If you’re a beginner then graphic designing can be a bit tricky. There are so many software’s out there and it can get overwhelming. The one thing that has always helped me to start learning is free software. Free design software is better because there’s no investment of time or money. If you don’t like it, then you can simply use something else.
You should be able to find some of the best free design software listed below.
Canva
Canva is a powerful, free graphic design tool that’s perfect for social media design elements. Canva’s templates take the guesswork out of appropriate sizes for each social media platform. Canva is great for simple projects that give your social media posts a creative boost.
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As with any free tool, the options are limited if you’re creating a large number of graphics or you need them to be highly customized. But it’s an excellent tool for creating Facebook or Pinterest graphics to promote your blog content.
DesignWizard
DesignWizard is similar to Canva, but includes all of its available tools in the free version. With over 10,000 free templates, you can easily create digital items such as social media posts and YouTube channel art, as well as print items like gift certificates and sales posters.
DesignWizard has a library of over 1.2 million images, videos, illustrations, and graphics for your use. You can also upload fonts, photos, and logos, create custom color palettes and resize designs so every final product is unique to your brand.
Piktochart
Infographics are powerful and shareable. In a little over two years, infographic search volumes increased over 800 percent. We know infographics get the job done, but not everyone has the design know-how to create them.
Piktochart gives non-designers the ability to create basic infographics without relying on powerful design software like InDesign. Choose from 400 templates, icons and graphics to get your message across.
While nothing can replace the expertise of a designer when it comes to creating a compelling infographic, Piktochart is a solid platform to start learning on if you want to understand what goes into the creation of an infographic.
Keep in mind that these are templates, and templates have limitations.
If you want something 100 percent unique to your organization, start from scratch with the help of a designer who understands the strategy behind creating an effective infographic.
Here’s an example of an infographic created in Piktochart.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is your go-to free online tool if you work with photography in any capacity. Quickly resize, crop and color-correct your photos. It doesn’t have as many templates and free design elements as Canva, but it’s a powerful and quick way to do basic photo editing and design without having to download software.
If you use PicMonkey frequently, upgrade to the premium version for access to more fonts and tools.
Pixlr
Pixlr’s free online image editor allows you to edit your photos with over 600 overlays, effects and borders. It’s available as an application on iOS and Android. It’s popular with Instagram users and photography buffs who haven’t quite leveled up to using pricey photo editing software.
You’ll get the most out of this tool if you enjoy editing photos before you share them, but it isn’t the most powerful option if you’re building shareable graphics.
PhotoWorks
PhotoWorks is a smart photo editor for PC that hits the perfect balance between user-friendliness and impressive functionality. Designed for both newbies and pros, this software offers all the essential photo editing features, along with some niche tools.
Perhaps the biggest appeal of PhotoWorks is its content-aware AI that significantly simplifies the editing process of both landscapes and portraits. Supporting over 450 RAW formats, this photo editing software boasts a clear, intuitive interface and a wide range of tools – from basic to pro-level – aimed at turning your lackluster shot into eye candy.
PhotoWorks is refreshingly undemanding when it comes to hardware, operating smoothly even on low-spec computers. It offers non-destructive editing, an array of one-click effects, but does not shy away from old-school manual adjustments as well.
One of the brightest features of PhotoWorks is its portrait retouching. Thanks to PhotoWorks’ advanced face-recognition technology and a library of beautifying presets, this photo editor turns a tedious retouching routine into a one-click thing — without sacrificing the quality of the end result.
The Face Sculpt feature is yet another tool that takes portrait retouching to the next level, as it allows to tweak the model’s facial features if they have been warped by bad lighting or a weird shooting angle.
Notable PhotoWorks Features Include:
- AI-driven auto-correction based on the photo’s genre
- Portrait auto retouch and face sculpting tool
- Easy background change, removal, or blurring
- 180+ artistic filters: HDR, vintage, Color splash, etc.
- Color grading tools and a library of 3D LUT presets
- Odd objects removal in a few brushstrokes
- Smart cropping, perspective, and lens distortion correction
| PROS | CONS |
| Undemanding hardware-wise | Only for Windows |
| Requires little time to master | Subpar layer tools |
| Supports 450+ RAW formats | Does not support PSD format |
| AI-driven editing and retouching | Now drawing tools |
| Pro-level tools like Curves, Radial filter | Some tools like Adjustment brush can be slow |
| An abundance of tutorial available online | ⚠️ Free trial does not allow you to save or download your work. |
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is a powerful Photoshop alternative that’s a great choice for photographers who want to create HDR images, create panoramas, or do focus stacking.
Affinity Photo is part of a trio of apps by Serif that includes Affinity Designer (an Illustrator alternative) and Affinity Publisher (their answer to InDesign). Users who are familiar with Photoshop will find Affinity Photo’s layout to feel like second nature. They look and feel very similar — and the software is the most similar in terms of usability and features, too.
One thing that Affinity Photo has that you won’t find in Photoshop is a dedicated frequency separation filter — a pretty neat feature for those who do a lot of this type of editing. Affinity Photo is also the first pro-level photo editing app to work across Windows, Mac, and iPad, so you can edit the same file across all of your devices. Photoshop finally released an iPad version in 2019, but with limited features.
Just like Photoshop, Affinity Photo supports layers, so you can do non-destructive editing. This is a major advantage over some of the other options on the market. However, it lacks in some of the advanced editing tools that its major competitor boasts.
The other downside is that there’s no built-in file management system like you get with Lightroom.
