Have you ever been frustrated with graphic designing? What’s your dream? Do you want to learn best free online graphic design software? Or maybe you are wondering likely the best free graphic design software is? Check out my simple guide to learn the best online graphic design software. Also, it shows you top software for graphic designers.
Graphic designing is not everyone’s cup of tea. The fact is, it’s a lot easier to create and edit images with help of some simple software for graphic designers, than when using a regular graphic design application. And when it comes to trying the right one, there are lots of options to choose from. Dealing with this set of applications can be overwhelming, especially if you’re just getting started with designing and creating your own graphics. That’s why we’ve created this great list of top ten best software for graphic designers.
BeFunky:
BeFunky introduces itself as an all-in-one platform for those who want to create graphic designs, easily edit photos, and make photo collages. Although it has various pro features in its Plus version, the free version appeals to your essential photo editing and visual creating needs properly. BeFunky brings over a million free stock images presented by Pixabay, Pexels and Unlash alongside thousands of vector graphics.
The creators of BeFunky’s root idea is creating a graphic design tool to keep it as simple as possible to design a project from scratch and it works well! Every single detail is designed for someone who has never experienced graphic design software before. As you can even design on the go thanks to BeFunky’s mobile app, it scores points.
Gravit Designer:
Pros
- A huge library of vector assets
- Intuitive user interface and workflow
- The browser and cross-platform versions are connected to the cloud
Cons
- It will become paid in the future
- Lack of additional functions
The developers of Gravit Designer software offer many possibilities. This is something between Inkscape and Vectr.
It has more functions than Vectr and is as intuitive as Inkscape. This program allows you to do everything that you expect from a vector software and have some tools typically available in digital asset management software for photographers.
You can create curves, edit paths, manage layers and use the knife function. It supports SVG, PDF, JPEG, SKETCH and since recently, EPS formats for import and export too. Besides, you can work on your projects on different platforms.
Gravit Cloud provides a smooth transfer of files between desktop and online versions. A portable version of this software is also available.
Among other useful functions of Gravit, there are vector assets available. The library of Gravit Designer assets includes badges, forms, emojis and illustrations that can be combined and modified for commercial and non-commercial use.
Canva:
Best for: Social media graphics
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, iOS
Canva launched in 2013 and has since become a very popular online design and publishing tool. In fact, this is the software that Team Clark uses to create a lot of the graphics we post on social media!
Canva offers a free version that includes everything you’ll need to start designing. With it, you’ll get access to more than 250,000 free templates and more than 100 design types including social media posts, presentations, letters and more. You’ll also be able to use hundreds of thousands of free photos and graphics, collaborate on projects with members of your team and save your work with 5GB of free Cloud storage.
You can create a free account to begin using Canva online directly in your web browser. You can also download the desktop app for your Mac or Windows device. Canva also offers highly-rated apps on The App Store and Google Play for your iOS or Android device.
Vectr:
Best for: Collaborative projects
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Web Browser
Vectr is a free graphics software that lets you create vector graphics using a simple platform. Vectr is available as a downloadable program, or you can use the software online in your web browser.
The website includes a variety of helpful tutorials ranging from how to get started to creating beautiful professional presentations. You can also use the software to create business cards, typographic logos, social media headers, memes, resumes and more. In addition to the tutorials, you can also check out Vectr’s user guide for a more comprehensive description of how to use the software.
Perhaps one of the best features that Vectr provides is real-time URL sharing. You can send anyone a Vectr document for real-time collaboration online. You can create and edit designs live from both the web app or the desktop version. This makes it a great tool for collaborating with others on projects.
Inkscape:
Best for: Professional quality vector graphics
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
According to Inkscape’s website, the software was created for designers of all kinds including those in marketing and branding, engineering/CAD, web graphics, cartooning and for individual uses. You can get started by downloading the software to your Linux, Windows or macOS device.
When I first downloaded Inkscape, the interface reminded me of Microsoft Paint. This made it really intuitive to use, and all of the features are available for free. According to the website, those features include object creation, object manipulation, fill and stroke features, operations on paths, text support, rendering and a variety of file formats.
There are tons of resources available on Inkscape’s website under the “Learn” tab including an FAQ section, tutorials, books/manuals and a guide to how to use Inkscape for animation. Users also have access to Inkscape’s community which includes user support and discussions in the form of chat, forums and more.
SVG-Edit:
Best for: Basic online editing
Platforms: Any web browser
SVG-Edit is a web-based drawing editor that works in any modern web browser. The code to the program is completely open-source, which means you can download and edit the program’s code itself, embed it into your own website and more. Of course, even if you aren’t interested in coding, you can just visit this website to use the basic editor online for free.
As you can tell from the program’s title, the editor specializes in creating and editing scalable vector graphics (SVG) images. This is one of the most popular graphics formats. Still, you can export your finished images as PNG, JPEG, BPM, WEBP or PDF files as well.
SVG-Edit looks a lot like Microsoft Paint, and it’s great for similar simple tasks. You’ll find basic tools that allow you to create and edit images including a digital pencil, shape tools, text tools, a color picker and more. You can use the tools to create a basic graphic from scratch, or if you need to make simple edits to a graphic or image, SVG-Edit may be the best basic online editor. Of course, if you have a more complicated project, this editor may not be enough.
GIMP:
Best for: Free Photoshop alternative
Platforms: GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows
If you’re looking for a free alternative to Photoshop, GIMP is a graphic design software worth checking out. While you can’t use the software online, it can be downloaded to Linux, OS X or Windows computers.
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It’s a free software that was designed for photo retouching, image composition and image authoring, according to the website. The interface is really similar to Adobe’s Photoshop, so if you’re already familiar with the tools and shortcuts, using GIMP will be easy.
You can get started by checking out the tutorials online which include beginner basics, photo editing tips, painting guides and more. If you’re ready to try out the software yourself.
Conclusion:
If you are into graphic designing, you must be having a near to expert knowledge of most of the graphic designing software and techniques. A lot of technology-enabled creative agencies out there use software for their required designing tasks.