncing can be slow at times.
- Support: Vectr doesn’t just give companies access to a simple tool for graphic design, it teaches them how to get started too.
What we dislike:
- Very limited capabilities: There aren’t nearly as many features here as you’d get on a premium app. Photo and image editing is basic.
- Slow at times: Particularly when you’re using the service online, it can be quite slow.
Pricing: Free to use
Conclusion
Now that you have an idea of the many options available and their main pros and cons, it is time to make a choice. The first thing that you should do is identify your specific needs. Specifically, determine if you need great design software for a beginner, free graphic design software or any other category of the design software listed above. In addition, ask yourself if you are willing to spend some money on your new graphic design software or if you would rather download something for free.