What are the best graphic design software /free graphic design software for beginners? It can be overwhelming trying to learn graphic editing. There’s a sea of options out there, and it often takes a few tries to find a graphics software that suits you. There’s no need to fret though.
I have compiled what I believe to be easy to use, cost-effective (free) desktop photo editing programs anyone can use.
Adobe Photoshop
Best for professionals
Perhaps the best-known of all graphic design software tools, Adobe Photoshop is the go-to tool for 90% of the world’s creative professionals.
Photoshop is the number one solution for graphic design, offering access to everything from photo editing and retouching capabilities to sensational brushes and textures. If you want to let your creative side shine, Adobe will give you the power to do that at a scale that adapts to you.
Key Features:
- Advanced photo editing: Retouch, replace, and remix your photos with movable objects, powerful editing tools, and smart features for effects.
- Simple control: Transform photos and illustrations with one-click selections, unlimited layers, and easy masking.
- Thousands of customized brushes: Create any texture or design you can imagine with the world’s largest collection of brushes.
- Preset syncing: Set your preferences on any device, so you can work on projects on your laptop, desktop, tablet, and more.
- Collaboration: Work with others on the same Photoshop designs, with a handy “sharing” tab.
- Learn the ropes: Access tons of tutorials, videos, and knowledgebase articles to help you master Photoshop.
- Creative cloud: Access everything from content-aware crop, to artboards, face-aware liquify, design space views, synced libraries and more on the creative cloud.
What we like:
- An ever-improving interface: Photoshop is constantly updating to offer a more immersive design experience with several targeted workspace layouts for photography, painting, graphic design, web management and more.
- Rich range of tools: Access to the full creative cloud means there’s no limit to what you can accomplish with Photoshop. You can even edit animation and video layers.
- Adapt to suit you: Change the size of your canvas, create custom brushes, access content in 3D, or isolate elements in layers.
- Efficient file management: Easily transfer files between programs, access them on different devices, or share them with friends.
What we dislike:
- Quite expensive when you consider the full cost of creative cloud.
- A hefty learning curve for beginners, thanks to countless features
- Less support for vector and raster images.
Pricing: Photoshop is available as a single app subscription for $20.99 per month, or you can access the full creative cloud for more functionality.
Adobe InDesign
Best for digital publications
Adobe InDesign is another component of the Photoshop Creative Cloud library. You can purchase this product on its own or as part of the full Adobe creative set. If you’re publishing online publications, design brochures, or creating info sheets, then InDesign is the tool for you.
Adobe InDesign delivers industry-leading software that’s designed to abide by all the rules of your print and digital media creations. You can create interactive PDFs, posters, and even books.
Key Features:
- Easy access to stock imagery: Access a host of royalty-free content for your ebook, magazine, or other digital creation as part of the package.
- Collaborate: Share content and feedback with your team on the designs you build. You can share your projects in seconds and add annotations within each PDF.
- A range of formats: Build on the template that feels right for you. InDesign supports eBooks, and online documents that can combine text with video, audio, and animation.
- Intelligent design features: For the best presentations, Adobe is constantly updating its feature set. You can pinpoint a specific color in seconds and use subject-aware text wrapping to avoid clarity issues.
- Adobe fonts: InDesign will automatically find and activate all of the available Adobe fonts in your library, to make your content stand out.
What we like:
- Simplicity: Adobe InDesign is much easier to use than other Adobe products like Photoshop. It’s easy to add a range of features to your publication, including tags, anchor text frames, tables, captions, and more.
- HTML support: Adobe offers HTML exporting so you can easily share simple code with your colleagues during the web development process. You’ll also get functionality built into the app to assist with getting rid of DIV tags that aren’t necessary for your code.
- Industry standard: The fact that this product is the industry standard for publishing means you can find plenty of forum support and help out there to get you started.
- Connections to creative cloud: If you choose to do so, you can access InDesign and Photoshop at the same time, alongside other creative apps in the Creative Cloud.