Notable Affinity Photo Features Include:
- Supports RAW files
- Tools for HDR, panorama stitching, and focus stacking
- Batch processing
- Import PSD files
- Layer-based, non-destructive editing
- Single-price, no monthly subscription
- Supports various file types on import and export
| PROS | CONS |
| Similar in look & feel to Photoshop | Not as many advanced features as Ps |
| One time cost, free lifetime updates | No image file management system |
| Many retouching tools and filters | Can be slow with very large files |
| Built-in lens corrections | |
| Huge brush library | |
| Powerful text tools |
Get Started With Affinity Photo
Luminar AI
Luminar AI is a revolutionary new type of photo editing software that uses artificial intelligence to speed up the editing process. It is geared toward landscape and portrait photographers.
Luminar AI is unlike any of the other Photoshop alternatives that made it onto our list. The developers at Skylum, Luminar’s parent company, took a non-conventional approach to photo-editing with this version of Luminar — it’s fully powered by artificial intelligence. What that means, is Luminar can automatically detect and mask parts of the image (like the sky, hair, skin, or eyes) that you would normally have to do manually.
At the heart of Luminar AI’s technology are Templates. They are basically like presets or filters, but the software chooses them based on your photo. Artificial intelligence studies your image and suggests the best templates that would work with that image. Of course, you can alter each template to suit your taste.
Luminar AI excels at sky replacements, body slimming, eye enhancements, adding fog to landscapes, and more. Honestly, some of the things it can do are jaw-dropping!
However, as a standalone app, Luminar does fall short in other areas. For example, there is no layer-based editing. You can’t compare images side by side, and there’s no batch editing. For this reason, many photographers use the plugin version of Luminar AI along with Photoshop.
Notable Luminar AI Features Include:
- Makes advanced edits easy enough for beginners
- AI automatically detects and masks parts of the image
- Jaw-dropping sky replacements
- Fantastic portrait editing tools
- Supports RAW files
- Available for Windows or Mac
- Standalone app or plugin for Photoshop
| PROS | CONS |
| User-friendly, easy to use | No layer-based editing |
| One time cost, free updates | High system requirements |
| Excellent for landscapes and portraits | Missing many advanced features of Ps |
| Time-saving |
Capture One
Capture One is a sophisticated program that is Lightroom’s biggest rival. If you do most of your editing in Lightroom and are looking to break away from Adobe, this just might be the answer.
Capture One is widely regarded as the best alternative to Lightroom, without the hefty monthly subscription payment. It’s a comprehensive image management software and photo editor from Phase One, manufacturers of high-end cameras.
Capture One isn’t as beginner-friendly as some of the other programs on our list. New users may find the interface challenging to use at first. However, it can be customized to suit your needs. And, there are plenty of free tutorials to help get you started.
Capture One, at its core, is all about image management — and that’s where it excels. However, this list is about Photoshop alternatives, so we’ll focus on the variety of image editing tools the software includes.
The software does allow for editing RAW files, it offers layers-based editing, lens correction, levels and curves adjustments, spot removal and cloning, and color grading. The program is available for Windows PC or macOS.
Notable Capture One Features Include:
- Efficient file management system
- Renders Fuji and Sony RAW files better than Lightroom
- Best Lightroom alternative
- Create your own keyboard shortcuts for tools
- Customize the interface to suit your own needs
| PROS | CONS |
| No subscription required | Interface is difficult for new users |
| Discount for Fuji and Sony users | No advanced retouching tools |
| Excellent RAW rendering | No panorama, HDR |
| Supports layers-based editing | No layer blend modes |
| Advanced color grading |
ON1 Photo RAW
ON1 Photo RAW is a strong competitor for a Lightroom/Photoshop alternative. It’s got some excellent presets and even allows for the use of some Photoshop plugins.
ON1 Photo RAW is similar to Lightroom Classic. You get an image management system with a powerful RAW processor and a Develop module that gives you access to all the typical photo adjustments, like exposure, luminance, and sharpening. Users who are used to Lightroom will have an easy time making the switch, as the interfaces are similar.
On the other hand, if you’re more familiar with Photoshop, you’ll like the layers-based editing you get with ON1. It’s even got the ability to add text! Unlike Photoshop, however, all edits with ON1 are non-destructive.
Like Luminar AI, ON1 also incorporates a number of artificial intelligence options, including AI Auto Tone and AI Match, although they don’t seem to work as well as the competition.
ON1 Photo RAW supports RAW files and, in fact, its RAW photo rendering is considered by some to be even better than Lightroom! But, what ON1 is really known for is its filters and effects. Besides the standard curves and vignette, it also has others, like Grunge and Sunshine, to broaden your creative edits.
Notable ON1 Photo RAW Features Include:
- Proprietary photo enlargement tool ON1 Resize is worth the price alone
- Basically does the job of Lightroom and Photoshop in one
- Artificial Intelligence features for portrait and landscapes
- Works with some Photoshop plugins
- Includes HDR, focus stacking, and panorama stitching
| PROS | CONS |
| Single purchase option | Cataloging not very sophisticated |
| Non-destructive editing | Sync option requires subscription |
| RAW rendering even better than Adobe | Ties up bandwidth on computer |
| Supports layers-based editing | Doesn’t work with older macOS |
| Lots of creative filters and effects |
Conclusion
You can easily get started with graphic design using just one of these programs. The rest are simply extras that you can try out or ignore as you please, based on your preferred use of the program. However, as a beginning designer, I recommend getting started with Sketch or Ai at first. You’ll find more than enough features to be productive, and it will give you time to decide what else might help you be even more efficient in your workflow.