There are tens if not hundreds of different graphic design software programs available on the market today. I’ve taken the time to create a list of the best free basic graphic design software for new designers. Go ahead and check out my list and see what is right for you.
Here are the best free basic graphic design software out there!
Sketch
Best for prototypes and vector-based sketching
Sketch is a convenient vector-based tool for graphic design that’s available both as a web-based solution or a downloadable app. If you’re planning on designing an interactive prototype, or you want to sketch some plans of a new product, this is the product for you.
Key Features:
- Intuitive interface: Either online or on your desktop, the Sketch interface remains intuitive and convenient, with a clean layout. It’s easy to find components that you want to drag and drop into place, or experiment with layers.
- Design assistance: If you’re not used to designing mockups, then Sketch can help with giving you a helpful nudge in the right direction. There’s a library of artboard templates to work from, and grids or “snap” functionality to lock elements in place.
- Custom plugins: you can add plugins to the Sketch experience with help from the surrounding community and customize your workflow with native integrations too.
- Collaboration: You’ll have the option to share your designs with anyone you choose online through a cloud-based platform. It’s easy to test ideas this way.
What we like:
- Quick collaborative mockups: Mocking up designs and prototypes over the cloud is quick and simple. The collaborative environment works really well, with an activity feed that shows you what other designers have done.
- Extensions: It’s nice to have access to a range of additional developer plugins and tools. There are assistants that can help you to spot design issues, and plugins that can automate parts of your work.
- Libraries: You can download a bunch of libraries with iOS icons, and common solutions for user-interface design.
What we dislike:
- It’s really just for prototypes and UI design, not for photo editing
- There are limited illustration capabilities, and low support for high resolution
Pricing: Yearly subscriptions start at $99 per year.
Canva
What is the best free app for graphic design? Canva, as it is available at Web, iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. It is a fantastic graphic design software choice for beginners and professionals looking to create complex art projects in minutes. From designing creative ad copy to graphic design and visual art, Canva can be easily used for different graphic requirements. The simple navigation and the user-friendly, sleek interface make it even more remarkable.
Key features:
- Collaboration: Using Canva, you can edit in real-time with your teammates from any device.
- Snapshot Straightening: This feature allows you to sharpen your project by squaring up the photos.
- Drag and Drop Speech Bubble: Now, you can add speech bubbles to your images with a simple drag and drop option.
Pricing:
- Free
- Pro – US $119.99/year
- Enterprise – US $30.00/month per person
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Super easy to use | ➖ Cannot create unique objects |
| ➕ Easily change text, fonts, layouts, and colors | ➖ Generic templates and photos |
| ➕ Design from existing templates | ➖ Hard to use on smaller screens |
Infinite Design
Infinite Design is an easy-to-use graphic crafting mobile application available only on Android. With a convenient pen tool and the designer’s creativity in action, users can freely draw graphics from eye-catching designs to complex arts with ease. The app offers freedom to designers with an infinite canvas to experiment with features and create exceptional beauties.
Key features:
- Transform tool: Translate, Scale, Rotate, Flip, Distort, and Skew the graphic.
- Rotate and flip the canvas: Not just the image but the whole canvas can rotate.
- Automatic shape detection: This software can detect the shape of the object automatically.
- Grid for reference or snapping: Grid lets users have full control over editing.
- Vectorize: This feature turns any image into fully editable vector paths.
Pricing:
- Free
- In-app purchases for additional features
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Easy to learn and use | ➖ Must purchase in-app features |
| ➕ Convenient pen tool | |
| ➕ Can draw 3D cityscapes | |
| ➕ Import and export SVG graphics |
Adobe Illustrator
Illustrator is not only good as a vector drawing tool but it is also a fantastic tool for logo design, creating complex illustrations for videos or mobile and playing with illustrated typography design. This software comes with its own plugins that helps in changing a blank surface into a brilliant looking web page. Adobe’s Illustrator can be called the graphic designer’s right-hand. From using various Illustrator tools like paint for curves, strokes and fills you can always add more natural look to your vector artwork through this software. Even when the graphic designer responsibilities are not static in today’s world Illustrator can help him complete his varied role by offering a complete package within itself. It’s not at all difficult to use Illustrator and with little effort you can be a master from a beginner.
GIMP
You can use GIMP to produce professional looking, high quality graphics on a budget. GMP expands to GNU Image Manipulation Program and is a good alternative to Photoshop and the set of professional tools make it suitable not just for graphic designers but for other technological fields like camera, production as well. The best thing about GIMP is that if you have even slight knowledge of Photoshop, you can bring your illustrations from Photoshop and enhance it. For beginners, this can be the most easily available trial hand as it’s absolutely free and powerful open-source graphics manipulation tool that can be used for everything from digital painting to photo manipulation and clean up. It is sometimes called the free Photoshop. It might not have all the extensive features still for a beginner it will be a great experience. You won’t take time to learn its functions, and there are a lot of extra tools you can use to learn better step by step.
CorelDraw
Are you a beginner in the design world looking for good graphics editor that gives you the ability to paint your ideas into reality without any restrictions? If so, you must check out CorelDraw, a vector graphics editor, that can be the simplest graphics software for every beginner. CorelDraw has some cool tools and functions and such an ease of use that within days you can hone your editing skills. Even professionals swear by this software and it’s very similar to Photoshop in the execution of tasks. Recently, CorelDRAW has also included extrusion features that enable to application depth to an object and rotate it interactively. These additional features can make the learning process for beginners even more fun.