What we dislike:
- This is a product designed for people who know how to build publications
- Quite expensive compared to other products
- PDF comment integration is a little clunky in places
Pricing: InDesign is available as a monthly subscription solution for $20.99. Full creative cloud subscriptions are $52.99 per month.Try Adobe InDesign
Corel Draw
Best for digital illustration
Corel Draw is a comprehensive graphics suite for Windows users. If you’re a fan of digital illustration, or you’re creating content for things like online video games, this is probably the go-to product for you.
There’s a bunch of extra features like progressive image editing, and enhanced color replacement, which is great when you want to add your brand colors to content.
Key Features:
- Content exchange: The community experience is probably one of the most exciting things about Corel Draw. You’ll get access to a digital library where you can browse through thousands of photos, images, templates, fonts, and interactive frames when you sign up.
- Collaboration: Corel Draw ensures you don’t waste time on complex projects by bring your team members closer together. It’s easy to connect on designs and annotate projects in real-time. There’s also a handy comments section with a search function.
- Vector illustration: As mentioned above, Corel Draw is a big deal for vectors and illustration. You can easily create a range of shapes and lines, and use effects like blend and contour to bring ideas to life.
- Custom UI: Recreate your interface to suit your preferences. The customizable desktop UI comes with options to resize your icons, and keep your window borders a certain color. You can even toggle between multi and single-page views.
What we like:
- Great for productivity: The collaborative and productivity features on Corel Draw aren’t just there for show. This software really does make it easier to get connected and make progress on a shared project.
- Versatility: You can use Corel Draw on virtually device, including smooth drawing surfaces, laptops, and desktops.
- Tons of exporting options: You can export up to 48 different file types with Corel Draw, including PNG, JPG, and even CAD for 3D content.
- Huge community collection of assets: The collection of assets available is incredible. You can access fonts, templates, frames, photos, vectors, and brushes. Plus, there’s a full organized library system for keeping everything in the right place.
What we dislike:
- No app for your smartphone if you’re working on the move
- Does require a lot of initial learning due to the wide range of features
Pricing: You can access Corel Draw for free for 15 days, then upgrade to a full version for $474. There’s also an annual or monthly subscription if you don’t want to pay all at once.
Adobe Illustrator
Best for vector
Adobe really knows what they’re doing when it comes to design. Adobe Illustrator is the go-to solution for illustration. If you’re creating a new logo for your website, or designing a website with a fun, informal feel, this is the product for you.
All of your drawings are 100% scalable to suit any size, too.
Key Features:
- Exceptional customization: Adobe Illustrator flexes to suit your needs. You can access preset layouts and keep all of your files in the cloud, so there’s no need to worry if you need to switch to a different device.
- AI innovation: Adobe has implemented intelligence into the Illustrator application, and we’re not just talking about intuitive in-panel editing. Adobe Sensei can automatically extract specific shades from a photo and bring them into your image.
- Versatility: As mentioned above, you can create images at literally any size here. We’re talking huge billboard-style illustrations, or tiny decorations for a smartphone app. The system is also compatible with various OS options.
- Creative cloud link: You can connect Illustrator with the other features of Adobe’s Creative Cloud to access features through Photoshop, and similar products. The full cloud gives you more stock templates to work with, and graphics to unlock.
What we like:
- Intuitive experience: Everything about Adobe Illustrator feels like it was built to make your life easier. You can create full patterns with a single click and use AI enhancements to transform your project. It’s slick and streamlined
- Cloud sharing: Like most Adobe products, Illustrator is all about collaboration, you can store your documents in the cloud, share them with your colleagues, and work on everything together.
- Customer support: Aside from giving you a great user experience with the interface, Adobe also ensures that you can get the most out of your service with guides and tutorials.
What we dislike:
- It’s a pretty chunky application that requires a lot of bandwidth
- Costs a lot more than some basic vector and illustration options
Pricing: Available at a price of $9.99 for personal use, or $33.99 for enterprise use. You can also get it as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud.Try Adobe Illustrator
Conclusion
This is a great starting point, and be sure to check the comments below if you want to take your knowledge to another level. Finding the best graphic design software, however, can sometimes seem like a daunting task. That’s why we’ve decided to create this guide on graphic design software that make learning fun, fast and easy.