Software which provides for the creation of digital images, icons, animations and various two-dimensional vector graphic objects. This is done using drawing tablet with pen, a mouse or stylus with the help of the interface. It allows easily and at any time to create images in PNG, JPG, AI + format, which can be viewed on websites in terms of transparency. Applications are convenient for photo-retouch – it can reduce the amount of redeye or pimples on the skin. When removing dust or small artifacts it is possible to correct the color in the image by “paintbrush” method.
A must-have app for graphic designers. This app has all the fonts you would need ranging from accessible to really crazy ones. The fonts are either free or paid but this is a good collection of great quality fonts.
Canva
Canva is one of the most popular free design tools out there, and with its easy to use drag and drop functionality, great choice of templates and illustration options, it’s not hard to see why.
With Canva, it really doesn’t matter if you haven’t designed anything before as the straightforward drag and drop interface lets you add text, uploaded images or graphics from their extensive library anywhere onto your base design.
You can use Canva as a tool for creating the following content:
- Social Media: Canva has free templates to create beautiful Instagram and Facebook stories, posts and covers.
- Personal: Users can choose from a variety of invitations, cards, resumes, postcards and even t-shirts.
- Business: From presentations, websites, logos and invoices to business cards, Canva has it all.
- Marketing: There are also appealing templates if you need to create an infographic, posters, flyers, proposals or newsletters.
- Education: For all your educational content needs, Canva offers great lesson plan templates, certificates and class schedules.
Additionally, you can choose one of their preset sizes or select your own to ensure the finished graphic fits perfectly into the designated space on your app design.
With over 10 million active users, Canva makes the job of designing graphics fun and easy, and what’s even better is that it is completely free to use; giving you access to over 8000 features, a large proportion of their stock library and 1GB of memory.
HubSpot’s 15 Free Infographic Templates
HubSpot offers users free, easy-to-use infographic templates for PowerPoint and Illustrator.
The 15 customizable infographic templates can provide you with some much-needed inspiration to design your own infographics in PowerPoint or Illustrator.
Better yet, HubSpot’s customizable infographic templates show you how you can work with a theme, design icons and shapes, create a colour scheme and use fonts for design.
Pablo
If you’re looking to create engaging social media posts for your app or business, Pablo by Buffer is the tool for you.
Users can search through over 600,000 free images to create social media graphics and posts that are guaranteed to catch the attention of their followers.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Can’t afford Adobe Photoshop? No problem. Adobe Photoshop Express is a free photo editing and collage-making application.
It is available on iOs, Android and all Windows devices with Windows 8 and above. Adobe Photoshop Express is a nifty program with a drag and drop feature to quickly edit and transform photos.
Although users have many of the same features that are available on Photoshop, there is also the option to upgrade to premium features to make more advanced edits.
Fotor
Fotor is an online photo editing platform that is available on any mobile device or desktop software.
Users can also enjoy thousands of stock photos, design templates, tutorials and guides to get the best out of their images.
GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is open-source graphic design software that an increasing number of people are migrating over to from Photoshop.
The interface is different in many ways, however, there is a version that replicates Photoshop’s look and feel, making it easier to move from the old to the new.
You then have access to a full suite of tools to help you make incredible looking graphics, including the trusted favourites like painting tools, cloning, colour correction and enhancement.
What’s also great is that the development team have created a product that offers compatibility with all of the popular file formats, therefore making it easy to upload any existing graphics that you want to make amendments to.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a free online vector graphics editor used to create vector images in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format.
Moreover, Inkscape offers several features for illustrations, logos, cartoons and typography which makes it perfect for app developers, too.
The best part is, Inkscape is absolutely free.
Adobe Illustrator
Popular and established vector editing tool.