Adobe Indesign
This software can give you the confidence to craft and edit print-ready documents like a pro. InDesign is the most preferred software for beginner use and helps you create clean layouts for desktop and mobile devices alike. The varied feature that comes with InDesign can make every designer’s work fun. If you are a beginner still trying to learn basic design skills then this software is ideal to use as it’s packed with unbelievable features. Whether you want to create simple cards, create pocket folders, make an impressive brochure, create a layout fast, bind books, create a pamphlet, make a nice calendar or make powerful business cards Indesign can be a one-stop solution for all your needs. Every beginner should give it a try before diving into the ocean of professional graphic design.
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, you can download it here.
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.
Blender
Best for 3D creation
Platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS
Blender is unlike many of the free graphic design software listed here because it’s focused on open source 3D creation. It can be used for rendering, modeling, sculpting, animation, 2D concept design, visual effects, simulation and more.
If you’re interested in making 3D graphics or clips, this is the free graphic design software for you. To check out a full list of the features available for free with Blender, visit the company’s website.
Blender is completely open-source, which means it’s free to use for any purpose. You can learn more about the software’s license online. If you’re ready to download Blender and try it out for yourself, visit the download page here. Unfortunately, the program isn’t available in your web browser, which means you will have to download the software in order to try it out.
Krita
Best for Drawing
Platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS
According to the Krita user manual, Krita is a sketching and painting program designed for digital artists. If you’re an illustrator looking for a free digital tool, Krita is one to check out.
You will have to download the software to try it out because there is no browser version available. To download Krita, visit this page. Be sure to check the system requirements before downloading because you will need the right version for your operating system as well as a good amount of storage on your device.
Once you download Krita, you’ll find that the interface is intuitive and customizable. You’ll also find a variety of free tools available including a selection of brushes and brush stabilizers, vector and text tools, a wrap-around mode for seamless textures and a simple 2D animation tool. For a full list of Krita’s features, check out the company’s website.
Pixlr
Best for Mobile editing
Platforms: Web browser, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Pixlr is another great free graphic design software worth checking out. There are different editors available including Pixlr X for quick and easy graphic design and Pixlr E for advanced photo editing. When I tried out Pixlr, I used Pixlr X. It included all of the basic features you’d need for graphic design including layouts, templates, text, effects, filters, additional elements and more.
One feature that stood out to me about PIxlr was the “Remove Background” tool. If you need to remove the background of an image, you can visit this page to use the tool. PIxlr’s templates are definitely another one of the editor’s highlights, and you’ll find plenty available for free. Pixlr’s templates include YouTube thumbnails, Instagram stories and other social media elements. You’ll also find PowerPoints, resumes, business cards, newsletters, invitations, photo collage templates and more.
You can use Pixlr to create or edit images in your web browser or you can download the desktop version of the software. If you’re more interested in using your mobile device for creating and editing graphics, you can also check out Pixlr Mobile. The app has a 3.7-star rating out of 1.1K reviews on The App Store and a 4.3-star rating out of 1.2M reviews on Google Play.
Daz 3D
Best for 3D animation, illustration and designing
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Daz 3D is an excellent free graphic design software especially for animators, illustrators and designers. The program focuses on 3D design and allows you to build scenes and characters from scratch or by using its extensive content library. In addition to images, you can also use Daz 3D to produce animations.
To get started, you’ll have to visit the website and create an account. Then, you’ll be able to download the software to your computer. Daz 3D is available for Windows and macOS devices. Unfortunately, you can’t use the software online and there isn’t a mobile app available, which means you’ll have to download it to your computer to use.
Still, there are tons of resources available for free online that can help you to get the most out of the free software. You can scroll over the “Community” tab at the top of the website to check out the gallery, forums and blog. Under the “Help” tab, you’ll find free video tutorials, Wiki documents and an FAQ section.
DesignWizard
Best for: Beginners
Platforms: Web browser
DesignWizard is a great free graphic design software to check out, especially for beginners. You’ll have to create an account to get started, but once you’re logged in, you’ll find the entire editor available online with a simple, intuitive interface. It’s easy to start designing right away with one of the company’s templates, or you can start with a blank canvas to begin building your graphic from scratch.
DesignWizard lets you resize an image, add text or shapes, upload and edit images or browse templates and stock photos. You can browse templates by social media site, what’s trending, event invitations, business type, logos and more. You can also check out tutorials and frequently asked questions directly from the editor for help and inspiration.
The basic version of DesignWizard is available for free with pay-as-you-go image and video downloads. There’s also a Pro version of the software available for $9.99/month ($99/year) and a Business version for $49.99/month ($449/year). While some of the more advanced features aren’t available with the free basic version, it should have all you need to get started and make simple edits.
Photopea
Best for: Professional online editing
Platforms: Web browser
Photopea is a free graphic design software that’s great for both beginners and professionals. The program is completely online, which means you won’t have to download any software to your computer to try it out. Just visit the website and create a new project or open a file from your computer to get started.
The interface itself is really similar to Photoshop. You can customize the layout a little by hiding and extending the toolbars, but if you aren’t already familiar with the available tools, it may not be intuitive to use. But if you’ve ever used Photoshop, you’ll be able to navigate the editor easily.
In addition to creating a project from scratch or uploading a file from your computer, you can also click on “PSD templates” for inspiration. At the time of writing, there were more than 100 templates available for social media, mock-ups, mobile designs, and more.
Conclusion
There are plenty of great free graphic design software programs out there for a new designer to get started with, but as time marches on and you start growing and getting more clients, you have to upgrade to some sophisticated programs. Many designers will recommend GraphicRiver for all your Free Graphic Design Software needs.