SPECIFICATIONS
Used for: Illustration, designing vector graphicsPayment model: SubscriptionFree trial: 30 daysPlatforms: Mac, Windows, iPadTODAY’S BEST DEALSAdobe IllustratorUS$20.99/mthVISIT SITEat Adobe
REASONS TO BUY
+Industry standard +Creative Cloud integration+Smart AI cropping
REASONS TO AVOID
-Expensive
First launched in 1987, Illustrator has been the natural companion to Photoshop for generations of illustrators and designers, and it’s long been considered the standard vector drawing tool for the industry. That dominance is starting to ebb a little, with a rush of new rivals into the space. But it remains one of the most sought-after design apps for Windows.
As with Photoshop, its rivals are largely competing on price, and for those whom money is less important than efficiency, Illustrator remains a hugely powerful and versatile tool, that Adobe is constantly making efforts to improve further.
The biggest addition of recent years have been a Freeform Gradients tool that makes it super-easy to create rich gradients, a Global Editing feature that lets you simultaneously make changes across all instances of a similar object, and a smart cropping tool that automatically suggests crops based on AI. Illustrator has also now launched on the iPad, and the latest updates to this app in March and April make it much easier for you to share your work with colleagues and collaborators.
More broadly, the issues that apply to Photoshop apply to Illustrator too. On the plus side, its ubiquity makes it a good tool to learn for your career, and the integration with the Creative Cloud can help make your workflow smooth and speedy. On the downside, its decades-old codebase and interface are becoming a little bloated and well, there’s that monthly subscription.
Affinity Photo
Low-cost rival to Photoshop that’s surprisingly capable.
SPECIFICATIONS
Used for: Image editing and manipulation, photo retouching, graphic design, web and app prototypingPayment model: One-off purchaseFree trial: 90 daysPlatforms: Mac, Windows, iPadTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Streamlined interface+Fast working+Affordable price
REASONS TO AVOID
-Lacks some advanced featuresAdvertisement
Just as Affinity Designer rivals Illustrator, Affinity Photo is one of the design apps for Windows that offers an alternative to Photoshop. And it’s a pretty familiar experience. Brushes, layers, masks, for example, are all treated in the same way as in Adobe’s tool.
Affinity Photo is not, however, a carbon copy of Photoshop. Indeed, while some designers will complain that Affinity Photo doesn’t do everything that Photoshop does, that’s kind of missing the point. Essentially, this most budget-conscious of design apps for Windows is not weighed down with hundreds of features that try to please everyone, but is more streamlined for specific tasks.
Rather than a fully fledged graphics suite, Affinity Photo is better described as photo editing software with some good art and design tools, including some distinctive features like a saveable undo history, PSD Import/Export options and a non-destructive workflow. More recent additions in February’s update include the ability to add liquify adjustments as live, maskable layers.
If you’re looking for a full graphic design tool, you’re better off – as the name suggests – with Affinity Designer (above), which has pixel design capabilities alongside its range of vector tools. But if photo editing is your main concern, Affinity Photo offers some excellent tools and capabilities, at a low, one-off price.
DesignWizard
Platform: Windows
DesignWizard ranks among the best free graphic design software for beginners. The tool offers a large database of images along with a host of free templates (over 10,000), plus a simple, easy-to-use interface. While you can also quickly create custom templates, DesignWizard excels as a front-line, free graphic design tool for beginners.
Despite an easy-to-use interface and no upfront costs, it’s worth noting that most of the more powerful options in DesignWizard are only available in its for-pay version.
Krita
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, Linux
Krita is a free, open-source painting program made by artists, for artists. Ongoing development of this tool depends on donations and is driven by the needs of the designer community at large. It’s no surprise, then, that Krita includes a customizable user interface, feature-rich toolset, and a comprehensive resource manager.
For businesses looking to boost their graphic design impact, Krita is a great tool — if they have the help of an experienced designer. For companies in need of simple, streamlined solutions, other software on this list offers a better fit for beginners.
Conclusion
Graphics are an essential part of everyone’s life. They are used every where, in numerous application areas. This makes graphics one of the most important disciplines in applied science. An understanding of graphic principles, as well as design fundamentals, is invaluable to anyone involved with graphics .